World War II comes to Central Oregon · membered in Central Oregon for the ... Nelson, Betty Bradetich Slate 1931, Doris Marie Drost-Bennett, Rita Rosengarth Dutton, Dorothy Hanneman

VOL. 1 JANUARY 2015 NO. 72

where combat engineers trained during World War II. Many readers remember the Camp Abbot days and the impact it had on Central Oregon life. For those who do, this may well stimulate memories of those days now seventy years ago. For those who do not, this will add to your repertoire of Deschutes Pioneer knowledge.

Officially called an “engineer replacement training center,” Camp Abbot was the only such installa-

World War II comes to Central Oregon

(Continued on page 2)

World War II Camp Abbot Affected Central Oregon Lives in Many Ways—A Quick Review and a Couple Short Stories

By Les JoslinGazette contributing writer

Most readers of the Deschutes Pioneer Gazette know that Camp Abbot—today’s Sunriver—was a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers train-ing center south of Bend, Oregon,

tion west of the Mississippi River. The other two were at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and Fort Leonard Wood, Missiouri.

Rapid expansion of the Army’s engineer training was a World War II priority. On December 4, 1942, not quite a year after the United States entered the war, the War Depart-ment established Camp Abbot along the Deschutes River on both private ranchlands and Deschutes National Forest lands. The Army chose this site for its isolation and its similar-ity to European landscapes on which Allied troops would fight Nazi and Fascist forces. The Deschutes River was likened to the Rhine River to be encountered during the final push of the war in Europe.

Camp Abbot was named for Briga-dier General Henry Larcom Abbot who, as a young U.S. Army Corps of Topographic Engineers lieutenant fresh from West Point with a degree in military engineering, led a Pacific Railway Survey party through the area in 1855. On September 4 of that year, Lieutenant Abbot and his de-tachment camped at a site along the Deschutes River that 88 years later in

Mt. Bachelor is framed by the new Camp Abbott entrance sign in 1943

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTEPage 2

90,000 combat troops trained at Camp Abbot(Continued from page 1)

a very different world became Camp Abbot.

The first trainees arrived at Camp Abbot in March 1943, six months be-fore the center was formally dedicat-ed. During little more than a year of operation, more than 90,000 combat engineers trained there. About 10,000 soldiers were trained during each 17-week, three-phase cycle. Training in basic combat skills and various combat engineering tasks was fol-lowed by advanced training focused on constructing and demolishing bridges and other structures in support of combat operations. The final three weeks was a field exercise that tested these skills under combat conditions. This training went on year round, through the hottest days of sum-mer and the coldest days of win-ter, as did the war in Europe for which these combat engineers were being prepared.

Colonel Frank S. Besson, an Army Corps of Engineers officer

since he graduated from West Point in 1909, was selected to command the hastily-built, four-million-dollar training base. He’d commanded combat engineers on the western front in Europe—when it wasn’t “all quiet”—during World War I, served successfully since, and immediately before arriving in Central Oregon in May 1943 had commanded the engineer replacement training center at Fort Leonard Wood. He was no stranger to Bend, where his brother

Dr. John Besson had practiced medicine before moving to Portland. By all reports, Colonel Besson was remembered as a “tough but fair” commanding officer.

In addition to combat engineer training, Camp Abbot served as the base for Major General Alexander M. Patch’s fall 1943 Oregon Maneu-ver that trained and tested U.S. Army units comprising about 100,000 sol-diers prior to deployment overseas. There was nothing secret about these maneuvers. They were heralded on the front page of The Sunday Orego-nain on August 1, 1943, and maps of the maneuver area were published in the press. General Patch is re-membered in Central Oregon for the General Patch Bridge built across the Deschutes River by Camp Abbot trainees—demolished in 2008—and for recommending Technician fifth Class Robert D. “Bob” Maxwell—now a Bend resident—for the Medal of Honor for saving the lives of three fellow Third Infantry Division sol-diers by throwing himself on a hand grenade.A rancher’s daughter’s story

The logistics necessary to support those hundred thousand troops were

complicated and didn’t always work as planned. And so, in a strange way remembered by Grace Vandevert in the 2011 book “Vandevert: The Hun-dred-Year History of a Central Oregon Ranch” she co-authored with Ted Haynes, General Patch’s maneuvers put good food on Central Oregon tables at a time food and most other things were rationed.

“Dad visited some of the camps that were set up outside

Construction of camp’s Officers Club, later to become Sunriver’s “Great Hall.”

cap

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTE Page 3

to construct and demolish bridges in Europe

Soldiers buildDeschutes River span

the food from the meals right off the stoves—but also fresh meat that otherwise would have been buried. Dad got a couple lockers in Bend and rescued some of that meat to share with oth-ers. Sometimes the soldiers would get to the camp a bit early and there

would be no supplies yet. So they had to eat K-rations….”A forest ranger’s story

Joe Lammi was the 30-year-old U.S. Forest Service district ranger for the Bend Ranger District on the Deschutes National Forest when Camp Abbot was built in his district in 1943. Joe

had bachelor’s and master’s degrees in forestry from Oregon State Col-lege in Corvallis. And he had lots of business with colonels, generals, and so forth, as the training center was built and began operations.

That fall, Joe joined the U.S. Army. Bidding friends and family in Bend farewell, he was off to see the world.

Or so he and they thought. But Private Joe Lammi was assigned to Camp Abbot for training! “Same old trees, same old hills, but a different uniform!” he was kidded.

“I went in a buck private,” Joe later remembered, “and I retired as an officer with the rank of major.” After training at Camp Abbot, Joe was commissioned and saw combat in Italy and North Africa with the Army Corps of Engineers. “I had my own jeep and driver,” Joe said. “My job was to tour the front and make sure the ammunition, weapons, and other equipment were in the right places at the right times.”

When the war ended, Joe returned to the U.S. Forest Service. During the early 1950s, he earned a Ph.D. in forest economics at the University of California at Berkeley. He then worked for the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Geneva, Switzerland, before becoming a professor of forestry at

(Continued on page 6)

the ranch,” Grace recalls in the book. “These were camps for army units on maneuvers, not for the engineers at Camp Abbot. One camp was just to the north of what is now Vandevert Road—about half way out to Highway 97. Dad pulled in there one day and found soldiers burying food of all kinds. There was bread, cheese, and other things. He asked them why they were doing that. One of the soldiers said they did that each time a new batch of soldiers came to the area for a three or four week stay. He said that if they didn’t bury what was left from the previous group, they couldn’t get enough supplies to last through the next bunch! Dad had a fit! He said, ‘If you will let me come pick it up, I’ll see that it gets used.’

There was so much rationing going on then.”

“So, when dad found out that he could just take the truck out and they would pile food on it…he took it to Bend for people who needed it…and also bought pigs to which he fed it and later sold the pigs.”

“Not only did the soldiers give Dad

Whole sections of enlisted men’s barracks stretched for block after block, north of the Great Hall.

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTEPage 4

1917, Neil Farnham1918, Helen Varco Brown (Queen 2007), Collena Spangler Gales1919, James McClain, John E. Myers, Doris Dewhurst Sholes (Queen 2002), Wanda Boardman Truett1920, Jack Grant Brinson (President 1986), Vadabelle Dodson Brumblay, Arline Hufstader Mathney, Leona McFadden Osmundson1921, Marjorie Burgess Harris1922, Mahlon Couch (President 1990), Gerogia Edgington Gallagher, (Queen 2008), J. Pat Metke, Ursula (Polly) Metke1923, Betty Jean Erickson Clark, Leon E. Devereaux, Jackie Steidl Fretwwell, Ivan Jensen1924, Helen Rastovich Barrett, Jeanne Burrows Kirsch, Barbara Fossen Parr, Harry Peterson (President 2007), Irene Peterson, Ruth Thalhofer, Margaret McCallum Yetter1925, Eugene M. Brick, Don E. Franks, Eva Dodson Gassner (Queen 2006), Bain Low, Kenneth C. Low, Vivian Ludwig, Dotson Merritt, Jeanice Pursel Raper, Dan Rastovich (President 1992), Margie McFadden Rouse, Margaret Runge Smith1926, Donna Werner Clark (Queen 1998), Marian Mowery Devereaux, James Fairchild, Ted M Freeman, Irene Vaughn Gallagher, Patricia Moore Howard, Robert LeBlanc, Paula Loree Lewis, Walter L. Peterson, Betty Jo Terwilligar Rhoden, Doris Bodvick Thompson, Ann Pastulovich Weathersbee1927, Pat Corliss Dodge, Don L. Ferguson, Patricia Muir Gibson, Joyce Armstrong Gribskov, Wilma Fickas Merritt, Shirley Gribskov Ray (Queen 2009), Carol Houck Andrews Wallan, Marjorie Wilson1928, Helen Henry Johns Brown, Laurence Alan Dyer, Jewell L. Black Gates, Janet Johnson Halligan, Atlee L. Hawes, Delores Jensen, Patricia Moffitt Jensen, Robert Jensen, Charles G. Majnarich, Marie Murphy Mills, Jacqueline Hahn Plath, John R. Robertson, Jackie Loomis Speedling1929, Barbara Skinner Buxton (Queen 2012), Lola Shipman Craig, Virginia Russell Ferguson, Lucy Slate Halverson, Louise Tekampe Hamby, Doris McFadden Hassler, Lucille Johnson, Grace Vandevert McNellis, Marilyn Scott Meyers, Barbara O’Grady Phillips, Peggy Posey, Eva Moore Rosenauer, Mary Lynne Scott Seidler, Barbara Vandevert Waldow1930, Kenneth N. Blakely, Shirley McCallum Kilpatrick, Guy Kulstad, Carolyn Blakely Nelson, Betty Bradetich Slate1931, Doris Marie Drost-Bennett, Rita Rosengarth Dutton, Dorothy Hanneman Ludwig, Marilyn Walter Russell, Geraldine Snider, Anna Jean Davis Voos1932, Dennis Berrigan, Richard D. Daoust, Peggy Marie Terwilligar Jaques, Robert K . Moody, Helen D. Filey O’Brien, Donna J. Slate Robertson, Marcia Skjersaa Rose, Ray G. Spencer, Loyd R. Vincent1933, Patricia D. Stokoe Burleigh, Donna Jean Holman Daoust, Alice J. Valitchka Dunlap, James Gilliland, Gwen Russell Holliday, Wilma Kirby Low, Mack Malone, Margaret Hanson Moore1934, William J. Baer, Clara Skjersaa Gilliland, Catherine Brogan Logan, Joanne DeCarufel Lubke, Mary Hanson Mikesell, Christine Ryman Mitchell, Verle L. Mitchell, Gordon Moore, John Overbay, Donna Roberts Staples, Kenneth H. Tiller, Joanne Van Sickle1935, Marilyn Waterman Baer, Betty-Marie Marsha Hunt Baker, Kay F. Meagher Cardin,

A. Gard Eriksen, Darrell W. ‘Chuck’ Halligan, Stuart D. Huettl, Ruth Seiber Kiel, John B. Kulstad, Barbara Loehr, Betty Ives Moffitt, Gary Monical, Yvonne Wagner Overbay, Clyde Penhollow, Arnie Reinhart, Paulette Reinhart, Jerry W. Rice, N. Pauline Slate Robeck, Alex ‘Tom’ Rutherford, Oma Sage, Sally Thompson, Charles Glenn Whitman1936, Robert C. Brown, Clarence D. Cook, Lloyd Alfred Dunlap, Loretta Fread, William J. Lehto, Carroll D. Penhollow, Dwayne Rosebrook, Kay D. Thompson, Helmer C. Wallan1937, Bruno B. Baer, Charlene Chopp Blahnik, James A. Burleigh, Jean Drost, Robert O. Dunlap, Merrilyn M. Rose Mastrud, Paul Reynolds, Anton Rustand, Donna Gumpert Rustand, William E. Snider, James E. Staples (President 2009), Anne McKay Welch, Elwin D. ‘Jake’ Woerner1938, Barbara Slack Boynton, Mary Jane Spencer Everist, Jean Shirtcliff Garrett, Sheila Wentland Kelly, Curtis M. Lantz, Phyllis Cole Long (Queen 2011), Beverly Hanson Moody, Thomas H. O’Grady, Oliver J. Oatman, Janice M. Dumler Rogerson, Tony Rosengarth (President 2006)1939, Linda Fountain Bostic, Charles William ‘Bill’ Boyd, Donald W. Huettl, Frances Webster Mills, Betty Bonsell Quant, Sharron Matson Rosengarth, Ethelene W. Sachtjen, Sheila Guiney Stokes, Thomas R. Welbourn, Patricia Coleman Whitney1940, Margaret Ann Williamson Cole, James L. Crowell, Gordon Dahlin, Phoebe Hafstad DeGree (Queen 2010), Dennis R. Douglass, Elsa Ruth Poetschat Douglass, Andrea M. Hunnell DuPree, Miles J. Hutchins, Roma McComb Iverson, Gary Kelley, Karen E. Leagjeld, Marie Cox Low, Charleen Dahlin McKee, Ronald R. Mowry, Lennard Sholes, Iris Tetle, Kathleen O’Grady Tiller, Patricia Maddox Welbourn1941, Earl Clausen, Bill Hedger, Patricia Hollenbeck Moyer, Glen Raymond1942, Gary Cecil, Michael M. Daly, Ben Graffenberger, Joyce Williams Peters, Gail Hamby Phillips1943, Thelma Wilson Bradetich, Roger I. Brown, Marjorie A. Humphrey Clark, Sonja Hjelseth Huettl, Vicki Hill Malone, Shirley J. Scheiber Montgomery, Janice Monical Newson, Michael Penhollow, Lee Ann (Luckenbill) Raymond, Betty Lou Segerstrom, Ina Shobert1944, Patricia O’Day, Richard A. Pangburn, Susie Chopp Penhollow, Garry L. Peterson, Jacqueline G. Peterson, Joe F. Quant, Helen Anderson Sherman, Kim D. Ward1945, Kay Coyner, Arlene Elva Chaney Danison, Sue A. Fountain, Betty J. Chaney Fullerton, Gerald E. ‘Jake’ Jaques, Patrick Kelly (President 1996), Rosella J. Lehto, Doris N. Triplett Madden, Ronald Phillips, Ann Reynolds, June McDowell Rogers, Louis G. Rogerson, Delores Snyder Vincent1946, E. Beatrice Allgood, Charles Blackshear, Ruth Cox Burleigh (Queen 2013), Brenda Chapin, Bette Crabtree, Dewey Dietz, Eleanor Olson Dobson, Chester E. Fullerton, Lester ‘Les’ Hilgers, Beverly Anliker Hill-Casper, Joanne E. Luke, Greg Hunt, Nyla Lundgren, Sharon Rector Penhollow, Dave Phillips, Betty Anliker Pitmon, Fred W. Raycraft, C.A. Tony Rizzutto, William H. Sage, Sharon Peterson Schaedler, Sharon Fountain Stasiowski, Linda D. Matson Stephenson, Elaine Swanzy, Sam E. Taylor, Joanne Darst Ulrich1947, Jean Fraser Curl, Gary N. Davis, Luella Sigmund Dietz, Grover Earp, Karol Fuqua

Gribskov, Shirley J. Landers, Margaret Lehnertz, Suzanne Maker, Eloise M. McClain, Guy Meritt, Cliff Nelson, Karen Devereaux Nielsen, Scott M. Nielsen, Karen McCloskey Peterson, Doris Lytle Priday, Bob D. Rountree, Jim Schaedler, Delane Sholes, Jon C. Sholes, Nanette Shoults Sholes, Janet Ketcham Smith, Candy Hanson Uptegrove, Geri A. Brown Van Matre, Candace Weaver Williamson, Dell Yates1948, Barbara Bergseng, Charles Bergseng, Mary Berrigan, Clara Cannon, Pauline Coomler, Darlene Harris Gaines, Bette Jo Hagen, Carla Jo Carlton Hunt, Ruth Jones Kennedy, Jeanne R. Miltenberger, Rebecca Moffitt, Roy A. Moffitt, William J. Olsen (President 2008), Carolann Sawyer Penhollow, David Rixe, Priscilla K. Coe Ross, Patrick L. Schatz, Steve C. Scott, Sig Skavlan III, Wayne Van Matre1949, Kathryn D. Bircher, Cinthia Segerstrom Blair, Betty Grace Haglund Dyer, Harry Fagen Sr., Gary Gassner, Harold ‘Harry’ Mastrud, Lowell O. Mastrud, Dorothy Crouch Olsen, Marjorie Louise Smith, Everett Turner, Jack Weathersbee1950, Shirley Boyd, William J. Brennan, Muriel Finley, Dennis L. Gallagher, Aloha M. Hammond Harris, Robert A. Jensen, Carol Pedersen Jensen, Gordon Lehto, Ceil McNamee, Kenneth H. Miltenberger, Ronald A. Moffitt, Evelyn Ritter Pence. Stephen J. Pence, William Robeck1951, David R. Burleigh, Marcia Clark-McKitrick, Kenneth B. Holden, David J. Kremers, Gloria Loraine Kunerth, Sheila Myers, Michael D. Reif, Emma M. Humbert Roseberry, Barbara J. Lindsey Watters, Susie Fagan Wirges1952, Anthony Arbow, Linda S. Bach, Marilyn Moffitt Constable, Greg Fulton, John C. Diehl, Daryl McMeen, Robert Orr, Sharon Boesch Phillips, Leeann Smith Scott, Ralph P. Thomas, Marilyn Marker Yates1953, Mark Carlton, Joyce D. Rohrback Dunlap, Craig A. Gribskov, Michael Jensen, Polly Gribskov Lisle, Marilyn Miltenberger McFarlane, Clifford Rose, Betty L. Young1954, Jana Brandsma Arbow, Patricia L. Bells, Kathy Blake, Dan Brandis, Vivian M. Pearson Bristol, Sarah Lingerfelt Elmer, E. Laverne Eriksen, Curtis S. Jantz, Susan Ettinger Schneider, Gerald Sherman, Peggy Spence, James Thompson, Lloyd L. Williams, Mark Wirges, Jennie Plath Unverzagt1955, Mary R. Busche, Kim Snider Carpenter, Kenneth I. Davis, Mike Genna, Peggy Bradetich Jensen, Maria McClain Madden, Debra Welch McKenzie, Patricia Wolff Moen, Sandra M. Crawford Senger, Marla S. Rutherford Stidham (President 2013), Mary Graham Winter1956, Greg Brown, Bessie Davenport Heath, Katherine S. Holden, Ryan Garnet Johnson McKinnon, Cynthia L. Varco, Robert Dale Varco1957, James W. Barrett III, Sylvia Brixey Cummings, Karen Kratke Duncan, John A. Ensworth, Alan D. Nelson, Mark Young1958, Ann V. Biesecker, Wilburn Dodge, Patricia Gassner, Clay D. Penhollow, Bonnie B. Hunt Ward, Anne Wrede, Glenn Wrede1959, Debbie Nelson Anderson, Robert Anderson, Michael William Bach (President 2012), Dean Cannon, Mitchel E. Creegen, Buck Davis, Valerie Clark Henry, Dorothy Lehto, Jane Foster Schroeder1960, Evelyn M. Westwang Brown, Fawn Hedger, Elisabeth H. Grayber Satterlee, Jennifer Stenkamp1961, Dean Cardin, Robert Greenlee, Penny L.

Deschutes Pioneers Association Membership 2013

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTE Page 5

Meister, Bobby J. Meritt, Nancy A. Rastovich Poirier, Vern Robinson, George Stephenson, Catherine Sutherland Thompson, Curt Tisdel, Michelle Kelly-Tisdel, Coleen Williams Varco, Eugene Wegner, Sally Stinnette Wegner1962, Robert J. Fincham Jr., Frances Malmstrom Greenlee, Doug ‘Sparky’ Lisle, Tami Meritt, Kay L. ‘Katie’ Tubbs Rixe, Barbara Dodson Robinson, Larry Ulrich, Sally J. Ward1963, Ardyce Lund Berg, Janice K. Brinson Carter, Matt S. Cyrus, Ed Landers, Helen G. Runger Lund1964, Andrew Brinson, Darlene Gottfried Child, Jeff Kennedy, Lisa Clarke Landers, Diane N. Brinson Reif, Charles A. Rieb, Martha Brown Rieb, D. Scott Sholes1965, David Blahnik, James R. Jenkins, Chareen Penhollow Kayser, Anton Rustand, Steve Unverzagt1966, Judith M. Crowell1967, Chris Carter, Lorena Macfarlane VanBuren, Michelle Young1968, Drew Dahlgren, Judy E. Llewellyn, Norm Thrasher1969, David G. Boynton,Sr., Sue Stahl Fredrickson, Doris Ching Lantz, Judy Long, Della McKay Tennant1970, Gene Cota, Tye Farnsworth, Tracy A. Huettl, Sharon D. Coffman Mastrud, Ronald D. Ricketts, Mary Ann Kosydar Ricketts1971, Elizabeth Bolles, Charles E. Nelson III1972, Judith S. Blane Ensworth, Beverly Miller Fagen1973, Tucker Williamson1974, Dolores E. Carriere Prosser, James L. ProsserASSOCIATE MEMBERS(Less Than 40 Years Residence)1975, Cheryl A. Davis, Lonnie E. Waak, Marilyn E. Campbell Waak1976, Christina Rivalli Diehl, Carol Coulter Oatman1977, Bonnie McKean Boyd1978, Ken Carpenter, Lori Vencill1979, Rebecca Zekmeister Brinson1980, Lori J. Huettl, Leslie J. DeLangh LaClair, Jody A. Steward Schatz1983, Duke Duncan1984, Rebecca L. Brooks Nelson, Darlene D. Asplund Smith1986, Katy Crockett Ipock, Marjorie Barth Kocher1987, Donna Brown1988, Darlene Kaptur Daly, Laverne Young Robison, Richard Robison1990, Carla C. Borovicka, Janice S. Graffenberger1991, Dana Horton Lumpkin, Carol Schatz1996, David A. Smith1998, Rhodora M. Frahm Cook2001, Eva Dean Keith Freeman, Marie-Eve Takla2005, Claudia Grundy Carmichael, Tim Carmichael2006, Joe Stidham2010, Georgialee Baker Huettl Kay L. Bekooy Brennan Billie M. Majnarich Cheryl D. Nelson Ron Peters Glen Seidler

QUEENS PRESIDENTS1947-1948 Carl Johnson1949 Mary Todd Bennett E.A. Smith1950 Pearl Vanderpool Becker Edna Brinson1951 Myrtle Shepard Thompson LeRoy Fox1952 Anna Thompson Claude Vandevert1953 Addie Triplett William J. Burton1954 Luella Griffin R.D. Ketchum1955 Flossie Smith Chester Springer1956 Mary Kelley Craig Coyner, Sr.1957 Elizbeth Bogue Lowell Jensen1958 Florence Spencer Dean Hollinshead1959 Mary Hoover Robert Keyes1960 Katie Ruble Claude Kelley1961 Belle Read Claude Kelley1962 Isa Cora Freeman Sreve Steidl1963 Rose Gibson D. Ray Miller1964 Florence Pitman Stout Antone Fossen1965 Viola Logan Cecil Moore1966 Carrie Stevens Ole Grubb1967 Georgia Thom C.L. Allen1968 Minnie Helfrich R.A. Long1969 Gracie Evans Grimes Clarence Boyd1970 Nora Russell McMeen George Hostetler1971 Agnes Grubb Stanley Scott1972 Dorothy Vandevert Carol Boyd1973 Eva Slack Michael Mahoney1974 Ruth Barnes Mel Munkers1975 Elsie Horn Williams Mel Munkers1976 Vi Mayne Franks Rodney Rosebrook1977 Martha Conklin Ben Graffenberger1978 Martha Long Priday Holmes1979 Elnora Dodson Sam Johnson1980 Sophia Gibson Alfred Triplett QUEENS PRESIDENTS1981 Lily Hollinshead Helmer Gustafson1982 Anna McDonald Cloer Robert Foley

1983 Marjorie Hoover Tromblee Hugh Simpson1984 Ida Niswonger Reynolds Virgil Henkle1985 Helen Tweet Evans Dale McMeen1986 Edith Swick Kostol Jack Brinson1987 Edna Ogle Skjersaa Gordon McKay1988 Laura Lakin Wonser Paul Reynolds1989 Marjorie Smith Rollie Anderson1990 Jeanette Keyes Stollmack Mahlon Couch1991 LaDessa Chapman Walter Larry Lermo1992 Millie Rastovich Chopp Dan Rastovich1993 Mable Rosebrook Herb Maker1994 Phyllis Fischer Herling Jim McClain1995 Lois Maker Gumpert Russ Kiel1996 LaVerne Gove Hanshew Pat Kelly1997 Lena Freeman Myers Larry Huettl1998 Donna Werner Clark Omar Moffitt1999 Catherine Hellmann Lee Maker2000 Maude Compton Monical Tom Larsen2001 Leatha Harrington Huettl Bert Merrifield2002 Doris D. Sholes Dave Phillips2003 Oma Sage Roger ‘Rod’ Smith2004 Elizabeth (Becky) Johnson Leon Devereaux2005 Alice Bishop Helmer Wallan2006 Eva Dodson Gassner Tony Rosengarth2007 Helen Varco Brown Harry Peterson2008 Georgia Edgington Gallagher Bill Olson2009 Shirley Gribskov Ray James E. Staples 2010 Phoebe Hafstad DeGree Jon Sholes2011 Phyllis Coe Long Leon Devereaux2012 Barbara Skinner Buxton Michael Bach2013 Ruth Cox Burleigh Marla Rutherford Stidham

Past Queens and Presidents

2013 DESCHUTES PIONEERSASSOCIATION OFFICERS

President .. Marla (Rutherford) Stidham1st Vice President .......... Jerry Sherman2nd Vice President ............Greg FultonSecretary ........................... Pat GassnerTreasurer ..................... Carolyn NelsonMembership .......................Linda BachRememberance ............ Eloise McClainGazette Editor ...................Jim Crowell

Dues are $7.50 per person,$15.00 per couple

Mail To:Linda Bach

19697 Manzanita LaneBend, OR 97702

MEMORIALS 2013

January– Jon Joseph Thalhofer, Gale R. FinleyFebruary – Ed CrabtreeMarch – Laurene A. Boardman, Wayne MontgomeryApril – Edward C. SpringMay – Jenny Valley-KremersJune – Greta (Skjersaa) CecilJuly - Connie E. Miller Tyson, Olive FordhamSeptember – Kathryn “Kitty” RutherfordNovember – Richard Nelson, Russell Kiel,

Neil Davis

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTEPage 6

Presence of Camp Abbot troops puts pressure on Bend’s limited(Continued from page 3)

North Carolina State University. Joe retired in 1979 and died in 2003.A regional impact

There are certainly as many Camp Abbot stories as there were assigned soldiers and area residents. And there were many impacts on the region’s life and work.

For example, an agreement be-tween the Secretary of War and the Secretary of Agriculture that resulted in inclusion of some 8,500 acres of Deschutes National Forest lands in the Camp Abbot Military Reserva-tion ended Vandevert Ranch sum-mer grazing on national forest range around Spring River. Summer 1943 found Claude Vandevert, Jr., camped

out with cattle at Sparks Lake. That fall, the Vandevert Ranch sold its entire herd for the first time since the ranch was founded in the 1870s. The price for cattle was good and grazing was difficult.Prisoner of war camp

Manpower on the Deschutes National Forest was short. District Ranger Lammi’s job was vacant until the spring of 1944. Women and high school boys were used on fire lookouts and 19- and 17-year-old boys formed most of the crews. Several Forest Service stations were not staffed in 1944 and 1945 be-cause of manpower shortages. Gail Baker, Deschutes National Forest

fire control officer at the time, left records of a small prisoner of war camp at Camp Abbot—on the north side of spring River Road between its intersection with South Century Drive and Harper Bridge—for Italian and German prisoners. He used these prisoners for firefighting and routine forest labor. “The Germans were much better with tools and much easier to guard.”

And, of course, the influx of so many Army personnel in 1943 and 1944 had a tremendous impact on Bend as well as its hinterlands. The city of 5,000 was hard put to ac-commodate and entertain all those soldiers. But in the spirit of the times did its best with USO dances, family

dinners, movie houses, and so forth. A symbol remains

Its job done, Camp Abbot closed in June 1944. Most of Camp Ab-bot’s buildings and other facilities were razed, and the private and public lands it occupied were returned to their previous uses. The private lands at the heart of Camp Abbot, eventually sold to the Hudspeth Land and Cattle Company, were developed in the 1960s as the resort and residential community of Sunriver. The beautiful Great Hall in Sunriver, a Camp Abbot remnant, supposedly was built as a training exercise and served briefly as the base’s officers club.

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTE Page 7

social services, housing for families of officers in 1942-1944

100,000 troops came to area for 1942 maneuvers.

Camp Abbot published own weekly newspaper.

(Camp Abbot photos courtesy of Sunriver Nature Center, Deschutes Historical Museum)

DESCHUTES PIONEERS’ GAZETTEPage 8

Jane Schroeder reigned as 2014 Queen

“Central Oregon hasn’t always looked like this,” we Schroeders were told in 1958 when we drove from The Dalles to Redmond to look over our future home. The city of Redmond had already begun to celebrate the state’s Centennial by decking out the downtown buildings with log slabs, hitching rails, and displaying items from the past. The fake western store fronts and the shop keepers’ turn-of-the-century clothes didn’t really cover up what was important to us, and that was the people! Can you imagine the community spirit it took to give Redmond the “old” look? The buildings were given the look of yesteryear. We Schroeders were impressed! Since then we have seen this spirit many many times and have also become involved for 50 years in many ways. Flag displays during several holidays are one example. The last count indicated that there were 700 flags flying, and with the right number of volunteers they can be placed within an hour.

Vic, my husband, had been offered the management of Healy’s Furniture

store in Redmond, and after moving, our family size increased to four. Gary was born in The Dalles and Jennie in Redmond. Gary and his family live in Ft. Collins, CO, and he is an energy engineer with the city. Jennie and Ron are in road construction, which allows them 6 months of vacation each year. Their play time is in Baja, and Ron is a pretty good fisherman. They have a home on the Sea Of Cortez.

After graduating from Kansas State University the war was in “full swing” and I became a class A riveter, building B17’s and A26’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Vic was in the army, and had a skill that was very helpful because he could speak the German language. Upon our first retirement in 1980 we arranged for 80 group tours throughout the world. We enjoyed planning these tours, primarily for seniors, for 27 years. In between tours, I helped design and plan over 50 new and remodeled kitchens.

Some of the activities that I became involved with that hopefully made Redmond a better place to live were: -- Chaired a very successful campaign

for a tax levy to continue 4-H club programs

-- Involved in developing a planning group called REDAP. It is still functioning, but is now known as Redmond Economic Development Incorporated

-- Served on the city of Redmond’s Council for 9 years.

-- A member of the Historical Commission for 20 years.

-- Served on the Board of Cascade Child Center for 34 years I was selected as Citizen of the Year

in 1984. I have been a member of Womens

Oregon Trail Riders for 53 years. Week-long rides in the mountains each August allowed me to see much of the beauty in the western wilderness—even though it was from the top of a horse. I am now 91 years young, and there are many things I would still like to see and do. I know it is time to slow down. I have always tried to do more than I have had time to do. It is a beautiful world, and I would like to see it all!

Queen Jane and driver Harry Fagen at the Sisters Rodeo parade.