Forgotten Footlocker Offers Glimpse of ’30s CCC Work
By Ryan Schlehuber

Ron Mitchell of St. Ignace Township recently discovered letters and other items from the 1930s in an old chest that had been packed away for years. The items belonged to Luther King of Millington, who was in the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936 and 1937 at Camp Round Lake, 12 miles from St. Ignace. Displayed on the chest are a CCC pennant, CCC patches, and Mr. King’s CCC hat.

St. Ignace Township resident Ron Mitchell never met Luther King, and he doesn’t even know what he looks like, but the discovery of a long-forgotten footlocker in his pole barn presented an inside look at the life of a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) worker in the 1930s.

While he was cleaning out the barn last fall, Mr. Mitchell came across the chest that he removed six years ago from the Fibre store of his father-in-law. On the top were painted the initials, LPK.

Inside were about 40 letters mailed to the CCC Camp Round Lake, which was 12 miles from St. Ignace, just off US-2, near the sand dunes. Other items in the chest included CCC publications and personal items, such as a fork and a hunting license. The initials stood for “Luther Peter King.”

CCC workers at Camp Round Lake pose in front of what may be the same chest, CCC pennant, and patches that are now in Ron Mitchell’s possession.

Reading the letters, Mr. Mitchell began to learn more about Mr. King, discovering that he was originally from Millington, had two brothers and four sisters, and joined the CCC at age 20 in the spring of 1936, whereupon he was assigned to Camp Round Lake. One letter mentioned an accident in which Mr. King suffered a cut on his foot from a saw.

Mr. Mitchell was able to locate two of Mr. King’s relatives through a letter to the editor to the Millington Herald newspaper.

“It went about a month [after publishing the letter] when I got a call from his nephew,” said Mr. Mitchell. “He told me that Luther’s sister was still alive.”

Howard Opperman, Mr. King’s nephew, said he never knew his uncle, and the last he heard, he lived in the state of Washington.

“He was really a loner,” said Mr. Opperman. “He could still be alive today, I really don’t know.”Other items in the chest were a CCC pennant and three CCC patches, CCC paperback work books from educational classes, a 1937 map of Michigan, several old photographs from camp and from Mr. King’s school days, including one of the 1932- 33 Millington high school football team, brochures and business cards from St. Ignace and Brevort Lake businesses, many newsletters, official notices from the camp, and publications from the CCC district headquarters at Fort Brady in Sault Ste. Marie.

One of three CCC patches found in the chest.

The chest even included a log book from the steamer J.O. Boyd, and two letters addressed to the ship’s engineer, E.W. Eckels. The ship, according to the log book, operated mostly out of the Gulf of Mexico.

“There are a lot of references to the operation and maintenance of the ice machine on board, which could mean they were hauling perishables,” said Mr. Mitchell.

Mr. Mitchell said he has no idea how the letters to the ship and its log book are connected to Mr. King.

There is also an official letter from the 3628th Company of Camp Round Lake notifying Mr. King that his discharge certificate was being forwarded to him. It is dated July 6, 1937.

The last letter, dated March 6, 1940, was addressed to Mr. King in Fibre.

Camp Round Lake, the 3628th Company of the CCC, was one of 2,650 camps across the U.S., established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to put unemployed young men to work during the Great Depression. The CCC was dubbed “Roosevelt’s Tree Army.” Recruiting began in April 1933. Camps in Michigan numbered in the hundreds, with several camps sprinkled across the Eastern Upper Peninsula, including St. Ignace, Moran, Newberry, Trout Lake, and Seney.

Between 1933 and 1942, CCC men in Michigan planted 484 million trees, spent 140,000 days fighting forest fires, and constructed 7,000 miles of truck trails, 504 bridges, and 222 buildings.

Camp Round Lake was founded in June 1935, with transfers coming from Company 1613 at Camp Kenneth, near Moran, according to the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries.

Camp Kenneth, about eight miles north of Moran on the northeast side of M-123, focused mostly on road construction. By 1937, Camp Kenneth was abandoned, as workers had transferred to other sites with more work, like Camp Round Lake.

Camp Round Lake employed some 200 young men like Mr. King, who helped build roads, plant trees, and, in Brevort Lake, helped construct a dam and campgrounds. The men were also responsible for firefighting in the area and cleared logging debris to prevent fires. They were paid $30 a month, plus food and clothing.

The CCC workforce was a major contributor to the construction of the St. Ignace City Hall, built in 1939-40. The men also built a bath house, log shelters, toilets, wells, tables, bulletin boards, and fireplaces were constructed at the Brevort Lake Campground between 1935 and 1937. A gravel road from US-2 to the park area was constructed, as well.

An abundance of jobs in the private sector, the U.S. entry into World War II, and lack of funding and new recruits ended the CCC program in 1942.

The only remnants of Camp Round Lake today are a few wood stumps with fading white paint that outlined the camp.