Civilian Conservation Corps Camp – Custer

Camp F-12 Custer: 8.6 miles NW of roads 297, 284, 285 & 292 Companies: 1791 - - 6/13/33-12/37 756 - - 12/15/37-4/6/39 762 - - 4/6/39-1942 The Civilian Conservation Corps was a federal relief program during 1933-1942 that gave jobless men work renovating abused lands. The Army built 48 200-man camps in South Dakota and provided food, clothing, medical care, pay and programs of education, recreation and religion for 23,709 enrollees (single men aged 17-25 who sent $25 of their $30 wage to their families) and war veterans.

Camps and work projects were supervised by another 2834 men. The Office of Indian Affairs ran smaller units for 4554 American Indians. Camp F-12 was part of a national CCC program to renovate forests and build more recreation areas. Work projects, supervised by the USDA Forest Service, included tree thinning, pruning and planting; fire prevention and suppression; rodent, disease and insect control; grazing land improvement and recreational area development.

Enrollees sawed lumber at Cyclone to build the camp and used buildings from Camp F-16 in 1939 to rebuild it. They erected Junction Ranger Station and the ranger’s residence on Harney Peak and manned sidecamps at the Cyclone area, Medicine Mountain, Baxter and Summit Peak. CCs maintained a 25-man fire crew and lookouts at Harney Peak, Cicero Peak, Bear Mountain, Moon and Signal Hill.

They built or rebuilt over 100 miles of telephone lines and constructed over 20 miles of road and 50 dams and developed over 100 springs for livestock watering. Erected in 1991 by CCC Alumni, the South Dakota State Historical Society, the South Dakota Department of Transportation and Black Hills National Forest.