Disaster: Arnold Nilsen, the CCC, & the 1937 Yosemite Flood

From 28 July 1937 to 21 December 1938, Arnold Nilsen served with the Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC), specifically in Yosemite Valley with Camp YNP-6.[1] He worked primarily with a pick and shovel building stone retaining walls. When he joined, he was a month short of his eighteenth birthday.

He was probably settled in well, working hard at his camp along with the rest of the crew. On 9 December 1937, it started raining, light at first, but then it poured for two days. The valley received over eleven inches of rain, causing the Merced River to flood. The flood damaged roads, bridges, and buildings. Arnold’s CCC camp was evacuated and the camp lost twelve buildings.[2]

The rain was not only in Yosemite but the whole state. The Red Cross worked hard to help efforts in Downieville, Yuba City, Marysville, Colusa, and other places. They sent an airplane to drop food and medical supplies to the 150 members of the CCC who were evacuated to El Portal, at the entrance to Yosemite.[3]

At El Portal, service stations and homes were washed away and the hotel was evacuated. Strategic bridges were washed away and roads were blocked in the Yosemite Valley.[4] By the 13^th, most roads were open in the state except roads into Yosemite.[5]

The Camp Cascades where his company, 942, was stationed was located at the confluence of The Cascades and the Merced River. After it was washed away, the new camp was built nearer El Capitan in early 1938.[6]

The work could be dangerous, and though Arnold was not seriously hurt, another youth was killed along with twenty injured when a “truck carrying twenty-seven CCC boys skidded on ice and overturned near Wawona tunnel.”[7] Many improvements were made in the park by the CCC boys: seasonal camps, removal of invasive plants, stonework, and retaining walls.

Here is a photo of the group of CCC boys at YNP-6. I am not sure if Arnold is in this photo. If he is, he might be the young man in the second row, fifth from the right.

#52 Ancestors: Week 35: Disaster

This is my sixth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

 

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[1] Record of service, Arnold N. Nilsen, serial no. CC-9-229744, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Enrollee Records, RG 35, Records of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1953, National Archives, St. Louis.

[2] “Celebrating Yosemite Part 5 – The 1937 Yosemite Valley Flood,” BlogWest (https://blogwestdotorg.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/celebrating-yosemite-part-5-the-1937-yosemite-valley-flood/).

[3] “Sacramento High Water Recedes to Save Town,” Stockton Record, 14 Dec 1937, p. 1, col. 2.

[4] “Flood Losses in North Set at Millison,” Riverside Daily Press, 13 Dec 1937, p. 1, col. 3.

[5] “Floods Descend Upon Butte City,” San Francisco Chronicle, 13 Dec 1937, p. 1, col. 1.

[6] “CCC Camp Cascades (Demolished) – Yosemite National Park CA,” The Living New Deal (https://livingnewdeal.org/projects/cascades-ccc-camp-demolished-yosemite-national-park-ca/).

[7] “CCC Youth Killed,” Los Angeles Times, 10 Jun 1938, p. 1, col. 7.

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