Summer Camp: Henryville, Clark State Forest

The first modern Purdue Log, published in 1959, included an article about summer camp. It was motivated no doubt by the fact that 1959 was the year camp moved from Henryville, Indiana to Lost Lake Camp near Tipler, Wisconsin . The article, titled Henryville’s First Rangers, follows in full:

The first Purdue Forestry Camp, held in the summer of 1929, on Clark State Forest, was unique in several respects. The entire Forestry student body was there, ranging from those who had just finished their freshman year to those ready to start their senior year. Current camp staff members probably would claim it to be impossible to teach a group exhibiting such a range in training. Yet it was done, and successfully, with this first group.

Those whose conception of camp life is one of roughing it would have enjoyed this first summer. There was no water supply of any kind at the camp site; water for drinking, cooking and dish washing was hauled in in milk cans. When rains left pools in the usually dry creeks there were opportunities for bathing and doing laundry. Sanitary facilities such as exist today were not even a dream then!

The “old red barn” (which it literally was) provided space for cooking and dining, and also doubled as a study hall. The colored cook claimed to be a meat (fat pork, that is) cook, but the quantities of French toast served by him were such as to satisfy the desires of some of the students for French toast for 25 years afterwards, even though originally they may have considered it a tasty dish. Also, his system of cooking was such that food which could not be fried was considered as hardly fit for human consumption.

Living quarters consisted of tents erected over wood platforms, each one accommodating two men. Even by standards of those days they were not spacious, having enough space for two bunks and a walkway between. Other than the tents and the red barn the only other “structure” in camp was a canvas fly stretched as a roof over a platform, providing a spot for visiting and loafing in the shade.

With one student car (a Model T Ford, of course) in camp there was not the evening and week-end exodus which now occurs. Entertainment in camp consisted of a crank-wound phonograph; other than that it was largely what the students could provide themselves.

Twenty-three of the twenty-eight students at camp finished their forestry training. Of these twenty-three, about two-thirds of them still are in forestry or related activities, and at least six of them have taken graduate training to earn M.S. or Ph.D. degrees. An interesting note is that two staff members associated with the first camp have been with the Department ever since; they are “Prof” Prentice and Dan DenUyl.

And so with this camp we are done’
And while it hasn’t all been fun,
We do remember with satanic joys
The time that a group of the boys,
Took down the bell and dropped the clapper
Down, Deep, into a convenient ----------------------,
And painted on that famous slogan
To leave behind as a parting token”
In Desperadum
Non Bastatorum
Non Carborundum.”

NOTE:Considering the context a likely translation of the last three lines in Latin is,

Even though I’m in despair and without hope,
I won’t let the b******* weigh me down,
Nor, grind me down.

Click here for all five pages of the complete Henryville Saga from the files of Scott Brundage. Marcus’ translation of the Latin is included.

As the saga indicates training focused on field work, as shown in the photos provided in the Summer Camp Album.

As the Logs for the 1930’s to 1950’s demonstrate, poetry was a major form of self-expression for forestry students at Henryville. Today’s students find this almost impossible to believe. The longest tenure as camp director was held by Charlie Miller. He was either a poet to begin with, or was influenced by the students to become one. He was and most likely will remain the “poet laureate” of the department. No collection of his poems has been located, but examples appear in the Log. This one was published in the 1969 Purdue Log, p. 3, reflects life as a student at summer camp.

Now I lay me down to sleep,
My life may our Director keep.
May this place wherein I dwell
Wind-storm, rain, and bugs repel.
Let no classmate misdirected
Fell a tree where least expected.
May the cooks in making stew
Put in beef that I can chew.
Make my legs strong and limber
For plodding through swamp and timber.
Blank my mind of game preserves
Pellet counts and volume curves.
The sampling block and total heights
Tally sheets and cruiser’s plights.
And when I leave this rough abode
And drive the fearsome forest road
Let my car withstand the jolts
And not lose all its nuts and bolts
Nor waver to the treacherous side
And end up in the flowing tide.
And till dawn replaces night
Make me void of thoughts of flight.
And thanks to him who directs us all,
And guides us through the day’s worst pall.

The Purdue Log 1960, p. 61, included a page titled “ ‘Old Timers’ at Henryville.” Only the three group photos below were included. Apparently these show those attending Henryville Forestry Camp reunions.

A summer camp yearbook was produced by Clement Bryan and his classmates while at Henryville. He was a student from 1933 to 1937. In addition to the “yearbook” provided by his daughter Barbara Bryan Heilers, Houston, OH, she provided photos from his Henryville photo album, which are located in the Summer Camp Album, and his last poem, written several days before he died. Also included were photos of how forestry students dressed on campus, well, at least for special occasions.

No summer camp was held from 1942 to 1945 because of WWII. C.I. “Charlie” Miller, Professor Emeritus at the time, wrote “Reminiscences of the Henryville Forestry Camp” for the 1985 Purdue Log. In the article he details the reopening of the camp after WWII. His comparison of Henryville Forestry Camp to a WWII Marine Camp on Guadalcanal were based on Charlie’s service as a Marine Corps officer in the war. Here is his description of Forestry Camp in 1946. –