I’ve been sharing a lot of my research and about my characters as I count down to the book birthday of Along a Storied Trail coming out on Tuesday, June 1. Some of you have already gotten your hands on a copy and I thank you for reading my packhorse librarian book. But the story didn’t only talk about the Packhorse Library WPA program. While that was the main focus of the historical background, while researching I kept finding more interesting programs implemented during the Great Depression to put people to work.
One of those was the Civilian Conservation Corps (usually shortened to CCC). This corps enrolled unskilled men between the ages of 18 and 25, most of whom were from families on government assistance. Men enlisted for a minimum of six months and it was something like enlisting in the army with the same kind of discipline expected. Each worker was paid $30 a month (equal to approximately $580 today) along with room and board in barracks at the work camps. But the young men didn’t keep all their pay. They were required to send $25 home each month to help their families.
Maximum enrollment at any one time was 300,000. Through the course of its nine years in operation, 3 million young men worked in the CCC doing outdoor work. This might be planting trees, flood control, building trails and picnic areas in National and State Parks, building bridges, fighting fires and similar jobs. Many of those who enrolled were poorly educated and often destitute. Few had work experience beyond occasional odd jobs. In the Corps, they learned new skills and many who were illiterate learned to read. Peace was maintained by the threat of “dishonorable discharge.”
One newsletter boasted, “This is a training station; we’re going to leave morally and physically fit to lick ‘Old Man Depression.'”
So when I needed a reason for Caleb, one of my male characters, to be gone from the mountains for a while, I sent him off the CCC to work in the newly established Smoky Mountain National Park. I let him plant trees and build trails. Caleb Barton is a character I hope those who read my story will like getting to know. While he’s educated more than most of those who joined the CCC, he was anxious to find a job where he could work outside. Before he left for the CCC, he and Tansy talked about the American Chestnut trees and mourned that they were dying. It seemed natural for them to pray the tide would turn and the chestnuts would survive.
I don’t think those of us who never saw those gigantic trees can really understand the impact of the loss of those trees in the Appalachian Mountain range. The picture up top shows how large those trees could get. The mountain people depended on the chestnuts to feed their stock and themselves along with bringing in cash when they gathered them to sell in the cities.
Caleb’s story and Tansy’s too are intertwined with those trees and the mountains. I hope readers will cheer Caleb on as he tries to find a way to win Tansy’s heart.
Thanks for reading.
Does reading historical novels make you want to know more about the history background in the stories? Have you ever done some more research on your own after reading a novel?
Giveaway notice
Before I go, here’s a chance to win all these books – 40 of them, including my Along a Storied Trail. The deadline to enter is June 7, 2021, so get your entry in and you might get a load of books in the mail from some of your favorite authors. Check it out here.
