The Protagonist

Life with our protagonist begins in 1916 in a small Illinois town called Cairo. He was the fourth child in a family which would eventually have six children, five boys and a girl. His parents were both second generation immigrants. His mother's parents came from Germany and his father's from Ireland.

At the time, Cairo was a bustling small town at its peak population of about 15,000. A stark difference than its current 2,800. An interesting feature of Cairo is its geography. The town borders are defined by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. No matter what the population, the area stays the same. Between all of his aunts, uncles and cousins, there were many family members around and Cairo's small geographic footprint would have put them close together.

The USA was getting ready to go through one of the biggest economic booms in its history. During his childhood in the 1920's, the economy was doing great and the country was enjoying itself. I can only imagine this was a great time and place to be a kid.

During the time Robert was growing up his father, Edward, ran a soda shop just a few blocks from their house. His father was also heavily involved with the Catholic community in Cairo, which had an influence on Robert.

Robert's mother, Hattie and her sister Lena were the German influence in the household. Lena was 15 years older than Hattie and was actually born in Germany before their family immigrated to the USA. Both still spoke German and undoubtedly had influence on Robert. They were a solid middle class family of which I've never heard anything negative.

Robert would have been 13 when the stock market came apart in 1929. In the years after that, the economy sank and the unemployment rose. That is about the time this adventure begins.

In 1934, Robert was 17. The unemployment rate was at 21.7%. Roosevelt had become president the year before and was looking not only for ways to boost the economy, but to get the country back on track. One of the new programs was the Civilian Conservation Corps (Abbreviated as CCC).

The CCC had a goal of putting young men to work on a variety of rural projects around the county. The money made from this work would largely go back to the families of the workers resulting in a stronger US infrastructure and families which were more financially stable.

Three months after turning 17, Robert signed up for the CCC in Ft. Sheridan, IL. For the next six months he spent time at Camp Minnewawa which is close to San Diego. From what I can tell, this was the first big trip he would have been on. I can imagine this was quite an adventure for a young man.

Once his six months was complete, Robert left the CCC and came back to Cairo where stayed until 1935, when he re-enrolled. This time he became part of Camp Finley in Wisconsin. This tour would take him several places in the northwest part of the country. After four months in Wisconsin, he was sent to Reedsport, OR. The next five months were spent in Oregon and Washington.

It was May of 1936 when orders came in that he was being sent to Glacier National Park. Here is where we will pick up when the journal begins.

Robert is on the left, early 1936
From Robert's CCC Photo Collection

Camp Minnewawa in California, 1933
From Robert's CCC Photo Collection