Camp Tulelake 

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, 

Tule Lake Unit 

PO Box 1240 

Tulelake, California 96134 
Introduction 

Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935, Camp Tulelake 

operated until 1942, housing at least four different companies of 

men. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) program was one part 

of the "New Deal" legislation designed to ease the effects of the 

Great Depression by putting young men between the ages of 18-25 

back to work. The program sought to teach these men new skills 

that would help them find employment at the end of their period of 

enlistment, as well as instill in them a sense of army discipline. 

Following the United State's entry in World War II, the program 

ended, and most men enlisted in the army. During the war, the 

camp found other uses; persons of Japanese ancestry from the Tule 

Lake Segregation Center (commonly known as a Japanese American 

Internment camp) and German prisoners of war alike would briefly 

make Camp Tulelake their home. At the conclusion of World War 

II, the Fish and Wildlife Service used the buildings as a sign shop for 

the Pacific region until the mid 1970s. The camp lay vacant and 

deteriorating until 2006 when the Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge 

Association successfully applied for a grant to preserve the camp 

before it was too late. Volunteer efforts by the Klamath Basin 

Wildlife Refuge Association and the Lava Beds Natural History 

Association stabilized part of the remaining barracks building. 

Camp Tulelake became a part of the Tule Lake Unit of World War II 

Valor in Pacific National Monument in 2008, and the National Park 

Service continues to work in partnership with Fish and Wildlife 

Service to continue preservation and interpretation efforts. 
Historic Camp Layout 
The buildings photographed below are identified by shading on the 

historic camp map shown on the previous page. 
The Civilian Conservation Corps stands as one of the best examples of 

inter-governmental cooperation. The US Army maintained day-today discipline in the camps, while the men did a variety of work for 

agencies including the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife and 

the Bureau of Reclamation. Throughout the camp's use, this area 

would have been an open courtyard. Here, men would have reported 

for inspections and also drilled on Saturday afternoons. Army 

discipline was a central tenant of the camps, and enlisted men could 

move up in the CCC ranks. The building (below, left) served as the 

officer's quarters for the army officers assigned to run the camp; 

today, a large mound marks the location of these quarters, as seen 

above. 
Men enlisted in the CCC received all meals and medical care at no 

extra cost. Food was not fancy, but plentiful and often better than 

what they had to eat in their home communities. During the Great 

Depression, many families could not afford to feed themselves. Men 

often sacrificed their own portions to help feed their wives, children 

or parents. Having three large meals a day, then, was a welcome 

change for many men coming to the CCC camps. Some goods were 

shipped in monthly, but most of the food, particularly fresh meat 

and vegetables were purchased locally. Not only did this provide 

better quality meals, but it also assisted the local economy. Meals 

for holidays like Thanksgiving were extra special, leaving many men 

to wish that "Thanksgiving would come more often." Beyond the 

mess hall would have been a hospital unit, which no longer stands 

today. A camp doctor provided basic care, including routine 

vaccinations. A dentist would have also regularly visited the camp. 
Men enlisted in the CCC slept in army barracks in a seemingly endless 

line of cots. A CCC company typically consisted of about 200 men 

who would have been divided between the three u-shaped barracks. 

The fourth u-shaped barracks on the map served as the education and 

recreation building. The army provided beds, linens and uniforms for 

all enlisted men, and they were expected to adhere to army standards. 

Men had little opportunity for privacy, and the barracks were 

inspected for cleanliness each day. One Saturday per month, the men 

spent up to four hours thoroughly cleaning their home, even airing the 

mattresses. 
CCC men began their days with a wakeup call as early as 5am. 

Following breakfast and inspection, the men would have departed 

for their work projects. Work projects included road building, 

stone wall and building construction, soil and game monitoring and 

other tasks. For their work, men earned $1 per day or about $30 

per month. Men received $5 as personal spending money, while 

the remaining $25 went to support the man's family. Those who 

had no family were required to place the money in a savings 

account to help support them after they left the CCC. This practice 

helped spread around the economic benefits; $25 went to 

communities all over the country to help improve conditions for 

families, while 

the CCC men 

took their 

spending 

money to local 

communities, 

supporting 

their 

economies. 

Daily Schedule 

5am: Wakeup call 

6am: Breakfast 

7am: Inspection & Load trucks for work 

7:30am-4pm: Work Project 

4pm: Return to camp and prepare for evening activities 

5pm: Evening Flag ceremony 

6pm: Dinner 

7-lights out: Recreation and Education activities 
After a long day of work, men enlisted in the CCC had time to relax. 

Inside the recreation building, men enjoyed card games or 

entertained each other with skits and music. The CCC also offered 

weekend truck service to Klamath Falls, where men could see a 

movie, shop or even date local girls. A few even met their wives this 

way! Attached to the recreation building was the education 

building. A main goal of the CCC was to teach men the skills they 

needed to successfully apply for jobs elsewhere after their six month 

enlistment periods. As many men did not have beyond a grade 

school education, many courses focused on academic subjects, like 

math and reading. Courses also included practical skills such as 

welding, diesel engine repair, typing and first aid. If the curriculum 

did not offer a 

particular skill 

or course 

needed for 

advancement, 

men could 

request that it 

be added. 
This building served as a garage, workshop and storage space. The 

camp newspaper proudly notes the installation of "truck pullers" on 

the camp trucks, which would allow vehicles to be pulled from the 

burning building without requiring men to enter. The garage and 

workshop area are some of our most fragile buildings today; recent 

harsh winters have sped up the deterioration process considerably. 

Inside the building, you can still see the concrete slabs for the 

garage, as well as assorted signage. 
enlisted in the armed 

forces. The legacy of 

the CCC lives on in 

some of the many 

work projects they 

accomplished, as 

pictured. 

The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered 

World War II. The attack on Pearl Harbor shocked and frightened 

Americans, but also caused a surge of patriotic feeling. The war 

effort mobilized all Americans to assist in the war effort by 

working in defense plants, joining the military or simply making 

sacrifices in their daily lives. Men in the CCC were swept up in the 

war as well, and many left to join the armed forces. By early 1942, 

the number of CCC 

enrollees dwindled, 

and in mid 1942 the 

program ended as 

there were not enough 

men to work on the 

projects. Those still in 

the CCC when the 

program ended 

quickly found work in 

defense plants or 
The events at Pearl Harbor created another surge of strong 

feelings, this time against the Japanese Americans. Many 

Americans believed that the Japanese Americans whose features 

and culture seemed alien to them were in fact agents of the 

Japanese government. Others, envious of Japanese Americans 

material success, sought a way to undermine Japanese American 

farms and small businesses. Following pressure from residents, 

politicians and the military on the West Coast, President Franklin 

Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. This order stated 

that a military commander could declare military areas from 

which civilians could be excluded. California, along with parts of 

Arizona, Oregon and Washington became Military Area #1; all 

persons of Japanese ancestry were excluded. Japanese American 

families received evacuation orders, which ordered them to report 

to an assembly center where they were assigned to a Relocation 

Center.. 

The Tule Lake Relocation Center (later, the Tule Lake Segregation 

Center), built approximately 10 miles outside of Tulelake in 

present day Newell, and did not use any of the facilities from the 

CCC camp at Camp Tulelake. However, in 1943, Japanese 

Americans who refused to answer a loyalty questionnaire were 

held at Camp Tulelake for about 30 days. During this time, they 

improved camp infrastructure before being transferred back to the 

Tule Lake Segregation Center. 
Later in 1943, Japanese American internees working on the camp 

farm went on strike to protest a truck accident. The accident, which 

killed the driver and injured five others, angered the incarcerated 

population, many of whom felt that poor maintenance caused the 

accident. They began a work stoppage until safety measures 

improved. Concerned that the crops might be lost if not immediately 

harvested and preferring not to negotiate with the strikers, camp 

directors brought in Japanese American internees from other camps 

to harvest the crops. These strikebreakers earned $1 per hour, easily 

making in two days what a Tule Lake worker earned in a month. To 

protect the strikebreakers from the anger of the striking population 

at the Tule Lake Relocation Center, the strikebreakers were housed at 

Camp Tulelake. 
Prisoners of War at Camp Tulelake 

The Klamath Basin economy was almost entirely based on 

farming, and by 1944, the area farmers faced a labor crisis. Most 

men who could have been hired to harvest crops had been sent to 

war, and due to the labor shortage, most migrant workers did 

not need to travel as far north as Tulelake to find work. The 

farmers petitioned the government for help. In response, the 

government converted Camp Tulelake to a Prisoner of War 

(POW) camp. 150 Italian prisoners made some changes to the 

existing camp, including adding four guard towers. Beginning in 

June, German POWs would live in the camp for the next 18 

months, helping farmers through two growing seasons. At its 

peak, the camp held 800 German POWs, who were essential to 

the harvest. Most of them proved to be hard and willing workers 

and formed close friendships with local farmers. 
After World War II 

World War II ended in 1945 and by 1946, all German POWs 

returned to Germany. The camp would not be vacant long, 

though. In 1958, the US Fish and Wildlife Service established a 

sign shop for the Pacific region in the remaining buildings. Safety 

reminders painted on the wall are a clear reminder of this period 

of the camp's life today. The mess hall was converted to housing 

for seasonal employees during the 1960s. In 1975, the Fish and 

Wildlife Service closed the sign shop, tore down a few buildings, 

moved a few others and left behind the buildings seen today. 

Camp Tulelake lay vacant until 2006. 
Working through a Preserve America's 

History grant in 2006, the Klamath 

Basin Wildlife Refuge Association and 

• the Lava Beds Natural History 

Association, volunteer groups, worked 

to stabilize the wing of the barrack 

open to the public today. Through the 

continued efforts of the National Park 

Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service 

and through the support and service of 

our volunteer groups, we hope to 

extend our stabilization and 

preservation efforts to the remaining 

buildings. In doing so, we will honor 

the legacy of the CCC to conserve our 

resources and our own mission to preserve and protect. 
Your comments are important to us! Please help us shape the future of the Tule Lake 

National Monument by writing comments below. Either return the card to a ranger or 

simply fold it in half, tape it shut and place it in the mail. 

Tule Lake Unit 

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument 

PO Box 1240 

Tulelake, CA 96134