J.B. Wooten, a longtime teacher in Grand Junction, Colorado, talks about aspects of life in the Civilian Conservation Corps in Mesa County in the 1930’s. Wooten, who began working for the CCC as a Lead Man in 1932, describes both the regular CCC camp and the transient-labor CCC camp that existed on the Colorado National Monument during that time. He speaks about working conditions, hazards, accidents, and fatalities in work that CCC members conducted He reflects on projects that they conducted, including the construction of the Coke Ovens Trail on the Monument. He remembers his work as a Camp Steward, helping to keep CCC men out of jail for drunkenness, diffusing tensions between local CCC men and those from elsewhere, and being a camp leader. He describes the purpose of the CCC as a source of income for the men and their families during the Great Depression, as a job training program, and as a producer of public projects. He talks about Thomas Secrest, the head engineer on the project, about winters on the Monument, and food served in the camps. The interview was conducted by the Mesa County Oral History Project, a collaboration of Mesa County Libraries and the Museums of Western Colorado.
