Life at Stapp -- Horse Thief Springs historic site, Leflore Co. OK
N 34° 44.264 W 094° 43.617
15S E 341903 N 3845317
One of two interpretive signs at the Civilian Conservation Corps' Horse Thief Springs project
Waymark Code: WMX76Z
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 12/06/2017
Views: 2
Horse Thief Springs is an important historic site along the Talimena Scenic Byway. The springs provided water along the trail for Choctaw Indians and white settlers. In the 1930s, the men of the Stapp Camp of the Civilian Conservation Corps built open springhouses out of native stone and improved both the springs and campsites for tourists.
One of the two interpretive signs (that have seen better days) reads as follows:
LIFE AT STAPP
Discipline + Hard Work = Self-Esteem
A typical day at the Stapp Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp began with reveille at 4:30 a.m., a hearty breakfast at 5:30 and work began at 6. The day's work included crushing rocks, clearing and graveling roads, constructing buildings and rock walls. Occasionally fires broke out in the forest or along the train tracks, and work was halted long enough to extinguish the blaze. At 4:00pm supper was served and lights were out by 8:30.
In addition to hard work and hot meals, the CCC provided enrollees with clothes, medical services, and an education. Enrollees worked for $30.00 a month, generally keeping $5.00 for spending and sending the rest home to their families.
In retrospect, perhaps the most valuable product of the CCC program was endowing of this nation's young men with self-esteem.
Stapp Camp operated from 1934 to 1941. The camp was built in the site previously occupied by the Buschow Lumber Company. CCC enrollees planted many areas of forest devastated by this company's lumber-cutting practices."
Group that erected the marker: National Park Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Horse Thief Springs historic site
Talimena Scenic DriveOK
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