United States Forest Service Ryan Park campground, site of the historical Ryan Park Camp Ryan Park Camp is a historical site, east of the community of

Ryan Park, Wyoming Ryan Park is a census-designated place (CDP) in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States, that is located within the Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest. "Ryan Park" is designated as an acceptable place name by the United States Postal Service for ...

Carbon County, Wyoming Carbon County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 14,537. Its county seat is Rawlins. Its south border abuts the north line of Colorado. History Carbon County was organized i ...

. The camp opened in 1930 as a

Civilian Conservation Corps The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a voluntary government unemployment, work relief program that ran from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men ages 18–25 and eventually expanded to ages 17–28. The CCC was ...

(CCC) camp during the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

. Ryan Park Camp is at elevation in the

Snowy Range The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summe ...

of Wyoming's

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

in the

Medicine Bow National Forest Medicine is the science and practice of caring for patients, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practice ...

on Wyoming Highway 130. Civilian Conservation Corps was supervised by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

. Civilian Conservation Corps camp closed in 1939. From 1942 to 1945 Ryan Park Camp operated as

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

Prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

(POW) camp. Today there are no remains of the camp. The site is now a United States Forest Service public

campground Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

. A historical maker is at the entrance to the campground. Ryan Park Camp is named after Tom T. Ryan, who in 1879 founded a sawmill on the site on the western slopes of the

Medicine Bow Mountains The Medicine Bow Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains that extend from northern Colorado into southern Wyoming. The northern extent of this range is the sub-range the Snowy Range. From the northern end of Colorado's Never Summ ...

Civilian Conservation Corps

Ryan Park CCC Camp also called Ryan Park Side Camp (F-22-W), was one of 15 United States Forest Service Civilian Conservation Corps camps in the state

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

during the Great Depression. Medicine Bow National Forest had seven US Forest Service Civilian Conservation Corps camps: Ryan Park, Forest—at Pole Mountain, Chimney Park, Centennial Work Center,

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

Encampment Camp may refer to: Areas of confinement, imprisonment, or for execution * Concentration camp, an internment camp for political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or minority ethnic groups * Extermination ...

, and French Creek. The worker first lived in tents and them built their own housing. The camp was made up of young unmarried men from the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

. The camp planted tree, build roads, trails, campgrounds, and US Forest ranger stations. The camp built the Brush Creek US Forest Ranger Station and Brush Creek Work Center, which is on the

U.S. National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

list. When needed the camp also worked as

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s. Many of the Ryan Park CCC Camp projects are still in use today.

Prisoner of war camp

During World War 2, starting in 1942,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

prisoner A prisoner, also known as an inmate or detainee, is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement or captivity in a prison or physical restraint. The term usually applies to one serving a Sentence (law), se ...

s were housed at Ryan Park Camp. Ryan Park Camp prisoners of war were used for timber operations. Prisoner of war labor worked for civilian employers under the military officials and the Department of Agriculture's Extension Service. At Ryan Park the Camp prisoners worked for the R.R Crow Timber Company. R.R Crow had request POW workers, due to the war labor shortage. Crow Timber Company cut and made

railroad tie A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...

s at the Crow

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

. The camp worked six days a week, with Sunday off. The POW Labor Program benefited the US as there was shortage of labor during the war. About 164 POWs lived at the camp, with about 40 Army guards. The local logging companies paid the prisoner labor, now

lumberjack Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled us ...

s, the same as local civilians. The pay was given in camp

scrip A scrip (or ''wikt:chit#Etymology 3, chit'' in India) is any substitute for legal tender. It is often a form of credit (finance), credit. Scrips have been created and used for a variety of reasons, including exploitative payment of employees un ...

. The scrip could be used at the camp store for

candy Candy, alternatively called sweets or lollies, is a Confectionery, confection that features sugar as a principal ingredient. The category, also called ''sugar confectionery'', encompasses any sweet confection, including chocolate, chewing gum ...

soda pop A soft drink (see § Terminology for other names) is a class of non-alcoholic drink, usually (but not necessarily) carbonated, and typically including added sweetener. Flavors used to be natural, but now can also be artificial. The sweet ...

, stamps to write home and other items. At first the camp held Italians POWs. Locals enjoyed the Italians at Ryan Park as on Saturday afternoon they could hear the prisoners play music and watch them dance. In April 1944 the Italians POWs were moved out. German and Austrian POWs moved in. In April 1944 the Italians were able to volunteer for

Italian Service Units The Italian Service Units or ISUs were military units composed of Italian prisoners of war (POWs) that served with the Allies during World War II against Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan from May 1944 to October 1945. The armed forces of the ...

, this was non-combat duty in special service units of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. To join the Italian Service Unit, each Italians volunteer could sign a pledge to perform any non-combat duty to help the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

against the now common enemy,

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. About 200 young German POWs worked at Ryan Park Camp. Ryan Park Camp has one German escape event. Four German POWs escaped in July 1944, three days later they were found in the grandstand of near by rodeo. At the end of the war the camp closed in 1945. During World War II, two large POW base camps, ( Camp Douglas and Fort Francis E. Warren), and seventeen smaller camps that did agricultural and timber work were located in Wyoming. The next closest POW camp to Ryan Park POW Camp was the Centennial POW Camp on Mullen Creek, the former Mullen Creek CCC Camp. Other smaller camps in Wyoming were:

Basin, Wyoming Basin is a town in the county seat of Big Horn County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,288 at the 2020 census. The community is located near the center of the Bighorn Basin with the Big Horn River east of the town. Basin's post ...

(sugar beet harvest), Clearmont (sugar beet harvest), Deaver (sugar beet harvest), Dubois (timber camp),

Camp Esterbrook Camp Esterbrook is a historical site in the Medicine Bow National Forest in Albany County, Wyoming, Albany County of eastern Wyoming in the United States in the Laramie Mountains. Camp Esterbrook was in the Laramie Peak area, closest town is the ...

(timber camp), Huntley (sugar beet harvest), Lingle (agriculture), Lovell (remodeling the Lovell Armory and Cavalry Barn, and then sugar beet harvest),

Pine Bluffs Pine Bluffs is a town in eastern Laramie County, Wyoming, United States. It is located on the county's border with Nebraska. Pine Bluffs is part of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 censu ...

(sugar beet and potato harvest), Powell (sugar beet harvest), Riverton (sugar beet harvest), Torrington (agriculture),

Veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

(agriculture), Wheatland (agriculture), and Worland (agriculture).

Campground

At the site of the former Prisoner of war camp is now the United States Forest Service Ryan Park campground. Ryan Park campground has 47 single camp sites on three loops. The Campground is open seasonally from June to September, but dates are weather dependent. An interpretive trail, called the Moose Trail, follows perimeter of the Ryan Park Campground. Ryan Park Campground is east of

Saratoga, Wyoming Saratoga is a town in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 1,702 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Saratoga is the home of the Steinley Cup microbrew festival and competition, usually held in August at Veterans ...

References

External links

"World War II POW Camps of Wyoming with Author Cheryl O'Brien" on YouTube

Snowy Range Scenic Byway
{{Carbon County, Wyoming Buildings and structures in Carbon County, Wyoming 1930 establishments in Wyoming Buildings and structures completed in 1930 1930 in Wyoming

Civilian Conservation Corps

Prisoner of war camp

Campground

See also

References

External links