Inside Camp Cody
author: Gustafson, C.A.
source date: 1995
availability: web

Detailed magazine article on Camp Cody from Desert Winds Magazine (February 1995). Covers the three phases of Camp Cody's existence: rise (July-Nov 1917), crest (Nov 1917-Nov 1918), and decline (Nov 1918-June 1919); construction of 1,800 acres on Deming's northwest fringe; 3,000 workmen at peak activity; tent cities with eight men per pyramidal tent; Sibley stoves burning wood; the Mennonite draftees with long hair and beards who resisted military service; 45,000 total troops passing through the camp; the Liberty Theatre with its Ben Hur drop curtain; the Codyville dance halls (The Nebraska, The Iowa, The Des Moines); the 426 deaths in 1918 hospital, 60% from influenza in the last three months; the $500,000 modern sewage system with a 2,500,000-gallon septic tank whose spillway remains visible.