Roman Nose State Park near Watonga, Oklahoma

I decided to return to a spot that I went to as a child and spent the evening and morning at Roman Nose State Park. The park is named for Henry Caruthers Roman Nose, a Cheyenne Indian who owned the reservation allotment on the land where the park now sits. In August of 1935 men from the 2819th Company of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) arrived in the area tasked with the job of building a state park. The federal government created the CCC as a part of FDR's New Deal programs to create jobs during the Great Depression. This program employed men between the ages of 18 to 25 to preform public conservation work. In addition to room and board, the men were paid thirty dollars a month and were required to send twenty-five dollars back to their families. In addition to work, the men learned job skills, discipline, and they became fit and healthy. The program at Roman Nose wrapped up by 1942 as many of the young men headed into the military to fight in World War II. It was amazing to me that the work done by the CCC men 77 years ago is still beautifully in place today. I really enjoyed posing in front of the iconic entrance sign created by CCC workers as I have a picture of myself standing there as a child and one of my dad, uncle, and aunt at the same spot when they were children. This is a beautiful Oklahoma state park.