Arkansas National Guard Museum
Lloyd England Hall
Camp Joseph T.
Robinson
North Little Rock,
Arkansas
501-212-5215
http://www.arngmuseum.com/
3D model
of Camp Pike as it appeared in 1918.
Attempt
to stop construction fails
Before work started, a group of officers from Fort Roots made an adverse report
about the location of the new post to General Leonard Wood, commander,
Department of the Southeast.
General Wood decided to visit the site, approved the selection and contracts
were awarded.
Plans were prepared by Black & Veatch of Kansas City. James Stewart and Company
of St. Louis was awarded the construction contract calling for the completion of
1,100 buildings.
Work started in July 1917. Some facts:
The work force, at its peak, was 10,000 men.
Payroll averaged $300,000 a week
1,500 workers were imported from Puerto Rico
At the peak of construction, 1,000,000 board feet of lumber arrived each day by
train, was loaded onto horse drawn wagons, taken to the job sites and nailed up.
The first troops arrived on September 5, 1917.
The first man to register was Walter Sherman Sarten, a farmer from Bentonville,
Arkansas.
Fire Department - Four orange buildings.
Knights of Columbus Hall
Theatre
Major John R. Fordyce
Typical Barracks
Some Facts About Camp pike
All new soldiers were quarantined in quarters for 10 days on arrival to prevent
the spread of disease.
Soldiers slept on the top floor of their buildings, about 100 per building. The
mess hall, supply room and offices were on the first floor.
The soldiers slept on straw mattresses. Weather permitting, the cots and
mattresses were moved outside daily and the floors scrubbed. The straw in the
mattresses was changed each week.
Camp Pike had a major impact on the economy of central Arkansas. In one three
month period, the quartermaster ordered:
6,000 tons of hay
4,400 tons of oats
1,450 tons of straw
2,500 tons of blacksmith's coal
2,500 tons of ice
1,000 tons of fresh beef.
Remount Depot
Auxiliary Remount Depot #317 took care of the over 3,800 horses and mules
assigned to Camp Pike. Consisting of 160 acres, the depot was located south and
west of the current North Little Rock airport.
Remount Road in North Little Rock was so named because it was the original road
to the remount depot. There were more than 400 soldiers assigned to the depot
and their barracks were on the depot, as were the officer's quarters. In
addition to the barracks, mess halls and other administrative buildings there
were 25 corrals that comprised about 9 1/2 miles of fencing five feet high,
built of two-inch plank. There were 8,500 feet (1.6 miles) of double hay racks,
8,000 feet (1.5) miles of feed troughs and 69 water troughs.
Remount Baseball Team
Remount Depot staff (left to right), seated:
CPT G.W. Tilly, Maj. L.B. Cullen Jones, CPT Oliver A. Barber; standing
: 2LT Hugh Gelston, 1LT James K. Bradas, 1LT Pat C. Winfree, 2LT Walter H. Hauer.
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