Memories Of Camp Logan

[isuredid]

I hate to say this, but that is not where the soldier laid on the R/R tracks. If you look at the old picture where the guy is on the tracks,the tracks on the right side of the picture curve toward the right. The tracks on the left side of the picture curve out toward the left. Only one area in Camp Logan had the tracks like that, on the north side of where Old Katy Road crossed Washington Road.

The area you describe was wooded at the time (still is). I don't see any evidence of that in the photo. And that looks like the Eureka Crossing of the Washington Road in the backgroud. Another point is that Old Katy Road crossing was just above the fork or junction. The soldier photo shows two clearly separated tracks with the road crossing still ahead. The track on the right in my photo does curve off to the right, although that may not be visible in the photo I posted. The photo I took would also have been close to the Eureka Station which seems a more likely place for a soldier to be who might have been coming from or going into Houston on the train. There wasn't anything in the area you described execpt a grove of trees which are not visible in the photo.

This map was drawn while Camp Logan was still intact

Edited March 1, 2008 by isuredid

[Whitesman]

The area you describe was wooded at the time (still is). I don't see any evidence of that in the photo. And that looks like the Eureka Crossing of the Washington Road in the backgroud. Another point is that Old Katy Road crossing was just above the fork or junction. The soldier photo shows two clearly separated tracks with the road crossing still ahead. The track on the right in my photo does curve off to the right, although that may not be visible in the photo I posted. The photo I took would also have been close to the Eureka Station which seems a more likely place for a soldier to be who might have been coming from or going into Houston on the train. There wasn't anything in the area you described execpt a grove of trees which are not visible in the photo.

This map was drawn while Camp Logan was still intact

I have metal detected in the area where Old Katy Road crossed the R/R tracks. I have also been to where the Eureka Road crosses the tracks also. I have 2 pictures of the spot at Old Katy Road and the tracks taken last year. One was taken on the east side of the tracks, and one was taken on the west side of the tracks.Both were taken just on the north side of where Old Katy Road crossed the R/R tracks. The soldiers picture was taken on the east tracks, on the north side of Old Katy Road.

That is the only spot where the tracks curve outward at both tracks.It is on the map you show posted. The small curved tracks just on the south side of the Old Katy Road were part of Camp Logan also.

The old Katy Railroad tracks ( now gone) can be seen in the background of the soldiers picture laying on the tracks.

Edited March 2, 2008 by Whitesman

[isuredid]

I have metal detected in the area where Old Katy Road crossed the R/R tracks. I have also been to where the Eureka Road crosses the tracks also. I have 2 pictures of the spot at Old Katy Road and the tracks taken last year. One was taken on the east side of the tracks, and one was taken on the west side of the tracks.Both were taken just on the north side of where Old Katy Road crossed the R/R tracks. The soldiers picture was taken on the east tracks, on the north side of Old Katy Road.

That is the only spot where the tracks curve outward at both tracks.It is on the map you show posted. The small curved tracks just on the south side of the Old Katy Road were part of Camp Logan also.

The old Katy Railroad tracks ( now gone) can be seen in the background of the soldiers picture laying on the tracks.

I studied the soldier photo again and I now agree with you that the location of the photo is likely where you say it was. This is, not only for the reasons you state but also because of the soldier's shadow. If the soldier were on the tracks in my photo his shadow would be pointing south, and that can't happen.

Edited March 2, 2008 by isuredid

[Whitesman]

I have aquired some postcards and gotten some pictures of the Camp, on my photobucket site. I hope to get some more in the up coming months. If anyone has some they would like to share that I don't have, could you please PM me. I would like to add some more to my folder.

I live less than 3 miles from that area.

Thanks.

http://s119.photobucket.com/albums/o135/Wh...n/Camp%20Logan/

[Whitesman]

I read on another website that there was a Camp Logan Cemetary, just for the soldiers, about 1- 2 miles east of the camp location, close to where Blossum Street runs east/west.

Does anyone know any information about this cemetary??

[tmariar]

I see a few references to a Camp Logan Cemetery online, but no information - the closest thing to a location is a key map reference (492M).

[nm5k]

That's the first I've heard of a Camp Logan cemetery.

I looked at the key map, and 492M is appx bordered by

S.Shepherd on the west, Floyd Street to the north,

W. Dallas to the south, and Waugh/Yale to the east.

Pretty big area to search using the bird images.

I looked and saw a few places a cemetery could hiding,

but couldn't really make anything out.

492M is a good ways to the east from Camp Logan/Memorial

Park.

[FilioScotia]

That's the first I've heard of a Camp Logan cemetery.

I looked at the key map, and 492M is appx bordered by

S.Shepherd on the west, Floyd Street to the north,

W. Dallas to the south, and Waugh/Yale to the east.

Pretty big area to search using the bird images.

I looked and saw a few places a cemetery could hiding,

but couldn't really make anything out.

492M is a good ways to the east from Camp Logan/Memorial

Park.

How about some coordinates? Latitude 29

Edited June 18, 2008 by FilioScotia

[OkieEric]

How about some coordinates? Latitude 29

Edited June 18, 2008 by OkieEric

[tmariar]

How about some coordinates? Latitude 29

Edited June 18, 2008 by tmariar

[FilioScotia]

That same site says "Reported under the building at Shepherd and Buffalo Bayou" - not sure what it is referring to

The only "building" now standing at Shepherd and Buffalo Bayou is St. Thomas High School.

I'm more inclined to go by those coordinates that place it a few blocks to the northwest of that spot. That's where Google Earth puts the coordinates. There is, after all, an open space there that could be the site of an old cemetery.

Google Maps are known for their lack of precision.

I'll check it out on my way home this afternoon

Edited June 18, 2008 by FilioScotia

[tmariar]

I'll check it out on my way home this afternoon

Yeah, I'm not going to be able to look into it any further for a while. I'm thinking that emailing the person who posted the information might be the only way to get any more solid info without hitting the books... I'm guessing the cemetery website folks put some effort into finding an exact location already and just have an approximate one, hence the approximation on the coordinates.

Will check back to see what others can find!

[neuman]

Camp Logan was a hastily assembled, temporary camp for training soldiers during WWI, and I seriously doubt that they would have a cemetery dedicated solely for the few soldiers that would have died during training or during treatment at Camp Logan Hospital. Since this was an Illinois Guardsman camp, any casualties would have, most likely, been returned home. Unlike Fort Sam Houston that has been around for 140 years (40 years at the time of WWI), Camp Logan existed less than two years and would have no need for a veterans/military cemetery.

[gonzo1976]

In Trevia Wooster Beverly's book "At Rest: A Historical Directory of Harris County, Texas, Cemeteries," she says the cemetery is believed to be "under a building at Shepherd and Buffalo Bayou, supposedly now the Hillside Apartments condominiums." This information is unverifable, though, according to the book.

[tmariar]

Camp Logan was a hastily assembled, temporary camp for training soldiers during WWI, and I seriously doubt that they would have a cemetery dedicated solely for the few soldiers that would have died during training or during treatment at Camp Logan Hospital. Since this was an Illinois Guardsman camp, any casualties would have, most likely, been returned home. Unlike Fort Sam Houston that has been around for 140 years (40 years at the time of WWI), Camp Logan existed less than two years and would have no need for a veterans/military cemetery.

I'll give you this - in the case of each of the Camp Logan deaths I've been able to find quickly on the internet, the body was apparently shipped home.

However, 30,000 men were stationed at Camp Logan. Also, the Spanish flu pandemic hit in 1918, while the camp was still active, and it is estimated (as Gonzo's blog notes) that 600-700 cases were reported at Camp Logan - military camps being among the worst places to be during an epidemic at that time. Granted, not all of those cases would have turned to pneumonia (which is generally what killed people) - and the book Fever of War: The Influenza Epidemic in the U.S. Army During World War I suggests that Camp Logan may have fared better in this respect than many camps because of early hospitalization - but there still would have been far more than a few deaths at the camp during the epidemic.

Based on that, I think it is possible there was a camp cemetery - though I would need more information before I believe that there actually was one.

In Trevia Wooster Beverly's book "At Rest: A Historical Directory of Harris County, Texas, Cemeteries," she says the cemetery is believed to be "under a building at Shepherd and Buffalo Bayou, supposedly now the Hillside Apartments condominiums." This information is unverifable, though, according to the book.

Thanks for checking. A 10/28/1999 Chron article places the apartment complex "on Memorial Drive, just east of Shepherd." I think that Trevia Wooster Beverly's email address is treviawbeverly@comcast.net, if someone wants to ask for more information.

[Whitesman]

Camp Logan was a hastily assembled, temporary camp for training soldiers during WWI, and I seriously doubt that they would have a cemetery dedicated solely for the few soldiers that would have died during training or during treatment at Camp Logan Hospital. Since this was an Illinois Guardsman camp, any casualties would have, most likely, been returned home. Unlike Fort Sam Houston that has been around for 140 years (40 years at the time of WWI), Camp Logan existed less than two years and would have no need for a veterans/military cemetery.

Before it was a WW1 training camp, the area was a National Guard training camp. And the camp hospital building was in use until 1925. Agreed that most of the soldiers trained there were from Illinois, but many from the Houston/Galveston area also were trained there also.

[neuman]

Before it was a WW1 training camp, the area was a National Guard training camp. And the camp hospital building was in use until 1925. Agreed that most of the soldiers trained there were from Illinois, but many from the Houston/Galveston area also were trained there also.

While the hospital was used until 1925, it ceased being a military hospital in 1919. I would think that any troops from the area which died would be claimed by their families.

I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong and will if proven so in this case. It just seems impractical to have a cemetery dedicated to Camp Logan.

I would think an easy way to determine is to check maps of the era in the Texas room. While I haven't been there in years, I recall that they had many from the period.

[theoriginalkj]

I went to the Texas room at the Houston Public Library today and found some old photos that I hadn't seen posted anywhere else before. I took the photos with my cell phone camera, so I apologise for the poor quality. Anyone interested in better quality photos of these can request them throught the Texas Room library attendants that can have the originals pulled from the archives. I would have done this myself, but I'm told that "Jason" is the only one who has access to those photos and that I would need to see him on a weekday to do so. This Jason apprently has a pretty boss job to be able to peruse millions of historic Houston photographs whenever he wants. Those interested need to request photos from MSS-187.

[baron]

When I was doing my book on Houston streetcars I really wanted to find a photo of the streetcar turning loop at Camp Logan, but never found one. It was located at the edge of the camp near the corner of Ariel and Cohn streets, apparently across from the camp YMCA building. Surely some soldier took a snapshot of the streetcar. If anyone has such a photo I would love to see it.

[CampLogan1917]

There is an incident that happened in Houston, Texas at an Army Camp called Camp Logan which is now the site of Memorial Park and a residential neighborhood. This incident has forever after been referred to as the "Mutiny of 1917" and at the heart of it was Houston's Jim Crow laws of the times. I have no judgment about what happened, who was involved and what its outcome was. My interest is to tell the story with the help of so many intelligent, well informed and resourceful people on this site that are as good at researching all topics "Houston" as any university research group and I feel sure we will come up with all the facts.

My motivation for starting this thread is that when I started doing research on this topic and incident it was very hard for me to find information and photographs surrounding this important piece of Houston history. I have still not located any photographs related to this topic. So, I hope many of you fine contributors on this great website will help me flesh out the facts of the "Mutiny of 1917" and come up with some pertinent photographs.

Sincerely,

CampLogan1917

Edited November 5, 2008 by CampLogan1917

[wernicke]

I did my 8th grade history fair project on the Camp Logan riots... I know I had pictures of the camp, and newspaper articles about the riots. I distinctly remember going to the Julia Ideson Building to do some of the research.

Might be a good place to start.

[CampLogan1917]

Thanks for the tip and information Wernicke.

Do you still happen to have that 8th Grade paper on the Camp Logan Riots? That would be a great thing to see on this site if you didn't mind posting it. I think it would be a really good thing to see how a 13 year old thought about such an important event in the history of Houston.

Here's a little something I picked up that might be a staring place and of interest:

About Camp Logan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Camp Logan was a World War I-era army training camp in Houston, Texas. The site of the camp is now primarily occupied by Memorial Park where it borders the Crestwood neighborhood, near Memorial Elementary School, although a few chunks of concrete, many building foundations, as well as extensive training and midden trenches in the heavily-forested park are all that remain. Many of the cuts through the park are where some of Camp Logan's roads went. One stretch of a Camp Logan road remains in original condition, that being the shell surfaced service road to the golf course.

A historical marker in the park across the street from the school commemorates the camp, and the 1917 riot that occurred there. The Camp Logan Riot broke out following recurring police mistreatment of the black soldiers of the Third Battalion, Twenty-fourth United States Infantry stationed at the camp. The soldiers took guns and marched on downtown, killing police and innocent people along the way.

In recent years, Camp Logan refers to the neighborhood tucked in to the northeast corner of Memorial Park, bordered by Westcott and Arnot streets, north of Memorial Elementary School.

[misplaced txgirl]

I have an article my Dad sent me from the Brenham Banner Press in August 2004.

It tells about the "Mutiny of 1917", but no photos were in the article. I remember from years past seeing pictures involving the hangings, but have no idea anymore where...sorry

I have the writers email address and street address I will forward to you in a PM.

If we can figure out how to scan the article and post it here we will.

lynda

[CampLogan1917]

Anything you can post or send to me would be greatly appreciated, misplaced txgirl or Lynda, and I would really like to see that article from the Brenham Banner Press in August 2004. I have never seen any photos related to this story and I have read many things about it. I know that many of the mutineers were hung but I have never even hears that their were photos available. As gruesome as they must be I would like to see them for their historical value.

I read a book titled "The Houston Riot of 1917: A Night of Violence" by Robert V. Haines back in 2004. I had a devil of time finding a copy to read. I could find a used one anywhere i.e. Amazon, Barnes & Noble or any of the other book search outfits. Finally, the only way I could get a copy to read was through the inter-library loaning service offered through the Houston Library and the only place they could get a copy was through the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

One of my motivations for this topic is that there is so little information about this incident on the internet. So, if we get lots of good information on this thread people will be able to do their Google searches and get some good information about the Camp Logan Mutiny or Riot of 1917 from the Houston Architecture Information Forum. What a good thing that would be!

[misplaced txgirl]

here's my first try at inserting photo bucket...thanks to hubby for helping with this...

camp logan article...august 2004

[CampLogan1917]

Nice article, misplaced txgirl, thanks for posting it on this thread. I'm going to get in touch with the reporter that wrote that article and ask him if he has any photos related to this story. But, I know there are good posters on this site that will help. Here's a link to the Camp Logan neighborhood community with a little bit of history about Camp Logan under "About". I'm still trying to track down a photo of the Camp Logan Historical Marker but no luck so far. This is the reason I have started this thread because it is so hard to find info and photos of this incident.

As always,

CampLogan1917

[theoriginalkj]

There is an incident that happened in Houston, Texas at an Army Camp called Camp Logan which is now the site of Memorial Park and a residential neighborhood. This incident has forever after been referred to as the "Mutiny of 1917" and at the heart of it was Houston's Jim Crow laws of the times. I have no judgment about what happened, who was involved and what its outcome was. My interest is to tell the story with the help of so many intelligent, well informed and resourceful people on this site that are as good at researching all topics

Edited September 7, 2008 by Kevin Jackson

[D.J.]

I believe someone involved with the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum wrote a book about it. If you call or visit the museum here in Houston, they could probably give you a ton of info. There was a one-hour special on one of the local networks (2 or 11) about it maybe two years ago. They might have a DVD of it.

http://www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com/

[CampLogan1917]

Yes, Kevin Johnson, I am looking for photos of anything surrounding the "Mutiny of 1917". I have found any photos of this incident to be very scarce. One of the members on this thread said that they even saw photos of the actual hanging after the Courts Martial which are of interest to me from a historical perspective. So, if you have any photos of interest on this topic I would appreciate you posting them on this thread or contacting me by private correspondence.

Thank you,

CampLogan1917

Thank you, D.J., for the additional information concerning the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum here in Houston as well as the possibility of a DVD.

Regards,

CampLogan1917

[Clio]

There are two published books that address the Camp Logan incident in some detail. Robert Haynes' book, "Night of Violence," is a history of the Camp Logan mutiny. Garna Christian has an excellebt chapter on the mutiny in his book, "Black Soldiers in Jim Crow Texas."

This is a well-documented incident widely known by anyone who who knows Houston history or the history of African Americans in Texas. I lives for a time on East Cowan Street, just east of Memorial Park when I was a child. We found spoons and medical equipment in the neighborhood anytime we dug more than a few inches in the soil. (That was many years ago).