Memories Of Camp Logan

[plumber2]

My grandmother, who was 18 or 19 at the time of the incident, told the story to us grandkids when we were young teenagers. Her family lived north of downtown, near were the Southern Pacific Hospital was built. They heard the commotion from their house but did not actually witness the riot. She told the story as it was told to her from people who "claimed" to haved witnessed it. I do remeber her using the "N" word several times in her story to emphasize the point.

This incident was "The Story" of her times.

I guess we all have such incidents that mark our era. The "Moody Park Riot" comes to mind for me. Although the facts seem to be getting cloudier as the years go by.

[tmariar]

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!

In doing internet searches on this topic, I suggest you try the term "1917 riot" alone, and in combination with "Houston", and in combination with "Logan". You'll find there is actually a lot of information available on the internet. This page links to a few of the better sources (including the first chapter of the Haines book and a website for a documentary regarding the riot), as does this page. I especially like this hand-drawn map and the site's related information - there are photos incorporated if you go through it. I've also found a lot of information in newspapers from the time period.

For additional photos, you can start with the HAIF Camp Logan Pictures thread. There are also a lot of Camp Logan photos on the Houston History site if you dig around.

I think I might have seen a photo of one of the hangings once, but can't recall where. Someone else may be able to give you a link. I believe the hangings were at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, and so you might use those terms in your searches.

Good luck with your research - it is a fascinating topic.

[CampLogan1917]

Thanks to tmariar, plumber2, Clio and all the others so for your contributions to this thread. It's important to me that this topic gets the attention necessary so that as much background, history and photos be gathered in one place for other people to read long after this time we're living in. The motivation was my niece was trying to write a school paper on this topic and was having a hard time gathering info and pictures for her story. So, I got on the internet and did some search and found information and especially photos to be lacking on this topic.

Now, there are a number of people that seem knowledgeable about the "Mutiny of 1917" which is all well and good but all of us are not as fortunate to have all the knowledge they have. So, that's why people like my niece and I are asking for help from people just like that that have lots of knowledge about something we don't have as much knowledge about.

Thanks for listening.

CampLogan1917

[camplogan17]

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.

Hello I am CampLogan17 and I have still photographs and I will post them online here in this forum.

I have to do it one at a time I guess the files are too large.

Here is where I got them:

1. Fort Sam Houston Museum

MCCS-GPTMS-M

2250 Stanley Road Suite 36

Fort Sam Houston, Texas 78234-6111

Phone: 210.221.1886

"4.jpg" comes from here.

http://ameddregiment.amedd.army.mil/fshmuse/fshmusemain.htm

Museum Director: Mr. John Manguso

john.manguso@amedd.army.mil

2. Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery

1520 Harry Wurzbach Road

San Antonio, TX 78209

Phone: (210) 820-3891

FAX: (210) 820- 3445

3. Fondren Library at Rice University

4. Schomberg Collection at the New York Public Library

5. Mr. Mike Kaliski from San Antonio, Texas. Museum Director John Manguso can put you in contact with Mr. Kaliski.

john.manguso@amedd.army.mil

[CampLogan1917]

camplogan17,

I knew somebody out there had some photographs from this incident and if I kept asking somebody would come through. You did BIG time. Thank you for all the good information and the 1st photo. This topic was the reason I finally registered to do postings on this great site. I had been monitoring this website for sometime now but finally I had to start asking the questions to do what I have said in earlier posts which is to get as much information about the "Mutiny of 1917" with the terrible tragedy was.

I look forward to additional post by you of other information and photos. And, thank you very much for your contribution of information and photos.

With regards,

CampLogan1917

[camplogan17]

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

CampLogan1917 again

The images are 450K and too large to add to this file.

I don't know what to do as I am computer challenged.

CampLogan1917 again

The images are 450K and too large to add to this file.

I don't know what to do as I am computer challenged.

[CampLogan1917]

camplogan17, I'm going to send you a private message that you can pick up by clicking on "My Controls" and then looking for your inbox and when you find it clicking on my message which will say, "CampLogan1917". In there we'll talk about what to do about this problem.

Regards,

CampLogan1917

[tmariar]

Glad to hear someone had some photos. If y'all would like them posted on this thread for others, but have trouble because of the file sizes, feel free to pm me and I'll help. I too think it's a good idea to have information concentrated in one place, and maybe the moderators will see fit to merge the few Camp Logan/1917 Riot threads we have now - in addition to the one I mentioned above, there is also a Camp Logan Cemetery (referring to a possible camp cemetery) thread.

[CampLogan1917]

I'm continuously amazed at the high quality of the research skills so many of the members of this website possess. I went to the link you provided for the "Camp Logan Cemetery" thread, tmariarand there was such good information and the background showed that someone had dug down deeply to find out the facts they shared on that thread. Some of those contributors are going to get a pm from me asking them about some of their techniques and skills in researching information.

Thank you for this very informative post, tmariarand, and I'm glad to hear that you support the idea of having all the information possible concerning the "Mutiny of 1917" located in one place. I think that is awesome!

My best,

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

I was doing some research on a place in Houston called the Camp Logan Sandwich Shop that use to be on W. Dallas near downtown that does no longer seem to be in business. I did a Google search on "Camp Logan Sandwich Shop" and this article in the New York Times what some would consider the venerable "old" New York Times was the 1st thing that popped up. I read the article but it wasn't really about the Camp Logan "Mutiny of 1917" It was a story about the two black men that went on trial for beating the white truck driver during the "Rodney King Riots" in Los Angeles in 1993.

There was a slight reference to the Camp Logan Sandwich Shop with even a slighter reference to the Camp Logan "Mutiny of 1917". And, what caused me to include this in this thread is the fact that all the facts that the New ork Times listed about the "Mutiny of 1917" were wrong including even the war that was associated with it. The actual Camp Logan "Mutiny of 1917" happened duing WWI and the New York Times referred to a "WWII race riot". If you want to read the whole opriginal article it is located at:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html...mp;pagewanted=1

This is one of the reasons I started this thread because contrary to some of the contributors to this thread the facts in this incident are not generally known. They maybe known by a few but the vast majority do not know the facts and teaching the facts to the younger generations that are coming up is important. I have underlined the pertinent pasages I referred to in the acticle below.

Thanks for your indulgence.

CampLogan1917

Aftershocks of Verdicts Rumble Across the Nation

By PETER APPLEBOME,

Published: October 22, 1993

Far from Los Angeles, the verdict reverberated across the United States today, playing out like a Rorschach test of gaping racial divisions.

On talk shows and in interviews in several cities, many whites saw a judicial breakdown in the trial of two black men charged with beating a white truck driver at the start of the Los Angeles riots. Some linked it to an outdated and hypocritical national discourse on race that, they said, has turned criminal issues into civil rights ones.

"It was a tremendous miscarriage of justice," said Pat Warriner, a 49-year-old businessman who just moved to Atlanta. "If it was white guys beating on a black guy, they would have hung them." Division Among Blacks

For blacks, if there was little of the outrage felt by many whites, there seemed to be more division. Many felt that the verdicts returned against Damian M. Williams and Henry K. Watson for attacks on Mr. Denny and other motorists were too light and were as indefensible as the acquittal of the police officers who beat Rodney G. King two and a half years ago in Los Angeles. Others saw a measure of justice in the verdicts that completed a cycle that began with the outrage over the acquittal of the officers on April 29, 1992.

"Justice was done," said Gladys House, a black woman who manages the Camp Logan sandwich shop in Houston, which is named for the scene of a World War II Army race riot. "Usually, there is no justice for blacks in this country."

What the blacks and whites interviewed agreed on, however, was that the verdicts reflected the fear of riots as much as the evidence introduced in court, and that the torn social fabric in Los Angeles is not much different than it is anywhere else.

[CampLogan1917]

Whew! It took me awhile to figure out how to add more photos to my posts but with the generous help from Karick42 I'm ready to go again and make some additions in the form of postings of photos of interest. Thank you, Karick42. Well, here goes we'll see what I learned! What this is supposed to be is the cover of a book titled, "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" by Marguerite Johnston, Copyright 1991, by Texas A7M University Press. Along with excepts from Chapter Thirty-Six titled, "Mutiny", pgs. 200-2004. By the way this is a very good book about the entire history of the City of Houston from 1836 through 1946. I need to find out if she wrote a book covering 1946 to the present!

CampLogan1917

Edited September 26, 2008 by CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

The book cover of, "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" by Marguerite Johnston, Copyright 1991, by Texas A7M University Press. Excepts from Chapter Thirty-Six titled, "Mutiny", pgs. 200-2004 to follow.

I guess I figured it out! Maybe!!

CampLogan1917

Edited September 13, 2008 by CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

Page 1 of 5 "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" Chapter 36, page 200

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[CampLogan1917]

Page 2 of 5 "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" Chapter 36, page 201

[CampLogan1917]

Page 3 of 5 "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" Chapter 36, page 202

">

[CampLogan1917]

I'm hoping to get some help with photos and stories concerning the "Mutiny of 1917". I can't do it myself! I don't have the knowledge, resources or know how to do this myself. So, please help with this project. I have so little information about the aftermath of the "Mutiny......" specifically, the courts-martial, sentencing and executions and/or prison sentences. I hope some of you will step up.

Thank you, ahead of time.

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

Page 4 of 5 "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" Chapter 36, page 203

">

[CampLogan1917]

Page 5 of 5 "Houston: The Unknown City 1836-1946" Chapter 36, page 204. The 5th and final page of this story.

">

[CampLogan1917]

I guess I'm not going to get any help with the heavy lifting today so here goes. Hopefully somebody will come along and get inspired with me and help.

In the spring of 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany, the U.S. Army ordered the construction of Camp Logan, to facilitate the training of American soldiers. The black 24th Infantry Company was ordered, on July 27, 1917, to guard the construction of the site. The company was stationed in the state of Illinois; a majority of the men had been born & raised in the south & were familiar with segregation, but as army servicemen, many figured, inequality wouldn't be an issue. From the very onset, the black soldiers faced racial discrimination when they received passes to go into Houston. The established elite of the city, & those sworn to protect it-the police & other public officials-viewed the presence of black soldiers as a threat to racial harmony. A large majority of white Houstonians feared that if the black soldiers were shown the same respect as white soldiers, black Houstonians would expect & demand similar treatment. Feeling unsupported, the black soldiers were willing to abide by the legal restrictions imposed by segregated practices, but they resented the manner in which the laws were enforced. They disliked having to stand in the rear of streetcars when vacant seats were available in the "white" section & resented the racial slurs hurled at them by white laborers at Camp Logan. Some police officers regularly harassed African Americans, both soldiers & civilians alike. Most black Houstonians concealed their hostility & endured the abuse, but a number of black soldiers openly expressed their resentment. When ways to keep the enlisted men at the camp were attempted, the blacks disliked this exchange of their freedom for racial peace. The signs of discord were evident for the world to see, but the white officers & city officials did nothing to stop or even impede the pending eruption of violence. The crosswalk in the picture marks the former main entrance to camp.

">

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

On August 23, 1917, two white policemen arrested a black soldier for interfering with their arrest of a black woman. When a black MP inquired about the soldier's arrest, words were exchanged, & one of the policemen struck the MP. The MP fled; & while fleeing, the MP was fired upon. The MP was pursued into an unoccupied house, where he was arrested & brought to police headquarters. Despite a quick & unhindered release, a rumor rapidly reached Camp Logan that the MP had been shot & killed. After several minutes of mounting tension, the rumor mill brought word to camp that the MP was in fact alive but being held unlawfully. After intense debate, a group of soldiers conclude to march onto the police station in Fourth Ward & secure the MP's release. If the police could assault model soldiers like the military police, they reasoned, none of them were safe from abuse. Realizing something foul was afoot, the white officers of the company ordered the collection of all rifles & loose ammunition. During this process, word of an approaching white mob struck fear into the hearts of the men. In a wild scurry to defend themselves, the soldiers rushed into the supply tents, grabbed rifles & ammunition, & then embarked on a two-hour march into the city, hoping to curb the mob. The white officers found it impossible to restore order. Over a 100 armed soldiers marched into the Fourth Ward, where they encountered the mob: members of which consisted of Klansmen & supporters, police officers, & members of Houston's elite white class, who saw armed blacks as a threat to their ruling order. There was an intense exchange of fire, lasting for several minutes, which resulted in the death of many people. The structure in the picture was the last remains from Camp Logan but it is gone, too, now.

CampLogan1917

[theoriginalkj]

On August 23, 1917, two white policemen arrested a black soldier for interfering with their arrest of a black woman. When a black MP inquired about the soldier's arrest, words were exchanged, & one of the policemen struck the MP. The MP fled; & while fleeing, the MP was fired upon. The MP was pursued into an unoccupied house, where he was arrested & brought to police headquarters. Despite a quick & unhindered release, a rumor rapidly reached Camp Logan that the MP had been shot & killed. After several minutes of mounting tension, the rumor mill brought word to camp that the MP was in fact alive but being held unlawfully. After intense debate, a group of soldiers conclude to march onto the police station in Fourth Ward & secure the MP's release. If the police could assault model soldiers like the military police, they reasoned, none of them were safe from abuse. Realizing something foul was afoot, the white officers of the company ordered the collection of all rifles & loose ammunition. During this process, word of an approaching white mob struck fear into the hearts of the men. In a wild scurry to defend themselves, the soldiers rushed into the supply tents, grabbed rifles & ammunition, & then embarked on a two-hour march into the city, hoping to curb the mob. The white officers found it impossible to restore order. Over a 100 armed soldiers marched into the Fourth Ward, where they encountered the mob: members of which consisted of Klansmen & supporters, police officers, & members of Houston's elite white class, who saw armed blacks as a threat to their ruling order. There was an intense exchange of fire, lasting for several minutes, which resulted in the death of many people. The structure in the picture was the last remains from Camp Logan but it is gone, too, now.

...and WHERE exactly was this last remaining structure located and approximately when did it get demolished?

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

I don't have any idea about either of your question -- where this location is and when it was torn down. Maybe someone that has knowledge of those two questions can post the answer to them on here. That way maybe we can get some participation going. Kevin Jackson, you mentioned that you have upwards of a dozen photos on this topic. I would encourage you to post them here if you are of a mind to. Thanks.

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

Were there Sanborn Maps for Texas? If so maybe if someone has access to them they might show if there was a cemetery located anywhere near the above mentioned location. And, if there are not Sanborn Maps for Texas I'm sure there must be some other kinds of maps used for insurance purposes. What do you think? I'm sure the architects and builders on this site would know.

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

Major General John Wilson Ruckman, whose name was already a mainstay in the nation's leading newspapers, had drawn exceptional attention to himself by building a set of gallows overnight and sending thirteen soldiers to their death at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The hangings were in relation to courts martial following the Houston Riots of 1917.

CampLogan1917

Edited October 5, 2008 by CampLogan1917

[Whitesman]

On August 23, 1917, two white policemen arrested a black soldier for interfering with their arrest of a black woman. When a black MP inquired about the soldier's arrest, words were exchanged, & one of the policemen struck the MP. The MP fled; & while fleeing, the MP was fired upon. The MP was pursued into an unoccupied house, where he was arrested & brought to police headquarters. Despite a quick & unhindered release, a rumor rapidly reached Camp Logan that the MP had been shot & killed. After several minutes of mounting tension, the rumor mill brought word to camp that the MP was in fact alive but being held unlawfully. After intense debate, a group of soldiers conclude to march onto the police station in Fourth Ward & secure the MP's release. If the police could assault model soldiers like the military police, they reasoned, none of them were safe from abuse. Realizing something foul was afoot, the white officers of the company ordered the collection of all rifles & loose ammunition. During this process, word of an approaching white mob struck fear into the hearts of the men. In a wild scurry to defend themselves, the soldiers rushed into the supply tents, grabbed rifles & ammunition, & then embarked on a two-hour march into the city, hoping to curb the mob. The white officers found it impossible to restore order. Over a 100 armed soldiers marched into the Fourth Ward, where they encountered the mob: members of which consisted of Klansmen & supporters, police officers, & members of Houston's elite white class, who saw armed blacks as a threat to their ruling order. There was an intense exchange of fire, lasting for several minutes, which resulted in the death of many people. The structure in the picture was the last remains from Camp Logan but it is gone, too, now.

CampLogan1917

The above picture is not the last structure from the Camp.

From this old Houston Post article below,I had found,this water tank and brick structure was still intact as of earlier this year (2008), I took a few pictures of it and it IS still there.

I had emailed the author of this article and he stated that a few "experts", looked at the structure, but no final conclusion was made,as to if it was or was not , a Camp structure.

In the thread of Camp Logan pictures I posted a link to my 40+ Camp Logan postcard/pictures on my Photobucket site.

Edited October 5, 2008 by Whitesman

[Whitesman]

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.

Anyone know the location or have a picture of where the Camp Logan Drugstore was located at???

[CampLogan1917]

It's interesting to see all the Camp Logan photos and post cards but I'm still looking for photos related to the Camp Logan Riot or Mutiny, participants, officials, victims, Houston residents, aftermath, courts martial, executions and grave sites. So, I hope there are folks out there with these kinds of photos that would like to post them on this thread.

CampLogan1917

[CampLogan1917]

">

"We met an automobile with a white man in it. They stopped him and Sergeant (Vida) Henry told the white man to get out of the car, but he did not get out, and all the soldiers that was up in front shot the man. I judged that about 50 shots were fired at the man."

This was a sworn statement Leroy Pinkett, an Army private, gave to Houston police.

On this day in 1917, a group of soldiers assigned to Camp Logan marched down Washington Avenue, Shepherd Drive, continued along what is now West Dallas, past Montrose and stopped near Valentine Street, where Founders' Cemetery is located today. Along the way, Houston police officers fired on the troops and vice versa. A few Houstonians, curious about the commotion, were shot dead or bayoneted.

Although tensions between the soldiers and police officers had been strained since the soldiers' arrival earlier that summer, it was rumors over the treatment of an off-duty military policeman that sparked the riot. Rather than restate the specifics of what happened that evening, I've listed some other sites that go into more detail about the event below.

But let's not forget the end results.

Five Houston police officers were killed in the melee:

Rufus H. Daniels, mounted police officer

E.G. Meinke

Horace Moody

Ross Patton, mounted police officer

Ira D. Raney, mounted police officer

Four soldiers were killed:

Capt. J.W. Mattes

Sgt. Vida Henry

M.D. Everton

Bryant W.

Eight Houstonians were killed:

Eli Smith

"Senator" Satton, barber

E.M. Jones

Earl Finley, age 16

A.R. Carstens, painter

Manuel Garredo

Fred Winkler, age 19

C.W. Wright

Military tribunals indicted 118 enlisted soldiers for their part in the riot. Of those, 110 were found guilty. Nineteen mutinous soldiers were hanged, 63 received life sentences and one was judged not competent to stand trial. No white civilians were brought to trial, the Handbook of Texas reports.

Credited to:

The old Bayou City History at:http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://img92.imageshack.us/img92/3012/ww1xi7.jpg&imgrefurl=http://bayoucityhistory.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html&h=689&w=500&sz=267&hl=en&start=72&um=1&usg=__CIN_ZRdi8cpFpS7uqpr4MUBOnhc=&tbnid=ypIHW-WLie6grM:&tbnh=139&tbnw=101&prev=/images%3Fq%3DHouston%252Btexas%252Bcamp%2Blogan%252Bhistoric%2Bmarker%252Bphoto%26start%3D54%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26channel%3Ds%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN

I have combed the web as much as I know how to find a photo of the Texas Historical Marker for the Camp Logan Riot/Mutiny of August, 1917. If anyone has a photo of this marker I would appreciate them posting it in this thread.

CampLogan1917

Edited October 6, 2008 by CampLogan1917

[theoriginalkj]

I went out to investigate the old Camp Logan remains mentioned in the old newspaper article about them possibly being in the abandoned stretch of Memorial Park just west of the 610 Loop West. I went this morning while the weather was nice and wasn't too hot. Finding the trail and getting started was very easy, and with a GPS phone with satellite imagery with me, I guess you could say I was cheating by looking for the reported remains. I got to about approximately 80 yards of the 100 yard path leading down the turn off, when large freshly downed trees made it impossible to continue without drifting off newspaper article described path considerably..

[ Looking at gate, N toward Woodway.]

[ Looking S toward downed trees.]

After turning to the west toward the reported "path" and clearing, which at this point was only a very short slightly downhill jog toward the bayou, I had to continue skimming the often sandy bayou beach until I reached a point along the bayou where there was what appeared to be a dry stream bed of some type leading to the bayou. It was at this point that the Camp Logan remains were only a short walk away. Once passing the dry stream bed, the embankment climbed steeply up a hill in the S/SSE direction where the remains were located...

[ Looking SE toward the back side of the Camp Logan remains. The front and front door of both the feed tank (or whatever it is) and the shed next to it face directly toward the path, provided I had been able to stay on the path. You can see the straight line in the satellite imagery that make up the walking path, but Hurricane Ike clearly hasn't been nice to these parts, with the path far harder follow and make out this deep into the forrest. ]

[ Closer shot of behind remnants...]

[ Side of shed next to feed tank.]

[ Front door of shed next to feed tank.]

[ Inside the shed next to the feed tank. The milk carton is a sure sign that others have visited here, or even tried to live here.]

[ Camera facing down inside bricked base of feed tank toward front door.]

Well, I was hoping for myself to have a clearer idea whether or not I believed this to be the last remains of Camp Logan. My hunch tells me that these are NOT the remains of Camp Logan, but more likely the remains of another property owners storage shed and feed tank just west of the old Camp Logan camp and property. We know the fairly precise boundaries of the old Camp Logan training base and it's all been documented in carefully drawn out maps, and I have a hard time believing that this area, this far from Camp Logan central, is connected to it in any way. It's certainly possible..

The GPS coordinates that my phone reported for this location to be 29.7628N, 95.4584W which I turned into a GoogleEarth satellite map... I'm very curious to the full nature and history of the path that leads down through the middle of this stretch of Memorial Park. While the path clearly goes very close to these old remants of Camp Logan, they don't go close enough to what I'd call a 'driveway' to them nor is the path efficient enough to be considered a maintenance path to the pipeline and telephone pole lines that slice through the very bottom (south) edge of this park land.

I also found this topographic map on Microsoft TerraServer that shows the land as it was topo'd back in 1982, so 26 years ago and counting, and I found it interesting that the topographic map clearly shows the path going south for a good distance before the map fails to continue drawing it, but the location of a structure is clearly shown and identifies it at the top of a hill. The part that is strange about this is that the structure indicated shows it immediately next to and at the end of the path, yet the current location is considerably further west and slightly north of this location. Notice also the small 'lake' shown just south of the bayou right above the "50" foot elevation marker, yet this current location is home to tennis courts and condo's along the posh Riverway Drive.

Edited October 11, 2008 by Kevin Jackson

[Whitesman]

I went out to investigate the old Camp Logan remains mentioned in the old newspaper article about them possibly being in the abandoned stretch of Memorial Park just west of the 610 Loop West. I went this morning while the weather was nice and wasn't too hot. Finding the trail and getting started was very easy, and with a GPS phone with satellite imagery with me, I guess you could say I was cheating by looking for the reported remains. I got to about approximately 80 yards of the 100 yard path leading down the turn off, when large freshly downed trees made it impossible to continue without drifting off newspaper article described path considerably..

[ Looking at gate, N toward Woodway.]

[ Looking S toward downed trees.]

After turning to the west toward the reported "path" and clearing, which at this point was only a very short slightly downhill jog toward the bayou, I had to continue skimming the often sandy bayou beach until I reached a point along the bayou where there was what appeared to be a dry stream bed of some type leading to the bayou. It was at this point that the Camp Logan remains were only a short walk away. Once passing the dry stream bed, the embankment climbed steeply up a hill in the S/SSE direction where the remains were located...

[ Looking SE toward the back side of the Camp Logan remains. The front and front door of both the feed tank (or whatever it is) and the shed next to it face directly toward the path, provided I had been able to stay on the path. You can see the straight line in the satellite imagery that make up the walking path, but Hurricane Ike clearly hasn't been nice to these parts, with the path far harder follow and make out this deep into the forrest. ]

[ Closer shot of behind remnants...]

[ Side of shed next to feed tank.]

[ Front door of shed next to feed tank.]

[ Inside the shed next to the feed tank. The milk carton is a sure sign that others have visited here, or even tried to live here.]

[ Camera facing down inside bricked base of feed tank toward front door.]

Well, I was hoping for myself to have a clearer idea whether or not I believed this to be the last remains of Camp Logan. My hunch tells me that these are NOT the remains of Camp Logan, but more likely the remains of another property owners storage shed and feed tank just west of the old Camp Logan camp and property. We know the fairly precise boundaries of the old Camp Logan training base and it's all been documented in carefully drawn out maps, and I have a hard time believing that this area, this far from Camp Logan central, is connected to it in any way. It's certainly possible..

The GPS coordinates that my phone reported for this location to be 29.7628N, 95.4584W which I turned into a GoogleEarth satellite map... I'm very curious to the full nature and history of the path that leads down through the middle of this stretch of Memorial Park. While the path clearly goes very close to these old remants of Camp Logan, they don't go close enough to what I'd call a 'driveway' to them nor is the path efficient enough to be considered a maintenance path to the pipeline and telephone pole lines that slice through the very bottom (south) edge of this park land.

I also found this topographic map on Microsoft TerraServer that shows the land as it was topo'd back in 1982, so 26 years ago and counting, and I found it interesting that the topographic map clearly shows the path going south for a good distance before the map fails to continue drawing it, but the location of a structure is clearly shown and identifies it at the top of a hill. The part that is strange about this is that the structure indicated shows it immediately next to and at the end of the path, yet the current location is considerably further west and slightly north of this location. Notice also the small 'lake' shown just south of the bayou right above the "50" foot elevation marker, yet this current location is home to tennis courts and condo's along the posh Riverway Drive.

The structure on the topo map is (was) a pavillion,was burned down, used for the archery range that was used until the early 1980's. The hotel across the bayou (directly south) was getting overshot arrows in their parking lot so they had that area of the park shut down as it was in need of repairs due to bank erosion.

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Acorrding to Louis F. Aulbach ,about Camp Logan:

The developed area of Camp Logan was 3002 acres, within a tract of 9560 acres.

A remount depot was constructed just west of the main camp.

A rifle range was built 8 miles west on Hillendahl Rd.

Paved roads were oyster shell or cinder.

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The downed trees blocked your way to see the pavillion on the right side of the path, (the topo map shows it correctly.)

The archery range was on the west side of the trail on the north side of the buned down pavillion.Under the leave covering of the path you were on is remnants of oyster shell roadways that are all over that secluded section.

The area is just west of the main camp and since there is a large water tank constructed there, would have been a good place for an extra remount depot where horses could get water pumped up from the bayou right behind the water tank.There is a small flat concrete slab behind the tank which could have held the pump. The area was pretty much treeless 90 years ago and was farmland, so an area, off the main camp would be good to have some extra horses. Memorial park is just about 1500 acres. According to "Memorial Park A Priceless legacy, Camp Logan covered over 7500 acres in size.