The story of Fort Drum began in 1906, [when] a partnership between the U.S. Army at Madison Barracks and North Country community leaders began looking for local training areas. The area in Felt[s] Mills, immediately north of the Black River, was chosen. Between August 31 and September 7, 1907, the New York National Guard established a temporary tent encampment, which they called Camp Hughes.
Camp Hughes was named for Charles E. Hughes, who was then the governor of New York. Since that summer, U.S. Army soldiers have trained annually at the site of Fort Drum. The following year, Brigadier General Frederic Dent Grant, (the oldest son of President Ulysses S. Grant), led thousands of soldiers back to the area north of the Black River, known locally as "Pine Plains." Grant commanded regular army units and National Guard regiments from throughout the northeast. The camp at Pine Plains formally opened on June 11, 1908 and training continued throughout the summer.
[Photo captions, from top to bottom, read]
· Camp Hughes - Felts Mills, N.Y.
· Camp Hughes Felts Mills, N.Y. Aug. 31st. 1907
· Colonel Philip Reade (1844-1919)
Colonel Philip Reade, as Regimental Commander of the 23rd US Infantry at Madison Barracks, was a driving force behind Camp Hughes' selection and success. As Madison Barracks commander,
Colonel Reade realized that developments in modern military weapons such as bolt action rifles, machine guns, and rapid firing artillery pieces had exceeded the capability of the US Army to train at Sackets Harbor. Accordingly, he coordinated with local North Country and New York state political leaders to find a new local training location. His efforts resulted in Camp Hughes in 1907, Pine Camp in 1908, and the establishment of the Pine Camp Military Reservation in 1909.
This photograph is a distinctive type popular around the turn of the century, called a "Multigraph" - essentially, five different images of the same individual contained on a single photograph.
· Governor Charles E. Hughes and General Grant on the occasion of the governor's inspection of the camp
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