Mountaineers History Committee - R. Duke Watson

R. Duke Watson - Photographs Home

These notes are by Lowell Skoog.
This collection includes both color slides and B&W prints. Subjects include U.S. Army mountain troop activities during World War II as well as climbing, hiking and skiing (mostly post-war) in Washington, Montana, Alberta, and British Columbia. On September 21, 2005, I did a taped interview with Duke Watson to identify his mountain troop photos. I applied a unique number to each photo that we discussed. The following notes apply to these photos only.
Mountain Troop 35mm Color Slides

Mt Rainier training, 1942 (slides 1-7)

#1: Ski trooper near Alta Vista.
#2: Rudimentary snowmobile near Paradise, Mt Rainier.
#3: Ski instruction near Paradise. Instructor is Don Goodman. Standing behind Goodman (just to viewer's right) is a Sergeant Sigmund. Goodman was one of the earliest recruits in Capt. Paul Lafferty's C Company, 15th Infantry, 3rd Division, at Fort Lewis. Duke recalled that he, Ralph Bromaghin, Walter Prager, and Don Goodman (in that order) may have been the first four men brought into Lafferty's outfit in the fall of 1941. Charles McLane, the first man assigned directly to the 1st Battalion of the new 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, arrived at Fort Lewis shortly after Watson and Bromaghin. But McLane wasn't assigned to Lafferty's 15th Infantry C Company. For a while, McLane didn't have to do any duty, since he had no outfit, and he hooked up informally with the men of Lafferty's outfit.
#4: Glen Stanley practicing a terrain jump at the edge of Edith Creek basin. Glen Stanley and another man (last name Alexander) were the next two men from 1st Battalion, 87th Regiment to go to officer candidate school, after Duke Watson and Joe Hearst.
#5: Terrain jump practice, Edith Creek basin.
#6: Ski maneuver in Paradise Valley. It was normal to go without packs during ski instruction, but unsual to go on a maneuver without them.
#7: Ascending to Panorama Dome.

Columbia Icefield, 1942 (slides 51-74)
Two camps were established by the Columbia Icefield expedition to support testing of the Weasel over-snow vehicle by the Studebaker Corporation. The Weasel was being developed for an invasion in Norway to destroy a German heavy water plant. Base camp was established at the foot of the Saskatchewan Glacier, close to the road. Advance camp was established on the upper Saskatchewan Glacier. That was where the Studebaker people lived and worked.
2nd Lt. Duke Watson was the only officer at the advance camp. He had about 35 of the 60 enlisted men assigned to the project. 2nd Lt. Joe Hearst commanded the base camp. This assignment came only about a month after Watson and Hearst returned to the 87th Regiment from officer training school. Watson and Hearst were asked to interview prospective men for the assignment from the 87th Regiment at Fort Lewis. 1st Lt. Paul Townsend, Capt. Whitney Reynolds (medical officer), and a representative of the Winter Warfare Board were based in the Banff Springs Hotel, which was being closed for the duration of the war.
Above the advance camp, the men built 87 bridges over crevasses using pine trees cut in the National Park and hauled up the glacier's medial moraine in 6x6 trucks. (Duke remembered that the number of bridges was the same as their regimental number.) One foggy day Pvt. Eldon Metzger and a Cpl. Rinke were returning from the icefield in a Weasel. Familiar with the route, they took a shortcut. They plunged into a deep crevasse and fortunately landed on a bench about 20 feet down. Metzger was miraculously unharmed but Rinke, the driver, broke both legs severely. Metzger clawed his way out of the crevasse and went for help.
Whitney Reynolds, the medical officer, happened to be in the advance camp that day. He and Duke got a rope team together and went to the crevasse. Duke was lowered into the crevasse while Reynolds shouted first aid instructions from above. They hauled Rinke out and immediately transported him off the glacier to a hospital in Canmore. Duke thought this was in August 1942. It was the only accident during the entire expedition. Rinke remained in the hospital throughout the entire war recovering from his injuries. He was released in the spring of 1946.

#51: Duke Watson on upper Saskatchewan Glacier at location of advance camp.
#52: Cpl. Hackett (far left, a renowned post-war climber), Cpl. Thiveridge (from Butte, MT) next to him. Lt. Paul Townsend is 3rd from right, with hood up. Other soldiers unidentified.
#53: 6x6 truck low on the Saskatchewan Glacier.
#54: Erecting quonset hut at advance camp. Pvt. Slim Mayberry on roof.
#55: Tractor working at advance camp. The advance camp was accessed by driving on the glacier's medial moraine. The 87 bridged crevasses were above the advance camp.
#56: Eight of the nine completed huts at advance camp. Studebaker used one of the huts as a shop. After testing during the day, they would develop movies of the machines in operation and make mechanical adjustments during the night. Another hut was used for Studebaker lodging. There was a general mess hall and the rest of the huts were probably men's quarters.
#57: Eldon Metzger (left) on Saskatchewan Glacier.
#58: Dyson Duncan in front of Mt Saskatchewan.
#59: Mt Bryce
#60: Columbia Icefield
#61: Unknown peak
#62: Pvt. Florian Hammerle in front of Mt Castleguard.
#63: Unknown peak
#64: P.C. Putnam, Office of Special Services coordinator, head of the Weasel project. The Weasel was designed to be parachuted into Norway with personnel and 500 lbs of TNT to destroy a German heavy water plant. Putnam considered icefields in the Andes and Alaska for the project, but settled on the Canadian Rockies. He offered Duke Watson an opportunity to join OSS, but Duke chose to stay in the 87th Regiment.
#65: Columbia Icefield scene.
#66: Columbia Icefield scene.
#67: Columbia Icefield scene.
#68: Columbia Icefield scene.
#69: Columbia Icefield scene.
#70: Columbia Icefield scene.
#71: Duke Watson's skis in front of Mt Bryce.
#72: Mt Bryce
#73: Columbia Icefield scene.
#73: Columbia Icefield scene.

Camp Hale, 1943 (slides 151-174, 181-182)

#151: Officers from G Company, 87th Regiment. Foreground (L-R): Lt. Newman, Capt. Ellsworth (commander), Lt. Van Houten (exec). The man in back is unidentified. This slide was not taken at Camp Hale. It is from the Hunter-Ligget military reservation in California, where the 87th Regiment moved temporarily before Camp Hale was finished.
#152: Ski tricks during the winter of 1943, possibly by Charles McLane.
#153: Snowshoe exercise, probably a weapons platoon. Rifle platoons didn't train on snowshoes at Camp Hale. The rifle platoon from each company and the weapons company from each regiment used snowshoes to carry their heavier loads. On day-long marches with a lot of up and down, the snowshoers always arrived at their destination before the skiers, Duke recalled.
#154: Snowshoers shovelling.
#155: Duke Watson on snowshoes. Duke thought he probably borrowed a pair from the weapons platoon to try them out.
#156: Spring 1943 near Camp Hale.
#157: Duke Watson trying a jump turn on skis.
#158: Duke Watson trying a jump turn on skis.
#159: Weapons platoon soldier operating a light (60mm) mortar. The weapons company used bigger (81mm) mortars.
#160: Campsite during spring 1943 cross-country trip on skis from Camp Hale to Vail.
#161: Neoprene mountain tent developed by Quartermaster Corps. Completely waterproof and unpleasant to sleep in.
#162: Lt. Harding.
#163: Unknown location.
#164: Lt. Van Houten, executive officer.
#165: Off-duty ski climb of a peak near Camp Hale, possibly Mt Elbert.
#166: Unidentified soldiers.
#167: Probably spring 1943 cross-country trip on skis from Camp Hale to Vail.
#168: Unidentified lieutenant (L), Lt. Renne (R).
#169: Mix of skiers and snowshoers.
#170: Unidentified lieutenant.
#171: Rest break on Camp Hale to Vale trip.
#172: Same trip.
#173: More of the same.
#181: Probably 10th Recon troop, in Sawatch Range on trip from Camp Hale to Aspen, summer 1943.
#182: Same as 181. Unidentified lieutenant.

3rd Platoon, 10th Recon Troop, Camp Hale to Aspen, June 1943 (slides 201-218)
I've included notes only for those photos for which Duke could add information. Duke recalled that he sent many good photos from this trip, some years ago, to a fellow from Milwaukee and never got them back.

#201: Probably Ed Link's fishing pole. Link was executive officer of the 10th Recon. He spent his entire career in the Army and later Duke arranged to hire him as manager of Crystal Mountain ski area in Washington.
#202: Ed Link fishing.
#203: Duke Watson at right.
#205: Freidl Pfiefer, rope practice.
#216: Probably John Woodward, commander of the 10th Recon, fishing.

Seneca Rocks climbing school, 1943-44 (slides 76-104)
I've included notes only for those photos for which Duke could add information. The Elkins, West Virginia maneuvers area, including Seneca Rocks, was used to introduce selected regiments from regular infantry divisions to problems of mountain warfare. The regiment as a whole was put through tactics that might be used in mountains like the Appalachians. Out of each regiment, about 50 officers (mostly lieutenants) and enlisted men (mostly sergeants), all volunteers, were selected to go through special rock climbing training. It was about a three-week course. The Elkins area also had special training for engineers and medical units.
Duke estimated that about 80% of the top rock climbers in the U.S. at the time were instructors in the Seneca Rocks climbing school. When Duke commanded the school from May-July 1944, his assistants were David Brower and Raffi Bedayn, renowned climbers from the first ascent of Shiprock, New Mexico before the war. I asked, if most of the good climbing instructors were at Seneca Rocks, whether anyone was teaching rock climbing at Camp Hale. Duke recalled that the rock climbing training at Camp Hale was not as intensive or spectacular as at Seneca Rocks. It was mostly rapelling and some belaying. The rock climbing training at Seneca Rocks was more intensive than what the 10th Mountain Division got at Camp Hale. There were three different rock climbing areas near Elkins. Seneca Rocks was the most prominent, but they used all of them. Some of the cliffs were infested with copperheads, and climbers had to be vigilant, and they killed many snakes, but nobody ever got bitten. Duke did not recall any climbing accidents at the school.

#76: Camp at Seneca Rocks.
#77: Pup tents in a farmer's field.
#78: This photo was published in an April 1973 article about Duke Watson and Seneca Rocks in Off Belay magazine.
#80: Training on an artificial climbing wall. This sort of training also took place at Camp Hale.
#85: This climber appears to be wearing klettershue (special rock climbing boots), which were not issued by the army. He may have had these as a personal possession.
#87: Belayer is probably Norman Lindhjem from Oregon. This photo was published in an April 1973 article about Duke Watson and Seneca Rocks in Off Belay magazine.
#99: Lt. John McCown from Philadelphia. McCown commanded the Seneca Rocks climbing school before Duke Watson arrived. Col. Bob Works replaced McCown with Watson and McCown returned to Camp Hale. McCown was killed during the attack on Riva Ridge in Italy.
#100: Col. Bob Works in foreground.
#104: Probably engineer training at Elkins, practicing a river ford.

Mountain Troop B&W Prints
As Duke and I looked through these prints, I wrote a number in pencil on the back of each print for which Duke could add information. I've included notes below for these prints only.
Columbia Icefield, 1942

#1: Duke Watson (left) en-route to the Columbia Icefield standing next to a Canadian soldier at Field, B.C.
#2: 6x6 trucks on Saskatchewan Glacier. They spent about a week chopping away at the snout of the glacier by hand with pick mattocks and shovels to carve a ramp that the trucks could climb. They tried using dynamite but it had no effect. Once the trucks got up onto the glacier and its medial moraine they were able to pack out a road for the jeeps to follow.
#3: Lone outhouse on the Saskatchewan Glacier.
#4: Kathleen ?? from Calgary. She came to the base camp with a companion named Mackey. Duke had a couple of dates with her.
#5: Tractor preparing advance camp site for quonset huts.
#6: Probably P.C. Putnam, crossing a foot bridge over a crevasse.
#7: Building a bridge over a crevasse. The man in the foreground later worked for the Osborn and Ulland sports shop in Seattle.
#8: David Brower, standing at left, probably in Italy. Brower was the intelligence officer for Duke's battalion overseas.
#9: Big horn sheep, maybe near Columbia Icefield basecamp.
#10: Jeep near advance camp.
#11: Photo probably taken by Kathleen. (L-R): Sgt. Hawkins, Lt. Joe Hearst, Kathleen's companion Mackey, Duke Watson.
#12: Sgt. Hawkins at left, unknown center, Paul Townsend at right.
#13: Time off at Lake Louise. Paul Townsend in middle, probably Duke Watson at right.
#14: Duke Watson at Lake Louise.
#15: Skiing above advance camp, Columbia Icefield.
#16: Banff Springs Hotel window.
#17: Banff Springs Hotel window.
#18: Mt Brice.
#19: (L-R): Mackey, Sgt. Hawkins, Duke Watson, Lt. Hearst, probably taken by Kathleen.
#20: Canadian army personnel on the trans-Canada train.
#21: Train stop on continental divide between Lake Louise and Field.
#22: Same group with Kathleen, probably taken by Sgt. Hawkins.
#23: (L-R): Mackey, Hawkins, Watson, Hearst, photo by Kathleen.
#24: Kathleen poses in the jeep.
#25: Kathleen drives the jeep.

87th Regiment at Mt Rainier, 1942

#26: Col. Cook on a horse at Fort Lewis. Cook was executive officer of 87th Regiment under Col. Rolfe. Overseas, Cook was the regimental exec of the 86th Regiment.
#28: (L-R): Glen Stanley, ?? Alexander, Ralph Bromaghin, Ray Zoberski, unknown, unknown, Dick Whitmore, Tony Hyde, Don Goodman, unknown, Charles Bradley at Mt Rainier.
#29: Paradise, Mt Rainier (note "Keep Out" sign).
#30: Duke Watson (left), Ralph Lafferty (center) on Mt Shuksan, Washington, during army leave, 1942.
#31: Paradise, Mt Rainier.
#32: Duke Watson skiing at Mt Rainier.
#33: Charles McLane at Mt Rainier.
#34: Old rope tow at Paradise, Mt Rainier.

Camp Hale and 10th Recon, 1943

#27: Probably 10th Recon training at Camp Hale.
#35: Army equipment.
#36: Trekking in mountains east of Camp Hale.
#37: (L-R): John Woodward, Dick Whitmore, Col. Fowler. Fowler was one of the 10th's regimental officers overseas.
#38: Walter Prager (L) and George Gagnon.
#39: Liaison officer (something-dahl) from Norwegian army (L) and John Woodward.
#40: Rock climbing on shattered rock.
#50: Ralph Bromaghin. Normally Bromaghin was a more stylish skier than in this photo, Duke said.
#51: Probably Cooper Hill.
#52: Unidentified soldiers.
#53: Encampment.
#54: Ski maneuver, probably a whole company.
#55: Col. Bob Works, on left. Works was the commanding officer at the Elkins, WV maneuvers area, which was previously set up by Paul Lafferty.
#56: Pando flats, Camp Hale.
#58: Unidentified ski trooper sitting on pack.
#61: Unidentified ski troops.
#62: Weasel near Camp Hale.
#64: Unidentified scene.
#65: Skiers.
#67: Ski and snowshoe troops.
#68: On the march.
#69: Unidentified skier.
#70: Flame-thrower demonstration.
#71: Flame-thrower demonstration.
#74: Camp Hale street.

Mountain and Winter Warfare Board, 1942?

#41: First aid toboggan.
#42: 75 pack howitzer recoil mechanism on 15" toboggan.
#43: Pack board, ala Trapper Nelson.
#44: Muk-luk.
#45: Stem christie ski test, probably Mt Rainier.
#46: Lt. Dan Murphy in center, facing camera. Probably during platoon physical.
#47: No explanation.
#48: Stretcher case, ready to be transported.
#49: Neoprene tent, probably at Fort Lewis.

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