From 1942 to 1945 this U.S. Military’s WWII Cantonment near Corvallis was Oregon’s second largest city, after Portland. Camp Adair, butting up against Oregon’s HWY 99W, was a 56,000 Acre training facility which housed upwards of 40,000 personnel.
The four infantry divisions which trained at Camp Adair, the 70th, 91st, 96th and 104th distinguished themselves in battle in WWII. Three fought in the European theater, one in the Pacific.
The Trailblazers (70th), Timberwolves (104th) Wild West (91st) and Deadeyes (96th) each trained one year at Camp Adair, two divisions at a time.
In 1947 the area was used to house POW’s.
In 1950 the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife took possession of a good deal of the property and made it into the E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area we can visit today. A memorial Garden is maintained to commemorate those who trained here and several blocks of cement, a few buildings, many paved roads, even a brick chimney remain.
An aerial view of The E.E. Wilson Wildlife Area:
August 24, 2023 at 6:19 pm
I’ve lived in Corvallis several times, but don’t have any recollection of this place at all!
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August 25, 2023 at 1:59 am
I found it quite by accident during one of my many meanderings. I recently found out that my grandfather took my mom’s cousin here once. I wonder how to find out what Division my grandfather was in?
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August 25, 2023 at 3:35 pm
Have you checked Family Search? They might have some records, but Ancestry is probably a better bet. Even Googling his name and WWII might pull up a company roster.
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August 25, 2023 at 4:36 pm
Thanks. I went ahead and requested the official military record as I didn’t find anything online.
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