Letter 4 - July 8, 1918

Letter #4 to Mrs. J. J. Thompson
Sedona, Ariz
Postmarked July 8 1918

Co. H 133 Inf
Camp Cody, New Mex
July 8 1918

Dear Mother,

I was over to Charley’s tent last night and got the letter that you wrote. He got the letter the evening of the fourth, but I did not know it till last night. Well I sure would of liked to of been with you the fourth to help you eat the pies, cakes and ice cream that you wrote about. I did not have nothing but potatoes, beans and stuff like that to eat.

There was a man took the measles in our company, so we can’t leave the company street without slipping off. Well I got a pay day the 2nd of July when I first come here. I had my life insured for $10,000. I had this made out to you so if I get killed you will get $10,000. That cost me $6.25 a month and I had them to send you $15 of my pay a month so I drawed $14.30. Have you heard anything of the $15 that you was to get yet? When you get the first pay write and let me know.

You said it had been awful hot and dry there. We have had two or three good rains here. But it sure is hot here. It is 115 in the shade here. Some of the boys that come here when we did left the other day. They said they was going to Oklahoma, but I don’t know where they went.
They say that we will leave here about the first of August and go in some other camp, but I don’t know. You can hear anything in the army.

Well I done my washing yesterday. If I stay in the army very long I will learn to wash. It is so hot we sweat so here we have to change clothes about twice a week. We get up here every morning about 5 o’clock, have reveille and then clean up the street and then have breakfast. We go to drill at 7 o’clock and come in at eleven and then rest till two o’clock and then we drill till 5 o’clock .

Well as I don’t know anything more to write I will close for this time. This leaves me well and hope it finds you all the same.

Write soon.
Your son, James Thompson

Letter 5 - July 19, 1918

Letter #5 to Mr. J J Thompson
Sedona, Ariz
Postmarked July 20, 1918

133 Inf Co H
Camp Cody, New M
July 19 1918

Dear Mother, I will try and write you a line or two. I took the measles the 15th and am at the hospital now. I was pretty sick for a day or two but am getting along alright now. 

I haven’t had nothing to eat since I have been here but milk and then soup, but that gave me some dinner today. There was seven men here with the measles when I came and three of them left today. 

We had a rain here last night. Well as I don’t feel very much like writing I will close for this time, hoping to hear from you soon. I don’t know whether Charley knows where I am or not. I hadn’t seen him for two or three days before I came to the hospital. 

Hoping to hear from you soon. 

Your son, Jim Thompson

Letter 6 - July 26, 1918

Letter # 6  to Mr. J. J. Thompson
Postmarked July 27, 1918

133 Inf. Co H.
Camp Cody, NM
July 26,  1918

Dear Mother,

I got your letter yesterday.  I am still in the hospital, but am feeling fine now.  You wanted to know how much Derrick owed me.  He don’t owe me anything.  He might owe Charley.  I don’t know when I see Charley I will find out and let you know.  You wanted to know what kind of bread we had.  We have flour bread the most of the time.  We have corn meal once in a while, but I am getting tired of light bread.  I would sure like to have some hot bread again.

I have got a tub and board to wash my clothes for there aren’t any creeks in this country.  They use well water here and it is getting scarce here now.  When we first come they wanted us to take a bath every day and now the water is so scarce that we only get a bath about once a week.  I would like to be there to help you eat the rosnens (sic) and green beans.   We had a rain here this evening, but it did not last very long.   It rains here pretty often but they don’t last very long.

The government has never sent that money yet.  I seen the captain the other day and he said they was pretty slow sending it the first month.  Maybe you will get June and July payment the same time.  I will see about it as soon as I get out of the hospital.  I have been here 12 days and have got 9 more days to make three weeks.  They have got me sweeping floors and washing windows to give me exercise till my time is up, then I will go back to the company.

You asked about a girl if I had found one yet.  There is some pretty good looking nurses here.  It’s about all the girls I have seen down here in Deming.  There is about 25 soldiers for every girl. 

There was another boy come in with the measles today.  I will let you know later about sending some tomatoes and peaches when I find out whether I leave this camp or not. 

Well about I will close for this time.  Tell Guy to get his hoe and get them weeds out of the garden. 

Good-bye

James Thompson

Images from Camp Cody - including "wash day" that Jim speaks of in this letter.

Letter 5 - July 7, 1918

Letter #5 addressed to Mrs. Maggie Thompson
Sedona, AZ

Postmarked July 7, 1918

Camp Cody, NM
July 7, 1918

Dear Mother

I got your letter you sent to Flag and the one you sent from home both together day before yesterday.  I went on guard that evening and that last 24 hours, 2 hours on and 4 hours off.  Jim was here at my tent yesterday evening when I came off guard.  He had already found the letters.  When the fruit gets ripe mail me some.  It won’t cost you anything for postage anyway and if it spoils you won’t be out anything.  I eat some apricots and plumes that came from Phoenix.  And a few days ago one of the boys in my tent got some peaches and tomatoes from Texas.  The peaches were alright  but the tomatoes were mashed.  His was mailed in a tin cracker box.  I got payed of to day for the month of June and six days in May. I didn’t take out any insurance so I got $36.00.  Will send $30 to Ed Postom.  Earl Germany went into the artillery when were were all moved and they have all left but I don’t know yet what state they went to.  I haven’t never seen Myron Loy since we moved.  He was in the same tent with us over at the other camp after the first week.  He went in the 135^th Inf when we moved but I don’t know what Co. So I have never went to hunt him up yet.

Jimmy isn’t very far from me.  These streets are about 30 ft wide and the 134^th runs as far as I, then the 133 starts in and Jimmy is in H.  There is a row of mess houses along the front street, on for each Co. then our tents are in rows back of the mess house about four feet apart in the row.  Dock Wyatt is in the machine gun Co.  That is the first st. the other side of A so  he is only two streets from me.  He said he was going to have his wife come down to Demming and live if he ever got of quarantine.  He was turned lose the 4^th and yesterday she found a man in his CO with diptherie so they quarantined them again.  My Co is not quarantined but we have to have a pass to go to town.  I have never went yet except when we were all marching through town.  Well I don’t know anything more to write today.

As ever, Charley

Letter 6 - July 14, 1918

Letter #6 addressed to Mrs. Maggie Thompson
Sedona, AZ

Postmarked July 15, 1918

Co B 134 Inf
Camp Cody, NM
July 14, 1918

Dear Mother

I got your letter that Green mailed in Flagstaff four or five days ago but I went on guard again that night and haven’t had time to write since.  My CO is quarantined now.  One of the boys broke out with measles.  I have been using a handsaw the last two days.  They have been moving some tent floors and I help saw the timbers I n two so they could load the floors on the truck.

Denny Hibbon got shot in the jaw a few days ago he is in the base hospital now.  They took some skin off his arm and feet and put on his face.  There was a man in Co. E killed his self yesterday morning.  He was from Phoenix but I forgot what his name was.  He took his rifle and shot his brains out.  There was a big fire in Demming a few days ago.  They took my co. up there after it had been burning for some time but we didn’t have to do anything but carry back something that was piled out in the street.  It burned one whole block in the middle of town.

Did Pendley ever get a letter from me.  I wrote to him after I had been here about two weeks and I have never heard from him.  Jimmie got a letter from Lizzie and she said she never got the letter I wrote her.   Well I don’t know anything more to write just so you know we are getting along all right that is all that is necessary.  

As ever, Charley

I haven’t had any pictures taken yet.

Letter 7 - July 25, 2018

Letter #7 addressed to Mrs. Maggie Thompson
Sedona, AZ     Postmarked July 25, 1918

Co B 134 Inf
Camp Cody NM
July 24, 1918

Dear Mother,

I got your letter day before yesterday just before we left to go out to the rifle range.  We shot out there yesterday and came back in the evening.  We have been out there twice now and I think we go twice more.

Well I guess you heard from Jim since he had the measles.  When I seen him Sunday he said he had wrote.  I went over to his tent after I came back off the range before and a man in the tent next to his said that one of the men in his tent got the measles and they took Jim and rest in the tent to the contact camp, so Sunday I went down there and they said there wasn’t anybody there by that name but I looked around until I found the men that had been in the tent with him and they said it was Jim that got the measles but they didn’t know what hospital he was in.  So I came back to his co. and found out from the Sargent where he was.  And Sunday afternoon I went up to the base hospital and thy told me he was in ward 22 and I went there and they said he was sent there but there had been some letters come there for him and they has sent them back to the receiving ward.  But they told me that he may be in 21 as that was a ward for measles.  So I went there and found him out on the porch.  He said he hadn’t had any mail since he had been there and I went back to the receiving ward and found three letters, one from you and one from Ab and the other from Lin Derrick.  I guess he will be there about two weeks.  Yet he was up and looking good but they won’t let him leave until he has been there for 21 days.

I got a letter from Earl Germany the same day I got yours.  He is in Fort Sill Okla. He said that place there was a paradise beside this pace but the water wasn’t as good.  You don’t need to send me anything to read as there is a YMCA here and I can get all kinds of books there.   I sent you a picture of the fire in Deming a few days ago.  I had a man here in camp take a Kodak picture me.  He said he would have some ready this evening if he does I will send one in this letter.  Did Frank get the second letter I wrote him.  Tell him that I would rather not sell that mare if he can get a horse somewhere else.  She wouldn’t be good to work on that mail route anyway with a young colt.  I didn’t sell her to Fred last fall because I wanted to sell her.  I let him have her because he wanted her and then he decided he didn’t.  Have they ever found Tom Hunt yet?  Jim Ivy joined the army to get out of his trouble.  He is in this camp.  Mrs. Grey or his wife came down when Dach Wyatt’s wife came.  I think they are still in Deming.

Well this is all I can think of this time.  As ever, Charley

You can give these pictures around to whoever wants them.

A soldier’s camera that was used at Camp Cody in 1918

Letter 8 - July 31, 1918

Letter #8 addressed to Mrs. Maggie Thompson

Sedona, AZ     Postmarked August 1, 1918

Co B 134 Inf

Camp Cody NM

July 31, 1918

Dear Mother,

I will write a few lines today.  I haven’t had any letters for over a week now but I guess there is some on the road somewhere.  There was two French officers drowned in a river somewhere around here and they are to be buried today so the Captain said we wouldn’t drill today that we could go to the funeral if we wanted to but none of us went and there won’t be any mail today on account of the funeral and we go to the range this evening so we won’t get any more mail until tomorrow evening when we come back so I thought I would write a little as I think it has been over a week since I wrote before.  There has been talk of us leaving here for some time now but I don’t know whether there is anything to it or not.  I think though we will go to some other state before long.  I hope so anyway since I am this far away I would rather we saw more country than to stay in one place all time.  

I have one of them fine pictures that I want to keep myself so I think I will mail it to you and let you keep it for me.  I think I will be back there before fall.  The Germans are losing every day.  One of our officers said the other day that he thought all of the drafted men would be home within sixty days.  Well I will write again when I get your letter.  There ought to be some here when I get back to (unclear – in margin…)

As ever, C S T