Along I-10 in western New Mexico is the town of Deming, which got its start from the transcontinental railroad.  During WWI, the US Army opened and operated a training camp here for the 34th Division.

http://demingnewmexico.genealogyvillage.com/index.html#top

Construction of Camp Cody, named after Buffalo Bill Cody, started in June 1917, on the site of the former Camp Deming, which had been opened after the Pancho Villa raid on Columbus.  National Guard units from the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa came here to train and form the division.




Up to 30,000 men trained here and there was a large amount of construction for all the building necessary to house them.  

Cody Avenue buildings:




Practice trenches to prepare for combat in France:




Bake ovens-- 10,000 loaves baked each day:




Pistol training!!!!




Artillery training:






Interestingly enough, after all the training, the 34th never made it into combat as a division.  They arrived in France in October, 1918, and were sent back to the US to be disbanded in December, 1918.  They did take a number of casualties, though, from the worldwide influenza epidemic.  Camp Cody closed after the war, and the remaining buildings were sold to become a tuberculosis sanitarium.

Fascinating!

I was born and raised in Deming, graduated high school from there. I always heard stories about Camp Cody, but never really had the opportunity to learn about it.