In 1927 the new high school planted a maple tree honoring Gen. Amos A. Fries as a “Central Point Oregon boy made good” for his work with lethal and other chemicals.
Born in Wisconsin, Fries’ parents moved to Oregon, where the future general attended the Central Point School, and graduated from Medford High School in 1893. While waiting for an appointment to West Point, Fries taught school in Central Point and Butte Falls.
Fries graduated from the Military Academy in 1898 and served in the Army Corps of Engineers building a canal on the Columbia River, designing Los Angeles Harbor, and building roads in Yellowstone Park.
In World War I, Fries was commander of the first Chemical Warfare Division, and at war’s end became the first peacetime head of the Chemical Warfare Service.
He advocated the use of chemicals that included rodent control, tear gas, and the gas chamber.
After being honored in Central Point and retiring from the army in 1929, Fries became a zealous anti- communist and anti-socialist. He published a book titled “Communism Unmasked” that, among other things, accused national women’s organizations and their leaders, including the mainstream Parent Teachers Association, or PTA, of being dangers to America.
Today’s episode of As It Was was written by Alice Mullaly, the program producer is Raymond Scully. I’m Shirley Patton. As It Was is a co-production of JPR and the Southern Oregon Historical Society. To share stories or learn more about the series, visit asitwas – dot.org.
Sources: Medford Mail Tribune, April 27, 1937, and February 3, 1964; Foster, Carrie A., The Women and the Warriors, Syracuse University Press, 1995, p. 47