Bonneville Salt Flats...Wendover, Utah

DATE:  October 5, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Bonneville Salt Flats & Speedway

LOCATION:  Wendover, Toole Co., Utah

MARKER #:  75001826

DEDICATED:  December 18, 1975

“The salt flats were formed as ancient Lake Bonneville slowly evaporated and deposited concentrations of salt onto this playa. Shorelines carved into the mountainsides are visible to the north along the Silver Island range and extend to the Salt Lake Valley. Named after Captain B.L. Bonneville, an early military explorer of the West, the salt flats measure over 44,000 acres and are primarily public land.”

“Historically, the flats have impeded man’s movement westward. Early traders like Jedidiah Smith and John Fremont crossed the vast saline plain only to return with awesome stories of the salt’s harshness. In 1846, the Donner Reed party lost animals, wagons and valuable time on the salt. These losses contributed to their late arrival and subsequent disaster in the snowy Sierra-Nevada Mountains. The flats’ potential for racing was first recognized in 1896 by W.D. Rishel, attempted to organize a carriage and bike race. He convinced Ferg Johnson to test drive his Packard here in 1911. In 1914, Teddy Tetzlaff reached 141 mph in his Blitzen Benz. Succeeding years saw many attempts to set faster records. In 1940 Ab Jenkins set 81 new speed records in his Mormon Meteor III, including a 24-hour endurance record of 161 mph. Jet and rocket cars appeared in the 1960’s and exceeded the 500 and 600 mph marks.”

“The speedway, 80 feet wide and 10 miles long, is prepared by the Bureau of Land Management in the early summer. Speed trials are scheduled throughout the summer and fall. They end when the rains cover the area with water. Caution: Salt crust may appear firm, but is often moist and unstable. Enjoy the area; please keep it clean.”

MARKER PLACED BY:  U.S. Dept. of the Interior / Bureau of Land Management

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS: 

We had just finished touring the museum at Wendover Airfield and you’re barely back on I-80 when the sign for the salt flats announce you’re almost there. Dirk and I had already discussed passing by and he was leaving the final decision to me. I had already done some research and knew there were no events going on as the last race at the Speedway should have concluded in late September. I swear I was going to pass by when I thought “what the heck, a short stop can’t delay us too much longer”. 

I am so glad we went. There is an other worldly feel and look to the place. When we drove up, there was only 2 other cars there. You get out of the car and just stare at mile after mile of white. Apparently, it had rained not long ago so there was this very thin layer of water sitting on top of the salt. It made for a reflection of the sky that I’m not sure I have seen before. It was almost like looking at a mirror image.

It was very quiet except for the far off sound of traffic to the south on I-80 but soon, you don’t even hear that too much. It’s quiet and it’s shockingly beautiful and we were unprepared for the beauty.

The Salt beds are the result of old Lake Bonneville drying up. The lake existed about 14,000 to 32,000 years ago. This was not a small lake; taking up most of Utah, and parts of Nevada and Idaho. 

It was 20,000 square miles and was deeper than 1,000 feet in some places. The water levels can be seen in the rock surrounding the area.

The level of the lake dropped drastically about 14,500 years ago because of changes in the climate. As it dried up, it no longer had its natural outlets and the remaining water got saltier and saltier. Water retreated into what is now the Great Salt Lake near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Left over was this concentration of salt and minerals…potassium, magnesium, lithium and sodium chloride…common table salt. Each winter a thin layer of water covers the flats and when warmer weather comes, the water evaporates and the wind smooths out the surface. The thickness of the salt can range from one inch to six feet.

Considered one of the flattest places on earth, the curvature of the earth can actually be seen in a certain direction and the 3,000 square miles of salt flats is 35% larger than any other salt bed on earth.

Archaeologists have found evidence of human habitation as far back at 10,000 years ago. Native Indians adapted to life around the salt flats much more than “modern” man.

In 1824, Jim Bridger and other mountain men explored the area. The first recorded crossing was in 1845 by Captain John C. Fremont with scouts Kit Carson and Joe Walker. Joe Walker wrote of the harshness of the area and warned others to not cross the flats on their way west. Temperatures easily reach over 100° in the summer and 0° in the winter.

The next year, Lansford Hastings made the crossing and against the written warning of Joe Walker, Hastings convince immigrants heading west to follow him. Then along comes the Donner-Reed party trying to find a shortcut to California so they use the “Hastings Cutoff”.

With not enough water, they lost several oxen and wagons were abandoned. Their shortcut wasn’t so short and they headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains late in the year and the rest is history.

The first permanent crossing didn’t happen until 1910 when the Southern Pacific Railroad built tracks through the flats.

Racing started in the early 20^th century and continues to this day. Currently, there are 5 races held on the flats, including ones for motorcycles and to set land speed records. There is some concern the flats are shrinking and the Speedway has seen 2 years of cancellations due to poor conditions. I have to say I could honestly care less about the speedway portion of the Salt Flats existence rather than its geologic history and future.

While Dirk and I were enjoying the beauty of the flats, a guy and his girlfriend from New Hampshire pulled up. She got out and he proceeded to drive out on the watery flats. I watched with some morbid fascination to see if they would get stuck. The guy said not to worry, he had a wench…great, I said, I’ll just pull you out with my CRV? The woman started taking pictures and we left them to their quest.

I don’t know about visiting during the racing season, but I can definitely say if you ever get the chance to go out there when no one is around, you have to do it!

Wendover Airfield...Wendover, Utah

DATE:  October 5, 2015

HISTORICAL SITE:  Wendover Airfield

LOCATION:  Wendover, Toole Co., Utah  84083

MARKER #:  75001827

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:  

What an exciting place…so full of history!

There’s a driving tour but we didn't take it. It was hard enough finding the museum. Instead we watched a video in the museum which, in the end, was a vehicle for asking for donations. The exhibits were interesting and I hadn’t realized how much of a connection there was between Wendover Airfield and the bombings of Japan.

In 1940, Congress funded a base that was to be a bombing and gunnery range. Locations were scouted and Wendover was chosen because of availability and barrenness of the land. Ranchers protested saying the loss of 1.8 million acres of grazing land would wipe them out. The federal government kept going and building commenced in 1941.

In August 1941, one officer and 10 men moved in, with another 37 men coming soon after. The first course of business for these initial men was to set up targets on the salt flats. Eventually, because of the amount of salt, a “salt city” was built for bombing practice.

Training for the B-17 and B-24 bombers commenced in 1942. In the end, 21 bomber groups and over 1,000 aircrew were trained. These groups participated in strategic bombing in Germany, flew in support of D-Day and 3 groups are Medal of Honor recipients.

In 1944, the base changed from training bomber groups to fighter pilot training, but only 3 groups were graduated.

Unknown to most, the “Manhattan Engineer District” was established by FDR and a Colonel Tibbets was selected to head the team. Tibbets was one of very few who knew of the project and chose Wendover Airfield because of its isolation and the fact that it was virtually uninhabited.

With very little advanced notice, much haste and no explanation, the fighter pilot training was out and part of a unit based in the Marianna Islands was moved in.

Enola Gay Hanger

On December 17, 1944, 1,767 officers and men moved in, including civilian and military scientists. They were housed separately than the rest of the base. Information on their mission was so restricted that even members of the unit did not know the purpose of their training.

For the next six months, they tested 155 different shapes and sized bombs. As information came in, more and more complicated and sophisticated versions of “Fat Man” and “Little Boy” bombs were developed.

On July 16, 1944, there was a successful test of the “Fat Man” bomb in New Mexico.

Not long after, President Truman warned Japan of a bomb of extraordinary destruction…Japan chose to ignore the warning. There has been disagreement over the term “warning”, but it seemed to come in several forms.

The first to the Japanese government which is called the “Potsdam Declaration” ended with:

“We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.”

Some argue this is hardly a warning that the atomic bomb will be dropped but rather an ultimatum for peace.

The second “warning” were leaflets dropped on the population of several cities purported to be the ones being considered for bombing. The leaflets say:

"Read this carefully as it may save your life or the life of a relative or a friend. In the next few days, four or more of the cities named on the reverse side of this leaflet will be destroyed by American bombs. These cities contain military installations and workshops or factories, which produce military goods. We are determined to destroy all of the tools of the military clique that they are using to prolong this useless war. Unfortunately, bombs have no eyes. So, in accordance with America's well-known humanitarian policies, the American Air Force, which does not wish to injure innocent people, now gives you warning to evacuate the cities names and save your lives. America is no fighting the Japanese people but is fighting the military clique, which has enslaved the Japanese people. The peace, which America will bring, will free the people from the oppression of the Japanese military clique and mean the emergence of a new and better Japan. You can restore peace by demanding new and better leaders who will end the War. We cannot promise that only these cities will be among those attacked, but at least four will be, so heed this warning and evacuate these cities immediately."

The argument here is that this warning also says nothing about atomic bombs and that maybe the plan was more along the lines of psychological warfare than a true warning. Some say the Japanese population was already used to being bombed, so how could this have been any different?

On August 6, 1945, at 9:15am, the Enola Gay, having taken off from the Marianna Islands dropped “Little Boy” on Hiroshima, Japan and three days later, “Fat Man” was dropped on Nagasaki. The estimated total causalities were approximately 105,000 killed in the initial blasts with an additional 94,000 injured.

Another bomb shell was being ready to ship to the Marianna islands and there was enough plutonium stored at Los Alamos for one more bomb, but it was halted due to the impending surrender of Japan. 

Japan informally surrendered on August 19^th with formal surrender on September 2, 1945.

Wendover Airfield continued to produce “pumpkin” bombs and components for the atomic bombs until the end of the war

Immediately following the war, the men, and some of the buildings were moved to Oxnard, California to what would become Sandia Base. Wendover Airfield would be activated, re-tooled and then deactivated over the course of next 25 years. It would be instrumental in the development and testing of various bombs and rockets.

While most of the base has been given, first to the city of Wendover and then to Tooele County, there is still a portion that is used by the military and has been renamed the Utah Test and Training Range under the management of Hill Air Force Base.

Regardless of the public opinion of the use of the atomic bomb against civilian and military targets, it cannot be argued that this caused Japan to surrender. The argument is whether the price was worth the cost, but then, how many would have died if the war had continued on as it had? Even Colonel Tibbets said we must try to understand “the necessity for the decisions of the time”.

 

Once Dirk and I were done with the museum, the woman invited us to climb to the top of the control tower which, being from a litigious state such as California, was quite the surprise. I was able to make it about half way before feeling a bit of panic setting it but Dirk made it to the top and made the following SnapChat video.