Visiting the Saline Valley Salt Tram

Above: the famous Salt Tram Zig Zag Trail - photo taken by Miles O. Bolser in 1913 - the first year of tramway operation.  (photo courtesy Eastern California Museum). Note that this trail has rockslided out and no longer exists! Click to enlarge.

David Hill of Ventura was the first of many Salt Tram researchers. He did his research back in the 1960's and 1970's. We asked Mr. Hill  how he found out about the Salt Tram, and he said it was through the Eastern California Museum in Independence, Calif. Apparently, at that time, they sponsored monthly “field trips”, one of which went to the Salt Tram. David regularly attended these outings, and so he first visited the Salt Tram in the 1960's. 

Danger! (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and definitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it - not much). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. 

Do Not Vandalize, Steal or Disturb: Note that the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. You can read about it's listing on the Register by clicking here and also by clicking here. There is little that remains of the tram, but what does has protection status, and cannot be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please.

We discourage anyone from visiting the Salt Tram, as nothing good could possibly come of it (see Danger! Do Not Vandalize - above) - just read this web site instead - its much safer! You can learn about becoming  a "Friend of the Saline Valley Salt Tram" by clicking here. We recently inquired about interest in a guided tour of the Salt Tram, and nobody was - a lot of smart, safe people out there! If you were to foolishly decide you might want to visit the Salt Tram, you could have 3 general options:

(1) End-to-end Salt Tram (hard core) hike. Its a tough multi-day hike to get from one end of the tram to the other. The elevation gains and descents are massive, and trails are largely non-existent, making route-finding difficult and mandatory. Also, there are lots of cliffs and drop-offs, and no cell-phone signal. Along the way, the hiker will encounter the washed out, steep and dangerous "Zig Zag Trail", so this option is severely difficult (rock climbing experience, and use of ropes and climbing harnesses is necessary on this section). 

Above: Massive Tram Station (over 62 feet high). Photo Courtesy of the Eastern California Museum. Note that there are no hardware and cables on this tower - indicating that the tower had just been built with the tram hardware yet to be installed. Click to enlarge.

2) Discharge Station, Secret Wagon Route and on to Cliff's Station. The Salt Tram Discharge Station is quietly located near highway 190 and believe it or not, is still a fascinating site (even though everything burned down in an arson fire in 1949), and may be worthy of an outing. This would be followed by a dayhike along the lower western-most portion of the Salt Tram route, where everything except the concrete foundations of the towers have been salvaged or vandalized. 

Above: Salt Tram Diarist Cliff Patterson poses at Control Station 4, where he worked after building the Salt Tram. This is the only known photo of Cliff to have ever been taken at the Salt Tram. This control station on the west side of the tram line has been heavily pillaged and only concrete foundations too large to remove remain. Photo courtesy of the Fred Patterson family. Click to enlarge.

3) Salt Lake Loading Station, and hike to Control Station 1. This is in Saline Valley and is be considered an overnighter. Consult other sources on the difficulty and dangers of driving in and out of this remote Valley. You can visit the Salt Lake Operations and Tram Loading Station by the Salt Lake which is inside of Death Valley National Park. Note that the lake operations and tramway have been scavenged at this site and nothing is left but concrete foundations of buildings, hidden in the salty mud, as well as a few forlorn, lonely tram towers.

This would be followed by an extremely strenuous, difficult, and optional dayhike along the Salt Tram pack trail - if you can find it. For this option, you would want to camp overnight somewhere in remote Saline Valley. Saline Valley is very hot - Death Valley hot - and should never be visited in the summertime unless you like crazy crazy fireball life-threatening heat.

Above: Salt Tram buckets lined up and waiting at the Loading Station at the Salt Lake. Photo Courtesy of the Eastern California Museum. Click to enlarge.

Final Warning: The goal of visiting the Salt Tram is to appreciate the historical significance and importance of preservation of White Smith's amazing Tramway, as well as an understanding of the Salt Tram's unique history - period. The hazards of viewing and exploring the wild Salt Tram located outdoors in the dangerous dry desert and steep mountains are countless and unpredictable - you have been warned!

  ********************click to go to Salt Tram Home********************

3rd Stock Certificate Being Acquired - Dated May 12, 1914

Friends of the SALT TRAM

www.facebook.com/SalineValleySaltTram

SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com 

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Update: Tim donated the May 12, 1914 Stock Certificate to the Eastern California Museum on March 16, 2014. Also donated to the Museum was the 1912 Report to Salt Co. Shareholders that you can read about by clicking here. Thanks to Roberta, Jon, and Heather for all their guidance and general wonderfulness in dealing with "All Things Salt Tram". A photo from the donation:

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Update: In order to acquire this stock certificate, we set up the "Friends of the Salt Tram" through the "Friends of the Eastern California Museum". A hearty thanks to Rich White and Elaine Delaney from the FECM group for assisting with this.

We collected $800.00 even for acquiring Salt Tram items, and spent $250 to buy this stock certificate, leaving $550 in the account for future acquisitions. Thanks to all those who contributed. Below is the stock certificate after Tim spent a few hours of photoshop time cleaning it up a bit. This stock certificate can be purchased elsewhere on this website.

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Update March 29, 2014: While getting ready to do my taxes, I found an envelope that this May 1914 Stock Certificate came in, and was about to throw it away...when, it seemed a little bit...stiff. Fishing around, I found a letter written by Mrs. Dale Marshall (Wayne Marshall's mother, I presume). Way back in 1968, she was inquiring with the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (and later, the Arizona Corporation Commission) regarding the status of "The Saline Valley Salt Company". Click to enlarge.

It appears that Mrs. Marshall may have believed that the stock certificate could have some value, and without the benefit of the internet, had no idea that it had ceased to exist as a corporate entity long ago. Thanks to Wayne Marshall for both keeping this letter all these years (about 47 years!), but also forwarding it along with the stock certificate.

I shall mail it to Roberta Harlan at the Eastern California Museum so that this letter can live in the same folder as the one where Mrs. Marshall's stock certificate of dubious value resides. They will be reunited for a bit more time.

Apparently, Mrs. Marshall mailed an inquiry to the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce:

And received the reply that she would have to send a buck (yep - un dollare) to the Arizona Corporation Commission who would follow up on her request. There is no sign that she ever mailed in that buck, or got a report back from the Arizona bureaucracy in question. A final image for the ages:

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Update March 10, 2014: While photoshopping the stock certificate to get it ready for printing, I discovered some "secret writing" buried in the document. Close examination under a magnifying glass indicated that it said "A. Carlisle & Co. S. F.". Look carefully at the image below - can you find it? Click to enlarge.

Enter Google. A google search revealed it to be the "A. Carlisle & Co." of San Francisco. You can read all about the companies history by clicking here. Here's a brief except from the above link to A. Carlisle & Co of San Francisco:

"A. Carlisle and Company of Nevada got a start in stationery in the Gold Rush Days. By the year 1852, it was already apparent to thousands of fortune-seekers that the treasure of California’s Mother Lode just wasn’t juicy enough to go ’round. Shrewd men and talented men from all parts of the world accepted this bitter fact and turned to other pursuits, finding fortune or fame in California without the help of gold. One so fated was a New York lithographer named Joseph Britton, who in 1852 traded his pick and pan for tools he was better acquainted with and teamed up with a French artist named Jacques Rey, to start a lithographic business in San Francisco. 

Their business was purchased in 1916 by the San Francisco firm of A. Carlisle & Co., Printers & Stationers, and they are therefore regarded as the company’s earliest operating ancestors. A. Carlisle & Co. started in 1878 when a youngster from Maryland named Albert Carlisle went into business for himself at 212 Battery Street, San Francisco, selling stationery supplies."

The bottom line is that this stock certificate art was done by A. Carlisle & Co. before it merged with the lithographers Britton and Rey. It is clear from a close-up examination of the stock certificate that it was drawn by hand, as the art is not symmetric - not even close. I know this because it took me hours to clean this up to get ready for printing!

Didn't find the A. Carlisle & Co. logo? Look a little closer! Click to enlarge.

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Update March 1, 2014: We are pleased to announce the acquisition of a Saline Valley Salt Co. stock certificate dated May 12, 1914. The purchase price was $250. Many "Friends of the Salt Tram" members have pledged a donation to purchase the stock certificate. Note that any funds in excess of the $250 purchase price will remain in the "Friends of the Salt Tram" account to fund further purchases.

Please send a check made out to "FECM" and mail it to:

     Tim Waag

     Post Office Box 5060

     San Luis Obispo, CA 93403

Tim will collect all the donations, keep track of who donated what, and mail them all to the FECM. Tim will announce the total contributions and how much (if any) is left over for future Salt Tram acquisitions.

Thanks to everyone for helping with our Salt Tram research, and for helping to acquire the historically valuable document for the Eastern California Museum (ECM) . The stock certificate will be professionally scanned and printed, and for those who made a contribution, you will be mailed a copy of this stock certificate. Thanks to Scootertrash for this excellent idea. Expect it to be sent to you about a month after the donations have been mailed to the ECM.

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Friends of the Salt Tram - Donations
Update February 18, 2014: I received an email back from Rich White,  President of the Friends of the Eastern California Museum (FECM). We received permission from his group to collect donations in their name to acquire the Saline Valley Salt Company Stock Certificate. This allows the donors to receipt a tax deductible donation. I will send out an email to all the donors listed below that pledged to make a donation to acquire the stock certificate. 

Here's what Rich White emailed to me:

"The Friends of the ECM agreed to accept donations for purchase of items for the Museum collection if either Roberta or Jon at the museum has agreed in advance that the item is desirable for the museum collection.  The Stock Certificate meets this requirement.  Checks should be made payable to FECM.  Checks should be mailed to you so you can account for them and then send them to FECM, PO Box 33, Independence, CA  93526.  Thanks for your interest and support of the museum. --Rich White, President, The Friends of the ECM 

Stock Certificate Donation Pledges (so far - how about a few more?): Note that the Stock Certificate Acquisition Cost is $250 plus $20 to ship it Fed Ex - total $270. There are now 17 pledges (see below). Thanks for contributing to saving Saline Valley History.

Above: The May 14, 1914 Saline Valley Stock Certificate arrived via Fed Ex on 2/12/2014. I'm always amazed to be touching a tiny piece of history. Thanks to WM of North Carolina for being so easy to deal with. Next, I will have it professionally scanned and correct the flaws (rips, ink, etc.) with photoshop, then  have 100 copies printed in full color onto similar parchment style paper. Per Scoot's idea, I will mail out a color copy of the stock certificate to everyone who donated towards its purchase, and otherwise sell the rest for $8 each including shipping (same price as the 1st stock certificate). Finally, it will be donated to the Eastern California Museum in Independence, Calif.

Each Pledge below will be marked RECEIVED! when it comes in the mail to me. Brian and I pledge $100 EACH if and only if all the pledges below are received! 

As of 3/25/2014, all 23 Pledges have been collected, totalling $845. This should leave the "Friends of the Salt Tram" with $595 in our "account" with FECM to use for additional Salt Tram-related acquisitions, should they become available.

(1) RECEIVED! Count me in for $25 Tim. Btw - had nice short chat with your wife last weekend when I called you back. Heading for Saline Tuesday / hoping to ride my mtb into the springs via. N pass. We 'll catch up soon. Tim, Heck – I wasn’t even sure I would make it to Saline this year – wife’s work schedule as a nurse.  SO I figured I just ride in alone so I could play it out at the last minute. Regarding the stock cert, I’m now thinking I need to get you the $25 not the FECM.  Or was I right in the first place and we get the dough to you via the FECM in order the take a tax deduction (which is not critical).  Let me know how to pay.  Thanks --AS

(2) RECEIVED!  I'm in. Keep me posted. Put R2 in for $50. -R2

(3) RECEIVED!  I'll be glad to donate a bit toward that certificate. Just let me know the details, and I'll send in a check. Hi, Tim — It (Bradley Gratis font) does look pretty close, doesn't it? By the way, I am happy to send $50 for the stock certificate, but I am still awaiting information from you about where to send the money. --LB

LB posted a follow-up note with the donation: Hi Tim, Congratulations on the great works you do to make history in our area richer! I'm much looking forward to learning more about A. A. Forbes. If it weren't for him, we'd have scant pictorial representation of what native cultures around here looked like. --LB

(4) RECEIVED! Hey Tim and Brian, Count me in for $25. I already have the T-shirt so helping to purchase the Stock Certificate will make me feel like a part owner of this piece a history! I'm also interested in the March [Salt Tram] tour. Hope I can make it. Now why does the comment below make me want to be there all the more!!! "Also note that all participants assume all liability for their participation with the Waag Bros., and that the world is a more dangerous place when you leave your front door. The hazards of viewing and exploring the wild Salt Tram located outdoors in the dangerous desert are countless and unpredictable - you have been warned!" -MM

(5) RECEIVED! Tim,  I think I said a ways back I'd be in for a donation on acquiring a SVSC stock certificate. So you have a 25$ pledge from me. Glad to help --JS

(6) RECEIVED! Tim, get me set up for a donation. --AG

(7) RECEIVED! I can do $25. Just send the details and I'll mail a check. --RH

Re: Eastern California Museum (ECM) Saline Valley Salt Co. stock certificate. Dear Tim, enclosed please find my check for $25 in support of the ECM's acquisition of the stock certificate. I would appreciate an acknowledgment of the donation for tax purposes. Sincerely Yours, --RH. [Note to RH: The donation acknowledgment letter will be sent by the ECM to the name and address on your donation check - unless you request otherwise --Tim W.]

(8) RECEIVED! Please tell me how to send a $25 payment to help purchase this stock certificate. --HBG

(9) RECEIVED! Ok, put me down for $25.00. --SM

(10) RECEIVED! Hi Tim count me in for $30. --CU

(11) RECEIVED! Count me in for $25. Do you want me to mail the check? Or maybe I can drop it next time I'm in the area. -LE

LE posted a follow-up note with the donation: Here's the check I promised for the Stock Certificate - it's amazing they are still around, but lucky for us. We need to have a special display at the Eastern California Museum for all the Salt Tram info that has been found - people are very interested. Next weekend is the big ECM annual meeting - it's been what? 4 years since you did your historic Salt Tram presentation there?

(12) RECEIVED! Hi Tim, We will donate $25 or if you need $50 to close the gap, we can do that also. Let us know when you have the process set up through the Friends of the ESM. Thanks for preserving this bit of history of the Saline Salt Tram for all of us to enjoy. --BS and DS

(13) RECEIVED! Put me down for $50.  Check is in the mail, internet banking from RoK is cool! --MD

(14) RECEIVED! Tim - count me in for $25 --BW.

(15) RECEIVED! Tim, Count me in for $25. Sincerely, --BR

(16) RECEIVED! Awesome!!!! I am thinking that 25 dollar donors will get a color copy?? You guys need to have stand by cash in the event another comes available. Should check be sent directly to museum?? Great find!! --SW

(17) RECEIVED! Put me down for $20. --MA

(18) RECEIVED! Hi Tim, Great to hear from you. Another great find. Put me down for a $50.00 donation towards the purchase of the stock certificate. 

Best regards, --BS

BS posted a follow-up note with the donation: Hi Tim, Enclosed is my check to go towards the purchase of the SVSC stock certificate. Thanks again for all you continue to do for this great project. Best Regards, --BS

(19) Brian and I pledge $100 EACH if and only if all the pledges above are received! 

The Salt Tram is truly one of the most amazing engineering feats in the greater Death Valley area. Put me down for a $100 donation - let's save as much of the history of this jaw-dropping contraption as possible! Heck, put me down for $100! --Brian Waag, E. Clampus Waagus.

(20) Brian and I pledge $100 EACH if and only if all the pledges above are received! 

Well Bro, if you're in for $100, then so am I! Who wouldn't want to contribute to this worthwhile cause  - preserving a historic document from the Salt Tram era that is more than 100 years old! Yeah, a dollar for each year that the stock certificate is old (May 1914 - March 2014 - almost 100 years, anyways). --Tim Waag, E. Clampus Waagus.

(21) RECEIVED! Hi Tim, Here is my $25 towards the stock certificate. Be great to have a copy - put me on the list. See you in Ridgecrest on 3/18/2014. --GB

(22) RECEIVED! Hey Tim, Thanks for all your efforts regarding the Salt Tram. Still would love to hike down the West side, if ever that comes up. --FD aka FF

(23) RECEIVED! Received $50 cash at the Ridgecrest HSUMD meeting from --JK

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Sunday, February 8, 2014: The 3rd known Saline Valley Salt Company Stock Certificate was found in December, 2013, and is in the process of being acquired for the Eastern California Museum in Independence, California. If you are interested in making a donation to the Friends of the Eastern California Museum in order to fund the purchase of the important piece of Salt Tram History, please email us at: SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com, and we will get that set up - thank-you.

This newest Stock Certificate is dated May 12, 1914, and the 125 shares were sold to Alvis Workman of North Carolina. This makes it the earliest dated certificate of the three that we have acquired for the museum. It also appears to be in much better condition than the 2nd certificate, which was dated September 25, 1914. The front and back of the stock certificate appear below (click to enlarge):

Note that on the 2nd and 3rd Salt Company Stock Certificates, in addition to the corporate stamp on the certificate, they have the corporate logo in gold. The stamped version of the logo was used to create our Salt Tram t-shirts, which you can buy by clicking here. Here is a closeup of the logo in gold, followed by the Salt Tram logo that is on the back of our T-shirts. Note that the gold embossed logo is more clear than the original stamped one that we saw, and that instead of a diamond at the bottom of the logo, it can clearly be seen that there is a 6-pointed star instead. Also, it now becomes clear that the lower middle salt pile is one large pile, instead of 2 piles that we merged together - sort-of. Oh well, nobody's perfect!

Below are excerpts from the email that we received from W. M. of North Carolina, the possessor of this stock certificate. He gives some background on the provenance as part of an email that he sent us below:

This stock certificate was issued to Alvis Workman.  He was the brother of my great aunt's husband, William Workman (W. W. Workman).  From our existing family history research, we know Alvis was born on Feb. 12, 1847 in Orange County, NC.  He died in 1920.  My great aunt, Sallie, was married to Alvis' younger brother, William.  William was born in 1852 - also in Orange County.  William survived Alvis and his wife, Susan and other brothers.  So that is why I assume it was inherited by my great Uncle William.  I never knew him since he died in 1926.  But I did know my great aunt Sallie B. Workman who married William in 1902 and who died in 1967 (May-December wedding, second marriage for William).  My mom looked after Aunt Sallie (who lived in Kernersville, NC) in her later years.  I got the stock certificate from my mom who got it from my Aunt Sallie.  That is the provenance I have. 

The certificate is the same style with the raised gold seal as the one you obtained in 2013.  It is for 125 shares.  It is signed by Fred and White Smith as well.  The certificate number is 2063 which is higher than the one you have (2034) but this one is dated as noted on May 12, 1914, not quite 100 years ago.  I assume certificates were printed and sold as they found buyers.  The number "125" is handwritten.  The signatures appear very similar but not exactly as the one you found.  The quality appears to me to be in better shape than the one you show.  It also has a tri-fold.  My guess they did not routinely use larger envelopes then.  

 I do not know if you are interested in buying this certificate or not.  I would consider selling it.  If you are interested, let me know what you would consider a fair price for this earlier document.  It could be the third and earliest known certificate you have! 

Sounds like your upcoming trip in March of 2014 will be very interesting! Thanks for the work you have done to help preserve this history. 
     ---W. M., North Carolina

Below are excerpts from the 2nd email that we received from W. M. of North Carolina, the possessor of this stock certificate. He gives additional background on the provenance as part of an email that he sent us below:

I have some additional provenance on the Saline Valley Salt Company certificate that I obtained from a cousin, including a possible connection to Tennessee.  The stock certificate trail appears to be: Alvis Workman to William Workman to his wife, Sallie Bull Workman, to my mother, Stella Bull Marshall, to me, Wayne Marshall.  Here is the sequence of who knew who, when, as best as we can determine going backwards from today.  

My mother was Stella Bull Marshall (Mrs. Dale Marshall).  Her father, James Robert Bull, had a sister, Sallie Bull and a brother John Franklin Bull (there were 7 additional siblings).  Sallie, my great aunt, was born Jan. 7, 1880, married William W. Workman on Jan 1, 1902 (his second marriage, her first) and died Jan 19, 1967.  They had no children.

William W. Workman, born in Orange County, NC on Sep. 2, 1852 married my great Aunt Sallie in Guilford County (my current residence county) in 1902 and died May 29, 1926.. William and Sallie moved to Norfolk, VA after their marriage and lived there until his death.  He appeared to be a man of means from pictures of them and their clothes 

William was the younger brother of Alvis Franklin Workman. Alvis, who was born on Feb 12, 1847, married Susan Hall (who was born Sep 9, 1845, died Oct. 10, 1914).  Alvis died Mar 11, 1920.  They had no children. 

My great uncle John (born Mar 19, 1885, met and married his wife, Sarah Dinkle on June 17, 1907 in Washington County, TN (Johnson City, TN).  They lived there many years before moving to Norfolk, VA where my great Aunt Sallie lived with her husband, William W. Workman.  My assumption is my great Uncle John's new home in Johnson City and the family of John's wife, Sarah, daughter of Calvin and Annie Gammon Dinkle, was the "Tennessee connection" to Alvis through my great Uncle William Workman and my great Aunt Sallie.  

I also know through another old deed passed on to me the same way that William Workman, living in Norfolk, VA, bought a lot in Elkmont Park in Knox County, TN dated October 9, 1914.  

In 1968,after my Mom, Stella, got possession of the stock certificate, she attempted unsuccessfully to find information about the Saline Valley Salt Company incorporation from officials in Arizona.  I will send that information with the certificate.  

Hope all continues to go well for you!  I will send the stock certificate soon. Sincerely, ---W. M., North Carolina

Cool Font for the Saline Valley Salt Company Stock Certificate: We thought the font on the stock certificate was very unique, so we were determined to find out what it was. Tah-dah! Liz B. hit the nail on the head, determining that it was the "Bradley" font. Upon further searching, it would appear to be the "Bradley Gratis" font, as shown below:

Thanks as always  for the support from Roberta Harlan, Jon Klusmire and Heather Todd at the Eastern California Museum, as well as Rich White from the Friends of the Eastern California Museum! Also, thanks in advance to those who have offered to chip in some cash to purchase the certificate. Last time (when we bought the 2nd stock certificate), the price was very reasonable, so I just made the purchase myself. That time, I asked you to keep that cash ready, should a more expensive Saline Valley Salt Company artifact become available - well, that time is now! We hope to hear from you.

       ********** click to go to Salt Tram Home***********

B-24 Bomber Lands on Salt Lake in on Oct. 20, 1944

Friends of the SALINE VALLEY SALT TRAM

www.SaltTram.blogspot.com  SalineValleySaltTram@gmail.com

Little is left of the Salt Tram and its diggin's. The Waag Bros. are actively seeking out information about the Saline Valley Salt Tram and the Salt Mine between 1903 and the 1960's, including: documents, photos, articles, stories, artifacts, etc. If you can help us out, please email us at the address above - Thank-you!  Caution (PLEASE READ): Climbing around on the tramway is dangerous because its really old and defnitely unsafe, so don't even think about it. Shoot, just getting to it requires some perilous hiking, and if you don't believe me, just take a look at the Zig Zag Access Trail (or what's left of it). Plus, climbing on it weakens it and endangers your life. Also, the Saline Valley Salt Tram is on the National Register of Historic Places and should be treated with the respect that it deserves. What little remains is of great historic value, and should not be disturbed in any way. Heck, its probably against the law to move parts of the tram around, and certainly a crime to take home some of the few bits of it that remain (though you'd have to ask your friendly local BLM agent for details). So please treat it with the respect it deserves, so that future generations can enjoy whats left, without you messing it up. Really. Please. You can see its listing on the National Register of Historic Places at these web links: National Register of Historic Places  • Inyo County Places of Importance

Nurse Hazel Schultz wrote this contemporaneous account of the crash-landing and rescue of a B24 Bomber on the very Salt Lake where White Smith had toiled in failure for almost half a century before. Read her first-hand account here.

This accident occurred on October 20, 1944. The B24 was on a routine training mission when it developed engine trouble. The landing caused severe damage to the undercarriage and other structures of the plane. Due to the damage and poor lakebed surface, it was impossible to fly the massive ship out, and so the army decided to abandon it. The B24 lay intact in this barren and remote desert wasteland until sometime in the late 1950's or early 60's at which time salvors dismantled and hauled it away. All that remains of that fateful night are a few small metallic parts, a tire and the memory of the "Corporal from Kansas."

I have reproduced her account below in the event that her story may someday be lost:

"The Corporal From Kansas"

by Nurse Hazel Shultz

It was one of those blustery days in early spring -- a day when any weather could happen. My husband had just come home to dinner when he got the call. I remember how the elm tree outside the kitchen window was just beginning to drop its seeds. And how as we packed the station wagon with fresh water, food and blankets, the wind blew the seeds like a shower. They danced on the driveway, swirling in drifts like driven snow against the curb.

By the time the folding stretchers, bandages, splints and plasma were stowed away it was dark -- a night with clouds and neither stars nor moon. We wore our heavy coats and took some sandwiches with us, thinking to eat as we drove along, rather than taking time for dinner. The Sheriff's posse which was to accompany us pulled up at the gate. One car would lead the way and the second car would follow behind the station wagon.

The call had said that a B24 with a crew of seven had crash-landed on the floor of Saline Valley. Apparently as their radio was damaged, they had on the white salt flat of the dry lake spelled out in letters six- feet high one word "Plasma." By this, army headquarters knew that someone was seriously injured and that someone was up and about. More than that we would have to learn when we arrived at the scene of the wrecked ship.

We proceed out through Keeler taking the dirt road at the Talc City turnoff to Jackass Flats. It was down in this low country that the lead car carrying Art Jewett and Charlie Cline got on the wrong road. The winter's snows and rains had washed away many of the tracks and landmarks were difficult to recognize. After wandering around a bit, they told us to wait while they scouted the area. When they had not returned after 30 minutes, Harry Mack in the rear car suggested that we go in search of them; but my husband thought it best to wait a while longer. I thought so too, for peering into the windy black, this valley looked immense -- and not being able to see the slightest sign of a road, I feared that if we so much as moved, we would become hopelessly lost. Just then we saw Cline's headlights. When we pulled up beside us he informed us that they had had a flat tire, therefore the delay, but they were sure of the way now.

Once more we got under way, slowly we crept across the rutted road of the flats, still more slowly up the side of Hunter Mountain and into a driving rain. The wind blew the drops so hard against the windshield that the wipers could scarcely carry them away. Occasionally the night was lighted by a flash of lightning.

From the growth of scrub pines and pinion appearing beside the road, we knew we were nearing the summit. The rain had now turned to snow and although it clung to the pines turning them into Christmas trees, fortunately it melted when hitting the ground. We started down on the other side of the Inyo range. Desolate Saline Valley, dark and foreboding, lay below us. Slowly we threaded our way out of the pine, out of the snow and finally out of the rain, Only the wind remained, putting its strength against the side of the car, as though in an effort to blow us off the mountain.

It was at this point that we saw a strange green light above the horizon. It must be a star, we thought. Now it vanished only to appear with a reddish glow. "I think it's a flare", said my husband. We peered into the east. I rolled down the window to see better. The wind was almost warm. There it was again -- the light -- this time green. Now we were sure it was a flare. There were many -- red, green, white. They had seen us coming down the mountain and were giving us their position. We turned on our red spotlights to signal them that we were the rescue party. It must have cheered them for what we didn't know then was that they had been here since ten o'clock in the morning. It was now eleven at night.

In our interest in the flares and now a campfire ahead and to the right, we had failed to notice the rear car. When we looked back there was no Harry Mack. We stopped and waited; still he did not appear. We backed up and around a curve to find him out changing a flat tire. He insisted that we proceed without him, but as we had planned to stay together, we thought it best to do just that. The tire was changed in a few minutes and on we went. The flares were still flying in the air as we reached the base of the mountain.

Here the road led into a wash with boulders the size of a man's head. It was necessary to reduce our speed to a mere crawl. The wooden body of the station wagon creaked and gave as we bumped all over the rock. The minutes ticked by, but the campfire seemed to remain ahead and to the right. I strained my eyes for some sign of the plane but all I could see was the blazing campfire being fed large clumps of brush, the wind carrying flaming portions far out on the salt flats.

At last we were as close to the camp as the car could get and we came to a halt near the other end of the old Keeler Salt Tram. Several buckets were still hanging on the cable overhead. We could hear men's voices as they ran through the bushes towards us. They were carrying flashlights, "Did you bring a doctor and an ambulance," they called? When they were assured that we had, they shouted, "Great!"

As we followed them through shrubs growing higher than a man's head in the sand banks surrounding this end of the lake they blurted out their story. They had left Muroc Air Base on a routine flight. They developed engine trouble and seeing Saline Valley below, decided to land. This salt flat was like Muroc, white and smooth with plenty of room to land a large plane. As is routine upon a forced landing, one man is detailed to open all hatches immediately when the plane comes to a stop. As the wheels of the giant ship touched the dry lake the top hatch was opened, but instead of coming back down into the cockpit, the man sat up on the fuselage swinging his legs.

It was a perfect landing, but as the entire weight of the ship came to rest on the lake, the salt crust gave away plunging the wheels into the brine beneath. The plane lurched forward, nose down, causing the man on the top to be thrown forward and into the still whirling propeller.

"He has a badly broken leg," said the young captain of the ship as we arrived at the injured man's side. "Look, Bob; here is a doctor and a nurse too. You're going to be as good as new in no time. They brought an ambulance too. Going to take you into a good hospital, -- aren't you, doc?", said the captain. " Say nurse, do they have any good looking nurses at that hospital?" I answered, "They surely do." All the men seemed to be talking at once, and laughing.

My husband had been preparing the plasma while I gave the injured youth a hypodermic of morphine. As I bent over him to bare his arm, I noticed the chevrons on his sleeve that he was a corporal -- blond and of slight build; that he bore of deathly pallor, his lips parched and dry. As he received the plasma he began to revive. He wanted to talk -- said he was 20 years old. Between spoonfuls of broth and sips of hot tea he became almost silly. All of the men joked and laughed. It was that release that comes when any tense ordeal is over.

My husband was unwrapping the parachute that had been wound about the injured leg. I noticed the rakish angle of the toe of the shoe and I realized that this must be a bad break. When I saw him snipping the few remaining ties of flesh that held this leg to the corporal's body, my heart sank. Now the amputated member was lying upon the bloody parachute to one side -- the tourniquet was removed, the bleeding vessels tied off and the stump dressed with sterile gauze.

All eyes were watching but appearing as not to. We were drinking hot instant coffee and talking of many other things. I was watching the last of the plasma flow into the corporal's veins -- all the time talking to him quietly. First about his home in Kansas, now about California. He had never been here before and had seen very little of the state; in fact, nothing but Muroc Air Base and its vicinity. But, boy, he was going to see plenty of it before he went home to Kansas. He liked flying. He liked the army. He had just had a bit of tough luck. Probably have to be in a cast a long time. Just how long, he wanted to know. After all, medicine had made some rapid strides. They can do things now-a-days to speed healing of broken bones. He'd read about it. Why, sometimes athletes brake an ankle and with the right kind of first aid went right back on the field and finished the game.

It was at this point that he raised his head and looked squarely at his amputated leg. He stared a moment only, then sank heavily back upon the blankets. Someone lit a cigarette and placed it between his lips, but he closed his eyes and appear to be asleep, ignoring the gesture. Another man refilled each coffee cup with instant coffee. The fire was heaped high with bushes. It crackled and snapped, the flames reaching dangerous proportions in the fanning wind. We sat about silently, some smoking and us sipping the hot drinks while the second unit of plasma was given. Then we wrapped him warmly in blankets and carried him on the stretcher to the station wagon. He aroused briefly when his buddies gathered around, admonishing him to take it easy, to keep his chin up, and the like. They spoke encouragingly about seeing him soon and that he'd be up and about before he knew it.

The little caravan turned into the river of boulders. The patient groaned as the wheels dropped down from the rock with a jerk. My husband said something about he wished he had some whole blood for this boy, that was what he really needed.

Now we were on the mountain side. The wind was again raw and cold. Once the corporal shouted out in a delirious dream, flailing his arms wildly out of the blankets. I turned back to reassure him and to receive him. His skin was cold -- his pulse thready and he was shaking in a chill. We stopped and prepared a third unit of plasma. The deputies held the bottle high and spread their coats to break the wind.

The night dragged wearily on as the three cars switched back and forth down the mountain. When we reached Hunter's Flats, my husband said that we would pull out ahead and try to make some time, as he felt it was imperative that we reach Lone Pine as quickly as possible. The posse said they would bring up the rear and over-take us should we be stranded. We did not see them again that night.

Above the noise of wind and the corporal moaning, I held my breath for him over the worst bumps and silently cursed the ruts and rocks in the dirt road.

It was before we came to the Talc City turnoff that our right rear tire went flat. My husband and I changed it in a very short time. The stars were out now, the wind dead. The patient was in a deep sleep -- perhaps a coma. His condition was very grave.

Now we reached pavement. What a relief to accelerate the motor. It seemed to relive tense nerves, to relax us. We fairly sailed along until we came to the boulevard stop south of Lone Pine. Dawn was breaking in the east. The stars had begun to fade. The morning was fair and silent.

Here we stopped long enough to examine our patient. He had expired! We were suddenly overwhelmed with weariness. The fatigue that accompanies defeat engulfed us and we felt heavy and old. I said, "All that for nothing." My husband said, "What a waste", but he was not speaking of a waste of time; he was referring to the expendability of American youth -- like the corporal from Kansas.

Ed. Note - This accident occurred on October 20, 1944. The B24 was on a routine training mission when it developed engine trouble. The landing caused severe damage to the undercarriage and other structures of the plane. Due to the damage and poor lakebed surface, it was impossible to fly the massive ship out, and so the army decided to abandon it. The B24 lay intact in this barren and remote desert wasteland until sometime in the late 1950's or early 60's at which time salvors dismantled and hauled it away. All that remains of that fateful night are a few small metallic parts, a tire and the memory of the "Corporal from Kansas."

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