Mitchell Recreation Area is a small picnic area located in the Fremont-Winema National Forests,

Lake County, Oregon Lake County is one of the List of counties in Oregon, 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 8,160. Its county seat is Lakeview, Oregon, Lakeview. The county is named after ...

, near the unincorporated community of Bly. In it stands the Mitchell Monument, erected in 1950, which marks the only location in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

where Americans were killed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a direct result of a Japanese balloon bomb. The site is maintained by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Natio ...

and was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

History

On May 5, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell took his pregnant wife and five Sunday school children, from the

Christian and Missionary Alliance The Alliance World Fellowship (or The Alliance, also C&MA and CMA) is an evangelicalism, evangelical Christian denomination It includes 6.2 million members throughout 88 countries within 22,000 churches. History The Alliance has its origins in ...

church where he was minister, on a picnic and fishing trip. The group found the logging road they followed blocked, so they stopped next to Leonard Creek, east of Bly near Gearhart Mountain. While Mitchell was unloading the food, he heard one of the children say, "Look what I found!" His wife and the children ran to see what had been found. Moments later, there was an explosion. Mrs. Mitchell and the boys were killed instantly; one of the children, Joan, survived the initial blast but died minutes later. Rev. Mitchell's hands were burned from trying to put out Mrs. Mitchell's dress which had caught fire."Mitchell Monument"
Pacific Northwest Region, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Portland, Oregon, January 2012."", National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Eugene, Oregon, 31 December 2002. The children had found the remains of a Japanese balloon bomb, one of approximately 9,000 balloon bombs launched from

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

between November 1944 and April 1945. The balloons drifted across the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

via the

jet stream Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere. The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...

in about three days. The hydrogen-filled balloons were in diameter and carried five bombs, four

incendiaries Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires. They may destroy structures or sensitive equipment using fire, and sometimes operate as anti-personnel weaponry. Incendiarie ...

and one

anti-personnel An anti-personnel weapon is a weapon primarily used to maim or kill infantry and other personnel not behind armor, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. The development of defensive fortification and combat vehicles gav ...

high explosive. It is believed that as many as 1,000 balloons may have reached the United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. However, there were only 285 confirmed sightings on the west coast, and two balloons were later found in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. Except for Elsye (aka Elsie) Mitchell and the five children killed near Bly, the bombs caused no injuries. These six individuals were the only Americans killed in the United States during World War II as a direct result of an Axis balloon bomb detonation. In 1976, Sakyo Adachi, a Japanese scientist who helped plan the balloon offense, visited the site and laid a wreath at the monument. He later sent a letter of apologies to the Patzke family for the loss of their two children. In 1995, Japanese students sent 1,000 paper cranes, a Japanese symbol of peace and healing, to the families of the victims. Six cherry trees were also delivered to Bly to be planted at the site. One of the cherry trees was planted just north of the fenced monument site. The remaining trees were planted inside the fenced area. Later that year, over 500 people attended the 50th anniversary re-dedication ceremony at the Mitchell Monument site. The Mitchell Monument site was originally owned by Weyerhaeuser Corporation. In 1996, Weyerhaeuser donated land around the monument to the Fremont National Forest (now the Fremont-Winema National Forests). Additional property was added to the site in 1997. A small picnic area was developed around the monument. During the summer of 2021, the Bootleg Fire burned over the area surrounding Mitchell Monument. However, fire crews were able to save the historic site from the flames. As the fire approached, fire crews trimmed low hanging tree branches and built a fire line around the monument site. They also wrapped the shrapnel tree and the stone monument in a fire-resistant material similar to the material used for the firefighter's emergency shelters. As a result, when the fire passed through the adjacent forest, the monument was undamaged.

Monument

The Mitchell Monument was erected by Weyerhaeuser in 1950. It was designed by Tom Orr, a Weyerhaeuser forester. The stone structure was built by Robert H. Anderson, a local monument builder and stonemason. It is constructed of native stone and displays a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

plaque with the names and ages of the victims of the balloon bomb explosion. It commemorates the "only place on the American continent where death resulted from enemy action during World War II".Richard, Terry
"Oregon connection to World War II"
''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', Portland, Oregon, 5 April 2007. Approximately 500 people attended the monument's dedication on August 20, 1950. Oregon Governor Douglas McKay spoke at the ceremony."Germ-Filled Bomb Borne by Balloon, War Possibility", ''The Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 21 August 1950. Here are the words from the monument plaque:

Because it commemorates an important wartime event that occurred at the site, the monument is of significant historical value. Therefore, the Mitchell Monument site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 20, 2003.

Recreation area

Today, the Bly Ranger District maintains Mitchell Recreation Area as a day-use picnic area. The site covers . It is adjacent to Leonard Creek and is sheltered by large ponderosa pines. In addition to the monument, the site offers

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, and wildlife viewing opportunities. The site is normally open from mid-May until the end of October. Adjacent to the monument is the " shrapnel tree", a ponderosa pine still bearing scars from the explosion. In 2005, the State of Oregon designated the shrapnel tree at the Mitchell Monument site as an '' Oregon Heritage Tree''. File:Mitchell Monument site.jpg, Mitchell recreation site File:Mitchell Monument, Bly, Oregon (6149865447).jpg, Mitchell Monument File:Tree with World War II Shrapnel Damage (Lake County, Oregon scenic images) (lakDA0008).jpg, Shrapnel scarred tree File:Mitchell Monument, NRHP sign.jpg, Historic site sign

References

External links

Mitchell Monument Plaque
{{National Register of Historic Places Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Lake County, Oregon Monuments and memorials in Oregon United States home front during World War II Parks in Lake County, Oregon Protected areas established in 1950 1950 establishments in Oregon Weyerhaeuser World War II on the National Register of Historic Places Monuments and memorials on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon Fremont–Winema National Forest

History

Monument

Recreation area

See also

References

External links