Arrows, Adventure and A Mystery in the Desert

Over the Thanksgiving holiday my family and I had the pleasure of traveling to Las Vegas to visit my brother and his family. As it was my first time in the area I had a specific list of things I wanted to see and experience around the City of Neon Lights.

First on the list was of course to visit the famous gate to Groom Lake, better known as “Area 51”. Just as important as the gate itself was catching a glimpse of the famous “camo dudes” that guard it. They didn’t disappoint as they drove back and forth and turned on their lights, likely to make sure we knew we were being watched on the foggy afternoon we came to visit.

I don’t look happy at all!

The camo dudes keeping an eye on us. Shortly after that they started moving back and forward and turned on their lights. 

Admittedly, being at the gate was a pretty uncomfortable experience. It’s not just because of the signs threatening all sorts of unpleasant fines, detainment and/or violent death but that did not help. You also have the assumption (paranoia?) that you are on a cactus cam somewhere and you begin to question (jokingly at first but then more seriously) if that cow sitting in the field standing still, is actually a cow or part of some sophisticated surveillance network. Not only that, but facility takes some effort to reach given its remote location (it’s almost like it would be a great place for top secret military facility!)

Also no trip to Area 51 would be complete without a few purchases from the Alien Research Facility gift shop. It’s an experience I would recommend if you love the lore of the facility or if you like antagonizing the government just a little bit.

Second on the list was the typical tourist type activities like visiting the massive Hoover Dam along the Colorado river, a stroll through Fremont street, and enjoying a delicious Vegas buffet at the Wynn. Hoover Dam is so impressive in person. It’s amazing this was built in the 1930s.

Last on my Vegas to-do list and the reason for the post is I wanted to seek some history in the desert. Luckily for me, my brother shares a love of history and is always up for a little adventure. So we hopped into his seriously impressive Rivian truck and went looking for our target, aviation navigation arrows from the 650 mile CAM (Contract Air Mail) route 4. The route ran from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City. The arrows we were looking for were actually located along the Las Vegas to Milford leg of the air way route. We found and photographed two of them and certainly would have found more had it not been Thanksgiving and our families waiting patiently for our arrival. 

A curved arrow down the back of two small hills.

Looking forward from the remains of the power shed that powered the beacon and lighting.

Some Background:

The Air mail

In 1918, the United States Air Mail service was created and tasked with developing a transcontinental route to deliver mail. Initially, the Army Air service agreed to lend pilots and aircraft to help launch the program. The first route was scheduled May, 18th 1918, from Washington D.C. to New York. Over the next several years, many other routes were added, connecting most of the nation’s major cities.

Map of the early air mail route

Four months following the establishment of the first Washington D.C. to New York route, the Air Mail Service began hiring their own pilots and transitioned away from using Army Air Corp pilots. 

Flying as an airmail pilot proved to be extremely perilous work. From 1919 to 1920, 19 airmail pilots lost their lives. Relying on minimal instrumentation and road maps, the pilots had very little to help them navigate or traverse bad weather. The aircraft themselves were still rudimentary and prone to failures.

Photo of Maury Graham who became lost in a snow storm on CAM 4 on January 10th 1930. He survived the crash and for several days tried to make his way out of the desert before succumbing to exposure. He also showed signs of injury. A heroic but unfortunately futile effort.

As one could imagine, given the danger involved, the United States Airmail Service was largely limited to daytime service only, but some night flying did occur. Flying at night provided many challenges especially with navigation. To help, the post office lit bonfires along the routes at night to serve as guide markers for the pilots.

In 1924, the mail service began working on a system of permanent light beacons along the transcontinental route. These lights, paired with arrows for daytime travel intended to make day/night delivery service possible and service more efficient. The beacons were placed sequentially and if the weather was good, the lighted beacons were visible for up to ten miles. Additional colored flashing lights identified the beacon and numerous emergency intermediate landing fields were placed along the route. This was a major improvement in safety but the beacon system’s usefulness was still subject to weather conditions, and accidents associated with it.

Photo of Maury Graham’s wrecked airplane found after the snow thawed.

In 1925, the United States Congress passed the Kelly Air Mail Act of 1925. The bill gave the postmaster general the power to issue contracts to private companies to fly the airmail. These routes became know as Contract Air Mail routes or CAMs. Pricing and payout was controlled by the post office. To facilitate rates, the nation was also divided into zones and airlines were paid 5 cents per ounce of mail in each zone travelled. This system proved to be flawed as many airlines would take advantage of the zones by finding the shortest routes to travel within the zones to maximize payment and minimize actual flying time. 

CAM 4

Western Air Express (later swallowed up in a merger with Delta in 1987) won the contract for CAM 4 on October 7th 1925 and flew its first route on April 17th 1926. In the early days of the route they primarily flew Douglas M2 Mail planes. 

Douglas M2 

The Arrows

The arrows we located were both in great condition. The beacon towers and power sheds were both lost to history but plenty of artifacts scattered around each site. The arrows were located only a few miles from each other. 

Curved arrow

Behind the arrow was what was known as “beacon hill.” It just so happens our arrow was also here. According to the newspapers, the beacon tower was actually up on the hill and not with the arrow. Somewhat unusual for the arrows.

Arrow pointing toward Milford, UT.

Some period pieces of lights and fuse. Possibly from the tower or power shed? Impossible to know for sure.

Some wood fragments located near the location of where the power shed once stood. Also impossible to know for sure but possible.

The Mystery

After our at times off road adventure to track down the arrows I began diving deep into some research and discovered an old chart from the 1930s. 

In an aerial chart dated November of 1930 we can see the arrows and the mystery emergency field. The curved arrow in the previous photos at beacon hill is number 31 on the map. The straight arrow is number 33 and our airfield in question is number 32.

So between the two arrows we explored was an airfield! How cool is that! Immediately, I began scouring the aerial satellite maps, newspaper archives, and anything else I could find for any sign or mention of the previous airfield. I was eventually able to find the exact coordinates for the field. By this time, I was back home in Illinois looking at the data from afar. Luckily, my brother, never needing an arm twist to find some adventure in the desert drove out to see what could be found on the site.

Foundation from an airfield building or power shed? Impossible to know but we can dream.

View of Beacon hill to the center left where the curved arrow is located. It was pointing right towards this field and the straight arrow.

Marker from the field or something else?

A cleared out area.

Clearly signs of activity at some point? Airfield? Impossible to know.

My brother unfortunately, could not find anything definitive but he did locate a number of building foundations and plenty of signs of activity on the site. It’s impossible to know for sure if they were once part of the emergency air mail field but sometimes the mystery is the most fun of all. The reward is just knowing that we discovered an old airfield lost to time. 

If anyone knows any additional information about this intermediate field, or the holy grail… photos!! Please pass it on! 

Another foundation at the site. But is it from the airfield? We will continue to dream!