Finding the Forgotten Airplane Crash Monument in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 พ.ค. 2022
- On December 7, 1922, an airplane piloted by First Lieutenant Charles F. Webber and carrying decorated World War I veteran Colonel Francis C. Marshall disappeared after leaving Rockwell Field near San Diego. Their disappearance started the largest military search and rescue operation during peacetime to that point, covering five states and two counties. Sadly, it would take almost six months for the plane to be found, having crashed in a remote area in the mountains east of San Diego.
In May 1923, after the crash was found, a monument was erected at the site to the fallen officers. The site is located on the side of a mountain, an approximately 2 1/2 mile hike from where California State Route 79 is now located in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
While it was a major story in its time, the crash is largely forgotten today and the trail to the monument is little used. In fact, we didn't see a single other hiker the entire time we were on the trail or at the monument (just turkeys and bees... lots of bees).
In this video we explore the Monument Trail and take look at the Airplane Crash Monument and its history.
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I think the bees occupying the engine is a bit touching. Men lost their lives at this site, but because of the monument built in their honor, it has given shelter to a species necessary for most life on Earth. They gave their lives, but now they're creating lives with their sacrifice.
I agree...they look like honey bees...they won't bother anyone and are very necessary.
@@jondickinson1142 I was just getting ready to comment that. They are Honey Bees. Harmless. Engine makes a good Hive
yes, one of the most uplifting u tube, stories .
and they're flying bugs xD
Very just and moving.
I remember hiking to this monument when I was 18 and now 52 years old
Thank you for bringing memories back
Was it a stoner site?
Thank you for braving the bees to bring this tour to us. My husband used to go to summer camp in Cuyamaca, this would’ve been in the mid-1950s, and he would tell me about seeing the crash site. I personally have never been to the site but because of your efforts I finally got to see it.
I imagine there were a lot more trees in the area then, but the 2003 Cedar Fire took most of them out and the area is still recovering. Glad you got to see it!
@@SidetrackAdventures no, it was bare in the 70's and 80's, as well. i go up there frequently and it was burned by a backfire lit by heartland fire down near ellis ranch and I-8 a couple days after the cedar fire started. i watched cuyamaca burn from kwaymii point in mount laguna - what an amazing spectacle. monument is a very short distance from SR 79- def not 2.5 miles.
You know, and I think that most would agree, it would be nice to see someone leave a can of Raid near the monument and kill all the bee's. Even nicer, maybe the good people at Raid or Black Flag could sponsor the Monument Trail ?
@@superfly3990 Why would you kill honeybees? They won't bother you. And we can't live without them.
@@superfly3990 - You got to be kidding? Right!
🤡
It's actually kinda nice to see the bees inhabiting the monument. Since it seems that they're honeybees, I think of them as guarding the monument from any potential vandals as they go about doing their natural honeybee things that are essential to plant and human life. The bees are also helping to keep the area where these 2 men sadly perished full of beautiful wildflowers. I don't think a better natural feature of the monument site could have been made by design. Thanks for sharing your video!
Well they called Indian Hill there's a lot of residents of indigenous people. A perfect place to live all the Oak you could gather it was a great Melting Pot indigenous peoples came from the desert and the coast and the forest to meet and greet Oak season yeah unfortunately it has been rummaged and displaced by amateur treasure Seekers it's also called arrowmakers Ridge cuz you couldn't hardly walk up there without stepping on and arrow point
Glad they're not the African bees😰.
I love when the bees do their waggle dance; they look so cute-waggle, waggle, buzz buzzzzzz........
Agree
I'm really surprised the crash site was found in 1923. The area looks like it's pretty remote, especially back then. Thanks for sharing
Probably the local rancher was looking for lost livestock and spotted the marks of the fire from the crash months before. He said the bodies were charred, meaning they probably died on impact and the plane went up in flames after having the wings sheared by the trees that were missing their tops.
Fort WACHOOKA is the way its pronounced
@@scottdunkirk8198 Haha! Yes. Thank you.
You have brought me to tears! Before the fire, I used to do this hike a lot. Since the fire, I've moved far away. But with your video, you've brought back some wonderful memories. Thank you!
You showed me a story I never knew, thanks for taking me along and giving us a chance to learn about early aviation and some of its lesser known tragic events.
New subscriber!
Thank you, I appreciate it.
I am in eastern Tennessee. I have read a couple of stories about a plane wreck very near the Blue Ridge Park way. I actually want to go see it, just finding time to go ,it's a easy day trip but I work 6 days a week. It is only about 50 to 60 miles away from me. The stories I have read is that it is a short walk and that some #@$%& oles sprayed graffiti on it but I still want to go see it.
I'm glad to see the bee population is as healthy as it apparently is. I'm also reminded just how gorgeous are the plants when in full bloom in San Diego's back country.
I'm wondering what the accident report came up with but I'll go look on line to see if there is anything. Since it was December it's likely it was a low ceiling/fog/clouds. There have been a number of small planes lost in the Cuyamacas due to pilots unable to fly in instrument conditions trying to make it over. In the case of this aircraft, it was not equipped with instruments that would allow the pilot to fly in such conditions. It wouldn't be until 1929-1932 development of the artificial horizon (Sperry/Doolittle) that "blind" flying became possible. Until then staying upright in clouds was a difficult task that took the lives of many aviators and passengers in those early days.
Yes! All very good comments. I was in Monterey when Gen Doolittle passed away in Pebble Beach (but sadly missed his funeral). But I did read his autobiography where he talked about being the first to fly blind (in 1929, I think). I thought about all that later when I was enlisted Air Force aircrew, trusting my pilots to fly blind on many occasions… Cheers!
Another great piece of US aviation history. Thanks a lot, Colin UK 🇬🇧
My dad was born in San Diego on 23 May 1923. Kind of interesting to know one of the headlines on his birthday in San Diego at the time. He passed in '06. As I think about it, the plane was headed to Tucson and Ft Huachuca Arizona. He had been living in Douglas, AZ and died in Tucson. Seems like a very adventurous way to travel such a distance in those days. Obviously that particular trip was more adventure than had been bargained for. Seems like a more grand monument and better defined trail is in order for such intrepid pioneers. I wonder how many other unsung heros are out there waiting to be found and remembered? Thank you for hightlighting this little known sidetrack of history!
Your dad was born exactly 2 months before my dad. He was born on July 23rd, 1923! How bizarre, I started to pass by this video.. I'm glad I saw it
Thank you very much for sharing this monument. I have been there twice in my childhood. Once with my dad and once with my Cub Scout troop, This episode brought back a lot of great memories!
Great video. You should have mentioned to beware of rattlesnakes on the trail also. I ran into several when I made the hike in 1962.
That's true of pretty much every hike in California brush country. I imagine there's a foreigner somewhere with the story and scars from a rattlesnake bite and a dozen bee stings from the same time.
I heard about this crash site in 1975, while I was serving at the then, nearby USAF Mount Laguna Air Force Station (a Radar site), on Mount Laguna, maybe 10 miles south from there. Was not able to track down any information as to the exact location, there was no internet in 1975. The site you found looks like what was described to me, with the plane’s engine mounted on a concrete block. You were able to gather a more accurate story than I had. I read, or heard, the flight originated at March Field, about 100 miles north, which was wrong. Thanks for posting this. I have a bad leg now, and would never be able to make the hike. But you satisfied my curiosity about something I learned about 47 years ago.
Glad we could help.
As a History major I love learning about events that were very important to lots of folks in their day but we wouldn’t know about today, but for the interest of individuals like this gentleman. Well done, sir !
We use to camp and trail ride from that park. I never knew about the monument. Liked the video and appreciate the information. My 4 brothers were military.
Almost twenty years since I had a physical journey like this, just walking is not possible.
Thank You beyond words for the videos! North State was my primary point of exploration.
A lot of off trail blazing of the Lassen volcano area, and East Tehama county, was fun.
Subscribing.
Very well done video. I worked in the Cuyamaca State park for 8 years in the 80’s. So many great trails there.
Thank you! Yes, so many great trails and aside from a few like Stonewall and Green Valley Falls, not that crowded.
@@SidetrackAdventures its actually busier in the off-seasons.
Camp Walker Kush a Boy Scout camp one great hike to see the airplane Monument 1962
My old stomping grounds in the early '70s. Green Valley Falls was our favorite place to go hiking. We hiked once below the fall and we're confronted by Indians on horseback with rifles tell us to go back, we were on their reservation and didn't know. One summer we decided to hike to the top of Stonewall Peak under a full moon, was on the top for a half hour and the clouds came in. We had no flashlight and basically crawled down like three blind mice.
Spent many years in the cuyamacas we got the whole game together to come up Stonewall in the middle of the night. Then we had another Excursion watching the lunar eclipse on the trail right outside the camp and then my friend Brian and I on Christmas night we hiked through the snow to The Summit of CP well once when I was ditching High School you go out in the wilderness in the snow I followed Mountain Lion tracks up Azalea Creek I was always behind it did not realize it at the time how dangerous that was but lion and I came out unscathed
I can't believe I never knew about this monument. I grew up in San Diego.
It happened so long ago I don't think many know about it now.
Watch it become a trash dump trail like they have trashed road to black rock desert festival
I learned of it from Ken Kramer on "About San Diego." (I left the state three years ago).
I saw this on Veteran's Day weekend 2022. Thanks for sharing the story of these brave men's tragic end.
The hills of southern Cali are beautiful.
Wow, I lived in San Diego for more than a decade and I didn't know that this existed. Thanks for sharing!
Wow! Another gem right in my back yard that I was not aware of. Thanks for taking me on the hike!
Glad you enjoyed it
Nice out of the way monument! It's great the Park Service and all those other agencies made the trail and perform periodic trail maintenance.
Wouldn't it be ironic if the engine caused their death
Well done video. There are thousands of similar disappearances that have never been solved,all over the country.
Hello Mr. Sidetrack Adventures (because I don't know your name). Just stopping in to say I've only recently discovered your channel, but I enjoy it very much. I've watched this video, the one on the start of the Colorado River, the one about the highest paved road in the U.S. and the one about the fastest driveway near Newberry Springs. Let me tell you WHY I enjoy your videos.... It's because you do a good job of balancing everything. This includes talking to camera. You just talk to us, in a normal tone, without yelling into the camera to try to make things more exciting. Your story telling is on point, it's full of information instead of boring stories. Basically, it is very "calming" to watch your channel. It's just nice, calm, peaceful adventures. Please keep it that way. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us.
Thank you, I appreciate. No plan on adding any yelling any time soon lol
You are such a trooper! Your content consistently friendly and informative. I'd be your sidekick any day. Animal siting and bee humor super bonus!
A cultural treasure with the indigenous peoples that populated this area
Nice hike. There really is a lot of flowers along the way. Makes one wonder if some one deliberately seeded. With all those flowers the bees must have found that crash site to be a great place to nest.
Discussed this channel last month and I’m yet to be less then engaged and amazed. Such an underrated channel
Thanks, I appreciate it.
How'd those huge rocks get so square? I'd like a geologist to be with you on this to tell us how that area developed. I LOVE your tours. You are the best because you don't politicize or insert personal opinions that are not needed. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Shout-out! Did this hike while in Boy Scouts. Easy hike. Not as many trees as I remember. One of the pine trees was still there whose top was growing crooked as that's where the plane had clipped it as it went in. That was back in 1975.
That thumbnail image of the Liberty-12 engine told me right away that it was a DH-4 airplane. Lots of important history to American aviation in both the engine type and and aircraft.
I'm a newer subscriber, going through some of your videos. Your channel is rapidly becoming one of my favorites, thanks for all the research you do on local history.
Thank you. I really appreciate that.
Just found your channel. Thank you for showing me this monument to some our old heroes. It’s so cool, at least your awesome hike is down hill. I really like you style of video. I’m glad to add you to my my list real people looking for old forgotten places. I’m a subscriber. Thank you for your California history lessons I enjoy them.
Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.
I would just like to say I really enjoyed your video, very interesting,, thanks for sharing !!
Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks mate, lve been watching your very informative videos from Australia 🇦🇺 keep up your great work 👍
Amazing history on your voyages. Thank you for the hidden gems ✊🏽
Our pleasure!
Another awesome video! I'm just so jealous of how much there is to do and see in a relatively close distance from where y'all live.
That's a river? Looks like a ditch. No wonder the state is drought stricken. Well, at least the water is clear and not muddy, a vast benefit to wild life in the area. Interesting trail. Worn into the soil. What will it be like after another hundred years? I wonder if wild life uses the trail? Surprising amount of brush considering how dry the soil is. Obscures the view, but provides cover for wild life. Wouldn't see wild turkeys on open land. Lots and lots of laurel blooms with lots of bees working them. Probably more than one hive nearby. Bees going in and out of the airplane engine are honey bees. They're relatively harmless and won't attack until they feel threatened. Keep your distance and you're fine. Love the smile in the shade! Interesting history, great research. Thank you.
California, like most areas of the country have had their rivers dammed up for quite some time now! This is what makes the massive water supplies they have. The issue come when 1) the government allows politics, especially green politics and pushing green policies drive other agenda items 2) which leads to dumping a massive amount of water into the ocean to drive their point home there is a drought 3) mass immigration is environmentally threatening in itself as it is obviously not sustainable!
I vaguely remember hearing about this when I was a kid. Thanks for taking us along on the hike!
You're welcome. Thank you for watching.
Ken Kramer featured this monument on an episode of About San Diego on KPBS. Thanks for showing it in more detail.
Love the back story. THANK YOU
Buddy I thought you were alone till you showed your wife resting in the shade. I was like ok good he’s not alone. Thanks for taking us on this journey.
Thanks for watching. My family usually runs for cover when the camera is out, have to get them when they are tired.
Always wanted to do that hike when I lived out there. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for sharing this piece of aviation history..
Our pleasure!
Thank you! I miss Southern California
I really loved virtually hiking with you and your wife. Unfortunately due to my disability, I can't hike anymore but I am thankful for TH-camrs like you who share your hikes online.
Enjoyed this video... I spent the whole hike looking for snakes... we don't have snakes in NZ but we worry about them.
Luckily we've rarely seen them and the few times we have we heard them before we got near.
"No other people", that's MY kind of hike!
8:17 "There aren't a whole lot of shady spots on this trail, so when you find one, you gotta take advantage of it." Woo-woo-woo!! 😘😃. I've lived 55 years in San Diego and never heard about this crash site. Thanks for sharing this.
They were flying an Airco DH4 powered by the 1,649 cubic inch (27 L) 400HP Liberty L12 engine.
Born in La Mesa I enjoy your content, it’s great when you bring the family with you Steve it makes us smile. We are currently retired and in a different state but please know, we love watching your channel.
Thank you, I truly appreciate it.
This video has so many really great elements. The trail is a wonderful hike and I really enjoyed all the flowers 🌺 🌸 blooming along the way. That was beautiful. The monument itself is a very nice reminder of the men who lost their lives there. This is one of the nicest places around San Diego that you have shown. Thank you. I always appreciate the work you put into finding interesting places and taking us along on your journeys. Be safe. 👍☮️🌞🌳⛰🥾❤️
Thank you. I appreciate all the kind words!
if i remember, it was in 1960 when a jet was lost over california. the pilot walked out i think 3 months later, claiming to have broken into cabins and eaten any food inside. he was found guilty of some military deal and thrown out. in 1980 or there abouts, the boy scouts found his canopy, proving that he did bail out and that the charges against him were false. he had since died so no justice there. but, his jet, is still un-located even with knowing where the canopy landed after he ejected.
Great information. Thanks for bringing us along.
I like the music, I’m a native Californian, that music reminds me of watching a surfing movie just love the relaxed feeling the music adds to your video.
I just wanted to encourage you to continue doing what you are doing. You do it so much better than most up here.
Nothing I can add too previous comments but I thank you two as well .
Our pleasure!
Nice job. Thanks for this.
Thanks for showing this and you telling the story about what happened brought it to life. Sounds like there were trees in that area back then so the wreck would have been difficult to see. I am new to your videos but like them a lot.
Cool that the bees are eternally protecting the monument 24x7.
I have pictures of that hike from a few years ago. Thanks for the video!
So Cool Thanks for the post!
Hello Steve! Ive seen many of your videos. Really well done and interesting!
I can see how the inside of a steel engine block would be a perfect place for bees to build a nest. It's absolutely impenetrable by bears and easy for the bees to defend. I bet there's some good honey inside that engine block considering all the flowers growing in the vicinity.
Thank you for bringing us along... another informative and interesting trek !
Thank you for watching.
Wow! What memories! I made this hike with my Dad in 1966!
My sons and I hiked there before the cedar fire it’s sad to see all the pine trees gone around the engine there were nothing but 60or 70 ft trees
Wow thanks Steve. Just started watching from over the pond. Love the videos.
Thanks!
Love your channel brother. Look forward to every video. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the share.
Thanks for watching!
Nice, clear video. Awesome. Thanks.
Very informative video! Thank you.
Nice story telling, Thanks.
A really nice video, and very well made.
Beautiful " WALK ABOUT " THANK YOU🙋♂️
Glad you enjoyed it.
Another great video.
Most interesting. Thank you for the history!
Glad you enjoyed it.
I compliment you on your videos. Well done! Your voice is relaxing too.
Learning a lot from your videos!
Thank you, another place to add to my trip to Cali!!
Enjoyable. Thanks for doing the work to bring us this interesting piece of history.
Great history ..always great vision and story ..love your channel ..From Australia 🦘
The bees protect the monument from vandalism
Attractive scenery, thanks for sharing.
Recently came across your videos. Have enjoyed the historic background you provide and the fine editing.
Thank you very much!
@@SidetrackAdventures And yes, did subscribe!
Cool video my friend! Really enjoyed it. Be safe, send us more adventures. Thanks
A DH4 is mostly wood and fabric which is long gone. The liberty V12 engine was a common engine in those days. The fuel tank is what you are looking at the crumpled rusty tank.
Something interesting about the Liberty V-12 engine is that rum runners bought a few of the war surplus engines, put them into small wooden speedboats, and then use them to sucessfully run hard liquor from Cuba to the Florida coast.
What an interesting story! Thanks for always putting a smile on my face with your videos.
My pleasure!
Beautiful flowers along the way, and a lot of bees. Thanks for the tour.
Wonderful video
Great video
Great show.
Thank you, we appreciate it.
Nice video.
Very interesting. I love places like that. Great video!
I’m currently binging your videos and telling everybody I know to subscribe to your channel. Really enjoying seeing all these interesting places. Keep up the awesome content! 👍
Thank you. We really appreciate it.
Thank you! Great story. I lived in San Diego for many years.
Your videos are awesome!
Glad you think so!
i love these videos they make me want to get out more and see awesome stuff like this
Another good job on this video THANK YOU FRANK FROM MONTANA......
Excellent video thanks for sharing God bless them 🇺🇸🇺🇸