The Mystery of Bomber Mountain - The Disappearance of a B-17 and its Crew | Global World War II Monuments (2024)

In 1945, at war's end, a local group in rural northern Wyoming, including WWI veterans, commemorated the accidental deaths of ten airmen by installing a plaque near a remote crash site and petitioned to name a mountain peak in memory of the event. In memorializing the tragic war accident, the community honored the individual loss to make sense of the war and ensure the community's collective memory of the war's sacrifice. Over time the memory and meaning of the tragedy evolved from memorialization to local folklore and geographic reference.

On June 28, 1943, a B-17 bomber with ten crew members aboard left Oregon for Nebraska on its way to England to join in the Allied bombing offensive against Nazi Germany. It never arrived. The missing plane remained undiscovered until two years later, in August 1945, when the weather had worn off its olive drab paint, and two cowboys noticed the sun gleaming off the plane's metal remains. The bomber had crashed into an unnamed mountain of the Big Horn Mountains within the Cloud Peak wilderness, failing to clear the 12,887 ft. rim by a mere 100 ft.

The cause of the crash was never determined and remains a Wyoming mystery. The plane was flying at night, off course and below its assigned altitude of 15,000 ft. Poor weather, an inexperienced crew, instrument, or mechanical issues are all theories put forward to explain the crash. The crash was one of 479 non-combat B-17 losses in the US during the war. The type of crash was not unique as a search of newspaper articles from the period reveals numerous military plane crashes involving mountains. Shortly after its discovery, an ad-hoc group of Army personnel, forest rangers, and locals climbed the peak to recover the crew's remains, with one recovery member later commenting, "…I never climbed that peak again."

In the nearby town of Sheridan, a local Wyoming chapter (No.4) of 'American War Dads, led by a WWI veteran, originated the idea of a memorial near the crash site and other WWI veterans signed onto the project. A twelve-person delegation and eighteen horses and pack animals made the 100+ mile round trip into the wilderness and up the mountain to install the marker near the site. The goal was to place a simple bronze plaque listing the crew's name and date of the crash.

The local paper published an article dated September 7, 1945, upon the group's return, explaining the crash "…brought the hazards of war very close to Sheridan, and is the only incident of its kind of record in this vicinity…". A memorial pamphlet was printed, describing the events and plaque, and sent to the aircrew's next of kin that included the following passage: "Thus sojourners and travelers who pass along the trail…will come upon the tablet and be reminded of what so many owe to these men. They will be reminded also…that the gigantic mountain stands as an eternal monument over the scene of their death; another shrine marking the spot where brave Americans fell in the service of the country and to those who flew the great bombers on missions from which so many never returned."

While many memorials were erected years after the war, this particular plaque was installed immediately after the discovery of the crash and just weeks after Japan surrendered. The memorial falls into the category of accident, one of an aircraft on its way to the war and not the result of enemy action, yet it was no less a loss of life in service to their country. The plaque simply states, "…gave their lives while on active duty…" and unlike the nameless missing in action, these men's remains were ultimately discovered two years after the crash and their identities established.

The 'American War Dads' also petitioned the US Forest Service, who in turn requested the US Board on Geographical Names, to designate the unnamed area "Bomber Peak" in memory of the incident. In August 1946, a little over a year after locating the crash site, the community received news the mountain peak was officially named "Bomber Mountain." This naming of a prominent geographic feature, rather than the small, remote plaque, was vital in creating and maintaining the event's collective memory in the community today.

The general memory of the crash lives on in the community today. The original bronze plaque is approximately 1.5 miles from the site and accessible only to hikers when weather permits, typically between July and September. The local history museum has a prominent exhibit to the crash, including names and photos of the crew, description of the event, and actual wreckage from the plane. The adjacent former elementary school became repurposed and named "Bomber Mountain Civic Center" with a prominent logo of a B-17 flying between two mountain peaks. And recently, a local brewery has named a new amber ale "Bomber Mountain" with a silhouette of a B-17 on the beer can.

The director of the local history museum has met or spoken to relatives of seven crewmen and noted that most "…had not visited the crash site…" nor memorial plaque. When asked what Bomber Mountain means to her personally, she stated: "…to me: Bomber Mountain is an example of human connection. WWII was a global event and touched the lives of everybody at the time…But the farther away we move from the war, the less these connections are felt by us younger generations. Wyoming doesn't have the kind of visceral locations like Europe… so for many people it has become just a thing of the past. Bomber Mountain happened in our backyard. WWII came calling, and people can still feel that gut-punch of emotion when they see the remains of the plane."

Although the deaths were not from enemy action, the group wished to memorialize the crew by listing their names on a plaque and, on a grander scale, name a mountain peak whose geographic symbolism would perpetuate the memory. A single bomber crash out of hundreds of accidents in the war was insignificant to the country and even less so within the context of the global conflict. To this small western community of northern Wyoming, it was an important historical event in its 20th-century history.

The community, including veterans who likely experienced war, chose to document their actions so that the next-of-kin would know their relatives were not forgotten. Yet, by the early 21st century, the details of the accident continue to fade into the recesses of memory for the community. Still, the geographic name continues to resonate, as illustrated by naming a community center and its marketing value by branding a local artisan ale.

Tangentially the actual crash site, with the major wreckage still on the mountain, reminds us of the USS Arizona Memorial, where visitors can observe the battleship's remains. The aircraft parts, as with the battleship, will eventually erode away. In the B-17's case, as referenced by one observer, no one will remember it was there. With a powerful national narrative and a gravesite, the Arizona is not likely to suffer the same fate.

The fact this was an accident rather than combat-related is a factor to consider. Non-combat death in wartime from disease, training, "friendly fire," accidents, or other causes are common throughout history. The US includes twenty-eight percent of World War II deaths in this category. Aircraft crashes and resultant deaths, whether in training accidents, inclement weather, or mechanical failure, would be included as non-combat. One could frame this accident as simply non-combat deaths. The museum director simply framed it as "they were our boys."

As time passes, memorials sometimes disappear, move, or face destruction. Reinterpretation also ensues as the changing generations of viewers reflect on the history from their perspectives. In the case of Bomber Mountain, one senses a matter of evolution to the memorial. Intended initially to honor the ten airmen specifically, it also expanded to honor all who fell and who flew "great bombers that didn't return." The mountain has evolved from a war memorial to local folklore. The event still resides in the community's collective memory, but less as a war memorial and more as a geographic feature.

(edited by Laura Bailey)

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