Mitchell Recreation Area

{{Short description|Area of Fremont-Winema National Forests, Oregon, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}} {{Infobox NRHP | name = Mitchell Recreation Area | nrhp_type = | image = Mitchell Monument; August 12, 2013.jpg | caption = Mitchell Monument | location = Fremont-Winema National Forests | nearest_city = Bly, Oregon, USA | coordinates = {{coord|42.4316|N|120.8607|W|display=inline,title}} | built = 1950 | architect = | architecture = | added = 2003 | refnum = 03000050 }}

'''Mitchell Recreation Area''' is a small picnic area located in the Fremont-Winema National Forests, Lake County, Oregon, near the unincorporated community of Bly. In it stands the '''Mitchell Monument''', erected in 1950, which marks the only location in the United States where Americans were killed during World War II as a direct result of a Japanese balloon bomb. The site is maintained by the United States Forest Service and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

==History== thumb|left|200px|The Christian and Missionary Alliance church in Bly, Oregon On May 5, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell took his pregnant wife and five Sunday school children, from the Christian and Missionary Alliance church where he was minister,<ref>{{cite news |author= UP |url= http://www.stelzriede.com/ms/html/sub/mshwfug2.htm |title= Saw Wife and 5 Children Killed by Jap Balloon Bomb |work= The Seattle Times |publisher= stelzriede.com |date= June 1, 1945 |accessdate= 2008-04-03 |authorlink= United Press International}}</ref> on a picnic and fishing trip. The group found the logging road they followed blocked, so they stopped next to Leonard Creek, {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} 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.<ref name="BRD">{{cite web | url = https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/fremont-winema/recreation | title = Mitchell Monument Historic Site | publisher = Fremont-Winema National Forests | date = 6 April 2014 | access-date = 2014-04-06 }}</ref><ref name="FNF">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140507071233/http://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/stelprdb5374039.pdf "Mitchell Monument"], Pacific Northwest Region, United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, Portland, Oregon, January 2012.</ref><ref name="NHR">"{{NRHP url|03000050|title=Mitchell Recreation Area}}", National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, National Park Service, United States Department of Interior, Eugene, Oregon, 31 December 2002.</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/balloon_bombs/ | title=Balloon Bombs | publisher=The Oregon Encyclopedia | access-date=December 26, 2013}}</ref>

The children had found the remains of a Japanese balloon bomb, one of approximately 9,000 balloon bombs launched from Honshū, Japan between November 1944 and April 1945.<ref>{{cite web |title=Cherry-Red Shrapnel |url=https://www.check-six.com/Crash_Sites/Bly_Incident_FuGo-1945.htm |website=Check-Six.com |access-date=3 September 2024}}</ref> The balloons drifted across the Pacific Ocean to North America via the jet stream in about three days. The hydrogen-filled balloons were {{convert|33|ft|m}} in diameter and carried five bombs, four incendiaries and one anti-personnel high explosive. It is believed that as many as 1,000 balloons may have reached the United States and Canada. However, there were only 285 confirmed sightings on the west coast, and two balloons were later found in Michigan. 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.<ref name="BRD"/><ref name="FNF"/><ref name="NHR"/><ref name=ohs>{{cite web | url = http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=148D9401-9F23-2285-AB2059A24134757B | title = War Memorial, Lake County | author = Robert Donnelly | work = Oregon History Project | publisher = Oregon Historical Society | date = 2002 | accessdate = 2008-03-10 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1945-japanese-balloon-bomb-killed-six-americansfive-them-children-oregon-180972259/|title=In 1945, a Japanese Balloon Bomb Killed Six Americans, Five of Them Children, in Oregon|author= Francine Uenuma|work=Smithsonian.com|publisher=Smithsonian Institution|date=2019-05-03|accessdate=2019-05-27}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NHR"/>

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.<ref name="FNF"/><ref name="NHR"/>

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.<ref name="FNF"/><ref name="NHR"/>

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.<ref>Perry, Douglas, [https://www.oregonlive.com/wildfires/2021/07/bootleg-fire-crews-save-monument-to-wwii-tragedy.html "Bootleg Fire Crews Save Monument to WWII Tragedy"], ''Oregonian/OregonLive'', Portland, Oregon, 20 July 2021.</ref><ref>Perry, Douglas, [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/21/us/mitchell-monument-bootleg-fire.html "Crews Saved a World War II Memorial from the Bootleg Fire"], ''New York Times'', New York, New York, 21 July 2021.</ref>

==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 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".<ref name="BRD"/><ref name="FNF"/><ref name="NHR"/><ref name="TR">Richard, Terry, [http://blog.oregonlive.com/terryrichard/2007/04/a_poignant_memorial.html "Oregon connection to World War II"], ''The Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 5 April 2007.</ref> Approximately 500 people attended the monument's dedication on August 20, 1950. Oregon Governor Douglas McKay spoke at the ceremony.<ref>"Sunday rites to Commemorate Spot Where Enemy Bomb Killed Six Civilians", ''The Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 18 August 1950.</ref><ref>"Germ-Filled Bomb Borne by Balloon, War Possibility", ''The Oregonian'', Portland, Oregon, 21 August 1950.</ref>

Here are the words from the monument plaque:

<div style="border:1px solid #696969; background:#FFFFFF; width:40%; padding:4px; margin-bottom:10px"> <div style="border:1px solid #FFFFFF; background:#D3D3D3; width:96%; padding:4px; text-align: center;"> {{blockquote|WEYERHAUSER COMPANY EASTERN OREGON REGION IN MEMORY OF ELSIE MITCHELL AGE 26 DICK PATZKE AGE 14 JAY GIFFORD AGE 13 EDWARD ENGEN AGE 13 JOAN PATZKE AGE 13 SHERMAN SHOEMAKER AGE 11 WHO DIED HERE MAY 5, 1945 BY JAPANESE BOMB EXPLOSION ONLY PLACE ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT WHERE DEATH RESULTED FROM ENEMY ACTION DURING WORLD WAR II|Mitchell Monument plaque}} </div></div>

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.<ref name="FNF"/><ref name="NHR"/>

==Recreation area== Today, the Bly Ranger District maintains Mitchell Recreation Area as a day-use picnic area. The site covers {{convert|22.7|acre|ha}}. It is adjacent to Leonard Creek and is sheltered by large ponderosa pines. In addition to the monument, the site offers fishing, hiking, and wildlife viewing opportunities. The site is normally open from mid-May until the end of October.<ref name="BRD"/> 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''.<ref name="FNF"/>

<gallery> 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 </gallery>

==See also== *Lookout Air Raids *Incendiary balloon

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716094145/http://www.transistor.org/personal/photos/klamath2001/mitchellmonument.jpg Mitchell Monument Plaque]

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