Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, Descanso, California
On December 7, 1922 a US Army De Havilland DH4B biplane swooped out of thick clouds, clipped some pine trees and crashed into the eastern slope of Japacha Peak, in what is now known as Cuyamaca Rancho State Park.
US Army Pilot Charles F. Webber volunteered to fly Calvary Colonel Francis C. Marshall to Fort Hauchuca, Arizona, as part of an inspection tour the Colonel was conducting. The pair left from Rockwell Field on North Island (Coronado), in a WWI-era De Havilland biplane and, with no plane-to-ground radio, were expected to phone when they reached their destination.
Apparently wintery weather, and possible engine trouble, had forced them to turn back to San Diego and in the thick clouds the plane hit the mountainside. When no word arrived from Arizona that the men had arrived, the Army initiated an extensive search. Investigators followed various leads and rumors, aircraft crisscrossed the route, there was even an automobile retracing of the route, but the men were never seen again.
Five months later, on May 12, 1923 a local rancher, named George McCain, came across the burned wreckage and the bones of the two Army officers “shrouded in snow.” I can’t personally remember a time when the Cuyamacas had any snow in May, so the winter that year must have been exceptional.
Later in the month a party of military and civilian men were guided to the wreckage by McCain, and salvaged all they could from the wreckage, buried the remainder of the wooden fuselage (most had burned), but left the huge V12 engine block.
What remained of the engine was made into a monument to the two men, the ridge above the wreckage was named Airplane Ridge on subsequent maps, and the trail leading to it, named Monument Trail. Over the years the monument has been both improved upon, and vandalized. The original engine monument had quite a few parts still affixed to it. Now it’s just a nearly bare block, on a stone pedestal with a plaque honoring the two officers.
To see the monument you can start from either Green Valley Campground, or (since the campground is closed in winter) the Sweetwater Bridge parking area. From Sweetwater, cross the road and catch the Westside trail, and head a little south. The Monument trail will meet up and head west, uphill. From the Sweetwater Bridge parking lot to the monument is a little under two and half miles, and over 800 feet of altitude gain. . . via International Biplane Association's Photos
