On December 19, 1940 a Harvard MK II, Serial Number 2722 like the one pictured here crashed in the Mojave Desert. The plane disappeared while en route from Mines Field via Palmdale to Las Vegas on a delivery flight to Canada.

  The aircraft was last seen flying under the clouds as the 30 year old pilot, Bud Hussey was attempting to follow a nearby highway. 

  The aircraft wreckage was discovered on January 17, 1942 by a cowboy named Pat Frank who worked at one of the ranches in the area.

  The Mojave Cross is passed by on the way to the Harvard crash site. The Cross was built by a local miner by the name of Riley Bimbry in 1934 to honor the WW1 vets. Riley was a medic in the trenches during the war. 
  After the war he moved to the desert to take up mining, his cabin and grave can still be found in the area.

  The Cross was the site of annual Easter gatherings to honor military vets.

  In 1999 a mr. frank Bozo (I think that's how to spell his last name)  wrote a letter to the Park Service and enlisted the aid of the aclu to get the Cross removed from public land.

  After Riley's death in 1984, his close friends Henry & Wanda Sandoz have cared for the Cross. Working through their congressman they sought to work out a trade of 5 of their acres in the Mojave Desert for the 1 acre the memorial Cross sits on.

The aclu said "NO", "the Mojave Cross must be torn down !"

  The case for removal of the Cross is currently before the Supreme Court, until the case is decided, the Cross is to remain covered.

 Impact point on the hill.