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Located at Loon Lake near Secesh, Idaho is this fairly intact wreck of a Douglas B-23 Dragon bomber. There was a total of 38 of these planes built (having a 92' wingspan) w/ the first one flown on July 27, 1939. Two interpretive signs at the wreckage provide details of the plane & the incident. According to one of the signs:
The B-23 Dragon Bomber, low on fuel and hampered by heavy icing, crash-landed at Loon Lake on January 29, 1943. After a skillful landing by pilot Lieutenant (Lt.) Robert Ore and the eight airmen - Lt.s, Kelly, Orr, and Schermerhorn; Seageants Hoover, Freeborg, Pruitt, Loewen; and Corporal Beaudry - built a lean-to and a fire in the waist-deep snow, rationed their emergency food, and worked to stay alive as snow continued to fall.
On the fourth day after the crash, Pruitt, Schermerhorn, and Freeborg set out down the Secesh River to find help. After six days they found a Forest Service map on the wall of a log cabin near Zena Creek, which helped the men identify their location and their route to McCall. Frequent avalanches were observed as they followed telephone lines through knee-deep snow up a v-shaped valley and over Lick Creek Summit. After 13 days, they found an old CCC camp building where they left the injured Pruitt. Freeborg and Schermerhorn continued the last five miles to the Lake Fork Guard Station, where they found a phone and called McCall. These airmen had walked 35-40 miles through deep snow in 15 days.
At Loon Lake, the five men lived on woodpeckers, a squirrel, and a few chocolate rations. Sixteen days after the crash, backcountry pilot Penn Stohr spotted the airplane and 5 crew members while on a routine supply flight to Warren. The next day, Penn made two hazardous landings to fly out the 5 airmen. The city of McCall closed schools and stores, and greeted the survivors.
Though young trees have grown in, one can still see the line the plane made after sliding off the lake into the woods. One can also find other publications of this crash incident as there are many misconstrued details. The remains of the plane are a historic site and should not be removed or defaced.
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Idaho is a state located in the northwestern region of the United States of America. Idaho is the 14th largest state by area, ranks 39th by population and 53rd by population density of the 50 United States. Idaho was the 43rd state to be admitted into the Union, on July 3, 1890. Idaho is landlocked, being bordered by Canada on the north and the states of Washington and Oregon on the west, Nevada and Utah on the south and Montana and Wyoming on the east. Idaho is nicknamed "The Gem State" because nearly every known gemstone is found within the state. Idaho is also famous for producing about one third of all potatoes grown in the USA. Idaho also hosts the largest barrel cheese factory in the world, producing 120K metric tons of cheese per year. There is some ambiguity as to where the name "Idaho" came from, but it is generally believed to have simply been made up by George M. Willing. There is a possibility it was derived from a Native American phrase. Idaho is very mountainous and is a popular outing destination of the outdoorsman. The state population was about 1.58M in July 2011 with 84% being Caucasian, 11.2% Hispanic and 1.1% Native American. The state capital and largest city is Boise.Source: wikipedia
