Bill Bruce on Forest Patrol

by Henry Harley Arnold

Their course brought them closer and closer to the Sacramento River. At first it had been well off to their right and could be distinguished only by the trees along its banks, but as they progressed they gradually came closer to it and could make out the bridges over which the roads and railroads passed. They noticed that the towns became more numerous as they flew parallel to the river and railroad.

The Sierra Mountains, with their snow-capped peaks, marked the eastern boundary of the valley. Mount Lassen, the only active volcano in the United States, thrust its head well above the surrounding mountains. Straight ahead of them Mount Shasta seemed to stand as a direction post indicating the proper course for them to fly.

They reached the rough, broken country at the head of the valley and crossed the Sacramento River. Bill here changed his course slightly so that they would pass to the west of Shasta. The hills beneath them became higher and higher and their slopes were thickly covered with rocks. The river wound its way through the hills far to the west, only to appear unexpectedly beneath them as they climbed for more altitude to pass over Castle Crag.

The terrain rose abruptly from the river to the top of Castle Crag. This enormous mass of rock thrust itself almost vertically into the air and culminated in numerous pinnacles of solid rock. It was easy to see how it had obtained its name, for the general impression obtained when looking at it was that of a gigantic stone castle. Its peak was composed of many sharp needle-like points some seven thousand feet above sea level.

On the northern side of the Crag the country dropped abruptly into Shasta Valley. They were close to Mount Shasta by this time, and although flying along at about eight thousand feet, they had to look up into the air to see the snow cap of that peak, which was some fourteen thousand feet above sea level. The sides of the mountain were covered with trees for the first five or six thousand feet above the floor of the valley, but beyond that the timber thinned out until the mountain was bare for the last three or four thousand feet.

At the foot of Mount Shasta they passed over a logging camp nestled in the thick forest. Ahead of them stretched the floor of Shasta Valley, but they could not see the far end as it was covered with clouds. For the next fifty miles Bill wondered what he would do when he reached those clouds. He knew that the valley ended at the range of mountains along which the Oregon-California boundary extended. He could not cross those mountains unless he could get at least four or five thousand feet altitude.

Bill led the Flight toward the railroad, for he knew that it made its way through the mountains and he hoped to follow it. The planes reached the clouds and dropped down to thirty-five hundred feet to get under them. From that point on Bill followed the tracks. On both sides the mountains rose well above the railroad.

As they progressed the ground rose and tended to meet the clouds until they were soon flying along with barely any space between the planes and the timber-covered mountain sides. The railroad tracks followed the course of the stream, which flowed down the valley. The valley became narrower and the tracks climbed higher up on the mountain sides. At one point they passed a train standing on a siding waiting to pass another coming from the opposite direction. The passengers were standing in the vestibules or looking out of the windows at the planes as they passed. The pilots passed so close that they could see the minutest details of the people on the ground. It seemed to Bill that he could almost have touched the train as he passed.

The valley was gradually getting narrower—the trees were higher and the planes had less room for maneuvering. Bill turned around to see how the other members of his Flight were getting along. He was following the middle of the valley and had plenty of space for maneuvering, but the flank planes were too close to the trees for comfort. The Flight was limited in its movements by the clouds above and the V-shaped cut through the mountains below.

As they gained altitudes the valley twisted and turned. Each twist and turn had to be followed with great care by the pilots. The Flight began to string out on account of the confined space in which they were flying, the danger of hitting a mountain side or of running into one of the other planes. The curves of the railroad and the stream became more abrupt until Bill found it difficult to anticipate the next turn he would have to make with his plane.