In the Mojave Desert about 60 miles East of Twentynine Palms, between the Iron Mountain Range and the base of a sloping bajada, in April of 1942, a US Army Armored Engineer battalion set out stone markers that defined Camp Iron Mountain, one of 12 contiguous desert warfare training camps conceived by and under the command of General George S. Patton.
Seen in the distance -- by soldiers housed in rows of canvas tents -- above miles of isolating dry desert sand (punctuated sporadically by scrawny Larrea tridentata bushes) loomed Palen Pass and a high point now known as Chiriaco Summit, where from 1942-1944, in 120 degree or higher heat, with limited water supplies, over a million soldiers endured marches of as long as 200 miles.
Army tanks rolled across the desert, and in Palen Pass mock battles were fought between units from different camps.
In the midst of many-day maneuvers and live-fire exercises, from his headquarters at Camp Young, wielding a microphone, General Patton moved between the Desert Training Center camps under his command.
