Support to WWII Desert Training

The timing was fortuitous. In 1941, the US Army needed to train millions of soldiers for combat in harsh terrain in the overseas theaters of World War II. At the same time, fresh water from the Colorado River had begun to flow through the Mojave Desert. General George Patton put the two together and moved quickly to establish the Desert Training Center. By 1944, over one million American soldiers had been trained at the Desert Training Center before their deployment overseas.

The General Patton Memorial Museum located in Chiriaco Summit, CA is an excellent resource for information on General Patton and US Military history. It is also home to the “Big Map,” a five ton model of the 50,000 acres along the route of the Colorado River Aqueduct. The “Big Map” travelled to Washington DC to gain support for the project from the US Congress.