BELLEMONT (NAVAJO ORDNANCE DEPOT)
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BELLEMONT (NAVAJO ORDNANCE DEPOT) |
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NAME: Bellemont (Navajo Ordnance Depot) COUNTY: Coconino ROADS: 2WD LEGAL INFO: 1 CLIMATE: Cool winter, Hot summer BEST TIME TO VISIT: Fall, summer, spring |
COMMENTS:
Take I-40 west (Flagstaff to California) Exit 185. REMAINS: Numerous buildings. |
| In the beginning of 1942 and shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Government built Navajo Ordnance Depot, close to the little community Bellemont, which is close to Santa Fe Railroad. Here ammunition and explosives were stored, packed and shipped off. Most of the workers were from the Navajo Indian Reservation. To try and make the indians feel like they were at "home" in this new landscape, the military build a Navajo "town" with traditional "hogans" (Navajo houses) and a Trading Post. Here worked more then 2.000 native Americans during the Second World War. Today all facilities are run by a little staff of Arizona National Guard. Submitted by: Bobby Krause Zlatevski |
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