uthwest of Cuba and north of Thoreau. Other possible sites not located
in New Mexico were: an Army training area north of Blythe, California,
in the Mojave Desert; San Nicolas Island (one of the Channel Islands)
off the coast of Southern California; and on Padre Island south of
Corpus Christi, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico. The last choice for the
test was in the beautiful San Luis Valley of south-central Colorado,
near today's Great Sand Dunes National Monument.

Based on a number of criteria that included availability, distance from
Los Alamos, good weather, few or no settlements, and that no Indian land
would be used, the choices for the test site were narrowed down to two
in the summer of 1944. First choice was the military training area
in southern California. The second choice, was the Jornada del Muerto
Valley in New Mexico. The final site selection was made in late August
1944 by Major General Leslie R. Groves, the military head of the
Manhattan Project. When General Groves discovered that in order to use
the California location he would need the permission of its commander,
General George Patton, Groves quickly decided on the second choice,
the Jornada del Muerto. This was because General Groves did not want
anything to do with the flamboyant Patton, who Groves had once described
as "the most disagreeable man I had ever met."[1] Despite being second
choice the remote Jornada was a good location for the test, because it
provided isolation for secrecy and safety, was only 230 miles south of
Los Alamos, and was already under military control. Plus, the Jornada
enjoyed relatively good weather.

The history of the Jornada is in itself quite fascinating, since it was
given its name by the Spanish conquerors of New Mexico. The Jornada
was a short cut on the Camino Real, the King's Highway that linked old
Mexico to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico. The Camino Real went
north from Mexico City till it joined the Rio Grande near present day El
Paso, Texas. Then the trail followed the river valley further north to
a point where the river curved to the west, and its valley narrowed and
became impassable for the supply wagons. To avoid this obstacle, the
wagons took the dubious detour north across the Jornada del Muerto.
Sixty miles of desert, very little water, and numerous hostile Apaches.
Hence the name Jornada del Muerto, which is often translated as the
journey of death or as the route of the dead man. It is also inte