Technically, we could have just hopped
out of the rental car at the state line but we were intrigued by the
story of Boise City, the first town we could hit after crossing the
border. So we drove the extra 32 miles to see it.
Boise City has the dubious distinction
of being the only city in the continental United States to be bombed
during World War II. It was mistakenly hit
by a friendly U.S. bomber crew during training in 1943. The pilots
performing target practice became disoriented and mistook the lights
around the town square as their target. No one was killed in the attack
but the pilots were embarrassed. For the 50th anniversary of the
incident, the crew of the bomber was invited back to Boise City, but all
members declined.
We had to drive around the downtown square a couple of times before
we found the ‘memorial.’ Sadly, it’s not much of a town. And I
guess that’s been the case since its founding:
“Boise City was founded in 1908
by developers who published brochures promoting the town as an elegant,
tree-lined city with paved streets, numerous businesses, railroad
service, and an artesian well. They sold 3,000 lots to buyers who
discovered, on their arrival, that none of the information in the
brochure was true. In addition to using false publicity, the three men
did not have title to the lots they sold. Stanley and Kline were
convicted of mail fraud and sent to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary.
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