Visiting the Yuma Proving Ground and the LeTourneau Overland Train

Four Wheeler's July 1969 issue took us to a special part of the desert where the Devil vacations when he needs some heat.

- JERED KORFHAGE

Just north and east of Yuma, Arizona sits the expansive facility known at the time as the Yuma Proving Ground. Its location makes it favorable for year-round testing with higher-than-average temperatures and some of the lowest precipitation levels around (in 1968, 1.2 inches of rain fell). The Yuma Proving Ground allowed the Army to subject its vehicles to extreme temperatures, deep water crossings, onslaughts of silt to detect dust intrusion and resistance, rocky ledges and punishing washouts to verify structural integrity, and even drops from supply planes.