As the 43,000 acres plus Dome fire approaches full containment in the Mojave National Preserve, a remarkable photograph by Laura Cunningham shows the Mojave Memorial Cross is still standing tall. The Mojave Memorial Cross, officially known as the White Cross World War I Memorial, was erected in 1934 to honor those killed in war. After a challenge from the ACLU that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in April of 2012, a land exchange to remove Sunrise Rock from the Mojave National Preserve was approved by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. On Veterans Day, 2012, the cross was rededicated.
The photo shows the cross with charcoal ash whirlwind blowing off burned bare ground.
Cunningham is the director of Wester Watershed Project.
The cross stands on Sunrise Rock, a granite outcropping adjacent to Cima Road about 12 miles south of Interstate 15, and six miles north of Cima, California; the trailhead leading to Teutonia Peak is on the opposite side of the road, 1,300 feet north of the monument. The area is a saddle between Cima Dome and the Ivanpah Mountains, both of which are part of the Mojave National Preserve.
