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Authors: Robert Conroy
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on to Cincinnati. When asked, they assured the curious that they had families in those cities large German communities and were going to join them.
When asked why they hadn’t landed in New York, they’d explained that they’d been working as civilians at the German naval base in China. Questions were few. Frankly, nobody much cared.
Klaus Wulfram was their leader and a captain in the Imperial German Army. He was an engineer. His specialty was blowing things up, and his hobby was mountain climbing. The others were good climbers and excellent demolitions men as well. After getting his group organized, they proceeded to make a number of purchases: Cold weather clothing, rifles and pistols, ammunition, dynamite and detonator caps, electric wiring, and plungers to set off the dynamite. They purchased these in small amounts and aroused no suspicions.
Away from the coast, they changed their story. Now they were mining engineers headed into the mountains to find leftover traces of gold and other minerals for investors out east. Again, nobody noticed or cared, because it wasn’t at all unusual. People were always looking for unfound remnants of the Gold Rush of 1849, or perhaps even a new mother lode. Local Californians shrugged and smiled at the new treasure hunters, wished them luck, and privately thought they were insane.
One storeowner allowed that there had been a number of young German men coming into California recently. He’d been told that they were students researching the history of Spanish missions. Wulfram had smiled in what he hoped was an engaging manner. He said that California was such a lovely state and had such potential that there might soon be many more Germans entering the area. He did not add that they would be part of the German Army.
After adding horses and mules to their party, the Germans headed east. The weapons they carried excited no curiosity. After all, they were going into the rugged mountains where bad people and the shattered remnants of the Indian community still roamed and wouldn’t hesitate to steal or even kill if they saw weakness.
The Sierra Nevada range was the first they saw. It was impressive but the Rockies beyond awed them with their immensity and their grandeur. Wulfram had seen and climbed the Alps and considered the Rockies to be even more impressive. He ached for the chance to climb these new challenges. The soldier in him recognized the obvious—given the right circumstances, the mountain ranges could be a virtually impregnable barrier to an army advancing from the east. It was his job to begin that process.
Wulfram found it tempting to dwell on the mountains’ majesty, but he had his duty. Where others saw beauty, he saw trestles, bridges, and vulnerability. Only a half dozen rail lines connected California with the rest of the United States and they all ran through the mountain passes that were already filling with snow. His task, and that of the other teams he knew to be searching the other passes, was to destroy those trestles and bridges and sever the connection between California and the rest of the United States.
Whatever they destroyed could be rebuilt but, with the weather turning bad, Wulfram knew that reconstruction would not even begin for a number of months. By that time it would be too late.
As Wulfram and his men headed east through the mountains, they blew up trestles and bridges with cold efficiency. The first was a small bridge that let them test their skills. The explosion was loud and the bridge crumpled and dropped into a creek, a total ruin, as Wulfram’s men cheered. Better, they had used their limited supply of dynamite sparingly and skillfully. Wulfram was not a murderer, so he left a warning in plain sight that the bridge was out. As they continued their work, he continued to leave signs. He hoped the American engineers driving the trains would get the message. He also hoped no train would come from the east without first seeing that
When asked why they hadn’t landed in New York, they’d explained that they’d been working as civilians at the German naval base in China. Questions were few. Frankly, nobody much cared.
Klaus Wulfram was their leader and a captain in the Imperial German Army. He was an engineer. His specialty was blowing things up, and his hobby was mountain climbing. The others were good climbers and excellent demolitions men as well. After getting his group organized, they proceeded to make a number of purchases: Cold weather clothing, rifles and pistols, ammunition, dynamite and detonator caps, electric wiring, and plungers to set off the dynamite. They purchased these in small amounts and aroused no suspicions.
Away from the coast, they changed their story. Now they were mining engineers headed into the mountains to find leftover traces of gold and other minerals for investors out east. Again, nobody noticed or cared, because it wasn’t at all unusual. People were always looking for unfound remnants of the Gold Rush of 1849, or perhaps even a new mother lode. Local Californians shrugged and smiled at the new treasure hunters, wished them luck, and privately thought they were insane.
One storeowner allowed that there had been a number of young German men coming into California recently. He’d been told that they were students researching the history of Spanish missions. Wulfram had smiled in what he hoped was an engaging manner. He said that California was such a lovely state and had such potential that there might soon be many more Germans entering the area. He did not add that they would be part of the German Army.
After adding horses and mules to their party, the Germans headed east. The weapons they carried excited no curiosity. After all, they were going into the rugged mountains where bad people and the shattered remnants of the Indian community still roamed and wouldn’t hesitate to steal or even kill if they saw weakness.
The Sierra Nevada range was the first they saw. It was impressive but the Rockies beyond awed them with their immensity and their grandeur. Wulfram had seen and climbed the Alps and considered the Rockies to be even more impressive. He ached for the chance to climb these new challenges. The soldier in him recognized the obvious—given the right circumstances, the mountain ranges could be a virtually impregnable barrier to an army advancing from the east. It was his job to begin that process.
Wulfram found it tempting to dwell on the mountains’ majesty, but he had his duty. Where others saw beauty, he saw trestles, bridges, and vulnerability. Only a half dozen rail lines connected California with the rest of the United States and they all ran through the mountain passes that were already filling with snow. His task, and that of the other teams he knew to be searching the other passes, was to destroy those trestles and bridges and sever the connection between California and the rest of the United States.
Whatever they destroyed could be rebuilt but, with the weather turning bad, Wulfram knew that reconstruction would not even begin for a number of months. By that time it would be too late.
As Wulfram and his men headed east through the mountains, they blew up trestles and bridges with cold efficiency. The first was a small bridge that let them test their skills. The explosion was loud and the bridge crumpled and dropped into a creek, a total ruin, as Wulfram’s men cheered. Better, they had used their limited supply of dynamite sparingly and skillfully. Wulfram was not a murderer, so he left a warning in plain sight that the bridge was out. As they continued their work, he continued to leave signs. He hoped the American engineers driving the trains would get the message. He also hoped no train would come from the east without first seeing that
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