In the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, is a trail called the Jornada de Muerto. It was named by the Spanish Conquistadores and means “Journey of the Dead Man.” The trail, followed by Spanish soldiers, was dry with very little food available. Many people died as they crossed this area. Not just from being thirsty and hungry, but there was always the danger of Apache raids along the way. Within this desolate and remote area is a place known as Trinity Site. Little did the Spanish know that this site would be ground zero for the first test of an atomic bomb and would forever be connected to the death of more than 200,000 people.

In the 1940s, World War II raged in many parts of the world. Battles were fought, soldiers died, ships were sunk and innocent people were being captured and killed. The United States was at war with Germany and Japan. The decision was made to create a weapon so powerful, that it might force the enemy to surrender. This weapon was the atomic bomb. A bomb that was very different and used different materials. The first bomb to be dropped in war was named Little Boy and used uranium. The second bomb, named Fat Man, used plutonium. Another bomb, named Gadget, would be used as a test to see if their plan would even work.

The U.S. military and the scientists who developed the bomb chose the middle of the New Mexican desert to conduct their test. The desert was a great place to keep the experiment a secret. The Trinity Site would be ground zero. The bomb was moved to the site piece by piece so it would not explode accidentally. Then it was put back together at the top of a 100-foot-high tower. Detonating the bomb from the tower instead of dropping it from an airplane would control where it landed and would let the scientists study the explosion. The excitement and fear was very strong, but the test went on. When the atomic bomb exploded on July 16, 1945, it released an enormous amount of heat, light, and energy. The blast left a huge crater in the ground. The heat that was created by Gadget was hotter than the temperature of the sun and it melted the sand, turning it into glass. The explosion lit up the night sky and was visible from as far as 200 miles away. The test was successful and the other two bombs were dropped on cities in Japan and did bring about the end of WWII.

The Trinity site still exists. The crater was filled in, but the green glass called Trinitite is still visible. The site is open for people to visit twice a year on the first Saturday in April and the third Saturday in October. A black lava obelisk now stands right at the center of the explosion. There is even a part of the tower remaining.