Even before the U.S. became involved in World War Two, the military was preparing for the possibility by proposing a number of bombing ranges on the Snake River Plain. Grazers protested a bombing range north of Gooding in July of 1941, about the same time the military suggested sites encompassing a million acres near the Buttes in Bingham County. The Army assured grazers that their rights would be respected. The nearby Pocatello Airport would have to be upgraded to serve the practice range and airplanes.
By 1943, the military was using three ranges in the Arco Desert, each of them about twelve square miles in area. The Arco range was of course near Arco, the Twin Buttes range was located northeast of those peaks, and the Taber range was situated southwest of that locale. The Taber range covered six sections of land in Township 1, Range 31: sections 22, 23, 26, 27, 34, and 35--the area about fifteen miles northwest of the Equalizing Reservoir just off the Grandview turnoff on Highway 39.
It must have been that range that a bomber was heading toward when a practice bomb slipped from the plane's racks, reportedly killing a cow but leaving Mrs. Jake Isack, who was milking it, uninjured. Luckily for Mrs. Isack, the practice bombs contained mostly sand and very little explosive material.
Within days, after Pocatello base officers had conducted interviews with the Sheriff and Mrs. Isack, she claimed the incident never occurred and that the cow was still being milked.
At least three bombers went down, killing the pilots, during the practice runs during WWII. One near Taber, one south of Thomas, and another in Grandview where a full crew of over ten men perished. A fourth plane went down in Sterling with the pilot faring better. He bounced his plane on the highway, the last bounce flipping it 180 degrees before it came safely to a stop.
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