Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Located just northeast of downtown Denver, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a peaceful swathe of prairie, wetland and woodland habitats where wildlife thrives. The place used to be hell on earth. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States charged into World War II. Fearing that Germany and Japan would resort to chemical warfare, the Government was determined to produce it's own stockpile of chemical weapons as a deterrent. Major General William Porter, chief of the Chemical Warfare Service stated, "It is fully recognized that the best insurance against an attack by chemical agents lies not only in gas masks and protective clothing but also in the ability to retaliate immediately." For strategic reasons, the 27 square miles of farm ground near Denver was chosen as the site for a massive, top-secret, chemical weapons manufacturing center. The government purchased the land and promptly evic