Bly is an unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community in Klamath County

Klamath County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge* Crater Lake National Park * Deschutes National Forest * Fremont National Forest * Klamath Marsh National Wildlife Refuge* Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is about 44 miles (70.8 km) east of Klamath Falls

Klamath Falls, Oregon

Klamath Falls is a city in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. Originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867, after the Link River on whose falls this city sat, although no falls currently exist; the name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1892...

. , the population was 486.

History

The name Bly comes from the Klamath word p'lai, meaning "up" or "high", referring to its location up the Sprague River. A post office called Sprague River was established in the area in 1873, and the name was changed to Bly in 1883. (The current community of Sprague River

Sprague River, Oregon

Sprague River is an unincorporated community in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. It is located about northeast of Klamath Falls near the Sprague River, northwest of Oregon Route 140.-History:...

 is west of Bly.) Originally platted in Jackson County

Jackson County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Cascade–Siskiyou National Monument* Crater Lake National Park * Klamath National Forest * Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest * Umpqua National Forest -Demographics:...

 in 1928, the town was called Sprague River until the creation of Klamath County out of Jackson County in 1882.

World War II

Bly is also the site of the only fatalities of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 in the mainland United States due to enemy attack. On May 5, 1945, a Japanese balloon bomb exploded as it was being pulled from the woods by curious picnickers. Killed in the explosion were: Mrs. Elsie Mitchell, 26, wife of minister Archie E. Mitchell

Archie E. Mitchell

The Reverend Archie Emerson Mitchell was a minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance. He was born in Franklin, Nebraska. He attended Simpson Bible College and Nyack Missionary College...

; Edward Engen, 13; Richard Patzke, 14; Jay Gifford, 13; Sherman Shoemaker, 11; and Joan Patzke, 13. A memorial was erected at what today is called the Mitchell Recreation Area

Mitchell Recreation Area

Mitchell Recreation Area is a small picnic area near Bly, Oregon, United States. It is also known as Mitchell Monument. It is the only location in the continental U.S. where Americans were killed during World War II as a direct result of enemy action. The deaths were caused by a Japanese balloon...

.

Alleged terrorist training camp

In 2002, Bly attracted national attention when Earnest James Ujaama

Earnest James Ujaama

Earnest James Ujaama is a convicted felon who was found guilty of supporting al-Qaeda.-Biography:Born in Denver, Colorado in 1966 as James Thompson, he moved with his family to Seattle at the age of 5. He converted to Islam and changed his name to Ujaama...

 was indicted and arrested for, in part, conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp on a ranch near Bly between October and December 1999. The indictment claimed that Ujaama was a follower of Abu Hamza al-Masri

Abu Hamza al-Masri

Abu Hamza al-Masri is an Egyptian Sunni activist known for his preaching of a violent and politicised interpretation of Islam, also known as militant Islamism or jihadism...

, and had ties to al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...

 and the Taliban. Ujaama pleaded guilty in 2007 to charges that he provided material support to terrorists by trying to set up the Bly training camp. Convicted on 11 criminal charges in Britain, Abu Hamza al-Masri is still wanted by U.S. prosecutors for trying to establish the training camp. In May 2009, Oussama Kassir

Oussama Kassir

Oussama Abdallah Kassir is a Lebanese-born Swedish militant Islamist.- Early life :Kassir was born in Beirut, Lebanon. He came to Sweden in 1984 and was granted Swedish citizenship in 1989. He participated in the Lebanese Civil War during the 1980s and was hurt in battle...

was convicted for conspiring to assist in the camp's creation, based in part on testimony from Ujaama.