Quebec 01

The security gate is partially open, allowing visitors to walk through the perimeter fencing to the front entrance of Quebec 01. This open invitation to Wyoming’s newest State Historic Site, just outside Cheyenne, is a distinct change from the greeting a visitor would have received when this missile alert facility was an active component of the U.S. Strategic Command.

Missile history

Quebec 01 was one of the earliest Minuteman Missile sites and is the only accessible Peacekeeper Missile Alert Facility left in the world today. The Minuteman I Missile program went online in October 1962, during the escalation of international tension between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In the 1950s, during the early years of the Cold War, the U.S. developed the Atlas and Titan nuclear missiles. The liquid-fueled missiles took hours to prepare and launch. The Minuteman Missiles were solid-fueled, and as a result, ready to launch at a moment’s notice.

The first Minuteman Missiles were established in Montana, and additional base operations followed in North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, and at F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. As part of the buildup, 1,400 Minuteman Missiles were spread across those states, with missile forces on 24-hour alert.

Minuteman I Missile control at Quebec 01 was later upgraded to Minuteman III missiles, and in 1986 converted again—this time to launch Peacekeeper missiles, a weapons system that was arguably the most destructive Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system ever built by the U.S. While each Minuteman carried a single missile, the Peacekeepers had 10 nuclear warheads attached to each missile.

Peace treaties

During the 1980s and early 1990s, negotiations by U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush resulted in two treaties that required elimination of missile control centers and launch sites in the United States and Russia. Among those deactivated was Quebec 01.

The U.S. Air Force removed the equipment from the Missile Alert Facility and the missiles from their launch sites. The control capsule and equipment room, located 60 feet underground, as well as the topside structure—which looks similar to a ranch-style home—remained. The original chain link fencing, with three rows of barbed wire, surrounds the buildings and grounds.

“Only 30 minutes out”

“Only 30 minutes out” reads a sign in the tunnel that connects the Launch Control Capsule to the equipment room. The 30 minutes is both the time it would take the missile to reach its destination once launched, and the time it takes to drive to the missile site from F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.

The presence of missiles and the buildup of sites across the country were seen as a deterrent to nuclear war. U.S. and Soviet leaders had an understanding: if one side launched, the other would retaliate, and the devastation would be catastrophic.

Once the state of Wyoming assumed ownership of the site, they relocated equipment and artifacts to restore the site to its appearance during its time as an active Peacekeeper Missile Alert Facility.

Hidden in plain sight

After visitors walk through the security fence at Quebec 01, they are met by interpretive images that show Air Force crew members who worked at this site when pulling alerts. They include the flight security controller, facility manager, missile combat crew commander, and deputy missile combat crew commander.

Visitors tour the top of the facility, which includes a recreation area, dining area, and barracks. The walking tour of the exterior of the site also includes high frequency antennas and air ducts, as well as the recreation areas the women and men who worked the site used when they had free time.

The tour continues underground, where visitors see launch control and the equipment room. After a review of the security protocols (and a few modern precautions), visitors enter the elevator for the slow descent to where two-person crews spent 24 hours on red alert. Down below, the elevator opens into a tunnel that connects the equipment room to the capsule. Two sets of blast doors separate the equipment room from launch control, offering what protection they could to the crew should a mishap occur.

In the control capsule, visitors quickly notice that the two-person crews had a small space in which to spend their shifts. Besides two control chairs, there was a small sleeping area. From this tight vantage point, visitors appreciate the immensity of the Cold War era.

Admission to the site is $6 for adults (Active military with ID: $5); $2 for children 12–17; free for those under 12. The site is located north of Cheyenne, off Interstate 25 at exit 39.

Candy Moulton produced the award-winning film, “Beneath the Plains: The Minuteman Missile on Alert.” She makes her home near Encampment, Wyoming.