Famed cowboy actor took his final drive near Tucson

October 12, 1940, was a sun-drenched autumn day in Southern Arizona, with afternoon temperatures reaching toward 85 degrees.

North of Tucson, along Highway 79 on the way to Florence, the desert terrain was gritty and parched. A car pushing 75 miles an hour could be seen from miles away thanks to billowing swirls of powdery dust it kicked up.

Only a few automobiles could deliver that kind of speed back then. This car was a 1937 Super-Charged V8 Cord 812 Phaeton Convertible designed and built in Indiana. Driven by a bonafide cowboy, the radiant yellow roadster with a red leather interior was a one-of-a-kind American touring car.

Further up Route 79, near mile marker 115 about 18 miles south of Florence, the bridge was washed out by flash floods. Warning signs and barriers were in place with work crews on site. Standing on the brakes, the driver tried to stop his coffin-nosed Cord convertible, swerved twice, then rolled over into the wash.

Tom Mix, Arizona — To the delight of promenaders and hundreds of small boys, Tom Mix, hero of many thrilling western films, brought his famous white horse into Rotten Row in London for a ride in 1938.
Associated Press 1938

Not long before the crash, the driver had left a saloon at Oracle Junction, near the current Lupe’s Restaurant. He reportedly imbibed in whisky and played a few poker hands with good friend Bud White before leaving to meet with relatives in Florence. He never made it. At approximately 2:12 p.m. that day, Thomas Hezikiah Mix, age 60, was dead.

Lore has it that Mix met with Pima County Sheriff Ed Echols for supper a night earlier and later bunked at the old Santa Rita Hotel in Tucson. Mix reportedly gambled and drank until 3 a.m. with hotel musicians. At around 1 p.m. that day, he drove north out of Tucson on Oracle Road.

Tom made 370 Western movies and at the time was the highest-paid actor in Hollywood, earning up to $18,000 a week — more than $220,000 in today’s dollars. He was one of the most famous men in the world.

Many films were shot at his ranch in Prescott. During the stock market crash, he lost his wealth, including his home in Beverly Hills, the Bar Circle Ranch, and movie studios in Prescott. Mix was married five times and paid dearly for four divorce decrees.

Upon his death that fateful Saturday afternoon, his remains were taken to a small mortuary in Florence. Later, his body was flown from Tucson to California for a Freemason Masonic and military funeral service. Movie stars and thousands of fans attended the Oct. 16, 1940, service. Among them: Gene Autry, Gary Cooper, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Mickey Rooney, Buck Jones, Harry Carey, Samuel Goldwyn and Cecil B. DeMille.

Mix was dressed in his favorite white Western dress suit and buried with his boots on in a bronze casket. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. Pima County Sheriff Ed Echols was an honorary pallbearer.

Tom Mix was a magically magnetic, almost mystical, celebrity who created a celebrated historic Western legend in his era. He is still regarded as one of the most influential actors in films. In 1967, Mix’s fame endured when his likeness was featured with other 20th century celebrities on the cover of the Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album.

Two years to the day of the movie star’s demise, Tony “The Wonder Horse,” Mix’s beloved steed, died. The remarkably trained horse, which comprehended hundreds of word commands, lived to be 40 years old. Tony is memorialized at the top of the stone monument near the Highway 79 wash, where Mix died.

Next month: An Arizona man restored Tom Mix’s luxury car.