A shortcut?

One of the many mysteries of the Flyin' Lion Saga is the route of Martin Jensen's flight path from San Diego to the crash site.  Obviously, no one will ever be able to prove Jensen's flight path beyond reasonable doubt.  Consequently, any commentary on the route will always fall into the realm of speculation.  And, therefore, in keeping with the Spirit of Speculation we have coined the phrase "Circumstantial Situational Speculation".

Many accounts of Jensen's flight path either state or speculate that he flew to Phoenix and thence up The Salt River to Roosevelt Lake and then turned left to follow Tonto Creek until crashing in Hells Gate. That is generally the most commonly accepted  and prevailing perspective regarding Jensen's flight path.

We believe a new perspective can be gleaned from an important eye witness account paired with ground truthing to formulate a reasonable "circumstantial situational speculation" that produces an entirely new flight path from San Diego to the crash site in Hells Gate.

Reporter Ralph A. Fisher Sr. interviewed prominent Payson resident William (Bill) Boardman.  Fisher wrote in a 1968 summary of that interview:

"In mid-afternoon the late William (Bill) Boardman, former merchant and postmaster of Payson, Arizona, was traveling south over the rugged Ox Bow will from Payson to Rye when he heard a roaring motor coming from the direction of the Matatzal Mountains lying to the west. Boardman killed the motor in the aged truck he was driving and coasted to a stop in a cloud of dust to watch the small plane that appeared to be lost and in trouble fighting to gain altitude over Tonto Basin.

"It was a small brightly colored monoplane, with some large lettering exposed along the glittering fuselage with what appeared to be a metal cage constructed in the forward portion of the fuselage directly behind where the pilot was seated. The plane was flying very low as it came out of the mountains and followed the old Bush Highway for a distance. It seemed that the pilot was looking for a route that would permit him to get over and above the majestic Mogollon Rim lying dead ahead in the east," stated Mr. Boardman as our interview got underway.

"I watched the pilot guide the heavy laden plane eastward again, then head low over the hills and tree tops towards Kohl's Ranch on the upper Tonto Creek, but still beneath the Rim. Then I lost sight of the small plane and the perfect hum of the single engine; and continued on my afternoon errand to Rye,  some 16 miles south of Payson," continued Bill Boardman.

 "By the way, I did note the time as being 2:00 PM on that sunny and somewhat warm afternoon of September 16,1927,".... "you can well understand my surprise when a few days later I was advised that a pilot had walked into the Booth cabin along the lower Tonto Creek at Gisela, close to Rye, following a crash-landing along Tonto Creek some four days earlier according to my informant."

To read the full interview see: https://en.calameo.com/read/006162086240e12861b2e

On February 24, 2020, we realized we could use our handheld GPS device to attempt to pin down where Boardman might have been on the Oxbow Hill Road.  The Oxbow Hill Road in 1927 was vastly different than it is in 2020.  So, naturally, there would be some "interpolation" involved.  As chance would have it, we used a spot that just so happened to be on the old road itself. We recorded a 57 second video showing the area there.  You can see it here: https://vimeo.com/394041501

There's no doubt based on Boardman's recollection of what he saw that the aircraft was flying from Boardman's right to Boardman's left.  If the plane would have been flying from Roosevelt Lake up The Tonto, it would have been too far out of sight for Boardman to see the details he reported from his encounter.

Using the circumstantial evidence presented in Boardman's interview combined with the situational on-the-ground perspective, we have prepared the maps below.

 The above map shows what we believe to be Jensen's flight path as he approach the Matazal Mountains.  we believe he flew through the Verde Valley, crossing the Verde River near Squaw Peak and then flew a route between the Matazals and Oxbow Hill.

If Jensen would have flown up The Salt and then The Tonto, the red line shows that flight path.  The red "x" marks the approx. location of witness Boardman.  The green line shows the flight crossing from Boardman's right to Boardman's left and represents how Boardman would have observed the aircraft. We haven't yet pieced together how Jensen would have arrived in The Verde Valley from San Diego.

However, we do have some perspectives regarding the local thinking about that theoretical flight path.

The two screen clips below are from a History of The Cottonwood, Arizona, Airport.  Chances are pretty good that the perspectives reported in this history were known to a wider aviation audience than just a few enthusiasts in The Verde. Jensen has spent time in Yuma, Arizona, and was married in an airplane there.  He flew extensively around America as a barnstormer pilot.  It's reasonable speculation that he could have viewed that route as a potential shortcut on his way to the East Coast.

 We will continue our digging into this line of thought and add more to this blog post.

Lion Myths...or Facts?

Graphic Source: Generic eBay search.

Almost as soon as anything happens, human beings begin to tell their own version of what happened.  Over time, different versions of the same event can become entrenched as "the way it was."  Some versions become so prevalent that they take on a mythological context of their own and are repeated as "fact" until such time people simply nod, agree and move on.

One of our goals with the Leo The Flying Lion Project is to eventually present as many of the myths as possible for each aspect of the saga.  Some of those myths might even be facts!  We want our readers to be able to make up their own minds about what might be myth and what might be fact.  With a 93-year-old story such as this one, it's quite likely all of the so-called "actual facts" may never be known.  Therefore readers are free to adopt and retell their own version(s) of the legend.

There are two basic versions of the origin of the lion aboard the plane.  One purports the lion was "borrowed" from a circus.  The other claims the lion was MGM's "Jackie."  Let's take a look at the first myth first.

We found the following snippet amid Martin Jensen's papers at the University of Wyoming in Laramie:

"These are the main things that Pete Smith remembers about the Leo the Lion story. Pete Smith was Director of Publicity for MGM, and Howard Strickling was his assistant. Leo was borrowed from Al G. Barnes circus, which had its winter quarters in Culver City. Leo was displayed for the press for about a week before the flight, at the MGM studio. The flight was to be the first non-stop, Los Angeles to New York. For many years afterward, the Barnes people publicized "Leo as Leo the MGM Flying lion.' "

Furthermore, Scott Gifford said in a February 11, 2020, email to the Editor:

"BTW: Jackie may have been MGM’s first lion, but Jackie wasn’t the lion in the flight. That lion was borrowed from a circus which wintered in Culver City. I think that’s the big reason why MGM was so concerned about rescuing the lion!"

Source: http://bit.ly/3bEHrLH

The Al G. Barnes Circus wasn't in Culver City, California, in September 1927.  Nope.  That particular circus spent the month of September in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana.  On the day Martin Jensen took off from San Diego, the Al G. Barnes circus was in Little Rock, Arkansas.  The 1920's were The Golden Age of The Traveling Circus.  After each season, each circus would print a lavishly illustrated "Route Book."  

Think of the Route Books as you might a high school year book.  The books were sold to admiring fans and also used to promote the upcoming season.  As you can see from the cover of the 1927 Route Book, a male African lion is a key icon of the circus.  The lion acts of any given circus were considered by many to be the highlight of the show.  Judging from the poster show at the top of this article, it appears at the Al G. Barnes needed every trained lion they could keep their hands on. 

Page 21 of 1927 Route Book:
http://digital.library.illinoisstate.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15990coll5/id/10356

Although it's obvious the lion could not have come from the traveling circus itself, the lion COULD have come from a zoo that Barnes once operated in Culver City.  However, there is some trouble with that, too. The land which housed Barnes Zoo was annexed to Culver City in 1925 and Los Angeles in 1926. Upset with tighter regulation and opposition by adjacent homeowners, Barnes moved his winter quarters to unincorporated land in the San Gabriel Valley. In Februrary 1927 he bought a tract of land a quarter of a mile long facing Valley Blvd. between El Monte and Baldwin Park for $1,000,000. Source of above information:
https://www.westland.net/venicehistory/articles/BarnesCircusZoo.htm

Perhaps the lion in Jensen's plane came from the Zoo but at this point we can't find any definitive proof.  We also can't find a nano-scrap of evidence that any Al G. Barnes performing circus lion was billed as "Leo The MGM Flying Lion."  Perhaps one of our astute reader/researchers can dig up more evidence supporting either one or both of those claims.

Meanwhile, a credible source associated with MGM states it was indeed "Jackie" aboard the plane. Jackie was the movie company's second lion after "Slats."

From: MGM LOGO HISTORY AND THE 2008 RESTORATION PROCESS Compiled By Ed Vigdor:

“Jackie” was born circa 1915 and was captured as a cub in the Nubian dessert. He spent much of his life in Hollywood as a performer in jungle pictures, eventually chosen to appear on our logo. He, like “Slats”, would tour the world on behalf of the studio. “Jackie” was nick named “Leo The Lucky” after surviving two train wrecks, an earthquake, a boat sinking, an explosion at the studio and a plane crash."

Source: https://garycoates.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/logo-history-restoration-article.pdf

Ed Vigdor's article is the best summary of the MGM Lions we have yet found.  You will enjoy see the 15 second video of the restoration of Leo The Lion's roaring here: https://youtu.be/OVCxJ1aT24A

So, there you have it.  The choice is yours.  We will continue studying the lion's ownership and origin.

Source of photo below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_the_Lion_(MGM)

Extra fuel

Arguably one of the most important debates about The Jensen Flight is "extra fuel".  Numerous accounts, including that of expert Scott Gifford say Jensen was carrying 450 gallons of aviation gas.

Bear in mind 450 gallons of "av gas" would weigh 2,700 pounds, PLUS the weight of the tank(s) to carry it.  And bear in mind the gross rated weight of the aircraft was 3,300 pounds.  And bear in mind that the weight of the lion, the cage, the milk tank, the water tank, the pilot, his sandwiches and the 84 gallons of "stock fuel" added up to 1,500 pounds. And that all adds up to at least 3,300 pounds.

So, how did Jensen's Ryan B-1 carry extra fuel? Scott Gifford is "all over that" by telling us the airframe was fitted for an extra wing tank and two belly tanks.  But could those extra three tanks carry 450 gallons?  That's highly unlikely because of the sheer volume 450 gallons would occupy.

There's NO doubt The Jensen Plane was carrying extra fuel.  Is there a doubt about whether it was 450 gallons? You betcha!

 Take a look at a "stock" Ryan B-1 as displayed at the Yanks Air museum in Chino, California.  Look at that sleek underbody of a classic 1920's airframe design!  It's Beautiful.  Now see comment below next photo.

Just check out Martin Jensen's aircraft.  You can clearly see the bottom of the Center of Gravity of the airframe has been modified...presumably to fit in two belly tanks.  There's no doubt the aircraft was at its rated maximum gross weight BEFORE adding the extra fuel.  So, how did that extra fuel affect the final outcome of the famous flight?  Oh, so many questions!

Remaining Research

Martin Jensen just before takeoff.

We hope to close up some loose ends in this project soon.  Here are notes about our remaining research.

1) Martin Jensen's papers

Pilot Jensen donated his personal collection of paper to the Wyoming Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming.  We have been in contact with the Center and made arrangement for the 28 pages relating to Leo The Lion to be scanned and sent to us.  We are eagerly awaiting receipt of that material as we have no idea what those pages may contain.

(Update 02/13/20)--We received 44 pages instead of 28.  Unfortunately, a personal narrative by the pilot is not part of the collection. We did transcribe and post an interview with Bill Boardman and you can read the 2,900 word document here:
https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/william__bill__boardman_interview

2) Fuel Capacity

Some accounts have speculated the Ryan B-1 aircraft was carrying as much as 450 gallons of extra fuel.  Frankly, that's impossible in such an aircraft.  Even 300 gallons would weigh 2,000 pounds (including tank weight) and take up a space of approximately 45 by 38 by 40 inches.  The aero dynamics of that simple airframe design simply could not support that weight nor could the engine provide enough power to lift such a load off the ground.  We are waiting for information from the Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California regarding insights about fuel capacity.

(Update 02/13/20) We have been in contact with Scott Gifford who salvaged the wreckage remains in 1991.  Gifford said the aircraft contained 5 fuel tanks--three in the wing and two in the belly. Gifford also claims the aircraft was carrying 450 gallons of fuel.  A Yanks Air Museum Staff member says the "stock" fuel capacity was 84 gallons.)

3) Did Jensen refuel in Phoenix?

This is a big question mark in the Flyin' Lion Story. At this point in our research there's nothing whatsoever to indicate he either did or didn't stop in Phoenix.

(Update 02/13/20) At this point we can infer that Jensen did not land in Phoenix.  He took off from an airfield near San Diego shortly after 10 AM on September 16, 1927 and crashed shortly after 2 PM the same day at a site approx 350 air miles from the origin of the flight.  There simply would have been no time to land in during the amount of elapsed time between take off and crash.

4) Cruising Range

What would have been the nominal cruising range for a Ryan B-1 Brougham carrying a full load?

(Update 02/13/20) The OEM nominal cruising range for the aircraft was 700 miles.

5) Why Tonto Basin?

Jensen's flight path into Tonto Basin made no sense for that era of flight in the Southwest.  Pilots traveling to Albuquerque normally went out of their way to El Paso and then north to avoid the Central Arizona Mountains and The Mogollon Rim beyond.  Jensen was an accomplished barnstormer pilot with extensive flight time around America.  We may never learn the answer to this question but that doesn't mean we won't stop asking!

6) The Rim Country Museum

The Northern Gila County Historical Society is a huge help!

We visited in person again February 19, 2020 and the NGCHS President Sandy Carson really went the extra mile to help us.  We're going to receive excellent photos including: 1920's Payson Main Street scene; the first Grady Harrison Garage where the lion was kept; a 1926 view of both schools AND a photo of Bill Boardman!  How good is that?  VERY GOOD!  Thank, Sandy.

7) Scott Gifford

There seems to be zero doubt that Scott Gifford recovered the wreckage from Leo Canyon.  We are determined to make contact with him to learn the progress toward his stated goal to restore the aircraft to flyable condition.

(Update 02/13/20)  We have indeed made contact with Scott Gifford.  We are looking forward to working with him to learn more about the many aspects of this incident.

8) Newspaper Dot Com

Supposedly Leo The Lion's crash made copious national news.  We're planning to buy a subscription to the online newspaper archives and try to find as many reports as possible about such coverage.

Well, that pretty well wraps up what we "think" we have to do.  One final possibility would be to buy flying time to fly over Leo Canyon and record some aerial video.  But that sounds mighty expensive and we doubt that we will be able to afford such a luxury.

9) Who was the pilot?

We have accumulated quite a bit of background about pilot Martin Jensen, probably too much, but that's the way it goes sometimes.  Now the chore is to write it up in a way that's readable and goes get annoyingly long.

Thanks for reading!  John Parsons

The Rescue Team

We received an email from Scott Gifford on February 13, 2020, stating: "I had the privilege and honor to sit down with Dave Martin’s family about ten years ago. I placed this photo down during our conversations and said I would like to try to identify all of them. Everyone leaned over and super super fast rattled off everyone’s name except the short guy third from right whom they described as “a city slicker” and that is a direct quote! He is too short to be Marty. I have found out since he was an animal handler “from Hollywood”. I don’t know if he was from MGM or the circus, but I did find his photo in another book with the cage on another truck getting ready to leave Payson. Left to right is Dave
Martin, Walter Haught, Lou Kohl, Henry Steele, the city slicker, Columbus “Boy” Haught, and Sam Haught. I also have the names of the four mules used in the rescue. I’ll have to look them up."

Source: Jensen Papers @ Univ. of Wyoming.

(Editor's Note: It is quite likely that Bill Boardman was on the rescue team since he is credited with taking the photos of the crash scene.  He therefore is the most likely photographer of this picture. It appears that Lewis Pyle and Bill Haley are not pictured. Pyle was definitely on the rescue team as he appears in this photo beside the wreckage. The short "city slicker" referred to above is possibly Leo Kratzberg said by Frank Gillette to be a "sort of trouble shooter for MGM."  However, there is a discrepancy in Gillette's account.  Gillette said Kratzberg was "tall and slim."  Not.

-------Text of original post is below---------

Above are the cowboys most likely on the actual team that rescued the lion. This photo appears on Page 12 of Frank Gillette's book "Pleasant Valley."  We have also seen the photo in other venues.  Our source for this photo is the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

It is a top priority to learn the names of the men in this photo.  According to Gillette, the man on the right is Green Valley Sam Haught.  Supposedly the small man with the odd hat is pilot Martin Jensen,  According to Gillette other members of the team were: Boy Haught, Louie Pyle, Ernie Sweet and Henry Steel.

Meanwhile, a 1968 document written by Ralph A. Fisher Sr. summarizes an prior interview with Bill Boardman.  Fisher indicated Boardman said the rescue team included Dave Martin, Lewis Pyle, Walter Haught and Bill Haley, as well as Sam Haught.  It appears to be inferred that Boardman came along as well.  See: https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/william__bill__boardman_interview

A 1962 Arizona Republic newspaper article included Walter Haught, Dave Martin and Bill Haley in the rescue team.  The further complicate matters, a 2010 Rim Country Gazette article says Lou Kohl participated.  Hopefully, someone can help us straight out the identities of the men in this picture.
Below is a screen clip of the 1962 AZREP article.
Source: http://bit.ly/31Fdjvl

Scott Gifford's Restoration

Scott Gifford stands with what appears to be remaining artifacts of the wrecked Ryan B-1.
Image retrieved from Gifford's Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/151270144970814/photos/rpp.151270144970814/151282828302879/

(Editor's Note: Here is an article about how Scott Gifford removed the wrecked and began restoration efforts.  We are making every attempt to contact Mr. Giffords to learn "the rest of the story.")

A Brougham Fit For a King

By Gail Hearn
AIR & SPACE MAGAZINE
MARCH 2006

https://www.airspacemag.com/flight-today/a-brougham-fit-for-a-king-11607497/

In 1927, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios staged a stunt flight carrying Leo, the MGM Lion, from San Diego to New York. (Moviegoers are still greeted by Leo’s roar at the beginning of MGM films.)

MGM contracted with the B.F. Mahoney Aircraft Corporation (formerly Ryan Airlines) to modify a Ryan B-1 Brougham, similar to the Spirit of St. Louis but with a shorter wing, extra fuel tanks, a cage for Leo, and tanks for milk and water. The pilot was Martin Jensen, who had recently won $10,000 in the Dole Derby, a race staged by the pineapple company for a flight from Oakland, California, to Honolulu. Jensen came in both second and last; only two aircraft made it to Honolulu.

With much fanfare and press coverage, Jensen took off from Camp Kearney, just outside San Diego, shortly after 10 a.m. on September 16. Less than five hours later, he was trapped in a box canyon in what is now known as the Hellsgate Wilderness, near Payson, Arizona. Realizing he could not clear the 6,300-foot-high rim ahead, Jensen landed the airplane in a clump of scrub oaks. The wings and landing gear were torn off before the fuselage tumbled to a stop on its side.

After giving the lion milk, water, and some of his sandwiches, Jensen set off for help. On day four, nearly done in by hunger and exhaustion, he encountered some cowboys, who took him to a telephone. Jensen joked later that, as had happened in the Dole Race, he again came in second: When he called MGM, their first question was “How’s the lion?” Leo was returned in good health by land routes to San Diego.

Scott Gifford, a pilot and owner of a restoration and maintenance company, NostalgAire, at Ernest A. Love Field in Prescott, Arizona, first heard about the MGM Special in 1982. From a book about aviation in Arizona, he learned about the flight and focused on one sentence: “The wreckage of the plane still lies in Hells Canyon near Payson.” Gifford contacted family members of the rescue team and Payson residents, but the project to find the remnants of the Ryan stalled until 1990. That year Gifford was flying a Beechcraft Baron over the Tonto National Forest for the U.S. Forest Service. Looking for Hells Canyon on the charts, he came across a spot called Leo Canyon, named in honor of the lion.

Gifford backpacked into the remote wilderness area several times to search for the remains of the wreckage before he finally found it. “I thought I calmly called everybody down, but I was later teased unmercifully for yelling my fool head off,” he recalls. In 1991, he obtained legal ownership of the wreckage and arranged to have it hoisted out by helicopter. He has since acquired another Ryan Brougham and hopes to eventually restore both to airworthiness.

Because so many years had passed before the wreckage was recovered, parts of the MGM Special are either missing or in poor condition. “Right now, it looks like parts of the landing gear and the shock struts can be restored to airworthy condition,” Gifford says. “Some of the wing attach fittings will be useable.” He uses parts from other Broughams if they are airworthy or can be made so. Otherwise, some components can be used as patterns for reproductions.

A few modifications will be necessary: brakes and a tailwheel, for starters. “You landed going into the wind, and you took off going into the wind,” he says. “The airplanes did not have brakes or a tailwheel, just a tailskid. That’s what helped keep the airplane going straight and also acted as a bit of a brake. On today’s asphalt strips, an airplane with a tailskid and no brakes is going to be uncontrollable.”

Gifford got his hands on an overhauled Wright J-5 Whirlwind, the same 220-horsepower engine used in the original aircraft, and a vintage propeller in stellar condition. At the moment he is working on reconstructing the fuselage, rudder, and vertical stabilizer.

He’s also searching for components of a Pioneer Earth inductor compass. “It was the unit to have,” he says. “It was absolute state of the art.” Gifford already has a control head and hopes to find an indicator instrument and a wind-driven generator, which will be mounted on the side of the fuselage.

Gifford has no time table for completion. “It will fly on the first—the first chance I get,” he says. Whenever that is, a reconstructed cage will house a huge stuffed lion made of plush golden fabric, and Gifford hopes to fly the MGM Special to airshows for at least a year.

Gifford recently met with octogenarian Columbus B. “Junior” Haught in Payson. Junior’s father, Columbus “Boy” Haught, was a member of the 1927 cowboy rescue team. Junior, who was just shy of four years old when Leo was brought by their ranch, says he still recalls one incident “like yesterday.” Two of his mother’s chickens were offered to Leo. “It didn’t take him but just a swallow to get rid of one of them chickens,” Haught recalls, adding that his mom was furious when she found out.

The inset photo in lower left apparently shows Scott Gifford with the aircraft fuselage frame salvaged from Leo Canyon near Hells Gate.  Gifford began his restoration efforts at the Prescott airport but moved to Oregon.  The source of this photo is from one of Gifford's Facebook accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/151270144970814/photos/rpp.151270144970814/151278384969990/

Frank V. Gillette Account

Frank V. Gillette's 1984 book "Pleasant Valley" contains a 9,754 word chapter entitled "Leo The Lion."  Frank was born in 1918 to Vern & Jo Gillette who lived at a remote ranch on Haigler Creek in the far Upper Tonto Creek Watershed.   Frank's book was reprinted in 1985, 1989 and 1993.  However, copies are rare and expensive on the used book market with prices starting at $60 and rising sharply.

We are attempting to contact the Family, Heirs, and/or Estate of Frank Gillette to see if there might be any way to get the book reprinted again.  It's a classic book and deserves to be accessible for today's readers and students of Northern Gila County History.

If anyone knows how to contact anyone of the Gillette Family members, please let us know via arizonahistorystories@gmail.com

We have taken the liberty of reproducing Gillette's chapter on"Leo The Lion".  We believe reproduction of this chapter meets with the Spirit & Intent of the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Copyright Law.  The reproduction of the chapter is in no way meant to profit from Gillette's work but to call attention to the merits of his amazing story-telling abilities and the need for the book to be reprinted for broader access and enjoyment.

Here is the chapter: https://issuu.com/arizonahistorystories/docs/leo_the_lion

Frank Gillette's grave is located in Young, Arizona.

Phoenix Airports - 1927

Pilot Martin Jensen is all smiles as he appears to discuss
his "flight plan" with B.F. Mahoney. Jensen is holding
what appears to be a 1924 Air Navigation Map.
Photo Source: San Diego Air & Space Museum.

A major "issue" with Marty Jensen's fateful flight revolves around three key questions:
1) Was Jensen's Ryan B-1 Brougham carrying extra fuel?
2) If not, did Jensen land in Phoenix to refuel?
3) If he landed, which field did he use?

Many questions remain to be answered and much research looms ahead.  However, in this post we will discuss what airports actually existed in the Phoenix area at the time of Jensen's September 1927 flight.

First and foremost, Sky Harbor Airport definitely did not exist at that time.  Construction of Sky Harbor didn't begin until November 16, 1928, more than a year after The Flyin' Lion Incident.

Several airports did exist in 1927.  They are listed in the order of their probable beginning.

The first so-called "airport" was quite likely the infield of the horse racing track at the Fairgrounds.  By 1927, this substandard, dangerous facility was little used and often scorned.

Bernard Whelan Collection*

The second airport seems to have been one located near Central and Roanoke in Phoenix.  This facility apparently didn't have a name and may have simply been known as the "Central & Roanoke Strip." Arizona's first Aviation Historian Ruth Reinhold wrote an endearing account of what may have been the last aerial activity operating out of this airstrip located beside the palm-lined charm of Central Avenue.  You can read her account here: https://azitwas.blogspot.com/2020/01/central-roanoke-airport-phoenix-1927.html

Continual stinging criticism about suitability of the Fairgrounds led the city of Phoenix to buy a dairy farm far from town.  According to Arizona's current Aviation Historian, Arv Schultz, it was located near 59th Avenue and McDowell.  Reinhold states it was near Christy Road and 59th Avenue.  It was known as either Phoenix Municipal and/or "Christy".  This airfield was dedicated November 9, 1925.

Two other airports appear to have been in operation.  One was known as the "Van Buren Airport" located near the State Hospital at 24th Street.  The other was called "South Central" and it was located at South Central and Mohave. Aero Corporation of Arizona started South Central in mid-1927.  Aero went belly up in the Depression. Various other operators attempted to keep South Central open.  Eventually it was abandoned in near the mid-1930's (See additional information at end of post.)

Based on this Library of Congress 1924 Air Navigation Map, there was only one airport was indicated for the Phoenix area and it is clearly the infamous Fairgrounds.  Note the location to the Southeast of Alhambra and see map below .Map source: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3701pm.gct00064

The 1934 map above clearly shows the Fairgrounds as being located Southwest of Alhambra in the same approximate location as the 1924 Air Navigation Map.
Map Source: https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/ht-bin/tv_browse.pl?id=86c94ac54de8869978e5e77b856ff9a9

Preliminary Speculation:

Pilot Jensen was well familiar with at least the area around Yuma.  IN fact, he and his wife, Marguerite, were married high above Yuma in 1925 aboard a Curtiss JN-4 and then stood on aircraft's top wing to celebrate their union.  It would seem likely that the "gossip network" among aviators might have given Jensen information about the other airports besides just the Fairgrounds as indicated on the 1924 Air Navigation Map.

Jensen papers are located in the Wyoming Heritage Center in Laramie, Wyoming.  We hope to find additional information in that collection.

*The Bernard Whelan Collection is located here:
https://archivescatalog.udayton.edu/repositories/2/resources/55/collection_organization

Obviously, the South Central Airport continued in usage well after Sky Harbor was opened in 1929.  This photo is entitled: "Amelia Earhart and unidentified man with her Beech Nut autogiro at Phoenix South Central Airport." and it is dated 1931. Note the spectators lined up on the other side of the aircraft. Photo source: https://azmemory.azlibrary.gov/digital/collection/ahfrein/id/101/

The old South Central airport rather quickly found new life as the first Phoenix Municipal Stadium which was built in 1937 and funded by the federal Works Progress Administration. It hosted several levels of Minor League Baseball – the Phoenix Senators of the old Class C Arizona-Texas League, the Phoenix Stars of the old Class C Arizona-Mexico League, and the original Phoenix Giants of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League – as well as New York Yankees spring training (1951) and New York Giants (1947-1950, 1952-1963). When it opened, Central Avenue and Mohave Street wasn’t exactly the middle of town; as shown in the above photo, the ballpark was surrounded by farm land and limited housing. Source: https://ballparkdigest.com/2015/03/11/new-life-at-phoenix-municipal-stadium/

Howard M. Rinehart, Bernard Whelan (right)
Founders of the Van Buren Airport.
Source: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/special_ms152_photographs/37/

John Dillon I have lots of info and first hand documents in my collection about the origins of Sky Harbor, first built by J. Parker Van Zandt and his Scenic Airways. Was in 1928. Not ‘29. The first flight departed in a Ford Tri-Motor on Nov 18, 1928. A charter group for a fishing club headed south to Mexico. Cool stuff!

Esther Robart Daley There was an airport on n.19th Ave. It was a dirt strip,but, so was 19th. It was on the west side of the road, and belonged to a man named Earl Pylant. In 1940 my three brothers bought an old by-plane. It was a Swallow with an OX5 engine. It was a wreck,held together with baling wire.They tied it down at that airport, and hired a man to teach the three of them to fly. They went to work at Thunderbird field training cadets though WW2.

The Ryan B-1 Brougham

The Yanks Air Museum in Chino, California, apparently has the only known flyable Ryan B-1 Brougham.  Yanks Air has produced a beautiful slide show of the aircraft.  The photos will really help you have a much better understanding of what that aircraft was (is) like.

Here's the website: https://yanksair.org/collection/ryan-b-1-brougham-2/

Rescue Route

The rescue of Leo The Lion is easily one of the many compelling chapters of the saga. Rim Country Pioneers Boy and Sam Haught rounded up some cowboy Friends, packed up some supplies and harnessed two mules to bring back the lion alive.  The Flyin' Lion Story simply wouldn't be complete without understanding the route that so-called "rescue posse" traveled to find and retrieve the lion.

There is considerable confusion in various accounts of the rescue about who first found the lion and who led the rescue team to their goal.  For the purposes ofthis post, those two questions will be addressed in a separate blog post.

The only written "estimate" of the trail the rescue group used appears in "Frank Gillette's privately published 1984 book "Pleasant Valley." Gillette was not a member of the rescue effort so his narrative is obviously based on second hand information, perhaps long after the incident.  His narrative appears below.

Frankly, after reading Gillette's narrative we couldn't make heads or tails out of his route description.  We then decided to do whatever it took to determine that route.  First, we stopped at the Gila County Sheriff's Office in Payson. The Deputy there had never heard of Leo The Lion and recommended we contact Tonto Rim Search & Rescue.  Repeated attempts to contact TRSAR proved fruitless.  Then we attempted to contact the Tonto National Forest and no one returned our emails.  And then we attempted to contact the Gila County Cattle Growers Association.  Once again, no one replied.

So we were stumped, shut out and discouraged.  That's when we remembered Hike Arizona Dot Com (HAZ).  HAZ is without doubt America's finest hiking website.  In fact, it is probably the finest hiking website in the entire world, if not the galaxy.  We originally joined HAZ in early 2002 and put up over 450 posts there before physical afflictions ended our day hiking days.  So, we reactivated our account and asked for help.  Boy-oh-boy did we get help!

HAZ Founder Joe Bartels quickly put together a "most probable" route from Bear Flat to the crash site area.  Joe's map helped us put it all together and we now more or less fully understand the Rescue Route.   (HAZ links appear at end of post.) We will be forever indebted to Joe and HAZ members: CannondaleKid, toddak, Srenfield and nonot for their kind and thoughtful assistance in this arcane quest. HAZ, Joe and members will be recognized in the Acknowledgement section of the upcoming ebook about the Leo The Lion saga.

Comments are below each photo or graphic.

Payson Postmaster Bill Boardman took this photo of the Rescue Team shortly after they arrived in Bear Flat.  We hope to obvtain assistance to identify each of the participants.  Below in  bold italics is Frank Gillette's description of the route back from the crash site.  Note that Gillette misspelled Gordon Canyon.

"For the first couple of miles, they worked their way up the big ridge, heading canyons and taking 
advantage of the swales and ridges. But by the time they reached the cross trails, the picture was beginning to change. There was a pretty good trail running east and west from Bear Flat across to Gorden Canyon. It was a plain, well beaten horse trail that was plenty wide for a horse and rider, and the packs on pack mules, if a man happened to be leading a pack train. The trail went east to Gorden Canyon where it joined the trail running north and south from the ranches in Gorden Canyon area to Pleasant Valley. Once they hit the main east-west trail, they turned left toward Hole in the Rock. The trail led straight off of a steep mountain. There were several switchbacks before they hit the bottom. The grade was about forty percent. The team was now beginning to show the rigors of the hard pull they had already made. They were acting docile, like any well-broken team, but Green Valley Sam hadn't forgotten the way they had acted earlier when they were trying to hook them to the sled. Several times he made them stop and breathe for a few minutes when they were strained and breathing heavily from a hard pull. By the way the crow flies, it probably wasn't over six miles from Bear Flat to the plane wreck. But the way they would have to go, it was probably ten or twelve. Slide off the mountain to the bottom of the Canyon at the Hole in the Rock. Let the men and animals take on a good cool drink of spring water, rest a little while and it was time to move out. The trail leading out from the Hole in the Rock was precarious and winding, narrow in places and skirting bluffs with ten to twenty foot drop. If the sled went over the edge and jerked the team over with it, it would be one of the gol darndest mix-ups a man ever laid eyes on. Sam could envision a tanglement of squealing, kicking mules and a snarling lion, all tied together by cage and chain. They were part way up the mountain when the sled became wedged against a rock. The mules made a couple of feeble pulls, and let up as though they were all in.

"Come on you bastards," Sam shouted, swatting them across the rumps with a rope. "You was acting awful damn tough this morning. Where's all that toughness now?"

The men had pried the sled partly loose with a pole. The mules made a half-hearted pull and gave up. The tarp was still around Leo's cage, shielding him from view. Sam raised the tarp. The mules turned their heads and saw the lion! Snorting shrilly they lunged in terror, loosening the sled and plunging wildly up the hill. If Sam hadn't had hold of the neck ropes, they would have no doubt pulled a runaway. So, all the rest of the trip, when the mules began having difficulty pulling the sled through a rough place, all Sam had to do was raise the curtain!

It had been a hard ride, all right, all agreed, but they were nearly home now. They had rimmed out from the Hole in the Rock, crossed Boscoe Flat, and skirted the side of Bull Tank Canyon. One more steep hill to go off and they would be home. They made it without incident down the last hill and through the back gate onto the meadow.

Sam drove the team across the meadow and up to the house and unhooked the tired mules. Word had spread fast in Payson. There was a sizable crowd there, all anxious to see the lion.

Martin Jensen had gone out into the meadow. Walking as fast as he could to match the long strides of Green Valley Sam, he was talking excitedly. "How is he?" he asked anxiously.

"Ornery as a damned lion." Sam said with a dry smile."

We're not sure who took this photo and haven't yet determined the exact POV of the photographer.

Above is the map that HAZ Founder Joe Bartels prepared for us.  The yellow line shows Joe's best guesstimate of the route between Bear Flat and the crash site area.  Joe was pretty close to reality!
The red line shows the approximate, probably route the pilot traveled on foot to reach Gisela.

Above is the actual most probable route between Bear Flat and the probable crash site area.
The far left end of the red line extends into Leo Canyon.  The push pin represents where the cowboys would have intersected a main east west trail.  The question mark shows the general vicinity of the crash site.

Using Frank Gillette's narrative in combination with both the 1937 Diamond Butte and Promontory Butte USGS topo maps were able to pin down two key points from Gillette's narrative  Notice how closely Joe Bertels guessimate coincides with Gillette's described points.  Our generalized red line map above alters the Bartels Map to account to blend in Gillette's description. 

The push pin on the map above shows where the cowboys would have intersected the main east-west trail in that area.

The push pin on the map above shows were the trail would have cross Bull Tank Canyon before beginning the steep climb up onto Mescal Ridge.

Finally above you can see how the trail traversed Mescal Ridge to reach Bear Flats.

Here is the main HAZ website:

https://hikearizona.com/

Here is a link to the amazing HAZ route mapping functionality:

https://hikearizona.com/map.php

And, if you're a HAZ member, here's the Forum topic used to obtain help on the project

https://hikearizona.com/dex2/viewtopic.php?p=134317#p134317

Many, many Thanks to Joe, HAZ and members.  HAZ ROX!

Crash Site

Image source; San Diego Air & Space Museum

The Flyin' Lion's crash site is located amid some of Arizona's most remote and rugged terrain in Upper Tonto Creek's infamous Hellsgate area.  As pilot Martin Jensen flew deeper into a narrowing canyon, he could see the Hellsgate rampart looming ever larger at the confluence of Tonto and Haigler Creeks.  Jensen knew his heavy plane could not fly over the cliffs and canyons ahead.  Jensen also knew there wasn't a flat spot to be seen.  So, he picked out the tamest looking terrain and made a snap decision to bring the Ryan B-1 Brougham down in a thicket of scrub oak trees deep in the yawning throat of a box canyon.

Aviation forensic experts will perhaps forever debate the "how" of Jensen's crash.  Some say he stalled the aircraft so that it dropped between the oak trees.  Others say he picked an open alley and plowed into the trees.  Whatever Jensen did, he somehow created a miraculous outcome for himself and the caged lion aboard.  Both survived.  Jensen went on to live a long, productive life and died at the age of 92.  The lion became MGM's first onscreen roaring mascot.  Both of those stories are for other blog posts.

This post looks at the crash site itself. Fortunately for future history buffs, The Tonto National Forest rather quickly renamed the crash site "Leo Canyon" in honor of the celebrity beast abound the ill-fated aircraft.  Leo Canyon is easy to find on old and modern USGS topographic maps.

 Above is a screen clip from the 1937 Promontory Butte 1:62500 USGS topo map

Above is a screen clip from the 1943 Diamond Butte 1:62500 USGS topo map.

Above is a screen clip from the 2014 Diamond Butte 1:24000 USGS topo map.

The above screen clip shows the general vicinity of Leo Canyon as see on Google Earth.

All USGS topo maps are sourced here:
https://ngmdb.usgs.gov/topoview/viewer/

The Short Story

America was in a Flying Frenzy in 1927. Charles Lindberg's solo trans-Atlantic flight in May of '27 created a genuine explosion of excitement and enthusiasm for practically anything to do with aviation.  Airplanes, pilots and their daring escapades were THE topic of conversation all across the Nation. No stunt was too wild.  No destination too far.  Everything seemed possible and it often was.

Meanwhile, Hollywood had already exploded and The Big 5 studios craved attention.  There was no such thing as too much publicity for the studios and their stables of stars.  Almost as soon as Lindberg touched down in Europe, anybody and everybody with something to sell or promote began scheming ways to use airplanes for their next big campaign.  Louis B. Mayer, MGM's founder, joined the crowd and told Director of Publicity Peter Smith to come up with an idea to showcase the company's trademark lion, Leo. It didn't take long to hatch a crazy plan to launch Leo The Flying Lion on a cross country trip.

MGM immediately contracted with B.F. Mahoney in San Diego to create a purpose built aircraft containing a large lion cage along with special milk and water tanks to keep the creature happy.

Meanwhile, MGM pulled another bold stroke and hired one of the world's hottest pilots to fly Leo eastward.  Martin (Marty) Jensen had just finished second in the historic Dole Derby, flying 2400 miles from Oakland to Hawaii on August 16-17, 1927.

Once MGM began publicizing the upcoming Leo The Flying Lion episode, animal welfare activists forced MGM to move the flying circus from Los Angeles to San Diego in order to avoid protesters.

 Amid much fanfare, Leo was loaded into his custom cage, Marty schmoozed with B.F. Mahoney and then bid his wife, Marguerite (Peg) farewell on the morning of September 16, just a month to the day when he took off on that incredible flight to Hawaii.

The Ryan B-1 Brougham single engine monoplane was far too heavily loaded for a successful flight. Details and verifiable facts get very sketchy following the 10:20 AM takeoff. Many accounts of the fated flight say the plane carried anywhere from 300 to 450 gallons of extra fuel.  Some say the plane was on a non-stop mission to New York. Even a cursory examination of the aircraft's probable load indicates it almost certainly was only carrying 83 gallons of fuel--the factory capacity built into the aircraft's design.  Some accounts say Jensen flew right past Phoenix.  Others say he stopped in Phoenix to refuel. As of 01/19/20, we don't have enough verifiable sources to say which scenario is most likely more true than others.  However, it doesn't much matter.

 For whatever reason only history knows, Jensen flew up the Salt River and into the Roosevelt Lake area of Tonto Basin.  Here he realized the plane was too heavy to clear the ominous Sierra Ancha Mountains looming ahead or the Mogollon Rim beyond.  So, Jensen took the path of least resistance and turned left to begin flying up Tonto Creek.

It didn't take long for Jensen to realize he was doomed and there was no way to get the aircraft to fly any higher.  Mid-September Arizona afternoons can be nearly as brutally hot as summer so the air had to be as thin as thin could be.  Jensen was a professional barnstormer and he knew how to make a plane do tricks.  Meanwhile he was famous for being fearless in the face of numerous near disasters.  He said he didn't get scared because if he got scared he'd lose his wits.  So Jensen kept his wits about him and picked out a unique box canyon in which to crash.  It's long since been named Leo Canyon in honor of the Flying Lion.  Even today, it's scary just to stare at a photo or maps of that canyon.  It lies in the heart of what's forever known as Hellsgate and remains one of Arizona's most rugged and remote landscapes.

Accounts vary on how Jensen staged his controlled crash in the canyon.  Probably the best description is that he purposely stalled the slow flying aircraft in a thicket of scrub oak trees.  As the plane then fell to earth, the wings were sheared off and the fuselage came to a test.  However, there are problems with that account--namely problems created by looking at photos of the crash site.  We think it's more likely that he picked an open "alley" amid the oaks and simply plowed in.  That's really the only way the wings could have been ripped off and not be visible beside the plane.  Also, the landing gear was ripped off and the engine was ripped from the cowling mount.  But those details don't really matter.

What matters is that by some inexplicable miracle both the pilot and the lion were alive and well.  Jensen had a cut on his forehead and the lion sustained a few cuts as well but nothing life-threatening.  Jensen was able to climb out a busted cockpit windshield.  He fed the lion some sandwiches he had brought along and dug out a .45 caliber pistol he had secretly smuggled aboard the plane.

And then he set out on foot to find civilization.  Trouble is that civilization wasn't very common in that area in 1927 and Jensen didn't have any maps or even a portable compass.  He knew he had passed over a ranch before crashing so that may be why he headed backwards on this flight path.  He didn't know that going to the other way could have reached civilization much sooner.

So the upshot was that Jensen stumbled around what's now officially known as the Hellsgate Wilderness Area for almost three days before finding some cowboys who took him under their wing, so to speak.  After being fed and allowed 12 hours of sleep, a local rancher took Jensen to the tiny village of Payson, population approximately 400.  There, Jensen was able to coax some other local cowboys into organizing a rescue mission to save the lion

Meanwhile, phone service either wasn't working or was unavailable so someone had to drive to Roosevelt Dam to call Hollywood and tell them about the situation.  Legend has it their first question wasn't about the condition of the pilot.  They barked, "How's The lion?" into the phone. MGM immediately dispatched some resources.

Boy and Sam Haught were the leaders of the cowboy congregation that set forth to rescue Leo.  The story of that rescue is a classic of the Arizona frontier genre and involves too much detail for this short story.

The cowboys cut down a forked tree and made a sled that they hitched up to a pair of freaked out mules.  They pulled the cage out of the aircraft and chained it onto the fork of the tree.  Whenever the makeshift sled would get stuck on an obstacle, the mules would refuse to pull any farther.  So, the cowboys would simply lift the tarp they had put over the cage and the mules would get a glimpse of the lion and flip out and run wildly forward, thus freeing the sled from whatever the obstacle was.

In just a few hours, the cowboys had Leo safely out of the wilderness but much work remained.  Leo's cuts had been attacked by blow flies that laid their eggs in the cuts.  The cowboys had to rope the lion to hold him down while they treated its wounds.  Being experts at treating cattle for similar afflictions, Leo was soon on the mend and completely healed.

After treating Leo, they drove the beast to Payson where he was put up in a large auto repair garage on Main Street. School was dismissed so the kids could cluster around and peer at the lion.  By and by, the Hollywood People arrived and took control of the situation.  They transported Leo down a rough road to Roosevelt Dam and thence down the Apache Trail to The Valley of The Sun.  Leo was put in a special train car and carried back to stardom.

Leo was the generic name for the MGM Lion.  The actual lion's name was Jackie.  Jackie became the very first lion to perform the now famous "roar" at the beginning of every movie.  Prior to 1928, the MGM lion did not have a speaking roar.  Jackie lived for many more years and was eventually sent to the loving care of an animal trainer in New Jersey.  When Jackie died, the trainer planted a pine tree over Jackie's grave "so the roots would hold that lion down."

Jensen and his wife went on to further fame in a variety of aviation endeavors.  Jensen revisited the crash site in 1961 and brought back the fabric from the tail.  He often proudly displayed the tail fabric for the remainder of his life.  He lived a long and happy life and passed on February 8, 1992 at the age of 92.

The Story of Leo The Flying Lion quickly became a local legend and ultimately a statewide story, too.  It has been told and retold countless times over the generations in the 93 years since it took place.

In the early 1980's an Arizona pilot heard the story and became very curious after learning the wreckage was supposedly still in Hellsgate.  In 1991 he was legally able to obtain ownership of the wreckage and removed it via helicopter to a hangar at the Prescott, Arizona, airport.  He has supposedly restored the aircraft and it is now purportedly located in McMinnville, Oregon.

Payson

Payson, Arizona, began life in the early 1880's and was called Green Valley. Around that time efforts began to obtain a post office.  Illinois Congressman Lewis Edwin Payson is said to have helped obtain a Post Office and therefore the community name was changed to honor his assistance. The Post Office opened in March 1884. (You can read more about Congressman Payson below the page break at the end of this post.) This photo is circa 1880's or 1890's and shows the east-west Main Street. The Pine Road is also shown coming in from the north.

Payson, Arizona, plays a prominent role in the Flyin' Lion Story.  Consequently, we're trying to understand what Payson might have looked like in 1927.  Historic photos of Payson from 1927 are few and far between so we're having to try to put some pieces together to interpolate a glimpse of Payson back then.

For starters, there weren't many people in 1927 Payson--probably around 400 and definitely not more than 500.  Also, Payson was very, very small and few outsiders wandered through on any given day.  It would have been a Very Big Deal for a renowned pilot to be brought into town trying to find help to rescue a stranded lion from Hellsgate.

Our first Payson project (after looking for old photos) was to determine the approximate size of Payson back then.  Unfortunately, there isn't a specific 1927 map of Payson.  However, there is a really good 1936 map of the community.  Considering that Payson wasn't growing during the Great Depression, it's a reasonable speculation that 1936 Payson would have looked a lot like 1927 Payson.

Comments are below each graphic.

Above is an enlarged snippet from the 1936 USGS Payson topographic map.

This graphic shows our map work space.  After selecting the 1936 topo we were able to zoom in on Payson itself and obtain the longitude and latitude of each of the points shown at the arrow tips.

Here are those long-lats.  The top arrow shows the Pine Road's ingress/egress to Payson. The left arrow shows the west end of Main Street.  The bottom middle arrow shows the approx. middle of downtown Payson on Main Street.  The right arrow shows the ingress/egress of the South Road.

And so here ya go.  We took the long-lats and put them on today's Google Map of Payson.  You can see the four points delineating Old Payson in context of the 15,000 population of New Payson.  Back in 1927 Payson would have been a very, very small rural ranching community.

We hope to find some 1920's photos of Payson to accompany this post.

Below the page break, you can read a Payson Roundup story about Congressman Payson.