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.