This silent home movie dates to the year 1930 and shows a road trip across the Southwest on the Apache Trail, through the Superstition mountains. The film begins with two old friends meeting up in what might be Wichita, Kansas, and hopping in what might be a Model A Ford for the journey west. What follows is a wonderful montage of images as they make the trip including:
At 1:20, an oil well “gusher” spews petroleum skyward. Oklahoma, maybe?
At 2:17, the entrance to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, and then shots inside the caves.
4:18, playing in giant sand dunes at White Sands National Monument
5:24, the Coolidge Dam, followed at 5:55 with a sign for the Old Apache Trail
6:00, Hopi Point at the Grand Canyon, and Pima Point at 6:40. The Grand Canyon Lodge is seen at 7:30.
At 7:20, Meteor Crater is shown.
At 8:04, the Great Mojave Wall, and at 9:20 a large saguaro cactus. The Petrified Forest is seen at 10:10 and b&w shots of the Painted Desert as well.
At 12:20, two native American boys are seen, and at 12:28 the Continental Divide. At 13:13 a small town with a large church is seen, and then a lot of adobe buildings. Any ideas what or where this is? Possibly Mexico?
At 14:50, a terrible scene is shown where a bus from the Pickwick Stage Lines was hit by a train.. Bodies are seen in the smoldering wreckage. A newspaper headline is shown about the accident. Some research has revealed that this accident occurred in April, 1930, at Isleta, New Mexico. An account the day after stated that, “Efforts were being made Saturday to completely identify nineteen victims of a motor bus and train crash, whose bodies were so mangled that some uncertainly still exists regarding names of twelve of the dead. Ten other passengers aboard the Pickwick.Greyhound bus, enroute from Los Angeles to Denver, were injured. Bits of wreckage and bodies were strewn for 200 yards by a speeding Santa fe mail train that struck the bus Friday, at a crossing near the ancient Pueblo of Isleta.”
“After the collision blazing gasoline burned the clothing from some of the bodies and consumed inflamable parts of the wrecked bus. So broken was bodies of the victims that their indentity had to be learned from letters and their effects and baggage. State official have moved to investigate the cause of the crash. District Attorney Lujan announced an inquest into the deaths would be held Monday at Albuquerque.”
At 15:19 a native American woman is shown, probably Navajo, as well as two men who appear elegant in their traditional clothing.
At 15:52, downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico is shown.
Some of the best scenery in central Arizona can be seen right from a car window along the Apache Trail. A route for the adventurous traveler, the trail is partly paved with a section of the route graded dirt. The road was originally constructed in the 1930s to support the development of dams along the Salt River.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
