Superstition Mountain History Discussion - OLD B/W PHOTOS

[roc2rol]

Ed:

The Iron Mountain Burn in 1966 destroyed most of the tall timber sound of the Reavis Ranch toward Reavis Gap. I think they lost about 2,000 acres of Ponderosa pine. This loss was a majority of the Ponderosa pines in the area. I have several photos of the Iron Mountain Burn I took in 1971 and in 1975. Most of my 1975 photos are dominated by the skeletons of dead pines some fifty to eighty feet high. Luckily the fire did not get into Log Trough Canyon or the area around upper head waters of Rough's Canyon. Another pristine area saved was the Ponderosa stand near Pinto Peak. I believe this fire was caused by a campfire, but I am not positive. Many of the fires were set deliberately to burn out the brush in the canyons so grass would come back in the spring. Some fires are caused by lightning, but many are also caused by careless campers who leave fires smoldering in the wrong places. The Iron Mountain Burn occurred around June 23, 1966. I hope this helps Ed.

Tom K.

Boy! You guys are hard to keep up with Ha ha
Thanks Tom!
Well I wrote (the below) moments ago
so I'll post it anyways
even if it is dated material

Hi Jim

That’s interesting. The whole issue of ranchers in the Supers is of interest.
From the earliest tales of the LDM ranchers & cattleman have always been mentioned. Quite a history.


I probably should add a bit more to what I read.
The 1966 fire was caused by two separate lightening strikes that coalescence into one massive fire. After the fire, an inspection of the area revealed a habitation area that was thought to be Hohokam. This had never been known before. The site was supposedly excavated later by archaeologist and I was wondering if any more info was known?
thanks a grin in advance
Ed

[somehiker]

Jim:
The wreckage in your photos is that of a Mooney M20 that hit Tortilla Mtn. at 4700 ft. on Dec 8,1972.The 60yr. old pilot was on a flight from Clifton/Morencey to Phoenix.
The last photo is of the top section of engine cowling.The "PC" on the cowling indicates that this A/C was equipped with the Mooney "positive control system",an automatic wing leveler.
I'm sure that a hike up to the location would be interesting.

Regards:Wayne

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3-3738 72/12/8 NR.APACHE JCTN,ARIZ MOONEY M20E CR- 1 0 0 NONCOMMERCIAL PRIVATE, AGE 60, 350
TIME - 1820 N6019Q PX- 0 0 0 PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRANSP TOTAL HOURS, 344 IN TYPE,
DAMAGE-DESTROYED OT- 0 0 0 NOT INSTRUMENT RATED.
DEPARTURE POINT INTENDED DESTINATION
CLIFTON-MORNCI,ARIZ PHOENIX,ARIZ
TYPE OF ACCIDENT PHASE OF OPERATION
COLLISION WITH GROUND/WATER: CONTROLLED IN FLIGHT: NORMAL CRUISE
PROBABLE CAUSE(S)
PILOT IN COMMAND - CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT INTO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS
FACTOR(S)
WEATHER - OTHER
WEATHER BRIEFING - NO RECORD OF BRIEFING RECEIVED
WEATHER FORECAST - UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED
MISSING AIRCRAFT - LATER RECOVERED
SKY CONDITION CEILING AT ACCIDENT SITE
UNKNOWN/NOT REPORTED 4000
VISIBILITY AT ACCIDENT SITE PRECIPITATION AT ACCIDENT SITE
5 OR OVER(UNLIMITED) NONE
OBSTRUCTIONS TO VISION AT ACCIDENT SITE TEMPERATURE-F
NONE 53
WIND DIRECTION-DEGREES WIND VELOCITY-KNOTS
110 3
TYPE OF WEATHER CONDITIONS TYPE OF FLIGHT PLAN
VFR NONE
REMARKS- OBSCURED MTN TOPS FCSTD.HIT UPSLOPE SIDE OF MTN,ELEV 4700FT MSL,LVL FLT ATTITUDE.RCVRD 12/12/72.

[Jim Hatt]

WOW! I'm impressed!

You found that with nothing but the general area where it went down!
Maybe now Tom (or someone else) will be able to supply some additional information about it...

Thanks Wayne!

Best,

Jim

[LDMGOLD]

Wayne: Great information on that Mooney. Now that you found it, I recall the incident, but didn't remember it when Jim mentioned it. I should have. Usually the forest service contracts somebody to haul all the metal left over from crashes out, however sometimes the area is to rugged. Probably when Jim ask me about it I checked my periodical data base and found nothing on this particular accident. I am reasonably sure there was a newspaper article on it, but when we clipped these articles we missed it.

Thanks for sharing the information. I have made inquiries to the FAA on some old military crashes in and around the Superstition Mountains. The three Navy Corsairs were packed out several years ago that crashed in October of 1949 on a flight from El Paso to Litchfield. All three hit mountains tops in dense cloudy skies.

Take care and have a great day.


Tom K.

[somehiker]

Hi Tom:
I guess we all know how difficult that it would be to remove all pieces of wreckage from many of the sites in the mountains.These rocks have claimed their fair share of lives and equipment over the years of powered flight.The NTSB website that I cited has all reports dating back to 1962.I've seen the Corsair and other military incidents and locations on another website some time ago.

Regards:Wayne

[LDMGOLD]

Wayne:

A Mesa military aircraft archivist named Johnson organized a group to pack out the three Navy Corsairs from the Government Hill and Granite Mountain area of the SWA. They crashed in 1949. I knew where the wreckage of one plane was located and helped them locate it on Government Hill. It was quite an undertaking to lift those aircraft parts out. The forest service approved the use of a lifting helicopter for the project.

Again thanks for your help. Another interesting crash was located at the head of Rough's Canyon and another on Iron Mountain.

Somebody years ago reported a P-51 Mustang went down in the Superstitions near Iron Mountain. However, I believe one may have lost a canopy and that was all. I have never seen any wreckage of a Mustang around Iron Mountain.

Thanks and take care,

Tom K.

[LDMGOLD]

I thought some you on DesertUSA might be interested in this photo of an old WacoRyan biplane trainer that crashed in Whiskey Springs Canyon in the Superstition Wilderness Area in 1942. There was an underpowered power plant in the aircraft. It was a Kinner 125 radial engine. The pilot and student pilot were Canadians stationed at Thunderbird Field (Falcon Field) during World War II. The crashed in a really rugged area in the Superstition Mountains and both men walked out. This photo was take of me inspecting the old crash in 1961. I have several other photos of the crash and the original b/w negative that were taken in my old Argus C-3 Camera. I was still occasionally helping out on the U Ranch in 1961. I think Clark and I were packing salt on this day in early spring. Enjoy.....Tom K.

PS....The old plane was packed out of the mountain in 1963 by the Tucson Aero Club and eventually returned to flying status. The last time I heard the plane was in a hanger in the state of Washington.

[LDMGOLD]

I want to add a postscript to the story about the three Naval aircraft that crashed in October of 1949 near Granite Mountain and Government Hill. The group that extracted the aircraft from the wilderness plan on restoring one them to flying status again. That should be interesting to see.

Some time in the early seventies I helped Bud Lane remove a small helicopter from the west side of Tortilla Mountain. I believe it was one of those small Bell helicopters. The pilot had tried to land on a ridge and cracked the helicopter up. Bud packed a Acetylene cutting torching into the mountains to cut the frame of the helicopter up. I know I took some photographs of it, but I have been able to find them. Just another lost file. When I am dead and gone somebody is going to have a ball going through my stuff finding all these interesting treasures (stories and photographs) about the mountains. Matter of fact it is going to take days to do that project; that's why I haven't done it myself. My philosophy has been to gather and to store more than anything else.

Enjoy the history, Tom K.

[somehiker]

Tom:
Thanks once more for sharing your knowledge and library with us.
One thing we noticed about the Mooney wreckage was,other than fading of the paint,very little corrosion was present.Even the inner bore of the sheared off lycoming engine cylinder showed only light surface rust.This is after 40 years of exposure.
No wonder then,that old tools,etc can remain recognizable for such a long time.
Those lost Walker-Colts may,with a bit of oil,and depending on where they are,still be serviceable.They would be quite the find.

Regards:Wayne

[Jim Hatt]

Hey Wayne,

According to Larry Hedrick (one of the original founders of the SMHS). Those Walker Colts were packed in wax. If they are ever found, they should be in pristine condition!.

Jim