1949 — Nov 10, Cotton Pickers Truck and Semi Collide, U.S. Hwy. 80 ~Gila Bend, AZ–   10

Compiled by Wayne Blanchard Sep 8, 2023 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/

–10  Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “No Blame…Placed…Death…10 Cotton Pickers.” 11-15-1949.

–10  Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Crash Kills 16 Here.” 6-9-1959, p. 3. 

Narrative Information

Nov 11, Associated Press: “Gila Bend, Nov. 11 (AP) – The crash of a truck loaded with cotton pickers and a semi-trailer brought death to nine men and injured 11 others last night 17 miles west of here.  The truck overturned two or three times, throwing the men onto the highway and desert. Four of the dead have not been identified. The toll rose to nine today with the death of an unidentified man in a Phoenix hospital. Six were killed instantly in the U. S. highway 80 crash. One was dead on arrival at the county hospital in Phoenix and another died shortly after arrival.

“Charley Davis, 30…from Los Angeles, who highway patrolmen report was driving the truck, was ordered held as a material witness for a coroner’s inquest to be held Monday.

“Patrolman Earl Rogers and Norman Cole reported that Davis attempted to pass the semi-trailer loaded with 30 tons of airplane parts. A car approaching from the opposite direction forced him to try to drop back into line. The truck struck the semi and overturned two or three times spilling the cotton pickers over the highway. The patrolmen said that evidently the semi was moving slowly although Davis claimed it was stopped. It was driven by Hurk Harris, 22, of Angleton, Tex.

“The dead were taken to Buckeye, and the injured were hospitalized in Phoenix and Ajo.

“Davis said the pickers had been recruited in the Los Angeles area and were en route to Tucson.

“H. P. Myers, driver of a bus two cars behind the accident, declared that ‘none of those alive at the accident scene could walk.’ He told patrolmen that the semi was moving at the time of the crash.  Another truck driver, Virgil Rogers, told the patrolmen that the semi was well lighted.

“Davis, however, said that as the truck approached Gila Bend, it struck a dip partially filled with water. He said it splashed over the windshield and as the water drained away he saw the semi-trailer stalled in the middle of the road without lights. He said he swerved sharply but struck the carrier of the trailer, flipping his truck on its back. The semi-trailer is owned by J. H. Rose of Houston, Tex.

“`There was one heroine there,’ said the bus driver, Myers. ‘She was a girl on the greyhound bus.  She instantly moved in and began helping the injured.  There was a sailor, too, who did a great job.’ They were Lorraine Warren, 21, a nurse of San Diego, Cal., and Gareth Nelson, 21, Safford, Ariz., navy pharmacist’s mate. ‘We first pulled the tarpaulin off the wrecked truck to cover the injured,’ Miss Warren said. ‘That’s when we found some more bodies. The first we saw apparently had been killed at the moment of impact. ‘So many of the injured had suffered shock that we needed more cover. A furniture van was halted in the traffic jam and we just requisitioned thick blankets from it.’ Myers said Miss Warren ‘worked like a roll every minute of the 45 that elapsed until the first ambulance arrived’.” (Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff. “9 Die, 13 Hurt in Wreck. Cotton Picker Truck.” 11-11-1949, p. 1.)

Nov 14, United Press: “Buckeye, Nov. 14. (UP) – Justice of the Peace Billy Meek was scheduled to open an inquest here today into the Gila Bend truck accident which killed nine cotton pickers and injured 11.  Meek said the witnesses at today’s hearing would include Charles Davis, 39-year-old Los Angeles labor contractor and driver of the ill-fated truck; Vernon Colquitt, a passenger in the cab with Davis; and two bus drivers who witnessed the accident.  The crash took place 17 miles west of Gila Bend last Thursday night.  Davis said he smashed into a heavily loaded truck trailer due to his windshield being covered with water from a dip in the road.  Other witnesses said Davis sideswiped the trailer in an attempt to pass. Four of the nine cotton-pickers remained unidentified four days after the accident. Only one of the 11 injured was still listed as being in critical condition.”  (Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “Inquest Today into 9 Deaths.” 11-14-1949, p. 1.)

Nov 15: “Gila Bend, Nov. 15 (UP) – A coroner’s jury today returned an open verdict not assigning responsibility for the truck crash which killed 10 cotton pickers and injured 10 others near here last Thursday night. Gila Bend Coroner Eddie Stout said the Jury’s verdict in each of the ten cases was “death from injuries sustained in a collision of two trucks.’ The jury made no findings as to the cause of the accident. Jack Renaud, deputy Maricopa county attorney, said, ‘unless something more conclusive in the way of evidence appears in the case, no criminal charges will be filed. It appears many things contributed to the accident, none of which alone was the sole cause.’

“Charles Davis of Los Angeles…refused to testify at today’s hearing, but will give Renaud a formal statement tomorrow….

“The driver of the trailer, Hurk L. Harris, 22, of Angleton, Tex., told the coroner’s jury he was going 30 miles an hour at the time. However, a highway patrolman testified that some of the bodies were found within ‘three or four feet’ of the trailer’s rear end. Three of the 10 dead are still unidentified in a Buckeye, Ariz., mortuary. Their fingerprints have been sent to the FBI. One of the injured, Clarence Hall, 29 Kansas City, Kas., is still in critical condition at an Ajo, Ariz., hospital.” (Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “No Blame is Placed in the Death of 10 Cotton Pickers.” 11-15-1949, p. 13.)

June 9, 1959, Arizona Republic, Phoenix: “…10 Mexican national field workers were killed, in a truck-car collision near Gila Bend, Nov. 10, 1949.” (Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Crash Kills 16 Here.” 6-9-1959, p. 3.) 

Sources

Arizona Daily Sun, Flagstaff. “9 Die, 13 Hurt in Wreck. Cotton Picker Truck.” 11-11-1949, 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=58152735

Arizona Republic, Phoenix. “Crash Kills 16 Here.” 6-9-1959, p. 3. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=126549781

Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “Inquest Today into 9 Deaths.” 11-14-1949, p. 1. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85051572

Tucson Daily Citizen, AZ. “No Blame is Placed in the Death of 10 Cotton Pickers.” 11-15-1949, 13. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=85051612

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