1966 — July 3, two cars collide, Ajo Highway about 12 miles west of Three Points AZ –all 10

–10 Press-Courier, Oxnard, CA. “Toll rises; 10 killed in one crash.” 7-4-1966, p. 2.
–10 Tucson Daily Citizen. “Crash Here Kills Ten. Worst In Nation.” 7-4-1966, p. 1.

Narrative Information

July 4: “Ten Persons died. Their lives were snuffed out when two cars met with phenomenal impact yesterday on a lonely, sunlit stretch of the Ajo Highway, 31 miles west of Tucson. There were no survivors.

“Dead in one car: [We break the names out of paragraph into separate lines.]

Philip I. Felix, 29, of 832 E. 31st St., the driver;
Albert Cruz, 39, of 231 E. 33rd St.;
Elliott Johnson Jr., 27, of Sells, and
Manuel Chico, 43, of Sells.

“In car two: [We break the names out of paragraph into separate lines.]

Felix Reino, 30, of Sells, the driver;
his wife, Lois, 26;
their son, Louis, 3;
Felix L. Antone, 33, of Sells, and
Juan Montana, 62, of Sells.

“The crash occurred…at 2:40 p.m.

“A highway patrolman said simply: ‘It was the worst and most horrible thing I have seen. Those people looked like they had been in a plane crash or an explosion.’

“Grim facts: The worst fatality in Pima County history. The worst traffic accident in the nation so far this holiday weekend.

“This is how it happened, in the words of an eyewitness, Mitchell P. Ferguson, 4200 N. Oxbow Road:
I was with my uncle, Frank Van Duzen, and we were driving to Kitt Peak. We were about 12 miles west of Three Points when I saw a white 1956 Oldsmobile in my rear mirror. He was visibly out of control, swaying all over the highway. I remarked to my uncle, ‘There’s a guy looking for big trouble’ and then I slowed down and pulled over to give him plenty of room. He went past me at a very fast speed. I would say between 85 and 90 miles an hour. As he passed, he was still swaying and sliding, still out of control, right on the yellow center line. The next thing I saw was a white Chevrolet coming over a rise and around a corner in the opposite direction. It was like it came from nowhere. And the Oldsmobile was still out of control on the center line. They met. There was a huge cloud of smoke, like a car had gone very fast from a paved road on to a dirt road. The cars took off and bounced.

My uncle and I drew up to about 100 feet of the wreckage. One car (the Chevrolet) was off
the side of the road. The Olds was on its side on the highway. We looked inside. I counted four dead in the Olds. There were six in the Chevrolet. The driver looked still alive.

A couple of minutes later, a doctor from Ajo drew up. All three of us forced the door of the Chevrolet because the doctor said it would be better to get the driver out. We got him on the side of the road. He died a few minutes later. I left and went back to Three Points to call the Highway Patrol.’

“….The impact was almost exactly in the middle of the road, marked by a huge pile of oil, metal and dust and dirt. Only one person, a passenger in the Oldsmobile, was thrown out.

“The thick, black skidmarks were short, indicating the drivers saw each other only a split second before the devastating impact.

“The Chevrolet’s steering column went through the roof. The inside…was crushed to about one tenth normal size….

“Within half an hour of the crash, Papago Indians from nearby villages arrived and stood at the scene, whispering in small clusters. All the victims were Indians….

“…wrecks…in the state, killed a total of 24 persons…during the weekend. It was Arizona’s bloodiest weekend in history….” (Tucson Daily Citizen. “Crash Here Kills Ten. Worst In Nation. No Survivors.” 7-4-1966, p. 1.)

Sources

Press-Courier, Oxnard, CA. “Toll rises; 10 killed in one crash.” 7-4-1966, p. 2. Accessed 4-29-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/oxnard-press-courier-jul-04-1966-p-2/

Tucson Daily Citizen. “Crash Here Kills Ten. Worst In Nation. No Survivors.” 7-4-1966, p. 1. Accessed 4-29-2022 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/tucson-daily-citizen-jul-04-1966-p-1/