An estimated 200 people crowded into the two rooms of the Bowman Stradling History Center at the Sonoita Fairgrounds on Feb. 2 for the opening of the new Western Films Exhibit curated by Betty Barr and Cheryl Rogos. The exhibit featured photographs and posters from classic movies filmed in Santa Cruz County, including “Gunman’s Walk,” “McLintock,” “Buffalo Soldiers,” David and Bathsheba,” “Duel in the Sun,” “Oklahoma!,” “Red River,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Tombstone,” “Tom Horn,” and “Winchester ’73.”
Rogos created thirteen story boards depicting scenes from several westerns filmed in the Sonoita area, using old photographs, with explanatory text by Barr.
Keith Whitney, art director for Arizona Highways magazine, created one board dedicated to the movie “Oklahoma,” which included the seven-page article from 1955 with text and photographs of the filming of the movie by the late Alan Reed. Reed’s son Brent also made available his late father’s entire photographic collection from the movie set, which Rogos used to create an additional three boards. “I love to see that these [photographs] are appreciated again,” Reed said. “That’s really neat.” One board was lent to the exhibit by the Canoa Ranch in Green Valley. Several photographs used in the exhibit were from the collection of western movie historian Marty Freese, a former stuntman, and volunteer docent at Old Tucson Studios.
Many locals appeared in films shot in the area. Patty Oliver, of Elgin, loaned the museum photos taken during the time that she and her family worked as extras in the films. Oliver and her children reminisced about their experiences on the sets.
Oliver’s parents worked in the classic “Red River,” filmed in 1946, and in “David and Bathsheba,” filmed in 1951. Oliver appeared in several films, including “Oklahoma,” “The Frisco Kid” (1979), and “Hell’s Angels.” Oliver remembers that, during the shooting for “Oklahoma,” they had to drive to Nogales every day to get made up and dressed in costume and were then driven by bus out into the San Rafael Valley. “Every day, the bus would get stuck,” she said. Extras were paid more if they performed special tasks. She remembered having to learn traditional Native American dances for one film in which she played an Indian maiden.
Her children also worked in local movies. Both Leah and Johnny Oliver appeared in “The Frisco Kid.” “I remember being dressed up like Laura Ingalls in ‘Little House on the Prairie,’” Leah said.
Their sister Hope Ann joined her siblings in “Hell’s Angels.” “They put a ferris wheel in the park in Patagonia,” Leah remembers. “We kids had to ride the ferris wheel all day for the filming.” “It was hot,” Hope Ann said, “but it was a lot of fun, it kept us out of school, and we earned a paycheck.” Hope Ann was 7 at the time. Leah was 5.
The Western Films exhibit will be on display in the History Center indefinitely, according to Barr. The Center will be open March 9 and 23, and April 13 and 27, from 1 – 3 p.m., as well as during the Sonoita Horse Races in May. To arrange a viewing at other times, call the Fairgrounds at (520) 455-5553 to make an appointment. The Bowman Stradling History Center, funded by Bob and Mary Bowman and the Ann C. Stradling Foundation, and which is celebrating its tenth year, houses a collection of local history and ranching artifacts in addition to the current exhibit.