August 24, 2009 © Thomas J. Kollenborn. All Rights Reserved.
Phil Rauso
recently called me up and asked me if I would like to go for a ride in
his Ford Model T over the Apache Trail. He included an invite for
breakfast at Tortilla Flat. This call was on Monday, August 17, 2009. I
met Phil at the legendary Bluebird Mine and Curio shop on the Apache
Trail about four miles northeast of Apache Junction at 7:30 a.m. My
expectation was riding over the Apache Trail in a ninety-five year old
vintage automobile designed by Henry Ford.
When Phil arrived with his car I was
astonished at its condition. The radiator, lights and trim were highly
polished brass. The black paint on the vehicle was absolutely
spectacular. It was the original Ford black with several coats of
lacquer.
The vehicle was actually called a “Hack
Cab”. The car had been used to transport people from the train depot to
hotels in Chicago between 1915 and 1927 when the car was finally
retired. Phil and Debbie Rauso purchased the car in Chicago from a
museum, brought it to Arizona and restored it. “Hack Cabs” could carry
six people because they had a special body design. Actually the “Old
Geezer”, a nickname Phil had for the car, started out as a Ford Model T
pickup. The body was removed and the “Hack Cab” body was put on the
frame. Phil’s plan for the “Old Geezer” now was to make trips over the
Apache Trail and once again give tourist the thrill of riding over the
famous mountain road in a vintage vehicle such as the Model T Ford.
Phil arrived at the Bluebird Mine and
Curio shop at precisely at 7:30 a.m. I loaded my camera and tripod into
his Model T and we were off and running at about thirty miles an hour.
Our plan was to stop at Tortilla Flat for breakfast and return to the
Bluebird Mine. We stopped briefly near Canyon Lake and took some photos
of the “Old Geezer”. We arrived at Tortilla Flat about 9 a.m. and sat
down for breakfast. The car attracted a lot of attention on the road and
at Tortilla Flat. Few people could believe Phil was driving this
ninety-five year old car over the Apache Trail. The car was quite
valuable and many people just couldn’t imagine him doing this.
After breakfast at Tortilla Flat and
several discussions with curious tourist we planned to depart. Now
remember, we were in an old Model T Ford that was totally open. The sun
was quite warm and the temperature was beginning to climb. We were two
bold men when we decided to do the infamous and legendary Fish Creek
Hill with the Model T on a warm summer day. If we had picked a cool
winter day the traffic would have been impossible. Phil had been told
the “Old Geezer” would never pull Fish Creek Hill. If we went down the
ten per cent grade we could never get the car back up the hill on its
on. We had our challenge, “Do Fish Creek Hill.
We departed Tortilla Flat about 10 a.m.
driving east toward Mesquite and Rye Creek. On the paved road the “Old
Geezer” did fine, however we didn’t know for sure how the car would
perform on the unimproved portion of the Apache Trail (State Route 88).
Here we were riding along an officially designated Arizona historical
road in a 1915 Model T Ford Hack Cab. As we drove along the paved
portion we thought about the many almost weekly headlines from the
1920’s— Headlines about the horseless vehicles that were tested on the
infamous ten per-cent grade of Fish Creek Hill. Many of these cars
passed the test, but many of them also failed. Some old Fords had to
back up steep hills because of the location of their fuel tanks.
The pavement finally ended some five
miles east of Tortilla Flat and we were now on a rough dirt road filled
with potholes and washboards. Now the “Old Geezer” began to shake and
rattle like a bucket of bolts. The Model T suspension let us feel each
bump and hump. I commented that we were now experiencing a 1915 ride
over the Apache Trail. Phil certainly agreed with my comment.
We soon understood why the old timers
wore dusters and goggles. The first real grade on a rough dirt road
began as we passed the Tortilla Ranch Trailhead and climbed to the top
of Fish Creek Hill arriving at the vista parking lot. Once on top, we
stopped and looked down. Just for a moment, you have to wonder if we
were not making a mistake taking a car this old down Fish Creek Hill.
We started descending the hill. Phil
placed the car in its lowest gear and often braked as we drove down. We
finally reached Inspiration Point about one third of the way down. We
stopped here to stretch our legs and catch our breath. What
breath-taking scenery there was from Inspiration Point! It was here I
got out of the car with my camera and started walking down Fish Creek
Hill toward the bridge. I wanted to find a good vantage point to take
photographs of the car coming down the hill. For a moment I thought
about walking down Fish Creek Hill. When my Uncle Riley Brunson use to
freight for the Packard Store in Tonto Basin my Aunt Elise walked down
Fish Creek Hill because my uncle thought it was to dangerous for her and
the children to ride. He felt teams and wagons were too unpredictable
to risk his family.
I thought about Aunt Elise as I walked
down Fish Creek Hill. At some point I got back into the old Model T and
watched carefully as Phil skillfully negotiated the hill. From
Inspiration Point to Fish Creek Bridge is about one mile. At five miles
per hour it took us a while to get to the bottom. We crossed Fish Creek
Bridge and stopped for a breather. We rested and had a drink of water
before our planned climb up Fish Creek Hill in the old car.
Phil started “Old Geezer” but the car
died on us. He tried several times. All of a sudden I could envision us
hiking up Fish Creek Hill and back to Tortilla Flat. Finally the old car
started and kept running. I jumped in and we began a historic climb to
the top. This is probably the first 1915 Model T to climb Fish Creek
Hill in eighty-five years or more.
Climbing the hill in “Old Geezer” I was
on the outside looking down into Fish Creek Canyon. The side of the
canyon is a graveyard of rusting old hulls of cars that didn’t make it.
Some of the cars were a thousand feet below the road’s edge. The old
Model T was doing great on the climb back to the top of Fish Creek. My
heart probably was running faster than the engine; after all if we went
over the side I would be the first one over. It is always more fun to be
first, right?
It was a
slow climb to the top, and for the most part uneventful except for the
beautiful scenery and spectacular vistas. The “Old Geezer” climbed Fish
Creek Hill without any problems at all. It was quite an experience to
ride in a ninety-five year old car on the Apache Trail all the way from
the Bluebird Mine and Gift Shop to the Fish Creek Canyon Bridge and
back.