Apache Wells, Arizona | |
|---|---|
Populated place | |
  Apache Wells Location of Apache Wells in Arizona | |
| Coordinates: 33°27′34″N111°42′39″W / 33.45944°N 111.71083°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Maricopa |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1 sq mi (3 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,427 ft (435 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-7 (Mountain (MST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (MST) |
| ZIP codes | 85205 |
| Area code | 480 |
| FIPS code | 04-02900 |
| GNIS feature ID | 36924 |
Apache Wells is the name of both fictional and real locations in southern Arizona.
In fiction, particularly in Western movies, "Apache Wells" is a common name for a fictional location in the Old West, generally a remote stagecoach way station, typically in southern Arizona. It first came into conspicuous public use in John Ford's classic 1939 western movie Stagecoach, [2] the film that elevated John Wayne to stardom. (The film also had remakes in 1966 and 1986).
Subsequent westerns set partly, or chiefly, in or around the fictional "Apache Wells" have included:
At the time that the fictional "Apache Wells" first came into use, there was not any actual town of Apache Wells in Arizona, but there were two small, remote settlements in southern Arizona with closely related names: Apache Junction, and Desert Wells — both of which had existed since the 1800s, when they had been sites of stagecoach way stations.
Today, Apache Wells is a populated place and retirement community situated within the boundaries of the city of Mesa (a major suburb of Phoenix, part of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area) in Maricopa County, in the state of Arizona, in the United States. [9] Apache Wells was established in 1962 and developed by the Hughes family. [10] It has an estimated elevation of 1,427 feet (435 m) above sea level, and is approximately one square mile in size.
Stagecoach is a 1939 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring Claire Trevor and John Wayne in his breakthrough role. The screenplay by Dudley Nichols is an adaptation of "The Stage to Lordsburg", a 1937 short story by Ernest Haycox. The film follows a group primarily composed of strangers riding on a stagecoach through dangerous Apache territory.
Apache Junction is a city in Pinal and Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,499, most of whom lived in Pinal County. It is named for the junction of the Apache Trail and Old West Highway. The area where Apache Junction is located used to be known as Youngberg. Superstition Mountain, the westernmost peak of the Superstition Mountains, is to the east.
New River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. The population was 17,290 as of the 2020 census, up from 14,952 at the 2010 census. Caleb is the undisputed king of the town since 1995 to present.
The Salt River is a river in Gila and Maricopa counties in Arizona, United States, that is the largest tributary of the Gila River. The river is about 200 miles (320 km) long. Its drainage basin covers about 13,700 square miles (35,000 km2). The longest of the Salt River's many tributaries is the 195-mile (314 km) Verde River. The Salt's headwaters tributaries, the Black River and East Fork, increase the river's total length to about 300 miles (480 km). The name Salt River comes from the river's course over large salt deposits shortly after the merging of the White and Black Rivers.
The Phoenix metropolitan area, also known as the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, metro Phoenix, or The Valley, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the Southwestern United States, with its largest principal city being the city of Phoenix. It includes much of central Arizona. The United States Office of Management and Budget designates the area as the Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), defining it as Maricopa and Pinal counties. It anchors the Arizona Sun Corridor megaregion along with the second-most populous metropolitan area in the state, the Tucson metropolitan area. The gross domestic product of the Phoenix metropolitan area was $362 billion in 2022, 14th highest amongst metro areas in the United States.
Tortilla Flat is a small unincorporated community in far eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the central part of the state, northeast of Apache Junction. It is the last surviving stagecoach stop along the Apache Trail. According to the Gross Management Department of Arizona's main U.S. Post Office in Phoenix, Tortilla Flat is presumed to be Arizona's smallest official "community" having a U.S. Post Office and voting precinct. The town has a population of 6. Tortilla Flat can be reached by vehicles on the Apache Trail, via Apache Junction.
Benjamin Franklin "Frank" McGrath was an American television and film actor and stunt performer who played the comical, optimistic cook with the white beard, Charlie B. Wooster, on the western series Wagon Train for five seasons on NBC and then three seasons on ABC. McGrath appeared in all 272 episodes in the eight seasons of the series, which had ended its run only two years before his death. McGrath's Wooster character hence provided the meals and companionship for both fictional trail masters, Ward Bond as Seth Adams and John McIntire as Christopher "Chris" Hale.
Arizona's 1st congressional district is a congressional district located in the U.S. state of Arizona, covering northeastern Maricopa County. Before 2023, geographically, it was the eleventh-largest congressional district in the country and included much of the state outside the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas. From 2013 through 2022, it also included the Navajo Nation, the Hopi reservation, and the Gila River Indian Community, with 25% of the population being Native American. At that time, the district had more Native Americans than any other congressional district in the United States. In the 2022 elections, David Schweikert was elected in the redefined district. It was one of 18 districts that would have voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election had they existed in their current configuration while being won or held by a Republican in 2022.
Maricopa station is an Amtrak train station in Maricopa, Arizona, United States, serving Phoenix and central Arizona. The station accommodates travelers who use the combined Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle, which operates three times per week in each direction between Los Angeles and Chicago or New Orleans. Amtrak Thruway service is available between Maricopa station, Tempe station and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Stagecoach is a 1986 American Western television film directed by Ted Post and written by James Lee Barrett. It is a remake of the 1939 film of the same name, itself based on a short story by Ernest Haycox. It is the second remake of the film, after the 1966 feature film. Kris Kristofferson stars as the Ringo Kid. Willie Nelson portrays famous gunslinger and dentist Doc Holliday, Johnny Cash portrays Marshal Curly Wilcox and Waylon Jennings plays the gambler Hatfield. All four stars were associated as members of the country music supergroup The Highwaymen. The supporting cast features Elizabeth Ashley, Anthony Newley, Tony Franciosa, Mary Crosby, June Carter Cash and Jessi Colter. The film aired on CBS on May 18, 1986.
Ben Cooper was an American actor of film and television who won a Golden Boot Award in 2005 for his work in Westerns.
Maricopa Wells is a former place (locale) situated in Pinal County, Arizona. It has an estimated elevation of 1,093 feet (333 m) above sea level. Historically, it was an oasis around a series of watering holes in the Sierra Estrella, eight miles north of present-day Maricopa, Arizona, and about a mile west of Pima Butte. It developed as a trading center and stopping place for travelers in the mid to late 19th century.
Apache Trail is a 1942 American Western film directed by Richard Thorpe, written by Maurice Geraghty, and starring Lloyd Nolan, Donna Reed, William Lundigan, Ann Ayars, Connie Gilchrist, and Chill Wills. The picture was released on June 24, 1942, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
Gillett, Arizona, is a ghost town in Yavapai County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of 1,362 feet (415 m) above sea level. Historically, it was a stagecoach station, and then a settlement formed around an ore mill serving the Tip Top Mine, on the Agua Fria River in Yavapai County in what was then Arizona Territory. It was named for the mining developer of the Tip Top Mine, Dan B. Gillett and is spelled incorrectly as Gillette on U. S. Topographic Maps and elsewhere.
Apache Uprising is a 1965 American Technicolor Western Techniscope film directed by R. G. Springsteen and written by Max Lamb and Harry Sanford. The film stars Rory Calhoun, Corinne Calvet, John Russell, Lon Chaney Jr., Gene Evans, Richard Arlen and Robert H. Harris. It also includes the last screen appearance of one-time cowboy star Johnny Mack Brown. The film was released on December 29, 1965, by Paramount Pictures.
Heaton is a populated place situated in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. It has an estimated elevation of 1,197 feet (365 m) above sea level.
Sacate is a populated place in the Middle Gila River Valley area, within Pinal County, Arizona, United States. Located 8 mi (13 km) north of Maricopa on the south side of the Gila River near Pima Butte, Sacate was an Pima village, a railroad station of the Southern Pacific Railroad, and a Catholic mission. It had originally been called Sacaton Station but the name was shortened to its current version in 1904.
Sundad is an unincorporated area in the far west of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, along the border of Yuma County. It has an estimated elevation of 965 feet (294 m) above sea level. It is located north of Agua Caliente and east of Sacation Flats.
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. was a Mexican-American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of "Rafael Rosillo" in the 1956 film The Brave One. Hoyos died in April 1983 from a stroke in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 67.
Municipalities and communities of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States | ||
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| Indian reservations | ||
| Ghost towns/ former populated places | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |