Spirit of St. Louis touches down
BONNIE HENRY
Publication Date: September 9, 2007 Page: E7 Section: ACCENT Edition: FINAL
They came by car, by train, on foot, on horseback - 20,000 in all - to catch a glimpse of the most famous man in the world.
They were not disappointed.
At a little before 2 on the afternoon of Sept. 23, 1927, "a mere speck in the northwest" appeared. It was the Spirit of St. Louis, flown by Charles A. Lindbergh on a cross-country goodwill tour.
Piloting the same monoplane he had flown solo across the Atlantic Ocean just four months earlier, Lindbergh, 25, flew over the Tucson Mountains, circled the city and landed at the civilian airfield he would soon dedicate as Davis-Monthan Field.
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"When he landed, there was a cloud of dust as he taxied in," says George Monthan, then 5 and nephew of the late Lt. Oscar Monthan, partial namesake of what is now Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Bells rang, banks and schools closed, and dignitaries poured in from Mexico and Phoenix.
After greeting the waiting crowds, the "boy flier" good- naturedly posed with others in front of a life-size cactus replica of his plane.
Lindbergh then visited Pastime Park, a hospital for veterans, and spoke at Arizona Stadium on the University of Arizona campus. Loudspeakers were set up for 25,000.
That evening, Lindbergh was the guest of honor at a banquet at the university, where he dedicated Davis-Monthan, then the largest municipally owned airport in the country.
A rotating beacon dubbed the "Lindy Light" was switched on at the field, paid for with donations from Tucsonans.
The next morning, Lindbergh flew out of town. About 200 people were on the field when he departed, reported the next day's Star.
That morning, young George Monthan got one last look at the Spirit of St. Louis.
"I remember my dad taking me out to the airplane."
Lindbergh's visit also left another memory: an 8-pound girl delivered to Mr. and Mrs. Ernesto Lopez just 20 minutes after the famous flier's arrival. They named the baby "Lindy."
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