When the movie “Arizona” was filmed at the new Old Tucson location, it was a really big deal around here. So, it wasn’t surprising that, in 1940, the city and even the governor turned out for a celebration of the “re-opening” of the Old Tucson post office. Wesley Ruggles, the producer-director of “Arizona,” was sworn in as the new postmaster.
For the event, 20,000 pieces of mail were delivered to the post office for a “first-day cancellation” stamp. The initial stamp was impressed on a huge sheet-copper postcard. The card was addressed to the stamp-collector in chief, President Franklin Roosevelt.
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1940 Star file
B.S. Whiting, left, and Leonard Redfield re-enacted a Pony
Express run from Old Tucson to Tucson.
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After that ceremonial stamping, a small bag of mail was presented to Leonard Redfield, a former Pony Express rider and then-postmaster for Benson. Redfield then galloped off on horseback headed for Tucson.
Near St. Mary’s Hospital, the pouch was handed off to B. S. Whiting. Whiting was astride a pinto horse named “Dice,” the horse that Jean Arthur rode for her role in “Arizona.” Riding into downtown Tucson, the Pony Express team joined the parade and delivered the mail to the Tucson post office. The remainder of the 20,000 pieces arrived by an old Tombstone stagecoach.
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