Nogales, Oklahoma

In the mid-50’s Hollywood came out to the historic San Rafael Ranch, east of Nogales and filmed the long-running Broadway Rogers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma.” Location scouts searched the Sooner State searching for a place to do the shoot that resembled Oklahoma at the time of statehood in 1907 but everywhere they looked were oil derricks. Apparently, the rolling, grass-carpeted hills of southern Arizona more closely resembled the Sooner State. This didn’t sit well with Oklahomans. They resented the fact that Arizona was chosen for a film about their state.

There was also a small problem or two creating “Oklahoma” in Arizona. Corn wouldn’t grow “high as an elephant’s eye,” so, the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture developed some hybrid corn to fill the bill. Peach trees had to be imported from California along with fake peaches made of wax. Each morning before the cameras started rolling, the production crew carefully hung the wax fruit on the plants. There was another problem; the hot Arizona sun kept melting the wax. Scenes had to be shot early in the morning before the fruit melted on the trees.

Since the cast and crew were lodging in Nogales, the generous citizens of the Mexican border town, well known for their generosity,  agreed to let the state of Oklahoma annex them until the filming was done. The Oklahomans figured this would be the best deal available. Thus, for a short time, the Sooner State was Nogales, Oklahoma.