On October 12, 1940, cowboy-movie star Tom Mix is killed when he loses control of his speeding Cord Phaeton convertible and rolls into a dry wash (now called the Tom Mix Wash) near Florence, Arizona.

Authorities determined that when Mix hit the brakes of his yellow 1937 Cord 812 Phaeton, he was fatally struck in the back of the head by a heavy suitcase hurled forward from the backseat. The supercharged Cord rolled over into a dry creek bed—now called the Tom Mix Wash—near Florence, Arizona.