COVER STORY Marvel Crosson in a Ryan Brougham days before she died on August 19, 1929, in a plane crash in the Arizona desert.
rivaling attention given to Amelia Earhart. Photos of Marvel in her flight suit covered front pages everywhere, and she was dubbed the “New Star of the Clouds.” The whole country was poised with excitement to watch Marvel perform as the first entrant in the inaugural Women’s Air Derby cross-country race. She already won the first sanctioned women’s air race between Palo Alto and Oakland, California, in April, so Marvel was excited and confident about the derby. She also had another reason to be excited: a quiet engagement to fellow pilot Emory Bronte. The two planned to be wed sometime soon after Marvel completed the derby race. Both Emory and Joe were eagerly waiting at the finish line in Cleveland, Ohio. In order to participate in the race — nicknamed the Powder Puff Derby by humorist Will Rogers — all pilots had to prove at least 100 hours of solo flying experience, including 25 hours of cross-country flying. The racers would make their way to Cleveland by way of 10 stops through Arizona, Texas, Missouri and Ohio. The first leg of the race had the pilots flying from Santa Monica to Yuma. After proving they had the proper certificates and experience, 19 female pilots including Marvel and Amelia Earhart took off on
August 18, 1929, from California, cheered on by over 100,000 spectators. Marvel flew a Travel Air Speedwing Chaparral provided by her continuing sponsor, Union Oil. Its cruising air speed of 160 miles per hour was faster than any other plane in the competition. That, in combination with her extensive flying experience, made her the pilot to beat. Though Marvel and Joe had complained of engine trouble in the new plane after transferring it from Wichita, Kansas, to California, a few repairs seemed to have done the trick. Marvel reported that the plane flew just fine between California and the first stop in Yuma. But only 20 minutes after taking off from Yuma at 11:54 a.m. on August 19, she crashed. When she didn’t appear at the next stop on the derby, alarms were raised and her probable route was traced. Her plane had been spotted flying low by a 6-year-old girl in Wellton, Arizona, before it dipped below the tree line. Searchers followed the girl’s directions and found the plane’s wreckage in a ravine. Marvel’s crumpled body was found nearby, wrapped in her partially-opened parachute. To this day, no one knows for sure what caused the crash that ended the career of such a young and promising pilot. Some surmised engine trouble, and that Marvel’s Yukon training might have led her to stay in the plane too long before trying to jump free. When other pilots reported mysterious malfunctions in their aircraft throughout the rest of the derby, rumors of sabotage swirled but were never proven.
No matter the cause, the life of the famous female flyer was cut tragically short. Still, the legacy of Marvel Crosson lives on in the memory of Coloradans. Today, the Sterling Municipal Airport is known as Crosson Field. Across town, visitors to the Overland Trail Museum can see a leather flight helmet that Marvel wore on many an aerial excursion, along with pictures that capture her bright smile, natural beauty and adventurous spirit. Maybe Marvel’s legacy will live on through some other little girl who visits the museum and is inspired to find her own wings. As we celebrate National Aviation Day on August 19, we can only wonder what Marvel might have accomplished if she lived beyond her 30th birthday, especially when you consider the unbelievable feats she achieved before it. She may have only lived here for a part of her life, but Colorado is still proud to claim the title as the state where she was inspired to take to the skies. Freelancer Julie Simpson loves writing about the amazing people and places in her home state of Colorado. Sources: Mondor, Colleen. “The short, brilliant career of Alaska’s first woman pilot.” Anchorage Daily News. June 19, 2016. Accessed Feb. 5, 2020, https://www.adn.com/culture/ we-alaskans/2016/06/19/the-short-brilliant-career-ofalaskas-first-woman-pilot/. Sheinkin, Steve. Born to Fly: The First Women’s Air Race Across America, pgs. 1-30. Roaring Brook Press, 2019. Sumner, Sandi. Women Pilots of Alaska: 37 Interviews and Profiles, pgs. 11-14. McFarland, 2004.
Read more about the 1929 Powder Puff Derby air race at coloradocountrylife.coop.
COLOR ADO COUNTRY LIFE AUGUST 2020
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