The idea for Apacheland™ was conceived early in 1956 when Russ Hayden Productions came from Hollywood to Scottsdale to produce “Twenty-six Men,” a series dealing with the exploits of the Arizona Rangers. The series was shot at a small western set, just off of Camelback Road near 40th Street called “Cudia City.” It was the only motion picture studio at that time in the Phoenix area, which consisted of a small western street and a pretty good sound stage. The one major drawback to filming in Cudia City was that during the filming of a shoot-out with Indians whooping, and bank robbers shooting their guns, an automobile would honk or an airplane would fly over, and the scene would have to be reshot.
One day in the filming cast and crew became particularly disgruntled because of having to reshoot a scene when a man by the name of Victor Panek suggested they look at the Superstition Mountain area for a studio because scenically it was magnificent and secluded enough to avoid such interruptions. Cast and crew told Panek they had not only shot footage there, but that a man named Russ Hayden was already toying with the idea of building a studio near the Bush Highway/Power Road area.
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