JOHN WAYNE AKA THE DUKE
John Wayne was born Marion Morrison in Winterset, Iowa.
Wayne and Johnson moved into the cattle business in the 1960s, running a feedlot near Maricopa and a ranch near Springerville.
He grew up in Southern California and became a movie extra and then an actor after losing his scholarship to USC in the 1920s.
One of Wayne’s favorite watering holes was Table Top Tavern in
Stanfield.
Johnson’s wife Alice put Wayne on a weight-loss program for his
movie roles.
At the peak of the Wayne and Johnson cattle partnership, they
had 85,000 head.
Wayne died of cancer in 1979.
El Dorado Holdings CEO Mike Ingram campaigned to have a portion
Wayne bought 4,000 acres of farmland between Maricopa and
of State Route 347 (Maricopa Road) named John Wayne Parkway.
Stanfield in the late 1950s.
The Duke Golf Course draws its name from Wayne’s nickname.
He partnered with local cotton farmer Louis Johnson, who
Some streets within Rancho El Dorado — Sagebrush Trail, Rio Grande, Rio Lobo, Cahill and others — share names with Wayne movies.
managed Wayne’s farm. The two later merged their properties. Both now have roadways named for them in Maricopa.
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New Resident Guide 2020 | InMaricopa.com/NewResidentGuide
InMaricopa.com/NewResidentGuide | New Resident Guide 2020
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