The movie had a typical calm and cool Gregory Peck as Marshal MacKenna, while Omar Sharif starred as John Colorado, a Mexican outlaw, who is in search of hidden gold. As only MacKenna can lead John Colorado to gold, there unexpected meeting lead to a long journey amid unwanted company.
Well! We must stop here as neither Mackenna's Gold nor the famous Gold Rush [the movie is not about the Gold Rush] is our topic. However, both men and women are still in love for gold, and there is no sign that this affair will ever come to end. And that’s why we are now moving to the 21st century Arizona where the Mackenna’s Gold was shot, although Utah was also among the locations.
But why Arizona and for what! Is there some gold? Well! We don’t know but John Waddell, 60, was certainly confident that he can have success just like the good old gold prospectors. But unfortunately, he had a little problem. He fell into a 100-feet-deep mine shaft and spent two days there with rattlesnakes being the only company.
According to NBC News, the incident occurred in the remote desert area near Aguila, about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix, the state capital.
Waddell was pulled out from the shaft – where he fell as his carabiner clip broke, sending him tumbling 40 to 50 feet into the bottom of the mine – after hours-long rescue mission.
His close friend Terry Shrader said Waddell called him on Monday [two days before the rescue] to say he was trekking out to the area to search for the precious metal.
Meanwhile, authorities said Waddell owned the property and had worked it for 20 years.
Shrader and Waddell had made a deal that if Waddell wasn't back by Tuesday, Shrader needed to search for him.
Shrader told NBC News that he became worried when he still had not heard from Waddell on Wednesday. Luckily, he knew exactly where to find him.
"Just as I pulled up in the truck, I could hear him hollering," Shrader said.
Shrader said he found an area where he could get cellphone service and called 911. He then dropped water to Waddell as they waited for help.
Waddell's dramatic rescue was recorded on video that shows rescue workers' using rope to pull him to safety. It took about five hours before Waddell was removed from the shaft.
Shrader said Waddell told him he had to kill three rattlesnakes to keep them from biting him as he waited for someone to find him.