During the Great Depression, Phoenix’s WPA office was producing a guide for Arizona but there was a problem with Arizona: nobody knew how Tortilla Flat got its name. Ross Santee of the Federal Writers Project mailed Tortilla Flat’s postmaster a letter asking for clarification on the name. Twelve days later, the postmaster general of Tortilla Flat sent a reply. Watch to see how the Santee-Perkins exchange influenced the naming of Tortilla Flat.
