MONUMENT VALLEY- Arizona/Utah

Click Here
Monument Valley ([Only registered and activated users can see links])



8971065

10661067

11031104



Other Photos click here

Monument Valley- Google Images ([Only registered and activated users can see links];20valley%20photos&btnG=Google+Search&sa=N&tab=wi)

Information from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edited and added to by ethanedwards

Monument Valley is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona (around 36°59′N 110°6′W). The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation near the town of Goulding and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii' Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks).

Geology

The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker,blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.

The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone.

Between 1948 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined for uranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump siltstone; vanadium and copper are associated with uranium in some of these deposits.

Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, advertisements and travel brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colors really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region.

Goulding: The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah/Arizona border; the state line passes through the most famous landmarks, which are concentrated around the border near the small Indian town of Goulding - this was established in 1923 as a trading post, and now has a comprehensive range of visitor services. A paved side road heads past the village to the northwest beneath Oljeto Mesa and has views of other less-visited parts of the valley, then another route (Piute Farms Road) continues all the way to the shores of the San Juan branch of Lake Powell.

Approach: There is only one main road through the valley, US 163, which links Kayenta, Arizona with US 191 in Utah. The stretch approaching the AZ/UT border from the north is the most famous image of the valley, and possibly of the whole Southwest - a long, straight, empty road leads across flat desert towards the 1,000 foot high stark red cliffs on the horizon, curving away just in front. The highway cuts through the mesas at Monument Pass, near which several dirt tracks leave both east and west and criss-cross the red, sandy landscape, offering a more close up appreciation of the rock formations.

The Navajo Tribal Park: Although much can be appreciated from the main road, a lot more of the landscape is hidden from view behind long straight cliffs (the Mitchell and Wetherill Mesas), east of the road on the Arizona side. This is contained within the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (entrance $5 in 1996), reached along a short side road opposite the turn-off to Goulding.

Valley Drive: The view from the visitor center is spectacular enough, but most of the park can only be seen from the Valley Drive, a 17-mile dirt road which starts at the center and goes southeast amongst the towering cliffs and mesas, which includes the "Totem Pole", an oft-photographed spire of rock 300 feet high but only a few metres wide. As of October 2006, the road was well graded and easily navigable by car. Other options for touring the valley are the many Navajo guides and 4WD jeep rental outfits, which wait expectantly by the visitor center - typical prices are around $15 for a 3-hour trip. As well as eroded rocks, this area also has many ancient cave and cliff dwellings, natural arches and petroglyphs.

Iconic imagery

The twin buttes of the Valley ("the Mittens"), the "Totem Pole" (although the Navajo did not actually build totem poles), and the Ear of the Wind arch, among other features, have developed iconic status. They have appeared in many television programs, commercials, and Hollywood movies, especially Westerns

Click on the link below to see a map of the

Iconic Images ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Monument Valley is used in many films, including
Back to the Future III., The Eiger Sanction
Once Upon a Time In the West, Forest Gump

Duke and John Ford made at least 6 movies there

Stagecoach.1939. John Ford
Angel and the Badman.1947.John Wayne
Fort Apache.1948.John Ford
3 Godfathers.1948.John Ford
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.1949.John Ford
The Searchers.1956.John Ford

Stagecoach- Location Photos

10681069

11051106

Click here for more

Stagecoach Location Photos ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

and of course John Ford used the locations in other Movies too.

Previous discussion:-
Monument Valley ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Only The Opening Credits of "The Angel and The Badman" were Shot in Monument Valley, the rest of the Film was Shot in Sedona, Arizona. :) How do I know, I was There. :uhuh2: And this was Not a Ford Film, Duke was the Producer of the Film. :rolleyes:

Rio Grande was Shot in Moab, Utah, and I was There Also. :D

Bill :cowboy:

Thanks Bill,
I knew you'd come in on this one.
Of course I know 'Angel' was Duke's film,
the inference, was that between them,
they made those films there.

In the case of Rio Grande, thanks for that information,
the book John Wayne: American
clearly states that it was made in Moab, Utah,
but it also that makes
The John Wayne Official Reference Book,
incorrect!!
I will change the post accordingly,
as it clearly wasn't in around MV!

Keith; Also much of "The Searchers" was Filmed in Monument Valley and Mexican Hat, Utah just North of Monument Valley, and some of it was Shot in Bronson Canyon near Los Angeles. :rolleyes:

Bill :cowboy:

Hi,
I thought that 3 Godfathers was not in Monument Valley also.
Regards,
Vera

Hi Vera ,

I agree, I always thought
3 Godfathers, was shot in and around
Death Valley, California,
but once again I have included it as
The Official John Wayne Reference Book,
states that it was filmed there also.
I thought perhaps they knew something
that we didn't!!

Maybe Bill can clarify this?

Hi,

The film established Monument Valley, on the Arizona-Utah border, as an icon of the American West, although, of the passengers, only John Wayne actually trekked out to Utah. None of the principals made it past Californiaís San Fernando Valley.

Monument Valley, an area of striking, flat-topped mesas and buttes, was a tough location in 1938, at the end of a 200-mile dirt road from Flagstaff, Arizona. The Navajo, already troubled by disease and unemployment, were employed to play Apaches – one of the many nations they were to play over the years. The Valley is not a National Park, as you might expect, but a Tribal Park still belonging to, and managed by, the Navajo nation.

But the Valley is only a part of Stagecoach. The river crossing is the Kern River, near to Kernville, 40 miles east of Bakersfield, California. The old wagon cut at Newhall, on I-5 ‚ also called Fremont Pass ‚ is the entrance to the dry lake.

Nearby Chatsworth and Calabasas also provided locations. The chase by Indians was staged at the Muroc Dry Lake salt flats near Victorville, California, recreated by stunt artist Yakima Canutt from the 1937 Monogram movie Riders of the Dawn, which was filmed at the same location.

To soften the ground for filming, 20 acres of ground had to be dug up by tractor. The real journey of the movie, though, is from the Western Street at Republic Studios (the town of 'Tonto') to the Goldwyn Studios ('Lordsburg'), where the interiors were filmed.
From
The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations

Keith;

Here are some more pictures of Monument Valley, Moab and the Four Corners Area where Many of there Great Western Films were Filmed. :D

Just got back from Monument Valley talking with the Navajo, and it never changes!!! :rolleyes:

MONUMENT VALLEY AND THE FOUR CORNERS AREA ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Bill :cowboy:

Originally posted by ethanedwards@Nov 8 2006, 08:43 AM
MONUMENT VALLEY

Click Here
Monument Valley ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

[ATTACH]1004]

Other Photos click here

Monument Valley- Google Images ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Information from
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Edited and added to by ethanedwards

Monument Valley is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona (around 36°59′N 110°6′W). The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation near the town of Goulding and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163. The Navajo name for the valley is Tsé Bii' Ndzisgaii (Valley of the Rocks).

* Geology

The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker,blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.

The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone.

Between 1948 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined for uranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump siltstone; vanadium and copper are associated with uranium in some of these deposits.

Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, advertisements and travel brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colors really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region.

Goulding: The area is entirely within the Navajo Indian Reservation on the Utah/Arizona border; the state line passes through the most famous landmarks, which are concentrated around the border near the small Indian town of Goulding - this was established in 1923 as a trading post, and now has a comprehensive range of visitor services. A paved side road heads past the village to the northwest beneath Oljeto Mesa and has views of other less-visited parts of the valley, then another route (Piute Farms Road) continues all the way to the shores of the San Juan branch of Lake Powell.

Approach: There is only one main road through the valley, US 163, which links Kayenta, Arizona with US 191 in Utah. The stretch approaching the AZ/UT border from the north is the most famous image of the valley, and possibly of the whole Southwest - a long, straight, empty road leads across flat desert towards the 1,000 foot high stark red cliffs on the horizon, curving away just in front. The highway cuts through the mesas at Monument Pass, near which several dirt tracks leave both east and west and criss-cross the red, sandy landscape, offering a more close up appreciation of the rock formations.

The Navajo Tribal Park: Although much can be appreciated from the main road, a lot more of the landscape is hidden from view behind long straight cliffs (the Mitchell and Wetherill Mesas), east of the road on the Arizona side. This is contained within the Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park (entrance $5 in 1996), reached along a short side road opposite the turn-off to Goulding.

Valley Drive: The view from the visitor center is spectacular enough, but most of the park can only be seen from the Valley Drive, a 17-mile dirt road which starts at the center and goes southeast amongst the towering cliffs and mesas, which includes the "Totem Pole", an oft-photographed spire of rock 300 feet high but only a few metres wide. As of October 2006, the road was well graded and easily navigable by car. Other options for touring the valley are the many Navajo guides and 4WD jeep rental outfits, which wait expectantly by the visitor center - typical prices are around $15 for a 3-hour trip. As well as eroded rocks, this area also has many ancient cave and cliff dwellings, natural arches and petroglyphs.

Iconic imagery

The twin buttes of the Valley ("the Mittens"), the "Totem Pole" (although the Navajo did not actually build totem poles), and the Ear of the Wind arch, among other features, have developed iconic status. They have appeared in many television programs, commercials, and Hollywood movies, especially Westerns

Click on the link below to see a map of the

Iconic Images ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Monument Valley is used in many films, including
Back to the Future III., The Eiger Sanction
Once Upon a Time In the West, Forest Gump

Duke and John Ford made at least 6 movies there

Stagecoach.1939. John Ford
Angel and the Badman.1947.John Wayne
Fort Apache.1948.John Ford
3 Godfathers.1948.John Ford
She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.1949.John Ford
The Searchers.1956.John Ford

Stagecoach- Locations ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

and of course John Ford used the locations in other Movies too.

Here is a link to a previous thread

Monument Valley- Pictures ([Only registered and activated users can see links])
36747


Man, that stagecoach sure covered some ground.

Here is a little more Info. on Your Stay at Monument Valley at Gouldings Trading Post. :rolleyes:


YOUR STAY AT MONUMENT VALLEY ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Chilibill :cowboy:

I was just wondering if anyone saw the "DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD" special Tuesday morning on TCM. They went into a good bit of detail about how Ford was lured out to Monument Valley as Well as MOAB. It even went so far as to give the name of a man who owned a small trading post in MOAB and i wish i could remember it because the trading post is still there today and the room he is seen comming out of in Yellow Ribbon was simply built onto the expanded trading post. They showed it how it looks today and it is still the same. I would love to visit that trading post and see and actually stand on the same ground he once filemed on. Yeah i know that may sound silly to most but a hero never really dies they just seem to get bigger after they are gone. I recently toured DEI and it was a silent group of mostly 40+ year old men. You should have seen them when they got to RCR and actually saw the car he flipped and got out of the ambulance and got back in and finished the race in. All of us trying not to cry. I have to admit i would be the same way in Monument Valley or Moab. The first time i landed at John Wayne Airport i was with my 2Pa who i have told you before was often mistaken for The Duke when we would visit the west coast. Several years later i landed there after my 2Pa had died and it was all i could do to get to the cab without crying.

I was just wondering if anyone saw the "DIRECTED BY JOHN FORD" special Tuesday morning on TCM. They went into a good bit of detail about how Ford was lured out to Monument Valley as Well as MOAB. It even went so far as to give the name of a man who owned a small trading post in MOAB and i wish i could remember it because the trading post is still there today and the room he is seen coming out of in Yellow Ribbon was simply built onto the expanded trading post.

Directed By John Ford (2006)
Newly updated and re-edited version of the 1971 documentary chronicling the career of maverick director John Ford. Narrated by Orson Welles. Cast: Orson Welles Dir: Peter Bogdanovich C-95 mins, TV-14, CC

I recorded it so I will watch it in full next week some time. And for others. looks like the TCM marathon ends tomorrow at 4:40 a.m. CDT. The last movie is Without Reservations.

Monument Valley still looks the same today as it Did when they did "Yellow Ribbon" and Gouldings Lodge is still there just as it was , only Much Larger !
:shades_smile:

Chilibill
:cowboy:

Here is a link to a great article that Kevin posted, about Monument Valley

Right out of a film by John Ford ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Chester :newyear:

Hi Murray,

You mentioned this on another thread,
here is our dedicated thread, relating to MV

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

This is what I have set as my desktop background. Look familiar to anyone? :wink_smile:

Hey Stumpy, that's a sharp looking picture. Seems we like the same area. Here's my desktop picture. :teeth_smile:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

A beautiful place. I hope to visit there one day.

Mark

Hey Stumpy, that's a sharp looking picture. Seems we like the same area. Here's my desktop picture. :teeth_smile:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

A beautiful place. I hope to visit there one day.

Mark

Apparently it's the exact same picture, only your's is from a greater distance. But in looking at the two, it's obvious the two mesas on the left are the same. Mine came from landscapes shown in Windows Photo Gallery - where is your's from, Mark?

The Buttes are called "The Mittens" and the One on the Far Right is Butt A.
:shades_smile:
The road in the Picture is the Same One that was used in the Film "Stagecoach" in 1939.
(bud)
Nothing much ever changes in Monument !
:uhuh:

Bill
:cowboy:

The Butts are called "The Mittens" and the One on the Far Right is Butt A.

:shades_smile:
The road in the Picture is the Same One that was used in the Film "Stagecoach" in 1939.
(bud)
Nothing much ever changes in Monument !
:uhuh:

Bill

:cowboy:


I knew mesa wasn't right but couldn't think of the right word offhand. BTW, Bill, there's supposed to be an "e" on the end of "butte".

Thanks on the "E" what the Hell Do I Know about Spelling, I am Only a Aerospace Engineer !
:huh:
Bill
:cowboy:

Here is a little more on Monument Valley, and I miss spelled Buttes on this Site also But That is What We Called Them in The Good Old Days !
The Picture Above looks More Like a
"Wild Goose" To Me!!!
:thumbs_up:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Bill

:cowboy:

Apparently it's the exact same picture, only your's is from a greater distance. But in looking at the two, it's obvious the two mesas on the left are the same. Mine came from landscapes shown in Windows Photo Gallery - where is your's from, Mark?

I can't remember where I got it, Stumpy. I've had it for a while. I'm sure it was off the web somewhere. Here's another picture of basically the same shot (just a little to the right), but from the movie Stagecoach. Compare it to my desktop picture and you can see that not much has changed over the years. Wow.

Mark

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Here is a little more on Monument Valley, and I miss spelled Buttes on this Site also But That is What We Called Them in The Good Old Days !


[Only registered and activated users can see links]

Bill


:cowboy:


What a difference a missing letter or an added letter can make!

What a difference a missing letter or an added letter can make!

I know I often sound way too pedantic but I'm a good speller and when I see misspelled words, furnishing the correct spelling is an automatic reaction. :embaressed_smile:

[Only registered and activated users can see links]

This is what I have set as my desktop background. Look familiar to anyone? :wink_smile:
Yeah, looks familiar to me for two reasons - (1) obviously Monument Valley, and we've all seen enough pictures of it around here to know it well, and (2) it's MY desktop wallpaper as well!!

Do a Google search for images of Monument Valley - some spectacular photos of the place!

Chester :newyear:

Monument Valley has to be one of the most desolate, yet majestic, looking places on Earth. There's a timeless quality to it - you just know it has been there forever and will still be there when we're long gone. It's like being in a huge church.

WOW !!! what an awesome picture of Monument Valley.Great colours,i bet it looks superb when the sun is setting. thanks stumpy et al
luckynedpepper

Some amazing images of Monument Valley (all featuring the Mitten Buttes)

2242
Somebody sure was in the right place at the right time!

2243
This one used to be my desktop wallpaper.

2244
Talk about desolate, but beautiful!

[Only registered and activated users can see links]
Dusk? Dawn? I don't know the geography of the area, so I don't know what direction we are facing. I'm sure somebody here will have the answer! This picture is absolutely surreal.

Chester :newyear:

Here is the first post again,

Duke's Movie Locations- Monument Valley ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

if you click on Google images below, you'll see all these photos
and more

MONUMENT VALLEY- Arizona/Utah

Click Here
Monument Valley ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Other Photos click here

Monument Valley- Google Images ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

Click here for more

Stagecoach Location Photos ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

and of course John Ford used the locations in other Movies too.

Is it possible to visit Monument Valley and see the old movie sets there ?
Or is there anything left to see in that regard. ?
I mean in an organised way....e.g. through a travel tour company ?
It's something I'd just love to do before I go to join the Duke and all those
other cowpokes across the Great Divide.

Hi Johannes.

I have moved your post here.
You will find this thread interesting for you.
Some of Duke's classic westerns were made here,
and lots of the locations can be seen here.
There are tour companies, that offer trips,
but I am sure our member Chilbill,
could help you.

Keith - thanks for relocating me with my query.
Glad I asked the question about a possible visit to Monument Valley because I've enjoyed so much the responses. It brought me back to a time when there was highly satisfying entertainment for a few pennies.
I just loved trawling through the replies.

Any new members might be interested
in this thread relating to Monument Valley.

The only Set that I saw on my last trip to Monument Valley a few Months ago was Duke's old Office that was in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" that is at Goulding Trading Post Lodge !
:wink_smile:
Bill
:cowboy: