Down In The Valley

Down In The Valley

Down In The Valley

“Well, there are some things a man just can’t run away from”, John Wayne (Stagecoach, 1936).

Saturday afternoon matinees at the Abigail Theatre must have been buzzing when a John Wayne western picture show was on the double bill. The iconic tough cowboy, pretty women, savage Indians, horses and breathtaking scenery filled the movie screens and the theatre seats. My dad loved to watch western movies and to read western novels written by Zane Grey, so I wanted to see exactly where the west was won. Director John Ford filmed 7 movies in Monument Valley, located in Southern Utah. We were very close to Monument Valley when we were at Antelope Canyon and we knew we had to visit here next. The Navajo term, Tse Bii’ Ndzisgaii, translates to Valley of the Rocks.

This magical place became famous because of Harry Goulding. After World War I, Harry had taken off on horseback in the 1920’s and had come onto this indescribable place full of red buttes. “Wouldn’t it be a wonderful place to build a trading post?” he proposed to his girl “Mike” in a letter. He called his soon to be wife “Mike” because he couldn’t spell her real name, Leone. The land was unavailable at that time as it was Paiute land. Soon, as luck would have it, the government traded this tribal land for better farmland up north. So Harry was able to buy 640 acres for $320.00. Harry and Mike developed a trading post and a sheep ranch, and became friends with the neighboring Navajo. In 1932 the government designated a huge chunk of land in southern Utah as the Navajo Nation, the only exception was Harry Goulding’s square mile of Heaven. After a terrible period of D & D (drought and Depression), Harry went on a road trip; their very survival depended on it. He drove to Hollywood California with a binder of 8 x 10 photographs of his land. As the story goes, Harry walked into the United Artists studios with the photos and his bedroll. When the receptionist, appropriately appalled, told him he certainly could not see Mr. Ford without an appointment, Harry said, fine, he'd wait, and rolled out the bedroll. Security was summoned, but before they arrived, the location manager for Ford's new movie "Stagecoach" happened to walk through the office."Where exactly is this?" he asked, noticing the photos Harry had propped up on the couch, and the next thing Harry Goulding knew, he was making his pitch to Mr. Ford. Within weeks, the entire cast and crew of "Stagecoach," more than 100 people, found themselves living in a tent city outside the Gouldings' front door. Ford stayed in the Gouldings' spare room. John Wayne, the film's star, slept in a tent. They paid Navajo tribe members $5.00 to be extras, $8.00 if they had a horse.

As we drove toward Monument Valley, the rock formations, or monuments, started to materialize on the horizon. Along the way we spied many Navajo farms resplendent with sheep and horses. Spires rose skyward into the thin fog and slight mist that the weather had provided that day. Once we arrived at the Tribal Park, we walked around the museum and marveled at the Code Talkers display and the beautiful tribal artwork. The monuments can be seen closer by driving the 17 mile red dirt road that meanders through the valley. You can drive it in your own car, or you can take a tour in the back of a modified truck. We opted to drive our rental SUV so we could go at our own pace. The guidebook said it took anywhere from 1-3 hours; we stayed 4 hours because the valley is so remarkable. This place that has changed so little through the years, only the wind and the earth has evoked metamorphosis. At many of the pullouts, Navajo men, women and children sell their hand crafted goods. We bought a tomahawk, a dreamcatcher and some beautiful turquoise jewelry. They were so kind and very proud of their craftsmanship as they described each item they sold. Imagine that they sit there all day in the hot sun or pouring rain, and also encounter rude tourists and then return home to craft more items in the evening.

In the valley there is a formation called John Ford’s Point. When preparing for our trip, I naturally googled everything, and the same image kept popping up. It was of a man with a red shirt sitting astride a white horse on a point and I was fascinated. Through my research I found that for a few bucks he would ride out onto the point for a photo. I had to do it because it just looked so grand and big. When we arrived at John Ford’s Point it was raining just a little, but I could see the saddled horse tied close to the point. A Navajo elder pointed me to a white Toyota and I tapped on the window. A smiling Navajo got out of the driver’s seat and I inquired about the photo. He wordlessly opened the back door and this little fellow in a red shirt tumbled out. To me he looked to be about 12 years old. The man explained to me that 4 generations of the little boy’s family had held that job. His great grandfather, then his grandfather, then his dad. His dad passed away several years ago, so the grandfather got back into the saddle but sadly he had passed away 3 weeks earlier, so now it was up to the youngest member of the family to carry on the tradition. Shandliin jumped into the saddle and rode out on Chief as I took the iconic shot of Monument Valley.

Sadly it started to dawn on Don and I that the end of our trip was near, but we had one more special place to see. It’s a place off the beaten path, way off the path and it’s on fire!