By Brian Downes Sunday, September 17, 2000

In "Cinema Southwest," a comprehensive guide to Western movies and their locations, author John A. Murray writes: "We can imagine a Southwest without Bryce Canyon, or even without Zion, just as we can imagine a person without an arm or a leg, but a Southwest without Monument Valley is inconceivable."

As mysterious as it is majestic, the harsh and desolate terrain that straddles the Arizona-Utah border some 20 miles north of Kayenta is--thanks hugely to the classic westerns of filmmaker John Ford--the most enduring and recognizable landscape in the entire West. Among these towering pinnacles and buttes he made a star of John Wayne in "Stagecoach," paid tribute to the U.S. Cavalry in "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" and directed what many consider his most brilliant work, "The Searchers."

Like countless others who revere these films, I had traveled to Monument Valley a number of years ago mostly to see if it really existed. Though the visit was just in passing, the sense of awe and wonder at actually seeing John Ford Country for the first time lingered, so, finally, last fall, I returned to experience the valley as I longed to--on horseback.

As an added highlight to WestFest--cowboy singer Michael Martin Murphey's annual Colorado blowout celebrating the art, music and culture of the American West--Murphey, in partnership with veteran outfitter Willard Forman, offered festival-goers the chance to saddle up for overnight pack trips into the Rocky Mountain high country. In addition to spectacular vistas best seen from horseback, the outings included authentic chuckwagon fare, the camaraderie of evening campfires and nightly performances of Murphey's traditional range ballads. The pack trips proved so popular that these modern-day "Scouts of the Prairie" created Rocking 3M/Summit Trail Adventures and expanded their territory to include South Dakota's Black Hills, Utah's canyonlands and a combination steam train/horseback trek over historic outlaw trails in northern New Mexico.

Having thoroughly enjoyed a Summit Trails ride along the Colorado Trail a couple of summers ago, I was delighted to learn that Monument Valley had been added to the calendar. What clinched it for me was that, for the kickoff trip, we would be joined by actor Harry Carey Jr., 78, who first came here with Ford 50 years earlier to play a young cavalry lieutenant opposite Wayne in "Yellow Ribbon" and later as the ill-fated suitor of one the Comanche captives in "The Searchers."

From the airport in Phoenix, it was five hours by car before reaching the familiar red rock outcroppings of the Indian reservation that has been Navajo land for generations. In the 1920s, sheep herder Harry Goulding, who later coaxed Ford to film "Stagecoach" here, established a trading post just across the state line in Utah. Today, Goulding's, in addition to a small movie museum housed in the original building, is a modern complex including a 62-room motel and restaurant where, over dinner, we became acquainted with our fellow riders.

Shortly after dawn, we caravaned by car down a rutted trail through the Navajo Tribal Park to a remote box canyon that would be our base for the next three days. As earlier arrivals stirred from rows of military-style tents, a first-rate breakfast of eggs, bacon, potatoes, cereal, fruit and cowboy coffee (strong and full of grounds) was prepared beneath the fly of the chuckwagon. From past experience, I wasn't much interested in a heavy morning meal prior to a day-long horseback trek so, after a quick bite, I headed for the corral where Evelyn Jensen, our Navajo guide, introduced me to my horse, Spike, a big range Appaloosa who turned out to be one of the finest mounts I've ever encountered anywhere.

With Murphey, Forman and our escorts heading the column, the rest of our group of 20, including Carey and his family, maneuvered into line. Through ever-shifting sands—and sometimes over trails that would challenge a goat—we traveled among incredible geological formations with such names as Ear of the Wind, Full Moon Arch, The Three Sisters and, in the distance, The Mittens, which comprise the essence of the valley.

Before the Navajo, Monument Valley was home to the Anasazi, and as we rested our horses we examined, close-up, ancient rock writings and pictographs. The natural and archeological wonders were breathtaking, but what had drawn me here originally were images firmly planted by the movies: a lone stagecoach traversing an empty wilderness, a cavalry bugler sounding a charge, and the stark terror of a Comanche raid on a settler's cabin. Of course, none of that really happened--at least not here--and I wondered if my imagination had gotten the best of me.

"Not at all," said Murphey, who, earlier that day, had serenaded us on his harmonica with the haunting strains of "Lorena," the Civil War tune that played throughout "The Searchers."

Our host explained that, as a western movie buff, he had viewed Ford's work many times over. "For better or worse, we are the first culture in which our values are preserved in our films," said Murphey. "Though he wasn't a stickler for authenticity, Ford really understood that the mythical quality of the movies is our folklore...our storybooks. He made his films in real western country, and the feeling he preserved is what we've tried to recreate on this ride."

With the exception of Harry Carey Jr., nearly all of the cast and crew that produced those film classics are gone, so we listened intently as he ruminated over his being part of it all. "Maybe it's because I'm an old man, but the movies we made here under the hand of the master—on this hallowed ground--have held up better than any of the others...they've not become dated," said Carey. "And I just feel that Duke and Jack Ford and all the rest of them know we're here....And they're pleased."

IF YOU GO INFORMATION Rocking 3M/Summit Trail Adventures returns to Monument Valley on Oct. 19-23, with another trip (dates to be announced) in May 2001. Cost is $1,600 and includes all food, beverages, tents, guides, horses and pack animals. Hot meals are served at breakfast and dinner, while picnic-style lunches are served on the trail. For information, contact Willard Forman toll free at 877-856-2815, or on the Internet at www.summittrails.com

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