A Rider at John Ford's Point ©2019 Jim Chamberlain
When the famous American actor, John Wayne, first saw the buttes, mesas, and spires of Monument Valley, he is quoted as saying "So this is where God put the old West." I felt the same way as I stared across the valley from Goulding's Lodge and Trading Post beneath Rock Door Mesa. Formations called The Stagecoach, Big Indian, Bear and Rabbit, and Sentinel Mesa jutted from the red sands of the valley floor straight up into a clear azure blue sky. I grew up on westerns featuring the "Duke" such as "Stagecoach", "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon", "Rio Grande" and "The Searchers" and it was inspiring to see the actual monoliths I saw in those movies.
The Navajo people, who call themselves the Dine, the people, have lived here for over 500 years. Their stories and legends of how this magical place came into existence are just as fascinating as the legend of how Hollywood came to this remote valley on the Utah/Arizona border. I could not wait to visit this land of legends.
I passed the visitor center of the Navajo Tribal Park on a bluff overlooking the most famous of the landmarks in this valley. The Mittens. These giant buttes look just like the left and right mittens of mystical Navajo gods who are said to have left them here so they would have them to wear upon their return. This incredibly colorful panorama greeted me as the Goulding's truck transported me into the valley along the dusty red dirt road. The truck stopped at one of the most famous viewpoints in the valley, John Ford's Point.
Monument Valley
Legend has it that it was 1938 when Harry Goulding heard on the radio that United Artists was looking for a location to film a western movie. Harry packed his bedroll, wife, and some photographs and left his small trading post in Monument Valley for Hollywood. Once Director John Ford saw the photographs of this unique place, he gave Harry a check and headed east to film the classic Western "Stagecoach" in 1939. Ford filmed 6 more movies in Monument Valley and the point I was standing on was named for him. A Navajo cowboy on his horse posed on the point with Merrick Butte glowing behind him from the afternoon sun as I grabbed for my camera to capture the iconic image.
The sky turned dark as the sun set and the bright planet Jupiter could be seen glowing above the southern horizon. Night descended on the valley, but it was not dark as hundreds of stars blazed from the sky and the Milky Way glowed in various hues silhouetting the spires of the Three Sisters. I have never seen the sky filled with more stars, planets, galaxies and colors. Most visitors don't get to see this natural spectacle as the park closes at 8 P.M. However, I was on a photography tour with Arizona Highways Photoscapes which arranged to stay late into the evening to try and capture images of these glittering crystals of Navajo legend.
Navajo storytellers describe how First Man and First Woman made the sun and the moon from large pieces of quartz to provide light for the Dine. There were numerous small crystals and a lot of quartz dust left over on a blanket when Coyote, a dark and mischievous creature, grabbed the blanket and flung it into the sky creating the stars and nebulas including "Yikaisdahi", the Milky Way. The Navajo believe that "Yikaisdahi" is a pathway for the spirits travelling between Heaven and Earth. I could almost believe those stories as I gazed at the numerous and colorful points of light above me.
Hunt's Mesa, Monument Valley
I awoke early the next morning and with my fellow shadow catchers went to see the sunrise behind the most famous Buttes of the valley. Buttes are eroded Mesas like the Mittens and Merrick Butte. Spires, towers, or pinnacles like the Three Sisters are the slender remains of further erosion by wind, water and time. Mesas, Spanish for “table,” are large flat-topped remains of plateaus that stand high above the valley floor. After sunrise, I packed my gear for a four-wheeling adventure to the top of one called Hunt's Mesa to see one of the most panoramic views of Monument Valley.
The trip took over two and a half hours. I climbed into a blue Suburban and traveled over red sand washes, climbed featureless slip rock ridges and creeped along sheer sandstone walls into the remote desert along a path that could hardly be called a road. I would be staring at a windshield filled with the blue sky as the truck climbed a steep ridge and in the next instant at a red sand wash as it descended the hill. Henry, my Navajo driver with Mitten View Tours, told me that this was the "good" road as he pointed across the valley to another ridgeline about a mile away. This was the old road he used to use which he said made his back ache, Mine already did. The pain quickly vanished as I walked to the rocky edge of the cliff and gazed at over a dozen red rock monoliths covering Monument Valley below me.
Names like Rain God Mesa, North Window, Thunderbird Mesa and the Totem Pole reminded me of the how the Navajo believed these sentinels of rock came to exist. They are the stony remains of monsters that plagued the "Glittering World" of the Dine until the children of Changing Woman, called the Twins, cast magical spells upon them turning them into rock. This is a more interesting explanation than the geologists' belief that it took 25 million years to create this stunning place.
Under the Stars
I camped under the stars so I could encounter the view at sunrise from another viewpoint along the north face of Hunt's Mesa. A hearty breakfast prepared by our outfitter greeted my return to camp to pack for the journey down the mountain to my more comfortable accommodations at Goulding's. I passed the old potato cellar of "Mike" Goulding, Harry's wife, which was used as the cabin of "Captain Nathan Brittles (John Wayne) in the movie "She wore a Yellow Ribbon". You can still visit the cabin which is filled with memorabilia and even see the movie which plays in the small movie theatre at the Lodge.
My final night was spent capturing sunset and the stars at Artists Point. The sky turned a deep red over the buttes and mesas as I pressed my camera shutter capturing the colorful sunset. After dark, I captured the stars above Cly Butte and the Milky Way above Hunt's Mesa with the help of my expert photography guide, Beth Ruggiero York.
The next day, I headed back to Phoenix with hundreds of images, indelible memories, and a head filled with the legends that made me believe that I had visited the place where God put the "Old West".
If You Go:
Monument Valley is in Northeast Arizona at the Utah border, the nearest towns are Kayenta, Az. and Mexican Hat, Utah. You can drive the 17-mile loop road in the Valley for the entrance fee and see many of the best viewpoints. However, arranging for a Navajo guide through the Visitor Center or at Goulding's Resort will allow you to see more and stay later than the self-driving visitors. Hunts Mesa is a remote area that can only be reached by using a guide, but the view is worth it.
Arizona Highways Photoscapes usually has two or three tours each year to Monument Valley and they not only provide the transportation from Phoenix but their photographers and photo guides are experts in helping you get great images and they know the local guides, best viewpoints, and secret places that will make your experience memorable.
Goulding's Resort: www.gouldings.com/monument-valley-tours/
Arizona Highways Photoscapes: www.ahps.org/
Written by: Jim Chamberlain
Jim Chamberlain is a 65 year-old, award winning photographer and travel writer from Lacey, Washington. He has been an amateur photographer most of his life since he first borrowed his father’s 35 mm camera at age 15. He still has that camera. Jim decided to pursue a second career as a professional photographer and travel writer upon his retirement from law enforcement in 2011. Jim loves to travel with his wife, and his camera accompanies them on their adventures to Europe, Alaska, Arizona, Canada, and in their home state of Washington.
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