May 18: SW Road Trip Day 9: Monument Valley

This is the vision that greets us as we rise:

It is a cool, crisp morning. Today we are off to tour Monument Valley. We are joining 14 other people on a special truck with 10 2-person benches in the bed in the back, 5 rows of two benches each with an aisle down the middle. Plastic sheets separate us in the bed from the road, except in the back, where Amy and I sit, where the plastic sheets are missing. Did I mention it was cool? Try 40 degrees or so.

The Tour Bus

Our first stop is a Hogan close to Goulding’s in which an older Navajo woman shows us how she cards wool, spins it into yarn, then weaves the yarn into a rug. She also uses the yarn to arrange the hair of one of the women in our group. She has a primitive comb, made from some vegetation from the valley floor, which she uses to comb the woman’s hair straight back, then uses a length of yarn to tie her ponytail, wrapping the yarn around the hair until there are a couple of bound inches, then tying the result up against the back of her head. Very pretty.

The Hogan is surprisingly warm; even though it has a sand floor, it has walls made of red rock sand maybe 10 inches thick.

Amy next to Hogan/Woman with Navajo Ponytail

We are a couple of miles north of the core of Monument Valley, which is a Navajo Tribal Park. We all climb back into the truck and head down the road. Wish I brought my Sounders rain jacket to cut the wind. We head into the Park amidst stunning vistas.

Evidence of Last Night's Snow

Left Mitten & Reflection

This is the fourth spectacular site we have visited since entering Arizona. Each has its own human back-story. This one’s is that a man named Harry Goulding, along with his new bride, Leone, wanted a change of scenery. A sheep trader, he found this area shortly after a Paiute Indian Reservation was relocated from it. In 1923, he purchased a good chunk of the newly available land and set up a post to trade with the local Navajos. Things went well, for Harry was a considerate and trustworthy trader. 

When things went south in the early 30’s, Goulding’s was one of the few posts that remained open. Harry got the idea that the fortunes of the community could be improved if someone in Hollywood would use this area as a film location. He headed west and wouldn’t take “no” for an answer, eventually landing a meeting with John Ford. Harry and his photos of the Valley sold the idea. Soon, Ford filmed "Stagecoach" here. 

Dozens of famous movies, and many commercials, have been filmed in this valley. The mythic American West portrayed has been sold to the world, which is probably one reason there are many riders on this tour visiting from Europe (a couple from England, a couple from the Netherlands). I highly recommend this site. But bring a jacket in case you hit a cold snap as we have.

We are with a Native Guide, so we get to go off the beaten track. Our guide’s extended family is one of the 9 that live out in this desolation. No plumbing (they truck in their water), no electric service (they use generators when needed) and no heat during cold spells such as this one. Good thing their Hogans are well insulated. The guide is very informative; life here is elemental and lived at a slower pace.

Ancient Pictograms

The Ear of the Wind

We head back to Goulding’s Lodge after the 3 hour tour. We grab some lunch in the “Food Court” and opt to eat in our room. We rest, catch up on e-mail and such, then, much later, visit the Dining Room. After Dinner, we wander around the Trading Post’s Museum. There are lots of mementos from the various movies shot here. There is even a small cabin that John Wayne “lived in” for one of those movie shoots right here in the middle of the Lodge area.

It has been an interesting day. Tomorrow, we head south. Hopefully, it will be warmer.