Monument Valley

Monument Valley is located on the southern border of Utah with northern Arizona (around {{coor dm|36|58.57362|N|110|5.51604|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.

Iconic imagery

The twin buttes of the valley ("the Mittens") have developed iconic status.

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They have appeared as a backdrop in many Hollywood movies, especially Westerns. But it was John Ford's 1939 film Stagecoach starring John Wayne that has had the most enduring influence in making the valley famous. After that first experience, Ford returned nine times to shoot Westerns -- even when the films were not set in Arizona or Utah (see The Searchers, set in Texas, but filmed here). A popular lookout point is named in his honor as "John Ford Point."

Related Topics:
Hollywood - John Ford - 1939 - Stagecoach - John Wayne - The Searchers

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The implied association with John Wayne's tough macho character made the buttes a natural choice as the background for Marlboro Man in the marketing of Marlboro brand cigarettes from the 1950s.

Related Topics:
Butte - Marlboro

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Clint Eastwood's movie The Eiger Sanction was also partly filmed in Monument Valley. The "Totem Pole" feature has been off-bounds to climbers since the movie was filmed here.

Related Topics:
Clint Eastwood - The Eiger Sanction

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In the 1980s American action/espionage television series Airwolf, a hollowed butte was portrayed as the secret hiding place ("The Lair") of the eponymous high-tech military helicopter. Monument Valley was renamed the "Valley of the Gods" in this series.

Related Topics:
1980s - Airwolf

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Other notable natural features include the Totem Pole (although the Navajo did not actually build totem poles) and the Ear of the Wind arch.

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