2019 four corners - part 8, Utah: Monument Valley's Goulding's Lodge - Travel With Us

When we first drove into Monument Valley and saw this lodge up against the mountain/hill, what came to my mind that someone has taken financial advantage of this area. Then we learned about the Gouldings (previous post). We love learning about people who change where they live for the good. Oh to be such people.

They built their Trading Post and home (upstairs) right up against the mountains. What a wonderful front porch. The sandstone blocks they quarried for the Trading Post fit in with the colors of its backdrop so from a distance the buildings melted into nature.

outside views

Can’t you just see why John Ford liked this place!

a memorial to Harry and Mike with their beloved view in the back

Don’t know if they actually used this stagecoach when they showed people around Monument Valley, but the dining room at the lodge took its name from it so I bet they did.

The Duke coming out of a saloon? But we do get to see the steps the Gouldings and their guests used to get to their apartment.

During WWI, Harry was part of the U.S. Army’s engineering company during WWI, so building the Trading Post and their apartment was easier for him than it would be for us.

trading post

don’t know why they had a gas pump, but here it is

This area is the restored Bull Pen, the main part of the Trading Post. Customers could roll cigarettes for themselves from the tobacco kept below the sign (you can see the box on the previous picture).

The Gouldings sold staples the Navajos wanted: sugar, flour, coffee, tobacco, canned goods, and house wares. The Navajos used pawn such as silver jewelry or hand-woven rugs to buy what they wanted. When roads were built that allowed trucks to bring in products, convenient grocery stores diminished the importance of the Trading Post. Of course, Gouldings has provided a great grocery store just down the road from the lodge and dining room.

museum

We’ve learned so much about the Gouldings already (previous post), but the cover on this book provided so much more information. Note the picture on the left (more later).

The Navajos called Harry Tall Sheep. Their years in the area coincided with the period of time when the traditional people of the remote northwestern corner of the reservation first came to grips with the 20th century.

During this time the Navajos had to cope with these traumatic issues:

Forced stock reduction
Transition from barter and pawn to a cash economy
Broadening experiences of WWII
Secret mining of uranium before Hiroshima (remember Moki Dugway?) Word is now that the Navajos are bringing in drinking water because they believe their ground water is poisoning them because of the uranium.
Struggle to improve education and medical facilities
Emergence of democratic tribal government
Development of arterial roads through the reservation
The first Navajo Tribal Park in Monument Valley

And in the midst of all this change, John Ford headquartered his movie people and their equipment at Gouldings to film his westerns. As a nation we were growing, but we were also dragging others along with us who may not wanted to change. A real dilemma.

upstairs apartment

living and dining rooms—looks like the corner of the picture in the Tall Sheep book cover we just looked at

entertainment area (piano)—Did you notice the walls and ceiling? It was thick stucco with the deep curves carved into it. Beautiful.

outside movie set

Capt. Nathan Brittles’ (John Wayne’s character) quarters during the movie
“She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.” The exterior shots were filmed here in 1946.

This is what it looked like in the film; almost looks turned around to me.

A little hard to read this, but the actual inside of this cabin was Mike’s storage for potatoes, carrots, onions, and other produce. With the sign on the door and a hitching post and chair out front, it was transformed into the exterior for John Wayne’s character. The Trading Post was used for the cavalry post headquarters.

The potato cellar was constructed using some Anglo techniques and some Navajo techniques. The roof is supported with rough cut cedar logs that also are used for Navajo hogans. The roof is reinforced with wood slating and then a very thick dirt roof was applied. The sides are made of leftover sandstone blocks quarried for the trading Post building. The exterior door is the original.

For our sake, they’ve removed the vegetables and made the inside to look the way it did in the movie, but the produce was still inside when they filmed. Here’s what the inside looked like in the movie.