How Monument Valley became a symbol of the West

That stereotypical Western backdrop isn’t typical of the West.
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Towering red rock formations and big blue sky make up the classic backdrop of the American West. But the rocks we see in so many movies aren't typical of the area at all. In fact, they are unique to one place: Monument Valley.
Monument Valley is on the Utah-Arizona border inside the Navajo Nation Reservation, and until the 20th century, it had barely been visited by non-indigenous people. But when John Ford made Stagecoach - the 1939 blockbuster that mainstreamed Western movies and the actor John Wayne - that all changed. More filmmakers followed suit and used the location as their movie backdrop, creating a deep association between Monument Valley’s iconic landscape and the mythic American West.
To read more on the myth of the American West and Western movies, check out Richard Slotkin’s “Gunfighter Nation,” a thorough history of the genre: oupress.com/bo...
Note: The headline for this video has been updated since publishing.
Previous headline: How these rocks became a Western movie cliché
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Vox.com is a news website that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines. Check out www.vox.com.
Watch our full video catalog: goo.gl/IZONyE
Follow Vox on Facebook: goo.gl/U2g06o
Or Twitter: goo.gl/XFrZ5H

[@chriszk5754]

How do yall always find those weird but fascinating ideas for videos ?

[@Fizzy4]

i would guess suggestions or vox video lab but idk

[@TheWindowsPCVidsOfficial]

Probably Wikipedia:Unusual_articles on Wikipedia

[@lanceviacrucis5170]

@@TheWindowsPCVidsOfficial that wikepedia list

[@Laminad18]

There is a movie called How the West Was Won that is basically the long form of this article. There is also a book called Celluloid Indians that talks about many of the topics they discuss in this article. It would be my guess that a combination of those were the source material for this article.

[@jonathancorwin686]

producers and writers rooms mostly source: i work for another digital media company

[@maxc208]

A rock... the pioneers used to ride these babes for miles.

[@corbyere]

SPONGEBOB REFERENCE !!

[@leroy92TX]

Spongebob is boss

[@whodoobucrew2960]

Its not a boulder, its a rock. A big, beautiful, rock.

[@_Gamble_]

....(about to cry) It's a rock ..

[@marioruiz3339]

@@corbyere You don't say!

[@balmain-i3e]

Can you make a video about the iconic cactus that is included in every mexican scene

[@PavarottiAardvark]

Could be a legit interesting video given how much of the terrain and plants of Westerns are actually Italian.

[@kokuinomusume]

They're called saguaros and mostly they grow only in southern Arizona and Sonora, so they're misplaced in pop culture just as much as Monument Valley...

[@Udontkno7]

Right? It's the same shape over and over again. 🌵🏜️

[@bees4839]

Yeah most "Western" scenery and icons actually come from Arizona or Northern Mexico (aka, the Sonoran Desert)

[@Tsukiko.97]

OR INCLUDED IN *EVERY* MEXICAN HOME

[@minorcek]

I was born, raised and reside in Arizona. This state is alot more diverse than monument valley. We have such a diverse landscape, its amazing.

[@luuketaylor]

Sedona is great! Love our state.

[@vpsquared]

S.H. K. That’s because it was once Mexico

[@GreenEnvy.]

I live in California. The state is more diverse than Hollywood. But I don't care if people make a video about it.

[@HarpsDad22]

I’d love to go to Sedona

[@willypataponk]

Also good to point out that John Ford came back multiple times because he wanted to give the indians living there a job. It was very important for him to help them.

[@amyclarke6176]

Yeah as soon as he said it’s in the Navaho reservation I was prepared to be angry at treatment of the people living there and while the stereotypes aren’t great the fact that the film industry and John ford in particular were able to collaborate with and even help the Navaho people definitely put my feelings in a more positive light

[@LOLWAAHH]

S.H. K. Umm..?

[@bcnicholas123]

I never really thought of them as a cliche, just as part of the landscape

[@arthas640]

as a kid i always assumed most of the south west was like this. there are similar formations in Idaho, Utah, and South Dakota.

[@Warm_Ice0]

"Alabama's in the other direction" *I'VE BEEN LIED TO!* 😭

[@Soupy_loopy]

Now I know why the people following Forest looked so confused when he said "I'm going home" and started walking the other way.

[@ansuoverstreet3226]

Time for my daily dose of information I didn't think I needed but needed!

[@matthewnelson1372]

I lived in monument Valley for 20 years growing up. It is a beautiful place each sunset is different from the last. How about a story of the Navajo people?

[@chetankhope4348]

Red dead redemption reminds always these types of rocks red and tall

[@darkless60]

chetan costa LENNEHH

[@chetankhope4348]

@@darkless60 GOOD MORNING.. MR

[@what827]

darkless60 LUMBAGO

[@fep_ptcp883]

Yeah, it is great to bring outlaws to Chuparosa jail

[@aidanrogers4438]

The West is also where you can catch Lumbago. Very serious.

[@skyrimisntforthenords6567]

Yes and it's terminal

[@lmaohamish]

Its a slow and painful death

[@naelvincent9491]

Instructions not clear, I caught tuberculosis instead

[@psychologicalboss]

It's very serious

[@krokodyl1927]

Aidan Rogers LOL, particularly after attempting to move said ‘rocks’ 😆

[@daviddima6067]

Finally a video about rocks, next bricks.

[@sandycrawford2602]

David Dima ... such s negative personality to make a statement like that .

[@lanceviacrucis5170]

Wrong channel m8

[@exariva]

@@sandycrawford2602 I think he just joking

[@cmoore_8234]

No, Half as Interesting needs to make it first!

[@doroteacc6598]

@@sandycrawford2602 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️it was a joke m8

[@williamrayburn5314]

Thanks, I really enjoy your vids. I had not realized just how many movies that one vista inhabits. Growing up on the east coast I had never seen “The Old West”, only some major cities. I now live in Oklahoma and have a better appreciation for wide open spaces... I do miss the sea though. I genuinely appreciate your efforts in research and thoroughness in your work, the entertainment value doesn’t go unnoticed either. So, thank you again. Cheers

[@JesusMoreno-we1vz]

Oh god, don't tell us your entire life

[@williamrayburn5314]

Jesús Moreno starting a YT channel dedicated just to you my friend, thanks for the idea. I am sure you will love it.

[@axnyslie]

The one obvious omission from the classic Italian spaghetti westerns.

[@Mcfirefly2]

Which have a very "mean" (cruel AND small), focused point of view.

[@doesitmatter1667]

axnyslie funny story, a lot of sergio leone’s movies were inspired by a japanese director, Kurosawa. Kurosawa’s movies were inspired by John Ford, so by extension they kinda mentioned the building blocks for Leone’s movies

[@SdM45]

Unless you watch Once Upon A Time In The West, then it shows up near the end.

[@TheWolfwiththeDragon]

Man, this comment section is gonna feel old in a few years.

[@TheWolfwiththeDragon]

Morro Cause so many of them are about the Area 51 raid. Something that will be in the Internet Historybooks.

[@yacobgugsa2524]

1959: We'll have flying cars and moon bases by the year 2000 2019: Weebs try to storm Area 51...and there aren't any flying cars or moon bases

[@blanco7726]

Yacob Gugsa a weeb watches anime, doesnt storm army bases

[@G60J60F80]

I wish this story had included some more of the Navajo perspective.

[@Alex-ix6oi]

I went to Monumet Valley this summer and it was one of the best places ive ever been in my life so i would definately recommend it

[@ulisesescorza3323]

It looks amazing, I'm from Mexico so I think I'll go when I'm 18+ and have my own money for buying my visa, passport, plane, etc.

[@ulisesescorza3323]

@@SimonKanner-si3it Please, don't be racist. Remember that America is not our continent we stole it from Native Americans and you are a combination of cultures as well and your family had to migrate in some moment of history and maybe they were also illegal. I'm not illegal since I will pay for my visa with my own money. I don't know why some Americans feel superior when they can't speak more than two languages. I hope you understood and please if you have complaints, tell them to your boyfriend (Donald Trump). GREETINGS FROM 💚MEXICO❤️ (A PLACE WITH MORE CULTURE THAN WHERE YOU LIVE) 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽

[@winniethepooh8353]

@@SimonKanner-si3it racist

[@user-xd4sk4pk7h]

Alex same

[@Alex-ix6oi]

@@SimonKanner-si3it Ummmmm, no. There is no such thing as 'too many indians'. And when i was there the Native American people were absolutely lovely. And people from india are lovely too. So maybe dont be racist and be more concerned about actual problems.

[@johnkop4]

What a coincidence! When i opened my computer windows showed me a nice picture of the rock in 0:20

[@jon-unicorn-doxxer]

Windows 10 auto wallpapers...I've got the wallpaper few months ago...

[@angelgjr1999]

Didnt windows 95 have it too?

[@jasonedwardpollock]

I've been to Monument Valley - very picturesque and a lot of history to boot.

[@HelgaCavoli]

Ballad of Buster Scruggs is very good.

[@angelgjr1999]

One of the best. However I did not like the story about the magical man with no limbs.

[@island7314]

It's amazing and the best thing on Netflix.

[@525Lines]

When I lived in Chicago, movies were always filming in doorways and alleys. I worked in a private club that regularly has movies and TV shows filming in it. My Best Friend's Wedding filmed a scene in the lobby when I worked there.

[@Big-Government-Is-The-Problem]

ive been there and its a beautiful place. every american should drive through there at least once if they get the chance.

[@arthas640]

A jsut about any non-north american would probably have a heart attaack if you asked them to drive to a place as remote as Monument valley. It's 1100-1200 miles from population centers in the Pacific Northwest, 650 miles from LA/San Diego, 1200 miles from most of Texas, and about 2200+ miles from most of New England.

[@user-xd4sk4pk7h]

I’ve been there, it makes the video som much more satisfying when you recognise the rocks and have walked around some

[@Big-Government-Is-The-Problem]

@@arthas640 there is more to the US than mega cities lol. there are plenty of 100k population cities all around the US which offer almost everything a mega city does. the US is massive though which most foreigners dont understand. there is no 2-4 hour train ride across the country like in some small European or Asian countries.

[@fioot]

0:25 I've always wanted to work in places like this for some reason, wide open places in the middle of nowhere with spectacular view

[@rea8585]

These are some seriously Westernized rocks 😀😀😀

[@Babumoshaaai]

“You’ve got to be a man before you can be a gentleman” John Wayne

[@ChristellaKury]

Is it possible to use stills from these movies to monitor the erosion of the formations over the last several decades?

[@adobotravels]

I’ve been there unfortunately it was snowing during covid and wifi connection is slow or sometimes no signal, be prepared when you visit guys, stay safe!

[@tecpaocelotl]

You need to do one on Vasquez rock.

[@kurtt3914]

The Searchers is not only the best westerns ever made, it may very well be one of top 10 films in the history of cinema.

[@lioncub360]

My family lives in monument valley. The tourism helps a lot financially but its slowing degrading the land and the community that lives there. Tons of businesses come in and tour and don't listen to the locals, the navajo nation government gets a cut so they tend to wish we weren't there. Our families were relocated there when the government took other lands. They built that new hotel there regardless of the community not wanting it there. If you do go, please ask the tour businesses what they contribute to the locals.

[@JustWandering]

Sorry to ask this so long after your original comment - but as someone going to visit soon, do you happen to know of any specific business that are best to avoid or alternatively to patronize, in order to make sure our money is going to enrolled members of Navajo nation?

[@lioncub360]

@Just Wandering it is hard to say. If you ask any of the people who sell jewelry in the valley, they can tell u better. They are usually residents and have direct interactions with the tours. I do not currently live there due to life circumstances but my cousins still sell there regularly. All I remember from spending my summers there that the Crawly tour people are sketchy but I'm not sure if they still have business there. The horse tours are not great, their horses poop up our waters and have changed the ecosystem drastically. I have no issue with the people so jus try to avoid the ones that walk into sand springs. No one should be taking roads marked private. I'm sorry I could not be more specific. Tip your tour guides and make sure to not deface the rocks with carvings nor collect/touch anything from ancestral sites, aka Anasazi. Touching them is taboo. They are not the people's ancestral sites but are other tribes ancestors. DO NOT COLLECT ANYTHING FROM THE AREA. We get thousands of visitors so people taking arrow heads or ancestral artifacts or rocks etc are incredibly harmful.

[@JustWandering]

@@lioncub360 Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to respond! We will absolutely keep all of this in mind and will also do our best to spread the word if any of these circumstances arise when we’re there.

[@AtariTheAnimator]

As an Arizonan, I haven't been to Monument Valley, although I've been to other beautiful (and famous) places in the Navajo Nation, such as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, and Grand (Chocolate) Falls.

[@Despotic_Waffle]

Glad it actually helped the local navajo community. Surprisingly wholesome.

[@mr.dundos]

You guys have some of the best revelations ive never thought about. Keep it up.

[@yygan22]

You guys answer questions i never knew i had

[@jacobomme]

I went there last summer. Beautifull place and really nice people.

[@AidanMcLeodProductions]

Thanks for this Vox. I’ve really been wondering for a while

[@JustJulyo]

This truly was fascinating Now I want to visit this place

[@Brownie5540]

Went to Monument Valley last year. It's an incredible place. Take a back country jeep tour too

[@nicegan8902]

When monument valley appears in Back to the Future, its supposed to be a joke. The Delorean drives straight at a movie screen with artwork of charging Indians at monument valley and is transported into that exact scene. Its like Marty and the time machine symbolically went through the screen into a stereotypical Western film.

[@Mcfirefly2]

But there were no stereotypes in history, only real people, living real, human lives. So the movie elevated its opinion of the relative value of the generation it was marketing to, and its shared, Hollywood and audience point of view, compared to all others, by demoting and dismissing the real past to a cliche that can be visited as a cliche. And a Hollywood cliche, at that. That way, it flatters its audience, who are assumed to not bother to think about life beyond what Hollywood presents them.

[@miliba]

I loved it how Horizon Zero Dawn also featured this landscape

[@DareenBeat]

Interesting video, alexa play old town road.

[@donaldbarnett8045]

Watching western movies you would believe that the entire old west was a desert waist land.. This is because of John Fords love of filming with Monument Valley for a back drop he set the standard for westerns. Even my favorite TV western" Gunsmoke" has Doge city Kansas and its surroundings looking like a desert instead of a prairie. So many western movies and shows have been filmed in the studio back lot out their in the Mojave desert that I can recognize the same rocks used in a hundred western chase scenes with only the occasional stand of California Eucalyptus trees to give away where they really are.

[@ashleyrp2007]

I don’t know why I needed this information but thanx

[@anyavri906]

This is are so so so classic to feel ..

[@user-todaywe]

I'm a travel vlogger. definitely going there next year !!

[@RuthCuadrado]

세계를 여행하는 '오늘, 우리' It’s really nothing impressive. The far west is overrated

[@aa-zq2fr]

Ruth Cuadrado If you're never been tho it's cool to see! have fun!

[@chiaraconti8133]

I’ve been there this spring and it was breathtaking !

[@user-todaywe]

@@chiaraconti8133 omg!! My heart beats fast after seeing your comments.

[@user-todaywe]

@@RuthCuadrado There's a difference of opinion.

[@Bacopa68]

It's always funny at the beginning of The Searchers when they are talking about numbers of cattle. There's no way that many cattle could survive in that kind of land without a tanker truck full of water every day and almost all the feed would have to be trucked in. The actual place in Texas where the events that inspired The Searchers happened is rich farmland, which is why settlers wanted it, and the Comanche fought so hard to keep it.

[@Mcfirefly2]

But you know, it seems to have some resemblance to the film in this way: the Red River flows from Palo Duro Canyon red rocks, doesn't it? So Monument Valley is a more dramatic, even more awe-inspiring representation of the location. The pioneers living there, emphasizes their vulnerability, at the expense of a little realism. It isn't about the richness of the land they were competing for, but about something else, and being set against a sparer, minimal, though awe-inspiring landscape, helps us not to lose focus.

[@albiefraser4057]

From Paris, thanks it's an eyeopener, seen it many times in the movies now at least I know where it is and how large an area in encompasses

[@felisatsinnijinnie5039]

Home Sweet Home 😍

[@Chrischi4598]

Monument Valley, with Yosemite nat. Park and California Highway 1 south of Monterey, CA one of my 3 favorite places in the US... (only been to the west coast, listing is not representative, might be subject to changes, all rights reserved)

[@NYC1]

My favourite place

[@renato-gurgel]

Vox vídeos are always so elegant, good and i luv them

[@truenodejahasul9532]

que lugar para espectacular..... visitarlo es casi obligatorio

[@maxonite]

Literally any trivia: Vox: *adds effervescent orchestrated score for dramatic effect*

[@tapasyak429]

This is one of the best channels I subscribed to

[@UberLummox]

I have the Road Runner lunchbox. Always wondered where they filmed the Road Runner cartoons. ;)

[@manooxi327]

Tnx

[@JamesHawkins54]

I loved this video. Thank you for sharing it.

[@asdkotable]

Thanks for introducing a non-American, non Western-watcher to a beautiful piece of natural Americana. I would love to visit one day.

[@Phlegethon]

Cause those rocks are awesome

[@dgeorge852]

I was stationed on the Navajo Reservation for 6 years in Chinle, AZ. Home of Canyon du Chelle .

[@gonderage]

I was expecting a little more on the formation of the geological phenomenon. Aren't those ancient volcanos whose shafts remained after the exterior of the volcano eroded away?

[@MaxieM0us3]

How did I predict that An American Tail: Fievel Goes West would be featured in this video, even before watching it?! 😂 This movie is one of my favorites ever! ❤️

[@Danielevans2]

I went there last year!! IT WAS SOO SICK!!!

[@thePronto]

Not clear to me how a pretty parched looking landscape is emblematic of a fresh start. I could understand, for example, a wagon train in the hills looking down into a lush valley with trees (for construction), meadows teeming with wild-life and clean rivers full of fish. But an inhospitable place like Monument Valley? I mean, there was a reason why tourists wouldn't go there until Hollywood told them to go.

[@RiverPond11]

Can you make a video about the popularity of the plastic garden flamingo and why they were invented

[@makwanbarzan7085]

I really love that place, hope I'll being there one day!

[@evaisbored8868]

Nobody : Not a soul : Jakob Satorius : YEEHAW

[@riflemanm16a2]

0:07, Nice to see you, Dr. Phil.

[@GreenEnvy.]

I will now go to work and yell out "It's the same rocks in every movie!"

[@alypixar4690]

Great video

[@ewblacksheep]

I hope the Navajo benefited a little more over time off the growing film and tourism industry.

[@WodBoards]

The fact that Forrest Gump walks in the opposite direction to Alabama just makes it even funnier, I’m sure they realised that when they considered it as well as the great backdrop

[@ConFall]

Man does an Epic Naruto run infront of Reporter (13 Action News)

[@PnfrlEnm]

I thought this was about the game Monument Valley for a second lol

[@angry_engineer]

that alabama indication was epic.

[@JennieWrenStar]

It wasn’t just the men, the great and stunning brilliant actress Maureen O’Hara John Ford used again and again.

[@bstadele]

Is one of my favorite places I have ever visit is totally alien 👽 to me there is something magical about it

[@jovantanasijevic4434]

What's the music at the start of the video?

[@THEFIRE360]

It might be cliche. But man it's beautiful

[@sofiamena1870]

Please do a video about the "Storm Area 51" phenomenon, it's hilarious

[@BuddyL]

Fascinating.👏🏿

[@ethan3038]

3:16 is the courthouse towers in Arches NP not monument valley

[@sabrinarodriguez790]

You need the new recent photos and videos of the tour vehicles and the area of monument valley. Did you just google the area?

[@thealex3553]

I live out in southern Utah, and I haven’t had a chance to visit yet :(

[@HarpsDad22]

The Alex I’ve been there and it’s amazing in person. Kind of surreal.

[@thealex3553]

MR. BIG I hope I can make a trip out there this summer

[@cornfed420]

2:15 That is in fact Yakima Canutt JW's stunt double but that doesn't matter.

[@hahahahahha8458]

Rocks

[@unidancer15]

Thelma and Louise was shot near Moab UT. While near Monument Valley, NOT in Monument Valley.

[@creatorsremose]

Brilliant! Thank you.

[@MrPerfectius]

So which of ya'll just finished the Red Dead Redemption games and got a brilliant idea for a video?

[@danielcuevas5899]

I’ve always wonder why movies that are shot here say they take place in Texas, Texas looks NOTHING like this!

[@zacharytaylor2983]

The silhouettes of those Buttes in Monument Valley are also reminiscent of 3 prominent landmarks on the Oregon Trail, in Nebraska. (Courthouse Rock & Jail Rock, Scott’s Bluff, and Chimney Rock) Monument Valley in Arizona was much closer to Hollywood, and so made for a better filming location than Nebraska.

[@walnutcelery116]

the red sand tho. Nebraska doesn’t have the deep red sand like MV

[@tigerburn81]

Oddly, in RDR it's in Mexico, called Cinco Coronas, if I recall correctly.

[@petergray2712]

A strange idea, since the geology that created MV doesn't exist anywhere in Mexico.

[@KyrosX27]

I'm pretty sure there was a level like this in Mechwarrior 2000

[@uss_04]

Thanks for changing the title to Monument Valley, the original title was vague and clickbaity.

[@dosantosbojan]

4:26

[@LyndonEA]

Why is Uluru always in the background

[@juniormynos9457]

Alabama is in the other direction Forest😆 Thing is that actually works for Forest being who he is.

[@am6utoi97]

"Wicki-wild wild, Wicki-wicki-wild" - Will Smith

[@NoHandleToSpeakOf]

0:51 Thanks for metric

[@ashbae4048]

The fact that vox thought about a back drop and then a video about it and the video was amazing ,,, look that thought amaze me !!!!! Wow vox