Today we did not climb any sand dunes! Instead we drove south the Fredonia to fill the big ol' brown truck with diesel. On 14 Aug, just three days ago when we arrived here we paid $4.179 per gallon for diesel there, which is just into Arizona. As soon as we hit Utah the prices jumped to anywhere from $4.799 to over $5.00 per gallon. With as much driving and sightseeing as we have been doing here, I needed to fill again, so it only made sense to head back across the border to the same station to fill. Gas Buddy did not list the price and we have no Verizon cell coverage here, so I decided to take a chance and drive down. Well that was a bust! In three days the price jumped from $4.179 to $4.789. Oh well, it was a shot.
On the way back we stopped at Kanab UT to visit the Little Hollywood Movie Set and Museum. The Kanab UT area has been the host of over a hundred Hollywood movies and television shows over the years starting back in 1924, primarily because of the beautiful landscapes here. The film and television production industry brought a lot of money and jobs to this small ranching community. The use of this area for filming tapered off in the 1970's as the "golden era of westerns rode off into the sunset". But the history remains as does many of the movie sets.
The museum is free, supplemented by goodwill donations of attendees, and the proceeds of the large gift shop and food vending. This place is for sale, if anyone might be interested!
We entered the building and were greeted by friendly staff. We did a quick walk-through of the gift shop and exited in the rear where the movie sets are located. Here we found all sorts of movie sets from the old west. The pictures below have some notes, but some of the series include:
- The Lone Ranger (1949 - 1957)
- Death Valley Days (1952 - 1975)
- Have Gun Will Travel (1957 - 1963)
- Daniel Boone (1964 - 1970)
- Gunsmoke (1955 - 1975)
- Six Million Dollar Man (1974 - 1978)
- Grizzly Adams (1977 - 1978)
- Lassie (1954 - 1974)
- Wagon Train (1957 - 1965)
- How the West Was Won (1979)
- F Troop (1965 - 1967)
There is a lengthy list of movies which I won't list, but one is Clint Eastwood's "The Outlaw Josey Wales"
Some pictures:
This is not one set, but a conglomeration of different buildings from different sets.
A backdrop for 1991 Kenny Loggins "Live from the Grand Canyon" set
From Gunga Din
The Outlaw Josey Wales Homestead SetThe cross is a gun port in a window
Gunport in a door
The back side of a set showing just the facade
Vagabond Windmill was transported to a set nearby for Keifer Sutherland
I took many more pictures and each has a story. It was really interesting to see all the movie sets and where they were used. We moved inside to look through the gift shop which was extensive. Everything from shirts, hats, jewelry, Native American crafts, various rocks and other local items. I bought a new hat as my old one has seen better days.
We departed the museum and headed north towards the campground, stopping at the Moqui Cave. This is quite a unique place, a sandstone cave along side of the road, with an incredible history!
The Moqui Cave is a natural history museum and landmark in Southern Utah, but it started it's life as a sand mine to obtain sand to make glass.. It extends roughly 200 feet into a Navajo Sandstone formation in the bottom of Three Lakes Canyon. In 1951, Garth and Laura Chamberlain purchased the cave and turned it into Southern Utah's first dance hall and bar! Today it is still family-owned and houses Native American artifacts, dinosaur tracks, fluorescent mineral, rocks, and fossils.
A picture of how the entrance looked in 1931
The outside of the cave is beautiful, natural sandstone, full of color from the iron in the stone.
The food/snack area is to the left of the cave entrance
Inside, you walk into a cave! Imagine that, but it is huge. We were greeted by a daughter of the owner who explained the history of the cave and quite a bit of what we would see.
The bar area through the opening on the right. The dance hall through the teepee on the left
Garth Chamberlain who originally bought the cave was an artist, a geologist, an anthropologist, a collector, a historian and a pro-football player! He was on the Pittsburgh Steeler's team for a couple years around 1945.
So inside the cave there are several "rooms". We headed back to where the bar is located that Garth built. That room is full of artifacts and fossils, and items from when the bar and dance hall was operational. Keep in mind all the Hollywood movie and series filming happening just a few miles south in Kanab, so the big names used to frequent the bar and dance hall here quite a bit!
The back of the bar
Doreen at the bar
Gunsmoke cast
Lone Ranger and Tonto
Ceiling of the cave
Dinosaur footprints found in the local area
Another, larger room in the cave was the dance hall. The stage which was carved out of sandstone, is still there. This room is fairly dark as there are many florescent stones displayed that are illuminated with black lights. Very beautiful!
Interesting fossils from the area
Florescent stones
A view from the back of the dance hall towards the entrance
We moved out of the dance hall cave room back into the main cave room. The daughter brought this to our attention. It is a carving Garth did from this family photo. They were Mormon so there is a large family with many wives and children. The carving was amazing! He was quite an artist!
We finished up in those rooms and moved into the gift shop which was in a separate room of the cave, Again, a great selection of souvenirs.
I thought the cave was very interesting and that it and Garth Chamberlain's collections and work has been preserved for future generations to see. It was well worth the $6 entry fee.
Tomorrow morning we drive about 30 minutes south and take a UTV ride to Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon, also known as Red Canyon. The canyon is long and narrow with sheer rock walls.
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