2 Aug 2023 - Goulding's in Monument Valley

 

Today we drove just a couple miles south of the campground on the Navajo Code Talker Highway, to the location of a trading post called Goulding's.  

Back in 1924 Harry Goulding and his wife Leone ("Mike") moved to this valley to pursue a new business opportunity.  This area used to be a part of the Paiute Indian Reservation, but it was relocated resulting in areas of land opening up for sale. The Goulding’s bought a large plot of land in Monument Valley and set up a Trading Post.  They befriended the Navajo and traded with them for many years. They also hosted many artists, writers and  archeologists. 

Mike and Harry Goulding

The trading post

When the Great Depression came the area was hit hard, so the Goulding's headed for Hollywood. Harry heard of a movie production company looking for locations in the Southwest to use in films. He believed that bringing movie production to Monument Valley would help the local Navajos with much-needed income. Film director John Ford produced many films here over the years, along with others.  

So the original trading posts is now a museum full of artifacts of the time.  The area has grown to include a large lodge, a restaurant, a grocery store, a laundry, a gas station, a post office, a school, an RV park and even an airport!  Both Harry and "Mike" have passed away, but their legacy continues here and the area seems to be doing very well.

We started out visit today with a drive past the RV Park.  No pictures but it looked really nice with paved streets and small trees between sites.  

Next stop was the old trading post which is the museum.  Around the outside are various items they collected over the years.

Inside the museum is the original trading post area with artifacts from the time.  It's not fancy but very interesting!

Another area of the museum is dedicated to the film industry with hundreds of photos, playbills and other items from the various movies that were made in the area.  Some of the names include:  National Lampoon's Vacation (Chevy Chase), Wild Wild West (Will Smith & Kevin Kline), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, The Eiger Sanction (Clint Eastwood & George Kennedy), Les Cheyennes (Richard Widmark), The Searchers (John Wayne), Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, Back to the Future III (Michael J Fox & Christopher Lloyd), John Ford Point, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), Starman, Thelma and Louise (Susan Sarandon & Geena Davis), The Lone Ranger (Johnny Depp), Pontiac Moon (Ted Danson), Sergeant Rutledge (Jeffrey Hunter & Constance Towers) and many more!!

In the back of the museum is an art gallery with beautiful paintings by local artists and another display highlighting the Navajo Code Talkers

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Upstairs in the trading post was Mike and Harry's apartment with their furniture and furnishings.  Throughout the entire building are photographs of the time. 

Their kitchen

The dining room

The living room

The master bedroom

.  We finished up in the trading post and then visited what they call John Wayne's Cabin which was really Harry Goulding's potato cellar.  The exterior of the building was used in some shots, but John Wayne never stayed here!

John Wayne's Cabin

This interior shot was actually recreated in Hollywood

Next to the cabin is the present day Stagecoach Restaurant.  Had it been a little later in the day we might have stopped in for lunch.  The menu looked pretty good!

We stopped in the souvenir shop, which was really nice.  It was full of Native American crafts such as silver jewelry with turquoise , rugs, pottery, leather goods, t-shirts, post cards, etc.  

Before heading back to our campground we stopped by their grocery store and the prices were not crazy.  Doreen picked up some eggs $2.19, dog food $2.69,  a small tub of butter $2.49 and strawberries $1.79.  We got out of there for less than $10 which is better than I can say for the gas station.  We filled in Mexican Hat yesterday for $4.099 diesel.  At Goulding's today I topped the tank off before our journey tomorrow and it was $4.849.l  Ouch!  That is the highest price yet on this entire trip.

Back at the campground we completed our pre-departure tasks including dumping/flushing tanks, but the weather was quickly moving in.  We could see the severe dust storm coming in the distance and it did not take long and it was upon us.  The satellite dish was lowered and I wrapped up my chores outside but not before the wind blew a coating of red dust all over the passthrough compartment and everything in it! There is dust all over the countertops inside too.   I think we will be cleaning up red dust for a very long time. We literally could not see across the street!

This evening the weather cleared and more beautiful scenery including the sunset.

Tomorrow we pull chocks and head to the Grand Canyon South Rim for the next four nights. It's a relatively light travel day at 188 miles projected. Looking forward to this next stop as I have never seen the Grand Canyon.

Thanks for tagging along!