![]() ![]() Dream Rideĭuring the spring of 1996, Arizona Highways magazine editor Bob Early asked photographer Gary Johnson and me to join legendary actor Ben Johnson, on a sentimental journey at the place where Hollywood director John Ford had “discovered” him in the late 1940s while filming Fort Apache, one of his Cavalry Trilogy. ![]() We were sitting on a piece of Hollywood history. Lumber is as scarce in Monument Valley as horseflies in December, and when Ford was finished filming, he must have donated Tombstone to the Navajos, who proceeded to dismantle it and use the lumber for more practical things such as corrals. That old corral fence we were roosting on had been one of the buildings in the film. He gave us one of those “gotcha” looks and said, “You’re sittin’ on it.” We looked off toward Goulding’s but saw nothing but open space. In 1946 John Ford shot My Darling Clementine in Monument Valley, and construction crews had built the Western town of Tombstone. We knew “Tombstone” was located in the valley between Cly’s place and Goulding’s Trading Post. “Do you guys want to see Tombstone?” He was grinning like a mule eating cactus. They had known each other since the late 1940s, when Ben first started making pictures for director, John Ford. Some of the riders were inside the corral getting acquainted with their horses when Hosteen (Mr.) Cly walked over and shook hands with Ben. All Images Courtesy Ben Johnson Museum Unless Otherwise Indicated/”Wagon Master” Still Courtesy RKOĪctor Ben Johnson and I were sitting on the rail of an old wooden fence at Hastiin sani (Old Man) Cly’s place in Monument Valley. After John Ford noticed Ben Johnson’s stunt riding in The Outlaw, he signed him to a contract, and always featured Johnson riding in his films, including Wagon Master (1950). From his humble beginnings to his last ride in Monument Valley, the Sooner native never strayed far from his Oklahoma roots. ![]()
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