Navajo Nation Moves To Purchase Gouldings

Above, the original Goulding's Lodge and trading post in 2022. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The nearly 100-year-old Goulding's Lodge near Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park may be purchased by the Navajo Nation. 

Goulding's Lodge was founded by Harry Goulding in the 1920s and served Hollywood, especially director John Ford, starting with the 1939 classic, Stagecoach, starring John Wayne and Claire Trevor. 

According to the San Juan Record:

The nearly 100-year-old iconic Goulding properties in Monument Valley are moving closer to changing ownership to the Navajo Nation.

Members of the Navajo Nation Council approved legislation on October 17 to approve the purchase of Goulding’s Monument Valley Lodge for $59.5 million.

The legislation was sponsored by Council Delegate Herman Daniels, Jr. Delegate Daniels represents Tsah Bii Kin, Navajo Mountain, Shonto, and Oljato chapters on the Navajo Nation Council.

“The purchase of Goulding’s is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Navajo Nation and has the backing of the Oljato Chapter who passed a resolution supporting the purchase,” said Daniels.

While the agreed purchase price for the property is $59.5 million, the Nation shares it is $13.9 million below the appraised value of the property. The property will be purchased using money from the Navajo Nation Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

A presentation given to the Navajo Nation Council in July estimated the Navajo Nation would generate an annual return of $7.4 million, a return of investment of 12.45 percent for the tribe.  

Included with the purchase of the property are assets that include 670 acres of land, a Monument Valley Tour business, an RV campground with rental cabins, the gas station and convenience store, grocery store, the airstrip, and all existing utilities. 

Above, my 2016 Goulding's Lodge Campground campsite. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I have stayed at Goulding's Lodge Campground twice, in 2016 and, most recently, in October 2022. Both times I have taken their tours of Monument Valley.

If the sale to the Navajo Nation goes through, I hope they keep the Goulding's name.

To read more, go here. 

"Stagecoach" (1939) Filming Locations

Above, the East and West Mittens and Merrick Butte in Monument Valley. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Stagecoach (1939), directed by John Ford, is one of those seminal movies that has become iconic in American movie history.

It was the movie that made John Wayne a star after he spent most of the 1930s in B movie purgatory. But, those years enabled him to hone his acting skills. 

Stagecoach, as most of us are aware, was the first movie to take advantage of the vistas of Monument Valley. Ford was going to film Stagecoach somewhere else until Harry Goulding of Goulding's Trading Post arrived in Hollywood with a binder of photographs of Monument Valley that convinced Ford to shoot the movie there. 

The Enlightened Mindset website has posted an article by Happy Sharer on filming locations for Stagecoach. I have some doubts over some of them, such as Sedona, Arizona, Durango, Colorado and Old Tucson studios. I have seen the movie many times and I've not seen anything in it that would identify those sites. Perhaps a more learned movie scholar can post a comment below pointing out where in the movie those and other locations appear. Unfortunately, the article does not elaborate where in the movie the sites cited appear.

All in all, the article is a bit of a disappointment, but is worth taking a look. There are few photos with the article and the ones in it are not helpful.

The article begins with:

Introduction

The 1939 classic Western movie Stagecoach is one of the most iconic films of all time. Directed by John Ford, the film features an ensemble cast including John Wayne, Claire Trevor, and Thomas Mitchell, and tells the story of nine strangers who find themselves on a stagecoach ride through dangerous Apache territory. The movie was a commercial and critical success, and it helped launch John Wayne’s career as an action star.

This article explores the historic setting of Stagecoach, taking a look at where the movie was filmed. It will revisit the iconic locations of Stagecoach and uncover the movie’s filming locations. Finally, it will trace the path of Stagecoach’s filming locations from Monument Valley to Durango, and revisit the filming locations of the movie.

To read more, go here. 

Goulding's Trading Post and "Fort Apache" (1948)

Yesterday, I toured the original Goulding's Trading Post building which consists of the store and upstairs living quarters of Harry and Mike Goulding.

The trading post building, near Monument Valley, was featured in two (maybe more) movies starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford. The first was Fort Apache (1948) and second was She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949). 

In Fort Apache, the building was used as part of a way station for a stagecoach stop of Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple while en route to Fort Apache.

Below are photos of the building in Fort Apache and what I took yesterday:

Above, the stagecoach of Henry Fonda and Shirley Temple arriving
 at the way station. Note the rock formations in the background.

Above, similar view from the front of the Goulding Trading Post building. The
 formations look a little different due to the angle. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the stagecoach and the trading post building in Fort Apache.

Above, a similar view of the trading post building yesterday. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Harry Goulding, Monument Valley, Hollywood and Yellowcake

Above, a sunset view of The Mittens in Monument Valley. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Five years ago, I stayed at Goulding's Lodge Campground near Monument Valley. One could not ask for better scenery to camp near.

Thanks to Harry Goulding, the founder of Goulding's Lodge, we would not have the majestic vistas that backdropped in such movies as Stagecoach, She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, The Searchers and My Darling Clementine. All of these were directed by John Ford.

Above, John Wayne's Cabin at Goulding's Lodge used in She Wore A Yellow Ribbon. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Durango Herald posted an article on Harry Goulding.

It starts with:

Born in Durango, Harry Goulding was a sheepman who marveled at the red rock monoliths of Monument Valley, Utah.

He brought Hollywood to Monument Valley and the Navajo Nation, but he also brought Geiger counters, uranium mines and decades of damage from radioactivity. How ironic that the same man who helped to create the modern image of the rugged American West and jobs for Navajo actors also urged employment for Navajo uranium miners with devastating health consequences. And it all began with sheep.

To read the full article, go here.