![]() Fans of the movie often visit this stretch of the highway to recreate the scene or just take a few photos. Monument Valley features in an iconic scene where Forrest Gump and his band of running followers jogged along U.S. Perhaps the most famous of all is the film Forrest Gump (1994). Since then, numerous major motion picture films have been shot in the area, along with countless commercials, music videos, and other productions. Not long after that, the movie Stagecoach (1939), featuring America’s original cowboy, John Wayne, was filmed with Monument Valley as the setting. They showed him photographs of Monument Valley. He and his wife packed up their things, went to Hollywood, and managed to arrange a meeting with the film’s location manager. Their establishment lasted through the 1960s.ĭuring their time in this remote area of Utah, Harry Goulding caught wind of a new Western film in the works out in Hollywood. They sold the local population groceries and other supplies, serving as a hub of commerce in the area. The area really came into the spotlight in the 1920s when the Goulding family began operating a trading post in Monument Valley. In the 20th century, the creation of the Monument Valley Tribal Park in 1958 by the Navajo Nation helped to protect the area and promote tourism. However, Monument Valley remained largely unknown to people other than the Navajo until the late 19th century. ![]() The first recorded European contact was in 1776 with Spanish explorers. The land of Monument Valley is sacred for the Navajo people and featured in many of their creative narratives. They established a pastoral society and lived in harmony with the environment. The Navajo, known as Diné, moved into the American Southwest around the 15th to 16th century. The earliest known inhabitants of the Monument Valley area were the Ancestral Pueblo, who lived there from about 1 AD to 1300.Īfter the Ancestral Pueblo, the Navajo people later inhabited the area. Over time, the forces of wind, water, ice, and temperature variations slowly eroded away the softer materials, leaving behind the massive sandstone buttes we see today. Slowly, the sandstone layers were deposited in this basin, which later became the buttes of Monument Valley. The formation of Monument Valley started 300 million years ago as a low basin. The Tribal Park’s designation is important in order to preserve its unique heritage and geological wonders. While commonly referred to as Monument Valley Park, the area's Navajo name, T sé Biiʼ Ndzisgaii, offers a more authentic reflection of its character, which roughly translates into 'the valley of the rocks.'Ĭontrary to what some might assume, Monument Valley is not a National Park, but rather a Tribal Park, as it lies within the boundaries of the Navajo Nation. ![]() Encompassing 91,696 acres, Monument Valley forms part of the expansive Colorado Plateau. The tallest of these stand-alone formations ascends 1,000 feet above the valley floor. Monument Valley's prominent buttes reveal three main layers-Organ Rock shale, de Chelly sandstone, and Moenkopi shale. This distinctive landscape-a hallmark of the Utah desert-came into being through the erosion of the Rocky Mountains' sandstone deposits and geologic uplift, and it was further shaped by the relentless forces of wind and water over many centuries. The Monument Valley terrain is ancient, resilient, and breathtaking in its beauty. San Juan County, UT and Navajo County, AZ ![]()
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