Some of the most striking color images of the Iverson Movie Ranch to survive from the filming era can be found in the TV Western "The Virginian," which filmed on the ranch from 1962-1965.
These gorgeous color images have been preserved with remarkable clarity in "The Virginian," especially when compared with other productions from the period.
I don't know that I've ever seen better shots of the Grove Relay Station — except maybe in another episode of "The Virginian," as you will see later in this post.
The "Virginian" regulars are so happy to finally get away from the Universal backlot and the Shiloh Ranch that even Lee J. Cobb is smiling — sort of.
The relay station appears in the season one episode "Strangers at Sundown" as "Three Fork Way Station." In this shot we also see some of the nearby rocks and other surrounding features.
Among the nearby features is a present-day telephone pole, probably a little bit out of place in the 1880s.
Iverson Pond is another feature of the Lower Iverson that is showcased beautifully in "Strangers at Sundown." The pond, which was only in place for a few years, took over the space where the Western street previously stood.
The pictures are sharp enough that we can make out ducks in the background. These ducks are hanging around a feature I call "Hidden Rock," which was a part of the Western street before it became a part of the pond setting.
About a year before the ducks were photographed on Hidden Rock for "The Virginian," Buster Keaton did some fishing near the same rock in an episode of "Route 66."
We reported on the "Route 66" episode, "Journey to Ninevah," back in 2019. You can click here to get the full story on this unusual shoot.
For more about Hidden Rock, and about the connections between Iverson Pond and the Western street, click here to read an entry from our series on the Western street.
Also in the ducks shot is the distinctive Pond Rock, another feature of both the pond and the Western street. The Buster Keaton/"Route 66" post also examines Pond Rock, including its role on the Western street.
The Iverson shoots for "The Virginian" — especially "Strangers at Sundown" — capture the movie ranch during a period of transition, after ranch boss Joe Iverson began scaling back on the filming operation.
Joe had been running the Iverson Ranch for the better part of four decades, and after splitting the ranch in 1957 with his brother Aaron, Joe was beginning to ease his way toward retirement.
The ranch's business model had pretty much run its course anyway by the mid-1960s. Cop shows, spy shows and sci-fi were all the rage, and the demand for Western filming locations was on the decline.
Meanwhile, land values were skyrocketing and development pressure was intensifying. Joe Iverson began selling off pieces of the ranch in 1963, starting with Sheep Flats — a sale that included everything in this screen shot.
Sheep Flats had been the location of not only Iverson Pond and the heavily filmed Iverson Western street, but also the legendary India Fort built by director John Ford for "Wee Willie Winkie."
By February 1964, the India Fort had been dismantled, the pond drained and work was under way to transform Sheep Flats into the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village.
The mobile home park remains in place today, less than ideally positioned at Ground Zero of an ever-worsening traffic quagmire at Topanga Canyon Boulevard and the 118 Freeway.
Today the Corral Rocks, also known as the Cave Rocks, do their best to supply ambiance for the mobile home park's swimming pool and rec room area.
When the stage made its sojourn around Iverson Pond in "Strangers at Sundown," it marked the final time a major production would shoot in this area.
The production next took up residency at another Iverson Movie Ranch set, the Hangover Shack, located a short distance southwest of Sheep Flats and Iverson Pond.
As the stage pulled up at its next shooting location, the episode continued to provide glimpses of Sheep Flats, Iverson Pond and even Pond Rock in the background.
But once the stage arrived at the Hangover Shack, things got pretty serious. The passengers had to hole up in the shack while a gang of bad guys laid siege to the building, essentially holding them all hostage.
In the process of presenting all the human drama inherent in this tense standoff, "Strangers at Sundown" also presents some terrific shots of one of the Iverson Ranch's most important sets.
Included in the shot is Hangover Rock, which gives the Hangover Shack its name.
Let me call your attention to the large rock highlighted here in yellow, which is perched precariously above the shack. You can see a big crack running through the rock.
Here's a closer look at the area with the crack in the rock. You might notice that one of the bad guys is up there too, plotting a smoke bomb attack or something — some plan to force the stage passengers out of the building.
Readers may or may not recall a post from early 2020 about this same set, which included a discussion of the "Peach Slice" — a sliver of rock that broke off from the rock above and still rests where the shack once stood.
The "Peach Slice" detached itself from approximately this part of the "mothership," or "Mama Peach." The bad guy's nefarious plot is unrelated to the rock's intentions to go rogue.
You can click here to read more about the Peach Slice incident as part of our post from last year detailing the history of the Hangover Shack. If you're looking for just the Peach Slice material, scroll down or do a word search.
While we're on the subject of food items, a comment about Lee J. Cobb. (Get it?) I had a feeling that as the plot transpired the show would find a way to wipe that smile off Judge Garth's face, and it did.
While the shack is under siege, both the judge and viewers are treated to shots of bad guys peppered throughout the rock formations facing the building. These rocks are all still around, in a well-posted no-trespassing zone.
The same rocks were used for the NBC show "Heroes," which filmed on the Iverson Ranch during the summer of 2008. The rocks were covered with paintings envisioning future events.
I happened to visit the location that summer while filming was going on and got a few pictures of my own. I typically refer to this location as the "Heroes area," and I call the tallest of these rocks "Heroes Tower."
Another terrific shot from "Strangers at Sundown" shows the stage speeding down Iverson Ranch Road, headed southwest. In the background we see the Iverson family's "Old Barn" on the left and "Scavenger Rock" on the right.
These features were located in the family's residential and farming area and were not normally included in the movie operation — although the barn was used for filming on rare occasions.
Scavenger Rock is named for its resemblance to a scavenger fish, and if you've ever owned an aquarium I probably didn't have to tell you that. But it was located in a field that was historically used for farming.
Other episodes of "The Virginian" featured their own terrific footage of the ranch. "The Mountain of the Sun," which immediately followed "Strangers at Sundown" in April 1963, was another good one.
Both episodes were shot during the same stand on the Iverson Movie Ranch. The records of series producer Revue Studios include billings for about eight days of shooting on the ranch in late 1962 and early 1963.
It's likely that two of those days were spent at the Hangover Shack — one day with Lee J. Cobb, Roberta Shore and the "Strangers at Sundown" guest cast, and one with Drury and the women of "The Mountain of the Sun."
For "The Mountain of the Sun," a new thatch roof was added to the top of the shack, probably mainly so viewers wouldn't notice it was the same set from the previous episode.
A fake adobe jailhouse was also erected at the north end of the shack just for "The Mountain of the Sun."
If you ask me, it's just a little too obvious that this set is fake, and it would have helped to put some kind of roof on it. But nobody asked me.
Continuing the theme of "best-ever shots of various Iverson Movie Ranch sets," the "Virginian" episode "Mountain of the Sun" also features crystal-clear shots of Tornado's Mine, a set that was tucked away in the Upper Gorge.
The mine appeared in a number of productions over a span of more than two decades, and it was constantly being remodeled. But it's fair to say that the version seen in "The Virginian" represents the mine's final incarnation.
This group of rocks, which I call the Tornado's Mine Rocks, helps point the way to the mine. These rocks remain in place in the Upper Gorge today, a short distance east of Lone Ranger Rock.
Photographer and location researcher Jerry Condit captured this photo back around 2014, showing the Tornado's Mine Rocks from almost the same angle seen in "The Virginian."
We've discussed Tornado's Mine before on the blog, and you can read more about it here. But at least one thing about the mine has changed dramatically in the seven years since that post was published.
Back when I first reported on it in 2014, bits of debris from the mine were lying around all over the site. Since then the place has been picked over by souvenir collectors, so if you're an artifact hunter, don't get your hopes up.
In case you click through to the 2014 post and start seeing pictures of "Bust of Kennedy," this shot shows how Bust of Kennedy was almost a part of the mine — although the formation does not resemble JFK from this angle.
The episode "The Mountain of the Sun" also features unusual shots of the rocks in and around the swimming pool area of the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village.
Both Range Rider Rock and its neighbor, which I call "Sonora Rock," have been featured before on the blog. You can click here for more about Range Rider Rock — including shots of the front of the rock, its usual movie angle.
The back of Range Rider Rock plays a big role in the episode. I believe this was the only time this area was used to this extent or shot from these angles. We normally don't see this side of the rock, and never in such detail.
The next time we see the bushwhacker — with the actor pretending to still be in the same place — they've moved him to a different rock, apparently so the Virginian can be in position to pull the old "sneak around behind him."
At this point the bushwhacker is positioned behind the Ottoman, while the Virginian has taken up a position near Range Rider Rock — closer to the bushwhacker's original position.
As the Virginian creeps up on the guy, we're back behind Range Rider Rock.
Next comes a beatdown by the Virginian, as the bad guy turns out to be kind of wimpy. Applying Hollywood's typical "a rock is a rock" attitude, he has also been magically transported back to his old spot at Range Rider Rock.
One of the fun things about the Ottoman shot is it shows the Cave Rocks in the background. These are some of the same rocks that today are positioned around the swimming pool area in the mobile home park.
Here's a recent shot of those same two big rocks in their modern-day role as pool-area security. The one on the left, partially hidden behind a tree, is known as Hook Rock, and I call the one on the right "Big B."
The "Virginian" shot even includes a big lump of fake cave material, along with what is presumably a fake bush strategically positioned to hide the fake cave opening.
The old fake cave entrance, which was redesigned many times during the filming days, was situated right between the two big "Cave Rocks."
This fake cave entrance was used repeatedly over a span of several decades. In this shot from the 1942 Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka," I believe the cave serves as a back entrance to Vultura's Palace.
Another "Virginian" episode with some nice Iverson Ranch content is "Brother Thaddeus," from early in season 2. In this shot taken from the Garden of the Gods we see many of the Upper Gorge rock features in the background.
"Brother Thaddeus" also features another appearance by the Grove Relay Station, and as it did in "Strangers at Sundown," at the top of this post, the building again serves as a stagecoach stop.
Filming on "Brother Thaddeus" probably took place several months after the shoot for "Strangers at Sundown," but the relay station still had the same sign out front identifying it as "Morro Rock Way Station."
The stagecoach seen in "Brother Thaddeus" is different from this one seen in "Strangers at Sundown," although you may have to look carefully to spot the differences. The two teams of horses are different too.
"Brother Thaddeus" again provides detailed views of the Grove Relay Station.
In fact, shots of the relay station in "Brother Thaddeus" go beyond what we saw in "Strangers at Sundown." The relay station winds up at the center of a big shootout, generating closeups of various parts of the building.
This sequence gives us the best looks we'll ever have at details like the shutters, curtains and overall construction of the Grove Relay Station.
This shot of character actor Richard Devon at the corner of the relay station is so sharp we can see how loose the nails are that hold the logs onto the outside of the building.
We continue to be treated to great shots of Iverson Movie Ranch features throughout much of the run of "The Virginian." In this shot from "Run Quiet" we get what is probably a "best-ever" view of Lancer Arch.
The same sequence also does justice to Wyatt Earp Rock, seen here on the left. Sadly, neither Wyatt Earp Rock nor Lancer Arch survived condo development, which came to the Iverson Ranch in the 1980s.
Here's a shot of "Devil's Wall," part of the Devil's Doorway cluster, in "Run Quiet." This impressive rock is still around and can be found in the midst of the Cal West Townhomes on the east side of Redmesa Road.
A wider shot of the same area shows more of the Devil's Doorway formation, on the right, along with a little bit of Crown Rock on the left. For the most part these rocks are still in place among the condos.
Here again we see much of the Devil's Doorway area in "Run Quiet," this time with Shirley Temple Rock in the lower left corner. Unlike most of the rocks in this shot, Shirley Temple Rock did not survive.
Some of the key features seen in the shot are identified here. Even though this location "went condo" in the 1980s, all the major features except Shirley Temple Rock can still be found at the site.
Shirley Temple Rock gets its name from this sequence in the 1937 John Ford movie "Wee Willie Winkie," in which the young actress climbs on the rock while a battle rages all around her.
An important sequence in "Run Quiet" showcases Nyoka Cliff. While the cliff is one of the most frequently filmed features on the ranch, this sequence stands out because it captures an unusual moment in the cliff's evolution.
It's easy to miss, but something's going on among the trees on top of the cliff. In particular, the original tree, which was a Nyoka Cliff trademark for decades, appears to be on its last legs.
Meanwhile, a new tree can be seen to the right of the original tree. It's an early sighting of this tree, which was probably planted with the idea in mind that it would replace the dying tree.
It may be worth noting that these other trees that are visible near the top of the cliff, while they have their own histories and screen appearances, are not pertinent to this examination of Nyoka Cliff's two main trees.
The original Nyoka tree has a history in movies going back at least to the early 1920s. Here's a promo still for the 1922 silent film "The Golden Gift," where the tree is already making its presence known.
Two men can be seen fighting to the death on top of the cliff, but you almost have to squint to see them as they're dwarfed by the impressive scale of Nyoka Cliff.
A lobby card for "The Golden Gift" offers a closer look at the fight and the tree, along with Alice Lake, the lead actress. The movie is lost, so details are hard to come by, but one of the two men fighting is actor Louis Dumar.
I want to send out a big thank-you to Louis Liserani Jr., who came up with the promo still and lobby card for "The Golden Gift." Louis is the son of actor Louis Dumar, who was born Louis Liserani.
The original tree went on to survive several decades of movie and television appearances. Here it can be spotted in the background of a promo still showing the big fort built in the Gorge for "The Lives of a Bengal Lancer"
The tree often added subtle but meaningful accents to the backgrounds of productions shot in the Gorge. The number of appearances by the tree would be hard to calculate, but it wouldn't surprise me if it's in the hundreds.
Here's a promo still for "Wee Willie Winkie," and there's the tree again — along with a small wooden bridge that was in place for years next to the tree.
We get a good look at the tree in this promo still for the Gary Cooper movie "The Real Glory," where Cooper appears to have overprepared for some hand-to-hand combat on top of Nyoka Cliff.
Several of the people in the shot are standing on that wooden bridge we mentioned. The bridge will continue to show up in productions as the years go by.
In a screen shot from "The Grapes of Wrath," which I've discussed on the blog before, Russell Simpson, as Pa Joad, appears to be pointing toward Nyoka Cliff — and is almost pointing at the tree.
The tree surfaces again, along with the bridge, in the Bill Elliott serial "The Valley of Vanishing Men." This promo still includes a number of other interesting items too, which I talked about in a blog post you can find here.
John Wayne's World War II movie "The Fighting Seabees," filmed in 1943 on the Iverson Ranch and released in 1944, features a number of encounters with Nyoka Cliff's tree, which by then had become a fixture in the movies.
You may have noticed that the bridge is gone. It appears to have been removed during filming on "The Fighting Seabees," but it would be put back up following production on the film.
Moments later the small Japanese tank somersaults down the side of the cliff. It has been reported that the tank was made out of balsa wood to ensure that the stunt did not damage the rocks and other features below.
A wider shot from "The Fighting Seabees" confirms that the bridge was not in place while battle scenes were being filmed in the Gorge. The tree, meanwhile, stands in its usual position as silent witness to the action.
John Wayne and his men get up close and personal with the tree during an assault of the Nyoka Summit. The guy in the middle appears to be standing about where the bridge would have been if it hadn't been taken down.
The Duke pauses momentarily for a shot with his hand on the tree.
It's hard to tell from this promo still for the Bill Elliott B-Western "Old Los Angeles," but when the bridge was put back up following filming on "Fighting Seabees," it was moved from in front of the tree to behind it.
This shot from "Al Jennings of Oklahoma," filmed on the Iverson Movie Ranch in 1950 and released in 1951, shows the Nyoka Summit from a high angle, capturing both the tree and the original bridge location.
The bridge can no longer be found in its original location.
To get a look at the bridge in its new location behind the tree, we have to back up the horses a little bit — which is probably a good idea anyway, because they were precariously close to the edge of the cliff.
The bridge is a little difficult to see in the shadows, but you may be able to make it out.
A shot from "Zorro's Black Whip," filmed on the Iverson Ranch in July and August 1944, reveals that the bridge had already been installed in its new location by then — soon after filming wrapped on "Fighting Seabees."
The most likely scenario is that the "Fighting Seabees" crew removed the bridge themselves and had to put it back when they were done filming. Who knows — maybe they put it back in the wrong place!
Shots from the early '50s, including this one from the Johnny Mack Brown movie "Montana Desperado," show that the tree was still in pretty good shape at that point.
But by the time the tree resurfaced six years later in Roger Corman's "Saga of the Viking Women," it was showing substantial wear and tear. Maybe it just got old and started falling apart, which happens to all of us.
Something to think about: This is a shot of young, healthy Viking women and men, so if the thing you find most interesting here is a worn-out old tree (guilty as charged!), you may want to check your priorities.
Barely a year later we see the tree again in an episode of "Wyatt Earp," looking about the same. But by this time the "replacement tree" had just begun to emerge above the edge of the cliff.
It's barely visible, but I think this is the top of the new tree.
It's almost five years later when we first see both the old tree and the new tree in "Run Quiet." By now the old tree has lost all of its foliage and the new tree is beginning to come into its own.
Another two years go by, and "The Virginian" continues to document the transition atop Nyoka Cliff. Now the original tree is completely gone and the new tree has grown a bit ... but what's that other tree doing there?
Clearly this is a fake tree. I mean, maybe it's a real tree, but it was put there — it didn't grow there. What's most interesting about this shot is that it shows someone was consciously trying to replace the original tree.
While the original tree was now completely gone, the "replacement tree" wasn't yet up to the task of replacing it. It may have been "on its way," but it didn't quite have the heft yet to convince anyone it was the old tree.
Years later, the replacement tree would become, for all intents, the Nyoka Tree. Most people who see the tree for the first time just assume it's the same tree that was in the movies — I know I did. But we know better now.
"Run Quiet," the same episode of "The Virginian" that spilled the beans about the dying Nyoka Tree, also features the best shots I've ever seen of the late, lamented Iverson Movie Ranch rock "Bald Knob."
The "Run Quiet" sequence includes clear views of the huge bolt that was holding the rock together. We examined Bald Knob's infamous bolt and other enhancements in a post you can read by clicking here.
"Run Quiet" is a true Iverson spectacle — a sprawling episode of "The Virginian" with more Lower Iverson content than I can do justice to in the space available here. I recommend checking it out if you can.
Other good "Virginian" episodes for Lower Iverson footage include "The Fatal Journey" and "Smile of a Dragon," both from season two, and the season three episode "The Girl From Yesterday."
"The Girl From Yesterday" includes some nice shots of what I call the "Garden Sign Rock," a small formation in the Garden of the Gods that later had the word "GARDEN" inscribed on it.
Here's what the rock looks like today, with the "GARDEN" inscription. As far as I can tell, it never had "of the gods" as part of the inscription — it was always just "GARDEN."
I always like finding the Garden Sign Rock in productions, because I'm always trying to figure out when the inscription first appeared. Thanks to "The Virginian" we know the inscription was not there yet in 1964.
Not that it's pertinent to figuring out the date of the inscription, but just because it's a cool picture, here's a shot from "Tarzan's Peril" with Lex Barker as Tarzan riding an elephant between Tower Rock and the Sphinx.
The shot gives us a good look at Garden Sign Rock, even if it's too long ago to help date the inscription.
Later tends to be better when it comes to determining when something that's there now, like the inscription, first showed up. And thanks to the TV series "Logan's Run," we know the inscription still wasn't there in 1977.
The "Logan's Run" sequence, besides showing off Heather Menzies' legs, effectively gives us our last reference point, at least for now, on the pre-inscription timeline for the Garden Sign.
Even though the Garden Sign Rock is easy to spot in "Logan's Run," these pictures also make the point that shots from "The Virginian" tend to be a lot clearer than other productions — even shows from a decade later.
Very little filming took place on the Iverson Movie Ranch in the '70s, so I was pretty excited when I discovered the "Logan's Run" shoot. Below you'll find a few more screen shots from the episode.
This shot from 2015 shows where the Garden Sign can be found today, near the base of Tower Rock.
"The Virginian" cranked out another Lower Iverson spectacle, "Ring of Silence," during season four.
Here again we see Tower Rock and Sphinx, two of the most famous rocks on the former Iverson Movie Ranch. But check out the "barricade of fake rocks" that was installed for the episode.
The barricade was part of a "stuck stagecoach" sequence that set up a standoff between the stage passengers and a small army of bandits.
The setup included a fairly extensive array of loose movie rocks strewn about on the ground below the actual rock features. The Sphinx again appears at top right in this shot.
The effect wasn't all that realistic, especially if you know what the place looks like normally. But like most of the special effects seen on "The Virginian," the fake rocks were apparently determined to be "good enough."
Part of the barricade consisted of a custom fake rock wall that was fitted next to the base of the Sphinx. Clearly the set builders put some effort into this sequence.
One of the rocks that turns up in the sequence looks a little more realistic than some of the fake rocks, and for good reason: This one is an actual rock.
We know it's a real rock because 12 years later, long after the mess from the barricade of fake rocks had been cleaned up, "Logan's Run" shot in the same spot and the rock was still there.
The same rock can still be found at the site, as seen in this photo from 2014.
Considering all the Westerns that filmed here, these "Logan's Run" shots are a fun change of pace. Here's a futuristic car in the Garden of the Gods' old Camera Mount area, with a view of the Gorge in the distance.
Here's another alleged Car of the Future, clomping past Stage Road Rock in the Iverson Gorge as it traces the hoofsteps of many a stagecoach, outlaw gang and cowboy hero.
I guess it was inevitable with "Logan's Run" that we'd get "state of the art" special effects, juxtaposed against the major rock features of the Garden of the Gods.
Getting back to "The Virginian," the episode "Ring of Silence" also features nice shots of Rock Island.
This shot showcases RI-3 (at top right), one of the major rock features of Rock Island, shot from a super-rare angle. To learn more about this rock and the rest of Rock Island, please click here.
Here we see part of that small army of bandits I mentioned, but what I like more about the shot is the nice array of Upper Gorge rock features in the background.
This wider shot adds a few more movie rocks to the background. These are not the most common camera angles, and some of these rocks are rarely seen in productions.
But many of these rocks remain in place today and can be seen in person simply by parking on Redmesa Road. You can find more material on each of these identified rocks in the long index on the right side of the page.
Clu Gulager, Roberta Shore, Lee J. Cobb, Doug McClure, James Drury
The story of the Iverson Movie Ranch didn't end with "The Virginian," and even today, filming still takes place on rare occasions on the former Iverson property. But the mid-'60s, and especially the run by "The Virginian," marked the end of an era when the Iverson Ranch was Hollywood's go-to outdoor location. Luckily, the TV show left us with a lot of terrific pictures and memories of the old movie ranch.
If you feel like watching some "Virginian" and discovering your own great Iverson Movie Ranch footage, check out the links below to various "Virginian" DVD packages on Amazon — including the way-too-pricey complete series. There's also a link to a book about the history of the TV show. If you buy any of these items off Amazon after clicking the link, you'll be supporting future research by the Iverson Movie Ranch Blog. Thank you for your interest in the Iverson Ranch and old movie locations!
