Recent rains have transformed the Iverson Movie Ranch into a lush paradise — at least by movie ranch standards

Moss-covered buttressing on an old movie road in the Iverson Gorge (2019)

Southern California has been getting drenched by the region's wettest winter in decades — and all that rain is bringing out the green on the former Iverson Movie Ranch.

Lone Ranger Cabin steps and foundation

The surviving stone foundation and steps to the old Lone Ranger Cabin are covered in clover these days. The foundation is located on the South Rim of the Upper Iverson, near where the Hidden Valley Cabin once stood.

"Prince of the Plains" (Republic, 1949): Harry Lauter on those same steps

Back in the day those steps were well-maintained and kept clear of invasive foliage. In this promo still for "Prince of the Plains," Harry Lauter walks the stone plank with encouragement from Lane Bradford as Shirley Davis frets.

The mighty Sphinx, "alpha rock" of the Garden of the Gods

The Sphinx looks about the same as always, but the ground below it is greener than usual. This shot was taken on a visit to the Garden of the Gods in February, with the sunlight hitting the grass just right.

The Sphinx during drier times — which is most of the time

For the sake of comparison, here's a shot of the Sphinx in its usual state. The dry brush and scant vegetation at the base of the rock are representative of how the area typically looks.

Stone buttressing along an old movie road on the Upper Iverson (2019)

The green grass that's out now accentuates old movie roads that can still be identified by surviving stone buttressing. This short stretch of an old road sits on the Upper Iverson's South Rim, just below Turtle Rock.

Buttressing along the western edge of the Garden of the Gods

Another section of old movie road buttressing, this one on the Lower Iverson, has "greened up" during the rainy season. If you know how to find the north side of the Sphinx, follow the trail west from there to get to this spot.

There's something about old buttressing that really seems to attract the moss. This is a closeup of that same stretch of buttressing seen in the photo above this one.

A cactus shares its world with the movie rock known as "Minisub" (2019)

Much of the terrain in the undeveloped sections of the former Iverson Ranch remains pretty rugged, with plenty of sage and desert denizens like this sturdy cactus thriving alongside famous movie rocks.

Some sections of the former movie ranch have just gone buck wild. I don't know what to make of this area, which is about halfway up Cactus Hill near the South Rim, but it seems to have a little bit of everything.

Here's an illustrious group of South Rim stalwarts currently adrift on a sea of green. That's Dinosaur Claw on the left and Lew Murdock Rock in the middle.

I never noticed this character before, but it reminds me of one of the robots on "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Crow T. Robot from "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (replica)

This one ... Crow T. Robot.

Lew Murdock Rock is the real star of this cozy little corner of the Upper Iverson.

The rock still carries a badge of honor from a filming session for "Have Gun Will Travel" back in 1959 — in the form of an inscription that played a part in the TV show.

"Have Gun Will Travel" (1959): Paladin checks out Lew Murdock Rock

The episode "Sons of Aaron Murdock" premiered on May 9, 1959. One of Aaron Murdock's sons is the bad man Lew Murdock, and here Paladin finds a clue — a Lew Murdock inscription on the rock.

The inscription has Lew's name along with a crude carving of a bird. You can't really make it out here, but the episode follows up this shot with a closeup.

This is the inscription Paladin sees, in a screen shot from the show.

They actually did carve the inscription into the rock, and it's still there today. Here it is in modern times.

"Hidden Meadow," near Lew Murdock Rock

Around the corner from Lew Murdock Rock is a spot I call "Hidden Meadow." I've never seen evidence of filming in this location, and there's not much to see, but I'd be willing to bet they parked the movie trucks here.

Fern Ann Creek, flowing through the Upper Iverson

The creeks on the former Iverson Movie Ranch tend to be dry most of the year, but these days they're flowing — even if it's not much more than a trickle.

Beautiful vistas and dramatic skies can be found in abundance. This shot is taken looking southwest from the far northern edge of the former movie ranch property.

The poppies are out in force, along with their orange and yellow cousins. Iverson explorer Cliff Roberts snapped this shot just last week looking southeast toward Stoney Point from up above Nyoka Cliff.

Part of a fresh crop of mushrooms on the South Rim

The shrooms are popping up too. I'll leave it to someone else to assess any potential psychoactive fringe benefits to this bad boy, as I misplaced my "Field Guide to the 1970s" several decades ago.

These guys look as though they'd have an interesting name. How about ... um ... the "Hoo-Ahh Plant"? No? "Screaming Yellow Honkers"? Obviously, I'm not a botanist.

Not all of the life forms that are springing up are particularly attractive. Whatever this thing is, I wouldn't call it "beautiful" by any stretch ... but it's interesting. Plus it's kinda neat how it decided to grow out of a hole in a rock.

A bird of paradise blooms on a cul de sac on the former Upper Iverson.

The bird of paradise sits at the base of a distinctive movie rock.

"The Gene Autry Show" (1953)

Gene Autry rides near that same movie rock in an episode of his TV series called "Rio Renegades," which premiered Sept. 29, 1953. The rock can be seen in the top left corner.

"Little Big Horn" (1951): The Iverson Ranch, shot by cinematographer Ernest Miller

The Iverson Ranch has always had its beauty, which the best cinematographers of the B-Western era could put to dramatic effect in black and white.

Iverson Movie Ranch in 2019

And it's still a beautiful place — even in color.

The Year in Review: Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2015

2014 was a tough act to follow, but as the dust settles on 2015, it becomes clear that this has been a year of even bigger milestones in Iverson Movie Ranch research — highlighted by discoveries dating back to the silent movies and by greater collaboration than ever among a dedicated community of researchers. Here's a look back at some of my personal favorites among the finds I've been privileged to be a part of in 2015 ...

No. 10:
The Lew Murdock inscription from "Have Gun — Will Travel"

Lew Murdock Rock, on the Upper Iverson's South Rim

In a terrific example of collaborative research, Cliff Roberts spotted this beautiful artifact during an expedition on the Upper Iverson, and I was able to find the source of the inscription in an episode of "Have Gun — Will Travel" from 1959. It's always exciting when we can uncover a well-preserved relic of the filming era in all its glory — especially when we're able to figure out its origin.

• Click here to go to the original post with all the details about the Lew Murdock carving and Lew Murdock Rock, from May 2015.

No. 9:
Location of a cabin that stood in Central Garden of the Gods in 1935, seen in "Song of the Saddle"

"Song of the Saddle" (filmed in 1935, released in 1936)

We were able to identify rock clues in the background to pinpoint the location of this cabin seen in the Dick Foran Western "Song of the Saddle." It turns out the cabin was positioned in a historically significant area in Central Garden of the Gods, near where the Phantom Shack would be built a few years later.

• Click here to read the original post from earlier this month about the cabin seen in "Song of the Saddle."

No. 8:
"Ghost images" of Rock Island surface amid the foliage next to the swimming pool in the Cal West Townhomes

"RI-4," part of Rock Island, as seen in 1960 in "Have Gun — Will Travel"

Two major research threads crossed paths in 2015 as an examination of Elvis Presley filming locations at Iverson led us to Rock Island just as our in-depth examination of Rock Island was producing the first detailed picture of what happened to this key formation of movie rocks.

The hidden location of "RI-4," one of the five main features of Rock Island

In a strange way, Rock Island remains intact — depending on one's definition of "intact." Today Rock Island is mostly buried underground, and the small portion of the formation that remains above ground — the tips of what was once a cluster of large columns of rock — is mostly covered with ivy.

• Click here to revisit our in-depth exploration of Rock Island, then and now, from May 2015.
• Click here to see a post focusing on the Elvis Presley connection to Rock Island.

No. 7:  
An old Western "town" set in Garden of the Gods in 1930, seen in "The Utah Kid"

"The Utah Kid" (1930): Early village in Garden of the Gods

Film location historian Tinsley Yarbrough spotted this early-sound-era cluster of buildings in the old Rex Lease Western "The Utah Kid." The buildings, which form a sort of adobe village, may date back to the silent era.

• Click here to read more about this amazing find, in an entry posted back in May 2015.

No. 6:  
Siedry-Bert Inscription near the base of Sphinx, from the TV show "The Loner"

Burgess Meredith at the Siedry-Bert inscription in "The Loner" (1965)

The origin of the "Siedry-Bert" inscription in Central Garden of the Gods has remained a mystery for years, and this year we finally solved the mystery. Iverson explorer Cliff Roberts and I put our heads together to delve into the carving's backstory, and we hit pay dirt, figuring out that the carving originated in an episode of the Lloyd Bridges Western TV series "The Loner," featuring guest star Burgess Meredith as Siedry.

• Click here to read the blog post from March 2015 telling the story of the Siedry-Bert carving.

No. 5:
Elvis Presley filming location in Central Garden of the Gods, from "Harum Scarum" (1965) 

Elvis Presley and Fran Jeffries in Garden of the Gods: the original tent scene for "Harum Scarum"

Elvis Presley's connections with the Iverson Movie Ranch came into much sharper focus during 2015, with much of the progress attributable to a collaboration with Elvis location researcher Bill Bram. A key development was the identification of the "Harum Scarum Cluster," seen in the background of the above promo still.

• Click here for a detailed report on the Elvis shoot at the Harum Scarum Cluster in Central Garden of the Gods, from March 2015.

No. 4:
Footholds in the Boots Rock area near Garden of the Gods

Two of the many footholds in the rocks of the "Footholds Region"

Mysterious manmade holes, apparently dating back to early in the filming era, were discovered in an area located a short distance north of Garden of the Gods. The origins of these possible footholds and anchor points for sets, camera towers and other construction remain largely a mystery.

• Click here to read our in-depth report on the Footholds area, published in June 2015.

No. 3:  
Fake cave house that stood north of Garden of the Gods for much of the 1920s

"Three Ages" (Buster Keaton, 1923): Fake cave house near Garden of the Gods

A fake cave house on the Lower Iverson is seen in screen shots and behind-the-scenes production shots for silent movies filmed at least from 1920-1926, meaning it may have been built for an even earlier production.

• Click here for a full report on the cave house published on the blog in August 2015.

No. 2:  
"The Silent Man": A 1917 silent Western containing the earliest known film images of the Iverson Movie Ranch

William S. Hart and Vola Vale in the Iverson Gorge: "The Silent Man" (1917)

The discovery of the silent Western "The Silent Man" — probably not the earliest movie filmed on the Iverson Ranch, but the earliest that I've been able to identify positively — was something of a miracle. Most of the movies from this period have been destroyed, along with much of the documentation of film production at Iverson during the silent era. "The Silent Man" survives as one of the most important documents of the ranch's earliest days.

• Click here to read the December 2015 post revealing the many Iverson Movie Ranch treasures contained in the 1917 Western "The Silent Man."

No. 1:
Location of the Chinese Bridge in "Tell It to the Marines," including anchor points for the struts

Production shot for "Tell It to the Marines" (1926)

The above production shot, unearthed by Iverson Movie Ranch aficionado Ben Burtt, played a key role in solving the mystery of the Chinese Bridge seen in the 1926 silent movie "Tell It to the Marines."

• Click here to see the blog item from September 2015 pinpointing the spot on the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch where the Chinese Bridge was located.

We had a number of other noteworthy finds in 2015 that just missed making the Top 10. Here are the best of the rest, in no particular order, with links to posts containing photos and details about each find:

• New details surface about the 1920 shoot in the Garden of the Gods for the silent spectacle "Man-Woman-Marriage."

• Strange Rock is identified — the spot where Glenn Strange positioned himself in the ambush of Texas Rangers that launched the story of "The Lone Ranger."

• The location of the Grapes of Wrath truck-pushing sequence is found.

• Disaster at Overlook Point on the set of the 1938 Gary Cooper movie "Adventures of Marco Polo."

• Lower Iverson's East Gate is identified, along with a fire station that was the movie ranch's closest neighbor.

• A previously unknown fake cave turns up in the TV show "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp," located on the south side of the Phantom in Central Garden of the Gods.

• The Crouching Cat Walkway area is identified after blog reader David King matches it up with a shot in the 1949 Columbia serial "Batman and Robin."

• The exact spot is pinpointed where Fuzzy Knight placed the dynamite on the Upper Iverson's South Rim in "Boss of Bullion City."

• The proximity of the Iverson Ranch to a notorious nearby movie ranch is spotlighted by the appearance of Iverson's Garden of the Gods in "Linda and Abilene, a "Naughty Western" filmed on the Spahn Ranch.

• In a welcome trend, foliage is being peeled back all around the Lower Iverson, revealing more of the original movie rocks. Naked rocks appear in several locations, thanks to tree removal in Garden of the Gods, the stripping away of ivy concealing Rock Island, and the removal of brush covering Mushroom Rock.

Click here to see the Top 10 Iverson Movie Ranch finds of 2014.

The Lew Murdock carving in "Have Gun — Will Travel"

"Have Gun — Will Travel": "Sons of Aaron Murdock" (1959)

An episode of "Have Gun — Will Travel" from the TV Western's second season includes this shot of a rock with the name "Lew Murdock" carved into it, along with a rough carving of a bird with its wings outstretched. The shot appears in the episode "Sons of Aaron Murdock," which premiered May 9, 1959.

The rock plays a part in a scene shot on the South Rim of the Upper Iverson Movie Ranch. The carving is a key plot element, and various characters stop by to get a look at it. In the shot above, series star Richard Boone, as Paladin, checks out the inscription — although it's a little hard to see in the screen shot.

This is where the carving appears on the rock in the "Have Gun — Will Travel" shot.

Lew Murdock Rock as it appears today

I was surprised to learn recently that the Lew Murdock carving remains in place today. Iverson explorer Cliff Roberts ran across it on a foray into the Upper Iverson, and passed along some new photos of "Lew Murdock Rock."

These shots approximate the angle seen in the Paladin screen shot. It's still not easy to make out the carving here — it helps to click on the photo to see a larger version.

Closeup of the Lew Murdock carving

It seems to me that the owners of the filming location, the Iverson family, might not have approved of the defacing of one of their boulders. For one thing, the permanent marking of a rock in this manner might get in the way of future filming. My guess would be that the TV crew didn't exactly volunteer information about what it was up to.

"Bonanza": "Death on Sun Mountain" (Sept. 19, 1959) — Lew Murdock Rock

As a case in point, Lew Murdock Rock turned up later that same year, 1959, in an episode of "Bonanza," where it was shot from pretty much the same angle seen in "Have Gun — Will Travel." The Lew Murdock inscription was probably right there for the world to see, but the "Bonanza" shots aren't quite clear enough to make it out.

The approximate area where the inscription would be found is noted in this version of the "Bonanza" shot. The impact of the carving on subsequent filming was probably minimal, especially coming late in the life cycle of the location ranch. But the carving of inscriptions by production crews is intriguing from a historical perspective, producing unusual artifacts of the filming days.

Burgess Meredith and the "Siedry-Bert" inscription in "The Loner"

Some readers may recall a recent post about a similar "carving incident" at Iverson — the "Siedry-Bert" inscription on Sphinx, on the Lower Iverson. You can click here to read the post about that carving, which was featured in an episode of the Lloyd Bridges TV Western "The Loner" in which Burgess Meredith guest-starred.

Lew Murdock Rock is located on the South Rim of the Upper Iverson, on the north side of Cactus Hill.