A who's who of Native American actors, including Howling Wolf, Chief John Big Tree, High Eagle, Chief Thundercloud and Chief Thunderbird, assembled on the Iverson Movie Ranch

"Custer's Last Stand" (Stage and Screen serial, 1936)

I ran across this remarkable lobby card a while back for the 15-chapter Western serial "Custer's Last Stand," featuring a photo taken on the plateau just above the Iverson Gorge, with Nyoka Cliff in the background.

The photo depicts a gathering of leaders from various bands of Indians, played by a who's who of Native American actors of the early B-Western era.

The lead role among the Native Americans is that of Young Wolf, played by Chief Thundercloud.

"Custer's Last Stand": Chief Thundercloud vs. young Paleface Bobby Nelson

Thundercloud is not a nice guy in "Custer's Last Stand." His character is so treacherous and bloodthirsty that it's hard to imagine the actor was about to become one of Hollywood's quintessential "good Indians."

Promo still for "Custer's Last Stand": Chief Thundercloud with Nancy Caswell

I get a kick out of the expression on Thundercloud's face in this promo shot for the serial. I can't help but wonder what he had in mind before Nancy Caswell produced her big six-shooter.

"The Lone Ranger" (1938): Chief Thundercloud as Tonto with Lee Powell as the Masked Man

Chief Thundercloud would go on two years later to become the original "Tonto" of the movies, starring in the 1938 Republic serial "The Lone Ranger" along with its 1939 sequel, "The Lone Ranger Rides Again."

Chief Thundercloud as Tonto

For those of us who grew up with Jay Silverheels' kid-friendly interpretation of Tonto, Thundercloud's version still comes off as a bit of a big scary meanie.

Chief Thundercloud on the Uncle Russ children's radio program

Born Victor Daniels in 1899, Thundercloud claimed at times to be either Cherokee or Creek/Muscogee. While his Native American heritage has never been nailed down, his "Chief" status is pure Hollywood hype.

Chief Thundercloud on the Upper Iverson in "The Phantom Rider" (1946)

Thundercloud's prolific film career, spanning 1935-1956 and including 76 movies along with numerous TV appearances, brought him back to the Iverson Ranch on many occasions — often in bad guy or "savage" roles.

Chief Thundercloud in the title role of "Geronimo!" (1939)

Tonto was one of two career-defining roles for Thundercloud in the late 1930s. He followed up his "Lone Ranger" serials with a tour-de-force performance as Geronimo in Paramount's 1939 movie about the Apache warrior.

Poster for "Geronimo!" — Where's Chief Thundercloud's credit?

Curiously, Chief Thundercloud's credit was omitted from much of the marketing material for "Geronimo!," even though he played the title role.

Chuck Connors as "Geronimo" (United Artists, 1962)

The role of Geronimo would later be played by Chuck Connors, who was moonlighting at the time from his day job on "The Rifleman."

The real Geronimo

The real Geronimo spent his later years as a prisoner of war and a tourist attraction, traveling under Army guard and becoming one of the most widely photographed Americans of his era.

Also appearing in the lobby card is Chief Thunderbird — not to be confused with Chief Thundercloud. Billed as "Chick Davis" in "Custer's Last Stand," Thunderbird played the character Rain-in-Face.

Chief Thunderbird in 1935

Born Richard Davis in 1866, Thunderbird, a Cheyenne chief, had a film career going back at least to 1914, with many of his appearances uncredited.

Chief Thunderbird

By the time "Custer's Last Stand" was filmed in 1935, Chief Thunderbird was pushing 70 and had become something of a patriarch to the Native American actors of the period.

Chief John Big Tree, whose character in the serial is identified simply as "Medicine Man," is another interesting figure from early Hollywood.

Chief John Big Tree with Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert in "Drums Along the Mohawk" (1939)

A member of the Seneca Nation, Big Tree was reportedly born Isaac Johnny John in 1877. He became one of director John Ford's go-to Native American actors, appearing in a string of Ford movies including "Stagecoach," "Drums Along the Mohawk" and "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon."

Big Tree in uncredited role in "Stagecoach" (1939)

He was uncredited in Ford's "Stagecoach" in the role of an Indian scout who wore a cool "Indian Police" star and dressed up like a Cavalry soldier.

Indian Head Nickel, first issued in 1913: NOT Chief Big Tree

Besides appearing in more than 60 movies going back to the silent era, Big Tree became the focus of a number of myths and legends — including his own claim that he was the model for the Indian Head Nickel.

Chief Big Tree on the cover of Esquire, 1964

The claim, which has since been discredited, was widely believed for years — with Big Tree even appearing on the cover of Esquire magazine in 1964 as part of a feature perpetuating the false claim.

The blurb on the cover reads: "Chief Johnny Big Tree today ... and as he looked when he posed for the Indian-head nickel 51 years ago."

Promo material for the early Western talkie "Red Fork Range" (1931)

Big Tree was apparently encouraged by the Hollywood studios to cash in on his image as the Indian on the nickel, whether it was true or not.

Besides circulating a story about how the prolific actor had become known as "Shoot-a-nickel" among production crews, this example of vintage Hollywood hype describes Chief Big Tree as a "heap-good actor" — a characterization the studio probably wouldn't use in today's more PC climate.

Following Big Tree's death in 1967 at age 90, the Franklin Mint issued a "Proof Silver Medal" — not actual U.S. currency — featuring Big Tree's profile along with a mockup of Big Tree's mythical modeling session with the designer of the Indian Head Nickel, sculptor James Earle Fraser.

James Earle Fraser, designer of the Indian Head Nickel, working on Benjamin Franklin

Fraser himself refuted Big Tree's claim of being involved in the nickel, including explaining that the image was a composite. But controversy over the identities of the models for the nickel has never been fully resolved.

Adoeette — aka Big Tree: Kiowa war chief

That's at least in part because Fraser's own recollection "evolved" over the course of his life. By the time the sculptor died in 1953, he had apparently settled on the story that one of the models for the nickel was in fact named "Big Tree" — but it was a different Big Tree, the Kiowa war chief also known as Adoeette.

"The End of the Trail" (James Earle Fraser sculpture, 1915)

A similar controversy surrounded Chief John Big Tree and "The End of the Trail," one of Fraser's best-known sculptures. Big Tree claimed to be the model for the artwork — another claim that is widely regarded as false.

At this point things get a little sketchy for me when it comes to trying to ID the Native American actors in the lobby card. I invite readers to set the record straight if you know who's who, but I'll offer a few of my best guesses.

I think this is Carl Mathews, who plays two roles in "Custer's Last Stand," including that of True Eagle.

"Custer's Last Stand": Carl Mathews as True Eagle

This is what Mathews looks like as True Eagle in a different scene in the serial. Mathews, a prolific actor and stuntman, worked in well over 200 movies in a career spanning 1930-1957.

Mathews, who was said to be one-eighth Cherokee, also appeared in "Custer's Last Stand" as Curley, Gen. Custer's Native American orderly.

Carl Mathews, left, gets under Dennis Moore's skin in "Black Market Rustlers" (1943)

Mathews typically played non-Indian characters, frequently working uncredited, and almost as often as not, appearing in the uncelebrated role of "henchman."

One character I'm sure about is Red Fawn, played by the non-Native American actress Dorothy Gulliver.

Dorothy Gulliver

The beautiful Dorothy Gulliver was a pretty big star in the 1920s and 1930s, including playing the heroine in serials both before and after the arrival of sound. She was once married to Danny DeVito's father, Chester DeVito.

Dorothy Gulliver with Rin Tin Tin in a promo shot for "A Dog of the Regiment" (1927)

Gulliver starred opposite some of the biggest stars of the era — none bigger than Rin Tin Tin. (Click here to read our recent post about Rin Tin Tin's adventures on the Iverson Movie Ranch.)

Dorothy Gulliver puts the heat on Roy D'Arcy in "The Shadow of the Eagle" (1932)

In this lobby card for Mascot's early sound serial "The Shadow of the Eagle," Dorothy demonstrates that empowered female characters aren't an entirely new idea in Hollywood.

The lobby card also features legendary stuntman Yakima Canutt, seen standing next to B-Western workhorse Bud Osborne. Osborne chalked up something like 600 credits over a 50-year career.

John Wayne snuggles with Dorothy Gulliver in "The Shadow of the Eagle"

Gulliver starred opposite John Wayne in "The Shadow of the Eagle." Some of her other leading men around that time were Hoot Gibson, Lon Chaney Jr., Jack Hoxie, Bill Elliott, Rex Lease, Tim McCoy and Red Grange.

Dorothy Gulliver with Kenneth Harlan in "Under Montana Skies" (1930)

Much of Gulliver's work was in Westerns, including Tiffany's early talkie "Under Montana Skies."

Howling Wolf as Sitting Bull in "Custer's Last Stand"

The little-known Native American actor Howling Wolf — no relation to bluesman Howlin' Wolf — plays Sitting Bull in "Custer's Last Stand," but I've been unable to make a positive ID on him in the lobby card.

I think he might be the guy on the right here — I'd be interested in hearing what readers think. The fact that he's shirtless in other shots in the movie is throwing me off.

We're getting into some pretty low-res material here, but the credits for "Custer's Last Stand" also give us a look at another relatively obscure Native American actor, High Eagle, who plays Crazy Horse.

Here again, the costume is different, but my best guess is that this is High Eagle.

Iron Eyes Cody as Brown Fox in "Custer's Last Stand"

Famed actor and Iverson Movie Ranch regular Iron Eyes Cody plays Brown Fox in the movie. IMDb suggests that Iron Eyes is in the lobby card, but I haven't been able to find him — my hunch is he isn't in the shot.

Famous "Crying Indian" anti-pollution ad from the 1970s, featuring Iron Eyes Cody

Readers may be surprised — I know I was — to learn that Iron Eyes Cody, if not the most famous of all "Native American" actors, at least high on the list, was not in fact Native American, but was of Italian heritage.

A lot of question marks remain about the "Custer's Last Stand" lobby card. Maybe blog readers can help fill in some of the missing or incorrect IDs. You should be able to click on the photos to see a larger version.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": Blinkers, ladders and the perils of Wild Bill Elliott

Promo shot for "The Valley of Vanishing Men" (1942)

I ran across an oddity in a promotional still for the Columbia Western serial "The Valley of Vanishing Men," taken in the Iverson Gorge. The photo is part of Jerry England's incredible collection.

The photo features Nyoka Cliff in the background. With apologies to Wild Bill Elliott, the star of the serial, the most interesting part of the photo, in my opinion, is in the top right corner — outlined here in blue.

Zooming in on that part of the promo shot, we get a better look at a ladder that's hanging on Nyoka Cliff, along with a bridge spanning a gap in the rocks near the top of the cliff.

Then there's this thing — the "oddity" I mentioned above. Not knowing what it is, I had to try to figure it out.

Taking a closer look at it — although, admittedly, it doesn't blow up very well — it appears to be a small table with a box of some kind on top of it. Movie equipment, maybe?

Promo shot for "The Valley of Vanishing Men" — with something missing

Here's where it gets interesting. Another version of the promo shot is in circulation in which the mystery object has been removed. Today we would probably say it was Photoshopped out, but in the analog days of 1942 they would have used a less up-to-date method to airbrush the photo.

In fact, they didn't do a great job of it — you can kind of tell something's going on if you take a close look at that part of the photo.

You can even see what's left of the table legs. To me the most interesting thing about the airbrushed version of the photo is simply its existence, which suggests someone involved in the movie also spotted the mystery object, determined it wasn't supposed to be there, and saw fit to get rid of it.

Lobby card for "The Valley of Vanishing Men"

Even so, a sepia lobby card was released for the serial that includes the promo shot — and the mystery object appears in the lobby card.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": Fight sequence on Nyoka Summit

I was hoping the serial itself might hold a clue to the mystery object, and sure enough, the table with the box on it turns up right where it's supposed to be, on top of Nyoka Cliff.

The object is the focus of a big fight near the end of the serial. Even without already knowing that the mysterious box was positioned atop Nyoka Cliff, the location could be pinpointed by a number of background features.

The hill in the background turns up regularly in Iverson productions and is known to locals by a number of names, including Sunset Peak, Retz Peak and Rockridge. I've been calling it "Elders Peak" in my research for years.

Sunset Peak and the view looking south from the Iverson Gorge in modern times

Sunset Peak continues today to dominate the view to the immediate south of the former Iverson Ranch.

"The Fighting Seabees" (1944): John Wayne & Co. on Nyoka Summit

The tree, too, has quite a movie history, including an appearance in the John Wayne movie "The Fighting Seabees." I did a detailed post about "Seabees" back in 2015, which you can see by clicking here.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": Bad guys with a "blinker"

About that mystery object, it turns out to be an old-fashioned signal box, or "blinker" — a wooden box containing a lighting element and shutters, used to send messages in Morse code.

Sending a signal to the rest of the gang

The signal box is an important plot element in "The Valley of Vanishing Men," where the bad guys use it to send signals to other gang members to advance their nefarious plot.

Bill Elliott, center, and Slim Summerville seize control of the signal box

Remember that big fight that was going on earlier? Thanks to that fight, Wild Bill and his sidekick "Missouri Benson," played by the lean and lanky Slim Summerville, were able to get their hands on the blinker.

Slim stands guard while Wild Bill harnesses the power of the blinker to foil the bad guys' plan

As clunky as the device may seem today, back in the Old West it would have been state-of-the-art. It must have been solar powered, since they didn't have extension cords or Duracell batteries yet.

Sadly, the device ends up getting shot up in one of the serial's many gun battles. Still, I appreciated the unusual showcase for the old-school signaling device, as you just don't see a lot of these blinkers in old Westerns.

The serial also includes shots of that ladder seen in the promo still.

"Valley of Vanishing Men": A network of ladders ascending Nyoka Cliff

These shots reveal something I found surprising: The ladder section seen in the promo shot is just one part of an elaborate network of ladders extending all the way down to the floor of the Gorge.

Near the base of Nyoka Cliff, the bottom section of the ladder leans against a distinctive angular rock. In this sequence two bad guys escort a female hostage up the ladder.

That angular rock can still be seen today near the base of Nyoka Cliff, although the foliage has grown in a bit during the 75 years since it supported the ladder in "The Valley of Vanishing Men."

At the top of the angular rock is a platform between two main sections of the ladder.

Bill Elliott, chasing after the outlaws in an attempt to rescue their hostage, begins what will be a long and treacherous ascent of the ladder.

In this shot Wild Bill has arrived at the platform and prepares for the scariest part of the climb — up to the summit.

The ladder sequence appears to be filmed almost entirely on location. Lurking in the background, the familiar silhouettes of Garden of the Gods prove that this location shot is legit.

Elliott, who appears in the serial as a character named "Wild Bill Tolliver," works his way up the ladder. This part of the climb almost certainly would have been done by a stunt double.

At the top of the ladder, the leader of the gang barks out signals as he plans the old "knock the hero off the ladder" trick. This shot has a big problem from a continuity standpoint, though ...

Readers who are familiar with the Iverson Gorge may recognize some of the jagged rocks along the edge of Nyoka Cliff in the background. This shot would have had to be filmed from the opposite side of the Gorge.

Scene filmed in the Camera Mount area, with Nyoka Cliff visible to the east

In a wider shot showing the gang and their hostage supposedly at the top of Nyoka Cliff, it becomes painfully obvious that this shot is not taken on Nyoka. The cliff can be seen in all its glory across the Gorge.

There's a good reason for shooting the scene this way: It would have been too dangerous to mess around at the actual edge of Nyoka Cliff. Still, to anyone who pays attention to the rocks, this is a pretty big goof. 

I got my hopes up for an even juicier continuity error, hoping to spot the actual ladder across the Gorge. Alas, no such luck — the picture isn't clear enough to be sure, but the ladder does not appear to be in place.

Vultura's Palace in "Perils of Nyoka" (Republic, 1942)

"Perils of Nyoka," the serial that gave Nyoka Cliff its name, filmed on the Iverson Ranch earlier in 1942, with "The Valley of Vanishing Men" arriving later that same year to film in many of the same areas on the Lower Iverson.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": Accidental glimpse of Vultura's Palace

As it turns out, "Valley of Vanishing Men" captured a few artifacts left over from "Perils of Nyoka" on film. One of these is the front of Vultura's Palace, which can be spotted in the background as Bill Elliott rides the Upper Gorge.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men" came out about six months after "Perils of Nyoka," in December 1942, suggesting that the palace set must have remained in place for a while after shooting wrapped on "Perils."

"Perils of Nyoka": Fake cave entrance in the Iverson Gorge

It just gets "curiouser and curiouser," to borrow a favorite quote from "Alice in Wonderland." Another artifact from "Perils of Nyoka" turns up in the strangest place in "The Valley of Vanishing Men."

This fake cave entrance, built in the Iverson Gorge for "Perils of Nyoka," was seen a lot in that serial, and then apparently was left behind when the Republic crew wrapped up its location shoot.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": Fake building front in the Iverson Gorge

Then when "The Valley of Vanishing Men" arrived, the production team built this modest structure — just a fake front — in exactly the same spot where the fake cave entrance had been filmed in "Perils of Nyoka."

The curious thing about this building is that it reveals not only that the fake cave entrance left over from "Perils of Nyoka" remains at the site, but also that it was incorporated into the new construction.

Columbia and Republic were competitors in the low-budget matinee cliffhanger space, so it's a hoot that Columbia came along a few months after the "Perils" shoot and quietly "borrowed" Republic's fake rocks.

"The Valley of Vanishing Men": A look inside the building

Apparently Columbia really wanted to have a fake cave inside its fake building. On occasion the building's doors open and we can see that much of the "Perils of Nyoka" fake cave entrance is indeed inside the building.

In fact the fake "Perils" cave forms much of the interior of the building.

Here we get a good look at the fake boulders inside the "Valley of Vanishing Men" building — and can confirm that they are a perfect match for the fakes seen in "Perils of Nyoka."

I found a lot to like in "The Valley of Vanishing Men" when it comes to Iverson Movie Ranch locations, but I have yet to find a version with upgraded picture quality. I hope somebody will eventually remaster these old serials.