Why we love old movie locations — especially the Iverson Movie Ranch

For an introduction to this blog and to the growing interest in historic filming locations such as the Iverson Movie Ranch — the most widely filmed outdoor location in movie and TV history — please read the site's introductory post, found here.
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Saturday, May 17, 2014

Cowboy star Rod Cameron roams the Iverson Movie Ranch in "Yaqui Drums"

Rod Cameron in the Iverson Grove in "Yaqui Drums" (1956)

Actor Rod Cameron was all over the Iverson Movie Ranch during filming for the Allied Artists B-Western "Yaqui Drums." This shot from the movie shows him at work in the Eucalyptus Grove, with a distinctive stacked rock behind him sporting a prominent vertical crack.

That stacked rock is still in place today, as seen in the above shot taken during a visit to the filming site in recent years. You may notice a little stump in front of the rock, from a tree that previously stood in that spot. The tree is seen in the original movie shot (near the left of the frame), but only the stump is to be found in the more recent photo (near the center of the shot).

Here's what I mean, in case you're having trouble matching up the tree and the stump. It's clearly the same tree in both photos as it's located in exactly the same spot.

Cameron's character and his pal Yacqi Jack, played by J. Carrol Naish, defend the Grove Relay Station on the Lower Iverson. Yacqi Jack's name is spelled differently from how "Yaqui" is spelled in the movie's title.

Here's another shot of the Grove Relay Station, with Cameron, standing on the front porch, having just knocked some guy down. (In front of the guy's horse!)

This shot of Cameron in action in the movie was taken in Garden of the Gods. The bulk of the outdoor footage for "Yaqui Drums" was shot on the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif.


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