James Coburn roams the Iverson Ranch on "Bonanza"

"Bonanza" episode "The Long Night" (May 6, 1962): James Coburn at Overhang Rock

Even as the Iverson Movie Ranch was beginning to wind down operations in the 1960s, one major TV show that continued to bring its location business to the ranch was "Bonanza."

James Coburn on the Lower Iverson in "Bonanza"

In March 1962, when James Coburn arrived at Iverson to shoot the season three episode "The Long Night," "Bonanza" was still filming regularly on both the Lower Iverson and the Upper Iverson.

One of the rocks Coburn rides past during this sequence — noted here with a red arrow — is pretty interesting. This rock wasn't seen all that often in productions, even though it was located in a relatively prominent spot.

The rock was big enough to tower over a horse and rider, and had an unusual shape to it. I've taken to calling it "Headstone Rock" because ... well, for obvious reasons, I suppose.

These shots are taken in the "Batman Corner" area of the Lower Iverson, some of which remains intact today alongside Redmesa Road. However, Headstone Rock fell prey to the developers' bulldozers in the 1980s.

Filming Roger Corman's "Deathsport" (1978)

A behind-the-scenes shot that surfaced from filming on the Iverson Ranch for the Roger Corman movie "Deathsport" in 1978 again shows the scale of Headstone Rock, which towers over the people and vehicles.

The rock is so perfectly shaped that I have considered whether it might be fake. However, it has been glimpsed on a few occasions in productions from decades earlier, suggesting it was real.

Sticky Bun as it appears today, behind the condos

Sticky Bun is still easy to spot on a visit to the Chatsworth, Calif., site, and can be seen even without getting out of the car as one drives along Redmesa Road, north of Santa Susana Pass Road.

Surviving fragments of Rock Island, just off Redmesa Road

Rock Island is still intact too — in a way. The rocks remain in place but were largely buried during grading for the Cal West Townhomes. I talked about this in detail in a previous post that you can see by clicking here.

The rock James Coburn is leaning on in this shot is familiar to film historians and Iverson Ranch enthusiasts, who know it as Overhang Rock. Sadly, this rock also did not survive the development of the Cal West Townhomes.

"Wyoming Roundup" (1952): Overhang Rock, on the Lower Iverson

Here's a nice shot of Overhang Rock about a decade earlier, from the Whip Wilson B-Western "Wyoming Roundup." This shot reveals the overhanging ledge that gave the rock its name.

This is where James Coburn stood, more or less, as he leaned against the rock in "Bonanza," although he was a bit more behind the rock than my rough outline suggests. He was facing toward the right of the frame.

"Colorado Ambush" (1951): Johnny Mack Brown at Overhang Rock

Johnny Mack Brown peeked out from behind the same rock — but the other end of it — in the Monogram B-Western "Colorado Ambush."

Johnny was lurking under the overhanging part of the rock — you can see a little bit of the overhang here.

"The Oklahoma Kid": James Cagney, with Overhang Rock and Cagney Rock

Another famous actor who stood in the shade of Overhang Rock was James Cagney, who posed beneath the rock in a well-known promo still for "The Oklahoma Kid" in 1939.

Even though Overhang Rock itself is long gone, the rock seen behind Cagney, "Cagney Rock," remains in place as part of the landscaping for the Cal West Townhomes. You can read more about it by clicking here.

"Bonanza": James Coburn in what is now the condos

So many rocks, so little time. In another shot from the "Bonanza" episode, Coburn, playing an escaped convict, puts his leg up on a rock in an attempt to break his prison chains. I have yet to identify this particular rock.

Adam scampers past Cleft Rock in "The Long Night"

The "Bonanza" episode contains tons of great rocks — and as I like to point out, when we're talking about the giant sandstone boulders of the Iverson Ranch, we can use the word "tons" literally.

Cleft Rock, seen here, can still be found at the site, a short distance north of the main Garden of the Gods rock towers, on land that has been preserved as a park. Many of the other rocks in this shot have been destroyed.

One of my favorite shots in the "Bonanza" episode is this one showing a mysterious road that remains in place at the site, not far from Cleft Rock. I call it the Cobblestone Road, although it doesn't meet the technical definition.

I've been trying to learn the origins of the Cobblestone Road for years, without any luck. The "Bonanza" episode marks the first time I've seen it this clearly in any production, but my hunch is it dates back to the '20s or '30s.

The Cobblestone Road in modern times

This photo from 2009 shows what the Cobblestone Road looks like today. It's not nearly as fully formed as it was during the "Bonanza" shoot more than a half-century ago, but that's it in the lower left corner of the frame.

How to find Cleft Rock and the Cobblestone Road

Here's a map to some of the features mentioned above. Start by finding Redmesa Road in Chatsworth. Park below the condos, then follow the map. (You may want to click on the map to see a larger version.)

How cool is James Coburn? Cool enough to be filmed at Zorro's Cabin ... which is extremely cool

James Coburn, right, at Zorro's Cabin in "Bat Masterson" (1959)

I'm going "Off the Beaten Path" here — veering away temporarily from the Iverson Movie Ranch — but I was pretty excited to find shots of Zorro's Cabin during a recent scan of some old episodes of the "Bat Masterson" TV show. Best of all, I ran across shots of one of my favorite actors, James Coburn, at the cabin and out in the nearby rocks.

Coburn had a major shoot on the Bell Location Ranch for a guest appearance in an episode called "The Black Pearls," playing a character named Poke Otis. The episode premiered July 1, 1959, toward the end of the show's first season. The rocks seen here are just across from Zorro's Cabin, on Bell Ranch's Upper Plateau.

Coburn had kind of an innately menacing look that made him a natural for Westerns — maybe not Lee Van Cleef menacing, but menacing enough. He appeared on just about every TV Western of the late 1950s and early 1960s — "Wagon Train," "Bonanza," "Have Gun — Will Travel," "Cheyenne," "Wanted — Dead or Alive," "Zane Grey Theater," "Black Saddle," "Rawhide," "The Rifleman" ... the list goes on.

Bad guys defend Zorro's Cabin in "The Black Pearls"

Zorro's Cabin played a pivotal role in the "Bat Masterson" episode, with a couple of bad guys holed up in the place before Poke, Coburn's character, and Bat, played by Gene Barry, partnered up to flush 'em out.

They also dragged Carol Otis, played by Jacqueline Scott, into the dispute. In this shot the three main protagonists are out in front of the cabin.

James Coburn in action, in front of Zorro's Cabin

The rocks seen here come up a lot during the action sequences shot at Zorro's Cabin for the episode. The same rocks can be seen in the shot above this one, and in a shot higher up with Coburn walking among the rocks.

Here's Bat Masterson himself — Gene Barry — at the front of Zorro's Cabin.

Bat regroups after dispensing with one of the ne'er-do-wells. The last couple of shots offer a good look at the fake movie wear and tear applied to give Zorro's Cabin that "lived-in" look.

They used the other side of the cabin for this shot, which appears elsewhere in the episode.

Bat comforts Jacqueline Scott's character, Carol, after rescuing her from being drug by a horse. Everybody except Bat gets a little messy in this one, with all the action taking place around Zorro's Cabin.

Zorro's Cabin in recent times

Zorro's Cabin still stands on the site of the former Bell Location Ranch off Box Canyon in the hills above the western San Fernando Valley. This portion of what we now think of as Bell Ranch was previously owned by the Berry family and has also been called Berry Ranch.

Zorro's Cabin, up close

I've heard a couple of different origin stories about Zorro's Cabin. One widely circulated story has it that the place was built by Disney for the old "Zorro" TV series, although another version of the story says the cabin was built by the owners at the time, the Berry family, and was not originally meant to be a movie building but served as the family's weekend getaway.

James Coburn as Leo Talley, with Carol Ohmart as Lisa Truex,

in the "Bat Masterson" episode "Six Feet of Gold" (1960)

James Coburn subsequently made a second guest appearance on "Bat Masterson," playing a different character, Leo Talley, in "Six Feet of Gold" in early 1960. Coburn's character in this one is more of a "dude," and Coburn never has to get his boots dirty much — although on the downside, I believe he gets killed off in both episodes.

"Bat Masterson" (1961) — the Western town at Bell Ranch

"Bat Masterson," which aired for three seasons on NBC, from 1958-1961, shot quite a bit on the Bell Location Ranch, and is a good source for screen shots of not only Zorro's Cabin, but also the Bell Western town. The above shot, from the episode "Run for Your Money," which premiered March 2, 1961, provides a sample of what the Western town looked like. To read an earlier post about a "Bonanza" shoot at Bell Ranch, please click here, and to read about a "Star Trek" shoot at Bell, try this link.

Off the Beaten Path is a series of posts that are not specifically focused on the usual subject matter of this blog, the Iverson Movie Ranch. Past subjects have included Pioneertown, Corriganville, Oak Park and other old filming locations. You can go directly to the Off the Beaten Path posts by looking up the term "Off the Beaten Path" in the long index of labels at the right of the page, or by clicking here.