Severance Travels: Monument Valley

Monument Valley is just across the AZ border into Utah. The Valley is a Navajo Tribal Park (30,000 acres) and within the 16 million-acre Navajo Reservation.

Monument Valley has always held deep spiritual meaning for its inhabitants, but its uniqueness was not revealed to the world until the late 1930's. At the end of WWI Harry Goulding and his wife "Mike" came to the Valley to live among the Indians. They established a trading post and were instrumental in starting a modern hospital for the residents. They are best known for developing the Valley as a motion picture film which provided income and assistance for the Navajos' survival. That first film, Stagecoach, was made in 1938.

Our campground was at the top of a hill overlooking part of valley. It looks like we were alone, but there were 4 other trailers below us. It's cold here. So cold that we did not hook up the water; we just used our fresh water tank.

On Saturday we took a tour of the Valley. Here are lots of pictures, but the Valley looks so much better in person!

Before human existence this valley was a vast lowland basin. For hundreds of million years layer upon layer of eroded sediment from the early Rocky Mountains was deposited in the basin and cemented into rock - mainly sandstone and limestone. Then a slow, gentle uplift was created by constant pressure from below the surface elevated the horizontal strata. What was once a basin became a plateau of solid rock 1,000 feet high. The natural forces of wind and rain and temperature have spend the lasts 50 million years cutting and pealing away the surface of the plateau. The simple wearing down of alternate layers of hard and soft rock slowly created the natural wonders of Monument Valley that today stand between 400 and 1,200 feet tall.

Many of these structures had names but we only remember these two.
This is the "left mitten."

And this is the "right mitten."

About 30 people actually live in the Valley. Some live in structures like this one, called a "hogan." It is always made by hand and of native materials. The hogan is regarded as a sanctuary for the family and always faces the East toward the rising sun.

When we stopped here, there was jewelry to admire and buy. And, in the meantime, this Indian got on his horse and rode out the the edge - for pictures of course (and tips!!).

Many movies were made here, including Kit Carson, Billy the Kid, My Darling Clementine, Fort Apache, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, among others. And most recently, Thelma and Louise.