Monument Valley

Geography and geology

Monument Valley is part of the Colorado Plateau. The elevation of the valley floor ranges from 5000 to above sea level. The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red coloration comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.

The buttes arising from the valley floor are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is the Organ Rock Shale, the middle is de Chelly Sandstone, and the top layer is the Moenkopi Formation capped by Shinarump Conglomerate. Major rock formations include West and East Mitten Buttes, Merrick Butte, Hunts Mesa, Eagle Mesa, Sentinel Mesa, Brighams Tomb, Castle Rock, Stagecoach, Big Indian, Rain God Mesa, Spearhead Mesa, Mitchell Mesa, Mitchell Butte, Gray Whiskers, Elephant Butte, Camel Butte, Cly Butte, King-on-his-Throne, Rooster Rock, and Setting Hen. Another notable formation is Totem Pole, a highly eroded butte remanent. The valley also includes large stone structures, such as the "Eye of the Sun".

Between 1945 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined for uranium, which occurs in scattered areas of the Shinarump Conglomerate; vanadium and copper are associated with uranium in some deposits.

Tourism

Monument Valley includes much of the area surrounding Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, a Navajo Nation equivalent to a national park. Oljato, for example, is also within the area designated as Monument Valley.

Visitors may pay an access fee and drive through the park on a 17 mi dirt road. Parts of Monument Valley, such as Mystery Valley and Hunts Mesa, are accessible only by guided tour.

Climate

Monument Valley experiences a desert climate with cold winters and hot summers. While the summers may be hot, the heat is tempered by the region's high altitude. Although the valley experiences an average of 54 days above 90 °F annually, summer highs rarely exceed 100 °F. Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Even in the winter, temperatures below 0 °F are uncommon, although possible. Monument Valley receives an occasional light snowfall in the winter, but it usually melts within a day or two.

|Jan record high F = 60 |Feb record high F = 69 |Mar record high F = 77 |Apr record high F = 90 |May record high F = 99 |Jun record high F = 101 |Jul record high F = 107 |Aug record high F = 100 |Sep record high F = 97 |Oct record high F = 86 |Nov record high F = 73 |Dec record high F = 62 |year record high F = 107

|Jan avg record high F = 52.07 |Feb avg record high F = 59.41 |Mar avg record high F = 70.37 |Apr avg record high F = 80.04 |May avg record high F = 88.27 |Jun avg record high F = 96.64 |Jul avg record high F = 99.44 |Aug avg record high F = 96.13 |Sep avg record high F = 90.48 |Oct avg record high F = 80.36 |Nov avg record high F = 65.18 |Dec avg record high F = 51.89 |year avg record high F= 100.17

|Jan avg record low F = 12.25 |Feb avg record low F = 15.25 |Mar avg record low F = 22.04 |Apr avg record low F = 28.69 |May avg record low F = 35.24 |Jun avg record low F = 47.08 |Jul avg record low F = 57.58 |Aug avg record low F = 54.73 |Sep avg record low F = 44.72 |Oct avg record low F = 32.61 |Nov avg record low F = 18.75 |Dec avg record low F = 12.78 |year avg record low F= 11.50

|Jan record low F = −8 |Feb record low F = −4 |Mar record low F = 9 |Apr record low F = 15 |May record low F = 20 |Jun record low F = 31 |Jul record low F = 49 |Aug record low F = 38 |Sep record low F = 33 |Oct record low F = 22 |Nov record low F = 6 |Dec record low F = −9 |year record low F = −9

In visual media

Main article: List of appearances of Monument Valley in the media

Monument Valley has been featured in numerous computer games, in print, and in motion pictures, including multiple Westerns directed by John Ford that influenced audiences' view of the American West, such as: Stagecoach (1939), My Darling Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1948), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), and The Searchers (1956). "Ford is popularly regarded as a director of westerns, the director who made John Wayne a star and made Monument Valley the locus for the myth of the American West. It was a reputation he encouraged. 'My name's John Ford – I make westerns', he once said by way of introduction.1 Among his most popular westerns are Staqecoach (1939), My Darlinq Clementine (1946), Fort Apache (1947), She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949), The Searchers (1956), and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

"Western or non-western, Ford's films exhibit characteristics that transcend those categories. Critics have recognized Ford's preoccupation with the traditional values of home and country, whether the country is Ireland or the United States; they have characterized his heroes as loners, men disappointed with life in some way that is only implied; and they have enumerated the elements of a typical Ford film: Monument Valley, the Seventh Cavalry, a fight, a dance, a wedding, a funeral, and the members of the so-called John Ford Stock Company, actors who appeared again and again in his films: John Wayne, Victor McLaglen, Henry Fonda, Ward Bond, Olive Carey, Harry Carey, Jr., John Qualen, and Hank Worden among others.

Many more recent movies, with other directors, were also filmed in Monument Valley, including Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968), the first Spaghetti Western to be filmed (in 1967) outside Europe, and Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger (2013).

Gallery

Monument Valley (14).jpg|Monument Valley, the Thumb Mittens and Merrick after Sunset.jpg|West, East Mittens and Merrick Butte after sunset Snow covered Monument Valley sunrise in January.jpg| Snow-covered Monument Valley sunrise in January Monument Valley, 6AM.jpg|Monument Valley West and East Butte at 6:00 am Sandstorm in Monument Valley, Arizona - Utah, USA.jpg|Sandstorm in Monument Valley Monument Valley, Utah, USA - 23638754781.jpg|Vegetation of Monument Valley Monument Valley, Utah, USA - 23426578800.jpg|Monument Valley landscape Golden_Monument_Valley (cropped).jpg|View on the Monument Valley from Hunts mesa Monument Valley rock formation.jpg|Monument Valley rock formation Mystery Valley, Monument Valley, 2005 (1).jpg|Mystery Valley

Panorama

References

References

1. (1980). "Natural Wonders of the World". [[Reader's Digest]].
2. King, Farina. (2018). ""Náhookọs (North): New Hioes for Diné Students." The Earth Memory Compass: Diné Landscapes and Education in the Twentieth Century". University Press of Kansas.
3. Phipps, Keith. (November 17, 2009). "The ''Easy Rider'' Road Trip". [[Slate (magazine).
4. Malan, Roger C.. (1968). "The uranium mining industry and geology of the Monument Valley and White canyon districts, Arizona and Utah". American Institute of Mining Engineers.
5. Punch, David A.. (September 2, 2018). "Stagecoach: Defining the Western, How John Ford's 1939 western classic transformed the dying genre into the epitome of American cinema". Medium.
6. Movshovitz, Howard. (1984). "The Still Point: Women in the Westerns of John Ford". University of Nebraska Press.
7. (2017-06-05). "50 Years Ago, Two Iconic Films Featured Monument Valley".