FILM TIMELINE BY LOCATION
FILMING LOCATIONS
IVERSON RANCH
The ranch originally belonged to Augusta, who immigrated from
Sweden several years earlier. She purchased the land for a nominal fee
under the Homestead Act passed by Abraham Lincoln, with the promise
that she would live on and develop it for a minimum of five years. When
she met her husband Karl, an émigré from Norway in 1888, they began
to work the nearly uninhabitable land together.
IVERSON RANCH
BELL
Man's Genesis (1912)
Carson City (1952)
Brute Force (1914)
aka: The Primitive Man
Man Behind the Gun, The (1953)
Home, Sweet Home (1914)
Riding Shotgun (1954)
Then in 1912 the Iverson’s had two strokes of good luck. The first was
that the State of California completed the California Aqueduct. This
brought water to the Valley, allowing Karl to purchase fertile farm land
in the Valley’s basin, bringing much needed money and food to the
family. The second stroke of luck occurred when the burgeoning film
industry moved their base of operations from New York to California,
bringing the movie studios right to Karl’s and Augusta’s front doorstep.
The Squaw Man (1914)
Judith of Bethulia (1914)
My Official Wife (1914)
The Slave Girl (1915)
Early on the studios paid the Iverson’s a $5 per diem fee for the right to
shoot on their land, and extra if they helped with the scenery or had a
part in the film. The first few years the ranch hosted several film crews
including D.W. Griffith, who shot a portion of his 17-minute caveman
drama, Man’s Genesis: A Psychological Comedy Founded on Darwin's
Theory of the Genesis of Man, and Cecil B. DeMille, who filmed The
Squaw Man there.
Sierra Stranger (1957)
The Narrow Trail (1917)
Gunsight Ridge (1957)
The Million Dollar Dollies
(1918)
"Bat Masterson" (TV series)
1958-1961
Riddle Gawne (1918)
"Zorro" (TV series) 1957
The Tiger Man (1918)
"Bonanza"episode: The
Rattlesnake Brigade (1971)
Face of a Fugitive (1959)
Elmo, the Mighty (1919)
ColumbiaOutrage, The (1964)
Male and Female (1919)
Quick Gun, The (1964)
Vendetta (1919)
Talisman, The (1966)
[Adult Western]
A Double-Dyed Deceiver (1920)
The Hope (1920)
Man-Woman-Marriage (1921)
Hombre (1967)
"Dundee and the Culhane"
(TV series) 1967
Three Word Brand (1921)
Hard on the Trail (1972)
[Adult Western]
O'Malley of the Mounted (1921)
Santee (1973)
Do and Dare (1922)
Sunset (1988)
The Paleface (1922)
Assignment: Survive (1988)
Tess of the Storm Country
(1922 remake)
Man Behind the Gun, The (1953)
Universal Gunsight Ridge (1957)
Hombre (1967)
“Bonanza”episode: Meena (1969)
23
"Cheyenne" (TV series) 1955
"Maverick" (TV Series)
1957–1962
Desert Love (1920)
Cowboy and western films began to make their way into the American
psyche by the 1930s. This was in large part due to John Wayne’s entry
into the genre when he first appeared in Haunted Gold in 1932 and
later in Stagecoach, also filmed at the ranch, in 1937. In 1935, the
Iverson’s saw their ranch transformed into such exotic locations as
China and India, as well as parts of the American Southwest. The Trail
of the Lonesome Pine, the first outdoor location movie in Technicolor,
was filmed at the ranch that year. In 1936 more than 60 movies were
"Gunsmoke" (TV series) 1955
Sherlock Holmes (1916)
The Knickerbocker Buckaroo
(1919)
By the 1920s Iverson was becoming known for its rambling hills, rock
formations, and other outdoor scenery. It was especially popular with
smaller, independent studios that couldn’t afford large indoor sets and
could shoot parts of their films at the ranch. Iverson soon went from a
working ranch to a motion picture location ranch. The Iverson’s even
carved out new roads and moved boulders for the studios. In 1925,
several films now considered classics were filmed at the ranch, including
Ben Hur, Beau Geste, and the Scarlet Letter.
Four Guns to the Border (1954)