A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated for use as a set in the creation and production of motion pictures and television shows. These were developed in the United States in southern California, because of the climate.
88-699: Indian Dunes was a 600-acre (2.4 km) film ranch owned by Newhall Land & Farming Company. Located near the Six Flags Magic Mountain amusement park in Valencia, California , United States, it was a favorite of filmmakers for its versatility and location within the thirty-mile zone until its owners returned the site to farming in 1990 following a reduced interest in the kind of action television programs and films that had been produced there. The company reportedly grossed up to $ 600,000 in 1990 ($ 1.3 million in 2021 dollars). The site portrayed
176-557: A 2,700-acre (11 km ) ranch on Medea Creek in the Santa Monica Mountains near Agoura Hills , between Malibu and the Conejo Valley . The studio built numerous large-scale sets on the ranch, including a huge replica of early San Francisco , an Old West town, and a Welsh mining village (built by 20th Century Fox for (1941) How Green Was My Valley , and later redressed (with coal mine tipple removed) as
264-529: A French village for use in (1943) The Song of Bernadette , and again used for (1949) The Inspector General ). Western town sets posed as Tombstone, Arizona, and Dodge City, Kansas, as well as Tom Sawyer's Missouri, 13th-century China, and many other locales and eras around the world. It is now Paramount Ranch Park in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area . The National Park Service took over
352-411: A Rancho or Estancia as "a unit of land which comprises a Hacienda, where cattle and horses are raised, and which is in the care of a Caporal who is the captain of the other cowboys." Niceto de Zamacois , in his book "Historia de Méjico" (1879), defined terms as follows: "...the men of the countryside who carry out their jobs on horseback are given the name of "Rancheros," derived from the word Rancho that
440-546: A circle; a mess hall. “Rancho” in Spain is also the: “food prepared for several people who eat in a circle and from the same pot.” It was also defined as a family reunion to talk any particular business. While “ranchero” is defined as the: “steward of a mess”, the steward in charge of preparing the food for the “rancho” or mess-hall. In South America, specifically in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Brasil, Bolivia and Paraguay,
528-449: A complete adobe village survived on the northeast section of the ranch. In 1990, after the death of his horse ' Champion ,' which Autry had kept in retirement there, the actor put the remaining 12-acre (4.9 ha) ranch up for sale. It was purchased by Renaud and Andre Veluzat to be developed as an active movie ranch for location shooting . The Veluzats have a 22-acre (8.9 ha) complex of sound stages , western sets , prop shop, and
616-633: A farmer married to Bessie Iverson, owning the northern half (the Upper Iverson). In the mid-1960s the state of California began construction on the Simi Valley Freeway , which ran east and west, roughly following the dividing line between the Upper Iverson and Lower Iverson, cutting the movie ranch in half. That separated the ranch, and also produced noise, making the property less useful for moviemaking. The waning popularity of
704-538: A few struggling smaller operations have added some dude ranch features such as horseback rides, cattle drives, and guided hunting to bring in additional income. Ranching is part of the iconography of the " Wild West " as seen in Western movies and rodeos . The term ranch comes from the Spanish term rancho , itself from the term rancharse , which means “to get ready, to settle in a place, to pitch camp”, itself from
792-478: A five-year lease on a parcel of land in central Placerita Canyon. The western town constructed there was located just east of what is now the junction of the Route 14 Antelope Valley Freeway and Placerita Canyon Road. Today this is part of Disney 's Golden Oak Ranch (see below) near Placerita Canyon State Park . In 1935, as a result of a Monogram-Republic studio merger, the 'Placerita Canyon Ranch' became owned by
880-469: A handful of the productions that were filmed at the ranch. The rocky terrain and narrow, winding roads frequently turned up in Republic serials of the 1940s and were prominently featured in chases and shootouts throughout the golden era of action B-Westerns in the 1930s and 1940s. For the 1945 Western comedy Along Came Jones , producer and star Gary Cooper had a Western town built at the ranch; this set
968-482: A larger real estate deal to be completed in 2023 which will see the studio get ownership of The Burbank Studios in time to mark its 100th anniversary. All historic sets and sound stages were demolished during December, 2023. Circa 1937, Ray "Crash" Corrigan invested in property on the western Santa Susana Pass in California's Simi Valley and Santa Susana Mountains , developing his 'Ray Corrigan Ranch' into
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#17327941547871056-589: A number of terms, including cowhand , ranch hand, and cowboy . People exclusively involved with handling horses are sometimes called wranglers . Ranching and the cowboy tradition originated in Spain , out of the necessity to handle large herds of grazing animals on dry land from horseback. During the Reconquista , members of the Spanish nobility and various military orders received large land grants that
1144-459: A pasturing land or agricultural settlement where cattle are raised. Originally used to refer to a hamlet or village where cattle is raised and where the land is sowed; and to a small independent cattle farm, or to a cattle station, an area of land for cattle raising, that is dependent of a hacienda , a large cattle estate. In Spain it retained its military origin, being defined as: the group of people, typically soldiers, who eat together in
1232-469: A rustic western town, Mexican village, western ranch, outlaw hide-out shacks, cavalry fort, Corsican village, English hunting lodge, country schoolhouse, rodeo arena, mine-shaft, wooded lake, and interesting rock formations. This amusement park concept closed in 1966. In spite of Corriganville's weekend tourist trade, production of films continued. The action TV series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin used
1320-551: A section of the lot in 1980 and restored the sets, working from old black and white photographs. The NPS website lists movie and TV productions filmed there. Ranch A ranch (from Spanish : rancho / Mexican Spanish ) is an area of land , including various structures, given primarily to ranching , the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep . It is a subtype of farm . These terms are most often applied to livestock-raising operations in Mexico ,
1408-616: A settlement originated. For example, many of the traditions of the Jalisco charros in central Mexico come from the Salamanca charros of Castile. The vaquero tradition of Northern Mexico was more organic, developed to adapt to the characteristics of the region from Spanish sources by cultural interaction between the Spanish elites and the native and mestizo peoples. Cattle ranching flourished in Spanish Florida during
1496-473: A steep ramp, and tied by their horns to the horns of a tame, older steer (or ox ) and taken to fenced-in areas. The industry grew slowly under the reign of Kamehameha's son Liholiho ( Kamehameha II ). When Liholiho's brother, Kauikeaouli ( Kamehameha III ), visited California , then still a part of Mexico , he was impressed with the skill of the Mexican vaqueros . In 1832, he invited several to Hawaii to teach
1584-496: Is a partial listing of some of the classic Southern California movie ranches from the first half of the 20th century, including some other and newer locations. Located in the town of Apache Junction , Arizona, the Apacheland Movie Ranch and Apacheland Studio was developed from 1959 to 1960 and opened in 1960. Starting in late 1957, movie studios had been contacting Superstition Mountain-area ranchers, including
1672-426: Is an employee of the actual owner, the term foreman or ranch foreman is used. A rancher who primarily raises young stock sometimes is called a cow-calf operator or a cow-calf man . This person is usually the owner, though in some cases, particularly where there is absentee ownership, it is the ranch manager or ranch foreman. The people who are employees of the rancher and involved in handling livestock are called
1760-531: Is applied to a small hacienda, or to a part of a large one that is divided into racherias or ranchos. Those who carry out the same tasks in the haciedas of Veracruz are given the name of "Jarochos." Thus the term Rancho in Mexican Spanish became a unit of land that makes up a hacienda where cattle is raised and where people live in farmhouses. The people that live and work in those Ranchos managing cattle and horses are called Rancheros. As settlers from
1848-630: Is located near Santa Clarita, California , just north of Newhall Pass . In 1962 a brush fire destroyed most of the western town sets on the ranch, and Autry sold 98-acre (40 ha), most of Melody Ranch. The remaining 22-acre (8.9 ha) property was purchased by the Veluzats in 1990 for the new Melody Ranch Studios movie ranch. From 1926, early silent films were often shot in Placerita Canyon, including silent film westerns featuring Tom Mix . In 1931, Monogram Pictures took out
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#17327941547871936-560: Is to be used in The Rose of the Ranch" which has just been started. The new ground is to be used for big scenes and where a large location is needed. A stock farm is to be maintained on the ranch. It is planned to use 500 people in the story. There will be 150 people transported through Southern California for the mission scenes. The studio will be used for the largest scene ever set up, the whole state and ground space being utilized." In 1963,
2024-548: The Ahmanson family 's Home Savings and Loan purchased the property and adjacent land. Home Savings and Loan was the parent company of Ahmanson Land Company , and so the ranch became known as the Ahmanson Ranch. Washington Mutual Bank (WAMU) took over ownership of Home Savings and proceeded with the development plans for the ranch. The public advocacy for undeveloped open space pressure was very strong, and development
2112-635: The American Southwest , Brazil , Japan , France and Germany , Africa , Afghanistan , Burma , Central America and often Vietnam . It featured hills, flat plains, riverbeds and densely wooded forest land that could portray locations around the world. In exchange for reduced rental rates, previous productions had also left behind standing sets including a village, labor-camp, prison, ranch house, military barracks and 4.5-mile (7.2 km) railroad line including locomotive and train cars that could be re-used, reducing production costs. The location
2200-534: The Conquistadors came to the Americas in the 16th century, followed by settlers, they brought their cattle and cattle-raising techniques with them. Huge land grants by the Spanish (and later Mexican) government, part of the hacienda system, allowed large numbers of animals to roam freely over vast areas. A number of different traditions developed, often related to the original location in Spain from which
2288-539: The Homestead Act of 1862, more settlers came west to set up farms . This created some conflict, as increasing numbers of farmers needed to fence off fields to prevent cattle and sheep from eating their crops. Barbed wire , invented in 1874, gradually made inroads in fencing off privately owned land, especially for homesteads. There was some reduction of land on the Great Plains open to grazing. The end of
2376-569: The Kingdom of Castile had conquered from the Moors . These landowners were to defend the lands put into their control and could use them for earning revenue. In the process it was found that open-range breeding of sheep and cattle (under the Mesta system) was the most suitable use for vast tracts, particularly in the parts of Spain now known as Castilla-La Mancha , Extremadura and Andalusia . When
2464-681: The Revolutionary War , and three or four drives in the late 1930s, when area cattle were herded down Montauk Highway to pasture ground near Deep Hollow Ranch. The prairie and desert lands of what today is Mexico and the western United States were well-suited to " open range " grazing. For example, American bison had been a mainstay of the diet for the Native Americans in the Great Plains for centuries. Likewise, cattle and other livestock were simply turned loose in
2552-574: The Santa Monica Mountains , and the Santa Clarita area of the Greater Los Angeles Area . The natural California landscape proved to be suitable for western locations and other settings. As a result of post-war (WWII) era suburban development, property values and taxes on land increased, even as fewer large parcels were available to the studios. Los Angeles development was widespread, resulting in urban sprawl . Most of
2640-727: The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy since 1987. The location of the ranch was in the northwest corner of Chatsworth , along the western side of Topanga Canyon Boulevard where it currently intersects with the Simi Valley Freeway. The First Lasky Ranch in the San Fernando Valley was located on the Providencia Ranch. In 1912, Universal purchased the property and named it Oak Crest Ranch. This old Universal ranch
2728-462: The Simi Hills on Santa Susana Pass in what is now Chatsworth , eventually expanding their land holdings to about 500 acres (200 ha). They reportedly allowed a movie to be shot on the property as early as 1912, with the silent movies Man's Genesis (1912), My Official Wife (1914), and The Squaw Man (1914) being some of the productions often cited as among the earliest films shot on
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2816-567: The United States moved west, they brought cattle breeds developed on the east coast and in Europe along with them, and adapted their management to the drier lands of the west by borrowing key elements of the Spanish vaquero culture. However, there were cattle on the eastern seaboard. Deep Hollow Ranch , 110 miles (180 km) east of New York City in Montauk, New York , claims to be
2904-471: The Western United States and Western Canada , though there are ranches in other areas. People who own or operate a ranch are called ranchers , cattlemen , or stockgrowers . Ranching is also a method used to raise less common livestock such as horses , elk , American bison , ostrich , emu , and alpaca . Ranches generally consist of large areas, but may be of nearly any size. In
2992-625: The backlots . They call it the 'Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studio' and 'Melody Ranch Studios.' The ranch has a museum open year-round. One weekend a year the entire ranch is open to the public during the Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival , held at the end of April. The 22-acre (8.9 ha) Melody Ranch Studio was used in 2012 for filming some scenes for Quentin Tarantino 's Django Unchained . The owners in 2019 were Renaud and Andre Veluzat. In 1927, Paramount Studios purchased
3080-573: The ' Corriganville Movie Ranch .' Most of the Monogram Range Busters film series, which includes Saddle Mountain Roundup (1941) and Bullets and Saddles (1943), were shot here, as well as features such as Fort Apache (1948), The Inspector General (1949), Mysterious Island (1961), and hundreds more . Corrigan opened portions of his vast movie ranch to the public in 1949 on weekends to explore such themed sets as
3168-559: The 110-acre (45 ha) 'Monogram Ranch' property from the Hickson heirs in 1953. He renamed the property 'Melody Ranch' after his 1940 film of the same name , and his following Sunday afternoon CBS radio show (1940–1956) and . A brushfire swept through 'Monogram Ranch' in August 1962, destroying most of the original standing western sets. The devastated landscape was useful for productions such as Combat! . A large Spanish hacienda, and
3256-591: The 17th century. The word "Rancho" in Mexico developed different definitions from what it originally meant in Spain. In the book "Descripción de la Diócesis de Guadalajara de Indias" (1770), Mateo José de Arteaga defined "Ranchos" as "extensions of land where few people live with few assets and sheltering in huts." In 1778, José Alejandro Patiño , in his text "Topografía del Curato de Tlaxomulco," defined Ranchos as "In these Indian kingdoms, Ranchos are country houses of little pomp and value, where men of average means and
3344-458: The 1840s, and expansion both north and west from that time, through the Civil War and into the 1880s, ranching dominated western economic activity. Along with ranchers came the need for agricultural crops to feed both humans and livestock, and hence many farmers also came west along with ranchers. Many operations were "diversified", with both ranching and farming activities taking place. With
3432-650: The American government so that they could keep better control of the pasture land available to their own animals. Ranching in Hawaii developed independently of that in the continental United States. In colonial times, Capt. George Vancouver gave several head of cattle to the Hawaiian king, Pai`ea Kamehameha , monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and by the early 19th century, they had multiplied considerably, to
3520-583: The Apacheland Barn, both of which survived the second fire, were donated to the Superstition Mountain Museum. Each structure was partially disassembled at the ranch, moved by truck, and reassembled on the museum grounds, where both stand today. Columbia Pictures , 411 North Hollywood Way, Burbank, CA, purchased the original 40-acre (16 ha) lot in 1934 as additional space to its Sunset Gower studio location, when Columbia
3608-545: The Fort Apache set for many shots from 1954 to 1959. Roy Rogers , Lassie , and Emergency! production units also filmed scenes on the ranch. In 1966, Corriganville became 'Hopetown' when it was purchased by Bob Hope for real estate development. A wildfire destroyed the buildings in 1970. About 200 acres (81 ha) of the original 2,000 acres (810 ha) is part of the Simi Valley Park system, open to
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3696-591: The Hawaiian people how to work cattle. The Hawaiian cowboy came to be called the paniolo , a Hawaiianized pronunciation of español. Even today, the traditional Hawaiian saddle and many other tools of the ranching trade have a distinctly Mexican look, and many Hawaiian ranching families still carry the surnames of vaqueros who made Hawaii their home. In Argentina and Uruguay , ranches are known as estancias and in Brazil , they are called fazendas . In much of South America , including Ecuador and Colombia ,
3784-582: The Indian Dunes Motor Recreation Park, a multi-track motocross and track racing park during the 1970s and 1980s. This use was discontinued due to liability concerns. 34°25′26.5″N 118°38′11.3″W / 34.424028°N 118.636472°W / 34.424028; -118.636472 Movie ranch Movie ranches were developed in the 1920s for location shooting in Southern California to support
3872-515: The Matter with Helen? . It is commonly believed, though not the case, that Leave It to Beaver was filmed here, ('Beaver' actually filmed (first season) at CBS Studio Center – née Radford Studios and later at Universal Studios ). The Waltons originally filmed on the Warner Bros. main lot where the recognizable house facade was located until it burned down in late 1991. A recreation of
3960-762: The Menace , The Hathaways , The Iron Horse , I Dream of Jeannie (which also used the Father Knows Best house exterior), Bewitched , The Monkees , Apple's Way , and The Partridge Family (which also filmed on ranch sound stages ). A short list of the many classic feature films which filmed scenes on the movie ranch would include; Lost Horizon , Blondie , Melody in Spring , You Were Never Lovelier , Kansas City Confidential , High Noon , The Wild One , Autumn Leaves , 3:10 to Yuma , The Last Hurrah , Cat Ballou , and What's
4048-529: The Pacific Electric railway services, by rail to The Oak Crest Station and then Vehicle by way todays Barham Blvd. ( Mammoth Film Plant : Van Nuys News and the Nuys Call, Nov. 29 1912) On August 4, 1918, Jesse L. Lasky Feature Play Company began leasing the property. It consisted of 500 acres, with an additional 1,500 acres of adjoining government land which they were allowed to use. The ranch
4136-845: The Quarter Circle U, the Quarter Circle W, and the Barkley Cattle Ranch, for options to use their properties as town sets. One notable production during this time was Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957) with Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster . Though historically inaccurate, it features the area known as Gold Canyon, with the Superstitions prominent behind the movie's representation of the Clanton ranch. During this time, Victor Panek contacted his neighbors in Apache Junction, Mr. and Mrs. J.K. Hutchens, to suggest
4224-568: The United States. The gaucho culture of Argentina , Brazil and Uruguay are among the cattle ranching traditions born during the period. However, in the 20th century, cattle raising expanded into less-suitable areas of the Pantanal . Particularly in Brazil , the 20th century marked the rapid growth of deforestation , as rain forest lands were cleared by slash and burn methods that allowed grass to grow for livestock, but also led to
4312-647: The Walton house was built on the Warner Bros. Ranch lot, utilizing the woodland mountain set originally utilized by Apple's Way , and later occasionally used by Fantasy Island TV shows. The facade remains and has been used in numerous productions such as NCIS , The Middle , and Pushing Daisies . On April 15, 2019, it was announced that Warner Bros. will sell the property to Worthe Real Estate Group and Stockbridge Real Estate Fund as part of
4400-637: The Western genre and the decline of the B-movie coincided with the arrival of the freeway, which opened in 1967, and greater development pressure, signaling the end for Iverson as a successful movie ranch. The last few movies that filmed some scenes here included Support Your Local Sheriff (1968) and Pony Express Rider (1976). In 1982, Joe Iverson sold what remained of the Lower Iverson to Robert G. Sherman, who almost immediately began subdividing
4488-504: The Wind (Selznick 1939) and They Died with Their Boots On , " Santa Fe Trail " (Warner Bros. 1940), and many others. From The Moving Picture World , October 10, 1914 (page 622 relates to the Lasky ranch and page 1078 to the new Lasky Ranch): "The Lasky company has acquired a 4,000-acre ranch in the great San Fernando valley on which they have built a large two-story Spanish casa which
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#17327941547874576-496: The depletion of the land within only a few years. Many of indigenous peoples of the rain forest opposed this form of cattle ranching and protested the forest being burnt down to set up grazing operations and farms. This conflict is still a concern in the region today. In Spain, where the origins of ranching can be traced, there are ganaderías operating on dehesa -type land, where fighting bulls are raised. However, ranch-type properties are not seen to any significant degree in
4664-527: The famous "Garden of the Gods" on the west side of Red Mesa, in which many rock formations seen in countless old movies and TV shows are accessible to the public. This includes the area on the east side of Red Mesa that includes the popular Lone Ranger Rock, which appeared beside a rearing Silver, the Lone Ranger's horse, in the opening to each episode of The Lone Ranger TV show. This area has been owned by
4752-452: The first ranch in the United States, having continuously operated since 1658. The ranch makes the somewhat debatable claim of having the oldest cattle operation in what today is the United States, though cattle had been run in the area since European settlers purchased land from the Indian people of the area in 1643. Although there were substantial numbers of cattle on Long Island, as well as
4840-683: The go-to outdoor location for Westerns in particular and also appeared in many adventures, war movies, comedies, science-fiction films, and other productions, standing in for Africa, the Middle East, the South Pacific, and any number of exotic locations. Buster Keaton 's Three Ages (1923), Herman Brix 's Hawk of the Wilderness (1938), Laurel and Hardy 's The Flying Deuces (1939), John Wayne 's The Fighting Seabees (1944), and Richard Burton 's The Robe (1953) are just
4928-501: The historic movie ranches have been sold and subdivided. A few have been preserved as open space in regional parks , and are sometimes still used for filming. To support continued use of the remaining ranches in its jurisdiction, the Santa Clarita Municipal Code was amended in 2011 to establish a "Movie Ranch Overlay Zone" which grants operating ranches added zoning benefits, such as helicopter landing permission and 24-hour indoor and outdoor filming where not adjacent to residences. Below
5016-484: The idea of building a dedicated studio in the Superstition area. Hutchens and Panek found a suitable site that was developed into Apacheland, intended to be the "Western Movie Capitol of the World". Construction on the Apacheland Studio soundstage and adjacent "western town" set began on February 12, 1959, by Superstition Mountain Enterprises and associates. By June 1960, Apacheland was available for use by production companies and its first TV western Have Gun, Will Travel
5104-636: The making of popular western films. Finding it difficult to recreate the topography of the Old West on sound stages and studio backlots , the Hollywood studios went to the rustic valleys, canyons and foothills of Southern California for filming locations. Other large-scale productions, such as war films, also needed large, undeveloped settings for outdoor scenes, such as battles. To achieve greater scope, productions conducted location shooting in distant parts of California, Arizona , and Nevada . Initially production staff were required to cover their own travel expenses, resulting in disputes between workers and
5192-403: The military French term se ranger (to arrange oneself, to tidy up), from the Frankish hring , which means ring or circle . It was, originally, vulgarly applied in the 16th century to the provisional houses of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The term evolved differently throughout the Spanish speaking world : In Mexico, it evolved to mean a cattle farm, station or estate,
5280-408: The need to herd them to and from common grazing lands on a seasonal basis, the cattle handlers actually lived in houses built on the pasture grounds, and cattle were ear-marked for identification, rather than being branded. The only actual "cattle drives" held on Long Island consisted of one drive in 1776, when the island's cattle were moved in a failed attempt to prevent them from being captured during
5368-438: The newly formed Republic Pictures . In 1936, when the lease expired, the entire western town was relocated a few miles to the north at Russell Hickson's 'Placeritos Ranch' in lower Placerita Canyon, near the junction of Oak Creek Road and Placerita Canyon Road. The property was leased by the newly independent Monogram Pictures , and renamed as 'Monogram Ranch' in 1937. Gene Autry , actor, western singer, and producer, purchased
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#17327941547875456-399: The open range was not brought about by a reduction in land due to crop farming , but by overgrazing . Cattle stocked on the open range created a tragedy of the commons as each rancher sought increased economic benefit by grazing too many animals on public lands that "nobody" owned. However, being a non-native species, the grazing patterns of ever-increasing numbers of cattle slowly reduced
5544-433: The point that they were wreaking havoc throughout the countryside. About 1812, John Parker, a sailor who had jumped ship and settled in the islands, received permission from Kamehameha to capture the wild cattle and develop a beef industry. The Hawaiian style of ranching originally included capturing wild cattle by driving them into pits dug in the forest floor. Once tamed somewhat by hunger and thirst, they were hauled out up
5632-459: The poor live, cultivating the small plots of land that they own or rent, sowing to the extent that each one can afford and raising their domestic, country animals, according to their strength." By the nineteenth century, the words Rancho and Estancia as used in Mexico had been consolidated to define a unit of land that made up a Hacienda or any rural area or the countryside in general. Domingo Revilla in 1844, in his text "Los Rancheros", defined
5720-506: The property. Employees are generally known as stockmen/stockwomen , jackaroos/jillaroos , and ringers (rather than cowboys). Some Australian cattle stations are larger than 10,000 km , with the greatest being Anna Creek Station which measures 23,677 km in area (approximately eight times the largest US Ranch). Anna Creek is owned by S Kidman & Co . The equivalent terms in New Zealand are run and station . In South Africa , similar extensive holdings are usually known as
5808-411: The property. It was located across the Los Angeles River from the First National/Warner Bros studios in the area which is now Forest Lawn Cemetery. Hunkins Stables and Gopher Flats are close to Old Universal/Lasky Ranch in the San Fernando Valley. This area is noted for a filming location history of many important movies, including, The Thundering Herd (Famous Players–Lasky Co. 1925), Gone with
5896-487: The property. The former Lower Iverson now contains a mobile-home park, the nondenominational Church at Rocky Peak , and a large condominium development. The Upper Iverson is also no longer open to the public, as it is now a gated community consisting of high-end estates along with additional condominiums and an apartment building. Part of the ranch has been preserved as parkland on both sides of Red Mesa Road, north of Santa Susana Pass Road in Chatsworth. This section includes
5984-416: The public as the Corriganville Regional Park. Though the original movie and TV sets are long gone, many of the building concrete foundations are still extant. Corriganville Regional Park . Parts of the movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood were filmed at Corriganville Park, as a stand-in for the Spahn Movie Ranch . In the 1880s, Karl and Augusta Iverson homesteaded a 160-acre (65 ha) family farm in
6072-458: The quality of the rangeland, in spite of the simultaneous massive slaughter of American bison that occurred. The winter of 1886–87 was one of the most severe on record, and livestock that were already stressed by reduced grazing died by the thousands. Many large cattle operations went bankrupt, and others suffered severe financial losses. Thus, after this time, ranchers also began to fence off their land and negotiated individual grazing leases with
6160-411: The ranch during its peak years. The long-running TV Western The Virginian filmed on location at Iverson in the ranch's later period, as did Bonanza and Gunsmoke . By the 1960s, the ownership of the ranch was split between two of Karl and Augusta's sons, with Joe Iverson, an African safari hunter married to Iva Iverson, owning the southern half of the ranch (the Lower Iverson) and Aaron Iverson,
6248-548: The rest of western Europe , where there is far less land area and sufficient rainfall allows the raising of cattle on much smaller farms. In Australia , a rangeland property is a station (originally in the sense of a place where stock were temporarily stationed). In almost all cases, these are either cattle stations or sheep stations . The largest cattle stations in the world are located in Australia's dry outback rangelands. Owners of these stations are usually known as graziers or pastoralists, especially if they reside on
6336-652: The site. Many of the earliest citations, though, have turned out to be incorrect. For example, The Squaw Man is now known to have filmed a scene elsewhere in Chatsworth, a short distance southwest of the Iverson property, but did not film on the Iverson Ranch. By the late 1910s, what would become a long and fruitful association developed between Hollywood and the Iverson Movie Ranch, which became
6424-420: The spring after their young were born and allowed to roam with little supervision and no fences, then rounded up in the fall, with the mature animals driven to market and the breeding stock brought close to the ranch headquarters for greater protection in the winter. The use of livestock branding allowed the cattle owned by different ranchers to be identified and sorted. Beginning with the settlement of Texas in
6512-404: The studios. The studios agreed to pay union workers extra if they worked out of town. To solve this problem, many movie studios purchased large tracts of undeveloped rural land, in many cases existing ranches , that were located closer to Hollywood. The ranches were often located just within the 30-mile (48 km) perimeter, specifically in the Simi Hills in the western San Fernando Valley ,
6600-603: The term hacienda or finca may be used. Ranchero or Rancho are also generic terms used throughout tropical Latin America . In the colonial period, from the pampas regions of South America all the way to the Minas Gerais state in Brazil, including the semi-arid pampas of Argentina and the south of Brazil, were often well-suited to ranching, and a tradition developed that largely paralleled that of Mexico and
6688-507: The term is applied to a modest humble rural home or dwelling, a cottage ; while in Venezuela it’s an improvised, illegal dwelling, generally poorly built or not meeting basic habitability requirements; a shanty or slum house. The person who owns and manages the operation of a ranch is usually called a rancher , but the terms cattleman , stockgrower , or stockman are also sometimes used. If this individual in charge of overall management
6776-473: The very large Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve , with various trails to the Lasky Mesa locale. The property was sold to a conservancy in 2003 but some filming was done there afterwards, including some scenes for the 2006 film Mission: Impossible III . More recently, it has been a hiking area. Originally known as 'Placeritos Ranch', the 110-acre (45 ha) ranch in lower Placerita Canyon
6864-765: The western United States, many ranches are a combination of privately owned land supplemented by grazing leases on land under the control of the federal Bureau of Land Management or the United States Forest Service . If the ranch includes arable or irrigated land , the ranch may also engage in a limited amount of farming , raising crops for feeding the animals, such as hay and feed grains. Ranches that cater exclusively to tourists are called guest ranches or, colloquially, " dude ranches". Most working ranches do not cater to guests, though they may allow private hunters or outfitters onto their property to hunt native wildlife. However, in recent years,
6952-682: Was also known as Providencia Flats and the Lasky Ranch. Around the same time that the lease was expiring, Paramount Famous Lasky purchased the Paramount Ranch location in the Agoura area, and moved all of the ranch sets to the new location. The lease then was turned back to the Hollingsworth interests. In 1929, Warner Bros purchased a portion of the ranch from the W. I. Hollingsworth Realty Company. By 1950, Forest Lawn Cemetery owned
7040-415: Was built for the production of Universal 101Bison Brand Westerns. In 1912, Universal; purchased and leased land here to create the first Universal City. This Universal ranch was first used to film Universal Brand Bison films. In 1914, Universal City moved to its present location in the valley, The new Universal City was officially opened on March 15, 1925. The studio could be reached from Hollywood by using
7128-426: Was commonly referred to as the 'Monogram Ranch'. Russell Hickson owned the property from 1936 until his death in 1952, and built-reconstructed all original sets on the ranch. A year later in 1937, Monogram Pictures signed a long-term lease with Hickson for 'Placeritos Ranch', with terms that the ranch be renamed 'Monogram Ranch.' After Gene Autry purchased the property in 1953, he renamed it as 'Melody Ranch.' It
7216-534: Was filmed in November 1960, along with its first full-length movie The Purple Hills . Actors such as Elvis Presley , Jason Robards , Stella Stevens , Ronald Reagan , and Audie Murphy filmed many other western television shows and movies in Apacheland and the surrounding area, such as Gambler II , Death Valley Days , Charro! , and The Ballad of Cable Hogue . The last full-length movie to be filmed
7304-458: Was halted further by new groundwater tests showing migrating contamination of the aquifer with toxic substances from the adjacent Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) experimental Nuclear Reactor and Rocket Engine Test Facility . The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the State of California purchased the land for public regional park . The Lasky Movie Ranch is now part of
7392-556: Was in need for more space and a true backlot /movie ranch. Through the years numerous themed sets were constructed across the movie ranch. Formerly known as the Columbia Ranch and now the "Warner Brothers Ranch", this 32-acre (13 ha) movie ranch in Burbank, California , served as the filming location for both obscure and well-known television series, such as Father Knows Best , Hazel , The Flying Nun , Dennis
7480-527: Was subsequently used in many other productions until the town was dismantled in 1957. Hollywood's focus began to shift to the medium of television beginning in the late 1940s, and Iverson became a mainstay of countless early television series, including The Lone Ranger , The Roy Rogers Show , The Gene Autry Show , The Cisco Kid , Buffalo Bill, Jr. , Zorro , and Tombstone Territory . An estimated 3,500 or more productions, about evenly split between movies and television episodes, were filmed at
7568-434: Was the 1994 HBO movie Blind Justice with Armand Assante, Elisabeth Shue, and Jack Black. On May 26, 1969, fire destroyed most of the ranch. Only a few buildings survived, but the sets were soon rebuilt to accommodate ongoing productions. A second fire destroyed most of Apacheland on February 14, 2004. The causes of both fires were never determined. On October 16, 2004, Apacheland was permanently closed. The Elvis Chapel and
7656-514: Was the last television production shot there. Music videos featuring bands such as Van Halen and the Fixx were also filmed at the ranch. Newhall Land & Farming Company built Indian Dunes Airport on the site in the 1960s with a single unpaved runway running northeast to southwest. The airport was used for company aircraft and was sometimes leased to film and television shows including 84 Charlie MoPic and Baa Baa Black Sheep . The site hosted
7744-453: Was the site of a helicopter accident which occurred during the making of Twilight Zone: The Movie . Actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Le and 6-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen were killed. The site was popular with television programs in the 1980s such as The A-Team , MacGyver , The Fall Guy and The Incredible Hulk as well as films including The Color Purple and Escape From New York . China Beach
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