Hollywood has long recognized that Custer County has unsurpassed vistas. It is the kind of scenery that seems to exist only in a big budget Western epic with stars like John Wayne or Lee Marvin. The fact is, these panoramic views still exist here today due to the strong ranching heritage in the valley. It is the widest valley in Colorado and is well irrigated, turning expansive pastures a rich emerald green. The Sangre de Cristos stand tall behind he richly colored fields and make the perfect backdrop for any cowboy movie.

The first movie to be filmed here was Twisted Trails, starring Tom Mix and Bessie Eyton. It was a silent black and white film made in 1916. While filming Tom stayed at the Hotel Canon in Silver Cliff for this film and others he made in Fremont and Custer Counties.

In 1951, Hollywood returned to make another film, Vengeance Valley. Burt Lancaster starred in this MGM classic as an adoptive son of a rancher who pitted against Robert Walker who played the part of the native son. This "Cain and Abel" plot has stood the test of time and is still shown on cable and satellite TV.

Two more films followed. The Outcast featured Ben Cooper, Jim Davis and Joan Evans in a complex western love story and Saddle the Wind starring Julie London, Robert Taylor and John Cassavetes in another story of sibling rivalry. The actors from Saddle the Wind made the Hotel Canon their home-away-from-home.

Then in 1962, Hollywood used the local landscape for scenes in the star studded epic, How the West Was Won. Many of the great Western actors were in this one, including Henry Fonda, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Richard Widmark and the larger than life, John Wayne. The Duke returned in 1972 to film The Cowboys. With a rag tag group of boys, John's character, Will Anderson drives a herd of cattle to market.

Lee Marvin and Jane Fonda layed out their roles in Cat Ballou at John Brandenburg's ranch right here in the valley in 1965. The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox was produced in 1976 with George Segal and Goldie Hawn, followed by The White Buffalo with Charles Bronson and Kim Novak. Jane Fonda came back in 1978 to make Comes a Horseman with James Caan.

The last Hollywood production was Continental Divide in 1981. Bear Basin Ranch still remembers the late John Belushi living out at the ranch for nearly a year while filming. Blair Brown co-starred as the other half in this love/hate relationship.

Hollywood may have come and gone, but the picturesque scenery still remains. The remote location and the efforts of the San Isabel Land Protection Trust will insure the views are here for generations to come. Perhaps Hollywood will return someday.