Get out of the car, leave the 21st century behind, and step onto the old-west streets of Mescal. Much of the filming for "The Young Riders" took place here.
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Mescal is a real film set. In addition to "The Young Riders," many other productions have filmed here. When we visited in September 2004, the hot topic was "Treasure of the Seven Mummies," a film that had been produced here a few months earlier. (Due to be released later in 2004.) This is a shot looking down Main Street. | |
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The livery stable. | |
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"Rachel's" house in Rock Creek. | |
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This is Joe, one of our guides. He's done a lot of film and television work -- most of it in westerns. As he put it, the production companies love the actors who can provide their own (very) authentic garb. Joe is also a member of the Tombstone Vigilantes, a group that re-enacts the shootout at the OK Corral 2 or 3 times a month in Tombstone. The Vigilantes have won the national competition for re-enactment groups several times. (Joe stands in as Virgil Earp in the shootout.) | |
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This is Dave, our official host for the day. The last few years, Frank had been our guide, but he was out of town this year. But Frank had prepared Dave well, and we got a marvelous tour (that extended WAY beyond the scheduled hour). Dave is a part-time actor and an agent himself -- he represents Joe and Shotgun and got them to come out to Mescal for the day to add some local western "flavor" to the set. | |
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Another view of Main Street. | |
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Joe and Shotgun -- Shotgun is also one of the Tombstone Vigilantes (he portrays one of the McLaury brothers). In addition to lending some authentic atmosphere to the set, and telling some fun stories about working on productions at Mescal, Joe and Shotgun performed another important task -- snake patrol. With their long pants and heavy boots, they took point when we went off the street. As Dave put it, the rattlesnakes had been out in force recently. (We didn't see any -- though we were getting some threatening looks from a couple of bulls that wandered through from nearby grazing land.) | |
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Let's pause for a moment of silence . . . this is all that's left of "Emma's" house. It collapsed earlier this summer. | |
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The Sweetwater bunkhouse. | |
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The Sweetwater barn has also bitten the dust. | |
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The gang at the bunkhouse: (Front Row) Kellie, Sameena, Dee; (Back Row) Danielle, Tracy, Cindy, Lori | |
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The hotel (the balcony fell off a while back). | |
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The Marshal's office. | |
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Ready to check in???? | |
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The Rock Creek bunkhouse. | |
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Shotgun, Dave, and Joe. | |
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Our guides, closer up. | |
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Dave & "Turdy" -- she keeps him company when he takes his turn as live-in caretaker out at Mescal. | |
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Rainbow over Tucson. |