Once upon a time, they made movies in Kanab. Big, wild, rollicking Westerns that starred the likes of John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Clint Eastwood and Ronald Reagan.
Tony Wright grew up in Kanab during those days. His family has lived here since the days when Kanab really was the wild West; his great-grandfather was the sheriff there.But during the 1950s and '60s, Hollywood came. "I was in high school when they were filming the 'Wagon Train' series, and all the high school kids got to be Indians."
One of his favorite stories, though, came during the filming of "Fort Apache." The movie company needed 300 Indians and recruited them from the Navajo and Piute and Ute reservations. "Producers of the movie went to some of the Indians and told them they would get paid more if they fell off their horses when they got shot. Well," says Wright, "when the first shot was fired, all 300 of them fell to the ground."
They don't make movies like that any more. But Wright enjoys entertaining visitors to Denny's Wigwam in Kanab with such stories. These days, however, he's making a movie of his own, shooting daily episodes of his "How The West Was Lost."
The reason the movie never gets finished might have something to do with his talent pool. Tony recruits actors and actresses from the folks assembled for the chuckwagon cookout at Denny's Wigwam.
Let's see, he says. First, we need a wagon master. Then a couple of coyotes. A good man. A bad man. A playboy. Some saloon girls. A pioneer couple. Soldiers. Indians.
In all, about 20 people are chosen and sent off to wardrobe to get their costumes.
Then the whole group assembles outside on the movie set and action begins, under the supervision of deadpan director George Kirby. The story, of course, includes every Western cliche imaginable. And it should be a little hokey. Instead, it's a whole lot of fun -- for everyone, participants and watchers alike. And when it's all over -- when the good guy and the bad guy had had their shootout and the pioneer couple has been saved from the Indians (riding stick horses)
by the timely arrival of the cavalry (also riding stick horses), the crew gets together and confers "Oscars" on the actor and actress who have best portrayed the high ideals of the production.
They, of course, must give their acceptance speeches -- but keep it brief, please, because the food is awaiting: finger-lickin' beef and beans and potatoes and biscuits, cooked in dutch ovens under the supervision of Wright's sister, Lonnie Kirby.
People come by the busloads to enjoy this taste of the old West. Through arrangements with tour companies taking visitors to Utah's parks and canyons, groups are brought in for either lunch or dinner.
During the busy season, Wright will do as many as four to six lunches and then some dinners all in one day. The show and dinner takes about an hour.
"Kanab's not big enough to survive on off-the-street traffic," notes Dennis Judd, who owns the Wigwam gift shop and leases the movie lot and dinner facilities to Wright for his Western show and dinner. So, the bus tours help a lot. But walk-in trade is also welcome.
"We just ask people to make reservations," says Wright. And they encourage families to come for lunch. With so many different times, they can accommodate almost any-sized group at one time or another.
He and his sister have been doing this for the past 12 years. Before that, he worked at the sawmill in Fredonia. This is much more fun.
They started out with the typical wild-West shootout, he says. But a lot of people complained about the noise the blanks made. "Then we had a gentleman come through who had worked in the movies. He made a tape for us along this line, and this skit has kind of evolved over the years."
At first, he thought, no way they'd get people out there riding stick horses. But the idea hit with a bang. The secret to success, he says, is the group participation. Everyone seems to enjoy getting out there and acting to the hilt.
People of all ages love it, he says. "They have a great time."
He estimates that about 90 percent of the people who have come through have been from foreign countries. His place mats, in fact, are printed in French, German, Italian and Japanese in addition to English. "For a lot of them, all they know about the old West is what they've seen in movies. So, it's a thrill to be here where John Wayne and many other actors spent much of their movie careers."
And Wright enjoys sharing a bit of Kanab history with his visitors. "Our ancestors helped settle Kanab, so our families have been here for a long time."
The name is a Piute Indian word meaning "place of the willow." Kanab was founded in 1870 by Mormon pioneers who were sent here by Brigham Young to raise sheep and cattle. "We still raise a lot of cattle." But nowadays, tourism is equally important.
The first movie was made in 1924, a silent Western called "Deadwood Coach," starring Tom Mix. In all, more than 100 movies have been made here.
You can't count "How The West Was Lost" among them. But you can count on it for a lot of fun.