It's been decades since the "John Wayne suite" was occupied by its namesake, but it's usually filled. People from as far away as Europe call the Apache Motel in Moab to say they must sleep in the actual room in which the Duke stayed.
There are arches to see and the Colorado to float and the Slickrock to ride, but the "John Wayne Room" is at the top of the list for some to visit.
The motel is billed "Where John Wayne stayed." Wayne stayed in room 34 when he was alone, room 20 when his family was with him. I spent two nights in room 20. I never felt any spiritual manifestations of the Duke, as some guests have claimed, although my daughter Carly did complain about the oversize Wayne portrait that stared down at her as she lay in bed.
Wayne was a frequent guest in Moab in the '50s and '60s during the heyday of the Western movie genre. Director John Ford made his legendary films using the country around Moab as his backdrop, and in the process made John Wayne an icon.
"TV you can make on the back lot, but for the big screen, for the real outdoor dramas, you have to do it where God put the West," Wayne once said. "And there is no better example of this than around Moab."
And the Moab Chamber of Commerce thanks him.
It was Brady's idea to capitalize on the Apache's connection with John Wayne as a marketing tool. It took off after that. Maybe the Apache has become a second-class, albeit comfortable, motel that no longer sits on the main drag — Main Street was moved four blocks to the west — but it was good enough for Wayne and the movie stars who came here to make Westerns.
In the motel lobby, there are photos of their famous guests — Wayne, Ford, Anthony Quinn, Yvonne DeCarlo, Richard Widmark, Dorothy Malone, Ricardo Montalban, Stuart Whitman — and a near life-size cutout of the Duke standing behind the front desk.
"People comment on the others who have stayed here, but nothing like John Wayne," says Barbara Brady, manager of the Apache for nearly two decades. "They're watching westerns in Europe now, and they love John Wayne. He's an idea of an American. He wasn't always right in his films, but he was honest and forthright. That's what I get from people who come here."
The stars stayed here for weeks at a time. Henry Fonda supposedly fished with locals, Wayne visited with them in the evenings. The stars participated in bowling tournaments and potluck dinners.
"It was a different time," says Barbara.
In 1962, when Wayne was in town to film "The Comancheros," 14-year-old Dave Sakrison — now the Moab mayor — was sent by his grandparents to the Apache one afternoon to invite Wayne to their house for dinner. Sakrison knocked on the door.
"Get the hell out of here," a famous voice said from the other side of the door. "Can't you see I'm trying to get some rest."
Sakrison ran away and hid for a few minutes before working up his courage again. He knocked on the door a second time.
"Well, I can see I'm not going to get any rest, so I'll come out," the Duke replied.
Recalls Sakrison: "He opened the door and the one thing I can still remember is his belt buckle — a big "D" with diamonds set in it. He was larger than life and the most gracious guy you could ever meet. He signed autographs and let us take a photo with him. He graciously declined our dinner invitation because he said he had to get up early the next morning."
The photo can be seen today in the Apache lobby — it's the one with Wayne sans hairpiece. According to Sakrison, word of that particular photo reached one of Wayne's daughters, Aissa, and when she was in Moab a few years ago she made a point of visiting the Apache to see it because it was a rarity.
"That's one of the few pictures without his hairpiece," she noted.
When he ate meals at the motel restaurant (no longer there), he plopped his hairpiece onto the table and left it there until he finished his meal. He told locals he wore it only for his fans.
Apparently, Moab was one place he felt comfortable enough to let his hair down.
Doug Robinson's column runs on Tuesdays. Please e-mail drob@desnews.com.