Once upon a time, when movies were made in Hollywood, finding a place to make Westerns was never a concern. Hollywood simply went out to its own backyard and started SHOOTING!
Welcome to “Hollywood Trails — Where The West Was Shot!” Whether growing up watching Westerns at the Saturday matinee, or at home on television, chances are, when you picture the West, you’re more likely to think of Monument Valley, rather than the San Fernando Valley. If so, you’ve responded exactly the way Hollywood wanted you to, by accepting what was being seen as the “West.” It’s an illusion of course. Yet, the West has always been perceived in that suppositious fashion, from the very days of the frontier itself, starting out with exaggerated and often suspect newspaper reports that led to dime novels and pulp fiction.
Then came the melodramatic stage plays, followed by the extremely popular Wild West Show. After William “Buffalo Bill” Cody toured the world with his version of the West, he literally went Hollywood. The famous Universal Studios in California was opened in 1915 by the legendary buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, and showman himself. Cody was not just the greatest character……………………………….