TDW 1880 - Abandoned Gunsmoke TV Show Town
Transcript
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welcome everyone Adam the Wu here today
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I am very thankful that there was a
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convenience store out here it's my
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second channel daily vlog channel coffee
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is or
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there are quite a few no trespassing
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signs but directly over this lock gate
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there's something pretty fantastic not
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made from wood like you traditionally
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normally see this one's made of rock or
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concrete perhaps can't get any closer
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the sign States due to vandalism and
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theft you must have written oh look
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there was another one there the sign
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sits on top of another broken one you
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have to think about how much time and
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effort went into whittling away at that
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thing and that's not timber that's a
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much much more heavy substance down this
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little road lies Johnson Canyon the Old
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West is straight ahead at least what was
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depicted on television westerns were
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very popular in the nineteen thirties
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forties fifties sixties and into the
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seventies and a lot of them were filmed
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out here on this open terrain in fact
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what appears to be a real-life ghost
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town is really a production set for some
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of those old serials not the kind you
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eat but the kind you watch no it has
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been quite a while since actors or a
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crew have set foot out here but these
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facades have been used in quite a few
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things you may have seen on TV the most
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popular reference being Gunsmoke which
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ran for an almost unprecedented by
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today's standards 20 years and they used
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some of these buildings now the majority
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of the show was not even filmed out here
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as best I could research there were only
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a couple times that this was used for
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Dodge City but nonetheless pretty
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freakin cool
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if this unstructured soundstage and
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walls could talk it would tell us that
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people were dancing and playing poker
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right over in that corner marshal Dillon
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could have sat in that very chair it's a
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big hypothetical but maybe now keep in
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mind this was used in dozens of other
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productions and what stands out to me
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when I think of cowboys I think of the
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saloon and the doors that you would walk
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through right into that the ambience of
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this place really
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suits it well because walking around
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here is slightly dangerous just look at
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the floor
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the Glatt broken glass the holes leading
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well it's not it's only like a foot down
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but still you could twist an ankle you
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can see the theming of the old windows
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up there and look closely there's a
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wooden ledge that goes around the
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perimeter of the roof I'm guessing for
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the cameraman to sit on this ladder
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climbing it would be quite unwise the
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more I think about it somewhat of my
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weight trouncing around on this
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decomposing floor meandering over there
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probably not a good idea either I
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attempted to use my Columbo like
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research skills to find some screenshots
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and match up the buildings but nothing
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really completely is accurate the front
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door of the hotel even these little
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slats of wood and the awning in front of
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the bar completely different than photos
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I found online which makes me think the
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couple times it was used for Gunsmoke
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was probably for pickup shots or maybe
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some later episodes now keep in mind
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these were not real homes which means
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this fireplace was specifically built to
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film a scene there were actors
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delivering their lines right there now
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it's just a congregation of ticks red
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ants and snakes
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oh yeah and cow patties can't forget
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about the cow patties a lot of the
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facades have decomposed due to the
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elements over time this I thought was a
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fallen house but upon closer inspection
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I think it was a mine shaft set judging
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by how low it goes into the ground and
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these rocks that's the best thing I
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could assume I do see why they use this
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location with the backdrop of the
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mountains this was the church building
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or maybe a school a lot of flies out
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here buzzing around the roof has seen
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better days Oh check it out people have
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inscribed their names some of them
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dating back to 1977 86
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82 upon further thought process I don't
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know what this was specifically used for
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the outside totally does not match the
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interiors when it comes to theming
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indoors you could have documented a
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family hanging out around the fireplace
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or cooking a meal on this stove but
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outside a totally different vibe
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altogether and I first heard of this
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place and the fact that it still
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moderately kind of existed I knew I
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needed to come out here simply because a
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couple more storms and these will all be
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on the ground in reality I'm kind of
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amazed that some of them lasted as long
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as they did relics of the past left to
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rot memories of a bygone era the golden
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age of television I was reading an
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article about a man who used to own the
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property many many many years ago who
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was restoring those buildings obviously
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that did not come to fruition that he
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was promoting the property as the town
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from Gunsmoke when in reality that's
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only moderately true if you take into
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consideration that Gunsmoke ran for two
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decades and most of the people there
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were stars on it were celebrities as the
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show got more and more popular
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they lived in California most of the
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episodes filmed out near Los Angeles
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some a few that were filmed here in Utah
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were over where I just was and some of
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the others are about five or ten miles
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up the road pretty interesting I really
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would like to know which season and
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which episodes were filmed at that
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abandoned set I mean someone's got to
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know look at that mural said dot it is
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Don Knotts and Tim Conway are on there
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there's just no coincidence because the
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Apple Dumpling gang rides again was
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filmed in this neck of the woods not
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where I just was but what I mentioned
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that's up the road as well as The Outlaw
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Josey Wales Clint Eastwood who knew all
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this took place Oh
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all the way out here check it out I
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think I found the first photo that
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matches up where I just was the windows
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the awning the porch everything is the
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same that's that holy cow that's where
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I'm located right now where the star is
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this shows the general terrain of this
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whole area inside the tourist info
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center they gave me a list of
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productions that have been going on here
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since 1924 I recognize a few of these
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names as being filmed in Los Angeles for
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example the Lone Ranger Rock is in LA
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but a lot of the episodes were out in
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this area
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the dude Ranger dude ranger maybe this
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place could shed a little light on the
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subject little Hollywood Museum and
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trading post this was used in a music
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video by Kenny Loggins in 1991 from the
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Grand Canyon it was the backdrop when he
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was playing the song the fascinating
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thing is what I'm standing and currently
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is the real set he rode right by here on
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his horse of course they've moved it
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from its original location but
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nonetheless
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it's the actual one this cabin was used
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at a 1973 Disney comedy starring Jodie
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Foster and James Garner called one
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little Indian there it is this was the
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barn also used in Josie Wells since the
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movie was made the property was sold and
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they got permission to move everything
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to where it now resides they have even
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created a little makeshift Cemetery now
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there are no graves below my feet but
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there is a wooden cutout of John Wayne
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there's a new sheriff in town
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and I'm looking for the man that
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decapitated my friends over to the side
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of me
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they have no heads just to show you a
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little behind the scenes movie magic
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that's styrofoam and to get a closer
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look here's one piece that's completely
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on
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so if there was a fight scene let's say
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this was a chunk of wood you could hit
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someone over and over and over it kind
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of hurts a little bit but not as much as
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it would see what I did there would not
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as much as it would not shall Libre if
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you have ever been in the market for
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John Wayne toilet paper this is the
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place to buy it some very interesting
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stuff in there not a lot of info on what
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I was looking for but this designates
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that they filmed in the 60s
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that means the 50s era and 70s era of
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Gunsmoke was not filmed out here I'm on
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my way now to the location of where the
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bigger of the two movie ranches they
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used to reside in this area was the
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other place which still had some
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structures was the smaller of the two
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this spot supposedly has nothing left
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it sits down at the bottom of angel
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canyon to look closely up there on the
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hillside in that cave there are chunks
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of wood maybe a former set or a cabin
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that once was up there the property has
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been bought by an animal shelter but
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just looking at those hills you can
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definitely see why they chose this spot
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to film so many different shows and move
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breathtaking scenery to say the least
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what a view we're now venturing onto a
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very bumpy dirt road and search of a few
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other items I can't get over this
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scenery it's incredible
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not the best driving conditions for
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Large Marge but it's worth it
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it's definitely based on the view
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definitely worth the Wow take a look at
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that
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remember the Jodie Foster Disney movie I
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was mentioning earlier and they moved
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one of the pieces to that little Museum
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that's the barn that's the actual barn
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still in the same spot and they're using
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it current day as a horse corral this
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cave area was used in the 1950s movie
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about The Lone Ranger as tantos hideout
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and if you look closely they painted
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inscriptions on the side of the wall
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that are not real basically just props
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for the production and they are still
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here half a century later these are not
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relics real relics these were put here
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by the crew to make it look more
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authentic for filming who knew this was
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out here I sure didn't until today you
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learn something new all the time and
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what do you know it's listed on the
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sheet 1956 that's awesome
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it's got me thinking I really like to
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know what exact opposite of season and
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episode numbers of Gunsmoke were filmed
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out of Johnson ranch here in Utah I'm
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sure you're curious as well and if you
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use your Columbo like research skills
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and figure that out leave some comments
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down below because not only i but also
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others and i'm sure you are interested
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in knowing what was filmed in california
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what was filming utah specifically what
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was filmed in those abandoned buildings