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Show Cheyenne Autumn 6 a Friday in November By Jim Stiles only was the scenery around Moab spectacular. Ford was grateful "to be able to escape such modem installations as telephone wires, traffic and airplanes...jet trails play havoc with western sty scenes in a movie." Every motel and guest house in town was filled with cast and crew and locals watched in awe as the celebrities frequented Moab's eateries and night spots Carroll Baker led a limbo line one night while Richard Widmark maintained the beat with a pair of chop sticks. But, as the reported, while "most all cafes are gathering spots for the stars, have and although townspeople enjoyed being present to see the famous stars, they have courteously respected their privacy." Despite the movie crew, places to rent in Moab were still available. Holiday Haven advertised lots that week fair $30 a month, "all utilities furnished. And if you wanted to house in downtown Moab was listing for $4,250. buy a home in Moab, a of November On the morning 22nd, the film production was shooting at the movie-mad- e Indian village near George White's ranch and Ford was not getting the performance that he wanted from one of his stars. It was the climactic scene of the movie Ricardo Montalban and Sal Mineo fight to the death for a woman they both love and when the smoke clears, Mineo lies dead. Dolores Del Rio, portraying Mineo's mother, fells to her knees and is supposed to weep uncontrollably for her fellen son. But for the camera, the tears would just not flow the way Ford expected them to. Take after take was shot, but Ford was dissatisfied with each one. He was determined to get it right, even if he had to "People will remember today as a day to date things in their Hoes from, in the same way they did with President Roosevelt. They say, where were you when President Roosevelt died.... they will say the same thing about where were you when you first heard the word of President Kennedy's assassination." --Harry Reasoner, CBS News 5:42 p.m., November 22, 1963 Times-Independe- "There is implicit in all human tragedy a waste, a pointlessness. Tragedy unobserved is even more penniless. But tragedy unremembered surety must rank with profound sin." -- Saul Pett, 1964 nt three-bedroo- m In the early autumn of 1963, John Kennedy made a trip to Utah. Still shaken by the previous October's Cuban Missile Crisis, the President had something on his mind, and he wanted to tell the citizens of the most conservative state in the union what it was. Elected as a Cold War warrior, a president who "would pay any price, bear any burden" to fight Communist aggression around the world, Kennedy had traveled to the brink of global nuclear annhiliation and now his world view had changed. UPI 9N BULLETIN 1ST The (!Wt1W6 S- -i-S Mofc .... O' ; ; Filming a. i Mb os, Haarl ol rtConyonUm 1963 tr-;- -, ,, ' Wnrf. LEAD fSt SHOOT INC N0V 22 ?Bndent Hr aV Mem hers B. CONNALLY trn9la ,l.XiUS Heor m '" P""C,I'IV up thrtr Mm'" 4tib ih Sn h'lMrd their appnTto WM ekttbllah a t Z Wflfet lha Sul weqiertiii I ImIi Mnih al'r fei MOTORCADE SKVSE" M in TODAY SHOTS HERS DOWNTOWN DALLAS. PRESTOE- -J F.W JT12JSPCS.. mu sIS&z&SS I he iu wimIIIt aaHL Itoir Nm (mil unllMhnl dMlto rwt rorh u miieai area Ow (lrt ui.ih y, vilirys Ihr V i., wHi as icnei art'! aiwts and inmAo nuaiifiM anal ft. I mm hi'lli. dura ( Ihr Imll.iin Inna tifclJh-mpHinlry rife t B,, 51 EAST OF THE '' 'f.r 3'JT lengths behind S)oinpi I ISSiiSr IT1 hr 5ts And so, on October 3, 1963, in the Mormon Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, the president laid out his vision of the future, which included cooperation, not confrontation with the Soviet Uniion. It was a risky proposal to make anywhere; in the Rocky Mountain West, it almost seemed suicidal. He talked about the Limited Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union, just ratified by the Senate: Hlt took Brigham Young 108 days to go from Winter Quarters, Nebraska, to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. It takes 30 minutes for a missile to go from one continent to another...That is why the test ban treaty is important as a first step, perhaps to be disappointed, perhaps to find ourselves ultimately set back, but at least in 1963 the United States committed itself, to one chance to end the radiation and the possibilities of burning." To his surprise, the audience erupted in cheers and applause. Even here in the heart of the conservative Rocky Mountain West, Americans were weary and scared of the Cold War and the constant threat of world annhiliation. Always the politician, Kennedy considered the enthusiastic response and wondered if his chances of electoral success in the western states had not improved. Clearly, he would be back in 1964. Three months later and a thousand miles away, a gray drizzle fell on the crowd of five thousand Kennedy supporters who had gathered in the parking lot across from the Ft Worth Hotel Texas. The president of the United States was expected to address the group in a few minutes, and the man they awaited gazed down from the vantage point of his eighth floor suite. John Kennedy was joined by two of his closest aides Ken O'Donnell and Larry O'Brien. O'Donnell, leafing through Friday morning's Dallas News, had fallen upon an ugly full page advertisement Its sardonic heading read "Welcome Mr. for Dallas" was and local of it the coordinator the to Birch Society. John by paid Kennedy The two men watched the President read each line and then saw him thrust the paper aside. Kennedy returned his gaze to the parking lot below and the milling crowd, "You know, he said, "they talk about security, and protecting the President. But look at this." He stared at the unprotected platform where he would deliver his address. "If anyone wants to get you, they can always do it. - black-border- FIVECAR - ed pre-breakf- ast In Moab, Utah the dawn of November 22nd broke sunny and bright; though the temperature had fellen to just below freezing during the night, the desert sun quickly removed the chill from the air and by noon the thermometer read in the 50s typical fell shirtsleeve weather in the canyon country. The town bustled with activity. Director John Ford and the cast and crew of his next movie, the Warner Brothers production of "Cheyenne Autumn" was in the Moab area for two weeks. The film starred Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Gilbert Roland, Dolores Del Rio and Ricardo Montalban and they were all here, along with a supporting cast and crew of about 350. It wasn't Director Ford's first trip to Moab and he indicated it wouldn't be the last. Not frTjP-- - wmw imi ftwt. stay there all day. Fifty miles north, representatives of the U.S. Army and Air Force were putting the final touches on preparations for "Green River Day." The armed forces were inviting the community to become "officially acquainted" with missile launch facilities east of town. The test launches of the Athena missile, to begin in 1964, were designed to study techniques. The notice reminded the public that refreshments would be served, and that the activities would begin at 1 p.m. on November 22. re-ent- ry In Dallas, Air Force One touched down at 10:38 a.m. (Mountain Time) at Love Field. President and Mrs. Kennedy emerged from the rear door of the Boeing 707, waved to the crowd and descended the stairs to the tarmac below. After being introduced to yet another group of local dignitaries, the President and his First Lady plunged into the crowd of greeters that waited just beyond a chain link fence. A reporter for radio station KLIF described the scene: "This is a d operation for the Secret Service and Signal Corps. Nothing left to chance. Every possible precaution has been taken... The First Lady has been presented a lovely bouquet of red roses which contrasts nicely with the bright, pink suit split-secon- she's wearing..." As the Kennedys moved along the fence, the reporter continued, "This is where the Secret Service has their point of tension. When the President stops moving they say, this is their time of greatest concern." The custom-bui- lt Lincoln convertible, by the Secret Service, the beside President pulled Reluctantly, he left the cheering throngs behind him and climbed into the back seat of the open limousine. In Dallas, it was 1157 a.m. code-nam- ed SS-100- X In Blanding Utah, where the clock showed it was still in the desert southwest, John D. Nielson, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Morgan N. Nielson, looked anxiously to the future. Only a week earlier, he learned that he had been selected as a Peace Corps Volunteer. His assignment would take him half way around the world to Tanganyika where he would teach English grammar. The Peace Corps, a program close to President Kennedy' s heart, called out to young people around the country. Nielson was grateful to be one of the chosen. For Dwayne and Georgie Christensen, November 22nd was already a day to grieve. At 3;04 that morning Mrs. Christensen had given birth to a baby girl, Shelley Gay Christensen, but she died just three hours later. Services would be held on Sunday. In Grand County, the weekend rapidly approached and Moabites planned their Friday evening At the Downtown Holiday Theatre, the marquee featured two Jerry Lewis e comedies "Don't Give Up The Ship" and Baby." But mild autumn weather had kept the Grand Vu Drive-i- n open and gave movie goers an option. Playing on November "Tammy and the Doctor." At White's Ranch, Dolores Del Rio was still struggling to properly cry for John mid-morni- - 22-23-- "Rock-A-By- ng |
