Paria and Marshal Matt Dillon
The current historic town site of Paria, initially Pahrea but changed to Paria following John Wesley Powell’s misspelling, was founded on the bank of the Paria River in 1870. It grew until it supported 47 families in 1883, when 5 consecutive years of flooding drove most people out.
Today, the town is remembered as a site where many westerns were filmed. One of the earliest was the Rat Pack film “Sergeants 3” in 1962, but others were Mackenna’s Gold,” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
The town might be best know as the home of “Gunsmoke,” a TV show (remember Marshal Matt Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester and Festus?] that was filmed in Paria from 1955 to 1975. Other TV shows filmed there were “Death Valley Days” and “Daniel Boone.”
The site now draws history buffs and those who come to marvel at the colorfully striated hillsides. Paria is in the Grand Staircase of the Escalante in southern Utah.
Paria and Marshal Matt Dillon
The current historic town site of Paria, initially Pahrea but changed to Paria following John Wesley Powell’s misspelling, was founded on the bank of the Paria River in 1870. It grew until it supported 47 families in 1883, when 5 consecutive years of flooding drove most people out.
Today, the town is remembered as a site where many westerns were filmed. One of the earliest was the Rat Pack film “Sergeants 3” in 1962, but others were Mackenna’s Gold,” and “The Outlaw Josey Wales.”
The town might be best know as the home of “Gunsmoke,” a TV show (remember Marshal Matt Dillon, Miss Kitty, Chester and Festus?] that was filmed in Paria from 1955 to 1975. Other TV shows filmed there were “Death Valley Days” and “Daniel Boone.”
The site now draws history buffs and those who come to marvel at the colorfully striated hillsides. Paria is in the Grand Staircase of the Escalante in southern Utah.