In 1949, Western movie director John Ford was persuaded to use the area for the movie "Wagon Master". Ford had been using the area in Monument Valley around Mexican Hat, Utah, south of Moab. This is where he filmed "Stagecoach" there 10 years earlier in 1939. A local Moab rancher (George White) found Ford and persuaded him to come take a look at Moab. There have been numerous movies filmed in the area since then, using Arches National Park and Canyonlands National Park as backdrops.