The Painted Desert selected Higgin to direct the film, as well as naming the stars of the film, William Boyd and Dorothy Burgess. Later in the month it was reported that Higgin would head to Arizona to begin location scouting for the film, accompanied by fellow director, Tay Garnett, however in August Higgin began scouting in the Arizona desert with the screenwriter, Tom Buckingham. It was announced that the film would employ over 300 extras. Higgin was familiar with the area, having working in and around Flagstaff, Arizona as a lumberjack prior to his entering the film industry. Towards the end of August
USS U. S. Grant (AP-29) she could resume active service. During this overhaul, which would last through the spring of 1922, the ship was fitted with modern marine watertube boilers for greater safety in operation and to enable the ship to make increased speed. On 3 June 1922, at Brooklyn, New York, the transport was renamed "U. S. Grant"; Princess Cantacuzene, wife of Major General Prince Cantacuzene, Count Speransky of Russia, and a granddaughter of General Ulysses S. Grant, christened the ship. For almost two decades, "U. S. Grant" soldiered on in the Army Transport Service, maintaining a regular schedule of voyages carrying troops, passengers,