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
Tule Desert (Nevada) Tule Desert (Nevada) The Tule Desert is located in southeastern Nevada in Lincoln County, near the Utah state line. The desert lies northeast of the Mormon Mountains, south of the Clover Mountains and west of the Tule Springs Hills. The desert descends from an elevation of around on the foothills of the Clover Mountains west of Lime Mountain to around about to the south-southeast at the narrow Toquop Gap between the East Mormon Mountains and the Tule Springs Hills. A number of washes drain the desert in a generally north-south direction. The Tule Desert Well lies west of Jumbled Mountain