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
East Desert Range Range) to Desert Valley and Desert Lake to the west of the Sheep Range. The region also contains Surprise Canyon, which flows due west into the east of Dog Bone Lake in Three Lakes Valley. East Desert Range The East Desert Range is a mountain range in Lincoln County, Nevada. The range is northwest-southeast trending around the Three Lakes Valley where Dog Bone Lake is the large landform in the valley flatlands. The range sits mostly to the north and northeast of Three Lakes Valley. The southern terminus of the range lies in a mixture of hills associated with the