"A Letter From Location." by Lois Wilson - Picture Play, January 1926 (excerpts)

"We are near Kayenta, one hundred and sixty miles from the nearest railroad, on the Navajo reservation, surrounded by desert scenery and thirty-five thousand Indians . . . We have had rainstorms, sandstorms, heat that sent the mercury up to one undred and thirty degrees, locations that could be reached only by long horseback rides and sometimes only by mule-pack. In some places, every drop of water had to be hauled over trackless rocks for miles, and conserved carefully, a bit at a time doled out to us; and several times we have skipped meals, not through any desire to diet but because there was nothing to eat."

"This is the Life! - A Diary of Days Spent In the Desert With the Vanishing Americans" by Lois Wilson - Motion Picture Magazine, November 1925 (excerpts)

"June 28th - My birthday! At last, after eighty miles of salmon, purple, blue, green, rose and amethyst desert, we came to the old Mormon settlement where we are to live, a place of giant cotton woods, green fields and tinted stone buildings which are used as a school in winter and equipped with baths and showers and such city comforts."

"July 3rd: The day was memorable because Richard Dix arrived on location. It is the first time we have played together since January a year ago and I was glad to see him again. The elements celebrated the event by providing us with a sandstorm at noon."

"July 4th: We shot the fight scenes in the school-room where Richard protects me from Noah beery today. Poor Noah, and I have been in so many pictures in which he attacks me and I am protected by heroes that I feel the fans must know exactly what we are going to do. There really should be a comedy for us in which Noah can rush to my aid when the hero is annoying me!"

"July 11th: This day was dedicated to suffering for my art. I spent it kneeling in the hot sand clad in crepe de Chine while Richard dies in my arms."

"July 12th: All morning we took the scene of Richard's death. I cried so hard and so long that I could scarcely come out of the scene and had to spend the rest of he day in bed. There is no man on the screen who can play as Richard does. He give so much that he makes a scene live and helps me give the very best there is in me."

"This is the Life!" by Richard Dix - Motion Picture Magazine, December 1925 (excerpts)

"July 12th: Died all morning. Lois was marvelous. She had everybody in the outfit, including a dozen or so visitors who had driven the righty miles or more from Flag in tears, too. She even had me on the verge of weeping over my sad end. There is no girl in pictures who is so square, so fair, so absolutely straight and real in a scene as Lois. I'm proud to be playing with her! She was so 'all in' at the end of it that I insisted on her lying down."

"July 14th: My birthday! . . . I was surely surprised when at dinner tonight the cook brought in an enormous cake, iced in white with pink frosting in do-dads over it and raisins inside. Everybody shouted, 'Speech!' I responded with a Navajo yell - I hope it was Navajo - winding up with, 'I'm sweet sixteen and have never been kissed.' As a finale, I bent over Lois, who sat beside me, but she went on eating beans and paid no attention . . . I got embarrassed and sat down. Everybody laughed. Lois came out of it, and I told her what I thought of her throwing me down before the camp on my birthday. She said she didn't even see me . . . While I was teasing her, something happened . . . all of a sudden, by some underground wireless of Lois', the six girls at the table, headed by Lois and Shannon Day, swooped won upon me and kissed me, one after another, no pause for breath. I swear I didn't know what was going on - I got dizzy with the first kiss and by the time it was over, I had fainted beside the table."

"July 16th: Rain in the desert! They manufactured a storm for us today, and it was so hot that the feel of the drops trickling down our necks was marvelous . . . From the dripping coolness of the shower, I went to an interior scene - yes, we have interiors in the middle of the desert! - and the combination of 120 in the shade, sand, and Kleig lights nearly put my eyes out of business. When we left the set at 6:30, there was a box of dozens of bottles of ice-cold ginger ale. 'What a property-man!' we cried and patted him on the back. But, come to find out about it, it was a happy thought of Lois' - she had thought of us suffering in the heat and sent it out."

"Richard has rescued me from Noah Beery in so many pictures that we staged a private scene after work one day and let Noah do the rescuing just to ease his wounded pride." (SAG note: Interestingly, this photo appears on the cover of the Image DVD release - apparently not realizing it was a gag photo?)

from "This is the Life! - A Diary of Days Spent In the Desert With the Vanishing Americans" by Lois Wilson - Motion Picture Magazine, November 1925) 

 "Malcolm MacGregor and I are inventing a brand-new kind of telephone. It works beautifully - if you have a good carrying voice!"

from "This is the Life! - A Diary of Days Spent In the Desert With the Vanishing Americans" by Lois Wilson - Motion Picture Magazine, November 1925)

 "Lois, Noah and I were always doing foolish things. Once while I was tum-tumming on an old Indian war drum, the other two walked solemnly past, and Lois handed me a nickel."

"This is the Life!" by Richard Dix - Motion Picture Magazine, December 1925


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