Monument Valley

Monument Valley (, , meaning valley of the rocks) is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of sandstone buttes, the largest reaching above the valley floor. The most famous butte formations are located in northeastern Arizona along the Utah–Arizona state line. The valley is considered sacred by the Navajo Nation, the Native American people within whose reservation it lies. Monument Valley has been featured in many forms of media since the 1930s. Director John Ford used the location for a number of his Westerns; critic Keith Phipps wrote that "its have defined what decades of moviegoers think of when they imagine the American West". Geography and geology The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The elevation of the valley floor ranges from above sea level. The floor is largely siltstone of the Cutler Group, or sand derived from it, deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley's vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.