Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

people of the stage have to put aside their judgments of Dallas and trust that she can deliver the baby, just as
Mrs. Mallory herself has to admit that she would need someone as low as Dallas to aide her. In this moment
and in the following Indian battle, most of the people of the stagecoach band together and accept each other
for their differences. This bond will not last once they reach Lordsburg.
The very name “Lordsburg” implies a place of salvation, and safety. It suggests itself as a safe haven,
representing civilization opposed to the dangerous wilderness full of violent savage Indians through which
the coach has just passed. The town is intentionally named to juxtapose what the characters would actually
find once they entered the town. Ford reveals the town itself to be decadent and evil. The streets are
narrow and twisted, closed in by shadows and distorted buildings, and figures are distinct and ambiguous
and appear untrustworthy. The inhabitants of Lordsburg are easily viewed in the background of the scenes.
There are officious and haughty townswomen that perceive themselves to be at the highest level of society
and form a literal wall with their bodies that Dallas cannot cross. This blockage shows that no matter how
useful Dallas was to the stagecoach party, she will never be accepted by mainstream society. She is
permanently relegated to the other part of town. The town of Lordsburg is filled with an oppressive
darkness and populated by criminals like Luke Plummer and his gang, as well as a plethora of prostitutes
and saloons.
As Dallas and Ringo walk through the town the evening silence is pierced by raucous laughter and
the strains of a honky tonk piano, which sharply contrasts with the classical music played during the scenes
in the Valley. The lightness and openness of the Valley is meant to stand in stark contrast to this dark and
oppressive place. The music is crass and symbolic of the type of people inhabiting it, while the music of the
Valley was noble. Lordsburg is a dramatic inversion of Monument Valley. For Ringo it is clearly more
treacherous than the desert. When the saloon is first glimpsed it is shown as an unfriendly smoky, stifling
atmosphere. Its inhabitants are tense, and shifty. Through this saloon Ford has created a “wilderness
landscape” within the “civilized” town. (Engel 179) Even when Plummer and his gang go outside the saloon
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