UPDATE IV: I won this original Jeep Herders Movie Poster on eBay the other day. It’s a 40″x27″ lobby poster. It came with a lobby card with a still shot from the movie. I plan to make a scan of it so I can get a digital copy printed for display:

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UPDATE III: Brian left this comment: “Thanks to the work of Eric Steadman at the Serial Squadron, Planet Picture’s “Jeep-Herders” (1946) has been restored and can now be seen in its entirety for free on youtube. See link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owUmWZIHJRU
You can also help support the preservation of serials by purchasing a DVD copy of the restored Jeep-Herders at the Serial Squadron website: http://www.serialsquadron.com“

A quick look through the movie on youtube and one of the jeeps looks to be a Ford GP MT Tug (6×6). There’s also a Ford GP and what looks to be (based on the sides) the original Ford Pygmy.

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Last update April 12, 2018 — UPDATE II: See some still shots from the filming that show a couple Ford GPs.

UPDATE: This post once contained information on the El Dorado Jeepherders jeep club and their association with the placer miner and his pan ornament. I have moved the that information to this link.

JEEP-HERDERS MOVIE:

In 1945, Planet Pictures, a new venture founded by two stuntmen, produced it’s first movie: Jeep-Herders, a full-length movie shot in color on 16mm film. Planet PIctures’ goal was to produce movies that could bypass theaters for play in schools and churches, as 16mm projectors were very common at the time and much cheaper than the 35mm projectors. In addition, there was growing interest in 16mm for large audiences, as an industrial film on 16mm was shown to a crowd of 6000 in 1945. (click on this link and scroll down a page).

1945 Article by Film World News

The plot of the movie was pretty pedestrian, “A wildcat oil outfit is seeking to take over the ranch belonging to Pop Martin and his son Bob and daughter Helen. Bob sends his ex-army pals a “stay-way” message, which brings them on the double. The WW II vets use their jeeps, first for a cattle roundup, and then to round up the gang of crooks, including the crooked family-lawyer Thatcher, brains of the gang.”

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As usual, it’s been a busy few weeks around here. By late October, the awesome warm fall weather began giving way to colder than normal temps, so we became incentivized to finish outdoor stuff up before the really cold weather hit.

I added landscaping rock around the bunkhouse, the north side of the shop, and around the newly moved propane tank (still need to add the fence boards around the tank). The best part of this landscaping rock is that it was free, as our neighbor had a bunch of left over rock he wasn’t going to use. That saved us about $1000.

The dirt areas on either side of the walkway will become grass, but we ran out of time to complete the prep on that (may have to wait until Spring).

All the water systems have been blown and heaters installed in a couple areas related to the water systems. We didn’t quite get to burying the pipes underground for the cow’s water trough, so I buried a hose, which should work for the winter. (we did get the booster water pump fixed; didn’t cost much, so that was good)

To save on some feed costs, we lined up some of our panels so the cows can access the entrance for the neighbor’s property to eat down his pasture grass. This also saves me from having to drop hay during this cold snap.

Now, suddenly we are about a week away from Thanksgiving. Time sure does fly!

As a reminder, this is how things looked before the walkways and landscaping:

Here are some current pictures:

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