Tornado's Mine: A little-known artifact of the filming era on the Lower Iverson

"Zorro's Black Whip" (1944): Tornado's Mine

A movie set on the old Iverson Ranch that has been largely overlooked is an old fake mine entrance that once stood in the Iverson Gorge. I call it Tornado's Mine, because it was built at the southern end of a cave that film historians know as Tornado's Cave. The mine entrance had one of its most high-profile appearances in the Republic serial "Zorro's Black Whip," as seen above.

"Perils of Nyoka" (1942): Tornado's Cave (northern entrance)

The northern entrance to Tornado's Cave is much more widely documented than the southern entrance. I've blogged previously about Tornado's Cave, focusing mainly on its north end — seen above in the Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka." For a detailed look at this screen shot and additional views of Tornado's Cave, please click here to read my earlier blog entry.

The Tornado's Mine location in modern times

The mine entrance is long gone now, along with virtually all of the manmade sets that once proliferated at the Iverson Movie Ranch. That is, most of it is gone — but I'm getting ahead of myself. The above shot taken on a recent visit to the Iverson Gorge shows the mine location as it appears today.

Antonio Banderas as a latter-day Zorro in Columbia's 
"The Legend of Zorro" (2005), riding a latter-day "Tornado"

Tornado's Cave is named after Zorro's horse, Tornado, sometimes called Toronado. By extension, Tornado's Mine also gets its name from the horse. I understand that in real life Tornado was played in Disney's "Zorro" TV series by Diamond Decorator. Whether there's a connection between "Zorro's Black Whip" and the naming of the cave is unclear, but it appears to be purely coincidence that Tornado's Mine makes one of its primary appearances in the Zorro serial.

"Laramie" TV series (1960): Tornado's Mine

One reason the southern entrance to Tornado's Cave didn't appear to get much airtime may have been because, throughout much of the filming era in the Iverson Gorge, the entrance was covered up by the fake mine entrance. In other words, the area may have in fact been filmed, but because of the mine, it wasn't recognizable. In some form, the mine entrance was in place for a couple of decades, if not longer. I've spotted it as far back as the early 1940s, and more recently I found it in a 1960 episode of the TV show "Laramie," as seen above.

"Laramie"

The mine entrance appears to have gone through some remodeling over the years, and it's likely the whole thing was torn down and rebuilt a time or two. The "doorway" in particular looks different in various productions. The "Laramie" shots are from the episode "Saddle and Spur," which premiered March 29, 1960, on NBC.

"Laramie"

One cool thing about the "Laramie" episode is that it includes this wider shot, which really nails down the location of the mine. Tornado's Mine was a close neighbor of Lone Ranger Rock, which can be seen near the bottom left corner of the frame.

Here's the wide shot from "Laramie" again, with some of the features highlighted. I've blogged about most of these features before, and for example, you can find much more about Split Roof by clicking here. This may be the first time I've mentioned Bust of Kennedy, which I tend not to talk about out of respect for the former president. But from certain angles, the rock formation really does look like JFK — to me, at least.

Here's a wide shot of the Nyoka Cliff area from a visit to the site a few years ago that I think shows the resemblance of the formation Bust of Kennedy to an actual bust of JFK. The base of the statue, if you choose to see it as a statue, is incorporated into the mine set in certain configurations.

"Have Gun — Will Travel" (1958)

Tornado's Mine also appears in an episode of "Have Gun — Will Travel" titled "A Snare for Murder," above. The episode aired during season two of the CBS Western, premiering Nov. 22, 1958 — five years, to the day, before the JFK assassination ... coincidence?

The rocks seen in front of the mine in the "Have Gun — Will Travel" screen shot help pinpoint the location of the mine set. These rocks, which I call the Tornado's Mine Rocks, remain in place today in the Gorge, just below Nyoka Cliff.

This shot from "Have Gun — Will Travel" shows a sign that was placed at the mine entrance for the episode. Other than the sign, the appearance of the entrance is similar to how it would look two years later in "Laramie."  Many readers may recognize series star Richard Boone as Paladin just outside the mine.

"Triple Justice" (1940)

Here's another view of the Tornado's Mine Rocks, from the RKO B-Western "Triple Justice," starring George O'Brien and Virginia Vale. The mine itself is not visible here, but Nyoka Cliff can be seen in the background.

This version of the shot identifies the Tornado's Mine Rocks, along with Nyoka Cliff.

The Tornado's Mine Rocks remain in place today, as seen in a recent photo by film historian Jerry Condit. Jerry was the one who pointed me to Tornado's Mine earlier this year.

Another recent view of the Tornado's Mine Rocks approximates the angle seen in "Triple Justice," with Nyoka Cliff again in the background.

A short distance from the Tornado's Mine Rocks, the mine area can be found.

Tornado's Mine: The site as it appears today

Here's a view of the site of Tornado's Mine on a recent visit to the location, and this is where I think it gets really interesting. We don't have to guess where the mine entrance was positioned, because remnants of it remain at the site — still attached to the rocks.

Piece of the mine entrance — still in position and still upright

It seems that whoever's job it was to demolish the set had the foresight — or more likely, was just lazy enough — to leave behind a few scraps so historians could come along decades later and rediscover it. Thank you!

Another piece of the mine entrance can be found a short distance away, also still upright.

I've marked the first two artifacts, because it may be a little hard to see them in the photos.

Pulling back for a wider view, this shot points out where artifacts A and B are positioned in the context of the overall setting for the mine entrance.

This may be the best find of the bunch: a hunk of concrete still attached to a rock, high above ground level, marking the upper reach of the mine entrance.

In the wider view, this is where the third artifact is situated.

Putting all the pieces together, this is where the mine entrance was located.

I hope to come back soon to the subject of Tornado's Mine because there's a little bit more to the story. But that's it for now.

Tornado's Cave and the "phantom limb"

"Perils of Nyoka" (1942) — Kay Aldridge as Nyoka, at the northern entrance to Tornado's Cave

The landmark Republic serial "Perils of Nyoka," starring Kay Aldridge as "Tarzan" author Edgar Rice Burroughs' heroine Nyoka the Jungle Girl, is featured regularly on this blog and you can read more about it by clicking here. But this time around let me call attention specifically to a short passageway through the rocks below Nyoka Cliff, known to historians and film location buffs as Tornado's Cave.

This highlighted version of the shot may help you see what's going on in the photo. The cave is small, as caves go, but still large enough for a German shepherd to wander around inside. And while getting in and out requires some care, it's even large enough — barely — to accommodate a person riding a horse.

Tornado's Cave as it appears today (southern entrance)

Seen above is the cave's southern entrance, which is almost always overlooked. This is NOT the angle we usually see in movies and TV shows when the cave appears. I think this entrance, which is smaller than the northern entrance, was just too small to be of much use. Even so, you could get in there from this end if you were so inclined. The cave is easy to find at Iverson if you know where to look, and I'll point it out on a map later in the post.

"Cowboy Holiday" (Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, 1934)

The more common northern entrance is just large enough to fit a horse and rider. I have to confess that until recently I had a slightly embarrassing personal misconception about this cave entrance that got in the way of my properly understanding what I was seeing in the movies. I thought the cave had a three-limbed tree in front of it. Maybe you can already see what gave me that impression, but I'll point it out in the next shot.

This shot pinpoints the would-be "three-limbed tree" — a single trunk splitting off into what appears to be three limbs, which turns out to be an illusion. In this shot from the B-Western "Cowboy Holiday," a rider emerges from Tornado's Cave, with the imaginary three-limbed tree seen to the right of the rider (our right, not his).

A more detailed breakdown of the three "limbs" indicates that two of them are real, while the third, the "phantom limb," is not. It turns out the "three-limbed tree" is an illusion created by a two-limbed tree set against some dark weathering on the large rock that forms much of Tornado's Cave.

"Terry and the Pirates" (1940)

This shot from the Columbia serial "Terry and the Pirates" is taken in front of Tornado's Cave and again features the "three-limbed tree" illusion. Incidentally, all of these old movies were filmed decades before historians came along and started calling the rock feature "Tornado's Cave."

Tornado's Cave in recent times — northern entrance

The dark weathering remains evident today, as seen in the above shot from a recent visit to Tornado's Cave. Here it's plain to see that there's no third limb.

The recent shot shows clearly that it's weathering on a rock and not a tree limb.

Zorro's Cave on the Iverson Ranch: Not the same as Tornado's Cave 

The existence of two separate caves on the Iverson Ranch whose names are related to Zorro has caused confusion among some Zorro fans. Zorro's Cave and Tornado's Cave are two different caves.

Stuntman Buddy Van Horn doubles for Guy Williams, posing as Zorro on Tornado

in a publicity shot for the Disney TV series

The name "Tornado's Cave" comes from the name of the horse ridden by Zorro in the Disney TV series and in other Zorro productions, usually known as Tornado — pronounced Tor-NAH-do, using the Spanish pronunciation. The horse on occasion has been called Toronado.

"Zorro Rides Again" (1937): Tornado's Cave with a different Zorro horse, El Rey

Appropriately, Tornado's Cave does appear in at least one Zorro production, even if the horse Tornado is nowhere to be found. In the Republic serial "Zorro Rides Again," John Carroll stars as a descendant of the original Zorro and rides a horse called "El Rey." The "third limb" is also visible again here.

The cave is located on park property in the Iverson Gorge, near Lone Ranger Rock and Nyoka Cliff. The location is east of Redmesa Road, just north of Santa Susana Pass Road and just below the Cal West Townhomes. It's hard to pinpoint on an aerial map, but fairly easy to find once you get close.

Poison oak in Iverson's Upper Gorge, near Tornado's Cave

For anyone who's inclined to go check it out in person, please keep in mind a couple of important warnings: One, the site is crawling with poison oak, so be aware of what you're getting into and try not to touch any plants — especially if they're red. But know that the green poison oak will get you too. Last time I was there the area right in front of Tornado's Cave was crawling with the stuff. And two, be wary of rattlesnakes. I spotted a baby one not far from Tornado's Cave on a recent visit — and I've heard the babies are even more poisonous than the adults.