John Wayne in Carson City

John Wayne makes his entrance in his final film, The Shootist. The script called for "the small distant figure of Books, dwarfed by the snowcapped mountains behind him". However, since he was fighting a number of ailments all at once, not the least being his problems with height due to working with just one lung, the opening was reduced to one long shot. They settled for the terrain six miles southwest of Carson City. 

The first sequence in The Shootist, and John Wayne's last entrance in a motion picture, was shot on Jacks Valley Ranch, at the base of the snow-capped Sierras. Along Jack Valley Road, you can enjoy the fully free view of the position when...

...John Wayne as J.B. Books  turns his horse Dollor towards his destination.

The Krebs-Peterson house at 500 Mountain Street was the great period house chosen for Lauren Bacall's guesthouse in The Shootist. Only the exterior shots of J.B. Books (John Wayne) were shot at the mansion. Visitors learn about the historic houses in that Carson City disctrict on a "Talking Houses"-self guided tour. 

Don Siegel, director of The Shootist, used the exterior of the building (as well as the barn for the dialogue scene between John Wayne and Ron Howard). However, the filmmakers created not only the whole interior on the Burbank lot but part of the outside porch so well that it is hard to say when the movie cuts effortlessly from the real location to the studio set. 

John Wayne's buggy ride with Lauren Bacall in The Shootist takes place in Washoe Lake State Park, a few miles from Carson City. 

The exact place on Washoe Lake is Willow Beach which is unchanged since the times of The Shootist. During the location shooting in Nevada, John Wayne occupied a suite at the Ormsby House in Carson City. 

The sequence in which John Wayne, in the titel role as The Shootist, teaches Ron Howard how to handle a gun was filmed in the small town of Genoa, ten miles from Carson City. 

During filming the shooting practice sequence in Genoa, according to locals, John Wayne stopped by “Nevada’s Oldest Thirst Parlor,” which is close to the filming location. Since 1853, other luminaries such as Mark Twain and Teddy Roosevelt have tipped a glass or two in the Genoa Bar & Saloon.

A look inside "Nevada's Oldest Thirst Parlor", the Genoa Bar & Saloon, where John Wayne had a drink during filming of his final movie, The Shootist. According to local legend, Raquel Welch did the same when she was filming a movie nearby.