OK, we were in. Kanab, Utah — Ke-naab, not CANE-ab, as I was gently corrected by tolerant locals — is near the junction of scenic U.S. 89 and 89A just north of the Arizona border.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Small wonder then that the entertainment industry found little Kanab, Utah, during the silent-film era. Nestled near the Arizona/Utah border in the ...