MovieChat Forums > Where the Red Fern Grows (1974) Discussion > stewart petersen originally from utah?

stewart petersen originally from utah?

posted 19 years ago by Punkydo81
4 replies | jump to latest

I have heard that stewart petersen was born in utah, does anyone know if this is true?

Yes, I think it is true. I did some of the location scouting and production assistant work on this film. One of the coproducers, Lyman Dayton, was from Utah and, if memory serves correctly, he brought Stewart Peterson with him to do the pic. It was shot on location on the Illinois River at a spot north of Tahlequah in northeastern Oklahoma. I played with the lion they used in the film.

[–] chadwict 19 years ago

Stewart Petersen was a Latter Day-Saint but was from Cokeville, Wyoming not Utah.

[–] kaikin-1 19 years ago

He did live in Cokeville, Wyoming. In fact, he was a wrestler for Cokeville High School. His team came to my hometown for a tournament at some point after Where the Red Fern Grows came out. Needless to say, he was the main attraction for all of the girls in town!

[–] ronnoco28 11 years ago

I rented "Where the Red Fern Grows" to show to my kids many years ago when they were small, based on the info on the cover of the video. It seemed like a nice, old-fashioned country movie about a boy and his hunting dogs. I myself enjoyed watching it, but it freaked my kids out, and they began crying when the dogs died. I think it was just too sad for them. In those days, we often watched the same videos over and over again, but they never wanted to see that one again.

By the way, how did Stewart make out in the wrestling tournament ?