John Wayne in Oregon

During filming of "Rooster Cogburn" in Bend, Oregon, the cast and crew stayed in the town named Sunriver.

Rooster Cogburn was in production in Oregon from September 5 to October 30, 1974. Wayne and Katherine Hepburn began their first collaborative film in Bend. West of town, in the Deschutes County, they shot all the mountain scenes. During the Bend location, cast and crew stayed in the town named Sunriver . 

This scene from "Rooster Cogburn" with Katherine Hepburn and John Wayne was lensed on Ryan Ranch Meadow in Deschutes National Forest.

The Ryan Ranch Meadow in the Deschutes National Forest was one of the scenic backdrops for Wayne’s and Hepburn’s constant bickering scenes. The wetland just south of Dillon Falls is on public land. At Sparks Lake, also in the National Forest near the crest of the central Cascade Range, a prominent scree is the place where Rooster revealed that his real name is Reuben.

The steep face at Crooked River in Oregon was one of the movie locations of John Wayne's "Rooster Cogburn".

Smith Rock State Park in Terrebonne was the setting for a saloon scene with the bad guys: the building at the park entrance was built as a set for the movie, it portrayed „Kate’s Saloon“. Smith Rock is a world renowned rock-climbing destination, known as the birthplace of American sport climbing. When the outlaw gang is trying to follow Rooster’s raft, they jump from cliff to cliff on the steep face at Crooked River. 

 The calmer river scenes in John Wayne's "Rooster Cogburn" were shot on the Rogue River in the Josephine and Curry counties, Oregon.

While the whitewater rapids were shot on the Deschutes River, for the calmer river scenes they moved to the Rogue River in the Josephine and Curry counties, west of Grants Pass, Oregon. 

After "Rooster Cogburn", John Wayne returned once more to Grant's Pass in Oregon for the Great Western Savings commercial.

John Wayne returned to Grant's Pass and Oregon once more. When Great Western Savings gave him editorial control over their commercials, he choose to shoot the first one on the ranch of his friend Chick Iverson, at Grants Pass. It was filmed on October 25, 1977.