"Into the Wild" makes Carthage a star

With a population of less than 200, the town of Carthage, South Dakota probably never had aspirations of being a movie star. But after famous wanderer Christopher McCandless ended up working there for a short time, Carthage was destined for the big screen.

"Into the Wild," Sean Penn's adaptation of McCandless' story, brought movie cameras to Main Street and The Cabaret bar in Carthage.


My friend and co-worker Scott Howard took these scouting pictures for the movie crew when they were deciding whether the real location would work for their film or not.



Scott's efforts were successful and the crew did indeed film that section of the movie in the actual locations where McCandless had spent time on the way to his eventual fate in Alaska.

Here are stars Vince Vaughn and Emile Hirsch inside The Cabaret as pictured above.


Visiting Carthage today isn't much different than the 1990's when McCandless was here. You'll find the town in the eastern central part of South Dakota.