Poor Alan Ladd. Sent by President Grant to make peace with the Modoc people along Oregon's Emigrant Trail, he must have boarded the wrong train in St. Louis, and ended up in Arizona's red rock country.
The script makes clever use of a jumble of historical facts, yet confusion reigns. Chief Schonchin led the Modocs and signed the treaty of 1864, not Kintpuash (the Charles Bronson character named "Captain Jack" in the film). Kintpauash did lead a band of Modocs to Lost River, because the resources on the reservation could not supply enough food for the Klamath and Modoc tribes both who were assigned there.
Before the Modocs "went on the war path", they asked the California government and the Federal government to intercede. Both refused to act, leaving the Modocs with the no-win choice of movement towards confrontation or starvation.
If you like westerns, as I do, you can find better selections. This film is highly melodramatic, historically inaccurate, and set in the wrong location.
For fellow Alan Ladd fans, allow me to suggest the excellent story based on theme of the reluctant hero, Shane.
The script makes clever use of a jumble of historical facts, yet confusion reigns. Chief Schonchin led the Modocs and signed the treaty of 1864, not Kintpuash (the Charles Bronson character named "Captain Jack" in the film). Kintpauash did lead a band of Modocs to Lost River, because the resources on the reservation could not supply enough food for the Klamath and Modoc tribes both who were assigned there.
Before the Modocs "went on the war path", they asked the California government and the Federal government to intercede. Both refused to act, leaving the Modocs with the no-win choice of movement towards confrontation or starvation.
If you like westerns, as I do, you can find better selections. This film is highly melodramatic, historically inaccurate, and set in the wrong location.
For fellow Alan Ladd fans, allow me to suggest the excellent story based on theme of the reluctant hero, Shane.