According to Michael Munn's 2003 biography "John Wayne: The Man Behind the Myth", Neville Brand was surprised to be offered the role of half-Comanche scout Lightfoot, a part, for which he felt he was badly suited, but accepted anyway because he hadn't been offered a better part elsewhere. However it has been questioned whether Munn really met John Wayne, or any of the celebrities he claimed to have interviewed.
John Wayne was sixty-five years old at the time the movie was filmed. He had had a cancerous lung removed in 1964, and was suffering from emphysema in his remaining lung. Wayne was so weakened that he had to use a stepladder to climb onto his horse in the film. In addition to his own declining health, news that his friend and mentor, John Ford, was dying of cancer forced the actor to consider his own mortality. After Ford's death in August, 1973, Wayne told reporters, "I'm pretty much living on borrowed time."
The opening scene was filmed entirely on a fragmentary set, augmented by matte paintings, on a Warner Bros. sound stage.
John Wayne later said, "It just wasn't a well done picture. It needed better writing, it needed a little better care in making."
Most of the scenes showing John Wayne riding from a distance were filmed with stuntman Chuck Roberson substituting for Wayne. Roberson also appears briefly as the leader of the posse.