The main action towards the end re-enacts the '"Fetterman Fight" (aka "Fetterman Massacre"), an actual event that took place in December 21 1866. The basic facts are correct--reinforcements are set to protect a wagon train of soldiers gone to collect wood. However, the numbers of troops involved and their disposition are incorrect. Fetterman had 49 infantry (none in this film) and 27 cavalry as part of his detachment (all were killed). Similarly there were significantly more Indians attacking them. As the fight occurred in December, there were areas of snow and ice in the higher areas around the fort. No secondary attack took place against a relief force.
Jack Oakie's character Sol Beckworth is based on James Beckwourth, a mountain man, fur trapper, army scout and explorer. A companion of Jim Bridger, "Liver Eater" Johnson, Portuguese Philips, Del Gu and Frenchy La Blatte, he lived among the Crow tribe and married the daughter of a Crow chief and became a respected warrior and leader of the Crow nation. He was born around 1800 and was the son of a slave mother and her owner, Sir Jennings Beckwourth. His father acknowledged his paternity and treated him as a son. He granted James his freedom in 1824. He started as a blacksmith's apprentice, but headed west to work for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company. He is credited with discovering and mapping Beckwourth Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. For all his exploits and deeds, he became one of the Old West's legendary figures. He died October 29, 1866, in Denver, CO.
A bearded Rock Hudson is barely recognizable, except perhaps by his voice, until he gets a relative close-up an hour and six minutes into the film. Up to that point, he is further away from the camera.
John Chivington served as colonel in the United States Volunteers during the Colorado War and the New Mexico Campaigns of the American Civil War. He became infamous for leading the Colorado Territory militia at the massacre at Sand Creek in November of 1864. He and his troops were responsible for the deaths of up to 170 Cheyenne and Arapaho--the majority of whom were women and children.
Final film of Sheila Darcy,