This movie, followed by a young reader's book two years later, started me on a study of the Battle of the Little Bighorn that has now lasted for over 50 years. Before watching it this evening, I had not seen the movie since it was released in theaters in 1958. I was pleasantly surprised to find some accurate historical details stuck into the fictional story, such as a bullet hitting Keogh in the knee and going on into Comanche--they clearly did some research, since that is an odd detail most people wouldn't know. The terrain at the battle looked very much like reality, as well. The Indians were another matter--I could swear I saw the stitching down the center of Sal Mineo's wig in an early close-up--but it wasn't bad for 1958, and the use of the Indians as central characters was both good and unusual.
They also got the names of Custer's horses right, but for some reason called Keogh's other horse Pokey. It was actually Paddy. And as for Tonka Wakan--it is my understanding that that is roughly equivalent to naming your horse Jesus Christ. It may translate to "The Great One," but I believe it is usually used to refer to the Great Spirit.
The characterization of Custer as a nasty, Indian-hating bad guy is totally not true. Custer actually liked Indians--it was simply his job to be at war with them, just as he had previously been at war with his West Point classmates who had joined the Confederacy. I am currently reading a very fine book on the Cheyenne War of 1864-69, and it is clear that there was a lot of killing and nastiness on both sides. By the time of Custer's demise, many tribal groups had surrendered and gone to live on reservations--but not Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. They probably would have preferred to be left alone by white people, but the discovery of gold in the sacred Black Hills had made that impossible. So they had one final victory before it was all over, and that is the story told in this movie.
Sitting Bull did have a nephew named White Bull, and other characters, such as General Terry, Lt. Nowlan, and Trooper Korn were also real. To the best of my knowledge, Yellow Bull was fictional, and I am not sure the representation of Lakota tribal culture was very accurate. The horse-breaking methods shown were common to cowboys, but not Indians--gentle training was more the norm.
The details of other errors are too numerous to go into--the bit Keogh describes as "simple" seems to me to be a curb, rather than a snaffle; the uniforms are not right; the Indian clothing is weird--etc., etc., etc.
But generally speaking, the movie is much more accurate than I remembered, and it is certainly a classic example of a Disney family movie. Thanks, Walt, for helping to change my life.
They also got the names of Custer's horses right, but for some reason called Keogh's other horse Pokey. It was actually Paddy. And as for Tonka Wakan--it is my understanding that that is roughly equivalent to naming your horse Jesus Christ. It may translate to "The Great One," but I believe it is usually used to refer to the Great Spirit.
The characterization of Custer as a nasty, Indian-hating bad guy is totally not true. Custer actually liked Indians--it was simply his job to be at war with them, just as he had previously been at war with his West Point classmates who had joined the Confederacy. I am currently reading a very fine book on the Cheyenne War of 1864-69, and it is clear that there was a lot of killing and nastiness on both sides. By the time of Custer's demise, many tribal groups had surrendered and gone to live on reservations--but not Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse. They probably would have preferred to be left alone by white people, but the discovery of gold in the sacred Black Hills had made that impossible. So they had one final victory before it was all over, and that is the story told in this movie.
Sitting Bull did have a nephew named White Bull, and other characters, such as General Terry, Lt. Nowlan, and Trooper Korn were also real. To the best of my knowledge, Yellow Bull was fictional, and I am not sure the representation of Lakota tribal culture was very accurate. The horse-breaking methods shown were common to cowboys, but not Indians--gentle training was more the norm.
The details of other errors are too numerous to go into--the bit Keogh describes as "simple" seems to me to be a curb, rather than a snaffle; the uniforms are not right; the Indian clothing is weird--etc., etc., etc.
But generally speaking, the movie is much more accurate than I remembered, and it is certainly a classic example of a Disney family movie. Thanks, Walt, for helping to change my life.