At 41, James Stewart was 26 years older than Debra Paget, who was still only 15 when filming began in early June 1949.
The broken arrow, which signals an end to fighting, is in fact a Blackfoot Indian symbol, not an Apache symbol. The Blackfoot are native to Montana and Alberta, Canada.
The film was considered groundbreaking at the time because it was one of the first sound films green-lit under the Motion Picture Production Code to portray Native Americans in a humane light. After the 1950s, the film was frequently criticized because white actors portrayed Native Americans, although the role of Geronimo was played by Native Canadian Mohawk actor Jay Silverheels.
Cochise would have been about 65 in 1870, although he is played by Jeff Chandler who was only 30 when this movie was filmed.
Historical background: The beginning of the movie refers back to the Bascom Affair, which began the war with Cochise. The army sent Lieutenant George Nicholas Bascom and fifty-four men to Apache Pass to confront Cochise. Bascom managed to capture Cochise and threatened to hold him hostage but the Apache leader managed to escape. Sporadic fighting between Cochise's warriors and Army troops would continue for years to come, during which Fort Bowie (mentioned in the film) was built and became the most important outpost for Indian battles in that region. The stagecoach line and Apache Pass were near the fort, and remains of all three are still extant. Settlers continued to brand Jeffords an "Indian lover" after the treaty, and in 1875 he was removed as the federal agent and the Chiricahua Apaches were relocated to the San Carlos Reservation. Cochise died of natural causes about a year after signing the treaty (he was actually in his 60's by then, and the Apache wars began again, until 1886 with the surrender of Geronimo, who also ended up on the San Carlos Reservation, near Globe, Arizona, hundreds of miles north of their ancestral home.