According to scriptwriter Winston Miller there was a scene where Charlton Heston is coming down the river and comes across a body on a sand spit with "so many arrows in him he looked like a pin cushion." When Heston uttered the line, "He's dead," the audience found it laughable and the scene changed their acceptance of the film's credibility. The scene had to be re-edited with Heston's line deleted.
The lead roles were originally offered to Gary Cooper and John Wayne, but Cooper vehemently rejected the offer.
Touissant Charbonneau and Sacagawea had a child while at Fort Mandan. Born 11 February 1805, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau continued the family business as a guide for a battalion of the Army of the West during the Mexican War of 1846-7.
Re-released in black and white, not color.
Sacajawea is given as a wife to Charbonneau. Charbonneau and Sacajawea were played by Alan Reed and Donna Reed; but of course they were not a married couple and their shared last name is a coincidence.