Western / rodinný, USA, 1956, 90 min.



In 1844, a wagon train heading for Oregon stops for the day before leaving Pawnee territory and entering the lands of the friendly Sioux. During the break, Hank Breckenridge, the wagon's gruff scout, complains about the restrictions of majority rule to his friend, John "Doc" Grayson. That night, the wagon train's children listen intently as Doc sings about a trapper whose courage and speed enabled him to race away from marauding Blackfeet Indians. The next day, the children are playing on a ridge when four Pawnee war party scouts spot the eldest, Dan Thompson. In order to protect the others, Dan gives himself up, and after the warriors take him away, the children remain in hiding until dark in case there are more Pawnees in the area. At the Pawnee camp, Dan is able to escape while the Indians dance, but in order to outrun his last pursuer, Dan must shove some large rocks down a hillside to crush him. When Dan reaches the wagon train, he tells them that hundreds of Pawnees were at the camp, and Hank realizes that it must be a war party, which will attack the wagons at daybreak. Doc and Hank give orders to the group to unload all but bare necessities, so that they can reach Sioux territory before dawn. The Indians attack at daybreak, although a rear guard repels the first wave and gives the wagons time to take cover in the hills. After a few more attacks, however, Hank realizes that the major thrust is about to come and that the Indians will prevail. Doc then asks farmer "Obie" Foster and speculator Spencer Armitage to release their extra horses because the Pawnees are more interested in the animals than in collecting scalps. Armitage balks, as he hopes to make a profit from the horses, but Foster releases them and the Indians retreat after rounding them up. The wagons move on and soon reach Fort Laramie in Sioux territory, where Hank learns from Bissonette, the French fort boss, that the Sioux may no longer be friendly because the last wagon train killed two braves from the tribe of Chief Wolf's Brother. As the travelers set up camp, Doc sends Armitage and some of the children to the fort to trade for buffalo robes. At the fort, medicine man Many Stars is captivated by the blonde hair of Dan's little sister Myra and tells Wolf's Brother that the child is good luck. Armitage pushes the chief away when he touches Myra, and although Bissonette calms the angry chief, he refuses to let his son Little Thunder roughhouse with Dan. Upon hearing of the children's interactions with the Indians, Doc, Hank and wagonmaster James Stephen decide to leave in the morning. That night, however, Wolf's Brother arrives at the camp and offers to trade valuable ponies, a sacred white buffalo robe and a ceremonial whistle for Myra, who, along with Dan and their older sister Laura, is fatherless. Wolf's Brother assures them that he will rear the girl as a princess, but Stephen and Laura angrily reject his offer. The next day, Doc confers again with the dissatisfied Indians, then decides that it would be safer to stay close to the fort rather than leave. As the Indians are departing, Little Thunder falls from his horse and is seriously injured. The Indians refuse Doc's offer to help, and soon Little Thunder is near death. Doc and Laura go to the Indian encampment, where Little Thunder's mother begs her husband to accept the white man's help. Doc diagnoses a bone splinter that has punctured a vein in the boy's neck, and despite Wolf's Brother's antagonism, Doc is able to operate and relieve the pressure. Soon after, Little Thunder recovers and the Indians bring gifts to the whites. Wolf's Brother tells Doc that he is their friend and that his tribe will escort them on their journey, after which Dan rides with Little Thunder and Doc joins Laura on her wagon.
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Režie: William Beaudine
Herci: Fess Parker, Kathleen Crowley, Jeff York, David Stollery, Sebastian Cabot, více...

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