Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War and later the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan from 1867 to 1869.
Joel Albert McCrea was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he became best known.
Forrest Meredith Tucker was an American actor in both movies and television who appeared in nearly a hundred films. Tucker worked as a vaudeville straight man at the age of fifteen. A mentor provided funds and contacts for a trip to California, where party hostess Cobina Wright persuaded guest Wesley Ruggles to give Tucker a screen test because of Tucker's photogenic good looks, thick wavy hair and height of six feet, five inches.
The Battle of Fort Pillow, also known as the Fort Pillow massacre was fought on April 12, 1864, at Fort Pillow on the Mississippi River in Henning, Tennessee, during the American Civil War. The battle ended with Confederate soldiers commanded by Major General Nathan Bedford Forrest massacring U.S. Army soldiers attempting to surrender. Military historian David J. Eicher concluded: "Fort Pillow marked one of the bleakest, saddest events of American military history."
Susan Cabot was an American film, stage, and television actress. She rose to prominence for her roles in a variety of Western films, including Tomahawk (1951), The Duel at Silver Creek (1952), and Gunsmoke (1953).
Joseph M. Newman was an American film director most famous for his 1955 film This Island Earth. His credits include episodes of The Twilight Zone and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Fort Apache is a 1948 American Western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "Cavalry Trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both also starring Wayne. The screenplay was inspired by James Warner Bellah's short story "Massacre" (1947). The historical sources for "Massacre" have been attributed both to George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little Bighorn and to the Fetterman Fight.
Joel Dee "Jody" McCrea was an American actor. He was the son of actors Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.
El Rancho Hotel, Gallup, New Mexico, is a historic hotel built by R.E. “Griff” Griffith, the brother of film director D.W. Griffith. The pair encouraged early film production in the surrounding area. It is located on old U.S. Route 66 and became the temporary home for many Hollywood movie stars.The rambling, three-story hotel building has a large portico with a central balcony reminiscent of the Southern Plantation style. The National Park Service describes it as having a “rusticated fantasy appearance.” Materials include brick, random ashlar stone, and roughewn wood with a wood shake roof and brick and stone chimneys. The lobby features a spectacular walk-in fireplace made of brick and random ashlar stone surrounded by twin stairways made of split logs that lead to the second floor guest rooms. The slogan “Charm of Yesterday, Convenience of Tomorrow” is rendered in neon above the main entrance.
North West Mounted Police is a 1940 American epic north-western film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll. Written by Alan Le May, Jesse Lasky Jr., and C. Gardner Sullivan, and based on the 1938 novel The Royal Canadian Mounted Police by R. C. Fetherstonhaugh, the film is about a Texas Ranger who joins forces with the North-West Mounted Police to put down a rebellion in the north-west prairies of Canada. The supporting cast features Paulette Goddard, Preston Foster, Robert Preston, Akim Tamiroff, Lon Chaney Jr. and George Bancroft. Regis Toomey, Richard Denning, Rod Cameron, and Robert Ryan make brief appearances in the film playing small roles.
South of St Louis is a 1949 American Technicolor Western film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joel McCrea, Alexis Smith, Zachary Scott and Dorothy Malone. It chronicles the friendship between three ranchers after their ranch is destroyed by raiders led by the infamous Luke Cottrell. The film was originally titled Distant Drums, but was later changed to its current title, which refers to Civil War army deserters.
The Gunfight at Dodge City is a 1959 American DeLuxe Color Western CinemaScope film. It was produced by the Mirisch Company, directed by Joseph M. Newman, co-written by Martin Goldsmith and Daniel B. Ullman and starred Joel McCrea as Bat Masterson.
The Oklahoman is a 1957 American CinemaScope Western film starring Joel McCrea, Barbara Hale, and Brad Dexter. It was also the last film of actress Esther Dale.
Cattle Empire is a 1958 American Western DeLuxe Color movie in CinemaScope directed by Charles Marquis Warren, starring Joel McCrea and released by 20th Century Fox. The film also features Gloria Talbott, Don Haggerty, Phyllis Coates, and Bing Russell and serves as something of a forerunner for director Warren's subsequent television series Rawhide starring Eric Fleming and Clint Eastwood, which used the picture's writer Endre Bohem, as well as some of its supporting cast.
California Passage is a 1950 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane starring Forrest Tucker, Adele Mara, and Estelita Rodriguez.
Trooper Hook is a 1957 American Western film directed by Charles Marquis Warren and starring Joel McCrea as the title character and Barbara Stanwyck as the woman he frees from the Indians. The fact that during her captivity she has had a son by a much-feared chief makes her situation very difficult.
Dragoon Wells Massacre is a 1957 American CinemaScope DeLuxe Color Western film directed by Harold D. Schuster starring Barry Sullivan, Dennis O'Keefe, Mona Freeman and Katy Jurado. The supporting cast features Sebastian Cabot, Jack Elam and Hank Worden.
The Plunderers is a 1948 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and written by Gerald Geraghty and Gerald Drayson Adams. The film stars Rod Cameron, Ilona Massey, Lorna Gray, Forrest Tucker, George Cleveland and Grant Withers. The film was released on October 31, 1948, by Republic Pictures.
Rock Island Trail is a 1950 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and written by James Edward Grant. The film stars Forrest Tucker, Adele Mara, Lorna Gray, Bruce Cabot, Chill Wills and Barbra Fuller. The film was released on May 18, 1950, by Republic Pictures.
Oh! Susanna is a 1951 American Western film directed by Joseph Kane and written by Charles Marquis Warren. The film stars Rod Cameron, Lorna Gray, Forrest Tucker, Chill Wills, William Ching, Jim Davis, and Wally Cassell. The film was released on March 3, 1951, by Republic Pictures.
