Cheyenne Autumn

This Ford frontier epic opens in 1887 with the Cheyenne nation waiting for a meeting with government representatives on a wretched Oklahoma reservation--a meeting that never takes place. When they are ignored in their pleas for food and housing, two chiefs (Montalban and Roland) defy the authorities and migrate back to their Wyoming homeland. Thus begins a heroic and tragic 1,500-mile trek--with a reluctant cavalry captain (Widmark) and his troops in unenthusiastic pursuit, intending to return the 300-strong Cheyenne to their miserable reservation. The captain's troops are outfought at every turn by the wily braves, while the press portrays the exodus as another In...