Troops are massacred at a Furnace Creek fort in 1880 after an army captain, Walsh, cites orders forcing him to abandon a wagon train. Apache Indians hid inside the wagons to gain access to the fort.
General Blackwell is blamed for the incident and court-martialed. Denying that he sent any such order, the general has a stroke and dies on the witness stand. No written evidence of the order is presented.
One of his sons, Rufe, a captain from West Point, travels west to find out what happened. His brother, Cash, reads of their father's death in a Kansas City newspaper and also heads toward Furnace Creek in search of answers.
Using an alias, Cash learns that Capt. Walsh has become a drunkard. A mining boss, Leverett, is impressed by the stranger in town and hires him, not knowing Cash's real name or intent. Rufe arrives in town and also assumes a false identity.
Cafe waitress Molly Baxter, whose father was killed at the fort, still considers General Blackwell the man to blame. But the real villain is Leverett, who bribed Walsh and organized the Apache raid. A guilty conscience causes Walsh to write a confession. Leverett sends one of his henchmen to do away with Walsh, but the confession is found by Cash.
Rufe is framed, arrested and tried, but escapes. Cash gives him the confession and tells him to take it to the Army as proof. Wounded in a gunfight with Leverett but victorious, Cash recovers and reads in the paper about the proof of General Blackwell's innocence.
Cast
Promotional still for the film with Glenn Langan and Coleen Gray
The film was originally called Ballad at Furnace Creek. Shooting took place near Kanab, Utah,[2] specifically, in Zion National Park. Virgin River, Springdale Johnson Canyon, Utah, as well as on the Arizona Strip.[3]: 288 Victor Mature's role was originally meant to be played by John Payne.[4]
