FORT APACHE stands apart from many westerns of the late 40s and 50s as a far more thoughtful and fair interpretation of US/Indian relations in the mid-19th century, and is considered one of Ford’s masterpieces. Wayne plays Capt. York, a veteran Civil War commander assigned to take charge of a remote outpost in Arizona. He arrives to find acting commander Lt. Col. Thursday (Henry Fonda) undermining the local Apache leaders and turning a blind eye to the government liaison’s corruption. As York and Thursday butt heads over whether to treat the natives with respect or force them to submit, the Apache leader Cochise (Miguel Inclan) organizes an uprising that slaughters most of the cavalrymen a la Little Bighorn. One of 24 John Ford films starring John Wayne, FORT APACHE also features Ward Bond, John Agar, and a 19-year old Shirley Temple.