Broken Arrow (1950)

Cochise: Now I say this: the Americans keep cattle but they are not soft or weak. Why should not the Apache be able to learn new ways? It is not easy to change, but sometimes it is required. The Americans grow stronger while we grow weaker. If a big wind comes, a tree must bend... or be lifted out by the roots.

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Cochise: I break the arrow. I will try the way of peace.

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Tom Jeffords: Cochise can't even read a map, but he and his men know every gulley, every foot of every mountain, every waterhole in Arizona. His horses can go twice as far as yours in a day, and his men can run on foot as far as a horse can run. He can't write his name, but his intelligence service knows when you got to Fort Grant and how many men you got. He stopped the Butterfield Stage from running. He stopped the U.S. Mail from going through. And for the first time in Indian history, he has all the Apaches from all the tribes fighting under one command.

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_The Battle of Apache Pass (1952)_ starred Jeff Chandler as Cochise and Jay Silverheels as Geronimo. It was produced later than "Broken Arrow" but functions as a prequel to it. The events in "Broken Arrow" take place in 1871 and 1872, while those in "Apache Pass" happen in 1861 and 1862.
The broken arrow, which signals an end to fighting, is in fact a Blackfoot Indian symbol, not an Apache symbol. The Blackfoot are native to Montana and Alberta, Canada.
Filmed in 1949 but released after Stewart's next western, Winchester '73.
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