The Story:
In the scorching Arizona desert Marshal Bill Haney escorts accused killers Link Ferris (Barry Sullivan) and Tioga (Jack Elam) in a prison wagon when they encounter sole survivor Captain Matt Riordan (Dennis O’Keefe) of a brutal Apache raid by Chief Yellow Claw joined soon by stagecoach passengers Ann Bradley (Mona Freeman) her rich lover Phillip Scott fiery entertainer Mara Fay (Katy Jurado) and gun-smuggling trader Jonah McAdam (Bruce Cabot).
The desperate trek to Fort Dragoon Wells turns deadly as relentless Apache attacks expose Jonah’s treachery a lone girl survivor is found and comforted by rough Tioga who sacrifices himself while romances ignite between Riordan and Mara plus Ann and Link until the fort is discovered massacred with its water ruined.
In this taut 1957 Western (Dragoon Wells Massacre) directed by Harold D. Schuster high-stakes survival and hidden heroism erupt as Link bravely traps and defeats the Apaches earning freedom to ride into the sunset with Ann leaving her old life behind.
