40 Guns to Apache Pass

In 1868, Captain Bruce Coburn is ordered to escort homesteaders to Apache Wells to form a defensive line against the Apaches. He must manage a tense unit and keep the group moving toward safety. The mission sets the stage for the frontier siege to come.

A rift forms within the rank as some soldiers feel the march is too harsh. Coburn disciplines corporal Bodine for stealing water, highlighting the strain and lack of trust in the group.

An attack at Apache Wells leaves homesteader Harry Malone dead. His two sons, Mike and Doug, are pressed into service and join Coburn's defense later in the day.

Coburn is sent to secure a consignment of repeating rifles that could turn the odds against the Apaches. The rifles become a focal point of the conflict and the mission's success depends on their retrieval.

During the march, Mike disobeys orders and goes off to fight the Indians, showing courage or recklessness. Doug, younger and inexperienced, hides behind rocks, and Coburn's crew scorns him as a coward.

The deserters take the rifles and desert toward Mexico, leaving Coburn and wounded First Sergeant Walker tied behind. The betrayal creates an urgent problem for the remaining soldiers.

Doug, swayed by Bodine's promise to release the captives, abandons Coburn and sides with the deserters. His choice deepens the rift and raises the stakes for the mission.

Bodine plans to kill Coburn and Walker by lighting a dynamite fuse on the wagon; Coburn frees himself seconds before the blast and carries Walker to safety. The explosion shatters the deserters' plans and forces a new path forward.

Coburn reaches Apache Wells with Walker and seeks to retrieve rifles, but Colonel Reed refuses to spare men and threatens a court-martial if the mission keeps failing. The leadership clamps down, increasing the pressure on Coburn.

Ignoring orders, Coburn pursues Bodine after the stolen rifles, who tries to trade them with Cochise under a flag of truce. The pursuit becomes a dangerous maneuver across hostile terrain.

Under pressure, Coburn locates the deserters guarding the cache and engages them; Doug re-enters the fight and helps kill the others, recovering the rifles. The act earns Coburn's respect from the overlooked youth.

Cochise and Bodine press the pursuit, but Coburn distributes five rifles in positions to delay their advance. The tactic buys crucial time for reinforcements and shore up defenses at Apache Wells.

Doug carries the recovered rifles to Apache Wells and explains the chain of betrayal to Col. Reed, who orders the rifles issued to the troops to prepare for a rescue. The new orders mobilize the garrison's response.

A rescue party arrives as Coburn is nearly out of ammo; the Apaches are driven off and Bodine flees. In a final duel, Coburn kills Bodine, ending the traitor's threat once and for all.

Coburn and the rescued soldiers return to Apache Wells, where Col. Reed greets them and Doug is reunited with his worried family. The frontier ordeal closes with a hard-won sense of victory and relief.