Ulzana’s Raid

Ulzana, outraged by mistreatment, breaks out of the San Carlos Indian Reservation with a small Chiricahua war party. The escape triggers a pursuit by U.S. forces and sets the stage for a frontier manhunt.

News reaches Fort Lowell and the commander dispatches riders to alert local settlers. Along the route, two troopers are ambushed in separate incidents: one is dragged away, the other shoots the European woman he is escorting and then kills himself. The Apaches reportedly play catch with the wounded man’s liver after the killings.

The husband who stayed behind to protect his farm is captured and tortured to death by the Apache raiders. His family and neighbors are left to reckon with the brutality of the attack. The raid underscores the severity of the Apache threat.

An aging U.S. Army scout, McIntosh, is ordered to bring Ulzana in. He is joined by a few dozen soldiers led by an inexperienced lieutenant, Garnett DeBuin, a veteran Cavalry sergeant, and the Apache scout Ke-Ni-Tay. Ke-Ni-Tay reveals that Ulzana’s sister is his wife, binding their fates together.

The cavalry discovers the brutal ruthlessness of Ulzana’s war party and realizes they face a merciless and skilled foe. DeBuin is shocked by the cruelty, his Christian morality clashing with the harsh reality of what he witnesses.

After failing to locate Ulzana, McIntosh and Ke-Ni-Tay begin considering ways to outsmart their enemy. DeBuin remains cautious and suspicious because Ulzana did not invite him to join his war party.

Ulzana and his warriors decide to press on on foot to exhaust their pursuers, while their horses are circuitously led back the other way. The strategy aims to stretch the cavalry and stretch their reserves.

Ke-Ni-Tay notices that the tracks are from unladen ponies, signaling Ulzana’s plan. McIntosh leads an ambush that kills the horses and the two Apache escorts, one of whom is Ulzana’s son.

Despite angry protests, DeBuin forbids his men from mutilating the dead boy. He emphasizes restraint and moral discipline even amid a brutal pursuit.

Ulzana’s war party attacks a second farm, burning the homestead and taking two horses. A woman is left alive but injured so the cavalry must escort her back to the fort, forcing a costly diversion.

To mislead Ulzana, McIntosh proposes a decoy tactic designed to make the Apache believe his methods are succeeding. The plan hinges on manipulating Ulzana’s expectations and overconfidence.

Ulzana’s warriors ambush the small escort, seizing its horses and killing the sergeant and his men before DeBuin can arrive. McIntosh is mortally wounded, and only the woman survives, though she is now crazed by her experiences.

Ke-Ni-Tay confronts Ulzana and reveals the Army bugle taken from his son. Ulzana lays down his weapons and sings his death song before the Apache scout kills him.

A corporal suggests taking Ulzana’s head back to the fort, but DeBuin orders a proper burial instead. Ke-Ni-Tay insists on performing the burial himself, honoring the fallen.

Surviving troopers prepare to continue, but McIntosh knows the trek back will kill him. He chooses to stay behind and die alone rather than abandon his comrades.