Fury at Furnace Creek

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In 1880,

silver was not yet king in the Furnace Hills.

But rumor that the Apache Indians used

silver bullets in their rifles was widespread...

and certain interests were clamoring

for the territory...

to be thrown open to the white man

for development and exploitation.

Tension was gathering, and supplies

and reinforcements were en route...

- to the hard-pressed garrison

at old Fort Furnace Creek.

The route to Fort Furnace Creek lay

through territory dominated by Little Dog-

as ruthless and shrewd a fighter...

as his master, old Geronimo himself.

- Troop, halt! Halt!

- Captain Walsh, sir?

- What is it?

- Dispatch from Fort Putnam.

- Trouble, Cap?

- Inform General Blackwell his orders will be carried out.

- That's all.

- Yes, sir.

Lieutenant Ramsay?

- Yes, sir.

- We're to proceed to Lordsburg immediately.

- The wagon trail will continue on to Fort Furnace Creek.

- Without escort?

- Those are my orders.

- But you can't leave us here unprotected.

- And them hills are swarmin' with Apache.

- We haven't seen any.

You don't till it's too late. Give an Apache

a blade of grass to hide behind...

you'll have an arrow in your gullet

before he's within 10 miles.

- I can't understand such an order, sir.

- Give the command.

Yes, sir.

Army or no army, I'm responsible for this outfit.

You go to Lordsburg, we go with you.

We couldn't wait for you.

The orders say, "with all possible speed. "

- That's not an order. That's a death warrant.

- I'm sorry. I've no choice.

Troop, forward. Yo!

- Hey!

- Move!

Here they come!

- Wagon train! -

Mail! - Mail from home!

- Tonight we can have a party!

- Come on. It is!

Hey! You're not w-

The massacre at Fort Furnace Creek

aroused both Congress and the nation.

The Apache were driven out,

and the territory was thrown open.

Boomtowns sprang up overnight

in the newly expropriated territory.

In a matter of months,

10,000 settlers, miners and merchants...

poured into the Furnace Hills.

The largest of these mushroom towns

was Furnace Creek.

Meanwhile, an investigation of the massacre

was being held at Fort Leavenworth...

resulting in court-martial proceedings

against General Fletcher Blackwell...

who was charged with sending the order

that recalled the cavalry escort.

Captain Walsh, you've already testified that

the wagon master showed deep concern...

at General Blackwell's order.

Exactly how did he express himself?

At first he said that he would refuse to continue

with the trip if we left him without escort.

I advised him that

I had to obey my orders.

- What did he say then?

- He said it wasn't an order. It was a death warrant.

Were you of the same opinion?

- Do I have to answer?

- That's all.

Captain Steele, do you also wish

to reexamine the witness for the defense?

Yes, sir.

Captain Walsh, you have requested permission

to resign from the army?

- I have.

- Why?

General Blackwell was my commanding officer.

I always looked up to him.

When this happened, I-

I lost heart for the army.

You testified that, after you showed

the order to Lieutenant Ramsay...

you placed it

in one of your saddlebags...

and that your mount,

along with several others...

was stampeded by raiding Apaches

during evening mess, and the order was lost.

That is right.

May I draw the attention of the court, sir,

to the rather odd circumstance...

of the Apache conveniently

running off the witness's horse?

Objection, sir!

Such inferences are improper,

Captain Steele.

The court will disregard them.

Strike them from the record.

- That is all.

- Excused.

- Yes, sir.

- This way, sir.

- How does it look, Captain?

- Your father hasn't testified yet.

- Were you on the stand?

- Yes.

Well, surely you don't believe

the general sent that order.

I can only testify as to facts.

But you served under him.

You know the sort of a man he is.

I'm sorry, Captain, very sorry.

- Have you any more witnesses, Captain Steele?

- Yes, sir. I call one more.

I call General Fletcher Blackwell.

Raise your right hand.

Do you swear the evidence that you shall give

in the case now in hearing...

shall be the truth, the whole truth

and nothing but the truth so help you God?

I do.

General Blackwell, did you dispatch

the order in question to Captain Walsh?

- I did not.

- What then was the nature of the order you did send to him?

After Captain Walsh left headquarters,

I learned that Little Dog...

was in the vicinity of Fort Furnace Creek

in greater strength than I had supposed.

My dispatch to Captain Walsh

informed him of the situation there...

and reiterated my previous order to make

all possible speed to Fort Furnace Creek.

Have you any knowledge of the order

Captain Walsh testified he received?

- None whatever.

- Your witness.

General Blackwell, two years ago you commanded

an expedition into the Furnace Hills.

- I did.

- What was the purpose of the expedition?

It was a peace mission. Some of the Indians

were going off the reservation.

We hoped to restore the friendly relations

that had existed between the tribe and ourselves.

Did you succeed?

My official report

is available to you.

I've already read your official report,

General, very carefully.

Frankly I'm a bit puzzled by it-

not by what it says, because it covers

the Indian situation very thoroughly...

but by what it does not say.

Isn't it true, General,

that while you were in the Furnace Hills...

you discovered one of the richest silver lodes

in the western hemisphere?

You'll answer the question,

General Blackwell.

Yes. I found the Furnace Hills

to be rich in silver.

Why didn't you say so

in your official report?

It's an old story:

We make a treaty with an Indian tribe,

cede lands to them forever.

The lands are then found to be rich

in mineral deposits or valuable for colonization...

so the treaty is broken,

the tribe is driven off.

I knew this would eventually happen

to Furnace Hills, and I wanted no part in it.

- Uh, tell the court, please: Was that your only motive?

- It was.

Do you have any interest or shares

in a corporation...

know as the Furnace Creek

Mining and Development Syndicate?

- I have not.

- Are you aware of the fact that this syndicate...

has established claims and mining interests

in the newly opened territory?

No, I am not.

These records establish the fact

that many of these mineral claims...

were already in operation

the day after the territory was opened...

thus clearly indicating that the syndicate

had known in advance...

of these mineral deposits.

- Would you care to examine them?

- I would not. I know nothing whatever of the matter!

Of course these mineral deposits

were of no value to the syndicate or anyone else...

as long as the territory

remained closed.

Thus it was possible to assume...

that if the Apache could be provoked

into wiping out an unescorted wagon train...

then destroying the garrison

at Fort Furnace Creek, the massacre...

would inevitably lead to the ousting

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