Battle of Washita River - Depictions in Film and Television

Depictions in Film and Television

During the late 20th century, a time of activism for Native American and minority civil rights, and protests about the Vietnam War, film and other media reflected changes in historians' perspective on the Battle of Washita River. They also used the event to reflect on contemporary issues.

In the 1970 film Little Big Man, based on the 1964 novel by Thomas Berger, director Arthur Penn depicted the Seventh Cavalry's attack on Black Kettle's village on the Washita as a massacre resembling the 1968 My Lai massacre by U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

The 1991 TV movie Son of the Morning Star, based on Evan S. Connell's book of the same name, presented the battle from the points of view of Kate Bighead (Cheyenne) and Elizabeth Custer. It depicted Chief Black Kettle as being killed by Custer's troopers, and Custer's not waiting for word of Major Elliott.

The television series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman aired a special double-episode entitled "Washita" on April 29, 1995. The episode set the scene of the Washita attack in Colorado instead of Oklahoma, the site of the actual battle. It fictionalized Custer as deliberately misleading Colorado settlers about the difference between Black Kettle and his band, depicted as peaceful, and the Dog Soldiers, who were attacking farms and railroad crews. Lead character Dr. Michaela "Mike" Quinn made futile attempts to argue with Custer and to warn Black Kettle of impending massacre.

In the 2003 film The Last Samurai, Tom Cruise plays Captain Nathan Algren, a veteran of the Seventh Cavalry of the 1860s. His participation in the Washita action, depicted as a massacre, leaves him haunted by nightmares.

Episode 4 of the 2005 TV miniseries Into the West briefly depicts a scene showing actors portraying Custer's attacking and Black Kettle's fleeing the village.