MovieChat Forums > She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Discussion > When and Where?

When and Where?

posted 6 years ago by MAGolding (1236)
2 replies | jump to latest

If it was a documentary about a historical event the time and the place would be clear, but She Wore a Yellow Ribbon happens more in the Wild West of imagination than in real history.

Custer's Last Stand happened on June 25, 1876 in real history, and the date is mentioned in a few movies also. She wore a Yellow Ribbon opens with mention of Custer's Last Stand. Cheyenne Dog Soldiers who participated have come south trying to incite the Kiowas of Pony-That-Walks into joining the war. The garrison at Fort Starke receive details of the casualties at the Little Bighorn.

And Captain Brittles marks off the day on a monthly calendar several times. The month is not marked, but 1876 is the year.

The garrison is stationed at Fort Starke. James Warner Bellah wrote a series of cavalry stories set at the fictional Fort Starke, which had a rather vague location. Four movies were adapted from those stories set at Fort Starke.

Fort Apache (1948) involves members of an unspecified cavalry regiment. I like to think that it is the 13th Cavalry, but since it is commanded by Lt. Col. Kirby York at the end and the 2nd Cavalry is commanded by Lt. Col. Kirby Yorke in Rio Grande (1950) it might be the 2nd Cavalry. They are stationed at a fictional Fort Apache, no doubt within a few hundred miles of the location of the real Fort Apache, Arizona. She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949) involves members of the 2nd Cavalry (at least their caps have a 2) at Fort Starke in or near Kiowa territory & near the fictional Paradise River, & south of Sioux territory. Rio Grande (1950) involves members of the 2nd Cavalry (at least their caps have a 2) at what might be another Fort Starke or Stark, probably not in Texas, and a few days' ride from the Rio Grande and a few day's ride from Fort Bliss, Texas.

And The Command (1954), is probably set in 1876 since the local Indians - listed as Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sac, Fox, Omaha (or Otoe), and Pawnee - are stirred up by news of Custer's Last Stand. In The Command (1954) a 2nd (or 7th) Cavalry company is returning to Fort Starke when ordered to help guard a joint army/civilian wagon train travelling from the town of Cashmans to the Paradise River, to reach the army of General Crook, Cook, or Hook. In the original story they were riding to reinforce the army of General Crook after the Little Bighorn.

The vague location of Fort Starke in The Command (1954) seems to fit with the vague location of Fort Starke in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949).

[–] MAGolding (1236) 2 years ago

According to this https://websiteofahistoricalpolymath.wordpress.com/timelines/time-line-of-the-james-warner-bellahs-westerncavalry-stories/ timeline of James Warner Bellah's cavalry stories the movie She Wore a Yellow Ribbon should happen in September, 1876.

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]. Although not canonical to the short stories. Nathan Brittles clearly is said to retire 10 September 1876, and he’s known Flint Cohill for 9 years (1867), Abigail Alshard,

So they claim that Nathan Brittles retires on 10 September 1876.

Nathan's calendar is clearly seen a few times. It has the year 1876 marked, but not the month. Since Fort Starke gets news of Custer's Last Stand the date they get the news must be after June 25, 1876. The first day of each month in 1876 was January - Saturday, February-Tuesday, March-Wednesday, April-Saturday, May-Monday , June-Thursday, July-Saturday, August-Tuesday, September-Friday, October-Sunday, November-Wednesday, and December-Friday.

So if someone looks at the calendar to see which weekday the first of that month is, it should identify which month after June the film happens during. Except that September and December both start on Friday.

So the writer who says that She Wore a Yellow Ribbon happens in September 1876 should have more to go on than merely the first day of the month in Brittles's calendar.

[–] MAGolding (1236) 2 years ago

The location of Fort Starke is rather vague.

In She Wore a Yellow Ribbon Fort Starke seems to be located near the Kiowa reservation, & thus in Oklahoma or a neighboring territory or state - Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, or Missouri.

The Fort Starke in Rio Grande might be an entirely different fort with the same name as the first one, founded in the years between the fictional dates of 1876 and 1879-80 of those movies.

In Rio Grande people come from Texas to Fort Starke from Texas, showing that Fort Starke is not in Texas. But people also cross the Rio Grande river into Mexico after travelling a few days from Fort Starke. Thus Fort Starke should be in the southeastern section of New Mexico, a few days ride south across the westernmost part of Texas to the Rio Grande and Mexico.

And that should be hundreds of miles from the Kiowa reservation and the other Fort Starke.

Here is a link to a discussion of the location of Fort Starke in the stories of James Warner Bellah and not in the movies.

https://websiteofahistoricalpolymath.wordpress.com/timelines/time-line-of-the-james-warner-bellahs-westerncavalry-stories/comment-page-1/?unapproved=1783&moderation-hash=4481ec1c3f1d820df62ae3faa91f9de7#comment-1783

"These stories are about an unidentified Cavalry regiment posted at Fort Starke. The location of Fort Stark is never exactly identified, although hints, often conflicting, are given. Also, the tribes that are mentioned and the locations further obscure the possibilities, which makes sense as these stories are really an encapsulation of the myth and legend of the Cavalry during the period of the Indian wars. That being said, most of the stories seem to be situated in the western Kansas/eastern Colorado area, although some stretch as far south as the Texas and across the Rio Grande, and Arizona."