This film begins during the Civil War with an unnamed "Black Soldier" (played by Richard Roundtree) being caught in bed with his commanding officer's wife. Needless to say, this infuriates the white officer who immediately goes for his pistol but is shot and killed for his efforts. Realizing that he will surely hang for this, the black soldier immediately deserts and runs as fast as he can for the Mexican border. The scene then shifts to an "Indian" (played by Roy Thinnes) sitting alone in the Mexican desert when he is suddenly attacked by the black soldier and taken prisoner. It is then revealed that, because the Indian is partially crippled and of mixed blood, he has been kicked out of his tribe and forced to make it on his own. So, despite the black soldier's cruel treatment of him, the Indian takes things in stride without complaining. Be that as it may, they eventually come upon an abandoned mission and--because it offers shelter from the sun and has source of water--decide to stay there for a while. But what neither of them realize is that there is a bounty on the black soldier's head, and this will soon create all kinds of problems for all concerned. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was an interesting film which exposed some ugly truths about racism and the miserable conditions it creates for those affected by it. Unfortunately, the film seemed to focus too much on the ill-treatment of the Indian and this got rather dull and tedious after a while. That being said, while not necessarily a bad film by any means, I didn't particularly care for it all that much and I have rated it accordingly.
