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It's 1866 in the Wyoming territory, and the US government is trying to forge a treaty with the Sioux for access through the region to gold-rich Montana. The natives reluctantly agree thanks to the intervention of white friend-to-the-Indian Jim Bridger (Van Heflin). The army sets up a new fort to protect the trail, and Bridger agrees to work as a scout for them, but he has a secret ulterior motive. Things at the fort get more complicated when traveling entertainer Julie Madden (Yvonne De Carlo) is forced to take shelter there.

This was a rare sympathetic portrayal of Native Americans for the time, depicted as a noble people continuously mistreated by the US government yet hopelessly outmatched and with nothing but the end to look forward to. There's also a compelling plot involving revenge for a long-ago injustice. Unfortunately, not a lot really happens in the movie, and what does happen is very predictable. De Carlo, once again looking ravishing, has little to do, and only serves a single purpose in the plot. Jack Oakie is also wasted as a fur-trapper companion to Heflin

The flick gets noisy action , crossfire , spectacular raids , a love story , and intrigue is slowly but surely built up , being quite entertaining . This Cavalry vs. Indians Western , set in 1866 , deals with hostilities emerging when US government builds a road and a fort in territory ceded by previous treaty to the Sioux led by Red Cloud (John War Eagle) who refuses to surrender himself , as a spark to bring a violent war . It stars Jim Bridger (Van Heflin) serving as a guide and adviser , and whose Cheyenne killed spouse led him to watch the conflict from both sides . Bridger is sent by Col. Carrington (Preston Foster) to aid the army in bitter fighting the savage and hated Sioux and to end the uprisings in Indian territory . As Jim Bridger -though initially hostile due to wrenching personal issues and old sinister conflicts- , along with his colleague Sol Beckworth (Jackie Oakie) another mountain man, fur trapper, army scout and explorer , both of whom join army , fighting side-by-side for the glory of the West . Nevertheless , nasty bigot lieutenant Dancy (Alex Nicol) is reluctant to this unusual alliance and distrusts having the famous scout as ally . Then , Dancy leads his regiment on a wild chase across the plains and hills in this saga of the old west . Dancy and his US cavalry squares off rampaging Sioux . Dancy participated at the massacre at Sand Creek in 1864 , -killing a lot of Indians , majority of whom were women and children- along with John Chivington who led a bloody militia in Colorado Territory with his heinous Volunteers who were responsible for several deaths . Along the way Bridger tries to win the heart of a beautiful woman named Julie Madden (Yvonne De Carlo) .

This moving movie is an epic portrait of the historic story about the celebrated Indian Sioux battles against the USA cavalry , being inaccurate historically , though at the final re-enacts the 'Fetterman Massacre' , an actual event that took place in 1866 . The picture gets Western action , shootouts , romance , breathtaking raids on wagons as well as fort , colorful outdoors with big skies wonderfully photographed by Charles Boyle and turns out to be fun . It's a medium budget film with good actors , technicians, production values and pleasing results . At the ending , when takes place the Indian assault , possesses all the sweep , grandeur and noisy action of the greatest Westerns of an age long past . Nice acting from a great cast . As Van Heflin is good as the known scout who attempts to keep the peace between US cavalry and Indians . Heflin gives stature to the role , providing sincerity and bravura . And two beautiful starlets : Yvonne De Carlo as gorgeous and pleasant woman , and other wonderful girl , Susan Cabot as Indian Monahseetah . Support cast is frankly excellent , such as : Alex Nicol , Preston Foster , Jack Oakie , John War Eagle , Ann Doran , Stuart Randall , brief appearance by Rock Hudson and special mention for the veteran Tom Tully .

The film is freely based on James Felix Bridger's (March 17, 1804 – July 17, 1881) life who was among the foremost mountain men, trappers, scouts and guides who explored and trapped the Western United States during the decades of 1820–1850, as well as mediating between native tribes and encroaching whites . He was of English ancestry , and his family had been in North America since the early colonial period . He would come to know many of the major European American explorers of the early west, including Kit Carson, George Armstrong Custer, Hugh Glass, John Frémont, Joseph Meek, and John Sutter. Bridger was part of the second generation of mountain men and pathfinders who explored the American West that followed the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804. In fact , while exploring in order to find an alternative overland route to the South Pass, Bridger found what would eventually be known as Bridger's Pass , it would later be the chosen route for both the Union Pacific Railroad and later Interstate 80.

The motion picture was professionally directed by George Sherman in B-style , though has some flaws . Sherman made reliable low-budget fare for Columbia between 1945-48, then moved on to do the same at Universal for another eight years , where he directed this ¨Tomahawk¨ . Sherman specialized almost exclusively in "B" westerns there , including the "Three Musketeers" series, which featured a young John Wayne. George directed lots of Westerns as ¨The Last of the Fast Guns¨ , ¨The Lone Hand¨, ¨Santa Fe stampede¨ , ¨Red skin¨ , ¨Chief Crazy Horse¨ ¨Calamity Jane¨, ¨Relentless¨ , ¨Comanche Territory¨ , ¨Dawn at Socorro¨, ¨Border River¨ , ¨war arrow¨, and many others . He also made occasional forays into action and horror themes, often achieving a sense of style over substance . The only "A"-grade films to his credit were two westerns starring John Wayne: ¨Comancheros¨ (1961) (as producer) and ¨The big Jack¨ (1971) . His last films were realized in Spain as "Find That Girl" , ¨The new Cinderella¨ and ¨Joaquin Murrieta¨. ¨Tomahawk¨ Rating : 6.5/10 . Well worth watching

Universal's western is an entertaining cavalry-Indian affair that details the frontier adventure from the point of view of famed scout Jim Bridger. The film recounts the usual treaty-breaking by whites that despoils the Indians' hunting grounds, the conflicts of which lead to war between the Sioux tribes and the troopers. Two major battles, the Fetterman engagement and the Wagon-Box Fight are touched on as well as tensions caused by an Indian-hating lieutenant. The lush, beautiful country and wild buffalo herds lend authenticity to the story and keep the film moving at a good clip. Van Heflin is sincere as the scout who knows Indians and understands their grievances. Yvonne De Carlo is striking as Bridger's love interest although an Indian girl complicates matters a bit. The cast is good, especially John War Eagle as Red Cloud. Hans Salter contributes a nice traditional western music score.

A famous trapper by the name of "Jim Bridger" (Van Heflin) signs on as scout under the command of "Colonel Carrington" (Preston Foster) to assist him at a small fort in Sioux Country. While he has every intention of assisting the colonel, he also has an ulterior motive and that is establish if the killer of his Cheyenne wife and son is a cavalry officer named "Lt. Rob Dancey" (Alex Nicol) stationed at the fort. At any rate, rather than give away the entire story I will just say that this film turns out to be a pretty solid western, all things considered. While the acting isn't great and some of the battle tactics seem rather strange, the scenery was nice and the open terrain was definitely used to great advantage in the action scenes. Good performances were turned in by the aforementioned Van Heflin along with Susan Cabot as the pretty Cheyenne maiden named "Monahseetah". Likewise, Yvonne De Carlo did well as "Julie Madden" who happens to arrive at the fort en route to Virginia City. But in my opinion the best performance was by Alex Nicol who seemed perfectly cast for the part. In short, those who enjoy a good western probably won't be disappointed with this movie.

When the US breaks a treaty with the Sioux in order to access gold on Indian land, the specter of war looms.

Wow!—this may be the biggest big sky movie of all time. Those blue and white expanses almost swallow up the viewer in their awesome majesty. This is a really underrated Western that I expect got lost in Universal's crowd of Technicolor oaters of the time. But it's got a superior script that dares to put Indian rights on the same level as the settlers', plus outstanding photography and first-rate performances from Heflin and Foster. Then too, DeCarlo really looks good in Technicolor. Also, I detected only one exterior set—the Heflin- DeCarlo conflab in the forest. Pretty good for lower-budget Universal.

I'm especially glad they used real Indians in close-ups instead of the usual Hollywood types made-up to look evil. That way, the 'original Americans' are humanized, and we become more aware of the real costs involved in Winning the West. But notice, those good intentions don't extend to all the Sioux. Hollywood reverts to form by dressing up a comely white girl (Cabot) as the Indian maiden, instead of using a real Indian girl. At the same time, Monahseetah has few lines so a professional actress wasn't really needed. So draw your own conclusions.

The action is pretty much standard, except for the massed attack on the equipment wagons. There, the script makes clear that it's the white man's technology that triumphs and not his superior fighting skills. However, I wondered why the Sioux didn't attack in steady waves instead of in intervals that give the soldiers time to re-load. And catch that final scene in the fort. That's certainly no cliché.

I don't know how much of the story is based on fact, but however much, it at least makes you think. Anyway, this is a grandly scenic, gutsy Western, definitely underrated, and deserving of more than just a few scattered showings.