It was created and written by Burt Sloane and photographed by Ross Lowell[2] After several seconds of Native American chanting and before the appearance of opening credits, James Stewart's voice is heard speaking the initial lines: "Some of the past is forgotten — some is remembered.
At the bottom of the plank, in small type, are the names of the states the Cheyenne crossed in returning to their native grounds: Oklahoma - Kansas - Nebraska - South Dakota - Wyoming - Montana.
Chief John Woodenlegs, at his desk as president of the Northern Cheyenne Council at Lame Deer, Montana, is described in Stewart's narration as an "executive looking after today's needs of nineteen hundred people on the reservation".
Chief Woodenlegs, Willi and Richard are shown visiting a remnant of 19th century network of army forts which Stewart names as "Scott, Randall, Larned, Robinson, Meade, Laramie...", explaining that "one by one, the garrisons were called out".
As the vehicle continues along the highway, additional points along the route are examined as a third film clip depicts the cavalry tracking and pursuing the moving group of women, children and old people as they cross a wide river.
Finally, Stewart declares that "one hundred and ninety-seven days it raged... the Cheyenne Autumn struggle... and in the end, the people of Little Wolf and Dull Knife won their homeland.
[4][5] "Filmed with the cooperation of United States Department of Interior,Bureau of Indian Affairs Custer State Park, South Dakota Chevrolet Camper courtesy ofChevrolet Motor Car DivisionGeneral Motors Feature scenes fromthe new Warner Bros. motion pictureJohn Ford's "CHEYENNE AUTUMN"starring / James Stewart / Richard Widmark / Carroll Baker / Karl Malden / Sal Mineo / Edward G. Robinson Copyright MCMLXIV by Ford - Smith Productions& Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc. All rights reserved Cheyenne Autumn Trail is included as an extra feature on the Cheyenne Autumn DVD issued in 2006.