Dakota Incident is a 1956 American Trucolor western film directed by Lewis R. Foster and starring Linda Darnell, Dale Robertson, John Lund and Ward Bond.

Walking forty miles with his saddle he shows up in Christian Flats, buys the last horse in town and challenges his brother to a shoot-out, even though Frank swears that Largo fired the bullet.

However, when the overdue Mile High line stagecoach arrives, the driver and horses are full of Cheyenne Indian arrows, and all the passengers are dead.

Undaunted, Amy insists on taking the stage anyway and convinces Johnny to drive the coach and harness his newly-purchased horse to the rig.

Amy's French maid, Giselle, refuses to accompany her, but four other passengers ride along: the bombastic Senator Blakeley, who continually espouses the Indian cause despite only knowing them in "the literary sense"; Carter Hamilton, a bank clerk sought for the robbery committed by Johnny and his gang, who is determined to follow the outlaw until he can turn him in and clear his name; Mark Chester, a gold speculator from Pennsylvania; and Minstrel, Amy's accompanist, companion and protector.

The passengers take refuge in a dry creek gully but their precautions do not protect them from Cheyenne attack, during which Chester is killed, his bag full of fool's gold.

A full-scale rifle battle ensues after which the Indians wait in the rocks above while the stranded travelers begin to feel the effects of thirst.

As the group continues to suffer from heat and thirst, Minstrel sees a mirage and insists on going to it, with Hamilton, in his own state of delirium, holding a gun on Johnny believing that he lied about the lack of water.