Fort Defiance is a 1951 American Western film directed by John Rawlins and written by Louis Lantz.

The film stars Dane Clark, Ben Johnson, Peter Graves, Tracey Roberts, George Cleveland and Ralph Sanford.

[1][2] Ben Shelby rides up to a cattle ranch outside Fort Defiance, Arizona, looking for Johnny Tallon.

Charlie interrupts this conversation, having returned from Fort Defiance, with news that Johnny has been shot dead while robbing a bank.

Ben reveals that he is the only survivor from his company of Arizona Volunteers which was wiped out at the Battle of Tennessee Ridge, three weeks before the war ended, due to a treasonous act by Johnny Tallon.

Later, in a saloon in the town of Fort Defiance, Ben begins writing a letter to his wife, Jane, to let her know he is finally coming home.

Then, Dave Parker, owner of the saloon and the biggest ranch in the area, rides up with a group of men.

A pursuit sees Ned and Ben ride into Navajo Canyon, where there is extreme danger because the government is about to move the Indians to a reservation.

While Parker's men are engaged in that task, a man who is shortly revealed to be Johnny Tallon, accompanied by a pal, Hankey, comes along.

After the Indians are dispatched, a fight during which Hankey is killed, Johnny explains that he had known the war was about to end and simply decided he was not going to die at that point for no reason.

Ned still refuses to accompany his brother to San Francisco, but Johnny forces him onto the stagecoach, knocks Ben out and leaves the driver with him.

Inside the stagecoach office in Fort Defiance, Ned draws a gun on Johnny and begs him to not make him go.