The screenplay was written by Edmund H. North and Harry Brown, based on the 1943 novel of the same name by Charles Marquis Warren.

[5] Following the American Civil War, peace is maintained in the New Mexico Territory by Fort Invincible, a fortification set up outside a mountain pass that blocks marauding bands of Apache.

Captain Richard Lance arrives with a patrol soon after the battle and captures Tucsos, the charismatic leader of the Apache.

[1] Time Out said "The often brutal physical confrontations show the kind of edge [the director] could deliver when he put his mind to it, and a sinewy, unsympathetic Peck impresses.

The reviewer cited a routine and largely nonsensical plot, but praised the fun supporting performances from Ward Bond and Lon Chaney Jr., and gave the film two stars.