This was the final film directed by Raoul Walsh before his death on December 31, 1980 at the age of 93.
Troy Donahue and Suzanne Pleshette were married to each other at time of filming.
The character of Major General Alexandre Upton Quaint is loosely based on the historical Major General George R. Crook. Crook convinced Geronimo to peacefully surrender on 17 Mar 1886, but anti-Apache factions in the US Army sabotaged this agreement. Crook asked to be relieved of his command because of this interference, and his replacement General Nelson Miles ended the Apache Wars by capturing Geronimo on 1 Sep 1886.
James Gregory and Claude Akins would each later play a villainous gorilla general in one of the original five "Planet of the Apes" movies--Gregory playing General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and Akins playing General Aldo in Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973). The two actors also had previously been castmates in Onionhead (1958), and would also each portray a police rival of supernatural reporter Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin), respectively in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974) and its original pilot The Night Stalker (1972).
Location filming occurred in Flagstaff, Arizona and Gallup New Mexico. This apparently included the Red Rocks area of New Mexico and Arizona's Painted Desert.
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