Apache Ambush

Immediately after the Civil War two Union soldiers by the names of "James Kingston" (Bill Williams) and "Sergeant Tim O'Roarke" (Ray Teale) are sent on a secret mission by "President Abraham Lincoln" (James Griffith) to West Texas to herd several hundred head of cattle back east where food has become quite scarce. In order to accomplish this, however, it will require them to trespass into Apache territory and because of that a former Confederate officer by the name of "Donald 'Tex' McGuire" (Don C. Harvey) is assigned to ride with them because he knows the landscape and how to successfully navigate through it. Yet, although neither Kingston nor O'Roarke trust McGuire since he was a convicted criminal prior to joining the Confederacy, these two soldiers obediently accept the assignment given to them and ride out west all the same. What they don't know at the time, however, is that the wagon train they are ordered to accompany has a secret shipment of repeating rifles being smuggled which a Mexican bandit by the name of "Joaquin Jironza" (Alex Montoya) wants to desperately acquire for his own selfish agenda. Likewise, the cattle are also badly needed by the Apaches and this fact is easily used by Jironza to persuade the Apaches to join his Mexican bandits in a raid upon the cattle drive. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this film started out pretty well but the intrigue and various other sub-plots seemed to hinder what could have been a very good Western film. Be that as it may, I thought it was still good enough for the time spent and for that reason I have rated it accordingly. Average.