The Great Westerns of John Ford. Fort Apache is a 1948 American western film directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne and Henry Fonda. The film was the first of the director's "cavalry trilogy" and was followed by She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950), both also starring Wayne. The screenplay was inspired by James Warner Bellah's short story "Massacre" (1947). The historical sources for "Massacre" have been attributed both to George Armstrong Custer and the Battle of Little

FORT APACHE ('48) is the first film in John Ford's 'cavalry trilogy.' The other two are SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON ('49) and RIO GRANDE ('50). John Wayne appears in all three. | Turner Classic Movies: TCM