Kirk Douglas did most of his own horseback riding and, at one point, broke his nose attempting a stunt that called for him to make his horse fall. Instead of leaning back in the saddle when yanking the horse's head around to the side, Douglas leaned forward and took the full force of the horse's heavy head right in the face.
Bill Williams was Douglas' stunt double, and "was an excellent rider [he was later killed doing a stunt for The Hallelujah Trail (1965)], and in silhouette looked a lot like me."
Hank Worden, who has a substantial role as the Indian Crazy Bear, also makes a cameo appearance as the jailer at the cavalry fort guardhouse; likewise, Harry Landers plays both Grey Wolf and also one of Captain Trask's attachés. In Worden's case, the deception is aided by having him dubbed when he plays Crazy Bear, while using his own voice as the jailer. (Perhaps not coincidentally, three years earlier, Worden played another crazy Indian with a dubbed voice in another Kirk Douglas vehicle, "The Big Sky.")
First feature from Kirk Douglas' then new production company, Bryna, named for his mother that was released through United Artists. Douglas' wife, Anne Douglas, was the picture's casting supervisor. Diana Douglas, who portrays "Susan Rogers," was Douglas' former wife; The Indian Fighter (1955) was their first film together. According to a October 20, 1955 Hollywood Reporter news item, Diana Douglas was "upped to co-star billing...as a result of reaction cards received at [a] sneak preview held recently in Inglewood." Diana and Kirk Douglas, along with their son Michael Douglas and grandson Cameron Douglas, also appeared together in the 2003, Fred Schepisi-directed film It Runs in the Family (2003).
When Kirk Douglas is talking to the photographer about taking images of the scenery, the photographer says, "You know, when I was working for Mr. Brady, photographing the Civil War...". This is a reference to Mathew Brady, often called the Father of Photojournalism. He became widely known for his photographs of the Civil War and some of the most famous pictures of that war are his.
The flaming arrow special effects were created by Ted V. Mikels, who appeared as both an Indian and a soldier.