Tim McIntire plays Matt Colter, a fur trapper who rebuilds an abandoned cabin, not knowing he’s doing so on a sacred burial site of the Paiutes.
When the tribe shows up for its annual burial ceremony, warriors tear down that cabin around Colter’s pregnant Indian companion.
She succumbs to her injuries, but not before giving birth to Colter’s son.
Colter’s next problem: Keeping the baby alive during a snowy Oregon winter.
Fellow trapper Lum Witcher (Jack Elam) suggests a gentle request to the Paiute to have Wannetta (Minda Miller) nurse the child. She recently lost an infant to illness.
But having lost his home and lover, Colter isn’t in a gentle mood. He charges into the Paiute camp on horseback and captures Wannetta.
Chief Prairie Fox wants her back. What’s more, he wants that infant too.
The Paiute consider the child special because he was born on that sacred ground.
Tim McIntire as Matt Colter, watching the Paiute destroy his home while his son is born in Sacred Ground (1983)
Serene Hedin as Little Doe, the mother of Matt Colter’s child in Sacred Ground (1983)
Review:
The fourth Western by Charles B. Pierce, this followed “Winterhawk” (1976) and “Grayeagle” (1977) as the third in which the plot revolves around a kidnapped female.
It’s a crudely made film, with an unconvincing performance by Tim McIntire in the lead role and some decent ideas not properly exploited.
For instance, one of Prairie Dogs’ warriors is painted white from head to toe and riding a white horse as he attempts track down Colter and recapture Wannetta in the snow-covered Oregon wilderness.
But rather than a prolonged scene of cat and mouse, the suspense ends in a heartbeat. Oh, well, more time for scenes of Colter riding across a snowy landscape.
Though even those scenes are preferable to the ending, which seems completely implausible.
Mindi Miller as Wannetta, the Paiute woman Colter kidnaps to care for his child in Sacred Ground (1983)
Eloy Casados as Prairie Fox, demanding the return of his woman, Wannetta, in Sacred Ground (1983)
Directed by:
Charles B. Pierce
Cast:
Tim McIntire … Matt Colter
Jack Elam … Lum Witcher
L.Q. Jones … Tolbert Coleman
Mindi Miller … Wannetta
Eloy Casados … Pairie Fox
Serene Hedin … Little Doe
Vernon Foster … Wounded Leg
Lefty Wild Eagle … Medicine man
Larry Kenoras … Brave Beaver
Franklin Fritz … Baby Colter
Danny Wilson … Lone Brave
Runtime: 100 min.
Jack Elam as Lum Witcher, the trapper who suggest Colter find a Paiute woman to care for his child in Sacred Ground (1983)
L.Q. Jones as Tolbert Coleman, the trader who helps out Colter with the loan of a horse in Sacred Ground (1983)
Memorable lines:
Matt Colter, at the trading post: “What the hell do I need?”
Tolbert Coleman, after hearing he’s heading into Paiute country: “Well, I’ll tell you one thing you’re gonna need for sure. A piece of rawhide to tie that hair of your’n on with.”
Paiute Chief Prarie Dog: “No one will stand between our brave warriors and the Great Spirit. No one!”
Lum Witcher, to Colter’s baby: “If you don’t stop your dang squalling, you’re not gonna die of natural causes. You’re gonna die of mountain man choking.”
Serene Hedin as Little Doe, watching trouble descend on her home in Sacred Ground (1983)
Serene Hedin as Little Doe, watching trouble descend on her home in Sacred Ground (1983)
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