Fess Parker is John “Doc” Grayson, who’s helping guide a wagon train to Oregon in the mid-1840s.
That means traveling through Pawnee, Piute and Sioux country. The Pawnee are in a particularly nasty mood.
They feign an attack on the wagon train to steal a string of horses, then kidnap a teenage boy who wanders off.
He escapes and rushes back to the wagon train, just in time to warn of a coming attack.
Only a mad dash toward a mountain pass saves the settlers.
They’re looking forward to a respite at Fort Laramie, but even that is short-lived.
Sioux medicine man Many Stars has decided that young Myra Thompson, long blonde hair flowing, would be big medicine for the tribe.
So Chief Wolf’s Brother tries to barter in order to obtain her as a future bride for his son. Her family, of course, isn’t in a selling mood.
The situation looks more bleak when that same son falls off a horse and suffers a head injury.
But Doc Grayson is so called because he has medical aspirations. He decides to try to heal the boy, knowing that to fail might mean being blamed for his death.
Fess Parker as John ‘Doc’ Grayson, helping lead a wagon train to Oregon in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Kathleen Crowley as Laura Thompson, thinking of a future in Oregon in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Review:
Typical Disney fare, so there’s lots of youngsters involved, an adorable dog that does tricks and a pet horse that’s stolen by Indians.
There’s a budding romance, too, between Doc and Laura Thompson (Kathleen Crowley). Her father was a doctor and it’s his books Doc learns from.
Laura’s traveling West with her younger brother and sister, and they’re the children who most often wind up in danger. It’s the younger sister the Sioux want to buy; it’s the younger brother who’s kidnapped by Indians.
Parker was coming off his first Disney project, the wildly popular “Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.”
The highlight of the film is the running attack on the wagon train, filmed by second-unit director Yakima Canutt.
According to IMDb, Walt Disney wanted the attack filmed without deaths or injuries since this was intended as a family filmed. Canutt balked, saying that was unrealistic, but was ordered to shoot it that way.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know Canutt got his way in the end, reshooting a wagon train attack complete with casualties on both sides.
Jeff York as Hank Breckenridge, inquiring about the mood of the Sioux in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Sebastian Cabot as Bissonette, the man who owns the trading post at Fort Laramie in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Directed by:
William Beaudine
Cast:
Fess Parker … John “Doc” Grayson
Kathleen Crowley … Laura Thompson
Jeff York … Hank Breckenridge
David Stollery … Dan Thompson
Sebastian Cabot … Bissonette
George Reeves … James Stephen
Doreen Tracey … Bobo Stephen
Barbara Wooddell … Mrs. Stephen
Iron Eyes Cody … Many Stars
Anthony Numkena … Little Thunder
Karen Pendleton … Myra Thompson
John War Eagle … Wolf’s Brother
Cubby O’Brien … Jerry Stephen
Tommy Cole … Jim Stephen
Leslie Bradley … Spencer Armitage
Morgan Woodward … Obie Foster
Jane Liddell … Ruth Benjamin
Jon Locke … Ed Benjamin
Runtime: 90 min.
Songs:
Westward Ho the Wagons!
The Ballad of John Colter
Wringle Wrangle
I’m Lonely My Darlin’
Pioneer’s Prayer
David Stollery as Dan Thompson greeted by sister Laura (Kathleen Crowley) after recovering his prize stallion in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Karen Pendleton as Myra Thompson, prized by the Sioux because of her blonde hair in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Memorable lines:
John “Doc” Grayson: “I reckon we ought to go out and take a look.”
Settler: “While we’re under attack.”
Grayson: “A hundred arrows is an attack. One is something else.”
Spencer Armitage: “Are you arming these savages, knowing the mood they’re in?”
Bissonette: “That savage, as you call him, is my customer. And guns are good for hunting as they are for fighting. If he pays my price, I sell him what he wants. To sell is my business.”
Armitage: “No matter who gets the bullet in the back, eh?”
Bissonette: “Ah, it’s an easier way to die than by the arrow, monsieur.”
Indian chief: “Who speaks for Little Yellow Hair?”
Laura Thompson: “I speak for my sister.”
Indian chief: “No talk to woman. You not father.”
Laura: “I’m her father and mother.”
Indian chief: “No talk to woman.”
Laura: “You’ll talk to me, you pompous savage!”
Anthony Numkena as Little Thunder, showing off a toy to the white children in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
John War Eagle as Wolf’s Brother, convinced of Myra Thompson’s importance to his tribe in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Iron Eyes Cody as Many Stars, the medicine man convinced of Myra Thompson’s power in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Sebastian Catot as Bissonette and Leslie Bradley as Specter Armitage, Grayson’s top rival for Laura’s hand in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Jeff York as Hank Breckenridge and Fess Parker as John ‘Doc’ Grayson await the next charge by the Indians in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Kathleen Crowley as Laura Thompson with younger sister Myra (Karen Pendleton) in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
David Stollery as Dan Thompson and Anthony Numkena as Little Thunder exchange greetings in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
Fess Parker as John ‘Doc’ Grayson and Kathleen Crowley as Laura Thompson, finding the books he’s been studying in Westward Ho the Wagons! (1956)
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