“William Watters” (credited in the cast) and “Nicholas Merriwether” (credited as producer) are pseudonyms for Arch Hall, Sr., who made the film independently through his Fairway Productions. According to his obituary in the 2 May 1978 DV, “Hall was proud of the fact that he never looked to others for financing,” suggesting he may have funded his own productions.
       According to an article in the 19 May 1965 [Huron, SD] Daily Plainsman, over seventy-percent of shooting occurred in South Dakota’s “Badlands, Custer State Park and other portions of the Black Hills.” Additional location filming reportedly took place near the Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. The picture, which starred Arch Hall, Sr.’s son, Arch Hall, Jr., was said to be inspired by the elder Hall’s upbringing on a cattle ranch in western South Dakota.
       The film premiered in Rapid City, SD, on 18 May 1965. Regional openings followed throughout the U.S., including a release in late Jun 1965 at the Cincinnati, OH, Twin Drive-In, where Deadwood ‘76 played on a double bill with another Arch Hall, Sr., production, Spies a-Go-Go (a.k.a. The Nasty Rabbit, 1965, see entry).
       Actress LaDonna Cottier, who played “Little Bird,” was a real-life South Dakota Sioux Indian, according to the Daily Plainsman, which also noted that members of the Sioux dance group, the War Eagles, appeared in village scenes and later performed at the premiere.
       On 8 Apr 1971, a DV news brief reported that Ember Film Distributors Ltd. had acquired British distribution rights, and planned to release the film on 11 Apr 1971, on a double-bill with From Nashville with Music (1969, see entry).