 The films screenplay was adapted by Frank S. Nugent (qv) from  Alan Le May (qv)s 1954 novel of the same name, that was first  serialized as a short story in late fall 1954 issues of the Saturday  Evening Post, and first titled, "The Avenging Texans", Acknowledged  similarities existed between the films script and an actual  Comanche kidnapping of a young white girl in Texas in 1836.