Tödlicher Irrtum (1970)

In 1896, oil is suspected to lie beneath the Shoshone reservation near Windriver City. Hoping to receive a fair share of the proceeds, the local people sign a contract with the white men of the Wyoming Oil Company. The contract has several loopholes: it was made without government approval, and only the signatories are entitled to the profits. After oil is indeed discovered, several tribal chiefs suddenly die unnatural deaths, and the payments made by the company to the dwindling number of contract partners do not reflect the actual profits. When the Indians complain to the company’s head, Michael P. Allison, that their shares are getting smaller and smaller, he points out that he cannot be blamed for five shareholders having died and three having sold their shares to him. To solve the murders and prevent further injustices, Shave Head, the chief’s son, summons his half-brother Chris Howard, with whom he shares the same father, to town. Howard applies incognito for the job of deputy sheriff, hoping to prove that oil magnate Mike Allison is a murderer and expose the company’s schemes. During his investigation, he uncovers several discrepancies and also learns from engineer Lee Garrett that several weeks earlier Garrett had sent a letter to the government to determine whether the drilling complied with the law. Mike Allison learns of this too and now sets everything in motion to save his holdings. Among his supporters are the sheriff and even an Indian, who keeps demanding more and more, so he is shot. To cover up this murder, white men kill Indian agent Mc Laurin with an arrow, then shoot the dead Indian again after moving him nearby, making it look as if he had been fleeing as the archer. Mike Allison seizes this opportunity to stir up hatred against the Indians. The government’s investigative commission arrives in town, and the Indians gather to fight in order to protect the oil fields, which Allison, in turn, wants to destroy so the government will not discover his schemes. But Ten Eyck takes command at the oil camp, manages to set it on fire, and loses his life along with many others. Allison loses his position during the investigation, but the Indians are still unable to enforce their rights. In an attempt to stop the sheriff, who is trying to get hold of the land ownership documents, Chris Howard is shot dead.