wants to tell Johnny, but she persuades him not to, admitting that she did not love her husband any longer. She says it would be unkind to tell the boy the truth of his father's death and that the secret will not follow them to Hondo's ranch in California. Hondo responds to her emotional plea with an Indian word that seals a squaw-seeking ceremony, "Varlabania", which he tells her means "forever". The cavalry return to the ranch, having killed Vittoro in a battle but having their commanding officer badly wounded. While the Apache regroup, Hondo, Angie, and Johnny join the wagon train and head for the fort. The Apaches catch up and the cavalry, led by Hondo, circle the wagons and counter-attack. Hondo kills Silva (their new leader) and the Apache scatter, giving the settlers and soldiers a chance to escape. The wagon train regroups and proceeds to the fort with Hondo remaining in command. Cast Filming locations San Francisco de Conchos. The exterior of the Church of San Francisco de Asís in the village was used for the army camp scenes. Development and production Wayne's newly formed production company Wayne-Fellows Productions (later Batjac) purchased the rights to Louis L'Amour's short story "The Gift of Cochise" in 1952, and set Wayne's friend and frequent collaborator James Edward Grant to write the adaptation, which expanded the original story, introduced new characters, and added the cavalry subplot. L'Amour was given the rights to write the novelization of the film, which became a bestseller after the film's release. The film shoot was scheduled for the summer of 1953 in the Mexican desert state of Chihuahua in the San Francisco de Conchos region. Today, this region is known for its tourist attractions like Lago Colina and spring pools like Los Filtros. It is a green area region with plenty of fishing and agriculture growth. Wayne and his producing partner Robert Fellows wanted to shoot the film in the trend-setting 3D format. Warner Brothers supplied the production with the newly developed "All Media Camera," which could shoot in any format, including 3-D, using twin lenses placed slightly apart to produce the stereoscopic effect necessary for it. Despite the fact that they were smaller than the twin camera process used previously for 3D, the All-Media Cameras were still bulky and made the film shoot difficult, causing delays when transporting the cameras to remote desert locations. Further,