Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron

Hey all!

The other day I watched an old Disney movie, a favorite of mine titled Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that many of the events in the movie corresponded to what we have been recently studying, especially the Battle of Little Bighorn. I've included a plot summary of the movie, in case you aren't familiar with it, and I hope you'll find it as cool as I did! 

Movie Plot:

Spirit is a young stallion who leads the Cimarron herd, a herd of wild mustangs that live in the Great Plains. One night, however, Spirit is captured by soldiers and is taken to an army fort.

The leader of the fort, known simply as “Colonel”, has taken an instant dislike to Spirit’s defiance, so the Colonel orders Spirit to be tied to a post for three days with no food or water. While he is tied, a young Lakota brave named Little Creek is brought in and tied to a post as well. That night, Little Creek cuts himself free with a knife and escapes with Spirit, taking him to the Lakota village.

At the Lakota's camp, after many failed attempts at trying to ride Spirit, Little Creek finally realizes that no one should ever ride Spirit and sets him free. Meanwhile, the Colonel and his men attack the Lakota camp.

Little Creek runs toward the Colonel, who levels a gun at him. Spirit rams the Colonel's horse, saving Little Creek, before he is captured by the army again. Little Creek is amazed that Spirit saved his life and so pursues the train Spirit is loaded on.

Spirit and other horses are then used by the army to help build a railroad by moving steam engine up a steep mountain. Spirit realizes that the railroad tracks are headed directly towards his homeland and that he must escape and stop them. He succeeds, but when a fire starts, Spirit’s harness gets caught on a branch and he is helpless until Little Creek appears and cuts him loose. The two escape, but the next morning they are found by the Colonel and his men. Spirit, with Little Creek on his back, escapes, and the Colonel gives up on the chase for good.

When they return to the Lakota village, Little Creek says goodbye to Spirit and sends him home, naming him "Spirit-who-could-not-be-broken". Spirit travels back to his homeland and finds his herd, and his mother, safe and sound, and lives happily ever after.

I watched this movie recently, and found it almost comical that we should study the Battle of Little Bighorn right afterwards. If you couldn’t guess, the “Colonel” is most likely a reference to Custer, but may also allude to other generals of the time period that had similar experiences.

The fort the Colonel resides over may be an interpretation of Fort Laramie, which has been previously mentioned in an earlier post. Little Creek’s “battle” with the Colonel reflects those of the Lakota people that actually occurred, although in reality the Lakota were defeated and ended up confined in reservations living off of government rations.

When Spirit is recaptured by the army and forced to help build the railroad, this is an example of the westward expansion that we have been discussing in class. I thought it was very interesting that a movie produced in 2002 would choose such a theme, and, even more surprisingly, that we would just happen to be studying the events from the movie just after I watched it.

For all you horse-lovers (or Disney fans) out there, I thought this would be a fun post! Hope you enjoyed it!