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Cochise's story was not
well known to the American public until the publication of a novel in 1947
by Elliot Arnold titled "Blood Brother". It was a historical novel
in that the events portrayed were, on the whole, depicted as they actually
occurred, to the remarkable extent that where possible many of the lines
given the major characters were verbatim, taken from historical records.
The interwoven fictional love story between Tom Jeffords and the Apache maiden
Sonseeahray added interest without seriously detracting from the history
lesson --- and while Apache life was somewhat romanticized, a broader truth
was artfully proclaimed: Indians are human beings just as surely as
the white man, with hopes and fears that are strikingly similar, though with
perhaps a greater appreciation for philosophical concepts like honor and
valor.
This was revolutionary stuff at that time. The motion picture industry,
hungry for Westerns, latched on to the book, hiring its author to do the screenplay
for a movie they would call "Broken Arrow". This would prove to be
the beginning of a long career in writing screenplays for Elliot Arnold,
and the beginning, too, of a new and healthier appreciation of the plight
of the American Indian by the public at large.
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