How a Legendary Director of Westerns Saw It

Letter writer Jim Beaver (Jan. 6) asks the question, “What did (director) John Ford really feel about the Indians?” The following, a statement made by Ford to director Peter Bogdanovich concerning Ford’s “Cheyenne Autumn,” may be an answer: “There are two sides to every story, but I wanted to show (the Indians’) point of view for a change. Let’s face it--we’ve treated them very badly. It’s a blot on our shield. We’ve cheated and robbed, killed, murdered, massacred, and everything else. But they kill one white man, and God! Out come the troops.”

RICHARD KILROY, Los Angeles