Santa Fe Trail (1940)

Santa Fe Trail is a 1940 American historical drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Errol Flynn (as J. E. B. "Jeb" Stuart), Olivia de Havilland, Raymond Massey (as John Brown), Ronald Reagan (as George Armstrong Custer) and Alan Hale. Written by Robert Buckner, the film focuses largely on the abolitionist John Brown and his controversial campaign against slavery before the American Civil War. In a subplot, Jeb Stuart and George Armstrong Custer—who are depicted fictionally as friends from the same West Point graduating class—compete for the hand of de Havilland portraying a fictional character called Kit Carson Holliday.

The film ranked among the higher grossing films of the year and was the seventh Flynn–de Havilland collaboration. Its content has little relevance to the actual Santa Fe Trail, and the script took multiple liberties with the historical record.