D. W. Griffith

In this cinematic milestone, director D.W. Griffith utilized enormous sets and thousands of extras in order to stage his cinematic exploration of intolerance and it's terrible effects throughout history from ancient Babylon and biblical Judea to medieval Paris and modern America.

The Battle at Elderbush Gulch begins with Mae Marsh and her little sister meeting Lillian Gish and her family on the stagecoach bound for the frontier settlement of Elderbush Gulch. The girls' arrival is welcomed with enthusiasm until the ranch foreman for their uncle, with whom they've come to live, refuses to let them keep their puppies in the house. Left outside, the pups run away and fall into the hands of two young Indians who, amazed at their good fortune, prepare to eat them. Marsh's screams alert her uncle, who comes running with his gun and shoots one of the braves. Unfortunately, the victim turns out to be the son of the chief. To avenge the death of his son, the chief organizes an attack on Elderbush Gulch.