Time and place.
The time is easy, since the opening credits say it is 1863, with Union soldiers holding confederate prisoners of war at Fort Bravo in Arizona Territory.
Arizona Territory was actually established on February 24, 1863, so Fort Bravo could be located in the real Arizona Territory in 1863. Though possibly Escape from FortBravo (1953) happens in some sort of alternate universe where the border of Arizona territory extends farther east into New Mexico than it ever did in real history.
the nearest town or village seems to be a place named Mescal.
Aren't the prisoners guarded?
Where would they go
without arms and horses?
Over that hill, there are four more hills,
and then miles of desert to Mescal.
Nothing much in Mescal.
At least for a rebel.
There is a real Mescal, Arizonia, but but as far as I can tell from the maps, it is too far south and west to be near the location of the fictional Fort Bravo.
Where do you think they'll go?
Texas.
They ought to be across the Gila by now.
They'll need fresh horses.
That should be Lordsville.
Five of them?
So the escapees are headed east and southeast To Texas, crossed the Gila River, and are headed to to Lordsville, which I assumed was Lordsburg (New Mexico). That Puts Fort Bravo somewhere north of the Gila River. As far as I can based on maps, The Gila River gets to about 38 MIles north of Lordsburg.
Capt. Roper pursues the escapees, beyond Lordsburg, captures them, and they are headed back toward Fort Bravo when Mescaleros attack them. and pin them down. At night, one suggests he could sneak away.
And where would you go if you did get out?
Must be 50 miles to the fort.
https://www.scripts.com/script.php?id=escape_from_fort_bravo_7739&p=16
So Fort Bravo is somewhere north of the Gila River, and Lordsburg is about 38 miles south of the closest part of the Gila River. If they haven't returned to Lordsburg yet & are 50 miles from Fort Bravo, they must be less than 12 miles southeast of Lordsburg, and Fort Bravo must be close to the point on the Gila closest to Lordsburg, and thus in New Mexico, suggesting that Arizona extends farther east in the movie than it does in real life.
But if they rode through Lordsburg on the way back, Fort Bravo could be farther from the spot on the Gila closest to Lordsburg, Possibly far enough to be in real life Arizona.
And if the script sites are correct that they went through the fictional Lordsville instead of the real Lordsburg, the location of fictional Fort Bravo could be even farther north and west of the Gila Rivet in Arizona. share