Massacre is based on a true story. In 1846, during the war with Mexico, the U.S. Army was given free passage through Apache lands. A tentative truce between the Indians and the U.S. government held until the 1850s when there was an influx of gold miners into the Santa Rita Mountains southeast of Tucson. Treaties signed with the Apache were ignored. Indians fought back. Large raiding parties attacked ranches, killing the ranchers and their families and stealing livestock. Many of the settlers were forced into frontier towns for protection. A turning point in the Indian wars occurred at dawn on Sunday, April 30, 1871, when citizens of Tucson, along with some Mexicans and Papango Indians attacked the Indian village at Camp Grant, murdering 112 Indians, mostly women and children. Some survivors, including babies, became slaves of the Popango Indians. Chief Eskiminzin and his daughter were among the handful of Apache who escaped. Massacre is a fictional account of actual events and people who were involved in the planning and execution of the Camp Grant massacre. Before the massacre, the U.S. Army didn't have enough troops stationed in Arizona to combat the Apache threat. Citizens pleaded with their Congressman in Washington to send more troops, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The citizens of Tucson felt there was no other option to protect their city except a preemptive attack to eliminate the Indian threat to the north.