The year is 1886, and Sergeant Bugs is assigned to protect a U.S. Calvary outpost, Fort Lariat, from invaders. Yosemite Sam, accompanied by local Indians, attempts to invade the fort and fails on several occasions, aggravating the Indians in the process. The story concludes with Bugs and Sam in the middle of a clash between the returning Calvary and the Indians. Bugs manages to escape into a hole in the ground, while Sam and his mule do not-and get flattened.
On The Merrie Melodies Show, the scene in which Bugs shoots his rifle at the Indians and runs a tally of the Indians that he has killed, singing "Ten Little Indians", was cut. Here is how the complete scene originally went. After counting six little Indians, Bugs corrects himself and says, "Uh-oh-- sorry, that one was a half-breed!" and erases half of the line that he has sketched on the Fort Lariat wall. He continues firing the rifle and an Indian sneaks behind him; so, Bugs kicks the Indian in the chin just while completing his song with, "Ten little Indian boys!". These scenes above were cut. [1] Strangely, on the Merrie Melodies airing of Tom Tom Tomcat, the same song, performed by Tweety while Granny fires rifle at the Indian cats, was retained.
On Nickelodeon, The "Ten Little Indians" scene was shortened to remove Bugs' "half-breed" comment.[1]
Due to pressure from AOL Time Warner, this cartoon was one of 12 pulled from rotation by Cartoon Network during its 2001 "June Bugs" marathon. This short's ban is in addition to the "Censored 11" ban placed on all networks in the USA, being withheld from distribution since 1968. The reason given was the short's potentially offensive depiction "Injun" of Native Americans.
