The official John Wayne Twitter account shared an anecdote about the actor this week trying to exemplify his kindness, but the responses were mixed. The John Wayne estate has been trying furiously to rebuild the actor's legacy ever since racist comments from his past resurfaced, and some establishments began considering disentangling themselves from him. From the sound of it, his treatment of a Native American child in the 1950s will not sway public opinion.
According to the John Wayne Official Twitter account, a Navajo child on the set of The Searchers became seriously ill during filming, with a bad case of pneumonia. Wayne apparently instructed his personal pilot to fly the young girl to the hospital for urgent medical attention. "For his deed, the Navajos nicknamed him 'The Man With The Big Eagle,'" Wayne's heirs claimed. While this story touched many of Wayne's admirers, critics had plenty of questions about it.
For one thing, if the story is true, some referred to it as "the bare minimum of human decency" and did not believe it was worth celebrating. The detractors argued that anyone with Wayne's resources in that position would have been a monster not to get help for that Navajo girl.
Others questioned the story's legitimacy, however. Many were skeptical of the nickname Wayne apparently got from the Navajo, and they thought that a member of the Navajo Nation today would likely be able to verify this story if it were true. The Searchers is one of Wayne's most famous films, and anyone associated with it would probably have passed the story on.
Many also speculated that the identity of the little girl should be traceable for verification. The Searchers had a small, mostly White cast, with no Native performers credited. Even Victor Daniels — known professionally as "Chief Thundercloud" — was uncredited, though by then, he was already well-known, particularly for playing Tonto in The Lone Ranger.
Wayne came under fire last month amid nationwide protests against racism for his comments in a 1971 interview with Playboy. In it, Wayne said: "I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility." He also disparaged Native Americans and the LGBTQ+ community.
Still, for many people, Wayne the individual is less important than Wayne, the icon — an early celebrity and symbol of America's self-perception. Here is a look at how Twitter handled the story of Wayne's generosity to a young Navajo girl in the mid-1950s.