Factual error: The song that Davy Crockett plays on the violin is 'The Mockingbird Quick-Step,' written in 1855, several decades after the events of this movie (and later used by the 'Three Stooges' as a theme song.).
Continuity mistake: After the Baxter/Rojo dinner, the background changes from nightime to daytime at the cemetery, then back to nightime again when Clint kidnaps Mirasol.
Visible crew/equipment: In several scenes there are rectangular arrays of studio lamps visible, reflected in the actors' space helmets.
Factual error: The movie depicts Wes Studi, who is playing the Paiute medicine man "Wovoka," as coming to the Sioux reservation and delivering his vision. Wovoka (aka Jack Wilson) was from Schurz, Nevada 1250 miles away from the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He never travelled to South Dakota. What really happened was tribal parties (at great personal risk) travelled to Nevada to get the message and brought it back to the Sioux people. Of course, this message was "modified" somewhat to better fit Lakota culture.
Factual error: The character Red Harvest is a Comanche. He is sporting a Mohawk haircut. This hair style was not in use by the Comanche tribe, but used by the Iroquois and Mohawks.
Suggested correction: The Mohawk hairstyle was used amongst many different plains tribes as well as eastern tribes.
Audio problem: When Bunny (Ramon) is, as Zorro, spelling out "Zorro" on the wall with his whip, the number of whiplash sounds does not match the number of marks in the wall.
Continuity mistake: During the film, Daniel Craig's character rides out to the house where he last saw the woman he was in love with. During the wide shot showing him on his horse riding toward the camera, the device on his wrist is missing. It is obvious if you are paying attention, as he is using the arm which is supposed to have the device to hold the reins of the horse.
Other mistake: Throughout most of the film, Mattie Ross' gun is correctly shown to be a Colt's Dragoon .44 caliber revolver. However, in the scene where Tom Chaney is looking down at her from the top of the well into which she had fallen, the gun in his hand is a Colt's Model 1860 Army. Presumably, when he, too falls into the well after being shot by Marshall Cogburn, the gun goes with him. When Cogburn retrieves the weapon before helping Mattie out of the pit, the gun is once more a Colt's Dragoon.
Suggested correction: The pistol used throughout True Grit is a Colt Walker .44, not the later-made Colt Dragoon, and the pistol in the scene of Chaney looking down at Mattie is the same pistol. If you looked closely at the loading lever you should have seen this. Also, he is looking down into a snake den, not a "well."
Continuity mistake: When Mitch is trying to find the hand, Glen grabs the map. When he grabs the map there is a hole in it, but before he sets it on fire, the hole is gone.
Continuity mistake: This is actually in a deleted scene on the DVD: Jones shoots a mountain lion at night, and it's seen to be completely dark out. The two other men go out to look at it, but when they're walking across the snow, the sky is suddenly pale blue and there's light just below the horizon. It looks like it's just before dawn or just after sunset. But when they reach the dead mountain lion, the sky is suddenly black again, and it looks like it's the middle of the night.
Continuity mistake: After the scene where Sara and Maria tie up Quentin and take pictures of him naked, when they are leaving the hotel with Quentin tied up, Sara's hair is just below her shoulders, but the whole movie her hair is to her waist.
Factual error: During the final shoot-out, when Raf shot the man on the roof as he enters town, the wrong flag is displayed - a 48 star flag, but the time setting is the 1880's, when there were fewer states.
Factual error: Tombstone is nowhere near Monument Valley.
Revealing mistake: When The Indians launch their final attack (towards the end of the film), on a old outpost held by a small group of soldiers, Ward Bond is hit by a arrow which enters the right side of his chest. In the next shot you see Gregory Peck removing the arrow from the left side of Ward Bond's chest.
Revealing mistake: Early in the movie, there is a visible circular, plastic looking effect on Gideon's arm as he removes the bullet with the knife. This is more noticeable around his shoulder when he cauterizes his wound with the hot knife.
Factual error: When the trappers first encounter the Rickarees, the bow cannon is discharged, creating an explosion near the Indians, who promptly turn and ride away. Immediately after, a second shell explodes near them. It would be impossible for a single gunner to sponge out and reload with cartridge and ball in the space of 10 seconds.
Continuity mistake: The story takes place in 1901 and Rose is still shown as a toddler. She would have been a teenager by then.
Audio problem: The Rabbi's horse is bucking in reaction to the rattlesnake, and all the while the Rabbi is yelling in Yiddish - but his mouth is not moving.
Revealing mistake: When Captain Quincy Wyatt interrogates a captive Seminole Native American by threatening him with a poisonous snake, the native is safe because there is a protective piece of glass between him and the snake. The snake's reflection is quite obvious on the glass panel. (01:14:40)
Factual error: The newly born foal is too dry and too steady on its legs. (00:22:25)