Factual error: When Clint Eastwood catches an Indian arrow in his left shoulder, he instructs Shirley MacLaine to prime the arrow shaft with gunpowder, which he then ignites as she forces the shaft all the way through his shoulder. Presumably, the burning gunpowder would cauterize the wound all the way through his body, or that's what the filmmakers asked the audience to believe. In reality, gunpowder is historically well-known for causing gangrene in open wounds. With a shoulder full of gunpowder cinders, Clint Eastwood should have died of gangrene and sepsis by the end of the movie.
Factual error: The French withdrew from Mexico in 1867, so the story is set that year at the latest. Clint blows up a trestle as a train is passing over it. He shoots an 1873 Winchester, which would not be in existence for a minimum of six years.
Factual error: Compound mistakes - the French evacuated Mexico by March of 1867. The Eastwood character blows up a bridge by shooting dynamite. Dynamite wasn't invented until May of 1867, and that in Europe, so it would have taken months, if not years, for dynamite to get to the area of the film. Add to this the fact that dynamite was specifically compounded to NOT explode by percussion - Clint could shoot at dynamite all day and it would not explode; dynamite can only be detonated via fuse or blasting cap.
Factual error: MacLaine and Eastwood enter a small village, they dismount from their rides and start walking up an embankment. The background is an open air shot revealing the sky, Noticeable in the background up in the air are 12 high voltage power lines running across the width of the screen. Don't think those would've been there in mid 1800's outback Mexico.
