Continuity mistake: When Tristan returns to see Suzanne at her new home with Alfred, her hair is down. But in every shot her hair is either pulled behind her ear, then both sides in her face, then one side pulled back, and so on. (01:25:55)
Visible crew/equipment: In the opening scene, when the COL is sitting in front of the cabin, a modern pickup or van can be seen in the background.
Continuity mistake: When Susannah finds Tristan crying at Samuel's grave she takes him into her arms and consoles him. This is seen from different angles, with Tristan's hair behind his ear or not, and in one strange brief shot with a straight, expressionless face, very different from all others where he is sobbing hard and his face is twisted with grief. (00:53:25)
Audio problem: When Tristan returns the second time he is driving horses along, shouting loudly, but without moving his mouth. (01:19:35)
Continuity mistake: When Susannah comes to the ranch she takes a photograph of the three brothers. Alfred is holding a glass and has both legs up. At the end of the movie Tristan looks at the picture, and Alfred's glass is missing, and one leg is stretched out. (01:54:00)
Continuity mistake: When the second German cavalryman attacks Tristan he is aiming his rifle at him. When he gets shot down he is holding on to the reins, and the rifle is gone. (00:39:40)
Continuity mistake: When Tristan and Samuel talk about premarital sex, some strands on Tristan's right temple hang down or are tucked behind his ear alternatingly. (00:20:30)
Revealing mistake: When Tristan takes revenge for his brother and scalps two German soldiers you can see that his knife just goes through the hair. (00:44:25)
Continuity mistake: When Tristan and Samuel hug in the trenches in the war, at first Tristan's chin is on top of Samuel's hat, but when it cuts to the other angle, their heads are level, side by side. (00:36:00)
Continuity mistake: In the scene of Alfred and Tristan at Susanna's grave, when shots of Alfred show him speaking to Tristan, he looks to his right, as if the two men were side by side and facing the grave, and they seem to have been side by side in the last shot in that scene, when they leave the grave-site. However, the sun lights the left side of Alfred's face, and in the alternating shots, which show Tristan listening to Alfred, the sunlight is on the right side of Tristan's face.
Answer: Very early in the story when one stab is narrating, he's kind of introducing everybody and makes a reference about Decker having "illegally" married an Indian woman, and there are several references to the fact that the father was not happy working for a government that was killing Indians and also went out of his way to make sure they were in no way discriminated against. I think it's possible that may be why they were looking for Decker and why Colonel went out of his way to hide his living there.
I believe Decker had been a bootlegger. That would be the reason why the O'Banions (sellers of booze themselves), were with the sheriff when they came looking for Decker at the Ludlow's ranch. And also, the reason why the O'Banions didn't want to say what Decker was wanted for because.it was their own personal vendetta concerning bootleg whiskey. Maybe they had reason to believe that he was still selling bootleg whiskey around those parts. Also, later in the movie, when Tristan returns home after 7 years, Decker says to him "There's good money in bootlegging if you know what you're doing." And, Decker says that with a huge smile. Like he definitely knew what he was talking about and could definitely give Tristan some pointers about being a bootlegger.
Alcohol wasn't illegal until well after World War 1. The initial scene with the O'Bannons takes place before the boys go off to war, and it's stated afterwards that Alfred voted for the Volstead Act making alcohol illegal.
Not sure about this. At the time the sheriff comes looking for Decker, it's roughly 1915, and liquor is not yet illegal.