Near the end, when the Red Legs are attacking the cabin, approximately 15 men cross the creek, but at least 20 are shown falling after being shot by Wales and those in the cabin. Another is not shown falling down the steep hill with the 2 that do fall; and Captain Redlegs rides away, making at least 21 deaths shown and a 22nd possibly surviving.
When Josey frees Laura Lee and Granny from the Comancheros, he cuts the ropes binding their hands and Laura Lee's wrists have rope burns from being pulled along. A short time later at Blood Butte, Laura Lee tells Josey dreams are like clouds across a sky-blue mind, and her wrists have no burns at all.
When the Redleg leader is shooting at the Gatling gun, he fires 4 shots. When he runs over to the Gatling gun tent and points his gun in it, all six lead balls can be seen sticking out of the front of the cylinder.
When the two men who were buried up to their heads are returned safely, their clothes show no sign of being dirty.
When Josey Wales is leaving the interior of the store carrying the supplies, he is also carrying the picture postcard of the dead man that the store clerk showed him. When he emerges outside, he is no longer carrying the postcard.
A Gatling gun holds either 20 or 50 rounds, but Josey fires way more, not to mention the soldiers before him.
Wales retrieves his gun from the burn house, in fact the holster it is in is charred. If the gun were likely stored loaded, the heat from the fire would have set off the shells, and exploded, thus damaging the gun.
A group of men led by "Bloody Bill" Anderson ride up to the home of Josey Wales after he buries his family. But Anderson was killed before the end of the Civil War in an ambush set by Union soldiers near Albany, Missouri in 1864.
When Wales' family is murdered by the Red Legs, he retrieves a gun from the ashes of his house, which is a Colt Army with Richards "Cartridge Conversion" and a loading gate only manufactured in 1871-1878. Due to quick camera cuts, it appears he fires far more than six shots at a time.
When Josey is chasing Redlegs from the final battle, the camera is filming from overhead, and the two pass two Hereford (or white faced cattle). They must have belonged to a modern local rancher, since earlier in the film the settlers brought only longhorn cattle (about half a dozen head) with them.
Herefords did not catch on as did the Shorthorns and were not extensively bred until after 1850. However, Henry Clay did take some Herefords to Kentucky as early as 1817.
Herefords did not catch on as did the Shorthorns and were not extensively bred until after 1850. However, Henry Clay did take some Herefords to Kentucky as early as 1817.
After Josey shoots the two men in the cabin/store where he goes to get a horse, he spits tobacco juice on one man's head and the dead man's eyes squint in reaction.
However, as Josey steps by the body on the way out, the 'dead body' rotates his head away from camera, indicating that he wasn't quite dead yet.
The gang of "Red Legs" kill Josey's wife and son and burn his home to the ground, but for no logical reason, they leave Josey himself alive. However, it could be argued that they thought Josey already was dead as he was lying on the ground motionless instead of doing whatever he could to prevent further damage.
When Josey fires the Gatling, he sprays bullets across the camp, killing many men. However, behind the men are horses, who do not react or appear to get hit.
When Wales returns to the tent where Jamie is sheltering from the rain, Jamie blinks his right eye after he has died.
After the group travels away from the Comancheros, a window is seen in the front of the cart and a second set of reins to the horses for the real driver while the two women sit on top acting as though they are driving.
After the shootout in town, the victims are propped up in the street, and a photographer uses flash powder to take a photo. The movie is set at the end of the Civil War in 1865, but photographer's flash powder was not invented until 1887 (and didn't become common until the 1890s). Prior to the common use of flash powder (pre-1890s), photos were taken using only natural light and long exposure times. Even after the invention of flash powder, just like flash photography today, it was used only in lower light conditions (indoors, for example) and would not have been needed or used outdoors in sunlight.
The fiddle that provided the music for dancing at the ranch was fitted with a chin piece, which was not used until the twentieth century.
At one point, there is a soldier playing a five-string open-back banjo claw-hammer style in the background. Shadows through the leather head of the banjo can be seen. Even though the banjo started to evolve in the late 1840s, the open-back banjo was invented by Arthur Windsor in England after 1887, and "frailing" (claw-hammer style picking) did not become popular until the late 1800s.
Near the beginning when characters were belly-down on the ground, two metal high-tension electric towers are visible in the far distance.
The men in the cabin/store are using Colt revolvers with the Richards conversion.
This conversion was not available until 1871, long after the time-frame of this story.
When Laura Lee plays the concertina, the sound doesn't match what she's playing.
During the attempted rape scene, crew members can be seen through the legs of a bandit.
Near the end, when Wales is fighting the posse outside the house, the legs of a C-stand can be seen when a man from Terrill's gang falls off a horse.
There is a camera shadow on Ten Bear's horse as he rides out of the camp to meet Josey.
Near the end, after the old lady comments about freeloaders from Kansas, a camera shadow is seen when a guy falls off his horse in the last shoot-out.
When the two men are buried up to their necks outside of Ten bears tent, if you watch the ground closely, you can see the fake ground move when he walks by them.
Josey and Jamie cross the Missouri river on a ferry (tethered barge). The Union pursuers are on the next barge trip, and Josey shoots the rope sending the barge down the river. Josey was headed South and West towards Texas, and presumably was on the west side of the river. The river should have been flowing the other direction.