How The West Was Won (1978) s01e01 Episode Script
Episode 1
NARRATOR: The 1860s was a decade in which one of the most terrible civil wars in history was to begin and end.
But far from the bloody fields of Gettysburg and Shiloh changes which were to alter forever the face of the American West had already begun.
Telegraphs were spinning a web of voices across the Great Plains.
And railroads were pushing steel fingers into the heart of the wilderness.
Along their rights of way, new trails were being broken.
New towns were born overnight.
And settlers by the tens of thousands poured westward and began putting plows to the land the Indian considered his birthright.
The inevitable happened.
Two totally divergent cultures, Indian and white met on a collision course.
The white man demanded his Manifest Destiny the right to take the land he wanted.
And the Army began the subjugation of the red man with a savagery that plunged this nation into a series of Indian wars that were to last more than a quarter of a century.
CAINE: How many would you say? ZEB: Oh, about 30 of them.
I'll ride on down, tell them you're coming in to talk.
I didn't come here to talk.
SERGEANT: Form skirmish lines! What do you think you're doing? My orders are to attack.
I don't give a damn what your orders are, colonel.
There's no need for a fight here.
Those Arapaho down there are starving.
Besides, they've got women and children with them.
Nothing they can do but surrender.
My orders from General Connor are explicit.
I'm not to accept surrender on any terms.
And I'm to kill every hostile over the age of 12.
You lied to me, Caine.
I didn't have any choice.
I was told you wouldn't guide us if you knew my orders.
CAINE: Sergeant - Caine you give the order for a massacre, I'll gut you belly to brisket.
Arrest this man! [ZEB SHOUTING IN ARAPAHO.]
CAINE: Knock him down! Kill him, sir? Shoot! [ZEB SHOUTING IN ARAPAHO.]
Bugler! [BUGLER PLAYING CHARGE.]
[SCREAMING.]
CAINE: Fire at will! Cut them off from the horses! Take no prisoners! [GROANING.]
[CRYING.]
[GASPING.]
[CRYING.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
Sergeant? Somebody on foot approaching main gate.
Here.
They haven't had a thing to eat in two days.
Feed them.
[CHILD CRYING.]
[SHOUTING.]
Feed them! [IN NORMAL VOICE.]
Caine's outfit come in here? Only the wounded, sir.
Caine? He was among the wounded.
You can't Where's Colonel Caine? Zeb? I want that butcher's scalp.
Where is he? He took an arrow in the throat in that Arapaho raid.
He's dead, Zeb.
NARRATOR: Deserters, often for reasons totally unrelated to cowardice have plagued armies since wars began.
And American armies have been no exception.
During the Civil War there were 200,000 deserters from Union forces alone and more than 76,000 were hunted down.
For the most part, provost marshals who continued to search for runaways after the war ended were decent and dedicated men.
But for a few, the hunt was often the prelude to a kill.
Micah Sloane? Who are you? You've got a bad memory, Sloane.
Maybe you'd remember better if I was still in uniform.
Captain Grey! Drop the gun belt.
You gonna kill me? I'd sooner see you hang but it'll save me time if I bury you here.
It's up to you.
Mind if I get my hat and coat? Get them.
Uncle Zeb! Hey, about time somebody's stirring around here.
Sun's been up over an hour.
[LAUGHS.]
Uncle Zeb.
We've been expecting you ever since we heard the war was over.
Ow.
Easy there, Luke.
I got a few stitches ain't healed up yet.
What happened? Oh, it's a long story.
How long you been back? Last time I was here, you were still on the run.
Eh, nobody's come looking for me so Ma figured it was all right for me to come home.
How long you been back? Oh, a couple months now, I guess.
Well, I'd still keep an eye peeled.
How's your Ma? Eh, she's still working on the principle that idleness is a mortal sin.
Well, it looks like it's paid off.
Things are looking good around here.
Yeah.
Hey, wait here a second, will you, Uncle Zeb? Sure.
Yeah, I'll go fetch her.
Hey, Ma? There's something out here you ought to see.
I'm busy, Luke.
Well, Ma, you should see this.
In a minute.
All right.
I just thought you'd like to know there's a bear in your vegetable garden.
Bear? Zeb! Katie.
Oh, Zeb, how are you? Oh, fine, fine, Kate.
You look tired.
Well, I had a long ride from Fort Kearny, you know a few stops along the way saloons and sporting houses and such.
I bet they know you by sight and first name in every one.
Say, I think it's good for you living out here.
You know, if I'd said that a while ago, it'd have caused a hell of a ruckus.
Zeb, you mind your language while you're here.
LAURA: Uncle Zeb! - Uncle Zeb! [LAUGHING.]
Uncle Zeb! [LAUGHING.]
How are you? All right now, your Uncle Zeb's had a long trip, and he's tired.
Now, go inside and get dressed.
- We'll talk later.
- He just got here.
There's so much to talk about.
Come on.
We'll talk later, girls.
Josh.
Go ahead.
Okay, Ma.
Oh, Kate, you've You've brought this place a long ways.
Is something wrong, Zeb? Are you hurt? Oh, nothing.
Nothing particular.
Zeb? I got shot in a skirmish, Kate.
LUKE: Where? Oh, at the Black River.
Army surgeon got a bullet out of me.
The stitches just ain't healed.
You rode all the way from Fort Kearny in that condition? The Army and I ain't exactly seeing eye-to-eye these days, Kate.
I've had about all their hospitality I can stand.
You come on in, Zeb.
You're gonna eat, and then you're gonna rest.
Come on.
ZEB: Oh, sounds good.
LUKE: Still bossy.
Ha, ha, ha! Never seen kids with that kind of grit.
Had to walk more than 60 miles a lot of it through snow, because the only way to the fort was over the high passes.
It was freezing at night.
The last two days they didn't even have nothing to eat.
But not one of them quit.
Babies cried some because we had nothing at all to feed them.
But the others, there wasn't a one of them that even whined.
What'll happen to the children, Uncle Zeb? Well, I reckon they'll take them on some Indian reservation, honey.
What kind of man can give an order to kill everyone over the age of 12? ZEB: A man called Brigadier General Patrick E.
Connor.
How do they expect the children to survive? ZEB: Near as I can figure, they didn't.
Makes you ashamed to be a white man.
Now the Indians, they done things differently.
Now, they They used to fight each other and have wars long before any of us ever come into this country but they did it by rules of honor.
Scalping was honor? Well, there was a couple northern tribes used to do ritual scalping but it took the white man to teach the Indian how to make scalping a way of life.
KATE: We should realize how fortunate we are.
I think we should give thanks.
Jessie.
Our father who art in heaven we thank thee from the bottom of our hearts for bringing us all together this day in peace and love.
Amen.
ALL: Amen.
Mama? Mama, you always said that when Uncle Zeb and Luke got back we'd all go on to Oregon.
Well, we didn't leave Virginia to settle here.
It was your father's dream to go on to Oregon.
Laura's right, Ma.
You always said when the family got together again we'd go.
[CHUCKLES.]
It sure looks like we're together.
Well, Zeb? Well, Oregon's still a long ways off and the hardest part's ahead of us.
It's always been a long way off.
Is it gonna get any easier later on? No.
It ain't gonna get no easier.
And like Josh here says we are all together.
Then we're going? Kate? Oregon.
ALL: Oregon! Sixty-two, 63, 64, 65 cents.
You drive a hard bargain, Mrs.
Macahan.
You've got yourself two fine sows, Mr.
Jones and a healthy litter and another due any day now.
When do you figure to pull out? Soon.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you, Mr.
Jones.
Thank you, boys.
Have a safe trip.
[SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY.]
[PIGS SQUEALING.]
Well, how much did you get? $11.
65 Ma, you're a hallelujah.
We're gonna need every penny of it.
Hey, Ma? Looks like you got another customer.
Good morning, ma'am.
KATE: Morning.
- You must be Mrs.
Macahan.
- I am.
Nice day, isn't it? Twenty-two years old, a little over 6 feet, light brown hair You'd be Luke Macahan.
Drop the gun belt, boy.
What do you think you're doing? I'm sorry to inform you, ma'am, but your son's under arrest for desertion from the United States Army.
Now, this is our land, and you're trespassing.
I want you off of it.
Battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862.
Name's Grey.
Captain Grey.
I'm a representative of the United States provost marshal's office.
Drop the gun belt, boy.
I told you, boy, drop it.
Now let's get something straight, son.
I'm gonna take you to trial.
If you give me any trouble I'll bury you.
ZEB: Speaking of burials, mister one twitch and it'll be yours.
Whoever you are you're interfering with the law.
Name's Zebulon Macahan uncle to him.
You move that scatter gun, I'll empty that saddle.
Aiding a deserter's a criminal offense, Macahan.
Now are you gonna step down or eat dirt? Now, Zeb, you're not helping Luke.
Kate, I know this man.
He's built himself a reputation as a bounty hunter.
He's no better than a hired killer.
Drop the gun.
Now step down.
This side.
Get rid of the gun belt.
I'm gonna say it once more, Macahan just so we're clear.
You're interfering with an officer of the United States Army in the execution of his duty.
Mister, I ain't got no words to tell you my opinion of the United States Army and everything it stands for right now, including you.
You better talk to him, lady.
Right now your son's facing prison.
If this goes any further, it could be the hangman.
Zeb? If you let Luke ride out with this man, Kate you'll never see him alive again.
Now, town's that way 15 miles, mister.
Start walking.
And if I don't? I'll drop you right there.
You'll hang, Macahan.
ZEB: You've got till the count of three.
One.
Zeb, you can't.
He's the law.
Two.
Zeb.
- Three.
- Zeb! [GUNSHOT.]
[KATE SCREAMS.]
Don't! Uncle Zeb, don't! Don't! Put that knife away.
Do you hear me? Put it away.
I won't let you kill a man on my place.
Now get out of here, Mr.
Grey.
Just be thankful you're still alive.
Now, go on.
[GROANS.]
There'll be another time, Macahan.
Let go of me, boy.
You're a fool, Kate.
You were really gonna kill that man.
Damn right I was.
Well, did you think I'd stand by while you cut a man to pieces? What you've done is let that man get away so he's got another chance to come back and kill your son.
Think he's gonna quit? The man's a killer.
He's gotta be stopped.
Even if he's an officer of the law? It don't matter.
You think Luke was gonna give up without a fight? I don't know what Luke would have done.
And neither do you.
The hell I don't! He's a Macahan, ain't he? You leaving, Luke? Yes, sir.
Thought I'd wait till dark just in case.
Makes sense.
I don't figure Grey will be back till that arm of his gets patched up but you never know.
The sooner you get out of this country the safer you're gonna be.
Here.
I'd like to ride along with you, Luke but I figure I'm better off to stay here and look after your ma and the kids especially after what happened.
Yeah.
Well, I can take care of myself, Uncle Zeb.
You can if you know what you're up against, boy.
Sit.
Luke, that man Grey's a real bloodhound.
He's gonna stay on your trail till hell freezes over.
There's only one way you can stay ahead of him.
That's to get up into the high country and keep moving.
That way you'll keep ahead of him till I can figure out a way to get out of this.
How long you figure that's gonna take? Well, I don't know but you can't keep running forever.
As long as you're running your ma ain't gonna budge off this homestead.
No.
No, thanks.
I ain't much of a drinking man.
[CHUCKLES.]
Then you ain't no Macahan, boy.
I never acquired a taste for it.
Don't say that.
Why, your pa would roll over in his grave to hear you talking like that.
Your grandpa too.
Why, either one of them could've drunk me under the table.
Pa? [CHUCKLES.]
Sure.
Luke, your pa before he married your ma why, he was the biggest hell-raiser in seven counties.
He used to take me with him.
I was only a 14, 15 year old.
Why, your grandpa, he used to thump on him regular for leading me astray.
Hard to picture pa as a hell-raiser.
Well, he was a lot of things to a lot of people, Luke.
A good brother to me a good father to you and the kids a good husband to Kate.
[CORK POPS.]
Gotta ask you something, boy.
Your ma She told me you were with Tim when he died.
She didn't say how you found him.
It was an accident.
I was in Tennessee looking for him when the Battle of Shiloh started.
Some Yankees who were trapped behind Rebel lines grabbed me and put me in a uniform.
I got no stake in this war.
It's a hell of a place to be a neutral.
What's your name? Macahan.
Luke Macahan.
You believe in slavery, Macahan? No, sir, but l That no longer makes you a neutral for the time being.
I don't believe in war either.
Neither do I.
About, uh Billing's size, wouldn't you say, sergeant? LUKE: I fought most of that day and all of the next.
And I was wounded.
I stumbled into a field hospital.
[SCOFFS.]
A hospital.
There weren't any doctors or any medicine just a lot of men all shot to pieces and a few rolls of bandages.
I don't know how long I'd been there when I saw them bringing in another man.
Pa? Pa? Pa.
[WHISPERING.]
Pa.
Pa.
Pa.
What are you doing here? I come to find you, Pa.
[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY.]
What? Your mother? Your mother? She's fine, Pa.
She's fine.
Everybody's fine.
SOLDIER: He's dead, boy.
LUKE: I buried him there under a tree.
And I walked away from the war.
That's why Grey is after me.
That's a damn fool way for a good man to die.
I thank you for telling me, Luke.
The Army had no cause sending anybody after you.
You didn't volunteer, and you wasn't recruited.
You were shanghaied into the uniform of a dead man.
Your ma was wrong keeping me from killing that bloodsucker.
You know, I've been thinking a lot about what you said about having to kill anyone that comes looking for you.
When does it stop, Uncle Zeb? I mean, if you'd have killed Grey they'd only send somebody else, Maybe somebody harder than Grey.
Luke, they don't come no harder than Grey.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
You gotta learn that, boy, if you want to stay alive.
Now you think you've been running from the law these last three years.
Well, after what's happened today it's gonna be a lot worse.
You're in for a hard, Ionesome time but if you've got the stuff in you I think you have you're gonna make out.
Yes, sir.
Luke.
You know, it won't be all bad.
You're gonna be riding the high country.
If you're lucky, you're gonna get to taste something few men have ever known.
We used to call it the shining times.
Shining times? It's kind of hard to explain but when it happens to you, you'll know it.
You won't ever be the same again.
You'll ride for days alone up there in country that's so big it'll scare you.
And all of a sudden some morning at the top of the rise there it'll be a mountain or a valley or a meadow no white man's ever seen before.
You'll feel the breath catching in your throat.
The mountains are holding you in the palm of their hand.
The melting snows are dropping waterfalls into lakes that are so blue it'll make your eyes ache just to look at them.
Flowers wild and thick, moving to the pines.
You'll know you're part of something so overpowering there ain't no words to describe it.
You felt all that? Ain't a mountain man alive ain't felt that more than once, boy.
Hell, that's what keeps all of us coming back to high lonesome.
Luke, one more thing.
Don't trust nobody.
You've got a price on your head now.
You're gonna find out what some people will do for a few dollars.
Keep your powder dry.
JESSIE: It's aawul quiet in here.
[PLAYING "SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER" ON THE PIPE ORGAN.]
Jessie, it's not the time.
[STOPS PLAYING.]
Go on, Jessie.
I think it's just what we need right now.
[GUN CLICKS.]
[RESUMES PLAYING ORGAN.]
I'm sorry, Ma.
You know I don't want to go.
Luke, I don't want you to go, any of us.
Ma, don't you understand? I don't have any choice.
Uncle Zeb is right about that provost marshal.
He's gonna come back.
And when he does, Uncle Zeb is gonna kill him or I will.
You will? It's become so easy to talk about killing, hasn't it? Luke? Are you ready to kill a man? If it means staying alive, Ma, yes.
It's different out here.
It's not like it was back in Virginia.
You're talking just like your Uncle Zeb.
No.
No, it's something I learned back there in Missouri when those men tried lynching me for stealing a horse that I didn't steal.
Well, the difference is you weren't trying to kill a man.
No, Ma, you're wrong.
I was trying.
I was just so scared and stiff I missed.
Ma, don't make this any harder than it already is.
I just can't stay here without making everything worse.
You know that.
Whew.
Oh, it sure is hot, ain't it? What do you say we just put this up for a while and head on down to the swimming hole and cool off a little? Ma would have our scalps if we went off without finishing this.
Besides, I don't think any of us feel very much like swimming, Uncle Zeb.
You know, when it gets hot like this it sure reminds me of the high country in the fall with the snow sitting down through the Through the trees.
I remember one time up in Montana.
Well, it was Indian summer and we had this early freeze.
Froze real hard.
You girls listening? You see, we had this sudden freeze real fast.
There was a little lake outside there a little lake, and it was covered over with ducks that had been resting there overnight on their way south.
Well, I seen them ducks, and I says to myself: "Zeb, you're gonna have yourself a roast duck breakfast.
" Well, I aimed and fired.
You wouldn't believe what happened.
What happened? Well, them ducks, they took off took the whole lake with them.
They took the lake with them? Why, sure, honey.
See, that cold spell come on so fast that it just froze that lake solid around them ducks' feet.
And when they lifted off they pulled that lake clean out of the ground and they flew it to the next county.
Kate, this has got to stop.
I haven't even seen a smile out of anybody in three days.
Smile? You expect us to be happy while Luke is out there running for his life? Woman, we're not helping Luke any by going around here feeling sorry for ourselves.
We gotta do something.
What do you expect us to do? We can pack up and start heading for Oregon like we planned.
Why, it's not good for the rest of these kids to sit around here rotting just because their brother's on the run.
I told you before, Zeb, and I'll tell you again.
We are not moving.
As painful as it is for us out here we're staying in case Luke needs us.
Woman, you are the stubbornest human being I ever met.
Now what gives you the right to come here and tell us what we ought to do? What have you done for this family since you brought us here from Virginia? Nothing.
You've been up in the high country smoking the peace pipe with the Indians.
We've been breaking our backs trying to make a life here.
At least you got one thing straight.
I ain't no farmer any more than my brother Timothy was.
You kept him chained to a plow every day of his life for 20 years when you knew he was dying to come west.
How dare you tell me how Timothy felt.
You haven't the faintest idea of what goes on between a decent man and woman who really love each other.
Have you ever really loved a woman? All you know is animal lust on a buffalo robe with some Indian squaw.
Let me tell you something, lady.
There's a lot more animal lust in all of us, including you than you'd like to admit.
LAURA: Ma! Ma.
Ma.
Whoa.
Uncle Zeb's in the barn.
He's saddling up.
He says he's leaving.
Well, we can survive without your Uncle Zeb.
No, he says he's gonna try and find Luke and bring him back here.
Finish plowing, Laura.
KATE: I don't understand, Zeb.
Luke would be in danger if you brought him back here.
Kate, Luke's life is gonna be in danger wherever he is as long as Grey's after him except maybe for a while right now.
Now? In the beginning a man on the run can always keep ahead of the man that's trailing him.
The problem is sooner or later every man gets tired of running.
It may take a few weeks, may take months.
When it happens, he gets careless.
That's what Grey is counting on.
He's gonna stay on Luke's trail and he'll catch up to him.
Luke will fight him, and Grey will kill him.
What can we do? There's only one thing we can do.
I tried to tell you earlier but we got to grinding on each other so hard I couldn't get it out.
I gotta get Luke and bring him back here so we can all go on to Oregon together.
- Can you find him? - I can find him.
I know a few tricks to keep Grey a week or so behind us.
By the time he gets here, we'll be gone.
What if Grey catches up to us on the trail? I just hope this time you'll stay out of the way.
So we're back to that.
Kill or be killed? Is that right? Any of us is capable of killing, Kate if it's a matter of survival.
Even you.
If killing would save the life of one of your children you'd kill.
You're wrong, Zeb.
There are other ways.
Lady, one of these days you're liable to find out different.
NARRATOR: In the wake of the Pilgrims who crossed an ocean and settled a wilderness in search of religious freedom came dozens of other religious orders: Quakers and Shakers, Bryanites and Dunkers Calvinists and Huguenots all seeking sanctuary.
It is one of the tragic ironies of our history that these gentle and peaceful folk merely because they were different frequently found not the freedom they sought but a persecution as ugly and relentless as any they had known in the countries from which they had fled.
WILLY: Hey, boys we got us a passel of blackbirds this time.
Just look at them.
Uncle Jacob.
Whoo! Hey, will you look at what we got here.
Come on, woman.
Somebody else I want you to meet.
[ALL LAUGHING.]
Now, ain't nobody gonna hurt you.
No, Joshua.
We must not.
I don't want to be among you.
Among me? She knows nothing of men.
Well, sure she don't, living with the likes of you.
Now, you got any hair under that bonnet? Oh, I'd sure like to see it.
ELAM: It is not permitted for a woman in public to display her hair.
You shut your face! You gonna take off that bonnet or do I have to take it off for you? I cannot.
Well, I can.
Take away your hands.
You heard him.
Now undo it.
Undo it.
Do not make her do this.
You say anything else, I'm gonna shoot you in the mouth! My father has told you it is not permitted.
Why, sure it is.
Let me show you, girl.
Let me show you.
Please! Please, no! [GUNSHOT.]
Come on up here and take my hat off.
I'll take your head off if you don't get out of here, mister! Well, you're talking yourself into a big mistake.
Now get on them ponies and get out of here.
Get! Get the girl on the wagon, sir.
Now, drop those guns.
Drop them! And get out of here.
Well, what about Willy? He'll never miss you.
Now, get out of here! He is dead.
We must take the body into town and deliver it to the sheriff.
You must come with us and tell what happened.
I can't.
I don't understand.
Tell the sheriff what you saw.
For sure he's not going to blame you.
You can kill a man and just ride on? I have to.
I'm sorry.
Erika you and your brother go back to the bruderhof.
We'll take care of this.
Yes, father.
God with you, father.
God with you, child.
Got him! I blowed him clean off his horse! Let's get out of here before somebody comes.
Erika, it's him! No, Joshua, stay here.
What has happened? Those boys I ran off I should have figured on their saddle guns.
You could be bleeding to death.
Look I want you to do something for me.
My name is Macahan Luke Macahan.
My Ma's name is Kate.
She lives near Sharp's Town, on the Platte.
Get a message to her and tell her what happened.
[GASPS.]
If I'm dead Please, do not talk anymore.
I will see to it if need be.
But first, I'm taking you to the Bruderhof.
Figure that to be a waste of time, miss.
That is up to God, not you.
Joshua, help me! Bishop Benjamin! Father Elias! Someone help me, please! Mother Tice! Erika, who is this man? I found him on the road, Bishop.
He's called Macahan.
He has been gunshot.
We are bound to help him.
It is our law.
Erika, fetch Mother Tice.
Have her bring pliers for a bullet.
Take him inside.
He has no bullet, it has passed through.
But he has lost much blood.
I cannot say that he will live.
We will pray God that he does.
You will care for him, Mother Tice? All that I am able, child.
But I'm in the middle of midwife for Mrs.
Brand, poor thing.
I will tend him.
Erika, you are unmarried.
How will it look? It be fine, Mother Tice.
It be just fine.
You mean you never stayed to see if he was dead?! Well, there was somebody coming, Pa! We was afraid they'd see us! How do I know you ain't telling a lie about shooting him? How do I know you didn't tuck your tails 'tweenst your legs run like a scared dog after he killed your brother? Well, Pa, I swear on Willy's grave I hit him square.
I knocked him clean off his horse! - Now, ain't that right, Jake? - Ah, it's true, Pa.
He was lying right there in the dirt.
Then where's his body? Uh, well eh, somebody must've took it, Pa.
"Somebody must've took it, Pa!" Who?! The sheriff ain't got it! Nobody's seen it! Maybe somebody around here collects corpses stacks them around his house like cordwood.
You reckon that's it, Charlie? You reckon that's it, Charlie? No, Pa, no! I'll tell you why you didn't find him.
Because he ain't dead, that's why.
Somebody must have some reason for hiding him.
Wait a minute.
Them blackbirds.
Them blackbirds the ones that found him! No, that can't be, Pa.
It was them that brought Willy's body in to the sheriff.
They'd have said something if they found that other fella.
Yeah, he's right, Pa.
You know how they are about shooting and such.
Hell, they didn't even raise a frown when when we were teasing that girl! Now if that's the truth, there's only one thing left he's hurt and he's crawled off somewhere to lick his wounds.
If he's hurt as bad as you think he is, he ain't gone far, neither.
Now, I want him found! I want y'all boys to go search every cabin, every gully every shack until you find the man that killed your brother! Well, we'll find him, Pa! Yeah! If he's dead, I wanna know it! But if he's alive wouldn't that be pretty? I never figured hell for angels.
Maybe I'm not dead.
But you'll be fine.
Just fine.
Considering I never expected to wake up at all, I guess I must be.
For two days we did not think you would live.
But the last two days, you've slept like a lamb.
I've been out for four days? On Thursday you were among us for a few minutes and took some soup from Mother Tice.
You do not remember? Heh, no.
But I remember you.
My name is Erika but you must call me Miss Hanks.
Yes, Miss Hanks.
I will get you some food.
Where's my gun? I do not know.
There was only this.
Those men find out I'm not dead, they're gonna come looking for me.
- They will not come here.
- Why not? This is the Bruderhof.
The what? The bruderhof.
Except it is not really a bruderhof yet.
Just a town where no one lived and we stopped here because many of our people were ill.
Are you gonna stay here? It has not yet been decided.
But we are building a church.
And if we stay, we must also build a wall to keep the world out.
It is the way of the Simonites.
Simonites? That what you're called? Yes, after Simon Peter.
You have read the New Testament? My ma used to read the Bible to us every night.
Mr.
Macahan, the Elders How did you know my name? When I found you you asked that the word of your death be sent to your mother.
Did you? No.
You did not die, praise God.
Praise God.
What were you saying about the Elders? The Elders held a council try and decide if a man of violence should be allowed to remain among us.
L I'm not a man of violence.
You killed a man.
Yeah, for trying to kill me.
And I'd do it again if it came to it.
You do not understand.
It is not important why you shot, only that you did.
We do not hold with violence in any form.
We do not fight.
We do not resist.
No matter what? No matter what.
You mean those two Simonite men on the road My father Elam, and my Uncle Jacob.
Your father and your uncle? You mean they would have stood by and let those men have their way with you? Yes.
Well, how do you feel about that? I agree with them.
But how could any man stand by and let that happen? It is our way.
God's law is our law.
Scripture tells us: "And if any man sue thee at the law, and take thy coat let him have thy cloak, also.
" We take God at his word, Mr.
Macahan.
You take God at your peril, Miss Hanks.
A man could do much worse.
Why, if everyone thought that way well, there wouldn't be anyone around to keep law and order.
If everyone practiced that there would be no need for anyone to keep law and order.
You haven't told me what the Elders decided.
What everyone knew they would decide in the beginning.
You will remain here until you are better and then you must leave.
Well, I sure hope they let you look after me until that happens.
It is my hope, too, Mr.
Macahan.
NARRATOR: Generations of Americans have viewed the Indian as either the noble Red Man a pure and innocent child of nature as uncomplicated as the wilderness in which he lived or as a half-naked and barbaric savage whose cruelty knew no bounds.
Neither concept is true.
The Indian, like any man or nation was a mixture of many qualities.
Before his lands were usurped and his people decimated he was a loyal friend to the white man.
The Pilgrims survived a winter of starvation thanks to the kindness of the Indian.
And Lewis and Clark, dying, were rescued by the Nez Perce but just as the white man dealt in deceit with the Indian so not every overture of apparent friendship by the Indian toward the settler could be taken at face value.
Pretty lady we come to water our horses.
You're always welcome to our water.
Where is your man, pretty lady? He's out hunting, chief.
Strange, I never see your man.
He's gone most of the time.
He does not like to farm, huh? He's very much like the Shoshone, he's a hunter.
It is not good to leave a woman and young ones alone in this country.
You need a man, pretty lady.
The Arapaho are near.
We cannot watch over you always.
We are not the eagle in the sky.
You need a man.
[CHIEF SPEAKS IN INDIAN LANGUAGE.]
This is Mountain-Is-Long.
Good fighter.
Good hunter.
Good man.
All man.
Why, I know, Chief, but l Ride for pretty lady.
Ride! Hyah! Hyah! Yah! Yah! [INDIAN WHOOPING.]
See! Good fighter! Good man! Plenty babies! Good! I know, chief.
But I told you, I have a man.
Macahan? Macahan good.
Macahan fine, good, smart.
But not man for woman! His home is there.
He not stay long in house.
Oh, not Zeb.
Another long knife.
A warrior.
A very good warrior.
Where is this good warrior, pretty lady? He's He's on his way now.
Any day.
Next sun.
Maybe two suns.
We go hunt now.
Come back, see this long knife.
Goodbye pretty lady.
Pretty girls.
Mother, do you think he believed you? Do you? I don't know.
I had to say something.
He's a very determined man.
I don't know.
That mountain-Is-Long looked strong as a fort.
And plenty babies! [BOTH GIGGLING.]
A kid! Boy, you know how close you come to getting your throat slit? What the hell is the matter with you? I'm I'm sorry, mister.
I was chasing a deer and I thought your horse was Well, you damned near killed my horse! Not to mention me! You near shot off the best part of me! I didn't mean to, mister.
It was an accident.
I ain't done with you yet! Now don't budge until I am! Oh, easy boy.
Easy, now.
[GRUNTS.]
He pulled a tendon.
He'll ride again, but it's gonna be a day or two.
[SIGHS.]
You're lucky, boy.
If I had to put him out of his misery I'd be tempted to do the same for you.
What were you doing skulking around here anyway? Any questions to be asked, I'll do the asking.
- You live around here? - Why? Because I need somewhere to tend to my animal.
Not to mention myself.
Come on, get up and start walking.
Come on.
What's your name, boy? Give me an answer before you get tromped.
Macahan.
NARRATOR: Cowboy, range war, gunfighter.
The words were almost unknown to the settlers of the northern plains where the great cattle drives up the good night and the Chisholm Trails had not yet begun.
But from time to time, a strange and unique breed of men who lived and died by the gun drifted north out of the vast plains of Texas.
Now, get a move on, we ain't got all day.
Josh is forever promising catfish.
Next time he cooks his own breakfast.
How can you eat those things, Jessie? They're so ugly.
Out here you appreciate what you get, Laura.
Well, it's not for me, Jessie.
I was born a female a feminine girl, and that's what I am to stay! Slopping pigs, and uh, eating catfish and staying bent over a hot stove all day It's just not for me.
That's what you're willing to settle for.
Laura, I want the same things you want.
But they're just gonna have to wait.
Besides, doesn't look as though you have much choice, does it? Jessie! Jessie, bring the rifle.
It's Josh! Mister, I wanna know why my son's on foot and you're poking him like sheep.
You tell her, boy.
And tell her straight.
I lost all the hide I can stand to your family's marksmanship.
Well, Josh? I was tracking a deer and it went into some trees.
I saw something moving and I thought it was the deer.
You mean you came close to shooting this man? He done a might better than come close, ma'am.
Shouldn't have been messing around there anyway, Ma.
It was a mistake, and I'm sorry.
He just knocked a little bark off me is all.
It's my horse, though.
It come up lame.
Put the horses in the barn, Josh.
Wait a minute, Ma.
- I don't trust him.
- Why? Coming here, he asked too many questions.
I didn't mean no harm, ma'am.
If I did, that boy'd be back there gathering ants.
Sorry about the rifle.
Don't ever apologize about doing the sensible thing, ma'am.
Anderson's the name.
What are you gawking at? That man, he's handsome.
I apologize for Josh.
He's a good boy.
Well, if you say so.
He's your son.
Did he say he nicked you? Well, the first shot just blew a kiss.
But the second one did sting some.
Well, maybe I could put some, ah salve where the bullet hit you.
I'm afraid I'd have to know you some better before I could ask you to do that.
Well The medicine's in the house.
You can put it on.
You're welcome to spend the day, Mr.
Anderson.
I mean it's plain your horse isn't ready to travel.
Either are you.
Thank you, ma'am.
Evening, Louie.
Well, I see you got fed.
Liver! I hate liver! They know I hate liver, sheriff.
They do it on purpose.
Well, Louie, maybe it's just their way of trying to keep you out of here.
You know, you spend more time in this place than I do.
The very reason you ought to treat me better.
This is cruel and unusual punishment.
Come on, Louie.
Oh! I forgot! Somebody was looking for you.
A friend of yours.
Who? He told me his name and I forget big fella, nine feet tall.
All dressed up in buckskin with fringes on it.
Yeah, Zeb Macahan.
Yeah! Yeah, that's it.
That's the one.
Biggest man I ever seen.
Been looking for you since noon said it was important.
Well, where is he? [LAUGHTER.]
That's terrible.
I never heard anything like that in my whole life.
Well, uh, if I'm lying, I'm dying.
Now old Mormon Jake, you know he got to the bend at the trail and he turned around, figuring how lucky he was to still have his head, you know and he looked back and there's that old bear standing in the middle of the trail and he was grinning from ear to ear and he's waving at old Jake like that to come forward.
Come on, bartender.
This is a honest-to God Arapaho scalp.
Took no more than a month ago when we wiped out them hostiles at Black River.
You know, old Jake, he always figured that the bear had done fell plumb in love with him.
Oh, Zeb, let's you and me get out of here and go someplace where we can be alone, huh? Well, now, that sounds good, Delilah.
But what about these other pretty ladies here? Oh, that's okay, honey, we'll just all come with you.
Sounds good.
MACKLIN: Bartender, this Arapaho scalp is worth four bottles, but we're gonna offer it to you two.
Sergeant, I'm gonna tell you again we don't deal in no scalps.
And them that does is the Is what, bartender? ZEB: Is dead! Well, well, if it ain't the Indian lover, Mr.
Macahan.
We thought we took care of you at the Black River.
Did you take that scalp? Why not? It were not good to the woman I got it from.
[WOMEN SCREAMING.]
[BOTH GRUNTING.]
I wanted that colonel's scalp, mister but I'm gonna heap the Arapaho but I reckon yours will do.
Ah! Sorry, Zeb.
I just couldn't let you do that.
Mama, why don't you ask Mr.
Anderson to be your man? KATE: What? The man you told Claw about.
Maybe if Mr.
Anderson were just to stay here a couple of days I couldn't ask a stranger to do something like that.
Laura could.
She thinks he's handsome.
Now, listen, girls I don't want anyone telling Mr.
Anderson about Claw and his braves.
Remember that.
Josh, tell Mr.
Anderson supper's on the table.
Ma, I think you're making Josh.
Yes, ma'am.
[SIGHS.]
Mrs.
Macahan I haven't eaten anything like this since well, I can't remember how long.
Salt pork and refried beans that's about as close to real food as I ever get.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mr.
Anderson.
Mr.
Anderson, where are you from? No place in particular, I move around a lot.
What kind of work do you do? Most anything that comes to mind.
Meat hunting and uh, prospecting.
I'll even punch a cow or wrangle a horse if I have to.
The fact is, this is about as peaceable an evening as I've had.
And pleasant too.
Real pleasant.
And hard as it is to say I best be pushing on.
Oh, well, Josh says your horses aren't ready to travel yet.
You're in no condition to travel, either.
I can't really argue with you there, ma'am, but I've already stayed on longer than I should.
You're welcome to the barn, Mr.
Anderson.
[DOOR SLAMS.]
I apologized for Josh's bad manners.
Oh, that's all right, ma'am.
He's just prideful.
Boy without a pride ain't worth a damn.
I mean - We get the meaning, Mr.
Anderson.
Clear the table, girls.
I'll show Mr.
Anderson the barn.
Ma, maybe I should fetch Mr.
Anderson a blanket.
Oh, l I'll do that, Laura.
If I had known all this was gonna come my way just for getting creased by a little old bullet, I'd have volunteered.
It's a beautiful night.
You know I spent a good deal a time sleeping under the sky.
It's funny, you never seem to notice the stars when you're alone.
I know.
[ANDERSON CHUCKLES.]
Mrs.
Macahan.
Who's Claw? How do you know about Claw? Well, there's been a lot a mysterious whispering going on between your girls.
Claw's a Shoshone chief, and he's a very good friend.
He feels I need a man to protect me and he's dead set on me marrying one of his braves.
Well, Mrs.
Macahan, I don't want to throw a spook into you but that chief might be interested in your welfare.
On the other hand, he might just be trying to go one up on the Arapaho.
The Arapaho? Yeah, Arapaho consider this their land.
But if the Shoshone could get one of their braves in here permanent that would give them a good foothold in Arapaho territory.
I'd just be mighty careful if I were you.
You know, I'd like to stay on here for, a couple of days.
It's just not for the cooking.
I'd like to, but I can't.
You're on the run, aren't you? I might just be in an aawul big hurry.
I know the look.
My oldest son, Luke, is on the run.
He has a look he never had before.
Well, that's the look you get.
I keep running into men that like to shoot guns.
And, sometimes, people get hurt.
Why you telling this to me? I just want you to know how bad it is before you I kiss you.
I've been a widow for three years, Mr.
Anderson.
I'm not about to take on just any man passing through.
I never apologize for doing the sensible thing.
Good night, Mr.
Anderson.
Good night, ma'am.
Sleep sound.
Aren't you ever going to sleep? Maybe not.
At least not till he's gone.
You're still fretting about that.
He's a stranger, Jessie! And we don't know anything about him.
You invite him in here, you feed him, you laugh at all his jokes.
It was because of you he had to lay over.
I'm surprised he didn't invite himself to sleep in the house instead of the barn! He seems all right to me.
The fact is, it's been kind of nice having him around.
Haven't seen Laura get that fluttery in a long time.
Did you see the way he was looking at Ma? And the way Ma was looking at him? Well, what's so wrong with that? It's hard on Ma here! It can get lonely.
Mr.
Anderson's just passing through.
There's no reason why Ma can't enjoy him being here.
It's been good seeing her laugh.
She hasn't laughed like that since Pa.
She has it coming to her, Josh so you just quit your meddling.
Mr.
Macahan, you should not be about.
Your stitches are not healed.
Aw, I just got tired of lying in that bed.
It's a lot nicer out here.
But it is too soon.
You are stubborn, Mr.
Macahan.
Hey, why don't you call me Luke? It is not permitted.
Well, what do you permit around here? Whatever is plain.
[LAUGHS.]
Well, then, they ought not to permit you because you sure aren't plain.
Please, Mr.
Macahan, you must not speak so.
Well you believe in truth, don't you? That's just the plain truth.
If you were strong enough to come here by yourself I think before long you will be well enough to leave.
Yeah, I guess so.
Though the thought don't pleasure me none.
Why not? Well, you know, the more I see of you people, the more I think maybe you got the right idea about things.
We live quietly and with God.
There's nothing wrong with that.
A man could do worse than spend a lifetime here.
Some would tire of it.
Naw, I wouldn't.
I grew up on a farm, not too different from this.
It's the only peace and quiet I ever knew.
Why did you leave? Well, we decided to come West the war Always afraid we'd get caught up in it.
We were bound for Oregon when it hit.
Seven weeks out of Virginia we were in the Nebraska Territory we ran into a detachment of cavalry.
Major Anderson, out of Fort Randall.
Zeb Macahan, major.
This here's my kin.
Zeb Macahan? Weren't you scouting for Colonel Hyatt at Fort Laramie? What you doing this far east? Well, I was about to ask you the same thing.
We were ordered back to join General McDowell.
War's broke.
Full force.
Where you coming from? Virginie.
I reckon you left just in time.
Why do you say that, major? Union forces have crossed through Maryland to Virginia.
General McDowell's at Manassas with 30,000 men.
General Beauregard with 20,000 coming up from the South.
Bull Run in the middle.
Bull Run? It's where we come from.
We got family back there.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, good luck to you.
- Macahan.
- So long, major.
LUKE: I guess after the major left we were all thinking the same thing.
We just couldn't leave the folks back there in the middle of a battlefield.
You going back.
Laura, fetch me a sack full of hardtack and dried beef.
- But - Go on now, girl, fetch it.
- Josh! - Yes, sir.
Fetch me some ammunition.
Tim, I'll be the one going back.
You stay here with the family.
This is hard country, Zeb.
You can buck it.
Comes that they'll be needing you more than me.
Long way to go if you expect to beat the rebel troops.
I reckon I can make it in three weeks.
Seven hundred miles, Tim, to Bull Run.
I'm going, Zeb.
What about the folks? What if they still won't leave? Figure that when I get to it.
Pa.
Good luck.
Zeb said he'd go back.
And you have a family here.
What happens to the children if you don't ever come back? Please, let Zeb go.
It's you I'm thinking of.
You stand a better chance out here with Zeb than with me.
- Timothy! - Now, Kate, listen to me.
Kate, out here I'm a tenderfoot.
Zeb can find game and water.
He can read when a storm's brewing, he knows the Indians.
I don't know any of that.
Out here all alone I could I could get all of us killed.
Now Zeb's the one that's got to stay.
You can understand that, can't you? Here, Pa.
LUKE: I remember my sister bringing him food and him giving half of it back cause we were short of rations.
LAURA: Pa, that's not near enough.
Laura, I'll make out.
Take care of them, Zeb.
I'll find you wherever you are.
We'll be here.
We're not gonna go on another foot without you.
Next Spring we'll go on to Oregon together.
Kate, you can't stay here.
He's right, Kate.
We can't stay out here for the winter.
Tim, I figure we're about ten days from the Platte.
No, we'll go on there and wait for you.
There's a town there.
There's supposed to be a telegraph coming in.
We'll leave word.
They'll be all right.
LUKE: We'll be waiting for you, Pa.
It was the last time any of us, except me was to see Pa alive.
Yankees put him in uniform and I found him by accident, dying of wounds at Shiloh.
It is so hard to lose a parent.
I remember how I felt when my mother died.
We must accept, Mr.
Macahan we are all God's servants.
God sure found a fine servant when he picked you.
I'm pleased you think me worthy.
You're much more than worthy, Erika.
[BELLS CLANGING.]
The bell I must go now.
[GROANING.]
EPHRAIM: Glad to see you moving, Zeb.
I was afraid I might have hit you too hard.
Oh That you that hit me, huh? Heh, heh.
Well, you didn't give me a whole lot of choice.
Look to me like you was about to kill that sergeant.
Well Oh I gotta admit I was I was trying.
Where's he at? He's on his way to the Fort Hospital.
You broke his jaw in three places.
How long you gonna keep me locked up? Ha! You ain't no prisoner, Zeb.
Bartender told me what happened.
Oh [LAUGHING.]
Not even no lectures on disturbing the peace? No, I think I'll leave that up to the Army.
They're outside waiting for you.
Oh, now look, Ephraim, before I talk to them I gotta ask you something.
I'm looking for a young fella, he's a boy about 23.
Good looking fella, about six foot.
I lost his trail here about about 20 mile out.
I thought maybe you might've seen him.
Real fast with a gun? Fast enough.
Wouldn't also be a deserter from the Army, would he? Why? Well, because an Army provost marshal was here this morning.
He's looking too.
Where'd this here provost marshal head for? He's on his way to a Simonite village out the Old Post Road.
What for? Well, because a boy answering the description that both of you gave me shot a man on that road ten days ago.
Did he kill him? Yeah.
Yeah, he was trying to protect a Simonite girl who was being roughed up by a bunch of hooligans.
Do you think the boy could be out at this here Simonite village? So unlikely I didn't even look.
Where's my horse? Right outside.
Thanks, Ephraim.
Any time at all, Zeb.
You Zeb Macahan? That's right.
You're a dangerous man, Macahan.
I've got four troopers who swear to the fact you tried to kill them.
Yeah, and they was trying to trade an Indian scalp for whiskey.
A woman's at that.
Gonna try to arrest me, lieutenant, you better get on with it.
I'm not here to press charges, Macahan.
Do you know a mountain man called Cully Madigan? Cully Madigan? Why? As of last week Madigan had killed and scalped over two dozen Arikara braves.
I don't believe you.
You can believe what you like, Macahan.
But I got 50 crack troopers camped outside of town.
And I've got order to find Madigan.
- And what are you gonna do then? - I'll hang him.
Well, I don't think Cully Madigan's been killing Arikara.
But I'll tell you something, lieutenant, if he has he ain't been doing it without a damn good reason.
Then he is a friend of yours.
He's more than a friend.
When I picked him up, he didn't know a beaver plew from a possum tail.
Then maybe we could work a deal.
Meaning? I'll find Madigan, Mr.
Macahan but it might take me a while.
In the meantime, if he keeps on killing we might have an Indian war on our hands.
Get to the point, boy.
The point is, he's your friend.
If you find him before I do, you might save some lives and keep Madigan from the gallows.
Son, there ain't a man alive's gonna bring Cully Madigan in if he don't wanna come.
But you could stop the killing.
All right, if I did, would you call off the search? I'm not sure I can.
I have my orders.
Then forget the whole thing.
Just to keep the record straight, I'm gonna tell you something else.
You may get Cully eventually, lieutenant but before you do, he'll kill more of your soldier boys than he has Arikara.
All right, Macahan, you have my word.
Now, do I have yours? You'll go after Madigan immediately? No, you don't.
All you got is my word I'll get to it as quick as I can.
I got urgent business gotta be took care of first.
Luke! What is a provost marshal? He's a kind of a law officer for the Army.
Why? Because there is a provost marshal here and he's looking for you.
Ah, Erika, let him take me.
I've caused you enough trouble already.
No.
He is a violent man and he has guns and We must hide you quickly! Now, come with me.
Oh.
[GROANING.]
The shooting took place almost two weeks ago on the road to town.
Why would you believe that he was here? Because he protected one of your women.
I think you might be protecting him.
Bu the killed a man.
If you know of our laws, you would know that they're against violence.
Could we have among us a man who had killed another? Maybe not, brother.
But I'll look myself.
Take the horse, boy.
Now, stand out of the way or we may have some of that violence you're so dead set against.
[MOANING.]
Over there.
Why does this provost marshal look for you? I ran away from the Army because I I couldn't stand the killing.
You left the war because you could not kill? Oh, Luke, I have great hopes for you.
That horse belong to the provost marshal, son? - Yes, sir.
- And the man he's looking for, is he here? It is not permitted to say.
[English - US - SDH.]
But far from the bloody fields of Gettysburg and Shiloh changes which were to alter forever the face of the American West had already begun.
Telegraphs were spinning a web of voices across the Great Plains.
And railroads were pushing steel fingers into the heart of the wilderness.
Along their rights of way, new trails were being broken.
New towns were born overnight.
And settlers by the tens of thousands poured westward and began putting plows to the land the Indian considered his birthright.
The inevitable happened.
Two totally divergent cultures, Indian and white met on a collision course.
The white man demanded his Manifest Destiny the right to take the land he wanted.
And the Army began the subjugation of the red man with a savagery that plunged this nation into a series of Indian wars that were to last more than a quarter of a century.
CAINE: How many would you say? ZEB: Oh, about 30 of them.
I'll ride on down, tell them you're coming in to talk.
I didn't come here to talk.
SERGEANT: Form skirmish lines! What do you think you're doing? My orders are to attack.
I don't give a damn what your orders are, colonel.
There's no need for a fight here.
Those Arapaho down there are starving.
Besides, they've got women and children with them.
Nothing they can do but surrender.
My orders from General Connor are explicit.
I'm not to accept surrender on any terms.
And I'm to kill every hostile over the age of 12.
You lied to me, Caine.
I didn't have any choice.
I was told you wouldn't guide us if you knew my orders.
CAINE: Sergeant - Caine you give the order for a massacre, I'll gut you belly to brisket.
Arrest this man! [ZEB SHOUTING IN ARAPAHO.]
CAINE: Knock him down! Kill him, sir? Shoot! [ZEB SHOUTING IN ARAPAHO.]
Bugler! [BUGLER PLAYING CHARGE.]
[SCREAMING.]
CAINE: Fire at will! Cut them off from the horses! Take no prisoners! [GROANING.]
[CRYING.]
[GASPING.]
[CRYING.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
[SPEAKING IN ARAPAHO.]
Sergeant? Somebody on foot approaching main gate.
Here.
They haven't had a thing to eat in two days.
Feed them.
[CHILD CRYING.]
[SHOUTING.]
Feed them! [IN NORMAL VOICE.]
Caine's outfit come in here? Only the wounded, sir.
Caine? He was among the wounded.
You can't Where's Colonel Caine? Zeb? I want that butcher's scalp.
Where is he? He took an arrow in the throat in that Arapaho raid.
He's dead, Zeb.
NARRATOR: Deserters, often for reasons totally unrelated to cowardice have plagued armies since wars began.
And American armies have been no exception.
During the Civil War there were 200,000 deserters from Union forces alone and more than 76,000 were hunted down.
For the most part, provost marshals who continued to search for runaways after the war ended were decent and dedicated men.
But for a few, the hunt was often the prelude to a kill.
Micah Sloane? Who are you? You've got a bad memory, Sloane.
Maybe you'd remember better if I was still in uniform.
Captain Grey! Drop the gun belt.
You gonna kill me? I'd sooner see you hang but it'll save me time if I bury you here.
It's up to you.
Mind if I get my hat and coat? Get them.
Uncle Zeb! Hey, about time somebody's stirring around here.
Sun's been up over an hour.
[LAUGHS.]
Uncle Zeb.
We've been expecting you ever since we heard the war was over.
Ow.
Easy there, Luke.
I got a few stitches ain't healed up yet.
What happened? Oh, it's a long story.
How long you been back? Last time I was here, you were still on the run.
Eh, nobody's come looking for me so Ma figured it was all right for me to come home.
How long you been back? Oh, a couple months now, I guess.
Well, I'd still keep an eye peeled.
How's your Ma? Eh, she's still working on the principle that idleness is a mortal sin.
Well, it looks like it's paid off.
Things are looking good around here.
Yeah.
Hey, wait here a second, will you, Uncle Zeb? Sure.
Yeah, I'll go fetch her.
Hey, Ma? There's something out here you ought to see.
I'm busy, Luke.
Well, Ma, you should see this.
In a minute.
All right.
I just thought you'd like to know there's a bear in your vegetable garden.
Bear? Zeb! Katie.
Oh, Zeb, how are you? Oh, fine, fine, Kate.
You look tired.
Well, I had a long ride from Fort Kearny, you know a few stops along the way saloons and sporting houses and such.
I bet they know you by sight and first name in every one.
Say, I think it's good for you living out here.
You know, if I'd said that a while ago, it'd have caused a hell of a ruckus.
Zeb, you mind your language while you're here.
LAURA: Uncle Zeb! - Uncle Zeb! [LAUGHING.]
Uncle Zeb! [LAUGHING.]
How are you? All right now, your Uncle Zeb's had a long trip, and he's tired.
Now, go inside and get dressed.
- We'll talk later.
- He just got here.
There's so much to talk about.
Come on.
We'll talk later, girls.
Josh.
Go ahead.
Okay, Ma.
Oh, Kate, you've You've brought this place a long ways.
Is something wrong, Zeb? Are you hurt? Oh, nothing.
Nothing particular.
Zeb? I got shot in a skirmish, Kate.
LUKE: Where? Oh, at the Black River.
Army surgeon got a bullet out of me.
The stitches just ain't healed.
You rode all the way from Fort Kearny in that condition? The Army and I ain't exactly seeing eye-to-eye these days, Kate.
I've had about all their hospitality I can stand.
You come on in, Zeb.
You're gonna eat, and then you're gonna rest.
Come on.
ZEB: Oh, sounds good.
LUKE: Still bossy.
Ha, ha, ha! Never seen kids with that kind of grit.
Had to walk more than 60 miles a lot of it through snow, because the only way to the fort was over the high passes.
It was freezing at night.
The last two days they didn't even have nothing to eat.
But not one of them quit.
Babies cried some because we had nothing at all to feed them.
But the others, there wasn't a one of them that even whined.
What'll happen to the children, Uncle Zeb? Well, I reckon they'll take them on some Indian reservation, honey.
What kind of man can give an order to kill everyone over the age of 12? ZEB: A man called Brigadier General Patrick E.
Connor.
How do they expect the children to survive? ZEB: Near as I can figure, they didn't.
Makes you ashamed to be a white man.
Now the Indians, they done things differently.
Now, they They used to fight each other and have wars long before any of us ever come into this country but they did it by rules of honor.
Scalping was honor? Well, there was a couple northern tribes used to do ritual scalping but it took the white man to teach the Indian how to make scalping a way of life.
KATE: We should realize how fortunate we are.
I think we should give thanks.
Jessie.
Our father who art in heaven we thank thee from the bottom of our hearts for bringing us all together this day in peace and love.
Amen.
ALL: Amen.
Mama? Mama, you always said that when Uncle Zeb and Luke got back we'd all go on to Oregon.
Well, we didn't leave Virginia to settle here.
It was your father's dream to go on to Oregon.
Laura's right, Ma.
You always said when the family got together again we'd go.
[CHUCKLES.]
It sure looks like we're together.
Well, Zeb? Well, Oregon's still a long ways off and the hardest part's ahead of us.
It's always been a long way off.
Is it gonna get any easier later on? No.
It ain't gonna get no easier.
And like Josh here says we are all together.
Then we're going? Kate? Oregon.
ALL: Oregon! Sixty-two, 63, 64, 65 cents.
You drive a hard bargain, Mrs.
Macahan.
You've got yourself two fine sows, Mr.
Jones and a healthy litter and another due any day now.
When do you figure to pull out? Soon.
I wish you all the best.
Thank you, Mr.
Jones.
Thank you, boys.
Have a safe trip.
[SHOUTS INDISTINCTLY.]
[PIGS SQUEALING.]
Well, how much did you get? $11.
65 Ma, you're a hallelujah.
We're gonna need every penny of it.
Hey, Ma? Looks like you got another customer.
Good morning, ma'am.
KATE: Morning.
- You must be Mrs.
Macahan.
- I am.
Nice day, isn't it? Twenty-two years old, a little over 6 feet, light brown hair You'd be Luke Macahan.
Drop the gun belt, boy.
What do you think you're doing? I'm sorry to inform you, ma'am, but your son's under arrest for desertion from the United States Army.
Now, this is our land, and you're trespassing.
I want you off of it.
Battle of Shiloh, April 7, 1862.
Name's Grey.
Captain Grey.
I'm a representative of the United States provost marshal's office.
Drop the gun belt, boy.
I told you, boy, drop it.
Now let's get something straight, son.
I'm gonna take you to trial.
If you give me any trouble I'll bury you.
ZEB: Speaking of burials, mister one twitch and it'll be yours.
Whoever you are you're interfering with the law.
Name's Zebulon Macahan uncle to him.
You move that scatter gun, I'll empty that saddle.
Aiding a deserter's a criminal offense, Macahan.
Now are you gonna step down or eat dirt? Now, Zeb, you're not helping Luke.
Kate, I know this man.
He's built himself a reputation as a bounty hunter.
He's no better than a hired killer.
Drop the gun.
Now step down.
This side.
Get rid of the gun belt.
I'm gonna say it once more, Macahan just so we're clear.
You're interfering with an officer of the United States Army in the execution of his duty.
Mister, I ain't got no words to tell you my opinion of the United States Army and everything it stands for right now, including you.
You better talk to him, lady.
Right now your son's facing prison.
If this goes any further, it could be the hangman.
Zeb? If you let Luke ride out with this man, Kate you'll never see him alive again.
Now, town's that way 15 miles, mister.
Start walking.
And if I don't? I'll drop you right there.
You'll hang, Macahan.
ZEB: You've got till the count of three.
One.
Zeb, you can't.
He's the law.
Two.
Zeb.
- Three.
- Zeb! [GUNSHOT.]
[KATE SCREAMS.]
Don't! Uncle Zeb, don't! Don't! Put that knife away.
Do you hear me? Put it away.
I won't let you kill a man on my place.
Now get out of here, Mr.
Grey.
Just be thankful you're still alive.
Now, go on.
[GROANS.]
There'll be another time, Macahan.
Let go of me, boy.
You're a fool, Kate.
You were really gonna kill that man.
Damn right I was.
Well, did you think I'd stand by while you cut a man to pieces? What you've done is let that man get away so he's got another chance to come back and kill your son.
Think he's gonna quit? The man's a killer.
He's gotta be stopped.
Even if he's an officer of the law? It don't matter.
You think Luke was gonna give up without a fight? I don't know what Luke would have done.
And neither do you.
The hell I don't! He's a Macahan, ain't he? You leaving, Luke? Yes, sir.
Thought I'd wait till dark just in case.
Makes sense.
I don't figure Grey will be back till that arm of his gets patched up but you never know.
The sooner you get out of this country the safer you're gonna be.
Here.
I'd like to ride along with you, Luke but I figure I'm better off to stay here and look after your ma and the kids especially after what happened.
Yeah.
Well, I can take care of myself, Uncle Zeb.
You can if you know what you're up against, boy.
Sit.
Luke, that man Grey's a real bloodhound.
He's gonna stay on your trail till hell freezes over.
There's only one way you can stay ahead of him.
That's to get up into the high country and keep moving.
That way you'll keep ahead of him till I can figure out a way to get out of this.
How long you figure that's gonna take? Well, I don't know but you can't keep running forever.
As long as you're running your ma ain't gonna budge off this homestead.
No.
No, thanks.
I ain't much of a drinking man.
[CHUCKLES.]
Then you ain't no Macahan, boy.
I never acquired a taste for it.
Don't say that.
Why, your pa would roll over in his grave to hear you talking like that.
Your grandpa too.
Why, either one of them could've drunk me under the table.
Pa? [CHUCKLES.]
Sure.
Luke, your pa before he married your ma why, he was the biggest hell-raiser in seven counties.
He used to take me with him.
I was only a 14, 15 year old.
Why, your grandpa, he used to thump on him regular for leading me astray.
Hard to picture pa as a hell-raiser.
Well, he was a lot of things to a lot of people, Luke.
A good brother to me a good father to you and the kids a good husband to Kate.
[CORK POPS.]
Gotta ask you something, boy.
Your ma She told me you were with Tim when he died.
She didn't say how you found him.
It was an accident.
I was in Tennessee looking for him when the Battle of Shiloh started.
Some Yankees who were trapped behind Rebel lines grabbed me and put me in a uniform.
I got no stake in this war.
It's a hell of a place to be a neutral.
What's your name? Macahan.
Luke Macahan.
You believe in slavery, Macahan? No, sir, but l That no longer makes you a neutral for the time being.
I don't believe in war either.
Neither do I.
About, uh Billing's size, wouldn't you say, sergeant? LUKE: I fought most of that day and all of the next.
And I was wounded.
I stumbled into a field hospital.
[SCOFFS.]
A hospital.
There weren't any doctors or any medicine just a lot of men all shot to pieces and a few rolls of bandages.
I don't know how long I'd been there when I saw them bringing in another man.
Pa? Pa? Pa.
[WHISPERING.]
Pa.
Pa.
Pa.
What are you doing here? I come to find you, Pa.
[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY.]
What? Your mother? Your mother? She's fine, Pa.
She's fine.
Everybody's fine.
SOLDIER: He's dead, boy.
LUKE: I buried him there under a tree.
And I walked away from the war.
That's why Grey is after me.
That's a damn fool way for a good man to die.
I thank you for telling me, Luke.
The Army had no cause sending anybody after you.
You didn't volunteer, and you wasn't recruited.
You were shanghaied into the uniform of a dead man.
Your ma was wrong keeping me from killing that bloodsucker.
You know, I've been thinking a lot about what you said about having to kill anyone that comes looking for you.
When does it stop, Uncle Zeb? I mean, if you'd have killed Grey they'd only send somebody else, Maybe somebody harder than Grey.
Luke, they don't come no harder than Grey.
That's what I've been trying to tell you.
You gotta learn that, boy, if you want to stay alive.
Now you think you've been running from the law these last three years.
Well, after what's happened today it's gonna be a lot worse.
You're in for a hard, Ionesome time but if you've got the stuff in you I think you have you're gonna make out.
Yes, sir.
Luke.
You know, it won't be all bad.
You're gonna be riding the high country.
If you're lucky, you're gonna get to taste something few men have ever known.
We used to call it the shining times.
Shining times? It's kind of hard to explain but when it happens to you, you'll know it.
You won't ever be the same again.
You'll ride for days alone up there in country that's so big it'll scare you.
And all of a sudden some morning at the top of the rise there it'll be a mountain or a valley or a meadow no white man's ever seen before.
You'll feel the breath catching in your throat.
The mountains are holding you in the palm of their hand.
The melting snows are dropping waterfalls into lakes that are so blue it'll make your eyes ache just to look at them.
Flowers wild and thick, moving to the pines.
You'll know you're part of something so overpowering there ain't no words to describe it.
You felt all that? Ain't a mountain man alive ain't felt that more than once, boy.
Hell, that's what keeps all of us coming back to high lonesome.
Luke, one more thing.
Don't trust nobody.
You've got a price on your head now.
You're gonna find out what some people will do for a few dollars.
Keep your powder dry.
JESSIE: It's aawul quiet in here.
[PLAYING "SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER" ON THE PIPE ORGAN.]
Jessie, it's not the time.
[STOPS PLAYING.]
Go on, Jessie.
I think it's just what we need right now.
[GUN CLICKS.]
[RESUMES PLAYING ORGAN.]
I'm sorry, Ma.
You know I don't want to go.
Luke, I don't want you to go, any of us.
Ma, don't you understand? I don't have any choice.
Uncle Zeb is right about that provost marshal.
He's gonna come back.
And when he does, Uncle Zeb is gonna kill him or I will.
You will? It's become so easy to talk about killing, hasn't it? Luke? Are you ready to kill a man? If it means staying alive, Ma, yes.
It's different out here.
It's not like it was back in Virginia.
You're talking just like your Uncle Zeb.
No.
No, it's something I learned back there in Missouri when those men tried lynching me for stealing a horse that I didn't steal.
Well, the difference is you weren't trying to kill a man.
No, Ma, you're wrong.
I was trying.
I was just so scared and stiff I missed.
Ma, don't make this any harder than it already is.
I just can't stay here without making everything worse.
You know that.
Whew.
Oh, it sure is hot, ain't it? What do you say we just put this up for a while and head on down to the swimming hole and cool off a little? Ma would have our scalps if we went off without finishing this.
Besides, I don't think any of us feel very much like swimming, Uncle Zeb.
You know, when it gets hot like this it sure reminds me of the high country in the fall with the snow sitting down through the Through the trees.
I remember one time up in Montana.
Well, it was Indian summer and we had this early freeze.
Froze real hard.
You girls listening? You see, we had this sudden freeze real fast.
There was a little lake outside there a little lake, and it was covered over with ducks that had been resting there overnight on their way south.
Well, I seen them ducks, and I says to myself: "Zeb, you're gonna have yourself a roast duck breakfast.
" Well, I aimed and fired.
You wouldn't believe what happened.
What happened? Well, them ducks, they took off took the whole lake with them.
They took the lake with them? Why, sure, honey.
See, that cold spell come on so fast that it just froze that lake solid around them ducks' feet.
And when they lifted off they pulled that lake clean out of the ground and they flew it to the next county.
Kate, this has got to stop.
I haven't even seen a smile out of anybody in three days.
Smile? You expect us to be happy while Luke is out there running for his life? Woman, we're not helping Luke any by going around here feeling sorry for ourselves.
We gotta do something.
What do you expect us to do? We can pack up and start heading for Oregon like we planned.
Why, it's not good for the rest of these kids to sit around here rotting just because their brother's on the run.
I told you before, Zeb, and I'll tell you again.
We are not moving.
As painful as it is for us out here we're staying in case Luke needs us.
Woman, you are the stubbornest human being I ever met.
Now what gives you the right to come here and tell us what we ought to do? What have you done for this family since you brought us here from Virginia? Nothing.
You've been up in the high country smoking the peace pipe with the Indians.
We've been breaking our backs trying to make a life here.
At least you got one thing straight.
I ain't no farmer any more than my brother Timothy was.
You kept him chained to a plow every day of his life for 20 years when you knew he was dying to come west.
How dare you tell me how Timothy felt.
You haven't the faintest idea of what goes on between a decent man and woman who really love each other.
Have you ever really loved a woman? All you know is animal lust on a buffalo robe with some Indian squaw.
Let me tell you something, lady.
There's a lot more animal lust in all of us, including you than you'd like to admit.
LAURA: Ma! Ma.
Ma.
Whoa.
Uncle Zeb's in the barn.
He's saddling up.
He says he's leaving.
Well, we can survive without your Uncle Zeb.
No, he says he's gonna try and find Luke and bring him back here.
Finish plowing, Laura.
KATE: I don't understand, Zeb.
Luke would be in danger if you brought him back here.
Kate, Luke's life is gonna be in danger wherever he is as long as Grey's after him except maybe for a while right now.
Now? In the beginning a man on the run can always keep ahead of the man that's trailing him.
The problem is sooner or later every man gets tired of running.
It may take a few weeks, may take months.
When it happens, he gets careless.
That's what Grey is counting on.
He's gonna stay on Luke's trail and he'll catch up to him.
Luke will fight him, and Grey will kill him.
What can we do? There's only one thing we can do.
I tried to tell you earlier but we got to grinding on each other so hard I couldn't get it out.
I gotta get Luke and bring him back here so we can all go on to Oregon together.
- Can you find him? - I can find him.
I know a few tricks to keep Grey a week or so behind us.
By the time he gets here, we'll be gone.
What if Grey catches up to us on the trail? I just hope this time you'll stay out of the way.
So we're back to that.
Kill or be killed? Is that right? Any of us is capable of killing, Kate if it's a matter of survival.
Even you.
If killing would save the life of one of your children you'd kill.
You're wrong, Zeb.
There are other ways.
Lady, one of these days you're liable to find out different.
NARRATOR: In the wake of the Pilgrims who crossed an ocean and settled a wilderness in search of religious freedom came dozens of other religious orders: Quakers and Shakers, Bryanites and Dunkers Calvinists and Huguenots all seeking sanctuary.
It is one of the tragic ironies of our history that these gentle and peaceful folk merely because they were different frequently found not the freedom they sought but a persecution as ugly and relentless as any they had known in the countries from which they had fled.
WILLY: Hey, boys we got us a passel of blackbirds this time.
Just look at them.
Uncle Jacob.
Whoo! Hey, will you look at what we got here.
Come on, woman.
Somebody else I want you to meet.
[ALL LAUGHING.]
Now, ain't nobody gonna hurt you.
No, Joshua.
We must not.
I don't want to be among you.
Among me? She knows nothing of men.
Well, sure she don't, living with the likes of you.
Now, you got any hair under that bonnet? Oh, I'd sure like to see it.
ELAM: It is not permitted for a woman in public to display her hair.
You shut your face! You gonna take off that bonnet or do I have to take it off for you? I cannot.
Well, I can.
Take away your hands.
You heard him.
Now undo it.
Undo it.
Do not make her do this.
You say anything else, I'm gonna shoot you in the mouth! My father has told you it is not permitted.
Why, sure it is.
Let me show you, girl.
Let me show you.
Please! Please, no! [GUNSHOT.]
Come on up here and take my hat off.
I'll take your head off if you don't get out of here, mister! Well, you're talking yourself into a big mistake.
Now get on them ponies and get out of here.
Get! Get the girl on the wagon, sir.
Now, drop those guns.
Drop them! And get out of here.
Well, what about Willy? He'll never miss you.
Now, get out of here! He is dead.
We must take the body into town and deliver it to the sheriff.
You must come with us and tell what happened.
I can't.
I don't understand.
Tell the sheriff what you saw.
For sure he's not going to blame you.
You can kill a man and just ride on? I have to.
I'm sorry.
Erika you and your brother go back to the bruderhof.
We'll take care of this.
Yes, father.
God with you, father.
God with you, child.
Got him! I blowed him clean off his horse! Let's get out of here before somebody comes.
Erika, it's him! No, Joshua, stay here.
What has happened? Those boys I ran off I should have figured on their saddle guns.
You could be bleeding to death.
Look I want you to do something for me.
My name is Macahan Luke Macahan.
My Ma's name is Kate.
She lives near Sharp's Town, on the Platte.
Get a message to her and tell her what happened.
[GASPS.]
If I'm dead Please, do not talk anymore.
I will see to it if need be.
But first, I'm taking you to the Bruderhof.
Figure that to be a waste of time, miss.
That is up to God, not you.
Joshua, help me! Bishop Benjamin! Father Elias! Someone help me, please! Mother Tice! Erika, who is this man? I found him on the road, Bishop.
He's called Macahan.
He has been gunshot.
We are bound to help him.
It is our law.
Erika, fetch Mother Tice.
Have her bring pliers for a bullet.
Take him inside.
He has no bullet, it has passed through.
But he has lost much blood.
I cannot say that he will live.
We will pray God that he does.
You will care for him, Mother Tice? All that I am able, child.
But I'm in the middle of midwife for Mrs.
Brand, poor thing.
I will tend him.
Erika, you are unmarried.
How will it look? It be fine, Mother Tice.
It be just fine.
You mean you never stayed to see if he was dead?! Well, there was somebody coming, Pa! We was afraid they'd see us! How do I know you ain't telling a lie about shooting him? How do I know you didn't tuck your tails 'tweenst your legs run like a scared dog after he killed your brother? Well, Pa, I swear on Willy's grave I hit him square.
I knocked him clean off his horse! - Now, ain't that right, Jake? - Ah, it's true, Pa.
He was lying right there in the dirt.
Then where's his body? Uh, well eh, somebody must've took it, Pa.
"Somebody must've took it, Pa!" Who?! The sheriff ain't got it! Nobody's seen it! Maybe somebody around here collects corpses stacks them around his house like cordwood.
You reckon that's it, Charlie? You reckon that's it, Charlie? No, Pa, no! I'll tell you why you didn't find him.
Because he ain't dead, that's why.
Somebody must have some reason for hiding him.
Wait a minute.
Them blackbirds.
Them blackbirds the ones that found him! No, that can't be, Pa.
It was them that brought Willy's body in to the sheriff.
They'd have said something if they found that other fella.
Yeah, he's right, Pa.
You know how they are about shooting and such.
Hell, they didn't even raise a frown when when we were teasing that girl! Now if that's the truth, there's only one thing left he's hurt and he's crawled off somewhere to lick his wounds.
If he's hurt as bad as you think he is, he ain't gone far, neither.
Now, I want him found! I want y'all boys to go search every cabin, every gully every shack until you find the man that killed your brother! Well, we'll find him, Pa! Yeah! If he's dead, I wanna know it! But if he's alive wouldn't that be pretty? I never figured hell for angels.
Maybe I'm not dead.
But you'll be fine.
Just fine.
Considering I never expected to wake up at all, I guess I must be.
For two days we did not think you would live.
But the last two days, you've slept like a lamb.
I've been out for four days? On Thursday you were among us for a few minutes and took some soup from Mother Tice.
You do not remember? Heh, no.
But I remember you.
My name is Erika but you must call me Miss Hanks.
Yes, Miss Hanks.
I will get you some food.
Where's my gun? I do not know.
There was only this.
Those men find out I'm not dead, they're gonna come looking for me.
- They will not come here.
- Why not? This is the Bruderhof.
The what? The bruderhof.
Except it is not really a bruderhof yet.
Just a town where no one lived and we stopped here because many of our people were ill.
Are you gonna stay here? It has not yet been decided.
But we are building a church.
And if we stay, we must also build a wall to keep the world out.
It is the way of the Simonites.
Simonites? That what you're called? Yes, after Simon Peter.
You have read the New Testament? My ma used to read the Bible to us every night.
Mr.
Macahan, the Elders How did you know my name? When I found you you asked that the word of your death be sent to your mother.
Did you? No.
You did not die, praise God.
Praise God.
What were you saying about the Elders? The Elders held a council try and decide if a man of violence should be allowed to remain among us.
L I'm not a man of violence.
You killed a man.
Yeah, for trying to kill me.
And I'd do it again if it came to it.
You do not understand.
It is not important why you shot, only that you did.
We do not hold with violence in any form.
We do not fight.
We do not resist.
No matter what? No matter what.
You mean those two Simonite men on the road My father Elam, and my Uncle Jacob.
Your father and your uncle? You mean they would have stood by and let those men have their way with you? Yes.
Well, how do you feel about that? I agree with them.
But how could any man stand by and let that happen? It is our way.
God's law is our law.
Scripture tells us: "And if any man sue thee at the law, and take thy coat let him have thy cloak, also.
" We take God at his word, Mr.
Macahan.
You take God at your peril, Miss Hanks.
A man could do much worse.
Why, if everyone thought that way well, there wouldn't be anyone around to keep law and order.
If everyone practiced that there would be no need for anyone to keep law and order.
You haven't told me what the Elders decided.
What everyone knew they would decide in the beginning.
You will remain here until you are better and then you must leave.
Well, I sure hope they let you look after me until that happens.
It is my hope, too, Mr.
Macahan.
NARRATOR: Generations of Americans have viewed the Indian as either the noble Red Man a pure and innocent child of nature as uncomplicated as the wilderness in which he lived or as a half-naked and barbaric savage whose cruelty knew no bounds.
Neither concept is true.
The Indian, like any man or nation was a mixture of many qualities.
Before his lands were usurped and his people decimated he was a loyal friend to the white man.
The Pilgrims survived a winter of starvation thanks to the kindness of the Indian.
And Lewis and Clark, dying, were rescued by the Nez Perce but just as the white man dealt in deceit with the Indian so not every overture of apparent friendship by the Indian toward the settler could be taken at face value.
Pretty lady we come to water our horses.
You're always welcome to our water.
Where is your man, pretty lady? He's out hunting, chief.
Strange, I never see your man.
He's gone most of the time.
He does not like to farm, huh? He's very much like the Shoshone, he's a hunter.
It is not good to leave a woman and young ones alone in this country.
You need a man, pretty lady.
The Arapaho are near.
We cannot watch over you always.
We are not the eagle in the sky.
You need a man.
[CHIEF SPEAKS IN INDIAN LANGUAGE.]
This is Mountain-Is-Long.
Good fighter.
Good hunter.
Good man.
All man.
Why, I know, Chief, but l Ride for pretty lady.
Ride! Hyah! Hyah! Yah! Yah! [INDIAN WHOOPING.]
See! Good fighter! Good man! Plenty babies! Good! I know, chief.
But I told you, I have a man.
Macahan? Macahan good.
Macahan fine, good, smart.
But not man for woman! His home is there.
He not stay long in house.
Oh, not Zeb.
Another long knife.
A warrior.
A very good warrior.
Where is this good warrior, pretty lady? He's He's on his way now.
Any day.
Next sun.
Maybe two suns.
We go hunt now.
Come back, see this long knife.
Goodbye pretty lady.
Pretty girls.
Mother, do you think he believed you? Do you? I don't know.
I had to say something.
He's a very determined man.
I don't know.
That mountain-Is-Long looked strong as a fort.
And plenty babies! [BOTH GIGGLING.]
A kid! Boy, you know how close you come to getting your throat slit? What the hell is the matter with you? I'm I'm sorry, mister.
I was chasing a deer and I thought your horse was Well, you damned near killed my horse! Not to mention me! You near shot off the best part of me! I didn't mean to, mister.
It was an accident.
I ain't done with you yet! Now don't budge until I am! Oh, easy boy.
Easy, now.
[GRUNTS.]
He pulled a tendon.
He'll ride again, but it's gonna be a day or two.
[SIGHS.]
You're lucky, boy.
If I had to put him out of his misery I'd be tempted to do the same for you.
What were you doing skulking around here anyway? Any questions to be asked, I'll do the asking.
- You live around here? - Why? Because I need somewhere to tend to my animal.
Not to mention myself.
Come on, get up and start walking.
Come on.
What's your name, boy? Give me an answer before you get tromped.
Macahan.
NARRATOR: Cowboy, range war, gunfighter.
The words were almost unknown to the settlers of the northern plains where the great cattle drives up the good night and the Chisholm Trails had not yet begun.
But from time to time, a strange and unique breed of men who lived and died by the gun drifted north out of the vast plains of Texas.
Now, get a move on, we ain't got all day.
Josh is forever promising catfish.
Next time he cooks his own breakfast.
How can you eat those things, Jessie? They're so ugly.
Out here you appreciate what you get, Laura.
Well, it's not for me, Jessie.
I was born a female a feminine girl, and that's what I am to stay! Slopping pigs, and uh, eating catfish and staying bent over a hot stove all day It's just not for me.
That's what you're willing to settle for.
Laura, I want the same things you want.
But they're just gonna have to wait.
Besides, doesn't look as though you have much choice, does it? Jessie! Jessie, bring the rifle.
It's Josh! Mister, I wanna know why my son's on foot and you're poking him like sheep.
You tell her, boy.
And tell her straight.
I lost all the hide I can stand to your family's marksmanship.
Well, Josh? I was tracking a deer and it went into some trees.
I saw something moving and I thought it was the deer.
You mean you came close to shooting this man? He done a might better than come close, ma'am.
Shouldn't have been messing around there anyway, Ma.
It was a mistake, and I'm sorry.
He just knocked a little bark off me is all.
It's my horse, though.
It come up lame.
Put the horses in the barn, Josh.
Wait a minute, Ma.
- I don't trust him.
- Why? Coming here, he asked too many questions.
I didn't mean no harm, ma'am.
If I did, that boy'd be back there gathering ants.
Sorry about the rifle.
Don't ever apologize about doing the sensible thing, ma'am.
Anderson's the name.
What are you gawking at? That man, he's handsome.
I apologize for Josh.
He's a good boy.
Well, if you say so.
He's your son.
Did he say he nicked you? Well, the first shot just blew a kiss.
But the second one did sting some.
Well, maybe I could put some, ah salve where the bullet hit you.
I'm afraid I'd have to know you some better before I could ask you to do that.
Well The medicine's in the house.
You can put it on.
You're welcome to spend the day, Mr.
Anderson.
I mean it's plain your horse isn't ready to travel.
Either are you.
Thank you, ma'am.
Evening, Louie.
Well, I see you got fed.
Liver! I hate liver! They know I hate liver, sheriff.
They do it on purpose.
Well, Louie, maybe it's just their way of trying to keep you out of here.
You know, you spend more time in this place than I do.
The very reason you ought to treat me better.
This is cruel and unusual punishment.
Come on, Louie.
Oh! I forgot! Somebody was looking for you.
A friend of yours.
Who? He told me his name and I forget big fella, nine feet tall.
All dressed up in buckskin with fringes on it.
Yeah, Zeb Macahan.
Yeah! Yeah, that's it.
That's the one.
Biggest man I ever seen.
Been looking for you since noon said it was important.
Well, where is he? [LAUGHTER.]
That's terrible.
I never heard anything like that in my whole life.
Well, uh, if I'm lying, I'm dying.
Now old Mormon Jake, you know he got to the bend at the trail and he turned around, figuring how lucky he was to still have his head, you know and he looked back and there's that old bear standing in the middle of the trail and he was grinning from ear to ear and he's waving at old Jake like that to come forward.
Come on, bartender.
This is a honest-to God Arapaho scalp.
Took no more than a month ago when we wiped out them hostiles at Black River.
You know, old Jake, he always figured that the bear had done fell plumb in love with him.
Oh, Zeb, let's you and me get out of here and go someplace where we can be alone, huh? Well, now, that sounds good, Delilah.
But what about these other pretty ladies here? Oh, that's okay, honey, we'll just all come with you.
Sounds good.
MACKLIN: Bartender, this Arapaho scalp is worth four bottles, but we're gonna offer it to you two.
Sergeant, I'm gonna tell you again we don't deal in no scalps.
And them that does is the Is what, bartender? ZEB: Is dead! Well, well, if it ain't the Indian lover, Mr.
Macahan.
We thought we took care of you at the Black River.
Did you take that scalp? Why not? It were not good to the woman I got it from.
[WOMEN SCREAMING.]
[BOTH GRUNTING.]
I wanted that colonel's scalp, mister but I'm gonna heap the Arapaho but I reckon yours will do.
Ah! Sorry, Zeb.
I just couldn't let you do that.
Mama, why don't you ask Mr.
Anderson to be your man? KATE: What? The man you told Claw about.
Maybe if Mr.
Anderson were just to stay here a couple of days I couldn't ask a stranger to do something like that.
Laura could.
She thinks he's handsome.
Now, listen, girls I don't want anyone telling Mr.
Anderson about Claw and his braves.
Remember that.
Josh, tell Mr.
Anderson supper's on the table.
Ma, I think you're making Josh.
Yes, ma'am.
[SIGHS.]
Mrs.
Macahan I haven't eaten anything like this since well, I can't remember how long.
Salt pork and refried beans that's about as close to real food as I ever get.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, Mr.
Anderson.
Mr.
Anderson, where are you from? No place in particular, I move around a lot.
What kind of work do you do? Most anything that comes to mind.
Meat hunting and uh, prospecting.
I'll even punch a cow or wrangle a horse if I have to.
The fact is, this is about as peaceable an evening as I've had.
And pleasant too.
Real pleasant.
And hard as it is to say I best be pushing on.
Oh, well, Josh says your horses aren't ready to travel yet.
You're in no condition to travel, either.
I can't really argue with you there, ma'am, but I've already stayed on longer than I should.
You're welcome to the barn, Mr.
Anderson.
[DOOR SLAMS.]
I apologized for Josh's bad manners.
Oh, that's all right, ma'am.
He's just prideful.
Boy without a pride ain't worth a damn.
I mean - We get the meaning, Mr.
Anderson.
Clear the table, girls.
I'll show Mr.
Anderson the barn.
Ma, maybe I should fetch Mr.
Anderson a blanket.
Oh, l I'll do that, Laura.
If I had known all this was gonna come my way just for getting creased by a little old bullet, I'd have volunteered.
It's a beautiful night.
You know I spent a good deal a time sleeping under the sky.
It's funny, you never seem to notice the stars when you're alone.
I know.
[ANDERSON CHUCKLES.]
Mrs.
Macahan.
Who's Claw? How do you know about Claw? Well, there's been a lot a mysterious whispering going on between your girls.
Claw's a Shoshone chief, and he's a very good friend.
He feels I need a man to protect me and he's dead set on me marrying one of his braves.
Well, Mrs.
Macahan, I don't want to throw a spook into you but that chief might be interested in your welfare.
On the other hand, he might just be trying to go one up on the Arapaho.
The Arapaho? Yeah, Arapaho consider this their land.
But if the Shoshone could get one of their braves in here permanent that would give them a good foothold in Arapaho territory.
I'd just be mighty careful if I were you.
You know, I'd like to stay on here for, a couple of days.
It's just not for the cooking.
I'd like to, but I can't.
You're on the run, aren't you? I might just be in an aawul big hurry.
I know the look.
My oldest son, Luke, is on the run.
He has a look he never had before.
Well, that's the look you get.
I keep running into men that like to shoot guns.
And, sometimes, people get hurt.
Why you telling this to me? I just want you to know how bad it is before you I kiss you.
I've been a widow for three years, Mr.
Anderson.
I'm not about to take on just any man passing through.
I never apologize for doing the sensible thing.
Good night, Mr.
Anderson.
Good night, ma'am.
Sleep sound.
Aren't you ever going to sleep? Maybe not.
At least not till he's gone.
You're still fretting about that.
He's a stranger, Jessie! And we don't know anything about him.
You invite him in here, you feed him, you laugh at all his jokes.
It was because of you he had to lay over.
I'm surprised he didn't invite himself to sleep in the house instead of the barn! He seems all right to me.
The fact is, it's been kind of nice having him around.
Haven't seen Laura get that fluttery in a long time.
Did you see the way he was looking at Ma? And the way Ma was looking at him? Well, what's so wrong with that? It's hard on Ma here! It can get lonely.
Mr.
Anderson's just passing through.
There's no reason why Ma can't enjoy him being here.
It's been good seeing her laugh.
She hasn't laughed like that since Pa.
She has it coming to her, Josh so you just quit your meddling.
Mr.
Macahan, you should not be about.
Your stitches are not healed.
Aw, I just got tired of lying in that bed.
It's a lot nicer out here.
But it is too soon.
You are stubborn, Mr.
Macahan.
Hey, why don't you call me Luke? It is not permitted.
Well, what do you permit around here? Whatever is plain.
[LAUGHS.]
Well, then, they ought not to permit you because you sure aren't plain.
Please, Mr.
Macahan, you must not speak so.
Well you believe in truth, don't you? That's just the plain truth.
If you were strong enough to come here by yourself I think before long you will be well enough to leave.
Yeah, I guess so.
Though the thought don't pleasure me none.
Why not? Well, you know, the more I see of you people, the more I think maybe you got the right idea about things.
We live quietly and with God.
There's nothing wrong with that.
A man could do worse than spend a lifetime here.
Some would tire of it.
Naw, I wouldn't.
I grew up on a farm, not too different from this.
It's the only peace and quiet I ever knew.
Why did you leave? Well, we decided to come West the war Always afraid we'd get caught up in it.
We were bound for Oregon when it hit.
Seven weeks out of Virginia we were in the Nebraska Territory we ran into a detachment of cavalry.
Major Anderson, out of Fort Randall.
Zeb Macahan, major.
This here's my kin.
Zeb Macahan? Weren't you scouting for Colonel Hyatt at Fort Laramie? What you doing this far east? Well, I was about to ask you the same thing.
We were ordered back to join General McDowell.
War's broke.
Full force.
Where you coming from? Virginie.
I reckon you left just in time.
Why do you say that, major? Union forces have crossed through Maryland to Virginia.
General McDowell's at Manassas with 30,000 men.
General Beauregard with 20,000 coming up from the South.
Bull Run in the middle.
Bull Run? It's where we come from.
We got family back there.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Well, good luck to you.
- Macahan.
- So long, major.
LUKE: I guess after the major left we were all thinking the same thing.
We just couldn't leave the folks back there in the middle of a battlefield.
You going back.
Laura, fetch me a sack full of hardtack and dried beef.
- But - Go on now, girl, fetch it.
- Josh! - Yes, sir.
Fetch me some ammunition.
Tim, I'll be the one going back.
You stay here with the family.
This is hard country, Zeb.
You can buck it.
Comes that they'll be needing you more than me.
Long way to go if you expect to beat the rebel troops.
I reckon I can make it in three weeks.
Seven hundred miles, Tim, to Bull Run.
I'm going, Zeb.
What about the folks? What if they still won't leave? Figure that when I get to it.
Pa.
Good luck.
Zeb said he'd go back.
And you have a family here.
What happens to the children if you don't ever come back? Please, let Zeb go.
It's you I'm thinking of.
You stand a better chance out here with Zeb than with me.
- Timothy! - Now, Kate, listen to me.
Kate, out here I'm a tenderfoot.
Zeb can find game and water.
He can read when a storm's brewing, he knows the Indians.
I don't know any of that.
Out here all alone I could I could get all of us killed.
Now Zeb's the one that's got to stay.
You can understand that, can't you? Here, Pa.
LUKE: I remember my sister bringing him food and him giving half of it back cause we were short of rations.
LAURA: Pa, that's not near enough.
Laura, I'll make out.
Take care of them, Zeb.
I'll find you wherever you are.
We'll be here.
We're not gonna go on another foot without you.
Next Spring we'll go on to Oregon together.
Kate, you can't stay here.
He's right, Kate.
We can't stay out here for the winter.
Tim, I figure we're about ten days from the Platte.
No, we'll go on there and wait for you.
There's a town there.
There's supposed to be a telegraph coming in.
We'll leave word.
They'll be all right.
LUKE: We'll be waiting for you, Pa.
It was the last time any of us, except me was to see Pa alive.
Yankees put him in uniform and I found him by accident, dying of wounds at Shiloh.
It is so hard to lose a parent.
I remember how I felt when my mother died.
We must accept, Mr.
Macahan we are all God's servants.
God sure found a fine servant when he picked you.
I'm pleased you think me worthy.
You're much more than worthy, Erika.
[BELLS CLANGING.]
The bell I must go now.
[GROANING.]
EPHRAIM: Glad to see you moving, Zeb.
I was afraid I might have hit you too hard.
Oh That you that hit me, huh? Heh, heh.
Well, you didn't give me a whole lot of choice.
Look to me like you was about to kill that sergeant.
Well Oh I gotta admit I was I was trying.
Where's he at? He's on his way to the Fort Hospital.
You broke his jaw in three places.
How long you gonna keep me locked up? Ha! You ain't no prisoner, Zeb.
Bartender told me what happened.
Oh [LAUGHING.]
Not even no lectures on disturbing the peace? No, I think I'll leave that up to the Army.
They're outside waiting for you.
Oh, now look, Ephraim, before I talk to them I gotta ask you something.
I'm looking for a young fella, he's a boy about 23.
Good looking fella, about six foot.
I lost his trail here about about 20 mile out.
I thought maybe you might've seen him.
Real fast with a gun? Fast enough.
Wouldn't also be a deserter from the Army, would he? Why? Well, because an Army provost marshal was here this morning.
He's looking too.
Where'd this here provost marshal head for? He's on his way to a Simonite village out the Old Post Road.
What for? Well, because a boy answering the description that both of you gave me shot a man on that road ten days ago.
Did he kill him? Yeah.
Yeah, he was trying to protect a Simonite girl who was being roughed up by a bunch of hooligans.
Do you think the boy could be out at this here Simonite village? So unlikely I didn't even look.
Where's my horse? Right outside.
Thanks, Ephraim.
Any time at all, Zeb.
You Zeb Macahan? That's right.
You're a dangerous man, Macahan.
I've got four troopers who swear to the fact you tried to kill them.
Yeah, and they was trying to trade an Indian scalp for whiskey.
A woman's at that.
Gonna try to arrest me, lieutenant, you better get on with it.
I'm not here to press charges, Macahan.
Do you know a mountain man called Cully Madigan? Cully Madigan? Why? As of last week Madigan had killed and scalped over two dozen Arikara braves.
I don't believe you.
You can believe what you like, Macahan.
But I got 50 crack troopers camped outside of town.
And I've got order to find Madigan.
- And what are you gonna do then? - I'll hang him.
Well, I don't think Cully Madigan's been killing Arikara.
But I'll tell you something, lieutenant, if he has he ain't been doing it without a damn good reason.
Then he is a friend of yours.
He's more than a friend.
When I picked him up, he didn't know a beaver plew from a possum tail.
Then maybe we could work a deal.
Meaning? I'll find Madigan, Mr.
Macahan but it might take me a while.
In the meantime, if he keeps on killing we might have an Indian war on our hands.
Get to the point, boy.
The point is, he's your friend.
If you find him before I do, you might save some lives and keep Madigan from the gallows.
Son, there ain't a man alive's gonna bring Cully Madigan in if he don't wanna come.
But you could stop the killing.
All right, if I did, would you call off the search? I'm not sure I can.
I have my orders.
Then forget the whole thing.
Just to keep the record straight, I'm gonna tell you something else.
You may get Cully eventually, lieutenant but before you do, he'll kill more of your soldier boys than he has Arikara.
All right, Macahan, you have my word.
Now, do I have yours? You'll go after Madigan immediately? No, you don't.
All you got is my word I'll get to it as quick as I can.
I got urgent business gotta be took care of first.
Luke! What is a provost marshal? He's a kind of a law officer for the Army.
Why? Because there is a provost marshal here and he's looking for you.
Ah, Erika, let him take me.
I've caused you enough trouble already.
No.
He is a violent man and he has guns and We must hide you quickly! Now, come with me.
Oh.
[GROANING.]
The shooting took place almost two weeks ago on the road to town.
Why would you believe that he was here? Because he protected one of your women.
I think you might be protecting him.
Bu the killed a man.
If you know of our laws, you would know that they're against violence.
Could we have among us a man who had killed another? Maybe not, brother.
But I'll look myself.
Take the horse, boy.
Now, stand out of the way or we may have some of that violence you're so dead set against.
[MOANING.]
Over there.
Why does this provost marshal look for you? I ran away from the Army because I I couldn't stand the killing.
You left the war because you could not kill? Oh, Luke, I have great hopes for you.
That horse belong to the provost marshal, son? - Yes, sir.
- And the man he's looking for, is he here? It is not permitted to say.
[English - US - SDH.]