Centennial (1978) s01e04 Episode Script
For as Long as the Water Flows
(THUNDER RUMBLING) NARRATOR: In the middle years of the 19th century more than 350,000 emigrants moved along the Platte River from the Missouri to the Pacific.
The great majority passed through Indian lands, yet fewer than 300 came to harm.
A percentage smaller than those killed accidentally by their own rifles.
There have been few mass migrations so peaceful.
And no previous instance in which people of one race passed through lands held by another with so little trouble.
But some confrontations were inevitable.
And judging the new land to be potentially valuable, the United States Government felt compelled to protect the settlers.
Forts were established, and the cavalry began to patrol the plains.
The result was two armies living side by side, uneducated in each other's ways, unsure of each other's intentions.
Incidents became more common.
And were followed by reprisals.
A deadly escalation began.
It was the destiny of one young man to become a healing force in this time of unrest.
But in the spring of 1846, it was he himself who needed to be healed.
Blaming himself for the death of the young bride he had brought west, Levi Zendt shut himself off in a crude cabin on the eastern slope of the Rockies.
Here for months he lived as a hermit, tortured with grief.
(GASPING) He cannot kill, eh? (SOBBING) Oh, Elly.
We could hunt for him, eh? He get hungry enough, he hunt for himself.
We got other things to do.
Oh, Elly.
JACQUES: Cannon.
They'll strike back hard for that, Jake.
At all of us.
Women and children, too.
And what do you think will happen to the women and children if they keep building stronger forts, eh? And more forts means more soldiers.
But Mercy said They're choking us, Mike.
What is ours, they take.
What is whole, they divide.
What is free, they destroy.
We can't destroy the cannon, but the wagons with the powder that makes the cannon roar, and the food for the fort.
Make the fire.
(HORSES NEIGHING) (ALL WHOOPING) Close ranks.
Save the cannon! Torches! The supplies! Fire! The Pasquinels.
Lieutenant McIntosh, sir.
Looks like you lost a lot of men.
Yes, sir.
Pasquinels? I think so, sir.
You'd better see to that wound.
I'm sorry, sir.
All I was thinking about was the cannon.
We'll talk later, Lieutenant.
Yes, sir.
One of these days, your wife is going to have two dead sons.
Maybe if you spent less time drillin' and more time writin' letters, things would change.
Until the government gets its head out of the sand and straightens out who owns what, it's gonna get worse.
Not if we get hold of the Pasquinels.
Captain, you'd best be less of a soldier and more of a statesman.
Jake and Mike are just the thunder.
The lightning's yet to come.
My job is to keep the peace, McKeag.
Plain and simple.
Unless I'm mistaken, you have to have the peace before you can keep it.
It's only a matter of time.
Until what? Till she goes off with one of them.
McKEAG: No, she's got more sense than that.
CLAY BASKET: Now there's just a few.
When you open the new trading post, there'll be many.
And one will talk better than the others, have a special smile.
And we'll lose her.
Well, what can we do? Can't tie her up.
She's hungry for love, McKeag.
She must have a good man, like you and Pasquinel.
She must go to Levi Zendt.
Levi? And bring him home.
The boy's in a bad way.
No tellin' how bad.
I was thinkin' of ridin' over to the cabin tomorrow.
He doesn't need you.
Lucinda must go alone.
She said it herself when the winter came.
Remember? Clay Basket, you know what you're sayin'? You're talkin' about About sending our daughter to a man who's crazed with grief.
Who hasn't been with a woman for For seven months.
I know.
It is not our custom.
It isn't what I hoped for Lucinda.
But there are much more important things.
And I think two lives may be saved.
Zendt! Zendt! You're filthy.
Here.
Please.
You have to eat.
You're so weak.
(WOLF HOWLING) (LEVI CRYING OUT) Oh! No! It's all right.
(PANTING) LUCINDA: There used to be a big blue spruce here.
I wonder what happened.
Lucinda.
Last night, when we were together, I wasn't even there.
I was thinking of Elly.
Listen to me.
(BIRDS CHIRPING) There was something called a blue spruce, and it was beautiful, and it's gone.
And there was someone called Elly, and she was beautiful, and she's gone.
Next I mean, this year there's wildflowers on the ridge, and next year there'll be mushrooms or wild sage or heather or chokecherries, and the sun doesn't mind which.
Because it has to shine anyway, and the dirt is just glad it's not going to be wasted.
It has nothing to do with us.
It's only that something always has to grow.
Not anything special.
Just something.
Elly knew that because she was going to have your baby.
Now maybe I'll have it.
We'll ride today.
Well, I kinda like just sittin' here.
You've been sitting.
Now it's time for riding.
We'll ride to the canyon today, tomorrow a little farther, and in a few days you'll be strong enough to go home.
McKeag? Aye? I wanna marry your daughter.
Well.
And what does she say? Aye.
Aye? But I can't do it unless she's a Christian.
Well, I guess she's a Christian as much as she's anything.
But she has to be confirmed and learn to read the Bible.
My family's custom.
We cannot read.
Looks like that's your job.
Clay Basket, they want to get married.
Well, I'm no teacher, but I was thinking.
When you go to St.
Louis to buy our goods, you ought to take her with you.
Put her in school.
Well, that's quite an idea.
I want to read and write.
I've always wanted to see St.
Louis.
You see, back home we kept doin' the same things over and over.
Father to son.
It seems like a new time deserves new ideas.
Lucinda's so bright she ought to learn everything she can.
Won't you be lonely so far from home? But maybe she doesn't have to be.
I have a room in St.
Louis in the house of Pasquinel's St.
Louis wife.
McKEAG: Clay Basket, you could take her there.
Stay with her until she finishes her education.
Are you sure we'll be welcome? It's been a long time since you were there.
Some things time's got nothin' to do with.
(CHUCKLING) Yes? Lisette? Yes.
Alexander McKeag.
Oh, come in.
Please.
Is Maxwell here? No, he's in Mexico.
The war, you know.
But Mother's inside.
Mother? Yes? Alexander.
Alexander.
Oh, Alexander.
Clay Basket.
I wondered if we would ever meet.
I knew you would be warm.
And I knew you'd be exactly the way you are.
I never remarried because I loved Pasquinel.
He was a good man.
Oh, no.
He was an untidy, untrustworthy man.
I trusted him.
My father trusted him.
I didn't mean that in that way.
I meant that he would go away.
Just disappear.
He would not come back, and I would think he was dead.
Then he would come back again, and I would fall in love all over.
Oh, I was so jealous of you.
And I of you.
You were his fiery Indian woman who shared the life he loved best.
And you were the great lady of St.
Louis.
A golden-haired woman who live in a place I couldn't even imagine.
There should be a name for our relationship.
I mean, Lisette and Lucinda, they're half-sisters.
Half-wives? Yeah, why not? Half-wives.
We each had his children.
We each had his love.
I'm not sure he ever loved me.
Not the way McKeag has.
But he was a good husband.
My father said he would be.
I knew what the people here in St.
Louis thought.
I could hear them whispering, "Poor Lise.
She married a no-good French trapper who deserted her.
" But I looked at those women and I pitied them for never knowing a man like him.
He gave me a daughter as fine as any woman could ever have and a fine son-in-law.
Captain Mercy.
Yeah.
I met him at Fort John.
He is a fine man.
An honest man.
And your sons We hear such bad reports of them.
It seems that they're trying to disgrace their father's name, but I guess there is nothing that you or I can do about it.
No.
It's not easy being half-Indian, half-white.
We will try to make it easier for Lucinda.
Thank you.
I feel I was forced on you.
Not at all.
How'd you hurt your arm? Fighting.
Who were you fighting? The Pasquinels.
They attacked our supply train.
Turn around.
Why? Because there's no point in being with someone you don't want to be with.
But you had nothing to do with it.
That's not what your eyes say.
They say, "She has Indian blood.
"Her people have killed my friends.
"And her brothers have almost killed me.
" So just turn around.
Wait a minute! Will you wait a minute? Whoa, Lackey, whoa! Okay, maybe you're right.
Maybe I don't much care for Indians.
Maybe that's due to the fact that the only ones I've known have been shooting at me.
I'd like to get to know you.
Why? Because you've heard how wild a red woman is? No.
Because when your feet hurt, you take your shoes off.
Now, look, you don't wanna walk back like that in front of all these big city folks now, do you? No.
Okay.
Okay.
Up, Lackey, up.
What is this? Sauce.
Makes it tender.
What you put in sauce? (HORSES NEIGHING) Now that's a secret.
You Pawnee! Get off this land.
It's ours.
Get out! Jake, these men were sent by McKeag.
They're friends of his.
Pawnee are friends of no one.
They scalp for the Pawnee soldiers.
Get out! Get out! Get out! You all get out.
They are too many.
We must go.
I'm sorry.
I'll tell McKeag what happened.
(ALL YELLING) (YELLING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE) (HORSE WHINNYING) (SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE) (ALL HOOTING) (YELLING) Why? He was Pawnee.
He was a boy.
He was warrior prepared to die.
Are you? Before I'll watch you commit another murder.
Don't you let Pawnee on our land again.
Ever.
This land is McKeag's and mine.
Clay Basket's! And when she dies, ours.
His and mine! You want the exact figures, Jake? 40% is mine.
And when I marry Lucinda, it'll be half.
Marry Lucinda? (SCOFFS) You going to marry Lucinda? And when we tell you to get off, you get off.
Otherwise it will all go.
We'll kill you all! It's easy to kill with a dozen others behind you.
Your father was a brave man, they say.
I figure if he'd seen what just happened, he would've been sick.
You keep the trading post.
No harm.
Men.
Just out of curiosity, if your brothers are so bitter against the white man, how come their sister is here? I came for an education.
Maybe if they had the same chance, they'd live their lives in a different way.
I know some soldiers who would chip in for a scholarship.
Lucinda, it's a joke.
It's hard to laugh, that's all.
Look, let's look on the bright side.
If I hadn't met up with your brothers, I wouldn't have gotten shot.
And I wouldn't have been sent here and then I wouldn't have met you.
What? Nothing.
Now, Miss McKeag, ma'am.
Don't try to tell a veteran of the plains that he doesn't know when an Indian is troubled.
I mean, as for the other half of your heritage, don't try to tell a St.
Louis boy that he doesn't know when a French girl has something serious on her mind.
There's an Arapaho song.
I was just thinking of it.
A song? How does it go? It says, "Two warriors have sent me horses.
"Both are tall and strong.
"Both know the wisdom of the heart.
"It's a pity I'm only one.
" Levi.
We Finish We'll finish by nightfall.
I am Arapaho.
That's good.
You Man You are man with hairy face.
That's good, that's good.
Soon you'll know the signs as well as us, eh? I'm glad you came back, Mike.
I've learned a lot.
Today, Levi, we work side by side.
Tomorrow, we may meet in battle.
(GRUNTING) Maybe even kill each other.
Why do you say that? It is future.
I'd hate to think we don't have any say in the matter.
Levi, a fish can choose which way to swim, eh? But he cannot stop the river.
Now you're startin' to sound like Jake.
Jake.
Jake sees many things, Levi.
Many things.
He's the cause of most of 'em, too.
Mornin'.
Mornin'.
You the fella partnerin' with McKeag? Name of Zendt? That's right.
I got somethin' for you.
What you buildin'? Store.
When you gonna open? Summer.
Levi, what is that, huh? It's from Lucinda.
Well, I'll be pushin' on.
See you come summer.
Thanks.
What does it say? It says that this is the first letter she's written.
And she knows who God is and the Virgin Mary.
I had forgotten that St.
Louis is pretty much a Catholic city.
This language, all white men know? Most.
I could teach you, Mike, like you been teachin' me signs.
No.
It's part of your world, Levi.
Not mine.
It's all the same world, Mike.
Levi, how many white men are there? I don't know.
Never thought about it.
Where you come from, if you take another man's land, what do they do? Probably put me in jail.
See, this land is our land.
Our land.
Why don't they put the men in jail who take it? Well, it's different here, Mike.
See, nobody really knows exactly who owns what.
The white The white man doesn't know.
But we know.
We know what belongs to Arapaho.
We know what belongs to Cheyenne.
We know what belongs to Sioux.
It has been hard for Jake and me, Levi.
Hard.
We had to choose which world to walk in.
I hope Lucinda makes her choice wisely.
Oh, there's a nice one.
I got a good buy on those.
Should fetch five buffalo robes apiece, or a shirt decorated with human hair.
(BOTH LAUGHING) And I got the spices you asked for.
I thought maybe you'd make some of them sausages you're always talkin' about.
With luck, we ought to be tradin' by the end of the month.
Corral's a good idea.
The way the Indians feel about their horses, I figured we needed it.
Beautiful job, too.
Mike helped me finish it.
Mike? Where is he? He left when he saw you comin'.
Oh, well.
The boys never have cared for me.
I suppose because I've always cared for their mother.
They just never understood how it was in the beginning.
McKeag, how's Lucinda? Oh, grand.
She's doin' fine.
The horses want water.
Say, what do you think of this new slogan that's on everybody's lips? Manifest Destiny.
As if we didn't have enough problems deciding the ownership of the Indian lands, those pigheaded politicians want to grab Texas away from Mexico.
And Max Mercy down there? Very likely to get himself shot up over it, too.
What's his name? Who? The man Lucinda's seein'.
What man? A soldier, maybe? How did you know that? I was just thinkin' about the first time Elly saw Max Mercy, how he looked in his uniform.
Now, Levi, it's just an infatuation.
He's a nice fella, but it doesn't mean a thing.
She's just kickin' up her heels a little, that's all.
I should never have let her go.
No, you did the right thing.
A love that risks nothin' is worth nothin'.
Marry you? Oh, I know it's all of a sudden, like.
But that's the times.
I mean, I'd court you to doomsday if I could.
You know that.
We're being sent to Mexico in three days.
Look, I'm a soldier and a good one.
I mean, I don't know how that kind of life strikes you.
It's certainly not an easy life for a woman.
But there are some compensations.
I mean, my prospects are good to command.
And if I John, I know you'll do well.
It's not that I don't.
Look, I know there's someone else.
That other warrior.
But I'm also bigheaded enough to believe that you don't think much about him when you're with me.
Don't answer now.
I love you, Lucinda.
I love them both.
Levi is like a rock, and John's like a river.
I need them both.
It's strange that a half-Indian girl should have so many chances.
Lise, tell me, do you like John? Yes, I like him very much.
He reminds me a little bit of Maxwell Mercy when he first came into this room.
I knew immediately he was intended to marry Lisette.
Na-aa? I like them both, Levi and John.
You mentioned Levi first.
I met him first.
What do you think, Na-aa? The city is nice, but the prairie, it's free.
Could you leave it? (SIGHING) I thought about that.
(SIGHING) But there are other freedoms.
It's so hard to laugh with Levi.
He's so serious.
John laughs all the time.
Na-aa, you've loved two men, a serious one and a laughing one.
Tell me, which was best? Lucinda.
What good is an education if it can't help you with things like this? LISE: Lucinda, I think you must weigh one thing very carefully.
Sooner or later, our army may go to war against the Indians.
If you marry John, you will be right in the middle of things.
It may strain your loyalties beyond endurance.
I hadn't thought of that.
Well, I think you should.
Somebody's comin'.
The wagons from St.
Louis? Looks like it.
Can't tell for sure.
LEVI: I, Levi Zendt LUCINDA: And I, Lucinda McKeag hereby declare our intention before God to live together as husband and wife.
Let us give each other health and comfort.
Let us never do anything to injure the trust we feel for each other.
(MAN PLAYING VIOLIN) You know the only thing that's missin'? What? Pasquinel.
I wish he could have seen her as a woman and happy like this.
She's the way she is because of you, McKeag.
I'd like to think so.
Did I ever tell you about the time Pasquinel and I met at the rendezvous after all those years? And we danced out all the bitterness of our bad feelings? Only a hundred times.
(LAUGHING) I suppose I have at that.
But by thunder, I feel like dancin' right now.
Fiddler, can you play a Highland reel? (FIDDLING SCOTTISH MUSIC) Jake.
Jake, lad, come on.
Me? Come on.
You remember, your father taught you.
No, I don't.
Oh, Jake.
Jake, let's have that bitterness between us over with.
For your mother's sake and your sister's.
And for a man we both loved.
Come on, Jake, come on.
Just kick your feet up.
Just kick 'em up.
Come on.
Aye.
Right, that's the way.
(McKEAG LAUGHING) Come on.
Grab it.
McKEAG: We can kick.
Good boy.
Well done.
Now, try this one.
Try this one.
There you go, fantastic.
That's good.
(GROANS) (MUSIC STOPS) McKeag! (McKEAG) Clay Basket.
Clay Basket.
I'm here.
(PANTING) Clay Basket.
I love you.
McKeag? McKeag? (SINGING NATIVE SONG) Great news, Ketchum! The treaty's gonna be signed here.
How are you, Major? Max.
What's this about a treaty? Well, the Supreme Court says that the Indian tribes are nations.
And with nations you have treaties.
How many extra soldiers will they send me? Well, there's talk of up to a thousand men, two commissioners, and the good Lord knows how many interpreters.
How many Indians? Depends.
Could go as high as 600.
KETCHUM: I can't see how you'll pull it off.
The tribes hate each other even more than they hate us.
You're dealing with age-old enemies.
Frankly, it's impossible for me to imagine Cheyenne sitting down with Pawnee, Crow with Sioux, and Shoshone with anybody.
We've gotta make it happen.
We've sent messengers to the northern tribes.
Men they trust.
It's my responsibility to convince the Arapaho and Cheyenne.
Why not send down to Zendt's Farm and ask McKeag to help you? If anyone can get them to come, he can.
I guess you've been moving around so much, you haven't heard.
McKeag is dead.
He was a man, a very good man.
None better.
How about it, Levi, will you come with me? Max, I I don't like the thought of leaving Lucinda.
The baby'll be here soon.
Besides, there's the only man who really could've helped you.
Like it or not, there's something you ought to realize.
You're McKeag now.
LEVI: All day I listen to the white men complain about the worthless, no-good Indian.
"He won't work.
"Isn't fit to own land.
" Then I look at the land after the white men pass through.
What they don't want they just junk beside the trail.
Dead animals decay till the stench fills the prairies.
They're going to come, though.
Can't stop them.
The enemy of the tepee isn't the rifle, Levi.
It's the plow.
Max, you think this land can really be farmed? Well, some of the river land for the white farmer.
But this should be reserved for the Indian and the buffalo.
That's what I think the treaty can accomplish.
We want no powwow.
No peace.
No surrender.
It isn't surrender, Jake.
We help you to find a place for one fort.
But there can be no more.
More forts mean more soldiers.
And the soldiers need women, and there will be bottles of whiskey, and while we are drunk in our tepees you will kill the buffalo.
And when the buffalo are gone, we will starve.
And while we are starving, you will take our land.
The tepees will be in flames and the rifles will fire and we will be no more.
This great land we have wandered over, we see no more.
Lost Eagle? You have not spoken.
The words are hard.
There is only one word.
War.
No.
There will be no war.
Don't listen to this old woman.
Lost Eagle has never given us a bad council.
I say, if the Great White Father sends a messenger like Mercy to us, we must go.
Do you trust the white man? I trust Mercy.
And your brother Zendt.
And I know the only hope for the Indian is peace.
Peace that gives the white man freedom to cross our lands and build his forts and gives us proof the land is ours.
The white men never keep their promises.
My own father never kept his promises.
Mercy comes begging to us now.
But we will beg later if we go.
They will use this meeting to steal from us.
More land.
More rights.
Mercy comes to us unafraid.
Zendt comes to us unafraid.
I say we should not be afraid to go with them to this meeting.
Lost Eagle is a fool.
The real Arapaho want war, like the real Cheyenne.
Lost Eagle speaks for the Arapaho.
And I speak for the Cheyenne.
And I speak from two worlds.
The white world will not keep its word.
They will lie to us and we will be left with nothing.
You speak from pain, Jake.
It's not wrong.
Lost Eagle speaks from great wisdom.
We will all go to your meeting, Mercy.
And we will take Jake Pasquinel with us to help us make peace.
Jake, it's the right thing to do.
No, Zendt.
It's the only thing we can do.
The government allocated $50,000 for this treaty, just for the Indians.
But instead of commissioning the goods in St.
Louis, some clerk decided to buy them in New York.
Cheaper.
And in New York some other clerk decided that getting the goods to St.
Louis on July 18th would be just as good as the first and that he could save a little more money by using a slower railroad.
So maybe they may not get here till September.
Where are they now? Kansas City.
I was there six days and they hadn't moved a foot.
I promised those people.
I know that, sir.
Do you know what that promise means? Do you have any idea what breaking that promise will mean? Believe me, Major Get a man down there now! Get those wagons moving now! Yes, sir.
I'm sorry, Levi.
I'm sorry I involved you in this.
It's not your fault, Max.
But it was my word.
And your reputation.
Now when Jake and Broken Thumb speak of war, what do we tell them? MARCEL: 2,000 Cheyenne, perhaps 1,500 Arapaho, 2,000 Sioux.
That makes more than 10,000.
We haven't heard from the Crow, the biggest tribe of all.
So we've got 10,000 Indians coming.
More.
How did this miscalculation occur? Mike? White man, he always say, "Chief do this," right? "Chief do that.
" But with us, chief is nobody.
He is my uncle.
He's my cousin.
He has some good ideas, yes, but some bad.
So if Chief is going to talk about something important to the whole tribe, whole tribe come along.
Why didn't you tell us that before? You're married to one of them.
I'm just learning a lot of things myself, Mr.
Flagg, like not to trust our own leaders to keep their word.
FLAGG: Well, what'll we do? A handful of men against 10,000 Indians.
No gifts.
No food.
You got a wife, Flagg? Yes.
You might write her a very tender letter.
The Great White Father in Washington has directed me to invite a chief from each of the Indian nations to visit with him at his home.
He asks that you ride your horses down to the Missouri River, where a boat will be waiting for you.
From there, you will travel to St.
Louis, one of our finest western cities.
Afterwards, you will board a train, travel across our great country to Washington, where he will talk with you and give you his own solemn promise that this peace is forever.
Tell Max I'm riding out to look for those wagons.
that the land you receive now will be yours for as long as the water flows, and as long as the grass shall grow.
(NATIVES SINGING) (DRUMS BEATING) JACQUES: Okay, here we go.
Put your hands on your hips.
Look up.
Look proud.
And now kick 'em up.
(SINGING SCOTTISH MUSIC) Come out to the side here.
Out to the side here.
There you go.
Right there.
That's it.
(LAUGHING) You go dance with your friends now, okay? Go.
Jake? Hello.
I'm Lisette.
Your sister.
You are as beautiful as the picture Mercy showed me.
Thank you.
And you have his courage.
My husband's, or our father's? Mercy is accepted because of you.
Pasquinel was welcome because he came unafraid.
You are welcome in the same way, for the same reason.
Thank you.
(SINGING) Can we talk? Because Mercy wants it? Because we have the same father.
We have the same blood.
My white blood was drawn from me when I got this.
I was nine.
Our father wanted to take us to St.
Louis to meet your mother and you.
McKeag said no.
So we got to Fort Osage.
The white man cut me because I dared to sit at their table and eat their food.
Now they promise us food and presents.
Have you seen either? It's the same as before.
A peace that is broken before it's begun.
Jake, my husband is not like the man that did this to you.
He's good.
He's honest.
He's fighting for you, not against you.
Just be patient.
I do not blame Mercy, but this is not a bargaining.
The white man takes what he wants, and gives us back what is already ours.
If we protest, he buys off the old chiefs with baubles and trinkets, like our father brought with him when he first came, eh? Mike doesn't think this.
LISETTE: He tells me it's all going well.
JACQUES: Mike plays the fool, but at night, when we talk, he knows.
We all know.
In the end, they'll have everything.
We'll have nothing.
Hello.
This your son? There is nothing more for us to say.
(IN ARAPAHO) See her back safely.
I am glad you came, but when this is over and the war begins, you tell Mercy to take you home.
This will not be a place of welcome to you then.
Jake And now, for the land to be given for the Arapaho and Cheyenne.
Commencing at the Red Butte, where the road leaves the north fork of the Platte River, thence up the north fork of the Platte River to its source, thence along the main range of the Rocky Mountains to the headwaters of the Arkansas River, thence up the Platte River, to the place of beginning.
And in addition, the government proposes to pay the Indian community an annuity of $50,000 Hungry, old friend? You think this land they promise is any more real than the food? If a man like Mercy breaks his word, there is no meaning in the world.
MERCY: Now let us begin our final talk.
The food will come.
And let no man leave this place without having spoken his mind.
(LISETTE AND CHILDREN SINGING SUR LE PONT D'AVIGNON) Very good! Now you teach me.
Yes, a song.
Whoa.
It's all right.
Oh, goodness.
Good Lord.
Wagons! Half a day to the east! The wagons! (ALL WHOOPING) KETCHUM: You see, the Great White Father wants you all to be part of his family.
See, you same like me.
Fact is, yours is better.
I am so proud of you.
No one else could have done this because no one else would have cared enough.
You The two of you made the difference.
Well, I'll be heading home.
I just might be a father by now.
Go to Washington, little Brother, and humble yourself before the Great White Father.
We should all go.
No.
I'll tell my braves to go home in peace, but to prepare for war.
Jake.
Come with me.
Mike? Your mother is Arapaho.
The Cheyenne are our brothers now.
Don't take much to make you happy, huh? That's because you're a sensible little beast, and I'm a jackass.
You stick to what you know and you stick to the place you know.
What do you care about gold, huh? (SQUEAKING) (GROANS) And what if I strike it rich anyhow, huh? Answer me that.
The Czar himself couldn't even buy a pair of shoes out here.
Blasted no-man's-land.
There ain't even a store.
And who's a blasted miner anyhow? Am I a miner? I'm a farmer, by heaven.
You bored, huh? I don't blame you.
I'm bored silly myself.
(FLUTE PLAYING OH, SUSANNA) LARKIN: Howdy, citizen! Where you headed? Jefferson territory.
Us, too! Care to join up? This here's the Gold Miners' Horseless Cavalry Brigade.
(CHUCKLES) I don't mind some company.
Name's Larkin.
They call me Spade on account of this.
That two-bit scarecrow is Stringer.
Howdy.
That river rat there is Keefe.
Howdy.
Brumbaugh.
Hans Brumbaugh.
Deutscher.
I have family, but I was born in Russia.
What was that like? Good, till the Czarina died then not so good for foreigners.
Well, we come strolling down from Missouri.
And if we don't get hit by lighting or stomped to death by buffalo, we aim to get wealthy.
(LAUGHING) How you eating? Oh, cut some timber for some folk.
Helped some wagons across the Big Blue.
You ever strike anything? (SIGHING) If I had, do you think I would be beating my dogs off with these two miserable specimens? But I know how to placer.
I know how to dig.
And I know them as got gold as them as got there first.
And this time, I aim to get there first.
Ain't nobody gonna beat me out of it.
Yeah, Larkin here has got a fix on where the next strike's gonna be.
Something about an old, lost, Injun gold mine.
Tell him about it, Larkin.
In due time, Stringer.
In due time.
All right, let's hit the road! Gold Miners' Horseless Cavalry Brigade, forward! Forward, march! (PLAYING OH, SUSANNA) Russia, huh? Nothing but fool's gold.
(HORSES NEIGHING) They sure look like they've been eating good, don't they? They sure do.
What do you think? Let's go.
What was that? I don't know.
Lookit, jerky! And pemmican! Eat! You gunned 'em down! They was gonna kill us.
You liar! No.
You liar! This fella waved to me! No! Hey, what's the squabble? It's just Injuns.
(LAUGHING) Hey, you can't do that! What Now, wait a minute.
Now, wait, wait Wait a minute.
Hold on.
Hold on just a second now.
Come on, now.
We're partners, ain't we, huh? Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait (WOMEN WAILING) How many? Little Owl and Two Moons.
Then two whites must die.
(ALL WHOOPING) BOY: Indians, Pa! MAN: Get behind me! (GUN FIRING) (WOMAN SCREAMING) WOMAN: No! (CRYING) TANNER: You understand how the settlers feel, Major? They're living in terror from day to day.
I'm aware of that.
The difference being, they have food to eat and warm clothing for their children.
Major, let me make myself plain.
The people have approached me, asked me to head up a punitive expedition.
Against who? The Indians.
What Indians? It hardly matters, does it, sir? The idea is to set an example.
I see.
We have no idea who committed the offense.
We just ride out and shoot down any Indians we happen to meet.
Is that it? Is that what you would advocate if they were white? They're not white.
No, they're not white.
Let me give you a piece of advice, Mr.
Tanner.
You have the settlers write Congress.
You tell them to demand that the food and supplies promised to the tribes be sent at once, and I will personally guarantee their safety from then on.
All due respect, sir, that is a very slow process.
I'm cognizant of that.
I've been trying for nine years.
Well, sir, I just wanted to report how things stand.
The people want action.
So do I, Mr.
Tanner.
Let's not confuse that with a license to commit murder.
Is that all? No, sir.
There's talk of a new commander in the area.
Perhaps he can put things straight.
There's no trick to putting things right, Mr.
Tanner.
All we white men have to do is keep our word.
Very well, sir.
Good day.
Good day.
(DOOR CLOSING) (PEOPLE CHATTERING) (HORSE SNUFFLING) Mama, are we gonna have the berries plain, or you gonna make pie? Well, I don't know, 'cause I think there's been a little squirrel who's been eating them all, and I don't know if there's enough for pie.
Oh, yes, there is.
Help your grandmother in the cellar, and I'll be right back.
All right.
What we're looking for is a grubstake.
I mean, something just enough to get us to Pike's Peak.
We figured, well, a man with a store like yours, you need all the help you can get.
Levi.
Oh, I'm sorry.
What is it, Lucinda? Nothing, it can wait.
Well, there are some wagons that can't make it to this side of the river.
You willing to ferry some goods over to 'em? Hmm? Yeah, sure, anything you say.
You can bunk in the smokehouse right back there.
If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I wonder if we could get some grub.
It has been a long day, and that sure smells good in there.
We'll pay.
I have money.
No, it isn't necessary.
Is that a Deutscher I hear? It is.
(IN GERMAN) Well then, a most heartfelt welcome.
(IN GERMAN) Thanks.
I've come a pretty long way.
LEVI: Where from? BRUMBAUGH: Family's from Hesse originally, then Russia.
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) Lucinda, get some scrapple and souse.
We got a fella here who'll appreciate it.
Lucinda? That's my wife.
That's not the lady that visited with Ms.
Pasquinel a while back? That was years ago.
How'd you know? I can read.
I read it in the paper.
I mean, her being so popular and all.
Sure would like to meet me an Indian princess someday.
Well, go ahead.
Go on.
Thank you.
Yes? My name's Larkin, Miss Lucinda.
Mr.
Larkin.
Is it true that you're the granddaughter of Chief Lame Beaver? No.
It ain't? My grandfather was never a chief.
But he was your grandfather? Yes, why? Well, where'd you grow up? Many places.
St.
Louis, for one.
I mean, when your grandfather was alive? He was dead long before I was born.
Well, where did he live mostly? Just about everywhere between Canada and the Arkansas.
Why all this questioning? Well Well I can read.
And I've been carrying this a long time.
Just (LARKIN CLEARING THROAT) "Belle of our season "is unquestionably Miss Lucinda McKeag.
"Miss Lucinda is not only unusually attractive "with her dark flashing eyes, "but is famed throughout the West "as the granddaughter and heir of Chief Lame Beaver, "the Arapaho hero who discovered "a goldmine in the Rockies and" Well, the newspaper said you was his granddaughter, and I thought that maybe you might know where it was.
Levi? What is it, honey? Here's another one who's heard about Grandfather's gold mine.
Tell him the story, and I'll get supper.
Come with me, Mr.
Larkin.
OFFICER: And, salute! Hold it! (MEN DRILLING) Major Mercy, I'm Laban Asher.
This is my aide, Captain McIntosh.
Nice to meet you, General.
Captain.
It's about time.
I wasn't sure you'd remember me, Major.
Well, of course.
One of Lisette's favorite young men.
Of course, I remember.
Won't you gentlemen sit down, please? Can I get you something, General? A little brandy to cut the dust? Thank you.
John? Thank you, sir.
How is Mrs.
Pasquinel? She passed on.
Oh, I'm sorry.
She had a full life.
Strong.
Thank you.
Lisette is here.
You'll join us for dinner? Yes, I'd like that.
And you, too, of course, General.
Thank you, Major.
But before you become too cordial, I should warn you.
I'm a blunt man.
This command is a far cry from the one I wanted.
I know you were wounded in Mexico, and what with the civil war in the wind, no able-bodied career man in his right mind would want to get stuck in this godforsaken country wet-nursing a bunch of savages.
It isn't the wound that kept me here, sir, nor, I hope, an unsound mind.
Perhaps after you've been here for a while Point is, Major, I go where I'm posted and I do what needs to be done.
Now, the people around here are scared out of their wits, and that can only occur when there's a vacuum in leadership.
And it seems Ketchum never took any action when it was needed.
I take it you've spoken with Lieutenant Tanner.
Yes.
He's something of a hotspur, but then again, maybe he's right.
What do you think? Well, I'll be blunt, too, General.
I think you should send Lieutenant Tanner back east tonight.
They want fighting men there.
Let him go and fight where it might be the right thing to do.
Might be? The point is, General, I've spent a considerable amount of my life in this "godforsaken country," not because I was stuck here, but because I thought I could help here.
In my opinion, men like Lieutenant Tanner are of no help at all.
I know about your relationship to the Pasquinels.
Fact is, sir, we're dealing with a betrayed and starved people, ravaged with diseases we brought to them.
They're frightened, angry, and damn near out of hope.
Well, why aren't they farming their lands? Well, they've been hunters for centuries.
You can't expect them to become farmers overnight.
My ancestors were hunters once, too.
So were yours.
The fact is, they have to start somewhere.
Right, right.
How about with title to their land, which they've never been given, or the means to do the work we're asking them to do? Means? We've been sending them farm tools.
I have an invoice here.
Where is that invoice? Sir, those tools are supposed to be free.
By the time they clear the hands of the agent, they cost more than any Indian can afford.
Here it is, right here.
We sent out a shipment of 150 plows, July 16th.
Anyway, that's all water under the bridge.
Secure title to the land, you say.
All right.
I've got the instrument that does exactly that right here.
Brand new treaty.
Covers everything.
I want you to look it over, and then tomorrow, you and I will ride down and speak to the Indian leaders.
Thank you for the dinner invitation, but I'd like to shave now and then I have some letters to write.
Damn it, General! These are human beings we're dealing with.
We have not even honored the treaty they already signed.
We have been ordered to deal with the situation as it stands, Major.
I'll have this thing cleared up in two weeks.
Then, perhaps, I can get back to where history is being made.
I'll see you at the hotel later, Captain.
Yes, sir.
(DOOR CLOSES) He really is a good man, Max.
So are they all.
All honorable men.
(PLAYING PIANO) Hello, darling.
Max, what is it? I want you to pack.
Pack? We're going back to St.
Louis.
Max, what's happened? Washington has decided the treaty isn't worth the paper we wrote it on.
Oh, no.
They've cut back payments to 10 years.
They've refused all water rights.
And they want me to relocate.
Cut the Indians off from their grazing land entirely.
Max, you have to stay.
Stay for what? Watch the slaughter? You wanted to help these people.
They need you more now than ever.
Lisette, I am the last person in the world they want to see.
I gave them my word.
Max, they know you.
They'll know you didn't do this.
No, it's impossible.
Max, I know you, too.
I know you better than anyone.
You can't leave.
You'd be miserable.
I don't know.
I don't know anything anymore.
You're not like the others that come through, Hans.
What made you want to be a prospector? A farm I bought in Illinois.
You didn't take to farming? Born to it.
Well, then? Didn't happen to take to the man who sold it to me.
Why's that? He didn't happen to own it.
You got a real nice place here, Zendt.
You ought to be very proud.
Well, you know the saying, "Man plans and God laughs.
" I headed for Oregon and wound up with a trading post smack in the middle of nowhere.
Well, I got a feeling it won't be in the middle of nowhere for long, huh? Lucinda, I'd like you to meet General Asher.
Mrs.
Zendt.
How do you do? And Captain McIntosh, I believe you know.
Is Levi around? He's in back.
Max, come on.
Hello.
Hello.
What's your name, young man? Martin.
He's got your eyes.
You look well.
I am.
I think of you.
I think of you, too.
I guess your feet don't hurt anymore.
No, they don't.
Are you a friend of my mother? Yes, Martin.
I certainly am.
Honey, I'm going with Max to Jake's camp.
I'll be back first thing in the morning.
You need anything lugged, you ask that Hans.
He's a good man.
Levi, this is John McIntosh.
How do you do? Martin, you take care of your mother.
I will.
Good luck.
Goodbye, John.
Bye, Captain.
Bye, son.
13 years I've been trailing that little lady.
13 years.
And I finally found her.
Who says 13's unlucky, hmm? All that talk about a lost gold mine, how do you know it isn't a story? And if it isn't, what makes you think you'll find it when nobody has all these years? 'Cause everybody else searched in the wrong places.
Me, too.
Rivers, streams.
I got an idea it's in the mountains.
And I got an idea that little lady knows.
And I got time.
(ROOSTER CROWING) Brumbaugh? Brumbaugh? LUCINDA: I'm sorry to see you go, Mr.
Brumbaugh.
We've only known each other a few days and I already feel like you're our friend.
Well, that's very nice of you, Miss Zendt.
I guess I feel the same way.
Would you tell Mr.
Zendt thanks for everything? Yes.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Brumbaugh! You leaving? That's right.
Why now? To start doing what I came out here to do.
She told you, didn't she? What? She told you! You got up this morning and you went and got it out of her! She told you where the gold was! She told me nothing.
You aim to cheat me out of it, and it's mine, I tell ya! You're crazy, Larkin.
You know that? You're crazy as a loon.
Uh-huh.
Well, we'll see about that.
It's mine, I tell you! Mine! Morning, Mr.
Larkin.
Your granddaddy, Lame Beaver, he used to live up in the mountains, didn't he? Mr.
Larkin Didn't he? Yes, but everybody did.
Not really the mountains, but the foothills.
Well, what was the name of the place? I don't know that it had a name.
He used to call it Blue Valley because of the blue spruce up there.
Well, where was that exactly? Somewhere up the Platte, past the fork to the right, I think.
Excuse me, but I've got work to do.
That ain't good enough! I tell you, it ain't good enough! Tell me where it is exactly! Let go of me! Now, you told that Deutscher.
You tell me! Tell me! Stop it! (YELLS) Get out of here.
And don't ever set foot on this land again.
I'm just gonna get my hat.
You all right? Thanks to you.
You're as brave as your father.
They want to change the treaty.
They want you to give up all your lands along the Platte, the Arkansas.
He's going at it all wrong.
They want you to take land around Rattlesnake Cliffs.
Rattlesnake Cliffs? That is a place of death.
I guess I know that better than anyone.
Is this a message from Major Mercy? You traitor.
You old fool who believes everything he hears.
You see what your weakness has led us to, eh? You want it all.
That's it, isn't it? You want it all! Now, just a minute.
Let me try to clarify some of this.
(EXCLAIMS DISGUSTEDLY) Sit down, please.
You see, gentlemen, many white men want to make their homes out here.
And it's only reasonable that the Great White Father should ask the Cheyenne and the Arapaho to share the prairie with them.
Now, the meeting at Fort Laramie.
I'm afraid we went a little overboard in handing out land.
There were some of us there who didn't realize how much would be needed.
But the White Father recognizes his responsibility to his red brothers, and in this new treaty there are many wonderful gifts.
Money, 40 acres of land per family, timber, water, farm implements MARCEL: Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You say 40 acres, eh? How much is that? Now, that's a very good question.
If you'll step outside, I'll try to show you.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) Now, roughly, from that clump of trees to the top of the ridge where the horses are, from there to this side of the draw, and back to here.
40 acres at Rattlesnake Cliffs.
That won't be enough to feed one buffalo calf! That's just the point, Chief.
You don't have to worry about buffalo.
You'll be farming.
Many an American farmer has built a good life on 40 acres.
And where will we find our water? Wherever there is timber and a stream, you will receive your fair share.
General, have you every been to Rattlesnake Cliffs? No, not yet.
There are no trees there, or streams.
An honest farmer uses what he has.
MARCEL: General, our lands, they must touch river, eh? No, the White Father does not wish for your lands to reach down to the river because the white men prefer to travel along the river, and it might cause some trouble.
Where do we get our water? Well, we'll find it.
We just have to work together.
Now, the sooner we get this treaty signed, the better for all of us.
What do you say, Chief? I hear that you are a realistic and far-seeing man.
I have given my life to peace.
I do not wish to end it in war.
In war, you will destroy us.
And if you destroy us, it will be to your people like a terrible wound that will not heal.
I will ask that the treaty be signed.
Good.
Thank you, Chief.
The White Father wishes for you to have this.
You see, his picture is on it.
And this one, too.
Now What about you? Will you follow your friend's lead? Come on, what do you say? Speak to me.
JACQUES: General, you are a big war chief, eh? Broken Thumb, he's a big war chief, too.
We know that the white men, they live in a house that is divided.
And that soon you have a big war back in the east.
So maybe some of your troops be taken away from you, eh? So maybe any army you have here be small one.
If you force this treaty on us, then you'll hear Broken Thumb speak.
You'll hear all the Cheyenne speak and the Sioux and the Shoshone and the Kiowa.
All the nations of the plains.
We will not die in silence.
Don't be foolish! Think of the future! Your children! Chief, tell them what they're starting.
Mercy, get them back here! Zendt! General, I'm afraid the talking is over.
The great majority passed through Indian lands, yet fewer than 300 came to harm.
A percentage smaller than those killed accidentally by their own rifles.
There have been few mass migrations so peaceful.
And no previous instance in which people of one race passed through lands held by another with so little trouble.
But some confrontations were inevitable.
And judging the new land to be potentially valuable, the United States Government felt compelled to protect the settlers.
Forts were established, and the cavalry began to patrol the plains.
The result was two armies living side by side, uneducated in each other's ways, unsure of each other's intentions.
Incidents became more common.
And were followed by reprisals.
A deadly escalation began.
It was the destiny of one young man to become a healing force in this time of unrest.
But in the spring of 1846, it was he himself who needed to be healed.
Blaming himself for the death of the young bride he had brought west, Levi Zendt shut himself off in a crude cabin on the eastern slope of the Rockies.
Here for months he lived as a hermit, tortured with grief.
(GASPING) He cannot kill, eh? (SOBBING) Oh, Elly.
We could hunt for him, eh? He get hungry enough, he hunt for himself.
We got other things to do.
Oh, Elly.
JACQUES: Cannon.
They'll strike back hard for that, Jake.
At all of us.
Women and children, too.
And what do you think will happen to the women and children if they keep building stronger forts, eh? And more forts means more soldiers.
But Mercy said They're choking us, Mike.
What is ours, they take.
What is whole, they divide.
What is free, they destroy.
We can't destroy the cannon, but the wagons with the powder that makes the cannon roar, and the food for the fort.
Make the fire.
(HORSES NEIGHING) (ALL WHOOPING) Close ranks.
Save the cannon! Torches! The supplies! Fire! The Pasquinels.
Lieutenant McIntosh, sir.
Looks like you lost a lot of men.
Yes, sir.
Pasquinels? I think so, sir.
You'd better see to that wound.
I'm sorry, sir.
All I was thinking about was the cannon.
We'll talk later, Lieutenant.
Yes, sir.
One of these days, your wife is going to have two dead sons.
Maybe if you spent less time drillin' and more time writin' letters, things would change.
Until the government gets its head out of the sand and straightens out who owns what, it's gonna get worse.
Not if we get hold of the Pasquinels.
Captain, you'd best be less of a soldier and more of a statesman.
Jake and Mike are just the thunder.
The lightning's yet to come.
My job is to keep the peace, McKeag.
Plain and simple.
Unless I'm mistaken, you have to have the peace before you can keep it.
It's only a matter of time.
Until what? Till she goes off with one of them.
McKEAG: No, she's got more sense than that.
CLAY BASKET: Now there's just a few.
When you open the new trading post, there'll be many.
And one will talk better than the others, have a special smile.
And we'll lose her.
Well, what can we do? Can't tie her up.
She's hungry for love, McKeag.
She must have a good man, like you and Pasquinel.
She must go to Levi Zendt.
Levi? And bring him home.
The boy's in a bad way.
No tellin' how bad.
I was thinkin' of ridin' over to the cabin tomorrow.
He doesn't need you.
Lucinda must go alone.
She said it herself when the winter came.
Remember? Clay Basket, you know what you're sayin'? You're talkin' about About sending our daughter to a man who's crazed with grief.
Who hasn't been with a woman for For seven months.
I know.
It is not our custom.
It isn't what I hoped for Lucinda.
But there are much more important things.
And I think two lives may be saved.
Zendt! Zendt! You're filthy.
Here.
Please.
You have to eat.
You're so weak.
(WOLF HOWLING) (LEVI CRYING OUT) Oh! No! It's all right.
(PANTING) LUCINDA: There used to be a big blue spruce here.
I wonder what happened.
Lucinda.
Last night, when we were together, I wasn't even there.
I was thinking of Elly.
Listen to me.
(BIRDS CHIRPING) There was something called a blue spruce, and it was beautiful, and it's gone.
And there was someone called Elly, and she was beautiful, and she's gone.
Next I mean, this year there's wildflowers on the ridge, and next year there'll be mushrooms or wild sage or heather or chokecherries, and the sun doesn't mind which.
Because it has to shine anyway, and the dirt is just glad it's not going to be wasted.
It has nothing to do with us.
It's only that something always has to grow.
Not anything special.
Just something.
Elly knew that because she was going to have your baby.
Now maybe I'll have it.
We'll ride today.
Well, I kinda like just sittin' here.
You've been sitting.
Now it's time for riding.
We'll ride to the canyon today, tomorrow a little farther, and in a few days you'll be strong enough to go home.
McKeag? Aye? I wanna marry your daughter.
Well.
And what does she say? Aye.
Aye? But I can't do it unless she's a Christian.
Well, I guess she's a Christian as much as she's anything.
But she has to be confirmed and learn to read the Bible.
My family's custom.
We cannot read.
Looks like that's your job.
Clay Basket, they want to get married.
Well, I'm no teacher, but I was thinking.
When you go to St.
Louis to buy our goods, you ought to take her with you.
Put her in school.
Well, that's quite an idea.
I want to read and write.
I've always wanted to see St.
Louis.
You see, back home we kept doin' the same things over and over.
Father to son.
It seems like a new time deserves new ideas.
Lucinda's so bright she ought to learn everything she can.
Won't you be lonely so far from home? But maybe she doesn't have to be.
I have a room in St.
Louis in the house of Pasquinel's St.
Louis wife.
McKEAG: Clay Basket, you could take her there.
Stay with her until she finishes her education.
Are you sure we'll be welcome? It's been a long time since you were there.
Some things time's got nothin' to do with.
(CHUCKLING) Yes? Lisette? Yes.
Alexander McKeag.
Oh, come in.
Please.
Is Maxwell here? No, he's in Mexico.
The war, you know.
But Mother's inside.
Mother? Yes? Alexander.
Alexander.
Oh, Alexander.
Clay Basket.
I wondered if we would ever meet.
I knew you would be warm.
And I knew you'd be exactly the way you are.
I never remarried because I loved Pasquinel.
He was a good man.
Oh, no.
He was an untidy, untrustworthy man.
I trusted him.
My father trusted him.
I didn't mean that in that way.
I meant that he would go away.
Just disappear.
He would not come back, and I would think he was dead.
Then he would come back again, and I would fall in love all over.
Oh, I was so jealous of you.
And I of you.
You were his fiery Indian woman who shared the life he loved best.
And you were the great lady of St.
Louis.
A golden-haired woman who live in a place I couldn't even imagine.
There should be a name for our relationship.
I mean, Lisette and Lucinda, they're half-sisters.
Half-wives? Yeah, why not? Half-wives.
We each had his children.
We each had his love.
I'm not sure he ever loved me.
Not the way McKeag has.
But he was a good husband.
My father said he would be.
I knew what the people here in St.
Louis thought.
I could hear them whispering, "Poor Lise.
She married a no-good French trapper who deserted her.
" But I looked at those women and I pitied them for never knowing a man like him.
He gave me a daughter as fine as any woman could ever have and a fine son-in-law.
Captain Mercy.
Yeah.
I met him at Fort John.
He is a fine man.
An honest man.
And your sons We hear such bad reports of them.
It seems that they're trying to disgrace their father's name, but I guess there is nothing that you or I can do about it.
No.
It's not easy being half-Indian, half-white.
We will try to make it easier for Lucinda.
Thank you.
I feel I was forced on you.
Not at all.
How'd you hurt your arm? Fighting.
Who were you fighting? The Pasquinels.
They attacked our supply train.
Turn around.
Why? Because there's no point in being with someone you don't want to be with.
But you had nothing to do with it.
That's not what your eyes say.
They say, "She has Indian blood.
"Her people have killed my friends.
"And her brothers have almost killed me.
" So just turn around.
Wait a minute! Will you wait a minute? Whoa, Lackey, whoa! Okay, maybe you're right.
Maybe I don't much care for Indians.
Maybe that's due to the fact that the only ones I've known have been shooting at me.
I'd like to get to know you.
Why? Because you've heard how wild a red woman is? No.
Because when your feet hurt, you take your shoes off.
Now, look, you don't wanna walk back like that in front of all these big city folks now, do you? No.
Okay.
Okay.
Up, Lackey, up.
What is this? Sauce.
Makes it tender.
What you put in sauce? (HORSES NEIGHING) Now that's a secret.
You Pawnee! Get off this land.
It's ours.
Get out! Jake, these men were sent by McKeag.
They're friends of his.
Pawnee are friends of no one.
They scalp for the Pawnee soldiers.
Get out! Get out! Get out! You all get out.
They are too many.
We must go.
I'm sorry.
I'll tell McKeag what happened.
(ALL YELLING) (YELLING IN NATIVE LANGUAGE) (HORSE WHINNYING) (SPEAKING NATIVE LANGUAGE) (ALL HOOTING) (YELLING) Why? He was Pawnee.
He was a boy.
He was warrior prepared to die.
Are you? Before I'll watch you commit another murder.
Don't you let Pawnee on our land again.
Ever.
This land is McKeag's and mine.
Clay Basket's! And when she dies, ours.
His and mine! You want the exact figures, Jake? 40% is mine.
And when I marry Lucinda, it'll be half.
Marry Lucinda? (SCOFFS) You going to marry Lucinda? And when we tell you to get off, you get off.
Otherwise it will all go.
We'll kill you all! It's easy to kill with a dozen others behind you.
Your father was a brave man, they say.
I figure if he'd seen what just happened, he would've been sick.
You keep the trading post.
No harm.
Men.
Just out of curiosity, if your brothers are so bitter against the white man, how come their sister is here? I came for an education.
Maybe if they had the same chance, they'd live their lives in a different way.
I know some soldiers who would chip in for a scholarship.
Lucinda, it's a joke.
It's hard to laugh, that's all.
Look, let's look on the bright side.
If I hadn't met up with your brothers, I wouldn't have gotten shot.
And I wouldn't have been sent here and then I wouldn't have met you.
What? Nothing.
Now, Miss McKeag, ma'am.
Don't try to tell a veteran of the plains that he doesn't know when an Indian is troubled.
I mean, as for the other half of your heritage, don't try to tell a St.
Louis boy that he doesn't know when a French girl has something serious on her mind.
There's an Arapaho song.
I was just thinking of it.
A song? How does it go? It says, "Two warriors have sent me horses.
"Both are tall and strong.
"Both know the wisdom of the heart.
"It's a pity I'm only one.
" Levi.
We Finish We'll finish by nightfall.
I am Arapaho.
That's good.
You Man You are man with hairy face.
That's good, that's good.
Soon you'll know the signs as well as us, eh? I'm glad you came back, Mike.
I've learned a lot.
Today, Levi, we work side by side.
Tomorrow, we may meet in battle.
(GRUNTING) Maybe even kill each other.
Why do you say that? It is future.
I'd hate to think we don't have any say in the matter.
Levi, a fish can choose which way to swim, eh? But he cannot stop the river.
Now you're startin' to sound like Jake.
Jake.
Jake sees many things, Levi.
Many things.
He's the cause of most of 'em, too.
Mornin'.
Mornin'.
You the fella partnerin' with McKeag? Name of Zendt? That's right.
I got somethin' for you.
What you buildin'? Store.
When you gonna open? Summer.
Levi, what is that, huh? It's from Lucinda.
Well, I'll be pushin' on.
See you come summer.
Thanks.
What does it say? It says that this is the first letter she's written.
And she knows who God is and the Virgin Mary.
I had forgotten that St.
Louis is pretty much a Catholic city.
This language, all white men know? Most.
I could teach you, Mike, like you been teachin' me signs.
No.
It's part of your world, Levi.
Not mine.
It's all the same world, Mike.
Levi, how many white men are there? I don't know.
Never thought about it.
Where you come from, if you take another man's land, what do they do? Probably put me in jail.
See, this land is our land.
Our land.
Why don't they put the men in jail who take it? Well, it's different here, Mike.
See, nobody really knows exactly who owns what.
The white The white man doesn't know.
But we know.
We know what belongs to Arapaho.
We know what belongs to Cheyenne.
We know what belongs to Sioux.
It has been hard for Jake and me, Levi.
Hard.
We had to choose which world to walk in.
I hope Lucinda makes her choice wisely.
Oh, there's a nice one.
I got a good buy on those.
Should fetch five buffalo robes apiece, or a shirt decorated with human hair.
(BOTH LAUGHING) And I got the spices you asked for.
I thought maybe you'd make some of them sausages you're always talkin' about.
With luck, we ought to be tradin' by the end of the month.
Corral's a good idea.
The way the Indians feel about their horses, I figured we needed it.
Beautiful job, too.
Mike helped me finish it.
Mike? Where is he? He left when he saw you comin'.
Oh, well.
The boys never have cared for me.
I suppose because I've always cared for their mother.
They just never understood how it was in the beginning.
McKeag, how's Lucinda? Oh, grand.
She's doin' fine.
The horses want water.
Say, what do you think of this new slogan that's on everybody's lips? Manifest Destiny.
As if we didn't have enough problems deciding the ownership of the Indian lands, those pigheaded politicians want to grab Texas away from Mexico.
And Max Mercy down there? Very likely to get himself shot up over it, too.
What's his name? Who? The man Lucinda's seein'.
What man? A soldier, maybe? How did you know that? I was just thinkin' about the first time Elly saw Max Mercy, how he looked in his uniform.
Now, Levi, it's just an infatuation.
He's a nice fella, but it doesn't mean a thing.
She's just kickin' up her heels a little, that's all.
I should never have let her go.
No, you did the right thing.
A love that risks nothin' is worth nothin'.
Marry you? Oh, I know it's all of a sudden, like.
But that's the times.
I mean, I'd court you to doomsday if I could.
You know that.
We're being sent to Mexico in three days.
Look, I'm a soldier and a good one.
I mean, I don't know how that kind of life strikes you.
It's certainly not an easy life for a woman.
But there are some compensations.
I mean, my prospects are good to command.
And if I John, I know you'll do well.
It's not that I don't.
Look, I know there's someone else.
That other warrior.
But I'm also bigheaded enough to believe that you don't think much about him when you're with me.
Don't answer now.
I love you, Lucinda.
I love them both.
Levi is like a rock, and John's like a river.
I need them both.
It's strange that a half-Indian girl should have so many chances.
Lise, tell me, do you like John? Yes, I like him very much.
He reminds me a little bit of Maxwell Mercy when he first came into this room.
I knew immediately he was intended to marry Lisette.
Na-aa? I like them both, Levi and John.
You mentioned Levi first.
I met him first.
What do you think, Na-aa? The city is nice, but the prairie, it's free.
Could you leave it? (SIGHING) I thought about that.
(SIGHING) But there are other freedoms.
It's so hard to laugh with Levi.
He's so serious.
John laughs all the time.
Na-aa, you've loved two men, a serious one and a laughing one.
Tell me, which was best? Lucinda.
What good is an education if it can't help you with things like this? LISE: Lucinda, I think you must weigh one thing very carefully.
Sooner or later, our army may go to war against the Indians.
If you marry John, you will be right in the middle of things.
It may strain your loyalties beyond endurance.
I hadn't thought of that.
Well, I think you should.
Somebody's comin'.
The wagons from St.
Louis? Looks like it.
Can't tell for sure.
LEVI: I, Levi Zendt LUCINDA: And I, Lucinda McKeag hereby declare our intention before God to live together as husband and wife.
Let us give each other health and comfort.
Let us never do anything to injure the trust we feel for each other.
(MAN PLAYING VIOLIN) You know the only thing that's missin'? What? Pasquinel.
I wish he could have seen her as a woman and happy like this.
She's the way she is because of you, McKeag.
I'd like to think so.
Did I ever tell you about the time Pasquinel and I met at the rendezvous after all those years? And we danced out all the bitterness of our bad feelings? Only a hundred times.
(LAUGHING) I suppose I have at that.
But by thunder, I feel like dancin' right now.
Fiddler, can you play a Highland reel? (FIDDLING SCOTTISH MUSIC) Jake.
Jake, lad, come on.
Me? Come on.
You remember, your father taught you.
No, I don't.
Oh, Jake.
Jake, let's have that bitterness between us over with.
For your mother's sake and your sister's.
And for a man we both loved.
Come on, Jake, come on.
Just kick your feet up.
Just kick 'em up.
Come on.
Aye.
Right, that's the way.
(McKEAG LAUGHING) Come on.
Grab it.
McKEAG: We can kick.
Good boy.
Well done.
Now, try this one.
Try this one.
There you go, fantastic.
That's good.
(GROANS) (MUSIC STOPS) McKeag! (McKEAG) Clay Basket.
Clay Basket.
I'm here.
(PANTING) Clay Basket.
I love you.
McKeag? McKeag? (SINGING NATIVE SONG) Great news, Ketchum! The treaty's gonna be signed here.
How are you, Major? Max.
What's this about a treaty? Well, the Supreme Court says that the Indian tribes are nations.
And with nations you have treaties.
How many extra soldiers will they send me? Well, there's talk of up to a thousand men, two commissioners, and the good Lord knows how many interpreters.
How many Indians? Depends.
Could go as high as 600.
KETCHUM: I can't see how you'll pull it off.
The tribes hate each other even more than they hate us.
You're dealing with age-old enemies.
Frankly, it's impossible for me to imagine Cheyenne sitting down with Pawnee, Crow with Sioux, and Shoshone with anybody.
We've gotta make it happen.
We've sent messengers to the northern tribes.
Men they trust.
It's my responsibility to convince the Arapaho and Cheyenne.
Why not send down to Zendt's Farm and ask McKeag to help you? If anyone can get them to come, he can.
I guess you've been moving around so much, you haven't heard.
McKeag is dead.
He was a man, a very good man.
None better.
How about it, Levi, will you come with me? Max, I I don't like the thought of leaving Lucinda.
The baby'll be here soon.
Besides, there's the only man who really could've helped you.
Like it or not, there's something you ought to realize.
You're McKeag now.
LEVI: All day I listen to the white men complain about the worthless, no-good Indian.
"He won't work.
"Isn't fit to own land.
" Then I look at the land after the white men pass through.
What they don't want they just junk beside the trail.
Dead animals decay till the stench fills the prairies.
They're going to come, though.
Can't stop them.
The enemy of the tepee isn't the rifle, Levi.
It's the plow.
Max, you think this land can really be farmed? Well, some of the river land for the white farmer.
But this should be reserved for the Indian and the buffalo.
That's what I think the treaty can accomplish.
We want no powwow.
No peace.
No surrender.
It isn't surrender, Jake.
We help you to find a place for one fort.
But there can be no more.
More forts mean more soldiers.
And the soldiers need women, and there will be bottles of whiskey, and while we are drunk in our tepees you will kill the buffalo.
And when the buffalo are gone, we will starve.
And while we are starving, you will take our land.
The tepees will be in flames and the rifles will fire and we will be no more.
This great land we have wandered over, we see no more.
Lost Eagle? You have not spoken.
The words are hard.
There is only one word.
War.
No.
There will be no war.
Don't listen to this old woman.
Lost Eagle has never given us a bad council.
I say, if the Great White Father sends a messenger like Mercy to us, we must go.
Do you trust the white man? I trust Mercy.
And your brother Zendt.
And I know the only hope for the Indian is peace.
Peace that gives the white man freedom to cross our lands and build his forts and gives us proof the land is ours.
The white men never keep their promises.
My own father never kept his promises.
Mercy comes begging to us now.
But we will beg later if we go.
They will use this meeting to steal from us.
More land.
More rights.
Mercy comes to us unafraid.
Zendt comes to us unafraid.
I say we should not be afraid to go with them to this meeting.
Lost Eagle is a fool.
The real Arapaho want war, like the real Cheyenne.
Lost Eagle speaks for the Arapaho.
And I speak for the Cheyenne.
And I speak from two worlds.
The white world will not keep its word.
They will lie to us and we will be left with nothing.
You speak from pain, Jake.
It's not wrong.
Lost Eagle speaks from great wisdom.
We will all go to your meeting, Mercy.
And we will take Jake Pasquinel with us to help us make peace.
Jake, it's the right thing to do.
No, Zendt.
It's the only thing we can do.
The government allocated $50,000 for this treaty, just for the Indians.
But instead of commissioning the goods in St.
Louis, some clerk decided to buy them in New York.
Cheaper.
And in New York some other clerk decided that getting the goods to St.
Louis on July 18th would be just as good as the first and that he could save a little more money by using a slower railroad.
So maybe they may not get here till September.
Where are they now? Kansas City.
I was there six days and they hadn't moved a foot.
I promised those people.
I know that, sir.
Do you know what that promise means? Do you have any idea what breaking that promise will mean? Believe me, Major Get a man down there now! Get those wagons moving now! Yes, sir.
I'm sorry, Levi.
I'm sorry I involved you in this.
It's not your fault, Max.
But it was my word.
And your reputation.
Now when Jake and Broken Thumb speak of war, what do we tell them? MARCEL: 2,000 Cheyenne, perhaps 1,500 Arapaho, 2,000 Sioux.
That makes more than 10,000.
We haven't heard from the Crow, the biggest tribe of all.
So we've got 10,000 Indians coming.
More.
How did this miscalculation occur? Mike? White man, he always say, "Chief do this," right? "Chief do that.
" But with us, chief is nobody.
He is my uncle.
He's my cousin.
He has some good ideas, yes, but some bad.
So if Chief is going to talk about something important to the whole tribe, whole tribe come along.
Why didn't you tell us that before? You're married to one of them.
I'm just learning a lot of things myself, Mr.
Flagg, like not to trust our own leaders to keep their word.
FLAGG: Well, what'll we do? A handful of men against 10,000 Indians.
No gifts.
No food.
You got a wife, Flagg? Yes.
You might write her a very tender letter.
The Great White Father in Washington has directed me to invite a chief from each of the Indian nations to visit with him at his home.
He asks that you ride your horses down to the Missouri River, where a boat will be waiting for you.
From there, you will travel to St.
Louis, one of our finest western cities.
Afterwards, you will board a train, travel across our great country to Washington, where he will talk with you and give you his own solemn promise that this peace is forever.
Tell Max I'm riding out to look for those wagons.
that the land you receive now will be yours for as long as the water flows, and as long as the grass shall grow.
(NATIVES SINGING) (DRUMS BEATING) JACQUES: Okay, here we go.
Put your hands on your hips.
Look up.
Look proud.
And now kick 'em up.
(SINGING SCOTTISH MUSIC) Come out to the side here.
Out to the side here.
There you go.
Right there.
That's it.
(LAUGHING) You go dance with your friends now, okay? Go.
Jake? Hello.
I'm Lisette.
Your sister.
You are as beautiful as the picture Mercy showed me.
Thank you.
And you have his courage.
My husband's, or our father's? Mercy is accepted because of you.
Pasquinel was welcome because he came unafraid.
You are welcome in the same way, for the same reason.
Thank you.
(SINGING) Can we talk? Because Mercy wants it? Because we have the same father.
We have the same blood.
My white blood was drawn from me when I got this.
I was nine.
Our father wanted to take us to St.
Louis to meet your mother and you.
McKeag said no.
So we got to Fort Osage.
The white man cut me because I dared to sit at their table and eat their food.
Now they promise us food and presents.
Have you seen either? It's the same as before.
A peace that is broken before it's begun.
Jake, my husband is not like the man that did this to you.
He's good.
He's honest.
He's fighting for you, not against you.
Just be patient.
I do not blame Mercy, but this is not a bargaining.
The white man takes what he wants, and gives us back what is already ours.
If we protest, he buys off the old chiefs with baubles and trinkets, like our father brought with him when he first came, eh? Mike doesn't think this.
LISETTE: He tells me it's all going well.
JACQUES: Mike plays the fool, but at night, when we talk, he knows.
We all know.
In the end, they'll have everything.
We'll have nothing.
Hello.
This your son? There is nothing more for us to say.
(IN ARAPAHO) See her back safely.
I am glad you came, but when this is over and the war begins, you tell Mercy to take you home.
This will not be a place of welcome to you then.
Jake And now, for the land to be given for the Arapaho and Cheyenne.
Commencing at the Red Butte, where the road leaves the north fork of the Platte River, thence up the north fork of the Platte River to its source, thence along the main range of the Rocky Mountains to the headwaters of the Arkansas River, thence up the Platte River, to the place of beginning.
And in addition, the government proposes to pay the Indian community an annuity of $50,000 Hungry, old friend? You think this land they promise is any more real than the food? If a man like Mercy breaks his word, there is no meaning in the world.
MERCY: Now let us begin our final talk.
The food will come.
And let no man leave this place without having spoken his mind.
(LISETTE AND CHILDREN SINGING SUR LE PONT D'AVIGNON) Very good! Now you teach me.
Yes, a song.
Whoa.
It's all right.
Oh, goodness.
Good Lord.
Wagons! Half a day to the east! The wagons! (ALL WHOOPING) KETCHUM: You see, the Great White Father wants you all to be part of his family.
See, you same like me.
Fact is, yours is better.
I am so proud of you.
No one else could have done this because no one else would have cared enough.
You The two of you made the difference.
Well, I'll be heading home.
I just might be a father by now.
Go to Washington, little Brother, and humble yourself before the Great White Father.
We should all go.
No.
I'll tell my braves to go home in peace, but to prepare for war.
Jake.
Come with me.
Mike? Your mother is Arapaho.
The Cheyenne are our brothers now.
Don't take much to make you happy, huh? That's because you're a sensible little beast, and I'm a jackass.
You stick to what you know and you stick to the place you know.
What do you care about gold, huh? (SQUEAKING) (GROANS) And what if I strike it rich anyhow, huh? Answer me that.
The Czar himself couldn't even buy a pair of shoes out here.
Blasted no-man's-land.
There ain't even a store.
And who's a blasted miner anyhow? Am I a miner? I'm a farmer, by heaven.
You bored, huh? I don't blame you.
I'm bored silly myself.
(FLUTE PLAYING OH, SUSANNA) LARKIN: Howdy, citizen! Where you headed? Jefferson territory.
Us, too! Care to join up? This here's the Gold Miners' Horseless Cavalry Brigade.
(CHUCKLES) I don't mind some company.
Name's Larkin.
They call me Spade on account of this.
That two-bit scarecrow is Stringer.
Howdy.
That river rat there is Keefe.
Howdy.
Brumbaugh.
Hans Brumbaugh.
Deutscher.
I have family, but I was born in Russia.
What was that like? Good, till the Czarina died then not so good for foreigners.
Well, we come strolling down from Missouri.
And if we don't get hit by lighting or stomped to death by buffalo, we aim to get wealthy.
(LAUGHING) How you eating? Oh, cut some timber for some folk.
Helped some wagons across the Big Blue.
You ever strike anything? (SIGHING) If I had, do you think I would be beating my dogs off with these two miserable specimens? But I know how to placer.
I know how to dig.
And I know them as got gold as them as got there first.
And this time, I aim to get there first.
Ain't nobody gonna beat me out of it.
Yeah, Larkin here has got a fix on where the next strike's gonna be.
Something about an old, lost, Injun gold mine.
Tell him about it, Larkin.
In due time, Stringer.
In due time.
All right, let's hit the road! Gold Miners' Horseless Cavalry Brigade, forward! Forward, march! (PLAYING OH, SUSANNA) Russia, huh? Nothing but fool's gold.
(HORSES NEIGHING) They sure look like they've been eating good, don't they? They sure do.
What do you think? Let's go.
What was that? I don't know.
Lookit, jerky! And pemmican! Eat! You gunned 'em down! They was gonna kill us.
You liar! No.
You liar! This fella waved to me! No! Hey, what's the squabble? It's just Injuns.
(LAUGHING) Hey, you can't do that! What Now, wait a minute.
Now, wait, wait Wait a minute.
Hold on.
Hold on just a second now.
Come on, now.
We're partners, ain't we, huh? Wait a minute! Wait a minute! Wait (WOMEN WAILING) How many? Little Owl and Two Moons.
Then two whites must die.
(ALL WHOOPING) BOY: Indians, Pa! MAN: Get behind me! (GUN FIRING) (WOMAN SCREAMING) WOMAN: No! (CRYING) TANNER: You understand how the settlers feel, Major? They're living in terror from day to day.
I'm aware of that.
The difference being, they have food to eat and warm clothing for their children.
Major, let me make myself plain.
The people have approached me, asked me to head up a punitive expedition.
Against who? The Indians.
What Indians? It hardly matters, does it, sir? The idea is to set an example.
I see.
We have no idea who committed the offense.
We just ride out and shoot down any Indians we happen to meet.
Is that it? Is that what you would advocate if they were white? They're not white.
No, they're not white.
Let me give you a piece of advice, Mr.
Tanner.
You have the settlers write Congress.
You tell them to demand that the food and supplies promised to the tribes be sent at once, and I will personally guarantee their safety from then on.
All due respect, sir, that is a very slow process.
I'm cognizant of that.
I've been trying for nine years.
Well, sir, I just wanted to report how things stand.
The people want action.
So do I, Mr.
Tanner.
Let's not confuse that with a license to commit murder.
Is that all? No, sir.
There's talk of a new commander in the area.
Perhaps he can put things straight.
There's no trick to putting things right, Mr.
Tanner.
All we white men have to do is keep our word.
Very well, sir.
Good day.
Good day.
(DOOR CLOSING) (PEOPLE CHATTERING) (HORSE SNUFFLING) Mama, are we gonna have the berries plain, or you gonna make pie? Well, I don't know, 'cause I think there's been a little squirrel who's been eating them all, and I don't know if there's enough for pie.
Oh, yes, there is.
Help your grandmother in the cellar, and I'll be right back.
All right.
What we're looking for is a grubstake.
I mean, something just enough to get us to Pike's Peak.
We figured, well, a man with a store like yours, you need all the help you can get.
Levi.
Oh, I'm sorry.
What is it, Lucinda? Nothing, it can wait.
Well, there are some wagons that can't make it to this side of the river.
You willing to ferry some goods over to 'em? Hmm? Yeah, sure, anything you say.
You can bunk in the smokehouse right back there.
If it wouldn't be too much trouble, I wonder if we could get some grub.
It has been a long day, and that sure smells good in there.
We'll pay.
I have money.
No, it isn't necessary.
Is that a Deutscher I hear? It is.
(IN GERMAN) Well then, a most heartfelt welcome.
(IN GERMAN) Thanks.
I've come a pretty long way.
LEVI: Where from? BRUMBAUGH: Family's from Hesse originally, then Russia.
(BOTH SPEAKING GERMAN) Lucinda, get some scrapple and souse.
We got a fella here who'll appreciate it.
Lucinda? That's my wife.
That's not the lady that visited with Ms.
Pasquinel a while back? That was years ago.
How'd you know? I can read.
I read it in the paper.
I mean, her being so popular and all.
Sure would like to meet me an Indian princess someday.
Well, go ahead.
Go on.
Thank you.
Yes? My name's Larkin, Miss Lucinda.
Mr.
Larkin.
Is it true that you're the granddaughter of Chief Lame Beaver? No.
It ain't? My grandfather was never a chief.
But he was your grandfather? Yes, why? Well, where'd you grow up? Many places.
St.
Louis, for one.
I mean, when your grandfather was alive? He was dead long before I was born.
Well, where did he live mostly? Just about everywhere between Canada and the Arkansas.
Why all this questioning? Well Well I can read.
And I've been carrying this a long time.
Just (LARKIN CLEARING THROAT) "Belle of our season "is unquestionably Miss Lucinda McKeag.
"Miss Lucinda is not only unusually attractive "with her dark flashing eyes, "but is famed throughout the West "as the granddaughter and heir of Chief Lame Beaver, "the Arapaho hero who discovered "a goldmine in the Rockies and" Well, the newspaper said you was his granddaughter, and I thought that maybe you might know where it was.
Levi? What is it, honey? Here's another one who's heard about Grandfather's gold mine.
Tell him the story, and I'll get supper.
Come with me, Mr.
Larkin.
OFFICER: And, salute! Hold it! (MEN DRILLING) Major Mercy, I'm Laban Asher.
This is my aide, Captain McIntosh.
Nice to meet you, General.
Captain.
It's about time.
I wasn't sure you'd remember me, Major.
Well, of course.
One of Lisette's favorite young men.
Of course, I remember.
Won't you gentlemen sit down, please? Can I get you something, General? A little brandy to cut the dust? Thank you.
John? Thank you, sir.
How is Mrs.
Pasquinel? She passed on.
Oh, I'm sorry.
She had a full life.
Strong.
Thank you.
Lisette is here.
You'll join us for dinner? Yes, I'd like that.
And you, too, of course, General.
Thank you, Major.
But before you become too cordial, I should warn you.
I'm a blunt man.
This command is a far cry from the one I wanted.
I know you were wounded in Mexico, and what with the civil war in the wind, no able-bodied career man in his right mind would want to get stuck in this godforsaken country wet-nursing a bunch of savages.
It isn't the wound that kept me here, sir, nor, I hope, an unsound mind.
Perhaps after you've been here for a while Point is, Major, I go where I'm posted and I do what needs to be done.
Now, the people around here are scared out of their wits, and that can only occur when there's a vacuum in leadership.
And it seems Ketchum never took any action when it was needed.
I take it you've spoken with Lieutenant Tanner.
Yes.
He's something of a hotspur, but then again, maybe he's right.
What do you think? Well, I'll be blunt, too, General.
I think you should send Lieutenant Tanner back east tonight.
They want fighting men there.
Let him go and fight where it might be the right thing to do.
Might be? The point is, General, I've spent a considerable amount of my life in this "godforsaken country," not because I was stuck here, but because I thought I could help here.
In my opinion, men like Lieutenant Tanner are of no help at all.
I know about your relationship to the Pasquinels.
Fact is, sir, we're dealing with a betrayed and starved people, ravaged with diseases we brought to them.
They're frightened, angry, and damn near out of hope.
Well, why aren't they farming their lands? Well, they've been hunters for centuries.
You can't expect them to become farmers overnight.
My ancestors were hunters once, too.
So were yours.
The fact is, they have to start somewhere.
Right, right.
How about with title to their land, which they've never been given, or the means to do the work we're asking them to do? Means? We've been sending them farm tools.
I have an invoice here.
Where is that invoice? Sir, those tools are supposed to be free.
By the time they clear the hands of the agent, they cost more than any Indian can afford.
Here it is, right here.
We sent out a shipment of 150 plows, July 16th.
Anyway, that's all water under the bridge.
Secure title to the land, you say.
All right.
I've got the instrument that does exactly that right here.
Brand new treaty.
Covers everything.
I want you to look it over, and then tomorrow, you and I will ride down and speak to the Indian leaders.
Thank you for the dinner invitation, but I'd like to shave now and then I have some letters to write.
Damn it, General! These are human beings we're dealing with.
We have not even honored the treaty they already signed.
We have been ordered to deal with the situation as it stands, Major.
I'll have this thing cleared up in two weeks.
Then, perhaps, I can get back to where history is being made.
I'll see you at the hotel later, Captain.
Yes, sir.
(DOOR CLOSES) He really is a good man, Max.
So are they all.
All honorable men.
(PLAYING PIANO) Hello, darling.
Max, what is it? I want you to pack.
Pack? We're going back to St.
Louis.
Max, what's happened? Washington has decided the treaty isn't worth the paper we wrote it on.
Oh, no.
They've cut back payments to 10 years.
They've refused all water rights.
And they want me to relocate.
Cut the Indians off from their grazing land entirely.
Max, you have to stay.
Stay for what? Watch the slaughter? You wanted to help these people.
They need you more now than ever.
Lisette, I am the last person in the world they want to see.
I gave them my word.
Max, they know you.
They'll know you didn't do this.
No, it's impossible.
Max, I know you, too.
I know you better than anyone.
You can't leave.
You'd be miserable.
I don't know.
I don't know anything anymore.
You're not like the others that come through, Hans.
What made you want to be a prospector? A farm I bought in Illinois.
You didn't take to farming? Born to it.
Well, then? Didn't happen to take to the man who sold it to me.
Why's that? He didn't happen to own it.
You got a real nice place here, Zendt.
You ought to be very proud.
Well, you know the saying, "Man plans and God laughs.
" I headed for Oregon and wound up with a trading post smack in the middle of nowhere.
Well, I got a feeling it won't be in the middle of nowhere for long, huh? Lucinda, I'd like you to meet General Asher.
Mrs.
Zendt.
How do you do? And Captain McIntosh, I believe you know.
Is Levi around? He's in back.
Max, come on.
Hello.
Hello.
What's your name, young man? Martin.
He's got your eyes.
You look well.
I am.
I think of you.
I think of you, too.
I guess your feet don't hurt anymore.
No, they don't.
Are you a friend of my mother? Yes, Martin.
I certainly am.
Honey, I'm going with Max to Jake's camp.
I'll be back first thing in the morning.
You need anything lugged, you ask that Hans.
He's a good man.
Levi, this is John McIntosh.
How do you do? Martin, you take care of your mother.
I will.
Good luck.
Goodbye, John.
Bye, Captain.
Bye, son.
13 years I've been trailing that little lady.
13 years.
And I finally found her.
Who says 13's unlucky, hmm? All that talk about a lost gold mine, how do you know it isn't a story? And if it isn't, what makes you think you'll find it when nobody has all these years? 'Cause everybody else searched in the wrong places.
Me, too.
Rivers, streams.
I got an idea it's in the mountains.
And I got an idea that little lady knows.
And I got time.
(ROOSTER CROWING) Brumbaugh? Brumbaugh? LUCINDA: I'm sorry to see you go, Mr.
Brumbaugh.
We've only known each other a few days and I already feel like you're our friend.
Well, that's very nice of you, Miss Zendt.
I guess I feel the same way.
Would you tell Mr.
Zendt thanks for everything? Yes.
Good luck.
Thank you.
Brumbaugh! You leaving? That's right.
Why now? To start doing what I came out here to do.
She told you, didn't she? What? She told you! You got up this morning and you went and got it out of her! She told you where the gold was! She told me nothing.
You aim to cheat me out of it, and it's mine, I tell ya! You're crazy, Larkin.
You know that? You're crazy as a loon.
Uh-huh.
Well, we'll see about that.
It's mine, I tell you! Mine! Morning, Mr.
Larkin.
Your granddaddy, Lame Beaver, he used to live up in the mountains, didn't he? Mr.
Larkin Didn't he? Yes, but everybody did.
Not really the mountains, but the foothills.
Well, what was the name of the place? I don't know that it had a name.
He used to call it Blue Valley because of the blue spruce up there.
Well, where was that exactly? Somewhere up the Platte, past the fork to the right, I think.
Excuse me, but I've got work to do.
That ain't good enough! I tell you, it ain't good enough! Tell me where it is exactly! Let go of me! Now, you told that Deutscher.
You tell me! Tell me! Stop it! (YELLS) Get out of here.
And don't ever set foot on this land again.
I'm just gonna get my hat.
You all right? Thanks to you.
You're as brave as your father.
They want to change the treaty.
They want you to give up all your lands along the Platte, the Arkansas.
He's going at it all wrong.
They want you to take land around Rattlesnake Cliffs.
Rattlesnake Cliffs? That is a place of death.
I guess I know that better than anyone.
Is this a message from Major Mercy? You traitor.
You old fool who believes everything he hears.
You see what your weakness has led us to, eh? You want it all.
That's it, isn't it? You want it all! Now, just a minute.
Let me try to clarify some of this.
(EXCLAIMS DISGUSTEDLY) Sit down, please.
You see, gentlemen, many white men want to make their homes out here.
And it's only reasonable that the Great White Father should ask the Cheyenne and the Arapaho to share the prairie with them.
Now, the meeting at Fort Laramie.
I'm afraid we went a little overboard in handing out land.
There were some of us there who didn't realize how much would be needed.
But the White Father recognizes his responsibility to his red brothers, and in this new treaty there are many wonderful gifts.
Money, 40 acres of land per family, timber, water, farm implements MARCEL: Excuse me.
Excuse me.
You say 40 acres, eh? How much is that? Now, that's a very good question.
If you'll step outside, I'll try to show you.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING) Now, roughly, from that clump of trees to the top of the ridge where the horses are, from there to this side of the draw, and back to here.
40 acres at Rattlesnake Cliffs.
That won't be enough to feed one buffalo calf! That's just the point, Chief.
You don't have to worry about buffalo.
You'll be farming.
Many an American farmer has built a good life on 40 acres.
And where will we find our water? Wherever there is timber and a stream, you will receive your fair share.
General, have you every been to Rattlesnake Cliffs? No, not yet.
There are no trees there, or streams.
An honest farmer uses what he has.
MARCEL: General, our lands, they must touch river, eh? No, the White Father does not wish for your lands to reach down to the river because the white men prefer to travel along the river, and it might cause some trouble.
Where do we get our water? Well, we'll find it.
We just have to work together.
Now, the sooner we get this treaty signed, the better for all of us.
What do you say, Chief? I hear that you are a realistic and far-seeing man.
I have given my life to peace.
I do not wish to end it in war.
In war, you will destroy us.
And if you destroy us, it will be to your people like a terrible wound that will not heal.
I will ask that the treaty be signed.
Good.
Thank you, Chief.
The White Father wishes for you to have this.
You see, his picture is on it.
And this one, too.
Now What about you? Will you follow your friend's lead? Come on, what do you say? Speak to me.
JACQUES: General, you are a big war chief, eh? Broken Thumb, he's a big war chief, too.
We know that the white men, they live in a house that is divided.
And that soon you have a big war back in the east.
So maybe some of your troops be taken away from you, eh? So maybe any army you have here be small one.
If you force this treaty on us, then you'll hear Broken Thumb speak.
You'll hear all the Cheyenne speak and the Sioux and the Shoshone and the Kiowa.
All the nations of the plains.
We will not die in silence.
Don't be foolish! Think of the future! Your children! Chief, tell them what they're starting.
Mercy, get them back here! Zendt! General, I'm afraid the talking is over.