Centennial (1978) s01e05 Episode Script

NARRATOR: By 1861, war had spread like a dirty fog across the American landscape.
While Northerners fought Southerners in the East and in Texas, in the Rockies, white men pushed into a frontier that had been occupied by red men for generations.
It was a complex and disorganized campaign, this Western conflict.
There were traders like Levi Zendt, and soldiers like Maxwell Mercy who would do their best to stop the carnage.
There were renegades like the half-breed Pasquinel brothers, who welcomed it.
There were men in it who had no time for fighting.
Prospectors like the Volga Deutchman, Hans Brumbaugh, who had walked from St.
Louis to find gold.
But no matter what their background, or what their aim, the winds of violence would touch all of them sooner or later.
Twist all of them, change all of them.
Well, Larkin, I found the gold.
Where've you been? You thief.
You dirty, filthy, rotten thief.
Here.
What are you talking about? I'm talking' about my claim.
My claim.
You ain't got no right to it.
You wouldn't even knowed about it if it wasn't for that Zendt woman.
I seen ya.
I seen ya talking to her.
And then you tried to slip out of post ahead of me.
She told me nothing.
And I didn't slip.
She told ya.
She knowed, I got it right here.
Miss Lucinda McKeag, etcetera, heiress to Chief Lame Beaver, Arapaho hero who discovered a gold mine in the Rockies.
She knowed! Quit yelling, man, you're sick in the head.
I showed you this, didn't I? Didn't I? Stake out your own ten feet of bank, what's the difference? And let you have the mother lode? This is where the vein is.
Then take this one.
No.
No, it's mine, the whole valley's mine.
You know what they do to claim jumpers here, Brumbaugh, huh? (GUN FIRING) NARRATOR: Near the 1860s, another kind of man came West.
A victim of a changing times who knew that the tragedy and terror he had survived were visited upon him for a reason.
A man who possessed a clear vision of how the West was to be and his determination to shape it to that definition.
He came from Minnesota.
His name was Frank Skimmerhorn.
SERGEANT: Column halt! Set them down.
Dismount! Halt.
State your name and business.
Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn.
I'm here to see General Asher.
Colonel in what army? The Colorado Territorial Militia.
If one more tribe in this territory is cheated out of its rights, there'll be an insurrection I don't make the treaties, Major.
I can't help what Washington does.
But you can help what the settlers do.
You can condemn these atrocities.
Now, what is it, Tanner? Beg your pardon, General.
Colonel Skimmerhorn is here.
Skimmerhorn, he's Volunteer Militia.
I think you ought to see him, General.
I don't have time for play actors.
I understand General Pope in St.
Louis has the greatest respect for him, sir.
Pope? Yes, sir.
The command in Leavenworth, he feels he saved the gold mines from the Rebels.
All right.
Send him in.
Colonel? Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, First Colorado Volunteers, sir.
No need for the formalities, Mr.
Skimmerhorn.
Have a seat.
I beg your pardon, sir, but my command was raised by the people of this Territory to put an end to the Indian menace once and for all.
We're ready to fight and I believe that our efforts should be coordinated with yours.
Did you say, fight? I don't believe I've had the honor.
Oh, forgive me.
This is Major Maxwell Mercy.
Indian Affairs.
Oh, yes, yes.
I've heard of you, Major.
That is I've heard the calumny that's going around.
Major Mercy.
They say that he's the officer with the white skin and the Indian heart.
Calumny? I don't find that slanderous in the least.
As a matter of fact, I take it as a compliment.
Indeed.
I'd be revolted.
Ahem, well, Mr.
Skimmerhorn.
Colonel.
Oh, yes, Colonel.
If this is a courtesy call, we appreciate your time.
No, sir, it is not a courtesy.
It is a necessity.
The situation in this territory is completely out of hand.
Not that anyone blames the Regular Army, sir.
What can you do when St.
Louis diverts more and more troops from the West to fight the confederacy? I understand your problem, and I sympathize.
I also have the solution for it.
What solution is that, sir? Stop the parleys.
Stop all the pussyfooting.
Eliminate the Indians entirely.
Beginning with the Pasquinel brothers.
Eliminate? You mean slaughter.
They are God's outlaws, Lamanites, remnants of the lost tribes of Israel.
They knew God, and they rejected Him, and He put a curse upon them and darkened their faces, and turned all men against them.
And gentlemen, as Christians, it is our duty to hunt them down and slay them.
Read your Bible.
I trust you have one.
Or has your love for the heathens usurped its place in your thinking? General.
All right, Max.
This man, this kind of thinking can destroy everything we've been trying to accomplish.
The only thing that needs to be accomplished is the establishment of an area for settlement for those who follow the Lord.
I've been commissioned by Him and His followers to succeed where you have failed.
You are insane.
No, sir.
I am right.
General, I am officially requesting additional troops for my campaign.
(CLEARING THROAT) I appreciate your concern for the safety of our citizens, Colonel.
But at the present time, I'm sorry.
I would need orders from Leavenworth.
That, sir, is being arranged.
Gentlemen.
That's all, Tanner.
Yes, sir.
Oh, don't worry, Max.
I'm not going to help him.
Do you think he can get those orders from Leavenworth? Well, I don't know.
If he really has General Pope's ear and confidence.
How long would it take to get a courier to St.
Louis? Max.
You will stop him.
If I can.
lf? General, you've met with the chiefs of the Sioux, the Arapaho and the Cheyenne.
You know they're making peace among themselves.
Something they've never done before.
You also know that they realize our army is engaged in a civil war.
If we let this madman blow the top off the powder keg we're sitting on Max! I appreciate your passion.
But I don't share it.
Not that I side with a fanatic like Skimmerhorn, but I will not be dictated to by either of you.
No.
You'll just sit on the fence until they blow it out from under you.
Sir, I've gotta help these people.
Ah.
But which people, Max? The white people, or the red people? Indians are human beings, too.
Yes, but they're different.
And the rest of the country sees that, even if you're too close to them to see it for yourself.
Isn't that what our job is all about, to demonstrate that we can exist together? You can't stop progress, Max.
This country has made up its mind to expand westward.
We can stop the killing.
We can assimilate their culture.
We can learn from them.
We can grow with them.
Max, when has that ever happened? When a nation extends its borders into another nation's land, people die.
But they haven't done anything to demand a military action against them.
No.
They haven't done anything wrong at all.
Except be here.
Clemma, come help Grandma.
Mr.
Brumbaugh? Well, you weren't out very long.
Did you have any luck? No.
No luck.
Good luck to you.
Hello.
If you're looking for your friend, Larkin, he left.
I'm not looking for Larkin.
I know where he's at.
You know, he about drove my wife crazy with that clipping of his.
But she couldn't tell him any more than she tells everybody else.
"Try Blue Valley," she said.
Maybe he's uncovered the vein by now.
Maybe.
You ought to be with him if he does.
I'm not interested.
In gold? It's a dirty business, Zendt.
I found I wasn't fit for it.
An expensive lesson to learn.
It's a long walk from St.
Louis.
Well, shoe leather's cheap.
Not around here.
Well, there's trapping.
I'm not a trapper.
Papa, man wants to know how much the small nails are.
Penny apiece, Martin.
You have to eat, Mr.
Brumbaugh.
The ravens won't feed you.
You don't mine, you don't trap, but you're fed.
I'm a middleman.
I create a market.
Well, there can't be a middle without a beginning and an end, huh? I am a grower.
Grower? Yeah.
I took a look at this land on the way in today.
Some of it looks good.
Where there's water.
How do I take title? Title, huh? Well, there might be a problem about titles.
Why? I thought you own land.
My wife's mother sold it to me.
Eight hundred acres along the river.
Eight hund I thought you owned thousands.
Thousands at Rattlesnake Cliffs.
But you couldn't grow weeds up there.
It's dry as a bone.
That river land that you own.
Will you sell some to me? Ten dollars an acre.
Sixty acre's all I can handle.
Done.
And there's $200 more.
Would you forward that to the bank in St.
Louis and have them send it to my wife in Illinois? I want her to join me.
Your wife? Yeah, and kids.
A girl four and a son.
He'll be six in August.
It's no place for a family, Mr.
Brumbaugh.
Hans.
Hans.
You'll be out there alone.
Settlers around here have been attacked, massacred I know it's a gamble, but every day is a gamble.
Being born's a gamble, I'll risk it.
It's real good.
You will make it bloom.
Yeah.
I will make it bloom, Mr.
Zendt.
Levi.
You want potatoes, Levi? I'll grow you potatoes.
I'll grow you potatoes like you've never seen before.
Like no one's ever seen before.
This is my land, huh? Mine.
And I'll grow potatoes.
And I'll be king of potatoes.
Potatoes Brumbaugh.
That's me! That's good, huh? Potatoes Brumbaugh.
I've got to talk to Jake and Mike.
Where are they? Well, I don't know.
Lucinda, there's a man called Skimmerhorn.
He thinks he's God's own right hand.
If he finds them, he'll kill them on sight.
Skimmerhorn.
That fellow from Minnesota? He's a crackbrain.
He's a crackbrain with an army and a mission.
Can you imagine anything more dangerous than that? Lucinda, if he finds your brothers, there'll be a battle.
Men'll die on both sides.
There'll be a full-scale rebellion.
The Pasquinels have got to leave the territory.
Go to them yourself if you can't trust me.
Explain it to them.
But, Max, I can't tell you where they are because I don't know.
Nobody knows.
I know.
MERCY: Where? The Army calls my sons renegades.
The Army wants to put them on trial.
I know where your heart is, Max.
But you still wear your uniform.
Because I won't surrender.
If I take off this uniform, somebody else will put it on.
Maybe someone like Skimmerhorn.
He's right, mother.
Right or wrong, it could get him killed.
I'll go with him.
Levi.
They have no reason to hurt me.
Clay Basket? Aspen Creek.
Well, Major Mercy.
Imagine finding you here.
I was just leaving, Colonel.
Were you? Get off your horse.
You're under arrest.
I'm what? Corporal? You question my command, Major, but I assure you he doesn't.
Ready.
SKIMMERHORN: Aim.
What are the grounds for this arrest? Consorting with known traitors.
You are Levi Zendt? I am.
Sergeant.
(SERGEANT CLEARS THROAT) SERGEANT: "By order of the People of the Territory of Colorado, "Levi Zendt, his squaw, Lucinda, "and the squaw Clay Basket are declared guilty of providing aid "and comfort to the enemies of the above named People, "and are placed under military arrest until further notice.
"The buildings and grounds commonly known as Zendt's trading post "are declared closed and all weapons will be confiscated.
"Signed, F.
Skimmerhorn, Colonel, First Colorado Volunteers.
" This is absurd.
What's your authority? You heard the proclamation.
I'm acting under powers given me by the People of Colorado.
This trading post is now officially a military jail.
Guards have already been posted.
Anyone attempting to enter or leave without my permission will be shot dead.
I do hope that's clear.
Sergeant.
(DOG BARKING) (CRICKETS CHIRPING) Here.
Go get it.
(GUARD LAUGHING) GUARD: Good dog.
Come on.
Come here, boy.
Yeah, that's a good dog.
Guard, anybody want a drink out there? Open it.
LEVI: Sergeant, if I'm out of line, you tell me.
But you boys have been on duty for almost seven hours now, and there's a chill in the air.
Well, we thought maybe you could all use a drink.
The Colonel don't like us taking' bribes from traitors.
LEVI: It's not a bribe.
Forget it.
Okay.
Couldn't you shut up that yapping dog, at least? Why? He ain't bothering' you none.
My wife's sick.
She needs her rest.
Well, tell her to plug up her ears.
Be still, animal.
Come back here, squaw! Clay Basket.
Stop! GUARD: Stop, stop! You! Squaw! (YELPS) Mama.
LEVI: Clay Basket! Clay Basket! (SOFTLY) My sons.
What'd she say? Didn't catch it.
(INDIAN GUARD YELLS) (SPEAKING ARAPAHO) Jake.
Mercy.
(SPEAKING ARAPAHO) No, Jake.
I come alone.
Can I put my hands down now? I would not.
I've never known, Mercy.
Are you so brave? Or are you such a fool? Jake.
Mike.
Clay Basket Clay Basket is dead.
How? She sacrificed herself so I could warn you of a great danger.
Eh? What danger, eh? A man named Skimmerhorn.
We do not know man, Skimmer He knows you.
He's sworn to kill both of you.
(EXCLAIMS) Mercy, you know, many men swear that, eh? He's different.
He's driven.
He believes the Great Spirit has chosen him to kill you and all your people.
She died, so that you could tell us this? She saw him.
Saw his anger, saw his madness, saw his power.
You let her die.
It was her choice.
As it is mine to be here now.
Before you.
Unafraid.
You have good reason to fear me now, Mercy.
I have reason to love you, Jake.
As I loved your mother.
And as I love your sisters.
Hey, Mercy.
What is it you would have us do, eh? Go north to the Black Hills.
So the soldiers can take our land without fighting? No.
So the Army will have time to stop Skimmerhorn.
You may fear this man, Skimmerhorn, Mercy, but I don't.
We don't.
We don't fear no white man.
Go north, Jake.
Just for a while.
Just until You listen to me, Mercy! You come here and you tell me you married a A woman who was a sister who I never seen.
And you tell me you are my family.
You're not my family.
You come here to tell me how to live my life? You come here and tell me what to do with the land that is mine? Mine! Not yours, not any white man's! I was born here! I will live here! I will fight here! And I will die here! Because this is my home, not yours! Now you tell me, Mercy.
Do you love it so much that you will die for it, too? Because if you do not disappear very quickly, I'll kill you myself.
(SPEAKING ARAPAHO) Where are your guards? The Army has taken away our guns.
What use are guards without guns? Your horses? Gone.
Eaten.
Horses.
Dogs.
Everything.
Gone.
Sir, I have something very hard to ask of you.
Is it harder than starving? For warriors, perhaps.
There's a man.
A white man called Skimmerhorn.
Skimmerhorn? Yes.
If he comes to your camp, don't oppose him.
If he wants to search for weapons, let him.
Do you understand? I understand the words.
Not the reasons.
He wants to create an incident.
He wants to begin a war.
I was wrong.
I do know him.
Those men are all alike.
If this one wants to kill, he'll kill.
There's nothing that can stop him.
I'm going to Denver.
If I have to, St.
Louis.
Even Washington.
Just get us guns, Mercy.
No.
We have no guns.
That's what he wants.
That's what he's hoping for.
He'll come with guns.
He can't use them if you don't fight.
Why not? Lost Eagle, you know better than any one else.
War is not the answer.
Must I beg you, Mercy? I can't bring you guns.
How quickly we become beggars.
I betrayed our people.
No.
I should have let them follow the Pasquinels.
You led your people well, Lost Eagle.
You always have.
All we need's more time.
Time? And what do I say to the father of the child that starves to death on the day before the time comes when we will have food again and hope and pride? I only know one thing, Lost Eagle.
The man who comes this time will look for any reason to attack.
You must not give it to him.
You must not raise a gun against him.
Or a hand.
Even an empty one.
Your worry is for nothing, Mercy.
What you ask will not be hard.
Not for the man that has no other choice.
TANNER: Corporal of the guard, on the double! Major, sir? Major Mercy.
You'll come with me, sir.
You're under arrest.
Everything is in order, General.
Sorry about the disturbance.
I'll escort the prisoner to the guardhouse personally.
In a minute.
General, I have Are your deaf, Captain? No, sir.
Come in, Max.
Sit down, Max.
(SIGHS) Cigar? Thank you, no.
You're packing? At midnight last night, Colonel Skimmerhorn temporarily replaced me as Commander.
Damn.
He has friends in high office.
Where are they sending you? I have been summoned to Fort Leavenworth to explain why I was unable to quell the Indian uprisings in Colorado.
Then it's finished.
Well, not everything, Max.
Just me.
And you.
Where did you go when you left Zendt's? On a fool's mission.
How do you intend to answer Skimmerhorn's charges? Damn his charges.
I never considered his order legal in the first place, and I still don't.
Well, you'd better realize what you're facing.
Quote.
"Consorting with the enemy in time of war.
"Disobeying a direct order of a superior officer.
"Fleeing to the enemy with national secrets.
" Unquote.
Sir, I've got to get to St.
Louis.
I'm sorry, Max.
I am no longer in command.
I'm sorry, too, General.
Because unfortunately you never were.
Guard.
Sir, canons loaded and ready for firing.
Good.
Let me see.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Are your orders clear to you? Yes, sir.
I'm to cease firing after three rounds from all five guns.
And make sure they're unison rounds.
I don't want some laggard lobbing a ball into my cavalry.
I'll be careful, sir.
Ready on the left, sir.
SKIMMERHORN: Oh, Tanner.
I've decided to make a few changes.
I'll lead the center myself.
Oh, an excellent idea, sir.
You'll stand in reserve until after I've completed the saber charge.
Then, you'll ride in as hard as you can, and shoot anyone who tries to escape in that direction.
Yes, sir.
Your Captain McIntosh will lead the right flank.
McIntosh? Yes, sir.
You don't approve? He struck me as a very steady soldier.
Sir, he is.
It's just that, I don't think he's as concerned about the Indian problem as we are.
Oh? (HORSES NEIGHING) Colonel.
Captain.
Everything in order here? Ready and waiting, sir.
I trust you grasp the importance of your position? You're not to let one single redskin slip through these lines.
I understand, sir.
Will they be heavily armed? Armed? They're Indians.
Shoot them down.
Of course, sir.
What I meant to say was will they be mounting an attack in my direction? Captain McIntosh, listen to me.
When those cannons fire, there's gonna be a great deal of confusion.
I intend to compound that in the center.
In all that confusion, many of those Indians are going to attempt to run off in your direction.
And it's your duty to gun them down.
All of them.
I do hope you understand.
Yes, sir.
We can't let them live to fight another day.
I know these dogs.
I've dealt with them before.
The Arapaho, Colonel? No, the Sioux.
They're all the same.
I was a farmer in Minnesota.
One night they swept down on us.
They burned my farm.
They murdered my mother and my father and my wife and my little girl.
And they left me and my son for dead.
But we survived.
Somehow we survived.
For this.
Colonel? Are you all right, sir? It'll be sunrise soon.
Gentlemen, we are engaged in a great venture.
We have it in our power to make this glorious nation safe forever from these predators.
God is on our side.
Remember that always.
LIEUTENANT: Fire! (CANNONS EXPLODING) Fire! (PEOPLE SCREAMING) Forward! Stop.
Stop.
We have no guns! (CHANTING) They're slipping away on the right.
Where's McIntosh? Where the hell is McIntosh? CLARK: Colonel's compliments, sir, and why hasn't the right flank engaged yet? Because the right flank refuses to slaughter unarmed civilians.
I'm to remind the Captain that he's under direct orders.
Fine.
The Captain's been reminded.
But, sir What are you doing with them? Captured prisoners, sir.
Nits grow into lice.
Kill them.
(BABIES SCREAMING) (GUN FIRING) More orders, Private? No, sir.
I was wondering if I could be attached to your command for the rest of the battle, sir.
Sure, lad.
Thank you, sir.
Are you all right? You look a little pale.
I'm trying not to be sick, sir.
We should all be sick this day.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) Thank you, but our victory over the Indians was God's work.
I am merely his humble right arm.
I'm Colonel Skimmerhorn.
Yes, sir.
I'm here to escort General Wade to Camp Wells.
Has he arrived yet? Yes, sir, he has.
He's over there.
General, Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn, sir.
Yes, I heard the shouting.
You're a very popular man, Colonel.
You'll be running for President before we know it.
Oh, not an unlettered old reprobate like me, sir.
Of course, Mr.
Lincoln is not exactly a Harvard graduate himself, is he? Not exactly.
I hope you found your suite acceptable, sir.
I thought you'd be more comfortable here than at the camp.
Very acceptable, thank you.
I must tell you how personally honored I felt when I heard that Washington was sending an officer of your stature to preside over these two court-martials.
Washington considers them both very important, Colonel.
So does the Colorado Territory, sir.
In my opinion, there hasn't been a traitor to compare to McIntosh or Mercy since Benedict Arnold.
Yes, I've been reading your charges, Colonel.
"Consorting with the enemy.
"Refusal to obey a direct order.
"Cowardice?" Strong meat.
McIntosh's actions were most reprehensible, I think.
That's why I've recommended that the court deal with him first.
He placed our entire operation in jeopardy.
If it hadn't been for the bravery of men like Captain Abel Tanner, Lost Eagle's warriors might have overwhelmed us in the end.
I see the name "Zendt" here.
Civilian? Yeah, another of Mercy's Indian-loving cohorts.
I've placed his trading post out of bounds to all Army personnel.
However, I couldn't stop civilians from dealing with the man.
But I don't think he'll do us any damage now that Lost Eagle's been defeated.
Good.
I'm ready.
Shall we push on? After you, sir.
(PEOPLE CHEERING) Ditch.
That's all I need.
A great big ditch.
Great big ditch.
That's what I need.
The whole valley? Why not? It just doesn't seem possible.
Nothing's possible till you try it.
I'm just asking for a chance, Levi.
And I'm paying you good money.
Darn good money.
Too good, Hans.
That dry land has never produced anything but agony.
Ah! She'll produce like any other stretch of land if we get the water to it.
I don't know.
You don't have to know.
I know.
I can harness that river just like a team of plow horses.
I got up in a cottonwood and I saw for myself.
That land drops back and I can cut a channel that'll flow right through her.
I'll use what I need and put the rest right back into the Platte.
See, that's pretty smart.
Ha! I wonder why nobody ever thought of that before.
Probably because they didn't have to.
I got no place else to start again, Levi.
My family's coming.
This is gonna be our home.
And it's gotta work.
And I'll make it work.
That dry land that you hold title to.
Will you sell it to me? I'll sell you my half.
But you'll have to ask Lucinda about the other half.
Sorry.
It's all right.
I'm all right now.
(CLEARS THROAT) Hans, have you met my sister? This is Major Mercy's wife, Lisette.
How do you do.
Hans Brumbaugh.
Excuse us, ladies.
Lucinda, when you get a minute So then what did you say to him? I told him that I thought he was wrong.
I said, "Captain McIntosh, "you must fight for this thing with Max! "If you let the Army throw you out now, "they'll call you a traitor, "a coward for as long as you live.
" What about the new general they've brought in? Well, Max says that he'll be as good a judge as he can be.
It's just two junior officers' words against a Colonel's.
You know who they'll believe.
McIntosh can't find anyone to speak up for him.
Yeah, well, young Clark would burn their ears.
Young who? Oh, I'm sorry, I beg your pardon, ma'am.
I was thinking out loud.
Well, what did you mean? Come on, Hans, it may be important.
Well, I don't know how important it will be, but I did come across a young fella who was in the battle, and he said that this Captain McIntosh was the only sane man there.
Yeah, go on.
Well, that That's all.
I came across this young boy.
He was alone and he was down by the river and he was crying.
So I came over and I asked him if he was sick and he said, yes, he was, and he didn't think he'd ever get well again after the things he'd seen.
What was his name again? Clark.
James Arthur Clark, sir, Private.
First Colorado Volunteers.
There's nothing to be nervous about, Private Clark.
Just you take your time.
Now, during the so-called Battle of Rattlesnake Cliffs, what exactly was your duty? Courier, sir.
And in your capacity as Courier, did you have occasion to visit Captain McIntosh's position? I Yes, sir.
Tell us about it.
Well, Colonel Skimmerhorn seen some Indians skedaddling through a gap on the right and he sent me over to see why Captain McIntosh hadn't engaged yet.
You talked to Captain McIntosh? Oh, yes, sir.
I informed him of the Colonel's orders to block up the gap but he said he wouldn't.
Major O'Neil, is this man a witness for the defense or the prosecution? For the defense, sir.
Bear with me, please.
Very well, continue.
Private Clark, did Captain McIntosh offer any excuse for refusing to block up the gap? Yes, sir.
He He said he refused to slaughter unarmed civilians.
But these Indians were warriors, weren't they? No, sir.
They were women and little kids, old men.
Of course they were armed? No, sir.
I never seen so much as a bow and arrow in that camp.
Couple of rocks, that's all.
Private Clark, I want to remind you that you're under oath.
You have sworn before God to tell the truth here.
Are you telling the truth? Yes, sir.
You saw unarmed Indians killed in this raid? Yes, sir.
Killed with their hands raised, some of them scalped.
Scalped while they was still alive.
Women? Children? CLARK: Yes, sir.
Captain Tanner's men got a hold of these two little kids and they told Colonel Skimmerhorn they were prisoners.
But the Colonel said, "Nits grow into lice.
" And Captain Tanner said, "Kill them.
" And they shot them both in the head.
Oh, God! (CLARK SOBBING) Major 'O Neil, I presume you're going to offer corroborating witnesses? If I can find men brave enough to testify, General, yes.
MERCY: But if the Court is asking for me, it must be obvious McIntosh's trial is over.
Yes, sir.
Captain, can't you at least tell me what the verdict was? I wasn't authorized to do that, sir.
General just said to come over to the guardhouse and bring you back on the double.
WADE: Unfortunately, Colonel, this court has no authority to punish a member of the Territorial Militia.
All it can do is to dismiss utterly the ridiculous charges that you have brought against two distinguished officers and to revoke the ill-advised orders that placed you in temporary command here and to pray that the people of Colorado will have the good sense to dismiss you from your position before you can do any further harm.
Court's adjourned! Thank you.
Thank you.
Congratulations.
(ULULATING) Thank you for coming.
What does the Army say this time? They've authorized me to agree to any terms I believe necessary to bring these raids to an end.
This war.
This war, yes.
Any terms? Money within reason.
Land.
Guarantees.
Skimmerhorn's head.
That's not a term.
That's justice.
Mercy, you're a fair man.
Who do you blame for what has happened? Skimmerhorn.
You believe he should be punished? Yes.
Has the Army punished him? No.
They have removed him from command.
Did they remove the other soldiers or the cannon? No.
That's the one term we have.
Skimmerhorn's head.
That's the one term I cannot grant.
You know that.
Then the war goes on.
MERCY: Jake.
It can't go on.
It must not go on.
Because you can't win.
We're winning.
We didn't call this talk.
You're winning now.
Maybe.
But time's against you, Broken Thumb.
More and more settlers are moving in.
More and more soldiers will be sent to man the forts when the Confederacy's defeated.
Don't make the white man kill all your people.
You don't have to kill all our people, Mercy.
Just us.
If you can.
Mike.
Mercy, you tell old Levi the day we spoke of has come.
No one can stop the river.
And this will be a river of blood.
Run for it.
(GUN FIRING) MAN 1: He's done for.
MAN 2: Make sure! I can't get down to him! Well, give him another slug anyway! The Colonel wants him dead.
Get him? Of course.
He's dead! He ain't breathing.
Let's get back to headquarters.
LISETTE: Oh, no.
Max! Oh! It was Injuns.
I was tracing color out there.
Bunch of them chased him and the other men.
Killed the other two.
I got to him as soon as I could, ma'am.
Please, could somebody get a doctor, please? Well, I'm not going to wait till they murder me in my bed! I say we bring the Colonel back here, now! Do something.
Lisette, not Indians.
White men dressed like Indians.
White men? Not Indians.
ALL: (CHANTING) Skimmerhorn! Skimmerhorn! Skimmerhorn! Skimmerhorn! Thank you! Thank you, good People of Colorado! You have all heard the vicious lies told about me.
You have seen the Army itself attempt to blacken my name.
Many of you were present when a young soldier perjured himself against me.
Some of you may even believe that vicious calumny.
ALL: No! (ALL YELLING) Now! Now I understand that I have been charged with dressing up in paint and feathers and shooting Major Maxwell Mercy! No, lies! (ALL SHOUTING) I can tell you this.
I tell you good friends, that I sympathize with the Major.
I can imagine how terrible it must be to trust the redskin all of one's life, only to have that trust betrayed in the end.
And I can only pray that the good Major has finally learned his lesson.
(CROWD LAUGHING) However, I doubt that you came all this way to hear me pray for the good Major.
(CROWD LAUGHING) Now, despite these calumnies you have asked me once again to lead your militia against the savages! ALL: Yeah! Yes! You're all waiting for my answer.
You know what my answer is.
The answer is, yes! (ALL CHEERING) But now, I pledge my sacred honor to you that I will track down and destroy these miscreants if the path leads to the door of hell itself! (ALL CHEERING) Colonel, there's someone here to see you.
He says he's your son.
My son? Where? John! Ah! How are you, Son? You look wonderful.
Yes, so do you, Pa.
You didn't tell me you were due for a leave.
Well, I was just Well, it doesn't matter.
Never mind.
All that matters is you're here with us now.
Come on, I want you to meet my staff.
Yes, what's all this I hear about a private army? Volunteers.
Indian fighters.
Splendid men, all of them.
You see, we had to do something about the Indian raids since the Federals couldn't handle it.
No offense, Lieutenant.
None taken.
Even if the address still applied.
What address? Lieutenant.
I left the Army, Pa.
I wrote you a letter.
I guess it got held up someplace.
I just decided I wasn't cut out to be a soldier.
That's fine.
Fine! Then you can join us.
Come.
Join? Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet my son, John.
Hi.
Your new Chief of Staff.
No.
Now wait a minute.
I don't think I'd You don't have to think.
It's all been decided, John, I don't blame you for resigning your commission.
That was a terrible war.
But this isn't Shiloh.
No, this is This is different.
This is better.
Better! Like shooting rats in a barn, Lieutenant.
Rats? Rats, Indians, they're all the same.
Let me show you this.
You know the name Jake Pasquinel? Yeah.
I think so.
Half-breed, renegade? The devil.
Satan's own son.
Well, we caught up with him today and we damn near annihilated his whole tribe.
Didn't we? (MEN CHUCKLING) I got me enough scalps to make a coat.
You take scalps? Well, if there's one thing an Indian fears most, it's losing his hair.
Anyway, Jake and his brother somehow managed to escape.
We think we have them holed up here now in Fox Canyon.
We're going after them tonight.
And you're coming along.
Wait a minute, Pa Oh, I can't tell you what it means to have you with us.
I need you.
This is a holy Crusade.
A crusade? God is leading me, John.
I mean that literally.
He talks to me.
He comes to me in my tent when I'm alone and He talks to me.
We're doing God's work.
So let's get to it! Jacques, it's finished, isn't it? We must go north, we join the Sioux.
You go down to Zendt and you tell him give us horses and food.
It'll be little for him to pay for all our mother's land.
Levi is our brother.
He won't refuse us.
Here.
You take the rifle.
Oh, no.
It will only slow me down, I'll go down mountain.
Take it.
(HORSES APPROACHING) (MEN GRUNTING) (MEN WHOOPING) Well, good evening, Mr.
Pasquinel.
Beautiful night, isn't it? (MEN LAUGHING) Ah, you've had a fine long run, Jake.
Right now you look a little tired.
Are you ready to go to sleep? I suppose you heard about the trial we had back in town, huh? Your brother-in-law, Mercy and some of his misguided friends rig that.
But not this.
Nobody is going to stand in the way of justice being carried out this time.
(MEN CHEERING) Pa.
John, I'm glad you're here, Son.
Don't do it, Pa.
Don't do it.
Of all people, you know why I have to.
Pa, listen to me.
Listen to a coward? If you haven't got the stomach for soldiering, all right.
But don't go squeamish on me in front of these men.
Pull him up! Mr.
Zendt? Yes? I'm John Skimmerhorn.
My father and his men hanged Jake Pasquinel last night.
A cabin in the mountains, a place called Fox Canyon.
They told me at the hotel Pasquinel was your wife's brother.
I thought she ought to know what happened.
Levi! Here.
Lucinda sent me.
Someone set fire to the trading post.
She's all right! Lisette has the children.
Everyone's safe.
Who did it? Who sent you up here? The son.
Got you away from the place, didn't he? No, I can't believe that.
When he told me what his father did here, he looked as guilty as if he'd done it himself.
Maybe he's a good one, maybe not.
He still has a lot to live down.
Levi.
Mike.
Mike, are you crazy? You shouldn't have come here.
Who burned you out? Skimmerhorn.
His men paid us a little visit after they tracked down Jake.
Jacques's dead, eh? I buried him.
By McKeag's old cabin in Fox Canyon.
I leave him there alone to come here.
We had no We had no horses.
We had nothing.
Everything's over, Mike.
No, no, no.
It's not.
I need a rifle to go on fighting, Levi.
I won't give you one, Mike.
Levi, I need rifle to go on fighting.
I can't fight without a rifle.
The fighting's over, Mike.
You're gonna turn yourself in.
Not to Skimmerhorn.
To the Army.
Levi, they kill me just the way they kill Jacques.
Maybe.
Maybe, maybe not.
At least you'll have a real trial.
You've got no chance at all this way.
No.
Mike, I just can't stand anymore.
It's over.
Why can't you see that? LEVI: We won't even have to go to the Fort, Mike.
There's a Brigadier and his staff in the hotel in Denver.
Mike, please.
Please! Well, Colonel, modesty in a hero is an admirable trait, but I'm afraid my readers are going to want to know exactly how you brought a murdering beast like Jake Pasquinel to bay.
You're embarrassing me, sir.
I assure you it was just a routine maneuver.
No, now we're not going to let you off that easily.
SKIMMERHORN: We had to do something about the murders and the raids.
The federals couldn't handle it.
Anyway, Jake and his brother somehow managed Who's that with Mr.
Zendt? Lord God, it's the other Pasquinel.
Mike! LUCINDA: Mike.
(PEOPLE YELLING) Why? Why? There's your second murdering beast, Mr.
Editor.
But he was trying to surrender.
Didn't you see the white flag? He deserved no quarter, sir, and he received none.
What's wrong with the man? That's Mike Pasquinel.
Don't you realize what I've done? Yes.
Skimmerhorn! Where's your army? Well, Coloradans don't much care for a man who shoots another in the back.
God should have warned you about that.
Don't blaspheme.
I recognized your Indians.
I didn't worry about that.
Your choice, Colonel.
Sabers or pistols? A duel? Well, if you have the courage to face a man with an even chance, yes.
In your condition? At your service, Major.
Max.
Stop it! Stop it.
(COUGHING) (COUGHING) Are you all right? He tried to kill me.
He challenged me.
Dueling's illegal in this Territory.
I want that man arrested.
You're leaving Colorado.
You're not wanted here any longer by anybody.
You can't be serious.
We'll give you two minutes.
And if you aren't gone by then, I expect Mr.
Zendt will have to release his friend there.
As long as I am in charge of the Colorado Territory You were dismissed this morning! I would have expected disloyalty from anyone on earth but you.
At least Judas wasn't the son of Jesus.
You held your mother's scalped head in your lap when she died.
You saw what the Sioux did to your sister, to your grandparents.
And I've heard you brag of doing worse.
You're not my son.
I don't know you.
You're a stranger.
One minute.
I'm going.
I'm going.
The Pasquinels are dead.
My work is done here.
It must be done.
He wouldn't talk to me.
I prayed to Him this morning, but He wouldn't talk to me.
Goodbye, Johnny.
Goodbye, Pa.
I came to kill him.
Weren't for you, I would have.
It wasn't by chance, Max.
We were sent to find you.
By who? They got word at the Fort that Lost Eagle brought his people back to the cliffs, or, what's left of his people.
They want you to go parley with them.
I'd like to go with you, Major.
Of course, John.
You're welcome.
And you, Levi, you'll come? Sure.
(THUNDER RUMBLING) JOHN: Is that all that survived? That's all.
Sir, the United States of America requests a treaty of peace with the Arapaho nation.
Requests? We're your prisoners.
No, sir.
Skimmerhorn is driven out of Colorado.
Out of power.
And he'll never be back.
We have no food.
Supply wagons are on their way from Denver.
They should be here by sundown.
With food, medicine, guns.
All the wars are finished.
All the wars? Even the great war in the South? Yes.
Your President Lincoln must be glad.
President Lincoln is dead.
He gave me this flag.
How strange.
So many men of peace die in war.
Your request is granted.
All the wars are finished.
BOY: Papa, is that ours? BRUMBAUGH: Just about as far as you can see.
You built it yourself, Papa? Every stick.
And you dug the ditch yourself, too? Inch by inch.
It's so big.
All of it.
Come on my princess.
Come on.
You worked very hard.
Well, we always have, haven't we? This time we'll have something to show for it.
Kurt.
Yes, Papa? Come here, Son.
This is your land, too, you know.
And it's a mighty thing what this land is to us and what we are to this land.
It's never gonna be easy here.
The building, the digging, the plowing, the planting, the harvesting.
But it's a mighty thing.
A noble thing.
Maybe the most noble thing there is, after what you and I are to each other.
And it can be the best thing in your life, this land.
But it's gotta be won.
And it's got to be honored.
And it's got to be defended.
Now, I know I don't expect you to understand all that just now.
But you think about it.
Don't you ever forget I said it.
And you think about it as you grow bigger, all right? Yes, Papa.
"Yes, Papa.
" BRUMBAUGH: Yeah, I think you were smart not to try to rebuild the old place, huh? LUCINDA: Oh, we couldn't, Hans.
Not with all those memories.
LEVI: No.
We wanted everything to be new.
Why not? It's a whole new town now.
Lucinda, is that who I think it is? Oliver Seccombe? Oliver Seccombe.
(LAUGHING) Oliver! Where have you come from? Where have you been? Oh, Oregon.
England.
Everywhere.
Levi.
Hello, Oliver.
Hans Brumbaugh, this is Oliver Seccombe.
How do you do.
How do you do.
He came West with Elly and me in '45.
And danced with me at Fort John.
Mmm-hmm.
By the way, I heard about Elly, Levi.
I'm sorry.
And about you two.
Yes, I'm Mrs.
Zendt now.
We have two children.
Good, I'm glad.
Tell us about yourself.
What brings you back to Colorado? Gold, I suppose.
It's always gold.
No, not this time.
But I believe there's been a big strike up at Blue Valley.
The lost mother lode, do you think? I wonder.
Maybe your friend Larkin finally struck it rich, Hans.
Maybe.
Who found it? A black at a place called Dead-Man's Creek.
There was a skeleton lying right across the main vein.
They know who it was? No.
No.
Not even how he died.
Well, if it's not gold you're after, what is the attraction? You're not still writing that book, I hope.
No.
A million acres of grass.
Grass? Mmm-hmm.
There's a very important man in Bristol and London called Lord Venneford who's looking for new investments.
He's already made millions of pounds out of the Empire, India and Australia.
Well, I remembered the plains we crossed and the grass and the buffalo.
You want to market buffalo? Cattle.
There's no cows here.
No, sir.
But they're thick as fleas on the plains of Texas.
And they sell for less than a dollar a head.
I propose to purchase the cattle in Texas drive them north, breed them fatten them up, and sell them to the Army for five, six dollars apiece.
A cattle ranch? Mmm-hmm.
And this Lord Venneford, he's backing you on it? Provided I can get hold of the land cheap enough, yes.
But, Oliver, cheaply? It would take so much land.
And even at 50 cents an acre But I don't intend to spend 50 cents an acre, Lucinda.
I don't have to spend anything at all.
Look There's a marvelous new piece of legislation called the Homestead Act.
If I file a claim, the government will give me 160 acres absolutely free.
But that's not much for a cattle ranch.
You can't feed more than one or two cows on 50 acres of that land.
No, but the trick is to file in the right places.
Now look These red circles represent sources of water.
Now if I file here, for example, the 100,000 acres north of mine will be absolutely worthless.
So your cows will have a 100,000 more acres to stuff themselves with.
Precisely.
Now, Levi, will you help me? You want me to lay a claim on one of those red circles? Mmm-hmm.
In return for shares in the Venneford Ranch.
I admire your courage, Oliver.
All right.
Count me in.
Good! I've lined up some other shareholders.
We'll start filing tomorrow.
Lucky I bought my river land when I did.
Would you consider selling it, sir? No sir, I wouldn't.
I'd give you a large portion of shares in the ranch.
I've tried other trades.
I'm a farmer.
Well, if you should change your mind.
I won't.
Well, now, Levi, I would just like to ask you one more favor, if I may.
What's that? I need someone to go to Texas to bring back the cattle.
Me? I don't know anything about herding cows.
You don't have to.
I mean hire an experienced man.
Let him organize the drive.
You'd be there to protect our investment.
No.
No, not me.
Can you recommend someone? Well, I don't know.
Levi, how about John Skimmerhorn? Skimmerhorn? Isn't he the man that butchered all the Indians? His son.
You trust him? Yeah.
As much as any man I've ever met.
Good.
All right.
That's settled then.
Lucinda, you are looking as ravishing as ever.
Come in and see what we've done.
Thank you.
I think you're as daft as Skimmerhorn's old man.
What? To recommend him? Or to try to bring cattle into Colorado? Both.
(CHUCKLES) Well I tell you, Hans, it's It's a gamble.
But that's why we're all out here, isn't it? We're all gambling.
My store, your farm, Oliver's ranch, this whole new town.
It's like a very wise man once said to me, "Being born's a gamble.
" Every day is a gamble.
I think it'll be worth the risk.