Original subtitles

It's kinda like comin' home, ain't it, ma'am?

There's no place in the world like this.

Well, to tell you the truth, ma'am,

the troops are mighty glad you're comin'.

Colonel Harris is sure getting edgy.

I thought he'd be too busy to miss me.

♪

How's the book work comin', Major?

Well, I'm just trying to figure out

how we're going to break even on this trip.

I hear that, uh, Colonel Harris

has been sent back to Fort Young to command.

Oh, yeah. He's a friend of yours, isn't he?

That's puttin' it mildly.

Jim Bridger and I used to spend a lot of time at the fort.

The colonel and his wife had a big hand in raising me.

Just like I've always told you, Major...

The army never does anything right.

Aw, Charlie, you can't blame the army

for the way Flint turned out.

After all, the army does make mistakes, you know.

You better watch him, Major.

I think he's trying to get out of some work.

Well, now that you mention it, Bill,

I would like to ride up to the fort and say hello to the Harrises.

I haven't seen them since before the war.

Flint, uh, how old is their daughter now?

They don't have one.

Well, you be careful.

I understand the Comanche is gettin' kind of touchy

up in this part of the country.

You don't have to worry about the Comanches.

You're too far south.

They won't give you any trouble at all.

Yeah, I suppose not.

How long do you figure on bein'?

Oh, two or three days.

I oughta be able to meet you at Spring Peak.

Well, you be there, you understand?

I'm not paying you to make social calls.

Major, check the record... You're hardly paying me at all.

Listen you keep your eyes peeled

when you get up in that Red Bow country.

Understand he's got a pretty sister!

Princess!

What do you want?

Howdy. Where's the princess?

The old squaw? Uh-huh.

Not here anymore.

This is my store.

Well, since when?

Since last week.

Do you know where I can find her?

Ha ha. I don't know, mister.

Why don't you go and talk to the army?

They took her away.

Do you want somethin' or don't ya?

What do you mean the army come and took her?

I mean, they took her away when they rounded up all the Injuns.

I reckon she's over at the fort.

Well, don't look at me. I didn't do it.

Ha. Go and talk to the army.

I will.

Where are you going?

I want to talk to one of these women.

Princess?

Princess?

Flint! Flint McCullough!

Whoever heard of a Comanche princess crying?

I sorry. So much happened.

Why are you in here?

Everything wrong, Flint, everything.

Princess, who put you in here?

Colonel Harris.

Why, you must be mistaken. He wouldn't do that.

Flint, Mrs. Harris dead. One week.

Charity?

How?

Comanches.

By...

Princess, what has that got to do with you?

Colonel Harris go wild in head.

You know him once. You no know him now.

He kill wherever.

Shoshones, Comanches... All tribes.

Talk to him!

All right, Princess, I'll talk to him.

Flint, there be war soon.

You my people. Comanches my people.

Where I go? What I do?

I'll talk to him, Princess.

Can I see the colonel, please?

Tell him McCullough, Flint McCullough.

Flint!

Colonel Jim!

Flint, boy.

That'll be all, Major.

It's been a long time.

Well, sit down.

What can I do for you?

I just learned about Charity.

Naturally, it came as a great shock to me.

I know how it feels to have your heart torn out

while you're still alive.

I know how much you loved her.

So did I.

I'm afraid we all did.

Colonel, I just saw the princess.

Maybe you can explain to me why she's a prisoner.

You heard about Red Bow?

Comanche war chief? Yes. What about him?

I mean Red Bow! He's Bowman Lewis!

She didn't tell me that.

Well, I don't suppose she told you

that he's been organizing his forces for war,

that he's a traitor,

that he's been using everything he learned

from his father and me and the army against us!

That he murdered Charity!

I'm sorry, Colonel, I can't believe that.

Would you like to see the Comanche arrows

that I took from her poor...

Get out, Flint.

Don't you get mixed up in it, too.

Don't get mixed up in it.

I've heard you say, "Harry Lewis is the best friend I've ever had,"

and you put his wife in a compound.

Bowman Lewis was almost a brother to me.

Now he's gone back to live with the Comanches.

Then you tell me...

Then you tell me Bowman's Comanches murdered your wife,

and she's about the closest thing I ever had to a mother.

How can you say, "Don't get mixed up in it"?

Colonel, Bowman was...

well, almost like a son to you and Charity.

Do you really believe he could murder her?

She was murdered by Comanches!

Well, what does that prove?

He gives the orders to the Comanche nation!

Nobody else.

Why do you think they sent me back here

to Fort Young after ten years?

Because Red Bow was organizing for war,

and Washington thought that I could keep the peace.

You can.

Not with a savage, murderous, treacherous wild animal!

Not with a traitor!

Is he a traitor because he chooses his mother's people?

He was raised by the army!

I fought for the Confederacy. What does that make me?

That was different.

What's different about it?

Colonel, let me talk to Bowman.

Maybe I can arrange some kind of a conference between you two.

I'm not interested in a peace conference.

Are you interested in a war?

You want to talk to him... all right.

You tell him I want the men who murdered Charity,

and I want him... here at this fort within a week,

or I'll move my entire command against the Comanches.

I'll tell him.

And if he doesn't like it,

you remind him that his mother

may not like a federal prison, either.

You wouldn't do that.

The Comanches murdered my wife,

and they're going to pay!

And so will the entire frontier,

and I doubt your wife would want that.

Take me to Red Bow.

Take me to Red Bow.

Grey Bear tells me you came to see me.

Why?

I don't talked to my friends

with my hands tied, usually.

Grey Bear tells me you want to talk.

I have just come from Fort Young.

I know about Charity.

Oh. Did Colonel Harris tell you?

No. I learned from your mother.

Did you see her?

How is she?

She's a hostage.

The colonel holds you responsible for his wife's murder.

I know.

Flint...

I gave commands to my braves to avoid conflict.

Some of the younger braves, they disobeyed that command.

They rode toward Canada. On the way, they met Charity.

I see.

Does the colonel know that?

Yes. I sent word to him by a party.

And?

He hanged them.

Bowman, I bring a message from the colonel.

If the men responsible for Charity's murder

are not surrendered to the fort in three days,

your mother will be sent to a federal prison,

and the entire regiment will move against the Comanche nation.

What sort of people does he think we are?

If he hurts my mother, I won't leave a white man or a woman alive

between the Missouri and the Rockies.

You two learn very well from each other.

He wants to butcher the entire Indian world

because of his wife's murder,

and you want to butcher the whites because of your mother.

I thought you wanted to help the Comanches?

With your attitude, you'll destroy them.

This is a Comanche war lance.

It breaks easily... by itself.

This is Crow. This is Ute. This is Blackfoot.

Together, they do not break.

Already the Apaches are here.

Warriors, not negotiators.

Already I talk to the chiefs of the other tribes.

All differences are forgotten.

Nations will become one nation.

Oh, you'll talk to us, Flint.

You and Harris and the rest!

Or you'll have more war than you can handle!

There's been talk of an Indian confederation for years.

It won't stop the colonel.

This is not just talk.

Already I have an army.

In two months, perhaps three, I'll have a great army,

and then we'll talk from a position of strength.

If you move against the colonel now,

your confederation will be destroyed before it is even born.

Talk to him.

What is your interest in this?

What is my interest in it?

You're as good a friend as I've ever had,

and the colonel's been almost a father to me,

and you ask me what my interest is.

Do you expect me to stand by

while you two hack at each other

until one or both of you is destroyed?

Bowman, talk to him. What have you got to lose?

You tell Jim Harris that my chiefs and I

will meet him at Sublette Wells in three days.

If he wants to talk, we'll talk,

but if he wants to fight...

He'll talk.

I hope so.

We really want peace, Flint.

Now it's up to Harris and his government.

Don't kid yourself, Bowman.

It takes two to make a quarrel

and two to patch one up.

Move it along.

Karl.

Hello, Princess.

How are they treating you?

I know nothing.

What of Bowman?

I don't know.

Look, don't worry about it.

This will all blow over soon. We'll get you out of there.

No.

Flint, boy!

Karl Boehmer!

I heard you was around. I've been on patrol.

And I heard you got another rocker. Congratulations!

I got it tattooed to my arm.

Oh, yeah? You're looking good.

Well, I feel pretty good.

Hey, what's that all about?

What?

The Utes. Why are they locking them up?

Oh, them. Well, it ain't healthy to be an Indian around here lately.

You know about Mrs. Harris.

Yeah, but what's that got to do with them?

I've been with the colonel a long time.

He took it real bad, real bad, Flint.

So did I.

So did I.

So did the princess and so did Bowman.

Maybe we better talk about something else.

Somebody's gotta talk about it!

If we don't, the colonel's gonna rip the high plains wide open.

I'm just a sergeant, boy.

You're more than a sergeant, Karl. You're his friend.

No, I ain't. Not since Charity died.

I say, "Yes, sir," and I say, "No, sir," and that's all I say.

That goes for everyone else around here.

He lost a lot more than his wife out there.

Now what's that supposed to mean?

I gotta check in with the troop.

We'll have a beer together sometime.

You say he has some Jicarilla warriors already with him?

At least 200 that I've seen myself.

And he talked to the Blackfeet and the Utes?

Among others.

Understand, Major, I'm not playing spy for the army.

I brought you a message from Bowman.

He'll meet you at Sublette Wells in two days.

What do you think, Major?

I think we ought to talk with him.

You do?

With the colonel's permission...

that's what you were sent out here for, sir.

I was sent here to use my own judgment!

Then why don't you use it?

Colonel, I'll tell you again,

Bowman cannot possibly comply with your demands.

The braves you ask for aren't even in the country anymore.

Colonel, you can't order Bowman around.

He's not a little boy playing at the fort anymore.

He's an Indian chief.

A half-naked politician.

I've been fighting politicians all my life.

Then you ought to know the way to win with them

is with words, not bullets.

All right. Go to Bowman.

Tell him I'll meet him at Sublette Wells.

And you'll talk peace?

To talk peace.

I'll tell him with pleasure.

Jim, it's a good thing McCullough showed up when he did.

You think so?

Of course I do.

Yes, of course.

Major, I want three troops,

mounted to ride to Sublette Wells,

combat ready, and two guns!

What?

Don't you hear well, Major?

Or is it that you disapprove of my tactics?

I just don't understand them.

Well, then I'll make them clear to you.

All the leaders of the Comanche nation

will be at Sublette Wells in two days.

Major, the way to kill a rattlesnake is to cut off its head!

McCullough's brought Red Bow out into the open where I can get at him,

and that's exactly what I'm going to do!

Jim, you gave him your word.

If you think I'm going to let him

muster the combined strength

of all the tribes against us,

you're badly mistaken.

The Comanches have butchered their last woman,

if I have to kill every Indian old enough to draw a bow.

Now, you have your orders, Major.

Carry them out.

I'll get him for you, Charity,

I swear I will!

HARRIS: Forward ho!

He must think me the fool.

He comes well-prepared to talk peace.

I don't understand, Bowman. He gave his word.

He wants to fight, we'll fight.

No, you let me talk to him.

You've done everything you can, Flint.

Now you stay out of it...

You have nothing to lose. Let me talk to him.

All right.

But if he keeps coming, we'll be waiting for him.

This time we have enough braves to make it stick.

All right.

Halt.

Is this the way you keep your word, Colonel?

Bowman knows what a battalion means as much as I do.

What are you doing out here?

Tryin' to save your neck.

You better clear out of here, Flint.

You think the Comanches are just sitting waiting for you?

Bowman's got the Jicarilla Apaches with him.

If you keep moving, you'll move right into an ambush.

Do you think I'm a fool?

You've been using this tribal confederation myth

to keep me from punishing your Comanche friends.

It's no myth, Colonel.

I don't like bleeding hearts.

They can't be trusted.

Sergeant Boehmer.

Yes, sir? Arrest this man.

Keep him confined to a supply wagon until we've made contact.

I warned you colonel.

Come along, son.

I'm telling the truth, Karl.

You're moving right into an ambush.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Well, isn't there something you can do about it?

I am. I'm following orders.

Yeah. Well, so did Custer's men.

That's right.

Forward ho!

What if McCullough is right?

About the confederation?

Doesn't exist.

About the ambush.

Our scouts are out, Mr. Shegan.

If there are Indians out there, they'll let us know.

Wait!

Rapid fire to the flanks!

Kill them!

Colonel Harris!

Bugler, sound withdraw!

Come on, Colonel.

Colonel, look!

Are you all right?

Yeah, I'm all right.

Take a look.

Now you see why the army does not worry me anymore.

I wouldn't look too close, Bowman.

You'll recognize the faces of a lot of your friends.

You will come with me.

McCullough's going with them, sir.

Well, why shouldn't he? He brought them here.

You saw it, Major. We'll hang him for it!

At least they didn't turn him over to the squaws.

I'm sorry I cannot help your men, Karl,

but they must take the same chances as my warriors in battle.

Any sign of Harris?

We never found his body.

Then he'll be back.

I hope so.

You won't be so glad if he shows up with reinforcements.

The butcher is proud. He will not beg for help.

He won't have to.

All he has to do is wire and say the situation is out of hand.

Bowman, you've had your revenge.

Why don't you quit while you're still ahead?

Why? Already we have an army.

In another month, we'll have a great army.

Robert E. Lee had a great army, too.

I know something about hopeless fights.

You can't possibly win.

But we can die, and we can take every white man

west of the Missouri with us.

Flint...

You don't have to stay here.

I'd better stay here. I'm a white man.

It makes my position clear.

You ought to go, son.

Just because I know Harris is wrong

doesn't mean I think he's right.

They're going to slit our throats before this is done.

Ooh.

Jim, the surgeon told you to keep that arm in a sling.

It'll be all right in a couple of days.

Princess, come in, come in.

That'll be all, trooper.

Sit down, Princess.

You heard what happened.

I heard.

A lot of good men were killed out there, unnecessarily.

You cannot blame Bowman.

You made him do it.

You're right, Princess.

I don't deny it.

I wanted to come back here to Fort Young.

You didn't know that, did you, Princess?

When I learned that Bowman had become chief of the Comanche.

To kill here?

Of course not.

I thought Bowman would listen to me.

Princess, when your husband died,

I looked on Bowman as a little part of him

that I... I could never lose.

He still had you.

But he needed a father.

Just as I needed a son.

What father wants to kill his son?

What son kills his father's wife?

Bowman not kill Charity any more than I.

I sorry for you.

It doesn't matter who killed her.

We all made mistakes. I more than anybody else.

Locking you up, blaming all the Indians for Charity's...

for what happened to Charity.

I hope it's not too late.

For what?

I have a message here for your son.

I ask him to come to the fort to make peace.

He not believe you. I do not.

I don't blame you after what happened at Sublette Wells,

but defeat can be a great teacher.

You know what will happen if the Comanche take the path of war.

Princess... we used to mean a lot to each other.

You and your husband, Bowman,

Charity, and myself.

Flint.

And look at us now.

There's a little time left, Princess,

but now very much.

If my son come, will he be safe?

On my love for Charity, I swear that he will.

He can come, and he can go...

No matter what comes of our talks.

I can make a treaty, Princess.

I have the authority...

but peace is up to you and Bowman.

Suppose it were Charity asking you this, Princess,

instead of me...

It's in her name that I ask it.

You tell Bowman that.

All right. I go.

You won't be sorry, Princess.

I promise you that.

Major, you'll ride with the princess

and bring me Bowman's reply.

Gladly, Colonel.

I think you've done the only sensible thing, Jim.

So do I, Major.

Does he tell the truth?

I think he does.

Colonel Harris is a man of his word.

I know what sort of man Harris is.

Sergeant Boehmer!

Major, hello.

Glad to see you're all right, Major.

McCullough, I figured I'd see you here.

Major, if you think Flint betrayed you, you're wrong.

He tried to warn you.

You didn't exactly treat him as an enemy.

BOEHMER: You got it crossed up, Major.

Flint's being held here the same as the rest of us.

Flint, read this from Harris.

"Red Bow, Chief of the Comanche nation.

"The Comanches have won a notable victory,

"proving that their chief remembers well

"the lessons he learned at his old friend's knee,

"but more soldiers will come, and more,

"until the Indian sinks under a sea of cavalrymen,

"until the nations of the plains are but a legend.

"Does the chief remember the lessons he learned as a boy?

"Long before the War Between the States,

"Charity Harris...

"told two small boys,

"'Even if war comes, remember, you are friends,

'remember what you mean to one another.'"

"And let us talk, please, Bowman Lewis,

"for my friendship for your dead father

"and yours for my dead wife.

"Come to Fort Young in the name of peace

and in... and in the name of Charity"?

In the name of Charity.

Is it a trick?

I don't know.

There's no trick.

My son, I think it is as Major says.

Bowman...

you have a responsibility...

to your people.

If you don't at least try and negotiate this

and the war should come,

then the blood of many people, yours and mine,

will lie on your head.

Do not go, Red Bow.

The butcher baits his trap with a spirit of a dead squaw.

Already the tribes gather.

The Jicarilla Apaches are here now.

The Crow are on the way.

They are separate like the fingers on a hand.

Old grievances die hard.

Tell Jim Harris I'll meet him at the fort in two days.

Harris has released my mother,

so I send him Sergeant Boehmer.

The rest of the captives will stay here.

You won't be sorry.

Is not for me to be sorry.

If there's any treachery...

the fingers on the hand will close into a fist...

and will fall with such a force,

that it will shake your very nation!

Got him!

Got him!

That's the way to finish a jackal, Major.

Don't hunt him! Trap him!

Sir!

He'll want a reception, certainly,

one befitting a man of his station.

Well, "B" Troop will line the parade ground,

and "A" Troop will be at the walls.

The minute he's inside the gate, Major,

we'll take him!

You can't be serious!

And McCullough will be with him!

Both of them! Perfect! Ha ha!

What did I tell you, Major?

I told you we'd see them hang, didn't I?

Didn't I?!

You can't do this, Jim. You gave them your word.

Don't speak to me of my word, Major.

That filthy renegade has murdered his last white woman.

I don't owe him anything but a rope.

There is such a thing as honor!

This is a soldier's honor!

As long as I'm in command of this post,

it's the only honor that counts!

Or has he gotten to you the same way he did to McCullough?

I know you, Shegan.

All along you've been bleeding for the poor Indian.

Make peace. Let 'em go on butchering.

Are you a fool or a traitor?

Anybody but a fool would know

you can't make peace with wild animals!

A fool or a traitor, which one are you?!

I am a soldier, sir.

Very well, Major.

Then act like one!

You have your orders.

Yes, sir.

MAN: Troops, atten-hut!

Present arms!

Order arms!

Red Bow is here.

So I see.

Lieutenant Roberts!

Carry out your orders!

Gates closed!

"In the name of Charity."

Lieutenant Roberts, put them in the hole.

Come on.

I'm sorry.

Doesn't matter.

You wouldn't have come here

if I hadn't talked you into it.

I would have come anyway.

What happens to one man is not important.

What is important that my people know what to expect

from a man like Colonel Harris.

Bowman...

It'll be a long ride.

You may not enjoy it.

Leave him alone.

If your friends try to free you, you'll be shot.

Oh, Bowman, since you're such an important man,

you'll get a private compartment

all the way to Fort Kearney.

Flint...

you'll have to ride on the wagon,

but you're not a chief.

You're only a traitor!

Will you get away from here?!

Must be warm down there.

I'll get you boys some water,

as soon as we get to Fort Kearney.

Well, trooper?

Nothing, sir.

He tries to escape or any Indians show up,

shoot him.

Right there in the cage like he is?

That's the order!

That ain't right, Sergeant.

I don't care what kind of an Injun he is.

Major, I've been in this man's army

since Andy Jackson was a pup,

and I ain't question no orders yet, only...

Yes?

If I was you, I'd kinda keep an eye on Colonel Harris.

Sergeant Boehmer. Yes, sir.

Colonel Harris is your commanding officer.

And mine.

That's what worries me.

You understand that if you try to escape, you'll be shot?

I'm not worried about a court-martial, Colonel,

but I think they'll be interested in the way you handle things.

I'll worry about that when the time comes.

Colonel Harris!

Indians!

There's your myth, Colonel.

You don't stand a chance.

Where'd they all come from?

McCULLOUGH: Utes...

Comanches...

Apaches...

Those up in the hills there are Crows.

Your men will be cut to ribbons.

We're here to fight Indians, aren't we?

Colonel, you don't mean to go out there?

Major, this is the United States Cavalry.

We don't wait for the enemy to come to us.

Get the troops ready to move.

Yes, sir.

Sergeant, have the troops ready to fall in.

Troopers, prepare to mount!

On the double!

Company, attention!

Men, we took a beating the other day,

but not because we were outfought.

We were betrayed!

Now, there isn't a man here

who didn't lose friends at Sublette Wells,

and there isn't a man here who doesn't want to avenge them!

There'll be no treachery today.

They're waiting to meet us in open battle.

To us falls the honor

of crushing the Indian power forever!

Today! Now!

Sergeant Boehmer.

Yes, sir.

You will ride beside the wagon.

When the first shot is fired, you will kill Red Bow.

Yes, sir.

Major Shegan, mount the troops.

Prepare to mount!

Mount!

You men listen to me!

There must be 3,000 braves out there,

the warriors of a half a dozen tribes!

You don't stand a chance against them!

Shut up, McCullough!

You go outside of these gates, and they'll slaughter you!

There must be ten of them for every one of you!

You don't stand a chance!

Sergeant Boehmer, shoot that man!

Shoot him, that's an order!

No, sir.

As you wish, Sergeant.

Men, Colonel Harris is ill.

In accordance with the appropriate articles of war,

I hereby assume command of this post.

Colonel, if you'll accompany to the post's surgeon.

I'll accompany you to hell!

Sergeant Boehmer.

Yes, sir?

Take Colonel Harris to the post hospital.

Treat him kindly, understand?

Of course, sir.

Flint...

better have those hands taken care of.

Release, Red Bow.

Well, Bowman...

it's been good to see you, in spite of everything.

It's a good treaty.

Perhaps we'll have peace for a little while.

Let's hope a long one.

SHEGAN: Oh, Flint.

General Collins wants a word with you both before you leave.

Major Shegan tells me of the close personal relationship

that each of you once had with Ji...

Well, with the former post commander.

I hope you won't judge him too harshly.

There are many ways to fall in battle, and...

Jim Harris's way was perhaps the worst.

I know. I feel sorry for him.

Are you? I'm glad.

He was a good soldier.

There any hope for him?

The Surgeon-General reports that Jim

won't be in the hospital for a long time.

Now, there will be peace, Mr. Lewis?

The Indian will not break the treaty.

Good.

General.

♪