Original subtitles

MAJOR ADAMS: The story of Tom Tuckett

properly belongs here,

along the banks of the Caw River in 1854.

He was ten years old.

Not another sound, you little devil,

or I'll cut your throat!

They're after me with dogs, guns.

They don't need assistance from the likes of you.

Now, mind you, not a sound!

You know what a file is?

Can you get one and bring it here?

And some food. I haven't eaten for two days.

You mind what I say.

You bring me what I need, you hear?

Don't tell anybody what you're doing...

or I'll creep into your house in the dark of night

and roast you alive!

Go on!

What's your name, boy?

Speak up.

T-Tuck, sir.

Tuck? They did better than that for you.

What's the rest of it?

Tom Tuckett.

What's your father do?

My father's dead, and my mother.

Who's raising you?

My sister.

I won't forget you, Tom.

Oh... sir, I wish you would.

You run along home, now, boy.

I won't bother you further.

My file! You kept my file!

Major Adams? Yes?

My name is Tuckett, Tom Tuckett.

Well, Tom Tuckett, I'm sure glad to see you, my golly.

I was told to present myself to you.

I've been expecting you for a week.

My trip from New York took longer than I would've believed possible.

I was told to buy you a wagon and supplies

and get a driver for you.

And oh, yes. Here, this'll tell you

where you're supposed to go when you get to San Francisco.

Mm-hmm.

I don't suppose you're going to tell me who made these arrangements.

Well, they were made by an attorney in St. Louis.

Yes, they're always made by an attorney somewhere.

I was given to understand

that your benefactor didn't want

his or her identity made known.

Just out of curiosity, Major,

do you know who it is?

Well, son, if I did I wouldn't tell you.

I know.

It's always the same answer.

Well, your wagon's right down here.

I'll show it to you.

You know, Major, when I was still a youngster,

a lawyer suddenly appeared at our home in Kansas

and told my sister

that I had a mysterious benefactor

who wanted me to be well educated

and have a good start in life.

Well, we asked then who the benefactor was

and got the same answer you just gave me.

That was 15 years ago.

It's a long time to be getting the same frustrating answer.

Yes, I suppose it is,

but you don't seem to have suffered any by it.

Oh, no, I can't say as I have.

I've been raised by a series of schoolmasters.

I've had not only the necessities,

but many of the luxuries of life.

Well, here's another one for you... your wagon.

Oh, it's very nice!

The driver I hired is named Wes Ingall.

He's an old timer and he's a good man.

Oh, yes, there's some friends of yours

from your hometown traveling with the train,

a Miss Stevenson and her niece.

Elizabeth! That's the girl's name.

They're just four wagons down if you want to see them.

You know, I wonder if Miss Stevenson could be the...

Four wagons down.

Well, thank you, Major.

Is, uh, is this the Stevenson wagon?

Tom! Elizabeth!

It's good to see you, Tom.

Elizabeth!

Well, is that all you have to say to me after all these years?

Well... give me time!

I haven't seen you since you were...

Well, how old were you the last time

Miss Stevenson brought you to New York?

Fourteen.

And you're going to San Francisco, too?

Yes.

I can't believe it.

Do you remember the first thing you ever said to me?

You told me I was a common little laboring boy

with thick boots.

Well, I could hardly

say anything like that about you now.

Anyway, I've learned better manners.

I'm awfully glad to see you again, Elizabeth.

Come in and see Miss Stevenson.

Can you imagine, going to California at her age!

What made her decide to go?

Elizabeth? Coming, Miss Stevenson.

She's been asking for you every day.

How did she know I was coming?

Major Adams told us

when he found out we were from the same town.

Hello, Miss Stevenson.

Well, Tuck.

Well, well.

So you're a man now.

You've improved since you were a boy,

I'll say that for you.

Do you find him improved, Elizabeth?

I find him charming. Why wouldn't I?

Not so coarse and common, eh?

You're surprised to find us here, aren't you?

Yes, I am.

I didn't think you'd ever leave your house.

I didn't. I brought it with me.

Look about you.

One clock I used to watch when I was young

stopped at the hour when my heart stopped beating.

One candelabra.

It used to light the face that turned toward mine

to remind me that light

can mask a hundred treacheries.

One pillow on which I used to dream

to remind me that tears

are the scalding aftermath of dreams.

These form the walls that shut me in.

This is my house. Look at it, Tuck.

It's what a man leaves a woman

if she's a silly creature who loves and trusts!

But it was all so long ago!

Yes.

So long ago.

Yes, you've improved.

You've learned how to dress,

how to talk,

how to look at a woman.

He's learned more than that.

He's a lawyer now.

You had a benefactor, I am told.

I was hoping you could tell me the name

of that benefactor, Miss Stevenson.

And Elizabeth.

Would you say Elizabeth had improved, Tuck?

I would say Elizabeth is more beautiful than even my memories.

Then love her. Love her!

If she favors you, love her.

Don't. Please, don't!

I adopted her to be loved.

I bred her, educated her to be loved.

Love her! Love her!

Love her!

Love her!

When she was young and beautiful,

she stood waiting in her wedding gown,

waiting and waiting and waiting.

Finally, when she realized,

she went into her room.

She shut the door and drew the curtains.

And year after year she sat there, hating

and withering away.

When I was first sent to New York,

I thought perhaps she'd made the arrangements.

She was the only one I knew who had the means.

Why would she do it?

Well, she, uh..

She seemed to like me as a boy.

Like you?

She would destroy all men if she thought she could.

Elizabeth, the last time you were in New York,

I told you someday I'd come after you.

We were children.

I've loved you from the first moment I saw you.

I have no comprehension of the word love.

It seems to me a delusion that people grasp and cling to.

It has no reality.

When you find it, it's the only reality.

I will never love anyone.

I've been brought up without a heart.

I can't believe that's possible.

Then you're a fool.

Be warned, Tuck.

I do not desire love,

and I have no love to give.

I've been raised by a woman

who wanted me to learn just one thing...

How to hurt,

and I've learned that lesson very well.

The man who loves me will pay for the man

who did not love her.

Forget me, Tuck,

and that's the kindest thing I'll ever say to you.

Forget you!

I thought I'd found a friend in you, Tuck.

If you're not my friend,

then I have no friend anywhere.

Then I'm your friend.

There must be honesty between friends.

You hear those drums?

Yeah, they're Ottawa.

Ottawa, in this part of the country?

They range from here to Canada.

They're sending word about us.

What kind of word?

That we're gonna be in the territory for the next 20 moons.

What the Sam Hill does that mean?

Means that somebody wants to keep track of us.

Do you think there's anything bothering them?

I don't know. I haven't seen any sign of a war party,

but... wouldn't hurt

if I ride up ahead and see what's going on.

Why don't you do that? I will.

Come on!

Colonel. Adams.

Uh, McCullough checking on those drums?

Yeah.

Glad to go with him if there's any trouble.

Well, Colonel, I think if McCullough gets into any trouble,

he's a lot better off alone than he would be

with a half a dozen of you cavalry boys riding along.

Ah. Well, it's your outfit.

We're just passengers like anyone else.

Wanted to say we're ready to help in any way we can.

Thanks a lot. I hope we don't have to call on you.

The message you are waiting for has come.

Wagon train in Idaho country.

Good. I'm all ready.

You are in danger if you cross the border.

It's been 15 years.

Army offer big bounty for your capture.

Even among Indians it is known.

The army's forgotten all about me by now.

Let the drum say that Black Hawk, chief of the Ottawa,

begs all tribes to protect the life of Burkett,

friend of all Indians.

Let the Sioux, the Comanche,

the Kiowa, the Cheyenne,

the Ottawa watch over his journey,

and if he is in danger, let all Indians rise up to protect him.

Watch him. Guard him! Protect him!

And if need be, attack.

Well, you're dirtier than I thought you was.

I'll have to boil you a few more hours.

I didn't know you were washing tonight.

Why didn't you tell somebody?

I'm just doing my own personal things.

I'll be right back.

Never mind, never mind!

Hey, Charlie, I didn't know it was a wash night.

It's not. A man can have a little personal time, can't he?

I wondered why you were so doggone quiet tonight.

Bill, don't you throw them dirty things in.

I've been boiling my clothes for hours.

Charlie, these clothes aren't dirty.

You washed them for me last month.

Stop it! Stay away from my under-drawers.

A man's washtub is his castle.

What's all the ruckus? What's going on?

Charlie's washing clothes tonight.

Jumpin' Jehosephat! Wait for me!

Big blabbermouth! Look out, Charlie.

Now you've gone and fouled everything!

Doggone it! Listen, don't forget...

Why, Charlie, this is yours.

Mine? That's a doggone dirty trick.

Get away from my wash-water there!

Now, Charlie, you're not gonna refuse to share

your soap and water with a buddy, are you?

Yes, I am! Nobody shares their soap and water with me.

We don't have any to share,

but Bill, if we had soap and water

we'd share with Charlie, wouldn't we?

That's right, Charlie's our little pal.

Yeah, but remember one thing...

Your little pal only has two hands and two feet.

Two heads, too, Charles.

All right, keep it up.

Keep pouring salt on a sore wound.

I'll run amok around here!

Charlie, you want your friends to be clean, don't you?

You don't all have to be dirty on the same night, do you?

One thing you can always say about Charlie,

when he washes, he washes.

And when I quit, I quit!

Why don't you big bullies pick on somebody your own size!

Well, I'll stir it for him till he cools off.

Oh, drums again, huh?

Yeah, but these are Comanche drums.

Hmm.

They say somebody arrived at the camp.

Who arrived?

Who do they say arrived?

Evidently they know more about it than I do.

They're just saying he arrived safely over and over again.

He? That's what it says.

Well, at least it's not a war party.

No, it isn't.

Maybe we'd better check the camp anyway.

You take that side, I'll take this side.

All right.

Hello, Seth.

Nat! Nat Burkett!

Why, you old son of a gun.

I should've known.

The minute I heard those drums I should've known.

Oh, it's good...

Nat, you're a fool to come here.

I tried not to come.

I did my level best to stay away,

but once I knew the boy

was on the train I just had to come.

Seth, how'd he turn out? What's he like?

Oh, he's a fine-looking boy.

I think he's in love.

But, Nat, you can't stay here.

I've got a bunch of cavalry officers traveling with me.

Well, who's gonna remember after all these years?

Who? Anybody that ever saw you!

Any of these men ever serve with me?

How do I know? A couple of them are senior officers.

They've been around a long time.

You don't think I'm going back without seeing the boy?

You listen to me.

If the army ever gets its hands on you again,

you're gonna hang.

I can never go to San Francisco.

You know that.

I may never get another chance to see the boy.

Is it worth risking your neck, your life?

Yes, it is.

What are you gonna tell the boy?

The truth.

All right.

His wagon's number 11, up the line.

Thanks, Seth.

Don't thank me. If there was any way

to stop you, I'd sure stop you.

If there's any trouble, I won't let you get involved in it.

I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about you.

Well, go on and see him if you got to.

Get it over with, but you stay

out of sight of that cavalry, you understand?

Tuck?

I-I'm sorry, I don't quite place...

Sit down, boy.

Sit down.

This isn't an easy moment for either of us.

Well, uh, if you don't mind,

I think some sort of an explanation is in order.

What are you doing in my wagon?

What do you want?

I've wondered a hundred times what we've have to say

when this moment finally arrived.

Now... well, here it is,

and I don't know what to say.

Obviously you aren't gonna be any help.

Well, who are you?

My name's Nat Burkett.

Am I supposed to recognize that name?

Here, look.

I still have it.

Yeah.

That's the file that you brought me.

I kept it all these years.

You're that convict, the man I met in the marshes.

I told you I wouldn't forget you.

Well, if, uh,

if you've looked me up to thank me,

it really isn't necessary.

And, um, I'm-I'm sure you understand,

I really can't wish to renew our acquaintance.

Well...

You know, Tuck, my boy, that never once occurred to me.

Look here, I'm sorry.

That sounded very rude and harsh.

I didn't mean it that way.

Well, maybe it's a disappointing welcome

after coming so far, but you're not to blame.

Well, um, sit down.

Uh, how have you been living?

Oh, I've been making an honest living.

I've got quite a nice business in furs.

I live in Canada now.

Oh.

May I make so bold as to ask

how you've been doing since we met

on those lonely, shivering marshes?

How?

Yes, how.

Well, I, uh, I came into some property.

Might a mere varmint ask whose property?

Well, I don't actually know that, either,

although I can't really see that it's any of your business.

There was a guardian, I think.

There had to be a guardian while you were a minor.

Was it a lawyer named Pennyworth?

Y... ahem. Yes.

Then when Mr. Pennyworth died,

a Mr. Miles took over for him.

Y-You.

You!

Yes, laddie. I made you a gentleman.

I swore the time that you helped me

that sure as ever I earned a dollar,

that dollar would go to you.

Uh, but why?!

I needed help, and you gave it to me.

From then on, you were my son.

Your son?!

That's the way I felt about it.

Didn't you just once think that it might be me?

Oh, no.

No, no. Never.

I got a nice business

for you in San Francisco,

a partnership in the best law firm in town.

You'll be going to San Francisco with me?

No, I can't do that.

I'm just gonna ride along with you for

a day or two, and then I've gotta go back.

Don't worry.

I didn't come here to embarrass you

or cause you any trouble.

What do you expect to get out of this?

Get out of this?

Well, yes.

You-You... you paid for my life,

planned it, laid it out to suit yourself.

You must've had some purpose.

You must expect something.

All right, Tuck, my boy.

I'll tell you what I expect.

Satisfaction.

And how am I expected to furnish this?

You've already done it.

You're a rare satisfaction, boy.

You've come a long way,

and you're going a long way.

And I did it.

When I was first over the border in Canada,

I worked as a common laborer.

The quality would pass me by,

and I'd think, "I'm making

a better gentleman than you'll ever be."

I may not be a gentleman,

but I'm the owner of such.

You're what I've made of you, Tuck.

That's my satisfaction.

I see.

What you made of me.

I thought Miss Stevenson was my benefactor.

I thought she'd sent me away to be educated

because she wanted me to marry Elizabeth.

Seems to me... you're disappointed.

I hope you didn't let Nat see what I see.

Well, how could I help it?

How would you like to have a convict look

at you and say that he made you, he owned you?

Convict? Heh.

That's a strange word to apply to Nat Burkett.

Is it? The last time I saw him he had a ball and chain around his...

And you were ten years old and you brought him a file,

and for that he'll bless you the rest of his life.

To repay you, he gave you a life far and beyond

anything you had a right to expect,

and because of that you're disappointed,

you dislike him, you hate him.

Major Adams, I don't like myself

any more right now than you do.

Perhaps eventually I'll be able

to be grateful, but at this moment...

Tuck, this is the most crucial moment of your life, boy!

Suddenly all the loose ends are pulled together.

You've got the answers you've wanted so long.

Now you gotta face up to those answers.

Let me tell you something, sonny.

Miss Stevenson is not your benefactor; she never was.

She's not your friend; she never was.

She doesn't intend you to marry Elizabeth; she never did.

As a matter of fact, she's taking Elizabeth

to San Francisco to marry somebody else.

Marry?

Yes.

That's not true.

She told me so herself.

That can't be true!

It is true, Tuck.

I'm going to San Francisco to be married.

Well, why didn't you tell me?

I told you what I considered to be far more important,

that I can never love anyone.

And you'd marry a man you don't love?

Yes.

Then you are what Miss Stevenson created.

Yes.

And I'm what a convict created,

a laboring boy wearing the clothes

and the manners of a gentleman.

My life ends this moment.

No matter how long I may live, my life is over now.

Tuck!

Stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Like I said, a man only begins to live

when he discovers the truth about himself.

My values have been false,

even my dreams false.

What else is left?

What's left is up to you.

As a matter of fact, it's the only thing

that's been completely left to you.

You asked for the truth; you got it.

Now let's see what you can do with it.

But to be taken over like a piece of merchandise,

bought and paid for by a common criminal.

And then to find...

Ned Burkett is no common criminal.

Didn't he tell you anything about himself?

About his past life, no.

Didn't he tell you the risk he ran

coming here to see you?

Risk?

If he's caught by the army, he'll hang.

What did he do?

In some people's eyes he's a criminal...

Just tell me, Major.

But in other people's eyes,

and I number myself among those people,

he's not only not a criminal, he's a martyr.

What did he do?!

You'll have to ask him.

Major Adams told me you took quite a risk in coming here.

I asked him what the charge was against you,

and he said I'd have to ask you.

The charge, laddie?

The charge was treason.

Treason?

Yeah.

A couple of days before you found me,

I'd been convicted by army court martial.

Well, the charges were false, of course.

No. I was guilty as charged.

You were guilty?

Yes. If I'd been sitting on that board in judgment,

I would have had to pass down the same verdict myself.

You may as well know this too, laddie...

I'm unrepentant.

If time would've rolled back

and I had to face those moments again,

I'd still do exactly the same.

Well, what did you do?

It's more than 15 years now.

I was a lieutenant stationed at an army post

out here in the West.

Times were troubled.

They had treaties with the Indians,

but they weren't paying very much attention

to our side of the bargain.

The results were pretty much what you might expect.

Washington men sent out from the East

didn't know the first thing about dealing with the Indians.

Things got steadily worse.

Finally, a major named Anderson came out to take charge,

the most fanatical, sadistic man

you'd ever want to meet.

Washington sent me out here to establish order,

and I intend to establish it.

Is that clear, Lieutenant Burkett?

Yes, sir, perfectly clear.

We're not dealing with human beings.

We're dealing with wild animals,

and that's the way we're going to treat them.

Our scouts tell me there's a Cheyenne village

two days' ride from here at Stormy Creek.

Doesn't amount to very much.

Mostly women and children,

the old people,

maybe a few wounded bucks.

Order all available men in the saddle at daybreak.

You're not planning to attack a helpless village?

The Indians are going to find out right now who's running this country.

Running it or annihilating it?

Lieutenant Burkett,

I do not allow insolence in my command.

If you ever forget yourself again,

you'll be on your way to Fort Leavenworth under arrest.

Yes, sir.

Inform all companies.

We ride at daybreak.

Yes, sir.

Am I to believe your warned your friends,

Lieutenant Burkett?

The village is empty, sir.

You contemptible traitor!

Arrest this man!

Arrest this man!!!

I escaped on my way

to the army prison at Fort Leavenworth.

The guards on the prison wagon hated Anderson.

Maybe they made it easy for me to get away.

And there, on a foggy night

by that Kansas river,

a little boy saved my life.

After I left you, I swam the river

and the Caw Indians hid me in one of their villages.

Later on, they passed me from village to village

until I ended up with the Ottawas

on the other side of the Canadian border.

I wonder, if I'd been in your place,

if I'd have had your courage.

Thank you, Tuck, my boy.

Thanks.

What's the matter, Major, don't you like your supper?

Oh, it's all right, Charlie. It's fine stew.

Stew? Why, that's prairie chicken a la Wooster.

I went out and shot it especially for you.

If you're gonna keep your strength, you gotta eat.

Charlie, you're not my mother.

I know, but I'm your cook, and that's almost as bad.

Charlie, uh, you got something good to eat?

Sure, and I'm glad somebody around here has an appetite.

Fix me a plate, will you? Sure will.

Major, I ran into Colonel Bartlett.

He wanted to know who the new man was on the Tuckett wagon.

What'd you tell him?

I told him to check with you.

Thanks.

Here's your supper, Flint.

Oh, thanks, Charlie.

Hey, Charlie! That's good stew.

Are you trying to be funny or just plain insulting?

I said it was good stew. What do you want?

That is prairie chicken, not stew.

Well, everybody knows prairie chicken

makes the best stew in the world.

I know that, but I'm getting tired

of everything I concoct around here people calling stew.

Oh, I see. Charlie, I didn't say it

to hurt your feelings. Good.

Nat, I tell you, he's already asking questions.

All right, Seth, I'll leave tonight.

I had a good look at the colonel myself today.

I remember him, and there's

a good chance of his remembering me.

Why?

He was the presiding officer at my court martial.

Ooh.

Now, stop worrying, Seth.

I was born with nine lives.

Well, I hope you haven't used them all up.

I'll make it back to Canada.

And I'm going with you.

You're going to San Francisco.

After I see you safe in Canada.

All right, boy.

We'll leave when the camp

settles down for the night.

Shall I read another chapter, Miss Stevenson?

Elizabeth?

Yes?

I've come to say good-bye.

You're leaving the train?

Yes.

Will we see you in San Francisco?

No, I don't think so.

I think...

at last I've come to accept things

the way they really are.

What does that mean?

It means, Miss Stevenson, you've won your victory.

I'm every bit as unhappy as you could have wished.

You reproach me?

Did you expect kindness from me?

Who am I, in the name of heaven, that I should be kind?

A lot of things have ended for me in the last few days,

but I'm not going to lock myself up

with my regrets the way you have.

I don't think we'll meet again,

and so, in parting, I will tell you for the last time...

I've loved you long and deeply.

I am sorry, Tuck.

I did try to warn you.

Warn me?

Well, why don't you try to warn the wind to stop blowing,

the Earth to stop turning?

You have a lot to learn about reality yourself, Elizabeth.

You can't change what is.

My love lives within me.

You can't command it to end,

no more than you could command it to begin.

Then I have no responsibility in the matter.

None whatsoever.

You can refuse to be warmed by my love,

and you can refuse to share my love,

but that's all.

It's mine, and mine alone.

It was born...

and will die within me.

No more talk, please. No more.

Seth. Hi, Colonel.

That, uh, that man with the Tuckett wagon,

I just realized who he is.

That's Nat Burkett.

Oh, Nat, uh... Burkett.

You know the case.

Well, maybe you'd better refresh me.

Colonel, you'd better be

mighty sure of your facts.

You haven't seen Burkett in 15 years.

You say the record plainly states

that he was drowned in the Caw River.

Yes, but the body was never recovered.

The case was cut and dried. Burkett admitted his guilt.

It seems to me that there were

some extenuating circumstances.

Wasn't there a side that was never heard?

What side?

The Indians' side.

The Indians' side?

Yes. Humanity's side.

You're an army man. Are you taking Burkett's part?

No, I'm not, but the way I see it

Burkett was taking the army's part.

He kept the army from making a mistake,

a tragic mistake.

He disobeyed his superior officer.

You know the army is run by regulations.

Yes, I know that, and I also know

and so do you that a situation can arise

that is so special and so extraordinary

that the regulations don't apply.

Sir. I'm sorry to interrupt,

Colonel, but Burkett and the boy are gone.

Gone! One of the outriders told me they left camp

about a half an hour ago.

You tell the men to saddle up.

We're going after them. Yes, sir.

Colonel, uh, you know this is Comanche territory,

and they have no love for the army.

Burkett is guilty of treason.

He got away from me once. He's not getting away again.

Excuse me.

If she was the girl I wanted,

I wouldn't give up so easily.

Well, it became a question of facing reality,

accepting things as they really are.

Accepting defeat is what you really mean.

Is that what you learned at the fancy law school I sent you to?

Yes. If you're defeated, recognize it.

Balderdash!

And then you put it out of your mind.

You go on to something else.

It's only logic.

Logic? I thought we were talking about love.

Logic can and must be applied to every human emotion,

and that includes love.

I've a good notion to ask that school for a rebate.

"Logic can be applied to every human emotion," indeed!

Well, it's advanced thinking, I'll grant you.

Man is a human creature

with a divine right to be illogical,

if he chooses. Mm-hmm.

Well, I don't choose.

Love is important, boy!

I wish you'd go back and fight for yours.

No. That door's closed behind me now.

Oh, I expect to suffer for a time,

but I'm resolved to recover.

What is it? Wait.

I've gotta go back. Go back?!

Yeah. Cavalry's following us.

Indians are preparing an ambush.

You can't go back now. You'll be captured!

Well, they'll be wiped out.

Then you'll be free.

With them on my conscience? Oh, no.

Yeah, but they're after you.

All the more reason why I should help them if I can!

Come on, boy. Giddy-up!

Hey, wait!

Hold your fire.

You all right?

Git up.

He came back to save you.

Never mind.

Are you Nathaniel Burkett?

He heard the drums. He knew it was an ambush.

Yes, I'm Nathaniel Burkett.

Are you my prisoner, sir?

Or am I yours?

I'm your prisoner, if you like,

but I'm not certain that any of us

will leave this place alive today.

Let me talk to them.

I'm afraid I have no choice at the moment.

I'm afraid you haven't.

I am Burkett!

Blood brother of Black Hawk,

chief of the Ottawa!

I address the Seven Council Fires.

The mighty Sioux, I ask for Red Cloud,

noble leader of a noble nation

to come forth to talk in friendship.

I call for Bright Eagle, noble chieftain of the Kiowa.

I ask for Bright Eagle to come forth

to speak in friendship.

I call for Storm Cloud, noble leader of the Comanches.

I ask for Storm Cloud to come forth

to talk in friendship with his brother.

The chieftains you have summoned in friendship

face Burkett, friend of all Indians.

I ask the five chieftains to withdraw their men

and to permit these officers to pass with safety.

If one arrow is sent winging through the morning,

it will call back a thousand bullets.

Not today, for nobody knows better than you

how helpless these men are.

But I beg you to consider tomorrow morning

and all the mornings to come when bullets

will surely answer this morning's arrow.

The Indian and the white man

must ride with safety through the same forests

and rest without fear beside the same rivers.

The world changes. You must change with it,

or you will be swept from the face of the Earth.

I ask the great chieftains to consider these thoughts.

Black Hawk, chief of the Ottawas,

has asked all the tribes to protect the life of Burkett.

Is he ready to leave this valley with us?

No. I have some unfinished business with the army.

Is it the wish of Burkett that his brothers withdraw

and he remain here?

It is.

I speak for the Cheyenne, the Comanche,

the Sioux, the Kiowa,

the Ottawa.

We would have the white man's army

know that we have no fear of their bullets

or their tomorrow,

if it is to be that tomorrow is theirs.

But this day is ours

and we will surrender it because it has been asked for

in the name of friendship by Burkett,

a white man who knows the honor of the word.

We will leave as he has asked,

but we will ask of the white man's army

this one thing:

the life of Burkett, a man of peace.

Are these your terms?

Terms?! Let there be no talk of terms.

You are not in a position to bargain.

We have agreed to Burkett's wish.

We will go. We will permit you to go.

But before we part, we beg for his life

that we may know there is kindness in the white man,

that we may know there is justice, too,

that we may know that a man who has shown

there can be so much good in the white man

will not be punished for that goodness.

I believe the record states that Nathaniel Burkett

drowned in the Caw River.

Up! Come on!

Well, I guess this is where we say good-bye.

And I was gonna see you safely to Canada.

The thought's appreciated,

but I want you to get on with your own life.

I'm grateful for the things I've learned from you.

Learned? You're the gentleman.

You're the one with the book learning.

Mm-hmm. I have the book learning,

and you have the knowledge.

And you have wisdom and courage.

I just hope I can measure up to you.

Thank you, son.

No son could love a father any more,

and as for my being a gentleman,

there is no finer gentleman anywhere

than you are.

Tuck, I'm so glad you came back.

Are you really glad, Elizabeth?

I was in error when I said I had no heart.

When I saw you ride away

I realized how sadly in error I was.

Things are beginning to look better around here,

and that's good.

Will it be all right for them now?

I didn't ruin their lives?

You almost did, and so did Nat Burkett,

except his intentions were the best in the world.

You just can't live other people's lives for 'em.