Original subtitles

DRIVER: Hyah! Come on!

JIM: Wells Fargo grew with the American West.

But the most valuable shipment Wells Fargo ever carried

was not gold,

was not silver,

and it weighed just 14 pounds.

Her name was Annie.

DRIVER: Ho.

Midway. You got 20 minutes.

Did you miss any bumps at all, Keever?

What you got in there, somebody's corpse?

Not quite.

$20,000 in gold in there.

That's why I'm ridin' shotgun.

We got word somebody wanted to borrow it

without leavin' a receipt.

Excuse me. Oh, yes, certainly.

By somebody,

I suppose you mean Stelman.

Pretty good guess.

That wasn't hard.

It's all you hear nowadays,

is about how Comanche Stelman's raidin'.

I know it's a bad time, but...

I got to add to your troubles.

You think you could?

Well, you'll think so too in a minute.

I got somethin' for you.

Special shipment?

You might call it that.

Take a look.

Great day in the mornin'.

Somebody expect us to ship that?

That's about the size of it.

Meet Annie Jones.

It's a joke.

Annie's pa didn't think so from what he wrote.

Did you ever take a good look at the Wells Fargo slogan, Jim?

Slogan?

You mean, "We ship anything anywhere"?

Yeah, I know the...

Now, you listen to me, Josh.

No, no, you listen to me.

Here's the note I found with her this mornin'.

It says, "This is my daughter Annie.

"Her ma was killed by a Sioux raiding party

"two days ago.

"I gotta get the kid back

"to her grandma in Kansas City.

"You said you got a dollar a pound for express.

Here's $14 in gold dust."

So I guess there's no doubt about it.

He signed the note "Clarence Jones" and left the gold.

I ain't got no choice

but to throw her in your lap, Jim.

From now on, she's your shipment.

Hey, he's a cute little cuss.

Hey, what's the matter with him?

JIM: How am I supposed to know what's the matter with him?

It's not a him. It's a... it's a filly.

Oh. She needs changin'.

Hmm.

What are you looking at me for?

She's your responsibility.

Keever. Yeah.

I gotta get this baggage loaded.

And I gotta help him. Josh!

Now, look at you,

layin' there, squallin' away.

Why don't you change them yourself?

Everybody else has to.

All right.

You're not gonna like this any better than I am.

I don't blame you for complainin'.

I'm complainin', too.

All right. I don't like it any better than you do.

Someday I'm gonna have me a kid,

if I ever get a wife that is.

Be none of this crying, though.

I won't allow it.

All right. Just a minute, just a minute.

I'm doing the best I can.

I know it ain't the way you're gonna

be used to wearin' them,

but it's the best that I can do.

Hmm?

I'm tellin' you,

layin' there doin' nothin'.

That's the trouble with you kids nowadays.

You can't do nothin' for yourself.

Everybody waitin' on you hand and foot.

You just keep lookin' the way you are now, though,

they'll probably be waiting on you

hand and foot all your life, all right.

There.

There you are.

There you are.

For goodness sakes,

I could've done that for you.

JIM: Wells Fargo hauled the passengers

wherever they wanted to go,

if they had the money to pay their passage.

It was our business to get them there safely,

not to ask who they were

or why they wanted to go.

Like any other group of people,

Wells Fargo passengers were all kinds,

both good and bad.

Mace Kimball and his wife were good people.

They'd spent their year in the mines together.

Now they were going home,

back to Missouri with a stake to buy a farm.

But a cat of another color was Major Dennis Keel.

He was a United States Army officer

who had slaughtered a whole village

of Cheyenne Indians at Sand Creek,

and with him came Captain Oliver Maynard,

whose job it was to see that he got to Fort Laramie

and the court martial that awaited him.

He was under close arrest for the act.

Gee! Hup!

If Stelman's gonna make a play,

it'll be between here and Hawk Point.

What do you mean if?

You think maybe he won't?

I don't know.

He's been makin' and workin'

this run for two months.

You ever seen Comanche Stelman?

No.

I've seen all the bad ones,

and this Stelman's the meanest of the wild bunch.

Once you ever see him,

you'll never forget him.

It's a pleasure I'll be glad to give up.

Aw, poor little thing.

She'll be all right.

Oh, Mace, what if she was ours?

I mean, what if nobody wanted her?

She ain't ours,

and she ain't gonna be.

She's being shipped back to her folks.

What's the matter, Captain?

Cat got your tongue?

My orders are to escort you to Laramie, not talk to you.

Already got me tried and convicted, haven't you?

Man did what you did.

I must remind you

that we are at war with the Cheyenne.

You call slaughtering women and children war, Major?

Taking their scalps like you'd skin a wolf for the bounty?

They are wolves,

dirty, murdering animals.

200 of them, a whole village.

KEEVER: Ho! Ho!

Why have we stopped, Mace?

Only one reason, Maude,

trouble.

What do you make of it, Jim?

I don't know.

We'll soon find out.

It's a Cheyenne lance.

See that yellow buffalo hair?

Long Knife's personal trademark.

What's wrong?

We don't know yet.

You keep your guns handy.

It's Long Knife hisself.

He wants to parley.

I'll talk to him,

but you be ready to roll out of here.

The Cheyenne have given their word.

They're at peace with the white eyes.

Long Knife has not given his word.

You're a Cheyenne.

You're subject to the laws

of your war chief, Yellow Hand.

Yellow Hand has made peace for all Cheyenne.

This is true.

Long Knife does not want war,

only justice.

And you'll have justice.

White man's justice?

Give us the white-eyed soldier, Keel.

The rest of you may go in peace.

Major Keel will be returned

to Fort Laramie.

He'll be tried before a court

for what he's done to your people.

The white eyes will not punish the murderer.

They will send him away unharmed.

That's for a court to decide.

It is for the Cheyenne to decide,

for Long Knife to decide.

For what he has done,

give us this dog of a man now.

I can't give him to you.

I have sworn to feed his heart

to the dogs of the Cheyenne camp,

and this I will do.

My mother, my wife,

and my son all were at Sand Creek.

I'm sorry, Long Knife,

but I can't give him to you.

None of you will reach Fort Laramie alive.

I have spoken.

Let's get outta here.

Hoo! Hyah!

Come on, you things!

Move, Blackie!

Hurry!

Hyah! Hyah!

That's the end of that.

I wish it was.

All right, honey.

It's all over for now.

MAUDE: Oh, thank goodness.

MACE: We'll be at Hawk Point Station before dark.

Worried, Captain?

Not by the Indians.

You'd like to see them get me, wouldn't you?

My orders are to escort you

under a close arrest to Laramie, Major.

My personal feelings are my own.

KEEL: Yes.

I could see them on your face.

You cry out at my barbarous act,

but underneath that thin veneer of civilization,

you feel your own savage instincts,

don't you, Captain?

You see, I don't care how you

or those painted savages feel about me.

I was under orders to force

Long Knife's surrender or destroy him.

I carried out those orders, nothing more.

The trial at Fort Laramie will be a hoax.

Has it occurred to you, Major,

that we may never reach there to find out?

KEEVER: Hey!

Worst is behind us.

We got a level run clear to Hawk Point.

It's funny we saw nothing of Stelman and his men.

That's what worries me.

Yeah, it's open country the rest of the way.

He wouldn't chance a runnin' fight.

Maybe them Cheyenne scared him off.

Maybe.

Yeah, I seen it.

Figure it's Long Knife?

He meant what he said.

Gee!

KEEVER: Ho. Hoo!

Made it.

Hawk Point. You can stretch your legs.

You're a new man here, aren't you?

Yeah.

Miller got sick last week.

I come in from Laramie

with Milt Jacobs three days ago.

Go on in. Your supper's waitin' for you.

What's the matter, Jim? You gettin' spooked?

The odds are with us the rest of the way.

Give me a hand, Keever.

Set it down nice and easy,

no one will get hurt.

Try anything, I'll kill every last one of you.

You hear me, Hardie?

All right, Stelman,

you win.

80 pounds of gold,

20,000 iron men to spend.

It's been a real pleasure to know you, Hardie.

I'll bet it has.

I had a child once. Little girl.

May I see her, please?

The thing that gets me, Stelman, is

what's a man like you gonna do with $20,000 in gold?

A man like me?

What do you know about a man like me?

I know they're gonna hang you when you're caught.

They haven't caught me yet.

They will.

"They" meaning you, Hardie?

JIM: It could be.

I could eliminate that possibility right now.

You could, but I don't think you will.

How do you know?

I don't for sure.

You're right.

I like a man with guts, Hardie.

That's why I'm gonna leave you alive

when I ride out of here.

But we ever meet again, I may not be so generous.

Come on, let's get out of here.

Thank you, Hardie.

Goodbye.

We walked into an ambush.

Jerry, cut them loose.

Give 'em back their guns.

Hurry it up. They'll be closing in fast.

Must be a war party.

They came in close.

We walked into them just before they jumped up.

Oh, it's... it's only my shoulder, Maude.

There's another one we won't have worry about.

Think there's a chance they've had enough?

It's not likely.

They came after Keel,

and they won't leave without him.

Long Knife's surprise didn't work.

It's taken more of his men than he'd figure on.

He'll pull back, try to pick a few of us off

before he makes his next rush.

One of you will have to take her.

She's frightened.

Move your husband over to the fireplace, ma'am.

All right.

What seems to be your trouble?

Well, that's all for Jerry.

Oh, it's easy to see, you're an amateur.

Come on, give her to me.

Not exactly my chosen profession.

Keever? Oh, come on.

Oh, oh, come on.

Help me move this table.

It's not much shelter, ma'am,

but it's all we've got.

Bring that baby over here.

You think that stinkin' Keel is worth this?

There's somethin' goin' on out there.

You better take a look.

I'll take her now.

Hold your fire.

What does it mean, Hardie?

I don't know.

Stelman, come here.

What does that mean?

It's my guess Long Knife wants to talk.

He'll hold his fire

as long as that torch keeps burning,

but you'd be a fool to go out there.

You got any better suggestions?

Well, I can't die any quicker out there.

You and Keever cover us.

If it's a trick, kill as many of them as you can.

As you have seen,

Long Knife will keep his word.

Now will you give me the murderer Keel?

You wouldn't want him now. He's dead.

One of your braves put an arrow through his throat.

You lie, white eyes.

It is a trick for you to escape with the man Keel.

You will put a uniform on any man

who lies dead in there.

Keel is not dead.

I don't speak with a split tongue.

You can come in and see for yourself.

No, I do not know the face of Keel.

It is a trick.

I'm telling you, Long Knife,

that we're fighting for nothing.

Major Keel is dead.

I cannot trust you, white eyes.

There is only one way to be sure.

Long Knife, wait!

It's no use, Jim.

He's made up his mind.

You know what he means about making sure.

Of course I do.

He intends to kill us all.

Let's get inside.

We'll make them pay a price they won't forget.

Save your ammunition.

Till they move in closer.

Keep two shells and give me the rest.

It's all I've got.

You'll be all right.

Why bother lying to her?

Don't you think she knows

why you had him keep those two shells?

Why get her any more upset than she already is?

I guess you're right, Jim.

Funny thing,

I don't care about the rest of us.

Just keep thinking about that kid.

I was married once.

Her name was Angelina.

We had a baby.

Girl, too.

Sherman's men burned our place one night.

Angie went in to get the baby.

The world's a dirty, stinkin' place sometimes.

It's not the world,

just some of the people that live in it.

You're talkin' about men like Keel?

Yeah, me, too. You're right.

We always have to blame anything or anybody

but ourselves and what we are.

When we're finally honest with ourselves,

it's too late.

Got one of the red devils!

I've got just five more shells!

Hold your fire! They're pullin' back!

Put that baby on the floor

and try to give him some help.

Listen! They're pullin' out!

No such luck.

Those are unshod horses, a lot of them.

Half the Cheyenne tribe must have come

to give Long Knife a hand.

He's alive, but he's been shot in the head.

Try to bring him around. We're gonna need him.

All right.

Working themselves up.

This time'll be it.

How many shells you got, Jim?

Four.

Ma'am, that baby gets out of this mess,

she won't remember it.

Give her my watch.

It's the only thing I've got I didn't steal.

They've gotta have a chance.

Where are you goin'?

Outside. It's getting stuffy in here.

They want a Major Keel, I'm givin' them one.

Get the kid to Kansas City, Jim.

You know what they'll do to you?

Yeah.

Somebody's gotta go.

Keever doesn't fit the part.

You have to get that kid to Kansas City.

Gonna hang me anyway.

I'm not good to nobody, not even myself.

This is Major Keel!

Stop shootin'! I'm comin' out!

JIM: Long Knife kept his word as a Cheyenne war chief

and let the rest of us go,

just as Wells Fargo kept its bargain

and delivered little Annie Jones

to her grandparents in Kansas City.

The Kimballs bought their farm in Missouri.

The others we left behind us forever.

Keel, Maynard,

and Stelman and his men.

I don't know how you figure a man like Stelman,

an outlaw and a renegade.

He died something else.

He owed a debt to society,

and in a way...

in a way, I feel like he paid it.