Original subtitles

The place gets bigger every time I come here.

New buildings, new faces.

Yeah, not too long ago, this place wasn't more than about 100 people in a

bunch of wooden shacks.

Well, progress has its virtues.

May I have your attention, please?

Ladies and gentlemen, what you see before you is the future, the Henry

Repeater. The most accurate, the most deadly, the most sought-after gun on the

plains. And one of you, the best shot among you, walk home with this weapon

today.

Too bad.

How about you, sir?

Keep them covered.

Who's next? Who's next for a chance to win the finest rifle in the West?

Give me a chance.

I'll have a shot at it.

Maybe we should move the train, huh, folks?

That's the best so far. Could be a winner.

Change of target, boys.

Take your time.

Concentrate, Cody.

Mighty fine shooting, son.

But not good enough.

Mighty fine, huh?

Let's see the target!

I appreciate you taking the extra time to admire my handiwork, but... No

offense, but it's not your handiwork I'm interested in. It's mine.

I'm afraid evidence of that is in short supply.

Really?

All right, now I want you to take a good close look, because this bullseye

belongs to both of us. My bullet went clean through the hole.

Well, you can believe a train went through there, if you like.

Now I'm gonna take my rifle.

I can prove it.

I want you to put the target ten yards further back.

Now, if I put my lead clean through the hole again, the rifle belongs to me, no

questions asked. Deal?

Deal.

bullseye i only heard of one man that

could shoot like that seems to me a fellow your age should have learned by

now that you can't believe everything you hear

How many of them you think there were?

Shooting?

It's hard to say.

Don't look like they was aiming to kill anything, though.

How can you be sure?

Because there ain't no bodies.

Two of your Indian police were here.

Whoever was firing did it to scare the Indians away.

Why?

Probably for the Indians' own good.

I guess, uh... I can't expect him to appreciate what my men do, being

half-breed and all. Judging from the looks of things, being appreciated ain't

something you and your men do too good, is it?

This is the third attack of my men in less than a month, Marshal.

I'm aware of that, Webster.

I think it's time I took matters into my own hands, don't you?

I don't trust him.

A lot of people don't.

But that don't mean somebody can go around shooting at his men.

That depends on exactly what his men are doing, don't it?

What do you think you're doing, eating?

No, ma'am, not till you wash up.

Hagenburg don't mind?

We ain't been asked.

Would you kindly get out of here?

Go on!

Go on!

I'm telling you, the man who won that raffle was Hezekiah Horn. Don't you two

understand?

That he is the greatest plainsman and rider the West has ever had?

I mean, he's the greatest rider of all time, if you ask me.

Look, if this old guy is such a great rider, then how come he look like he

spent half his life in a cave? Yeah, maybe... maybe this fella just looks

like Hezekiah.

Hezekiah Horn, and he don't just look like him.

Even if it was him, it didn't seem like he was too anxious to talk.

Coming.

Well, I was hoping I could stay another day.

If you boys would cover for me.

I'm getting tired of taking care of your business while you go off following your

dreams, Cody. Now, one day, this is gonna have to stop.

But today... Thanks,

Noah.

How about I buy the winner a drink?

Thanks, but, uh, no thanks.

Well, then, how about I buy Hezekiah Horn

a drink?

Well, now, what have we here?

Wait, that won't be possible, son. That man... That man died a long time ago.

What are you talking about?

You're like a hero.

I've read all your books.

Oh, have you now?

Well, putting words down on a piece of paper doesn't make a man a hero, son.

They do to me.

What's your name?

William F. Cody.

Can't tell you how many times I thought about meeting you, Mr. Horn. Well, then

you'll be sorely disappointed talking to me.

I don't understand.

Well, things change, son.

Me.

World.

Change. Not necessarily for the better.

But we got things in common, Mr. Horn. I mean, your ratting means a lot to me.

Oh, I see.

Well, then.

Haven't got things in common after all.

The West had never seemed more dangerous than it did that day.

The Indians told us that no one had ever gone further up the Snake River Gorge.

Half of my own men quit, sure there would be suicide.

Winter was only a month away, but the land ahead beckoned me.

What beauty would we find?

What unspoiled treasure?

I had learned to never be surprised by what this great country had to offer.

Won't get.

How long you been watching me?

Long enough to see what you're gonna do with your furry friend.

Why?

Different people would have done different things.

Some would have screamed.

Some would have run, some would have just killed it.

An Indian agent, he'd kill it and... and poison the young.

Well, I just figured he was here before me.

That's all.

Looks like we might have something in common after all.

So, you writing any new books?

Nope, no more books.

Well, why not?

The ones I wrote already done enough damage.

What do you mean?

Your writing's one of the reasons I came out here in the first place.

Your books, they make the land come alive.

It's been dying ever since.

People follow the trails I blaze, but respect for the land is something they

never had.

We seem to be a country of people who'd rather build a new house and clean up

the mess in our own backyard.

I'll tell you something, son.

You need a lot of strength to take responsibility for the problems we've

caused.

It seems to me today we just have a bunch of men who are just, I don't know,

too damn weak.

Then what are you doing here?

Me? I don't know. I'm getting stronger, I guess.

Okay.

All right, Mr. Cody, I have something very interesting I want to show you.

These are Kiowa nuts, used in the rituals for life.

I don't understand.

Rituals for life. You understand now. No Indian is capable of this kind of

degradation, only the white man.

Easy, son. Stand easy.

Is he friendly?

Would you be?

What'd he say?

There was a fourth man in the hunting party that escaped, found his way back

to his village and told him what happened.

That man over there is his brother.

He said that the Indian police did this.

Why?

Because they can.

Jimmy.

Jimmy.

You got something to say, kid, or you just like the sound of my name?

I was wondering if I could ask you a question.

Just did.

It's got to do with Lou.

Lou!

Well, it's about time.

You were wondering when she'd finally start closing in on you.

Some of us even made bets.

Who won?

Uh, Lou.

Glad to see I can provide you all with such amusement.

We ain't making fun of you, kid.

Rooting for you.

Well, then how about giving me some advice?

Sure.

What do I do now?

I wouldn't worry too much about that, kid.

In my experience, events just kind of got a way of working themselves out.

Well, I ain't here, Jimmy.

It was easier before, you know?

First time I asked Lou to dance, she kept backing off.

But now... Yeah?

What do I do now she stopped backing off?

It's just a few more miles to Sweetwater. You sure you don't want to

come?

No, I think I'll be better off out here.

Well, maybe I can come out and visit you sometime.

Yeah, well, look, I'm going to be coming in for supplies.

Maybe I'll see you then, huh?

Uh, look, son, it's nothing personal.

I just need the quiet.

That's all.

What do you think you're doing? Those are Kiowa you're chasing, Webster.

They'd signed a treaty a while back.

Those Indians are part of a renegade band that's been attacking my Indian

police at their trading post, stealing everything they can get their hands on.

You got proof of that?

Or, uh, you just taking matters into your own hands?

Last I heard, I didn't need permission from you to chase down Indian renegades.

There's just a boy.

Fourth member of his tribe to die today.

I'd say the Indian police are working very hard for these parts.

Cody?

Who's your friend?

Hezekiah Horn.

Well, I'm happy to meet you, Mr. Horn. Sorry about the circumstances.

No more than I.

They are murderers, you know.

My men firing on those Indians was wholly justified.

They were attacked.

With what?

Perhaps you and the great Hezekiah Horn would like to spend time debating the

Kiowa Treaty.

The government's given me a job to do.

Well, I'll make sure they hear how you're doing it.

Well, I guess I better tend to that dead brave. No, I'll take the boy back to his

people. That's the least I can do.

Here tell you're quite a legend among the Indians.

Well, I wonder they don't kill me for all the pain I brought down upon them.

Two riders right now.

All right.

Arc? No, Kid and Lou can take it.

There's a government package at the Redford station.

You'll have to spend the night there.

Go on.

Lou's... Missed me coming here.

What is it?

Sprites.

You know, me and Arc were up next.

I know.

Kid asked me personally for this ride.

I was taking a little of his idea or yours.

His?

I knew he'd figure it out.

Well, Mr. Cody, haven't seen you around these parts for a while.

How's the most famous rider in the West doing?

It was him, you know.

Who?

Ezekiah Horn.

I heard of him.

Among our people, he's considered a great man.

A lot of people consider him to be a great man.

The problem is, right now...

He ain't one of them.

What are you doing?

Just looking for something that might make him change his mind.

Mr. Cody?

I'm sorry if I disturbed you.

Disturbed me?

What we saw out there today disturbs me.

You're just a visitor, Mr. Cody.

I was hoping I could be more than that.

I was hoping that I could be your friend.

Right, it's a little late for that.

Another book?

First one you ever wrote.

Would it have been the last?

I always got a special feeling when I read that book.

Forget it, son.

The words.

How I felt when I wrote this.

I'm dead.

Leave it alone.

What'd you do that for?

Because it's over.

What is over?

Everything.

The West.

Nothing left but a lot of debts nobody's willing to pay.

You're wrong.

The West is just getting stronger. Cities are growing.

Progress is... Progress?

Let me tell you about progress, boy.

When the telegraph gets here, you and a lot of other folks are going to be out

of work.

Progress. See what we've done to the Indian, the Mexican?

Held on the verge of a civil war because of what we did to the African?

California, they're doing the same to the Chinese.

Is that progress?

This rifle, this rifle can kill people faster than any other.

You call that progress?

Come on, boy, can't you see where it's leading?

No, I guess not.

Ashes.

My book.

This rifle.

My body.

Ashes.

If that's the way you feel about everything... If that's the way you feel

about that rifle, then why'd you try so damn hard to win it?

Keep it out of the wrong hands for how long?

Every store in the territory is gonna sell that raffle for the years out

That's tomorrow.

Mr. Cody I'm worried about today

is all about come on

the

young writers will continue in a moment

You're going awful slow there, kid.

Just admiring the view.

Some on your hat.

When did Webster and his men get so generous?

I'm getting shot. That'll make most any man charitable.

Most any man, maybe. But Webster? I gotta doubt it.

Wonder if I could have a word with you.

What's Hezekiah Horne doing in Sweetwater?

Passing through, as far as I know.

You a friend of his, or what?

I don't see what business that is of yours. After all, he's not an Indian.

He's more an Indian than you or me.

You got a problem with that?

You bet I do.

Then I suggest you take it up with him.

Let's rest.

Mr.

Horne!

Mr. Horne!

You're leaving.

No reason to stay.

Well, yes, there is. Why? So you can hang around mooning about how you read

all my books, treating me like some kind of a hero?

You are a hero!

I'm not!

I'm just a man like anybody else.

And your thinking otherwise is just a bit more weight than I'm willing to

carry. Hell, I can't even handle the responsibilities I already got.

Why don't you let me try to help you?

It's too late.

Cody?

What are you doing here, Teaspoon?

Doc and I was wondering if you'd give us a hand, Mr. Horn.

Doing what?

We're heading out to the Kiowa village. We need somebody who can speak the

language. Where's Buck?

Buck's on a run.

Word has it villagers are real sick.

What do you mean, sick?

Don't look good.

That's not gonna do any good. The medicine's not gonna work.

Do you understand?

Tell her the poultice won't do any good.

She wants to know what's wrong with the child.

Smallpox!

I think these blankets may be contaminated.

Like them ones they sent to tribes on the Missouri?

Teaspoon, can you track down the source of this shipment?

Yeah, I know where they came from.

Webster. How do you know that?

Because I saw a few of his men unloading them back in town and giving them off to

Braves. It ain't the boy's fault.

Look, how it started doesn't matter now. What we got to do is stop it from

spreading. I mean, we've got to set up a quarantine until we can get a serum from

St. Joe.

We've got to burn the village.

I'll get to work.

Perfect.

We tell the Indian we want to put him on a reservation so we can help him.

What we're really doing is getting them together so it's easier to kill them.

Like shooting fish in a barrel.

All right, son.

Said you wanted to learn from me.

Learn from this.

This is the kind of evil that comes with progress.

I'm afraid he's right, son.

What kind of a monster passes his evil on to children?

They burn this with everything else.

It's my blanket, John.

You're safe.

I don't have anything to say to you.

What you did today speaks loud enough.

I went to the Indian village.

It's time you saw the way the world works, old man.

Is that what the government pays you for?

To destroy the Indian nation?

No.

No, they pay me...

For planting the seeds of a new nation.

How I do it's up to me.

Ah, yes.

Progress.

That's right.

And those that stand in the way of progress... just have to be plowed

under. You

gave your

words to the world.

But somehow...

You always ran out of them around me, didn't you?

Oh, no.

Are you telling me... that you've done all this just to punish me?

Do you really think you're that important?

Thank you.

You've given me the strength to do something that I should have done a long

time ago.

Don't make me responsible for your actions. I'm not.

I'm holding myself responsible for your actions.

Forgive me, John.

A couple hours ago, the most important thing on my mind was getting on with

what we'd been putting off for so long.

Me too.

It seems like getting all that waiting was more important to us than the reason

we wanted to end it.

Do you think we made a mistake?

No.

Don't see as we could have done anything else anyway.

Things are gonna be different between us now.

Maybe better.

I love you, kid.

I love you too, Lou.

And that's, um, three dollars for the room, right?

You can pay when you check out. I'll pay now.

Much obliged.

New suit, sir?

Right now, son.

This suit is probably older than you are.

Anybody know what happened?

No.

But I make pretty good guess.

What are you saying?

Indians.

Same ones that been shooting at us all along.

I wouldn't be so sure.

I'm sorry about your friend leaving town and all, Cody.

What do you care? You don't even know his name. Yes, I do.

Hezekiah Horn.

I even picked up one of his books. He's quite a fellow.

Maybe you could read one of his books out loud to us, Cody.

I don't think so.

He was so bent on taking it all back, somehow it just doesn't seem right.

It's a shame.

His life always seemed so free to me.

You know, traveling the land and seeing things that most men don't.

I just can't figure how it made him so unhappy.

Maybe he just saw too much.

There's been a shooting in town.

Webster's dead.

Tishman thinks it might have something to do with Hezekiah.

Jimmy, you better go alone.

Where's Jessica?

Where is it? Get out!

What's it say, son?

Cody, I told you I was through writing.

But this needs to be said.

I talked about progress bringing men who acted like there was no tomorrow.

Men who just kept moving forward without ever attending to what they left behind.

I realize that killing myself is not the answer.

But I couldn't live with it anymore.

I couldn't die without settling my own account.

John Webster was a child of circumstance who had the misfortune of being

born to the wrong people at the wrong time.

His pain and suffering became the scourge and horror of the Indian nation

and my personal responsibility.

I took his life.

Because I didn't know what else to do.

John Webster was not only my responsibility and my demon.

He was also my son.