Original subtitles

Here they come, boys.

Now.

Put that gun away! Put your guns away!

Move that wagon out! Get those packs out of the way!

Go on, move!

Come on, you men! Hurry up!

Get back to your posts, all of you!

All right, I'll do it myself!

What the devil? You tryin' to get yourself killed?

Attack, you fool, attack! Take the initiative!

When'll you learn I'm in command of this outfit?

Thanks, Tommy.

Tommy, you better get down.

I don't wanna get you hurt.

Who is it, Major?

Cadol. Eduoard Cadol... That sneakin' Siwash renegade.

They said at the fort that Cadol had move up into that Canada country.

He's not. He's right up there, dressed up like a peacock,

and a bunch of outcast Indians with him that even their own tribe can't stomach.

I wonder why he doesn't try to overrun us.

He's probably tryin' to find out how much strength we got, Bill.

He's got a lot more men with him than he used to have.

You figure they can keep up an attack like this much longer?

I don't know. We got a scout out there someplace.

If he ever gets in here, we might get the answers to a lot of questions.

If McCullough didn't warn us before they jumped us,

what makes you think he's still alive, Major?

Look at him.

Never mind Cadol, you just keep lookin' for Flint.

I'm sorry about what happened, Harcourt.

Sometimes a man gets excited and loses his head.

Your apology is accepted, Major.

What?

Listen, I'm not apologizing to you.

You're the one that lost your head.

What does it matter now who was right and who was wrong?

The incident is finished, forgotten.

I know why you struck me, Major... to give an example to your men.

You thought I was trying to usurp your authority.

You were wrong.

I hope I was.

I simply saw a chance to rally the men for an attack.

They would have followed me.

Yeah, they'd have followed you, all right,

and been cut down just like you.

If you knew military history, Major,

you would know that audacity is the most potent weapon of command.

Mr. Harcourt, they tell me you were in the infantry.

A colonel, weren't you?

Tenth Virginia Rifle, sir.

I understand you saw action on the other side.

That's right. There's one thing I learned mighty fast.

What's that, Major?

I learned to stay clear of glory hunters.

Perhaps you'd care to explain that remark, Major Adams.

Yeah, I'll explain it for you.

I've seen your kind before... Antietam, Manassas, and a dozen other battles.

You'd lead your men into the teeth of hell, wouldn't you?

You'd have them slaughtered like pigs,

just for the sake of killin'.

Didn't matter who was killed, even yourself,

as long as there was some glory in it.

Major, please...

It's all right, Mr. Peeks.

Don't need to concern yourself about my feelings.

The Major and I understand each other now.

Major Adams, I wish...

Listen, I didn't say one thing that wasn't true,

and you ought to know it.

No, but you of all people should know that a man

isn't just the sum of what he says and does.

It isn't that simple, Major Adams.

Yeah, I know, I know.

Tell me, how much do you know about Harcourt?

A great deal that you should have know, Major Adams.

A great deal...

WOOSTER: Major! Major Adams!

What's the matter?

Somebody's signalin' from that clump of brush up there.

Let me see.

It's Flint.

He wants to come in.

There must be something wrong. Flint's no fool.

He wouldn't try to ride down through that bunch of renegades in broad daylight.

Go get a mirror, Charlie. Signal back to him.

Tell him to stay out there till after dark.

Well, at least our scout shows a little courage.

Don't get nervous with those guns, boys.

I'm expectin' McCullough any minute.

If you hear anything, sing out, will you?

PEEKS: Major!

Hold your fire! It's McCullough.

Get down!

Save your ammunition.

It's about time you got here. Where the devil have you been?

I got held up.

While we're talkin' about it, how come I didn't get any word about Cadol jumpin' us?

I got held up by the Chiricahua. The whole tribe's gatherin' north of here.

Chiricahua? That's right.

I've never had any trouble with Fire Cloud.

I get paid for scoutin'. I'm tellin' you the tribe's gatherin' north of here.

Hey, by golly.

( gunshots

Looks like they've had enough for the time being, Major.

Looks like we got 'em licked for good.

Looks like we're gettin' a little help, Mister.

Half the Chiricahua Nation is on that hill.

How much time do we have before they attack, Mr. McCullough?

Mr. Harcourt, if Fire Cloud's along with him,

his business is with Cadol, not with us.

Revenge for a horse stealin' raid several years ago, isn't it?

Cadol murdered the Chiricahua guards

and almost killed Fire Cloud's son.

I kept my ears open at the fort, Major.

Listen, get back on your horse, will you?

Go out there and see if you can find out what Cadol's up to.

Right.

You two keep your eyes open, will you? Right.

You were wrong not to take the initiative yesterday, Major.

We could have gotten away before Fire Cloud tracked Cadol here.

Audacity can be a highly practical tactic.

Mr. Harcourt, will you listen to me for just one minute?

This is not a military exercise.

I signed papers to take a bunch of civilians to California,

and there's not one thing in those papers

that gives me the right to gamble with their lives.

Despite our differences, I'd intended to place my experience at your disposal.

Outside of what you heard at the fort, just what do you know about Indians?

You know how they act? How they live? How they think?

I know that it's senseless to wait to be slaughtered.

There's not gonna be any slaughter.

Come tomorrow mornin' at sunup,

we pull out of here like always.

I think you really believe

those Indians will let us go unmolested.

Now, listen to me, Major. We've got time to organize two strikin' units...

Move out after dark, attack their camp from both sides.

All right, if you don't have the guts,

let me lead the men.

Bill! Charlie! Come here.

Yes, sir?

Escort Mr. Harcourt here to his wagon.

If he gives you one minute's trouble, tie him up!

Don't do it, Major.

Flint got a look at Fire Cloud's main party.

Those women and children are starving,

and you know he's gonna come in here and try to take anything that he wants.

In that case, Mr. Harcourt will get just what he wants

first thing in the mornin', sunup.

Maybe you boys will get your hair parted, too.

Here. Give me this when I get up.

Ugh.

I congratulate the Great Chief of the Chiricahua...

on the bravery of his women and his children.

Your tongue is reckless, white man!

No more than your disregard for that flag.

My son is young.

Your son does you no honor.

You come to speak.

Yes, I come to speak the truth.

While you and I get ready to kill each other,

your real enemy escapes you again.

You let me, my wagon train, my people go in peace.

I will give you as much ammunition

and as many horses as I can spare.

I will give you food for your women and your children.

You offer what is already mine.

Ask your braves to decide for themselves

if they wanna die.

There is your answer, white man.

My son Swift Cloud demands the first life.

If the Great Chief of the Chiricahua has no honor,

tell your son go ahead.

I wish the Major hadn't gone.

Yeah, them murderin' cutthroats.

Grandpa thought maybe you'd like some coffee.

He made extra.

Thank you, Tommy. Will you join us?

Sit down, son.

Oh, thanks.

That fire lights up a good target.

Chiricahua don't kill after dark, Lewin.

Well, why is that, Mr. Hawks?

They're afraid they might lose the souls of their victims.

Then they wouldn't have 'em as slaves in the hereafter.

Bloodthirsty savages.

Adams was a fool to trust 'em.

What the hell are you tryin' to do, drown me?!

Just tryin' to give you a little drink, Major.

Well, just give me one then!

Major, hold still, please. I'm trying to put a bandage on you.

I don't need any bandage. I'm all right.

Anyway, they delivered you right back to your own doorstep.

Was it a kid on a black and white pinto?

Yeah, and he was here and gone before we knew what happened.

Never saw a braver Indian in my life.

You're gonna see more of him come tomorrow mornin' at dawn.

He's Fire Cloud's son.

A little old to be provin' himself, ain't he? What?

Hey...

By golly, I'll bet that's it.

Sure it is. Of course.

Where's my hat?

Right here.

Let's go.

Hold your fire!

You can't hit anything you can't see.

It'll be gettin' worse before daylight.

It's kinda hard on a man's nerves.

What's happening, Major Adams?

Well, those Indians are warmin' up to jump us about daylight, Tommy.

Bill, you better pass the word.

Tell them they'll be comin' all night like this.

I don't want any more ammunition wasted on 'em. Right.

You stay under cover, sonny.

At least we got one thing to be thankful for.

Their screamin' only hurts our ears.

I'll be glad when it's daylight.

I rather look at 'em than listen to 'em all night.

Don't shoot until I give the command.

Get down!

Now, remember, don't shoot until I give the command.

Fire!

You get him?

It's only a kid!

Shoot him! Shoot him!

Hold your fire!

It's the Chief's son.

Go on back to your wagons, all of you. Go on back to your posts!

Swift Cloud, go back to your father.

Tell him I kill warriors, not helpless boys.

Go get my horse, Bill.

Major, that Fire Cloud will stake you out and skin you alive.

Bill, I never figured to live forever.

Just get the horse, will you?

Your son is brave, Fire Cloud.

As brave as the legend of his father.

It must be bitter to know that he will never occupy your lodge.

My son is my son.

He will lead the Chiricahua because he is already braver than any grown warrior.

Bravery born of desperation.

You speak with two tongues, white man!

You turn your thoughts from the truth.

Let us speak the truth, Fire Cloud.

Alone.

When you die, Swift Cloud will claim your lodge.

That is his duty.

It is also the right of any other brave

to challenge the new chief in combat.

That is how you became chief, huh?

Speak what is behind your words.

Because of Cadol, your son is lame.

I can see that lies heavy on your heart.

I speak the truth that is in your own thoughts.

Bravery will not save your son in hand-to-hand fight,

and because he is lame, he will not even be killed.

He will be driven from your tribe in shame.

I do not say these things to torture you.

You are a proud man.

I say them out of friendliness,

and I offer now to take your son with me

to big white doctor in California.

Your son will be treated as my son,

and if it is the will of the Great Spirit,

he will come back to you on two strong legs.

These are the things that I offer you

in exchange for the lives of my people.

Let the Great Chief of the Chiricahua think on it.

There's your answer.

Yeah.

All right, everybody, listen to me.

They're comin'. Let 'em get in close.

Make every shot count.

By golly, you did it.

Nice work, Major.

Welcome, son.

I'm not gonna kill you.

Let me oblige him, Major.

Get back to your wagons, all of you. Go on!

Come on, get up.

Is this the way the son of a great chief

obeys his father?

You're goin' to San Francisco with me, boy.

I want your word that you're gonna behave yourself all the way.

Here.

Wagons, ho!

Giddy up.

Move it along, Charlie.

Hey, boy, I left this horse back there for you to ride.

You can't walk all the way to San Francisco.

What's wrong with him, Grandpa? Why won't he ride?

He's probably got the notion he's a slave.

Chiricahua slave's don't ride.

Tommy, fetch me some more paprika.

Goulash is only a stew without plenty of paprika.

Thanks.

Grandpa...

What is it, Tommy?

Do you think the doctors in California can really fix his leg?

Why do you ask such a question?

Oh, no reason.

Don't be embarrassed, Tommy,

to show that you care what happens to others.

It comes from the heart.

Wear it openly like a badge of honor.

To answer your question,

yes, I think your new friend will be all right.

Well, Mr. Peeks, that was a mighty fine supper, and I wanna thank you.

Oh, it's nothing, Major Adams.

The meals Tommy's mother fixed for us in Philadelphia...

when she was still alive.

Isn't that so, Tommy?

He didn't eat or drink anything all day, Major Adams.

Huh?

Do you suppose he's sick or something?

Maybe if I took something over to him...

Well, if that Indian boy's got his mind set on starvin',

there's not much anybody can do about it.

Boy...

Mr. Peeks over there... he say you come eat with them.

You walk all the way to California empty belly?

Indians.

Grandpa...

Don't worry about him, Tommy.

When we go to bed, we'll leave something here by the fire.

Gee, this looks good.

Here.

Go on.

Be careful, it's hot.

Load up everything.

Almost finished, Major.

Good. Get your teams hitched up. We wanna roll.

Get it loaded, everybody.

If you'd like to ride him today, it's all right.

Really.

I can ride on my grandpa's wagon.

Or maybe we can both ride him a ways. Here.

The Indian boy is lame.

Son of Fire Cloud.

Come in. There's nothing to be afraid of.

They're only clocks.

My grandfather made this one. He's a watchmaker.

He's teaching me to be a watchmaker, too.

This is what makes it tick... Main spring...

and this little hammer strikes out the hour and the half-hour.

♪

WOOSTER: Hey, Major.

Ho!

Well?

I didn't see a thing.

Scouted all the way to the top of that butte.

This ridin' before breakfast sure makes a man's belly unhappy.

Not a sign of Cadol.

Must have left the country.

Makes it feel like it was ventilated with buckshot.

Did you find anything?

Well, not much.

WOOSTER: Hey, that's Apache.

No such thing. That's Navajo.

Where'd you find it?

Up the canyon a ways.

Any tracks?

No, but the canyon floor was kinda sandy there,

and the wind was blowing pretty good last night.

It could have covered 'em up easy.

Well, what do you think?

Well, that's the kind of trappings

that Cadol's gang wears.

If you ask me, I think he's tailin' us.

With Fire Cloud hot on his trail?

Oh, no. He's long gone for that Canada country.

Well, he'd be loco to let Fire Cloud

get between him and the border.

Maybe, maybe not.

You know, this could have been layin' there for a week...

or a month or a year.

For that matter...

Trouble, Major?

No, just normal scouting precautions, that's all.

Major, I wanna go back out again.

I don't feel right about things.

Good. Now we can have breakfast.

Another delay?

Only five or six hours.

That means we won't get to the springs tomorrow.

I'm out of water, Major. So are most of the other wagons.

I know that.

We mustn't try to influence the Major

against his better judgment, Lewin.

My wife's burning up with fever!

I'm getting out of here now! Alone, if I have to.

You're leaving with the rest of us, mister,

in about ten minutes.

My compliments, Major.

You shouldn't let him spur you like that, Major.

Did you see any waterholes between here and that canyon?

Nope.

Then we got no choice.

Keep me posted, will you?

All right.

Tommy, we're pullin' out pretty quick.

I want you two to stick close to these wagons

till we get out in the flat country, you understand?

All right, let's go.

Wagons, ho!

Hey, Major!

Ho!

The trail's blocked behind us.

What do you mean it's blocked?

Somebody rolled some boulders down on it.

I guess we better circle up back in them trees then.

Come on, Charlie! Turn left there!

Circle up back in them trees.

Come on over here, some of you men!

The rest of you hold up behind those rocks!

It's Cadol. You just couldn't wait to walk into a trap, could you?

Without water, we're just as well off here as we would be any place.

What I wanna know is how many men he's got.

Looks like 50 or 60 up ahead.

That's just fine. We're sealed up behind and ahead, too.

Looks to me like he's gonna try to dry us out a little bit.

After it gets dark, I'll go up ahead and have a look.

Aah!

This is one time I'd like to see

a few of Fire Cloud's braves on the horizon.

Chiricahua.

Two scouts. Other one got away.

Hmm, Fire Cloud.

We break camp before Fire Cloud can trap us.

Mm.

There'll be other wagon trains.

I will not go with empty hands.

Pick four men beside yourself to remain with me.

The rest will get out now.

You notice Harcourt?

No, why?

Well, he's got half a canteen of water hidden in his wagon.

You'd think that a man that's as anxious to die as he is

would like to share it with his friends.

He's not anxious to die, Bill, not this way.

We got within a hundred yards of the waterhole, Major.

Well, that Cadol's camped right on the edge of it,

and there's not a chance of gettin' through.

Well, come on, you better get something to eat.

Major!

It's Cadol!

Bonjour, Major Adams.

There is water just ahead.

You can reach it by sundown.

That mean you're gonna let us go through?

But naturally, my friend.

You may go with all your lives and all your goods...

the moment the Indian boy is turned over to me.

You can have your answer right now. No deal.

I know you are in need of water, Major.

How long do you think these men will fight to protect an Indian?

Get out of here!

Cadol... what a general officer he'd have made.

Cool, ruthless, full of clever little tricks...

You think that's clever, huh?

You got any idea what'll happen to that boy if he's turned over to Cadol?

He'll be ransomed.

Yeah, piece by piece.

Fire Cloud will keep on payin' till he gets a whole body back.

That's fantastic.

Yeah, sure is.

The Chiricahua happen to believe that their soul is distributed throughout their body,

and they can't be buried and go to heaven until they've got a whole body to bury.

Superstition.

To you and me, maybe yes,

but that's not gonna stop Cadol from killin' that boy.

Remember this outcropping of rock right here?

Yeah.

Well, that's where they got her blocked.

I figured if we take a barrel full of our gunpowder,

sink it right here, we can blast the passage right through.

And before the dust settles, maybe we can get through to the waterhole.

Yeah, and then what?

We got women, kids, wagons.

We can't move any place with any speed.

HARCOURT: Major.

No use getting yourself killed.

So you're all gonna be a party to gettin' that Indian boy killed, huh?

It's on your conscience, Major, not ours.

We've already sent for the boy.

Major Adams! Major Adams!

He's gone, Major! Swift Cloud's gone!

I saw him just a moment ago.

He was grooming the horse Tommy loaned him.

That's fine. Just fine.

That ought to make you men real proud of yourselves.

You let that crippled boy go out there and save your worthless necks, huh?

Brave men. Real brave.

Major!

Yeah?

Hawks is comin' in.

Oh, Hawks? Good.

What'd you find out?

Well, Cadol and his outfit have pulled out.

Where's Flint?

Said he wanted to look around a little bit more

and he'd meet us at the waterhole.

Don't make sense... Cadol keepin' his word.

Why, in another couple days, he could have take us without a shot.

Well, we better get hitched up. I wanna get this outfit to water.

Come, hitch up your teams, everybody.

Get a move on. We're gonna pull out of here.

Major Adams! Tommy's gone, too!

He's gone? Where?

I don't know. I just woke up.

One of the horses is missing and my rifle.

I'm sure he's gone after the Indian boy.

I imagine so, Mr. Peeks.

But Tommy hardly knows how to take care of himself!

Bill, go get our horses, will you? Right.

Charlie, take this outfit on to the waterhole.

I'll meet you there. Yes, sir.

Major, are you aiming to get yourself killed?

You signed papers to get us to California.

Let him go, Lewin. Can't you see this is more of his cheap heroics?

It's a good thing for you that I'm busy.

Come on, you men, you heard what the Major said.

Wait a minute!

He led us into this ambush, didn't he?

It's his reputation he's tryin' to save,

not the Peeks boy or the Indian.

He's made one blunder after another.

He's through as a wagon master, and he knows it!

Maybe you're right, Mr. Harcourt.

Or maybe some of us should be ridin' with him.

Major.

If you'll have me, I'd like to ride with you.

All right.

Any of the others that wanna come along,

get 'em mounted and have 'em catch up with us.

All right, men, get your horses!

Come on, let's go! Hurry up!

I got me another!

Horses, quickly!

Aah!

Go get 'em!

You're a fine-lookin' mess.

Where the devil's your grand-daddy's rifle?

Back there.

I guess I wasn't much use.

Swift Cloud got us free, though.

Hey! He did that deliberately!

Sure, he did. That's all right, son.

That's just his way of tellin' us that we're even with each other.

What?

Yeah, he's makin' me a gift of your life

'cause I saved his.

I don't know. There's sure a lot of things to learn about Indians.

Yeah, we can all learn a lot of things.

I'll see you two back at the train.