Original subtitles

Poison.

Oh, Mrs. Sumter?

I think we'd better wait a couple days

before we use any water for washing.

All right, Major.

We'll have water by that time.

I'm, uh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Sumter.

I understand.

How much longer are we gonna have to stay here, Major?

Nothin' but sand and wind.

Mr. Cowan, we're gonna stay here

till I give the order to move.

In the meantime, just save all the water you can.

There ain't much left to be saved.

I know.

Major?

Yes, Mr. Britton?

How long do you think you can keep these people from knowing?

Knowing? What?

We're short of water.

The next two springs up ahead are dry.

You figure that out for yourself?

McCullough's two days overdue.

If there was water at Dry Wash, he'd have been back in a day.

You seem to know a lot about this country, Britton.

I've seen maps.

You were in the army, huh?

I didn't say that.

Just about the only people who have seen maps

of this area are surveyors and soldiers.

I picked you for a soldier first time I saw you.

It could be I was a surveyor.

Could be we're gonna get rain, too.

Pheasant under glass, and the Champagne's being chilled.

Eh, we'll still have rabbit stew.

Oh, but nice big fat rabbits, Monty.

Quit trying so hard, Betty.

Monty, more trouble?

It's not just me this time.

All of us.

Howdy.

Here's a piece of antelope meat

for the pot, Mrs. Britton.

Last there is.

We don't need your charity, Mr. Redmond.

Who said anything about charity?

Why, you'd be doing me a favor.

Man traveling alone like I am...

I ain't much of a cook,

and this meat ain't used soon,

it's gonna spoil for sure.

That's very thoughtful of you, Mr. Redmond.

Now, look, when you joined the train a month ago,

I told you my name was Garth.

Well, it still is. Here now.

Well, all right, if you'll share it with us.

Well, that's a pleasure I didn't count on.

Then why do you always show up at mealtime?

No need to draw any more water.

There's plenty for two. I'm not hungry.

I ain't one to cause trouble

between a man and his wife, Betty.

We'll just make it some other time.

Company J are present, sir.

I think you forgot something, didn't you, Amos?

You didn't salute me.

No, sir, I thought you was supposed to salute me first.

It's just the other way around.

The junior officer salutes the senior,

like the lieutenant salutes the captain,

the captain salutes the major.

The major salutes the colonel.

That's right. Now you got it.

Company J are present, sir.

Dismissed!

Dismissed!

Show arms.

Front shoulder arms.

Left shoulder arms.

That's the man who never wore a uniform?

That's what he says.

He didn't learn the manual of arms

farming in no Mormon country.

I'd say he's lying, wouldn't you?

Well, he could be, I suppose.

There's only one reason

a man hides the fact he's been in the army.

That's 'cause they looking for him.

I thought there was something funny about him.

Monty Britton's a deserter, Major.

It still means a lot to you, doesn't it, Monty?

And what about you?

I've forgotten the army.

That makes two of us.

I wouldn't care if I never saw another soldier.

But I'm afraid we're gonna have to.

There's no water at Dry Wash,

or Flint McCullough would've been back here by now.

I'm afraid he hasn't had any better luck with Crystal Springs.

That means there's just one place this train can go for water.

Fort Paiute.

You'd like that, wouldn't you?

Monty, it's my home. My father's...

I told you I don't want to talk about your father.

How long are you gonna go on torturing yourself this way?

For the rest of my life.

You knew that when you came with me.

How does it look, Major?

Well, not too good.

I'm not worried about our people here,

but I am about McCullough.

What do you figure happened?

I don't know.

I knew the water holes were low;

that's why I sent him out,

but I didn't figure they'd be that low.

You want me to go look for him?

No, Bill, I need you here.

This outfit's as spooky as a bunch of longhorns.

You drop a tin cup and they're liable to stampede.

Major, why don't we just push on?

Bill, do you know where the water holes are?

Nope.

Well, neither do I,

so we'll just wait for McCullough.

Major, what kind of shape are we really in?

Bill, I figured we'd have three good chances for water...

Dry Wash, Lava Basin, and Crystal Wells.

If they were dry, Flint was going to go on

to Fort Paiute and try to get some help for us.

I guess now that he's gone onto the fort.

And if he didn't?

Well, if he didn't,

we got more trouble than we can handle.

Flint!

Flint! Flint!

Here. Come on.

Flint!

Here, boy. Come on, here.

It was... poison.

Well... kill my horse!

Flint! Flint, listen to me, will you?

Flint, it's Major Adams.

Tried, Major. All dry.

Crystal Springs... poison.

I asked you, and we got a right to know!

Sure, we're low on water.

Did I say we weren't? Did the Major?

What do you expect out in the desert?

I expected to keep moving and get across it.

If we don't move soon, I'm going out alone!

You go right ahead, Mr. Cowan, go right on out there.

We'll stay together. That's one thing we will do.

Is he dead?

No, but he might as well be.

Near as I could make out from what he

was able to tell me, he lost his horse.

Poison water. He was trying to get back to camp.

I'll go get some help. No.

Spooky as our people are,

they're liable to panic if they know what happened.

You tell Wooster and nobody else.

Tell him to hitch up my team

and bring the wagon around this side

of the knoll, clear away from camp.

I'll meet him there. All right.

Charlie. Charlie!

Yeah, yeah?

Major says he wants us to hook up the team

and pull the wagon outside the circle.

He wants what?!

You heard me.

What does he want that for?

Look, don't ask any questions.

Just do as he says.

Those are his orders.

Don't you know better

than to question the orders of a major?

It's a hard life,

but if a man's lucky enough

to have you for a wife, why he...

You want something here, Mr. Redmond?

He was just visiting, Monty.

Just being friendly.

I'm always curious about folks.

I like to know what they've done

before they joined up with the train.

We told you what we did when we joined the train in Salt Lake.

We tried farming.

We failed.

With the exception of us being from Salt Lake,

that makes us just about the same

as everybody else on this train.

'Cept me.

I was a soldier.

Served my hitch all the way.

You ever a soldier, Monty Britton?

No.

Maybe that's just as well.

You might not have liked it.

Some don't.

Then they try to run out on it.

It's a bad business,

'cause they never make it.

There's a bounty on deserters,

and there's always somebody

looking to collect that bounty.

I seen a deserter shot once.

Keep the stock away from the water!

Easy, boy, easy.

Easy, now, easy.

He's clean out of his head, Bill.

Listen, you and Charlie guard this wagon.

I don't want anybody around here,

not as long as he's raving like this.

All right, sir.

We got a right to know what's going on, Major.

We want to know why you pulled your wagon out of line.

If you'll just keep still a minute,

Mr. Cowan, I'll tell you.

Flint McCullough is back.

Everything's all right,

but he's picked up some kind of sickness,

and I don't know yet what it is.

I'm gonna keep him away from the other wagons for a few days.

It might be a touch of cholera.

He'll be all right,

and so will everybody else

as long as you just stay away from him.

Did he find any water?

This is the longest dry pull on this whole trip,

and you all knew it.

You knew it wouldn't be easy,

but not one of you wanted to turn back.

We couldn't now even if we wanted to.

I told you that I'd get you to California,

and that's exactly what I intend to do,

but you'll take orders from me, every one of you.

We've got full faith in you, Major.

Thank you, Reverend.

Beginning right now, everybody's gonna turn in

every drop of water you've got left.

We'll pool it in one central place

and share and share alike.

You're a poor liar, Major.

I've been thinking

the same thing about you.

Don't try to carry it all alone, Major.

I'd be a poor preacher if I couldn't sense trouble.

Want to tell me how bad?

Reverend, there's no water ahead.

I've got to get a man to Fort Paiute,

and maybe they can get water wagons to us.

The shape our stock's in, we'd never make it there.

If you're looking for volunteers...

Thank you, Reverend, but no.

You'll do more good here.

These folks are gonna need you before we get out of this.

Who knows how to get to the fort?

Only one man in this train, as far as I know.

Flint McCullough.

And right now, he doesn't even know his own name.

I'll take over, soldier.

I told you before, Reverend, I'm a farmer.

So am I.

There were lots of farmers at Shiloh.

You save your talk for those that want it.

I'd rather save it for those who need it.

Is there something you want to tell me?

Yes.

Leave me alone.

All right, folks, it's time for water call.

One quarter cup per person.

Let's face it, Major.

We're not gonna get out of this alive,

none of us.

Go get your water.

All right, folks. Line up.

Line up for your water now.

Charlie, one quarter cup per person, no more.

All right, Major.

Redmond, I thought you were supposed to be over

giving the preacher a hand with the water barrels.

Oh, yeah, I must've dozed off.

Can I see you a minute, Major?

Yah, Bill.

I don't see how a man could get any lower, Redmond.

Deserting from the army might be one way.

There's only a cupful in that canteen.

I'm traveling alone. I only get one share.

I hope the Major decides to shoot you.

I doubt I'd tell him if I was you.

Might prove embarrassing.

Your wife don't object to drinking out of my canteen.

You're a liar.

Am I?

She's only human.

She gets just as thirsty as the rest of them...

and just as lonesome.

Just don't tell 'em.

Yeah, come on. Get off.

Turn him loose, Bill.

Go back to your wagon, Britton.

That's an order, soldier.

Quarter of a cup.

One measly quarter of a cup.

Yesterday it was a half a cup!

That was yesterday.

Where do you think you're going?!

Cut that out! Cut it out.

Come on, get back in line.

Next man to cause any trouble around here

will do without water.

I mean that.

I ain't fair!

Me and my man had two barrels of water.

We deserve more!

Lady, you heard what the Major said.

Ladies, ladies! Ladies!

Ladies, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

We're gonna die! We're all gonna die! What can we do?

Monty, we can't go on being alone forever.

You knew what it would be like.

No friends...

A friend is somebody who considers it

his right to pry into your past.

You saw how Major Adams and the others look at me.

They're calling you a deserter,

and you're letting them believe that.

Oh, Monty, why don't you tell them the truth?

Your father's a West Point major.

You're an army brat.

Your whole life has been army...

and you ask me why?

But this rejection of...

everything and everybody.

I think it's the other way around.

Well, you saw what happened back there,

everybody fighting for water like a bunch of animals.

Look, I-I know how Major Adams feels.

I know how my own father would feel.

Do you?

When my father was in command, what choice did he have?

None.

Then why must you blame him forever?

Because even a major can make a mistake.

I'm looking for a major who can admit it.

Do you think my father

wouldn't admit it if he knew he was wrong?

I don't know. Would he?

Monty, he didn't know!

He did what he had to do.

He threatened to shoot me on sight.

Sure. I could get to Fort Paiute.

I could get those water wagons back here on time...

if those people over there'd send me.

But they won't.

What are you doing here?

Flint, understand me, will ya?

We're in real trouble.

I've got to get a man to Fort Paiute

to get help for us to get water.

Now, can a man make it to Fort Paiute?

Do you understand me?

I can get there.

Ride...

Ride north.

Then a night.

A night...

Em...

A-A day, maybe.

Flint. Flint! Hear me.

Can you give me the landmarks?

Flint, listen to me.

Can you give me any landmarks?

Stop it. Stop it, boy. Easy.

Britton, this wagon's off limits for you.

Get on back to camp.

I want to talk to you, Major.

You can talk to me back in camp.

I told you the wagon's off limits.

Do you want to expose yourself to cholera?

The kind of cholera he's got isn't catching.

What do you want?

I told you I'd seen maps of this territory.

And I told you you were army.

You couldn't be wrong, could you?

I could be, but I'm not.

No, you're a major.

Britton! Sir.

Why don't you say

what you got on your mind, soldier?

What I was isn't important, but what I know is.

Go on.

You've overstayed, Major.

You've got one chance left... A man who knows this country,

the best horse in the train, two canteens of water.

That man might be able to make it to the fort

and bring you help in time.

Yeah.

And the wrong man with the best horse in camp

and two canteens of water might just keep on riding.

He might, at that.

You want to forget I said that?

No.

Then don't.

I'll be at my wagon if you want me.

Sir.

Well, I guess I'd better go check on McCullough.

I can't just volunteer.

Can you understand that?

A man has to feel that he's wanted...

that he's needed...

even at a time like this.

I have to have that.

Can you understand?

I understand.

Oh, Monty, I love you so much.

It's good to be wanted,

to be needed.

It's going to be all right, Monty.

We can start a new life

in California, I know we can.

I don't know if it'll be any easier than it has been,

but I'll try harder.

I promise you.

We'll both try.

If we just love each other enough...

Britton, we'd like to talk to you a minute.

Yes, sir?

You sure you know the way to Fort Paiute?

Yes, sir.

Come along with me.

Bridger tell you, Redmond?

That you wanted to see me, that's all.

I gotta have a man to go to Fort Paiute,

and I picked you.

You were a soldier, you served in Arizona, and you know the desert.

Britton here'll tell you the way.

Me, Major? Well, I don't know this country.

I just told you Britton will give you the landmarks.

You'll have the best horse in camp

and two canteens of water. You can make it.

Well, why me?

I ain't the only man in camp.

What's the matter, you worried, Mr. Redmond?

That's easy for you to say, Britton.

They ain't sending you.

I got your number and you know it.

You'd like to see me out in that desert, wouldn't you?

Well, I'll do my share, Major, like I always done,

but I ain't taking directions from no deserter,

and neither will anybody else in camp

when they know what you are.

Britton?

Don't look at me, Major.

You're in command.

Sir.

Why, Monty, why?

Why? How should I know why?

He's a major, isn't he?

I never claimed to be able to figure out your brass-bound army.

Command isn't an easy thing, Monty.

You of all people should know that.

I'm sure the Major must have a good reason.

All I know is I'm sick of command

and I'm sick of regulations and everything they stand for.

Army? Sure, I know something about army.

Keep your mouth shut and never volunteer

for anything, that's what I know.

ADAMS: Bill, I haven't got any more ideas.

Major.

I'll go if you want me to.

Well, Reverend, you can't go any more than I can.

I'm sure you've heard of the curse of command, haven't you?

Well, you and I fight in different armies, Major,

but we got the same problem.

You decided yet who's going to go?

No, I haven't.

Making decisions is a mighty lonesome job, Reverend.

I hate to be wrong in my judgment of any man.

I was really surprised about Redmond.

He's young, and he's stood this trip

better than anybody else.

Mm-hmm, and he's got no family.

That's it, Reverend... He's got no family.

You know, in war there's always a price

on being young and strong and... single.

There always has been, there always will be,

but it doesn't make an officer feel any better

about choosing a single man for a job.

I'll try talking to Redmond.

You talk to him if you want to, Reverend,

just count me out.

I'll take that.

Well, I just saved a few drops is all.

And you condemned Monty Britton.

ADAMS: I remember you, Cowan.

You had big dreams, didn't you?

Well, tell me something.

Does a man's dream leave him just because he's thirsty?

And you, Ben Johnson.

You wanted to get to California

so you could start a winery.

Well, do you think those grapes have stopped growing?

And you, Cronestead, you wanted build a hotel.

They need hotels in California now.

And all of you, you're all alive.

You still got your dreams.

Aren't they worth fighting for?

Well, then, stop this confounded bickering

and fighting among yourselves!

I been proud of you people, every one of you.

I never brought a finer bunch of people across this country.

You're not whipped.

Sure, you're thirsty, but you're not whipped.

Well, there's soldiers up north of us.

They can get to us. They will get to us.

The Reverend Sumter here,

he reminded me of something yesterday.

He reminded me that God Almighty created this desert,

the same as He did the lakes and the rivers

and each and every one of you.

I'm gonna ask you to remember that.

Remember that you're men and women.

SUMTER: Dear God, make us remember

that we're all brothers and sisters

under your heavenly arm.

Monty, will you listen to me?

I told you before, I'm through crawling

on my hands and knees and begging a man

just 'cause he's got a "major" in front of his name.

That's not the reason. What is it?

You told me yourself...

A man has to know he's needed.

Monty, I need you.

These people in this train need you.

And I needed them.

What's it been like?

We tried to make a life in Salt Lake,

and what was that like?

Questions and questions on top of questions.

Could I answer them?

Never be able to answer them.

I think you will someday, Monty.

You believe that, hmm?

I came with you.

There's always a decision to be made.

Always.

Well, I made one once, and I was wrong!

But you go on making decisions.

May I come in, Mrs. Britton?

Please, come in, Major, and sit down.

Thank you.

Britton, you'll never know

how I hate to ask this of you.

What's the matter, Major?

Have you reached the bottom of the barrel?

Is that what you consider yourself, Britton?

They asked everybody else,

and now you come to me.

That makes me very proud.

Oh, Monty, please.

Let him run to Redmond, his brass-bound soldier boy.

What do you want, boy?

What do you expect me to do?

You know what I want, Major.

I want the best horse in this train,

all the water you've got left.

Those are my terms.

I'm not speaking about terms.

Well, I am, and I'm making them.

You said you had no idea if I'd ever come back.

Well, what makes it any different now?

How do you know I won't go over that hill

and just keep right on going?

I don't know, soldier.

I don't know.

Good night, Mrs. Britton.

You had to do it, didn't you?

You had to rub his nose in it.

That's what he wanted to hear.

Well, he's gone, all right. Took our best horse, too.

Think he'll be back?

The way he talked last night, I'm not so sure.

He'll be back, Major, I know he will.

He's gone, ain't he?

He left last night and took the rest of the water.

Just like he did before, he deserted and took the rest of the water!

Monty Britton took the last of the water!

We're all gonna die!

Aw, shut up!

Major, look!

There's a sandstorm coming.

Sandstorm!

Tie down everything that's loose.

Bill, go look after the stock.

Get inside of your wagons, everybody!

This wind'll blow you clear to California.

If there's water out there, I hope it does.

You take Mrs. Britton back to her wagon.

Go on, now.

I liked it better before you tied it down.

It was rocking me to sleep.

If you don't get me a prettier nurse than Wooster, though,

I'm not gonna get sick again.

He tells me it's been three days.

Seems like more.

Well, all I can say is it's about time you got back on the job.

How much water we got?

None.

I thought we had enough for one more day.

We did, Charlie, but Britton took

the last of it with him.

Then he was a deserter like we thought.

We don't know that.

I'd like to think because of his wife,

if for no other reason,

he'll try to get through to the fort.

Flint, what do you think a man's chances are?

I've never lied to you, Major.

With a fresh horse and plenty of water...

I'd rather stay here.

In this kind of weather,

man's got a chance in a million.

Mrs. Britton, you all right?

Yes, I'm all right.

Would you care to tell me about your husband?

He was an officer, not a deserter.

Lieutenant Monty Britton.

Not a West Pointer. He did it the hard way.

A Mustang major...

a line officer commissioned for bravery in the fields.

Then what happened?

When he gets back,

he'll have to tell you that himself.

Where there's life, there's hope.

I'm down to platitudes, Major.

Reverend...

what kind of a man

do you think Monty Britton is?

He's as hurt a man as I ever knew.

It's a deep hurt...

way down inside,

so sore and...

raw and real

that even his own wife couldn't soothe it.

That's what I figured.

You know, Reverend, I don't think it

really matters much

what a man has been, does it?

It never matters, Major.

The only thing that matters

is what a man is.

Yeah, well.

Here comes that McCullough.

He's got the constitution of a horse, and less brains.

He oughtn't even be out of that wagon.

What the devil are you doing out here?

You know you shouldn't be up and around.

Kind of foolish to be worrying

about my health, isn't it?

Take a look. My eyes are pretty sunburned.

Could be a mirage.

Where?

I was on that rock over across the wash.

Looked like some dust.

Maybe some dust made by some wagons.

Like I said, it could be a mirage.

Here, Reverend, see what you think.

I'd hate to say, Major,

but I can hope

and I can pray.

It could be just a devil twister.

Yep. Devil twister, maybe.

But, uh, until they prove me wrong,

I'm gonna stick to the other extreme.

Here, try these on those sunburned eyes of yours.

Well?

You know, Major, when we get to Sacramento

I'm gonna buy you a long, cold drink.

You know something else?

I wasn't worried one little bit.

You know something?

If I'd have slept all through this like you did,

I wouldn't have been worried a bit, either.

Water!

Major Clinton. Who's in charge?

I am. Seth Adams,

and I'm sure glad to see you, Major.

Seth.

Form ration lines.

I've only so much water.

I'll demand strict discipline, Adams.

You'll get it.

Betty.

I have a sick man.

Sergeant.

Yes, sir.

Sissions, Christie. Give me a hand here.

Bring him right over here, men.

Here, ma'am.

Thank you.

I never saw anything like it, sir.

He come through that sandstorm

looking like a ghost.

He hadn't had a drop of water.

We figure he must've give it all to his horse,

but he insisted on coming back with us.

Acted like he just had to prove something.

'Course, I don't blame him

for wanting to get back.

That'll be all, Sergeant.

Yes, sir.

I said some harsh things, Betty.

I'd like to know you'll both forgive me.

It's a brave thing he did.

He's the same man I married, Father.

Betty, our whole family was army.

The disgrace he brought on us!

And then he took you away from me.

He didn't take me away.

I went with him because I wanted to.

And I'll stay with him for the same reason.

Well, Major, looks to me like we're gonna have

to thank Monty Britton for saving our lives.

Yes, I suppose.

There's no suppose about it. I know.

So, he's Lieutenant Monty Britton, huh?

Not is, Adams. Was.

He's a man with a yellow ticket.

Oh.

Dishonorable discharge, huh?

What happened?

His first command,

his senior officer killed.

Monty pulled back.

The enemy turned his flank,

his entire troop wiped out to the last man.

And Britton took the blame, huh?

He was court-martialed.

He was found guilty.

Given a dishonorable discharge.

He ran in the face of the enemy.

Did he?

Or was he just obeying

the last orders of his senior officer,

orders that happened to be wrong?

Think I haven't asked myself that?

Major...

I don't think there's ever been a court martial

that couldn't be reviewed, has there?

The review would've been automatic.

He disappeared. I didn't know where to find him.

His pride got in his way.

They always told me that a man had to have pride

to be a good officer.

Betty.

Bill, Charlie, come here.

Want you to give us a hand with Lieutenant Britton.

Get him back in his wagon.

He's gonna need a lot of rest and care

before he goes back on active duty.

All right.

Major.

Wagons ho!

Next stop, California!