Original subtitles

Let's go, boys!

Go ahead, trot out there, scallop and scout ahead for us.

Yes, sir.

Go about 500 yards, keep that elbow in.

Yes, sir.

Right up in the scapegoat.

So,

two clicks all the way back.

One more.

Yep, you're ready to go.

Four or five rounds a minute with this thing.

Unlike the old muskets.

Good for about 500 yards.

All you have to do is bring this back all the way here to that next ridge over there.

You'll hit anything you aim at with it.

It's like that.

Good shot.

Best you can lose.

Every time.

It's beautiful.

Yep, brand new one.

Nice chunk of lead going down the range.

Nice.

They've given you colts to release, right?

Yeah.

You got your colts?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

I like the colt.

Love this thing.

Take care of them, they'll take care of you.

They're regulated about 100 yards, so when anything comes in close,

you want to aim low.

So, like this, put your sights on that about the belt buckle, make sure you aim low.

If you just point where you're naturally pointing

fire, it's going to go straight over your head.

Oh, holy and most powerful God, we thank you for this moment.

We give you honor and praise for who you are that you

created this beautiful landscape, these mountains.

You created the universe, you're in charge of everything.

We thank you for giving me these wonderful two young men, the sons, Noah and Judah.

Helped me raise them up to be fine young men.

We thank you for the provision you've given us,

that you've given us safety and protection thus far.

And we just glorify you for the opportunity.

We give you praise that we can serve your purposes here.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Back in formation, let's go!

Ready to dismount!

Dismount!

All right, troopers, you're going to file off, you're going to dismount.

You've already dismounted, you're going to unsaddle your mounts.

You're going to set up the picket line, post the

guard, relieve the guard that's already posted.

Field desk.

All right, separate everything out.

Drop it on the end.

Pull back.

All right.

Cornmeal!

Left, right, now left.

Tommy, you didn't keep track of your rifle, trooper.

You got it?

Look at this.

This is quartz.

This is an indicator that there's gold in it or around here.

The glaciers pushed it.

See the line in there?

There's a good chance that there's gold in that.

We'll take it back to camp later and hit it with a hammer.

That's a huge rock there, man.

See there?

White.

Even this rock has just a little bit of quartz.

We're finding this stuff just on the surface.

Just think if we started digging.

Yeah, I think I see some gold in there.

Can you see it?

Gotta get the light just right.

Nice, huh?

Oh.

This land has it all.

Fish, elk, deer, bear, antelope, buffalo.

Cattle would do good out here.

Think it'd be a great life to raise a family.

Hear the robin?

My aunt used to say when you hear a robin, everything's gonna be okay.

I'm looking forward to that day.

Anything?

Nope.

Didn't see anything.

Nothing good, nothing bad.

Yeah.

Well...

At least you weren't sitting around.

I'd rather see something than nothing.

I don't really care what it is anymore.

Can you pardon me one more?

It's not getting any better if that's what you're expecting.

No.

Well, don't waste it here.

Switch out.

When you're walking back and forth, just take your

eyes and kind of scan along the top of the ridge line.

Sort of memorize where all the trees and bushes are.

And when you bring your eyes back across, look for something different.

Look for something to change.

If you're staring up there and you're trying

to look for a whole man, you'll never see it.

Just look for a part, a piece of something.

And just keep looking at it till you can tell what it is.

What are we at, 150 yards?

It's about 200 at the top of the ridge.

When this rider came across here, they scared up a crow.

And I heard that, heard it come across the ridge, and

they crossed right the same spot that crow flew up.

So just watch out for anything different, anything changes.

It was probably ten years when I started hunting

deer with my dad before he let me have a gun.

And that first time when I had a chance to shoot, it was like

like it just happened.

Like I was just standing back watching myself when the gun went off.

That's kind of what the Army does with us.

It's column left, column right, mount, dismount, aim, fire.

When it comes that time, you'll just do it.

You'll do it and it's like you don't even have

control over it like you're watching yourself.

All right?

Yeah.

See ya.

Fat one.

I mean...

And the dealer will take two.

How many cards do you want?

One.

What are you doing?

Give me one.

What you got?

Two queen.

Three fours.

What is there?

Four fours.

Our troops are down in New Mexico.

There's probably gonna be an engagement somewhere around Gloria to pass.

It's gonna take them

at least two weeks to get up here.

So we need to hold the line.

Our guys will catch up with us.

They'll find us.

Until then

you'll gain experience.

Okay,

we'll stay ready.

Two weeks.

Good job.

I'm not gonna worry myself out on that.

It's two suns, two outs.

Come on.

Here.

Second.

How are you on it?

One.

Oh, you're kidding me.

Hold fire.

Good, good.

Good.

Half-cock.

Rotate.

Rotate.

Three.

Four.

Five.

Six.

Six shots, and then move on.

How many yards?

Twenty.

How many shots?

Six.

And then half-cock.

See the V?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah?

You see the single point here?

Yeah.

You line up this single point in the middle of this V, so you have three points.

Go ahead, put it up.

Take a look.

Feel good about it?

You see?

How old are you?

Sixteen.

You shot one before?

Yeah.

Where?

My house.

And your brother?

Same.

And you shoot with him?

Yeah.

And what have you shot?

Rabbits.

That's it?

A couple of squirrels.

Unless you want to go find some geese.

Not tonight.

Not tonight.

My dad, Jude, and me, be safe.

Please let this army be safe.

And please let us go into the journey to fight the enemy.

Please guide us on our way where we're going.

And please let us fight in your name and protect this land.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You okay?

So are you doing what you want to do?

Or are you doing what you think your dad wants you to do?

I joined because my dad, he was in it.

Why not?

I mean, you could be a hero in battle and be with your dad.

Didn't expect my brother to follow, too, but more family members is better for

me, at least.

Better how?

Better to know at least more people have your back

instead of people you met at the beginning of the war.

I think you'll end up realizing that your family

is a whole lot more important than your country.

I don't know.

God gave us a country.

What's the point if we're not going to fight for it?

That's what I think.

So, that's why I'm here.

Glory and family are in it, so.

I hope it stays that simple for you.

I hope it doesn't get more complicated.

I hope so, too.

When did you join the army?

Oh, six months ago.

Volunteer with everybody else.

The way you handle guns seems like you've been in it a lot longer.

Yeah, I knew that stuff before I got in the army.

It's a different gun, but they're all the same.

Have you ever killed anyone?

No.

Why'd you join?

Just needed work.

Army needed men, and I needed work.

Guess that's a good enough reason.

It's a paycheck.

Yeah, that's true.

Just keep on going through the belly.

I'll pull back.

You cut.

You okay?

Yeah, I'm good.

I'll keep

these two until they dry.

They were just shivering pretty bad.

We can try to find a couple more.

What's left.

And cover these, but these were the worst.

Is it ground cover?

Yeah, it is.

No moisture will come up.

The poncho's there.

It's gonna be nice and dry and warm tonight in there.

We rode like three ridges to the southwest.

It's all nothing.

From that last ridge you can see like 20 or 30 miles.

Not a thing.

We need to get to the mountain pass.

Take a few men with you.

Keep one man here.

Probably me, back with the injured.

Give him some protection.

Help him as best as we can.

Okay.

I'll tell the men.

I think it's frozen, but.

I can't say for sure.

I think if that ground's solid all the way to the tree line, we can just take that

gulch to the right at the top of the ridge.

Because we're not gonna know what's on the other side until we get to the top of it.

But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee.

Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house.

Open thy mouth and eat that I give thee.

And when I looked, behold, a hand was sent unto me.

And lo, a roll of a book was therein.

He said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak

unto thee, receive in thine heart and hear with thine ears.

And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people,

and speak unto them and tell them.

Thus saith the Lord God.

There's a reason for this war.

God has a set time for us to be born and a set time for us to die.

And all the men who died in this war, even in the

south, he has a time for us to die to where we can go.

I think it's beautiful that you believe.

It's inspiring.

I think there's a lot of wisdom there.

I'd love to learn more.

Unfortunately, I've believed in a lot of things and they've turned out to be false.

I remember when I was your age, I was probably the most confident,

the most sure that I ever was.

So I hope you hold on to your beliefs and that they continue to provide you with

wisdom and purpose.

I don't necessarily believe in good and evil and heaven and

hell and Jesus and Satan, but I believe in right and wrong.

I believe putting people in chains is wrong.

And I think we're on the right side of this war.

You know, God's commandment says, thou shalt not kill.

So I don't quite understand how we can do evil and

we can sin, yet we claim we're doing it for good.

God gave his son, died on the cross, so when we die, we die, we can be in a

better place than be here on earth where it is misery.

So.

I can give you it in as better detail or depth as my dad could.

But I know.

I like to think I know the difference between good and evil.

We're killing people, other Americans.

They're good, right?

We're good.

Where does God fit into that?

It makes no sense.

It makes no sense to me.

I just don't see how God figures into this, into this war.

I don't mind your beliefs, but I don't do anything in service of God.

I certainly don't do anything in service of God in this context, in war.

No way.

For me, this is survival.

We kill or we die.

Jesus said, he who takes up the sword will perish by the sword.

We've crossed that line.

I don't think there's any going back.

Go stand guard over there.

We're running low on rations.

We got tobacco.

Maybe a quarter pint of whiskey.

We gotta get through this pass.

So I'm gonna take Kyler.

We're gonna just go ahead on foot.

Try to figure out the way.

I want you to stay with the boy.

I trust you to take care of him, so...

Day, maybe two, we'll be back.

We'll all go together.

Rope.

Rope.

Tell me when.

Okay.

I think if we can get the horses around these rocks, we can make it out the pass.

These high boulders?

And then we can get down more level ground there?

Cut straight through?

We should be at a flower right along the creek.

All the way out.

Do you see that?

Through the trees right there?

I don't even know why I'm here anymore, sadly.

I get it.

You want to prove yourself.

You want to be a hero.

You got a lot of piss and vinegar.

But I think you're doing a lot just being here.

This isn't about us.

It's not about you or me.

It's a bigger...

The cause is bigger.

I don't know.

I don't know what it takes to be a man, but.

I can't answer.

I would say fighting

to be a man, because.

I'm not one yet.

I don't even have my first

facial hair coming off.

That doesn't prove anything, but still

I'm too young to know what it's like to be a man.

Sometimes you got to wait for it.

Patience.

And you got to be strong... while you wait.

Sometimes that's the hardest part.

Have faith.

And know that you're doing the right thing.

You'll be strong when the time comes.

You spend your whole youth wanting to be a man.

Wanting to be brave.

Wanting to do that thing that'll make you strong.

And then something happens, like war.

I was angry for years,

and it became

all that I was.

And then you spend the rest of your life trying to get back.

Trying to rediscover what you lost.

And what went wrong?

What happened?

What have I become?

But you find out... and a new meaning.

Your heart thaws.

And I think that's when you become a man.

When you forgive yourself,

and others.

But never forget... that feeling.

Because you're going to need it.

You're going to use it.

And when the time comes

if your feet get wet, speak up.

Okay?

Okay.

I

Was born in Virginia.

The Valley of the Shenandoah on a small farm... right before the big mountains start.

My people were dunkers.

They don't own slaves.

All of our neighbors really started to make life hard on us.

Once it looked like the war was coming

we realized that they were probably going to make us fight with them.

So a lot of men ran

hid in the mountains.

And I went too.

I just went west and I

kept going.

Didn't stop.

Dunkers don't believe in killing, but

when the war started, I volunteered.

It just didn't seem fair to me to

set it out and let other people do all the killing and the dying for you.

I just kept thinking back to those people that ran us off our land and

it didn't seem fair to let that stand.

I was drafted in California.

I had the option

to stay there.

Stand guard... for nothing.

Nothing would get that far west.

So I came this way.

There's no principle behind

what I'm doing here.

I don't care who wins.

I don't care who loses.

I don't care... You have to care about something or you wouldn't be here.

I chose you because you're... you're the best shot.

I know I could count on you.

We could watch each other's back and both of us could make it.

I still know we can make it.

But where are you taking us?

I don't know.

I don't know where we're going, but

all I care about anymore is living.

If you care about that, that'll get you through.

And when you stop caring about that, you let me know and that's fine.

Because if living's not good enough for you, I guess nothing else is.

We're going to have to cut low by the creek.

There's no way

we can get the horses up high.

It's so quiet.