Bonanza (1959–1973): Season 2, Episode 2 - The Mission - full transcript

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Now, now can I have that drink?

Not until you finish
your story, Charlie.

You have to tell us
about General Fremont.

Yes, let me see, where was I?

Oh, yeah, that was the time

that me and the general come
through here together.

That was in the summer of '47.

As a matter of fact,
there wouldn't have been

no Virginia City if it hadn't
been for me and the general.



I told you to shut up
your lying, didn't I?

I ain't lying.

- You are lying.
- I...

- Ain't you, ain't you?!
- Yes, sir, yes, sir.

Now, wait a minute, mister,

old Charlie here
don't mean any harm.

He's just an old man
hangin' around the saloon.

We like to hear his stories.

Well, I don't like to hear them.

Now, did anybody ask you
to put in your two bits' worth?

- -Why don't
you fellas leave me be?

I tell you, I did scout
for General Fremont.

I tell you, I did.

Why don't you leave me be?



All right, old man.

Latigo, give me a knife.

What you aiming to do?

Well, now, anybody that's fought

as many Indians
as you claim you have

ought to have a few scars,
shouldn't he?

No.

Suppose we just scratch off
some of this beard and...

Ow!

So's we can...

put on some war paint.

Leave him alone!

Come on, Charlie.

Let's get you out of here before
you get in any more trouble.

Thank you, Hoss... thank ye.

My friend Charlie don't like
to be treated like that.

I don't like it neither.

You dropped something.

Yeah.

"Fremont Expedition, 1847."

"Presented to Charles Trent,

"chief scout,

for services above and beyond
the line of duty."

Charlie, you... you wouldn't
want to lose that.

You're about the only
real friend I got in town.

All I seem to do is
a-cause you trouble.

Charlie, you promised me solemn

you wasn't goin'
back in that saloon again.

Well, I-I didn't mean to.

Just them fellas wanted to hear
some of my stories, that's all.

Yeah, for a couple of drinks.

I guess...

I guess you won't give me
another chance, will you?

Dad-burnit, Charlie, how many
chances you gonna have to have?

I talked Pa into giving you
a job on the ranch.

And what do you do?

The first payday you take off

and we don't see you again
for a week,

and you come back drunk.

That was, that was
a mistake, Hoss.

Charlie, it's that way with
every job you got around here.

There ain't nobody around here
going to give you a chance now.

I, I guess you're right,

but I ain't gonna
to bother you no more,

I can promise you that much,

'cause I'm, I'm gonna take up
scouting again.

Yeah.

General Fremont-- he'll be
sending for me any time now--

today, tomorrow for sure.

Charlie, I, I wouldn't count
on it too much.

General Fremont's a busy man
with, uh, this war talk and all.

Oh, I know, I know he,
he wouldn't go back on me.

You see, him and me--we crossed
the Great Salt Flat together.

I'd better, better go fix up
a little, though, I guess.

Charlie... it...
it just ain't no use.

I... I done made up my mind
what I'm gonna do with you.

- What? -Well, I'm,
I'm gonna go in there

and get some money and
I'm gonna, gonna fix you all up

nice and clean,
and I'm gonna put you

on the first stagecoach
out of here for San Francisco.

That's mighty kind of you,
Hoss, I, I appreciate it,

but I can't go to no big city.

I belong out here,
I got to stay here.

Charlie, I, I been all wrong

about maybe you getting
a new chance here.

It's...

The big city's
the only place for you.

- I...
- You stay right here.

Don't you go no place, you hear?

Hoss!

Gone... Hoss...

Hold on, Cutter.

Where you going?

I heard a couple friends of mine
was passing through.

Thought I'd talk to 'em is all.

Well, I have a strict schedule
on this mission.

You be back here and ready
to lead out in one half hour.

Cutter.

Cap'n...

I think it's about time you
and me had us an understanding.

Now, I been loning it
through this territory

for a goodly time and I ain't
never taken no orders yet,

not from a savage
and not from no soldier boy.

You signed an army contract
to scout trail.

You're going to fulfill it--
and to the letter--

or you'll be relieved.

Why, mister,
you've got about as much chance

of crossing that desert
without me

as a blind hooty bat has
of reaching the sun.

All right, carry on, men.

Cap'n, Cap'n,
I know that whole desert.

I mapped out the first trail
to Salt Lake City.

I know the whereabouts
of every water hole.

Yeah, well,
I-I can't sign on anybody

just because they claim
to be a scout.

You don't, you don't,
you don't believe me, huh?

Yeah, yeah, look at that,
look at that.

Fremont Expedition?!

Yeah, you can read what's
written on the other side, too.

"Presented to Charles Trent,
chief scout,

for services..."

Trent?

Yeah.

Are you the same Trent
that scouted

for the border expedition
against the Apaches?

Yeah, that was back in,
back in '53.

I wouldn't have known you.

I mean, it's been so long.

Of course,
you wouldn't remember me.

I was just a shavetail, but...

that was my first assignment.

I guess
it would have been my last

if you hadn't led us out
of that Apache trap.

Charlie Trent.

You'll give me a chance then?

Now, Charlie,
that gold shipment is vital,

maybe with a war coming on.

We've got a scout.

Perhaps next time
I make a trip, Charlie.

Cap'n.

That old bum was pretty drunk,

thinking he can scout
for you, sir.

Corporal, "that old bum"

was the finest scout
in the United States Army.

Whatever I know about this
territory I learned from him.

Oh, I'm sorry, sir.

I am, too.

Give us a bottle.

Give old buzzard bait
a drink here, too.

Wake up,
the man's buying you a drink.

Huh? Oh.

- Charlie.
- Huh? Huh?

Oh, oh-ho!

Hoss, did I ever tell you
about the time

I led a expedition
up the Columbia River?

Yeah, yeah, yeah,
you told me, Charlie.

Come on, let's go down to the
stable and you can clean it off.

I tried... Hoss.

Honest, honest, I tried hard.

You ask them soldier boys
if I didn't.

That captain--
he just didn't want me.

Joe, give me a cup of coffee
and a sandwich.

Cutter's in here, Cap'n.

You ain't making no friends
with none of us, Cutter,

way you're treating the cap'n.

I told you to be back and ready
in half an hour.

Mm-hmm.

Seems to me I do remember
you saying something like that.

Well, don't you mind now.

I'll be along a little while.

Barkeep...

set my friend the captain here
up a drink.

Last man that grabbed me
like that was a Blackfoot chief.

I cut his liver out.

A man don't live long
without a liver, Captain.

That's a pure medical fact.

I'm giving you a direct order.

Get outside
and join the detail-- now.

Or what?

Or you're through.

Well, now, that don't seem
so likely, mister.

You need a scout,
and I'm the only one there is.

You're a long way from being
indispensable, Cutter.

There's a man who knows
the wasteland country

better than you
or any scout alive--

Charlie Trent.

Trent?

Where you gonna find him?

Charlie.

That's Charlie Trent?

The great Charlie Trent, huh?

Remington massacre.

You remember, Charlie?

You led them soldier boys
right into an ambush,

right smack-dab up to where
them Injuns was waitin'.

He's just the kind of a scout
you need, Cap'n.

Collect your gear from the wagon
and then clear out.

Take along plenty of water,
soldier boy, plenty of water.

Charlie...

Charlie, you asked me
for a chance.

This is it.

Now, don't give me
any cause to regret it.

We'll provide you with
your mount and your gear.

Get anything else you need.

We'll move out
as soon as you're ready.

Well?

Cap'n...

Cap'n, I...

He'll do it, Cap'n.

Uh, Charlie!

Cap'n...

my name's Cartwright.

I... I'm a friend
of old Charlie's.

I'll see to it he's
ready to go in no time.

We rode together.

Cap'n...

let him ride with you again.

I haven't much choice.

Thank you, sir.
I... I'll get him.

Charlie...

Charlie... I been looking
all over this town for you.

The cap'n's down there
waiting for you.

- You got to get your gear and...
- Leave me alone, please, sir.

Please leave me alone.

Just go... go tell
that captain man

you couldn't find me,
that's all.

Charlie... he's offering you

the chance you've
been waiting for.

If it was just me,
I-I wouldn't mind.

But, you see, it's Pender and
all his men depending on me...

Charlie...

you led the first map party
across that desert.

The first white man
that ever crossed it.

Now, if you can do that,

you can lead Pender
and his men now.

Or... Or was that just
one of your lies

about leading that map party?

No. 'Cause that was true,
Hoss, that was true.

All right, then.

Now, Charlie, you listen to me,
and you listen real good.

If you let Cap'n Pender
and those men

go out across that desert
without somebody

to scout the trail for 'em,
you are gonna be a coward

and a murderer.

Charlie, you got to do it!

If you...
if you would help me,

if you'll come with me.

Well, Charlie, I...

Just like... just like you...

just like you said yourself,

this here is the chance
I've been waiting for.

Will you please help me?
Will you please come with me?

Yes, sir, I'll go with you.

Ah. Thank you.

Oh, hey...

Well, good-bye, Captain,
and good luck.

Thank you, Mr. Johnson.

Detail... forward!

Forward!

- Hyah!
- Ho!

Hey, Charlie.

This time don't go letting
them injuns get your scalp.

You stand there laughing

like you just done
something great, Cutter.

But all you've done was
to mess up things real good.

It's working out
just the way I wanted, Buck.

And how do you make that?

We had a plan,
a plan to get the gold--

now we've got nothing.

I changed plans
for a better one.

We still get the gold.

Maybe you'd better tell us
what you got in mind.

Way it works out now,

I don't have to explain
me survivin'.

They get lost,
sand covers everything,

ain't a trace of nothin' left,

and everybody figures it's
old Charlie Trent led 'em wrong.

You were gonna lead them
soldiers out into the desert.

What if this Charlie
takes 'em another way?

Them renegade bands down south
would like nothing better

than to get their hands
on that gold.

Cheyenne on
the warpath up north.

They got nowhere to go
but across that desert...

with us following 'em.

- Detail...
- Detail...

- halt!
- halt!

- Forward!
- Forward!

- Ho!
- Yo!

Hyah!

Get out there!

- Detail...
- Detail...

- halt!
- halt!

- Dismount!
- Dismount!

Looking for something, Charlie?

Oh-ho...

Oh, no, no, I wasn't
looking for nothin'. I...

- Just-Just lookin'.
- A bottle?

What bottle? Heh.

You ain't gonna find it.

Hoss...

Hoss, that was all I had.

I... I didn't want to...

drink it, I just wanted
to know it was here, that's all.

I... I wasn't aimin'
to drink a drop of it.

I... I...

I promise.

Cross my heart.

I poured it out
this morning, Charlie.

I... I can't make it
without a drink, Hoss.

Hoss, I can't make it!

Charlie, you done made it almost
a week now, just on a pint.

Yeah, what we've
come through is nothing--

like taking a walk
down a boulevard

on a bright, sunshiny day.

You wait'll we get
across that there mountain

and hit the Great Salt Flats.

A man... a man's got to have
something in his insides

when he tackles that desert.

And you done took and poured my
insides right out on the ground.

Charlie...

you're just gonna have
to grow some new ones.

'Cause if you don't take us
across that desert,

we'll all gonna die
and rot out there.

All right, I'll...
I'll try, Hoss.

Honest, I'll-I'll try.

Here.

You drink your coffee
and... quit worryin'.

You're gonna make it.

I...

My!

There they be.

Getting ready to bed down
like nice soldier boys.

Come dark, we gonna ride.

From here on out,
we stay ahead of 'em.

What's our line of march?

Uh... due east, Cap'n.

You see, once you hit
that there desert,

there ain't no landmarks
to guide you.

You have to kind of...
kind of sense things, you know?

Kind of... kind of
feel your way along.

Charlie, Charlie, that's
what we're depending on you for,

to take us to
that first water hole

in a two-day march--
and then after that,

you'll have to lead us
to the next water hole,

then on to the last one.

Can you do all that, Charlie?

I tell you what...

I been, I been,
I been thinking it over,

and I reckon it
might be our best bet

to head due north, you see,
and that way

we can circle the desert
entirely, you see?

With Yellow Star
and the whole Cheyenne Nation

on the warpath?

Look, I didn't bring you along

to tell me how
to get us all killed.

We have to cross that desert.

Now, you signed on as a scout
to lead us over it.

Now, can you do it?

Me and Hoss'll lead out.

Prepare to move.

Prepare to mount!

- Forward!
- Forward!

- Ho!
- Ho!

You aimin'
to take 'em on tonight?

Nah.

You ever see the Zunis hunt fox?

No.

Well, they just let 'em
keep on runnin'

till their tongues are all
swole up and hanging out.

Then they walk up to 'em
real peaceful like

and club 'em to death.

Yes, sir, we're gonna
let those soldier boys

just ride on a piece.

Far enough so there
ain't no way back.

Sort of like being
out on the ocean, ain't it?

Only difference is that...

we're looking for water
instead of land.

You got your
bearing yet, Charlie?

You don't... you don't reckon
we could've circled back

on ourselves, do you,
and gotten lost?

No, no, no.

Of course not.

Ain't much daylight
left, Charlie,

and you said we'd sure find
that water hole before sundown.

That there water hole
has got to be

within an hour's march
of here, I'm tellin' you.

You go back
and tell the cap'n.

And capt'n will bring them
soldiers of his'n

up here right away.

You sure, Charlie?

Sure?
No, of course I ain't sure.

But I got to act like I was.

I got to fool them soldiers
into thinking I'm sure.

'Cause if just one man panics,
it'll spread like wildfire,

and we'll find ourselves
a bunch of buzzard bait.

You... You said you had faith
in me, didn't you?

Yes, sir, I do.

Well, hang on to it, son.

Hang on to it, 'cause that's
all I got to hang on to myself.

I'll tell 'em.

Ah. Now, when I find
that there water,

I'll fire three shots
in the air.

Yes, sir.

- Detail...
- Detail...

- halt!
- whoa!

Captain.

- Dismount.
- Dismount!

Captain... just
a little piece further.

I made a mistake trusting him.

I think it's time
we admit it... both of us,

we're lost, and you know it.

Cap'n, you're wrong.

With the captain's permission.

Me and the men
would like the captain

to tell us straight out
how we stand.

Cap'n.

Men, you've got a right to know.

It's Charlie.

He found water!

Prepare to mount!

- Mount the horses!
- Yee-haw!

Hyah!

Forward!

- Hyah!
- Yo!

- Cap'n! Ho! Ho!
- Detail, halt!

Hold 'em back!

Master Sergeant, slow down!

Cap'n, hold your men back!

Keep your men back, Cap'n!

Don't let 'em come here!

I knew you'd find it, boy!

- Detail, ten-hut!
- Detail!

What's wrong?

That there water's
been poisoned.

See that animal over there?

Yeah, well, the same thing'll
happen to any of us

that drinks this here water.

We don't need a scout
to find poison water for us!

Sergeant.

Yes, sir?

Move the detail
to that area up ahead.

Make camp.

Issue half rations of water
to the men and the mules.

None to the mounts.

Detail...

forward.

All right, Charlie,
how far to the next water hole?

It's about a day's march.

But me nor nobody else
can say whether that water'll be

any more fittin'
to drink than this is.

Can you find it?

Found this one, didn't I?

What do you think, Cap'n?

We can make our water last
another full day.

We'll have to lose our mounts.

The mules can keep going
as long as they get some water.

You got to make
the decision, Cap'n.

Well, if we turn around
and go back,

the men and the gold
will be saved, but...

if we go on up ahead
and that water's poisoned, too,

it'll be too late to turn back.

There's nothing in my orders
about turning back.

Charlie, we'll move out
just before dawn,

- while it's still cool.
- Yeah.

You're gonna poison
this one, too?

That's what I'm gonna do, Buck.

They're liable
to get suspicious.

That don't make no difference.

Besides, they can't never
know just how it got done.

Now, go on, do like I told you,
start brushing out our tracks.

Look, all we've been doing

is riding around
this miserable desert.

Now, I say we stay here
and finish off them soldiers.

All I want is
to split that gold,

and I got nothin' so far
but sun-baked.

Latigo?

I'll side with them.

Now, them soldiers
have got to come here.

All we got to do
is wait for 'em.

But if you feel you'd rather
not make the stand with us,

you can clear out.

No hard feelings.

No hard feelings, huh?

Now, you listen to me,

every last one of you.

There ain't one of you
got a chance

of leaving these salt flats
alive less'n I lead ya.

Now, where would
you ambush eight men

on flatlands like this?

But up ahead, there's places
where we can pull it off.

Now, go on, do like I told you,
start brushing out our tracks.

It's poisoned.

- Kelly! -Kelly! Get out!
That water's poison!

- Kelly...!
- Get out of there!

The water's poisoned!
The water's poisoned!

Get out of there!

Have you lost your head?

The water's good!
It's not poisoned!

- Let me have some more!
- Kelly! Kelly!

You just drunk your death, man!

That water's good!

The water's good!
It's not poisoned!

Stand back.

Charlie...

make sure.

Test that water again.

No need to, Cap'n.

Kelly himself will prove
I was right.

You drunken old sot!

That belly is loaded with
so much poison now from liquor

you don't know
what you're doing!

You took us where there's water!

You don't...

Sergeant, bring a canteen.

Ain't no use doing that, Cap'n.

He can't swallow none nohow.

Move him over under the wagon
and cover him with a blanket.

It's four riders
and one spare horse,

all headed away from here
and riding fast

for the next water hole.

And poison that one, too.

Yeah.

Another thing, Cap'n--

only a scout would know
his way around here

like them bushwhackers
are doing.

A scout--
that would have to be Cutter.

We'll go ahead while
we still have some water left

and try to fight
our way through.

Eh, Cap'n...

Cap'n, there's rocks
around that there water hole.

Best place in the world
for ambush.

They'd pick us off
before we ever seen 'em.

We're not gonna stay here
and die, not without a fight.

You got an idea
better than that?

Yeah. Yeah.

If they are still
at that water hole,

that water will be good
until after they finish us off.

That makes sense,
Charlie. Go on.

Yeah, but...

we got to make sure
they are still there.

So when the moon sets,
I'll start out, see?

I should make it in...
oh, an hour or two.

No, Charlie, no.

I'll go with some of my men.

Sergeant,
you and Johnson will go with me.

- Corporal...
- No, Cap'n.

I'm, uh, I'm a scout.

I can do a better job alone.

All right, Charlie.

But after you
get there, what then?

Well, if they ain't there
and the water is still good,

I'll fire three shots.

No... No, Cutter may have
heard that signal before.

So this time
I'll fire three shots,

wait a while,
then fire two more.

And, Cap'n, when
you hear them five shots,

you come a-runnin'.

And if I don't hear
the five shots?

If you don't hear 'em,
you head due north.

Forced march,
traveling by night.

And with any luck,
you ought to make the highlands

and water in about two days.

Course, the, uh...
Cheyennes might be there, too.

Buy then maybe...
maybe it's better to be scalped

than to die of thirst, huh?

I'm sorry I ever
doubted you, Charlie.

Oh, ho-ho...

Oh...

thank you, Cap'n.

Thank ye.

Well, bye, Hoss.

Charlie, when I promised
to come along on this deal,

I meant all the way.

No, no, you've done
enough for me already.

I just ain't worth it,
can't you understand that?

If you leave me here, I'll...
I'll just tag along after you.

Hoss, you ain't
a-comin' with me.

'Sides, I...
I travel faster alone.

Charlie...

if I let
you go out there alone,

I'd feel guilty
the rest of my life.

That's better than
being dead, ain't it?

You know better than that.

Yeah.

Five shots, right, Cap'n?

- Charlie?
- Yeah?

- There sure ain't
no sign of 'em. -Yeah.

That don't mean those fellas

ain't up there hidin'
in them there rocks.

- Well...
- I don't like it.

It just...
it just don't feel good.

We're gonna have to take
a chance on it anyhow.

Let's go.

All right,
but you be careful, son.

Dad-burnit, Charlie,
is it gonna take you all day

to make up your mind?

Ha! Whoo!

- Water!
- Hola!

Oh, boy!

Oh!

Now, ain't them
a happy pair of fools?

Drink your fill, boys.

Then we're going to have
a nice, long talk

about my good friend
Cap'n Pender.

Why didn't them soldier boys
come with you?

How many of them are there left?

I reckon that's something
you're going to have

to find out, mister.

Well, that's something
I'm just going to find out.

Cutter!

They're back
at the other water hole.

- Charlie!
- There's...

There's five of 'em.

One of 'em died.

They're waiting for my signal
to come on ahead.

Charlie!

Cap'n Pender got
any suspicion of me?

No, course not.

No, if, if we had
any suspicions,

you don't suppose that me
and Hoss would have come walking

in here the way we done, do you?

No, I reckon not,
being the scout you once was.

What's that signal?

I ain't a-gonna tell you.

You ain't a-gonna tell me?

Hey, Latigo,
fetch me my saddlebag.

You ain't a-gonna tell me.

Charlie, this ought
to make you talk, huh?

It's all yours, Charlie,

you just tell me
what that signal is.

My, I bet you got mighty dry
for this, too.

Mmm!

Smell it, Charlie, huh?

What's the signal now, huh?

Don't you tell him, Charlie.

Mmm!

That's too good
to waste on you, but...

Tastes good, huh?

Yeah.

What's the signal, Charlie?

And it's all yours,
every last bit of it.

Signal?

Three sh... three sh...

- Louder, Charlie, louder.
- Three sh...

Three shots.

Charlie! Charlie!

Three shots.

The signal is three shots,

and when,
when Pender hears them,

they'll move out
and join us here.

Three shots, just like before.

Well, I wanted to make sure.

Eh, just like before, huh?

Yeah, that's right.

Hey, Buck, untie him.

What about him?

Ah, untie him.

He ain't going no place.

Yeah, now...

Now give it to me.

Give it to me.

Here's your reward, Charlie.

Is it, is it all right, Hoss?

Yeah, I... I reckon you earned
that one, Charlie.

This ought to bring 'em running
like a flock of dumb sheep.

Three.

Go on, Charlie.

Just fire two more times.

Five shots, he said.

He's trying to warn us.

They run into trouble.

We... We sure fooled 'em
that time, didn't we, huh?

Cutter thought he was tormenting
me into telling the truth.

And all the time it was
Cutter himself that gives

the signal for Pender
to start moving north.

Yep, but...

they're gonna
find out in a minute.

When they do, they're liable
to be real mean, Charlie.

Yeah, well, I, I...

You know... you know,
it's a funny thing.

I got plenty
of this doggone stuff.

I don't seem to want it.

You know, it kind of, uh,
kind of burns my insides.

Hey, Cutter.

- Cutter.
- Look, here they come.

Three soldier boys.

Only three.

Ain't none of 'em Pender.

He's a smart one.

Maybe he figures
on going behind this butte

and having himself a look-see.

Hey, Latigo, you get up
on one of them rocks,

keep your eyes peeled.

You let me know,
but don't you do no shootin'.

You hear?

I... I guess the only reason
I drink the doggone stuff

is so that I can stop
remembering.

I just don't understand it.

That wasn't the signal
for them to come up here.

You see, Hoss, years ago,

I led a whole detachment
of cavalry

into a Kiowa trap.

They was all butchered
and they died cursing me.

Wasn't your fault, Charlie.

Yeah?

That ain't good enough.

Buck, you keep watching
that wagon.

Morgan, you take those two
and you keep 'em out of sight.

I may need the old man later,
to wave these on.

You two get over
behind those rocks,

and don't try
to let 'em know we're here

or I'll break this gun barrel
right over your heads.

Stay low!

In no time at all now,

we gonna be divvyin' up
that gold.

He must have spotted the others.

Now, you stay here, Buck.

No shooting till I start it,

and you be mighty careful
how you go hitting them mules.

Two of 'em, coming from high up
and behind us.

One of 'em's the captain.

Well, that makes it
easier for us.

We'll just let 'em sneak up
on us before we start shooting

Come on.

We gotta do something, Hoss.
We gotta...

Shut up!

Old man, don't be so hoggy
with that whiskey.

Fill that cup.

Sure.

Bring it over here.

Careful.

Good work, Charlie.

You go get Buck,
I'm going after Cutter.

Right.

Well, if they're down there,
they're not giving it away.

Let's go down to those
four big rocks down there.

- See 'em?
- Yeah.

I'll go first.

Doggone it,
I had him dead to rights.

We got him pinned down now.

We can blast him
out of there easy.

Cutter!

Hey, the wa--the water is good,
Cap'n; you can drink it.

Ah, it's just a crease, Charlie.

Hey, Corporal!

Corporal!

Bring up the wagon!

Get yourselves a drink!

Yee-ha!

Ha-hoo!

Hyah!

Detail, atten-hut!

Scout... lead us out.

Sure, Cap'n.

- Detail!
- Detail!

- Forward!
- Forward!

Ho!

This has been
a color presentation

of the NBC Television Network.