Rawhide (1959–1965): Season 6, Episode 2 - Incident of Iron Bull - full transcript
Colonel Macklin, a famous Indian fighter, and his Sergeant buddy have joined Favor's cattle drive as all are headed the same way. Macklin is noted for a famous war-ending victory over the Indians. A drover on the drive, Clanton, also has an unbridled hatred of the Indians. Going against orders, the drover shoots an Indian lad who was just showing off. The Indians sneak into camp at night and silently kill Clanton. They are also intent on breaking the peace treaty and killing all the drovers if they do not hand over Macklin. The reason is that Macklin is guilty of a major atrocity. He defied army orders and attacked the Indians, who were under a flag of peace, killing 245 women, children and old men (no warriors were there). Macklin's rationale was that the Indians would never keep the peace under any circumstances, so he had to resort to "ethnic cleansing" -- killing all children and female "breeders!" Macklin's madness had reached the point that he was being discharged from the Army and heading towards a sanitarium when he had joined Favor's cattle drive. Joseph, a mysterious Indian had joined the drive as a drover, and he seems very interested in the issue of white-Indian peace relations. He appears to have clout with the Indians. Maybe he can arrange peace and save the trail drive.
All right, prop him up. I'll see if I
can get some of this down him.
How is he?
He's not got long.
Poor old Charlie.
Where's he from?
He never said.
He's got another name,
ain't he, besides Charlie?
Never let on if he did.
Hope nobody ever forgets
I got a second name.
Yeah, Scarlet, Clanton, Toothless,
you're gonna ride night herd.
That's great. We ride drag
all day and nighthawk all night.
You objecting?
Remarking, Rowdy,
just remarking.
He's gone.
Señor Rowdy, it
was not my fault.
Now what happened?
- Clumsy branch.
- It looked all right to me.
Every horse in the
remuda is spooked out.
There's no use looking
for them in this storm.
We'll go out in the morning.
Here.
[HORSE SNORTING]
CLANTON: My horse.
- Your ponies? CLANTON: Right.
I find horses. I
bring them back.
[SIGHS]
Why do you bring them back?
I do you favor, you do
favor for me. I am Joseph.
You speak real good English
for an Indian, don't you?
I go to God man's school.
Heh, mission Red Hide.
I know what's on your mind.
You know what's on mine.
Wa'bek'sh!
I good Indian.
No fight. I love white
brother. I work, work hard.
You mean you're,
uh, looking for a job?
I work. Work hard.
[CHUCKLES]
You ever hear of a Comanche
looking for work, Quince?
Well, not hardly.
Hmm, still, he did
bring the horses back.
He's a Comanche.
Well, they haven't been
bothering us much lately.
Leastwise not this year.
Look, now that Charlie is
gone, we need another hand.
Yeah, just wondering
what Mr. Favor would say.
As long as he does his work,
I don't imagine he'd mind.
Where you from?
[CHUCKLES]
Everywhere, huh?
I ain't riding with no red hide.
Nobody's asking you to.
He can ride with me
if it's all right with you.
All right. All right.
Pay is a dollar a day and you
get paid off at the end of the drive.
Come on, Joe,
let's get cracking.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
[MAN YELLING]
All right, come and
get it or I'll throw it away.
Come on now, quit your shoving.
Come on, Clanton, I know
those beans are only half-cooked,
but at least they're hot.
Why don't you eat them?
Me, I got a standing objection to sitting
down to eat with any stinking Injuns.
Come on, let's get
this line moving.
Next man.
Mr. Joseph, do you
ever wear war paint?
Paint is for warrior.
I'm only stinking Injun.
Better eat something, Clanton.
Not with that Comanche, Yates.
Ain't one of us ain't lost something
to them murdering savages.
Look, Comanche war is over. It's
been over ever since Colonel Macklin
whipped them down
there on the Washita River.
Then why is Mr. Favor
gone to Dacklin Mill
for an army pass
through this territory?
It's still under army
control, that's why.
[SCOFFS]
Don't go fooling yourself.
This is still Comanche territory
and I ain't heard of Iron Bull turn
themselves into no reservation.
Iron Bull.
Don't downgrade
that buck, Quince.
That's one Injun
Macklin never whipped.
Oh, sure, he's right
over that hill now
with a passel of bucks getting
ready to swoop down on us, you know.
Señors, Señor
Favor is coming in.
It's about time you got back.
Thought for a minute there, you
might be stuck in an army guardhouse.
[CHUCKLES]
Had a little delay
getting a pass.
You probably know
Colonel Macklin here.
Colonel, this is the
ramrod, Rowdy Yates.
ROWDY: Everybody knows
Colonel Macklin of the Washita River.
I was at the Washita but any honor
due is due to men of my command.
Among them my old friend
Sergeant Major Grogan.
Hope you don't mind having a
couple of old warhorses along.
Mr. Favor has kindly consented
to see us as far Waycross.
Glad to have you
around, colonel.
Tim, take care of the
horses, will you, please?
Sir.
Now, Mr. Favor.
I see you, Macklin.
I see you, Comanche.
WISHBONE: Ain't the
rest of you gonna eat
or do I throw this
beef and beans out?
I'd court-martial any
man in my command
who'd throw out food
that smells like that.
What's he doing here?
Oh, well, I hired him.
A Comanche?
Yeah, you see, Charlie passed
on and that left us shorthanded.
And the remuda ran off,
and he brought them back in.
I signed him up.
Huh.
What's your name?
I am called Joseph.
Are you a horse thief?
Why did you return them?
Why does the sun go down?
The horses are
here and I am here.
It was good enough
for your ramrod.
It should be good
enough for you.
Strange to see a Comanche
in the camp of his enemies.
Ain't no enemies here, colonel.
Joseph is one of the drovers.
A warrior working
for the white eye.
Is that fitting?
I am not a warrior.
You have the look of one.
Perhaps you're one
of Iron Bull's braves.
JOSEPH: That is all ended.
Yes, of course, we're at peace.
We're brothers.
Well, we are
brothers, aren't we?
All men, all things
are brothers.
Yeah, of course.
I guess if a man like Colonel
John Macklin can eat with an Injun,
it ain't gonna hurt you none.
I guess that's what they mean
by the power of command.
That's an awful lot of man.
Which one, Wish? Which one?
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
Mr. Favor, something
ahead you ought to see.
Colonel Macklin.
I see you, grandfather.
I see you, Macklin.
I don't see your
warriors. Where are they?
No war. No fight.
War no good.
Go to agency. Eat plenty beef.
Listen to God man.
That's right, I forgot. You've been
converted, haven't you, grandfather?
- Macklin.
- Take a good look, Mr. Favor.
It's Yellow Elk.
Someday I'll tell you what his braves
did to the women at Fort Mecklenburg.
Colonel, put it away.
GROGAN: Colonel!
Mr. Favor is right.
These people are
covered by amnesty.
You're right. You're
quite right, sergeant.
My apologies, Mr. Favor.
It seems that old
hatreds die slowly.
You know, Mr. Favor,
I never figured Macklin would
draw his horns in for a sergeant.
Oh, I think Macklin might have
backed down for another reason.
I'll say one thing for that Indian,
he covers a whole lot of ground.
True.
Ah, thank you.
- Coffee is hot and black, Mr. Favor.
- Huh.
Mr. Favor?
There's one thing, colonel,
on this drive we don't pull
guns on peaceful Indians.
There are no peaceful
Indians, Mr. Favor.
Well, I have the understanding
that, uh, you pacified the Comanche
at the Washita, and,
uh, the war was over.
I killed the roots of the
Comanche at the Washita.
Some of the branches
are slow to die.
Well, in any case, our business is
driving cattle, not fighting Indians.
Um, we should
remember that, please.
- Hey Soos.
- Si, Señor.
Have you seen the sergeant?
He's taking care of
the colonel's horses.
Oh, thanks.
Oh, boy.
If I'd been a hostile
coming up on you like this?
You'd be dead, sir.
I learned a long time
ago to tell the difference
between a white man's
step and an Indian's.
Very good.
That seems like a
good hunk of horse.
Yeah, he is. The colonel
likes fine horseflesh.
You've been with
him quite a while, huh?
Since the beginning.
A good soldier?
A great soldier.
Then how come he pulled a
gun on that old Indian today?
You'll have to ask
the colonel that.
Don't you know?
You would have to
ask the colonel that, sir.
I'm asking you, sergeant.
Please, Mr. Favor,
don't ask any questions.
Just deliver us to Waycross.
That's all you're
expected to do.
All right, sergeant.
I'll leave the colonel up to you.
You better take good care of him.
Oh.
I'll have some of that,
uh, fine coffee now.
That supposed to be
some kind of a crack?
I noticed you, uh, had a
bead on Colonel Macklin today.
How come?
He was gonna kill the old man.
Then you would
have killed Macklin?
I would have killed him.
And then what
would you have done?
I would run away and hide.
Hide until more white men
with "whoa-haws" came here.
Then I would steal their
horses to make them
take me with them
like I did to you.
[LAUGHS]
How come you're so dead
set on joining a trail drive?
I must learn about
your "whoa-haws."
What's it gonna do you
to learn about cattle?
Favor, listen to
me. Listen carefully.
It is a hard thing
for me to say.
Old ways change like old men.
But we fight to keep
old ways. We make war.
We kill many white men.
But white men kill more of us.
War is no good.
But peace, that is also no good.
Where are the buffalo?
You kill the buffalo.
Where once was buffalo land
now you feed your "whoa-haws."
When buffalo die, Comanche die.
There is no food.
There's food for your people
on the reservations, ain't there?
We are men. We are not
"whoa-haws" that white man keeps fat.
War is no good.
And peace is no good.
Either way Comanche die.
Favor, you listen to me again,
Comanche must learn new ways.
Must learn to grow
"whoa-haws" like white men,
must learn to buy
and sell like white men,
to grow things, how
not to be cheated.
Many things to learn, Favor.
You can learn
these all by yourself?
I will learn a little. Somebody
else will learn a little more.
Maybe someday, all
people learn many things.
And then we'll all be smart enough
to live like brothers, is that the dream?
No. Not brothers.
Brothers love.
Comanche, white men hate.
They have killed
each other too much.
Maybe someday many,
many years from now,
Comanche and white
men are brothers.
But not now.
Now if you want
me to go, I will go.
Oh, no, Joseph. No, you stay.
WISHBONE: Mushy, rise and shine.
Listen, hey.
Now go on over there
and poke up that fire.
Yes, sir.
Well, what's holding you up now?
Mr. Wishbone.
Now what's the matter with you?
Look.
Do you think Mr. Favor
ought to know about this?
I'll tell him.
There's no chief in that bunch.
But he'll be along.
Who?
Why, Iron Bull, of
course, sergeant.
He's out to get me.
You know what I am,
don't you, sergeant?
- Sir?
- I'm bait.
He's out there somewhere
and he's out to get me.
It's ironic, isn't it?
The war is over but for Iron Bull
and me, it may be just beginning.
Yes, sir.
[BLOWS]
Mr. Favor.
Looks like they want a powwow.
Rowdy.
Keep those fingers
off the triggers.
I see you, Favor.
I see you, Yellow Elk.
Why are you here?
Favor, listen to me.
Friend, plenty peace,
no war, no fight.
Friend.
My grandfather talks of peace.
Yet I see with him
many young men
and there are more
young men in the hills.
True, they do not wear
paint, but they carry guns.
And the medicine
drums talk of war.
Young men foolish. Want war.
Their hearts bad.
They're sick with sadness.
You perhaps give them gift.
Then be glad, go away.
Just what kind of gift do
these young men want?
Him.
FAVOR: The
colonel stays with us.
You try to take him, you'll have
more war than you can handle.
I came here looking for a
man and all I see are dogs.
Tell me, grandfather, where
is your great chief Iron Bull?
Why has he never
shown his face to me?
Does he know I'm here?
Perhaps he knows
I'm here and is afraid.
Perhaps he's hiding
with the women.
Colonel, get back to the camp.
- Now!
- Colonel.
Have no fear, Mr. Favor.
Without Iron Bull, these
women have no fight.
I don't mind
leading with my chin,
but I draw the line when
somebody else does it for me.
For a minute there,
I thought the colonel was gonna
have us laid out in burying black.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
[MAN PLAYING FLUTE]
[COWS MOOING]
What kind of music
is that, Mr. Joseph?
It sounds so sad.
Man cannot cry.
The music cries for him.
What's it crying for?
Old men, old women,
squaws, children who are dead.
What about the warriors, Joseph?
Does the flute also cry
for them when they die?
Favor, the Comanche
only has two things left.
These young men and his honor.
When they are dead,
even the old man cry.
They're warriors here, Joseph.
Why, what do they want?
They have a saying,
"An eye for an eye."
Macklin was once an enemy.
Maybe he still is.
The war is over. The Comanche
and the soldier are at peace.
Hate knows no peace.
Then hate must be destroyed.
Now hear me, Joseph,
if your brothers
out there attack,
then there will be war
and old men will cry.
I, uh, hate to interrupt,
but you do make
a right smart target,
sitting out here by
yourself with that light.
Mr. Favor, I think a man's
days are preordained.
Besides, the Comanches
are notoriously bad shots.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
- The men are getting itchy.
- They'd better start scratching.
As long as it's just games
the Comanche wanna play,
we let them play.
[MEN WHOOPING]
Whoa, boy.
Hold your fire!
I told you to hold your fire.
Any red eye comes up to
me doesn't walk away from it.
A boy, Favor.
A boy trying to be a man, no
gun, only a stick to count coup.
It was only a kid
trying to act big.
He was charging, wasn't he?
I say that buck
was out for blood.
With this stick?
If I thought there was a half a chance
for any piece of you to get through,
I'd run you out right now.
Put away that rifle
and get out of here!
A rifle is the only thing the
Comanches understand, Mr. Favor.
You give me 20 men
and I'll make sure.
Colonel, I don't wanna
have to say this again.
This is a cattle drive,
not a cavalry detachment.
If you wanna start a war,
you do it with your troopers,
but you're not gonna
do it here and not now.
- Is that clear?
- As you say, Mr. Favor.
Then get back to the herd.
Joseph, it was a mistake.
You tell that to ghost of boy
who will never be a warrior.
[SIGHS]
Go now while you still can.
- What about you?
- When a fire burns you put it out.
No matter how hot it
burns, you put it out.
[MAN PLAYING FLUTE]
What's the matter, Mushy?
Red hide music
getting under your skin?
No, it ain't that, Mr. Clanton.
I was just thinking
about Mr. Joseph.
Maybe he should be back by now.
[SCOFFS]
Well, it's like I told you,
once a Comanche
always a Comanche.
Next time you see that Injun, it will
be over the sights of a Winchester rifle.
Look, Clanton, if you're gonna tell
another long-winded story of yours,
just step out of line
because I'm hungry.
That stew might have rocks
in it but it will keep a body alive.
- And I'm nearly expired.
- All right. All right. Fine.
Mr. Wishbone, if you'd been
with me on my campaigns
and served me food like
this, I'd never have gotten out
- of the bivouac area.
- Heh, that's what I like about Army.
They appreciate a
man's special talents, heh.
You sure you wouldn't
like some more?
No, thank you.
Everything all right?
The herd is still there,
if that's what you mean.
Where's Grogan?
- He should be back any minute now.
- Uh-huh.
Be back?
Yes, I sent him out to
scout the Comanches.
Sent him out?
[CHUCKLES]
Mr. Yates, one of the first rules
of warfare is to know your enemy,
know his strengths
and his weaknesses.
Don't be concerned. Grogan
is an experienced hand.
Look, colonel, you've had all
the telling that I'm capable of.
For the last time,
this is not a battlefield,
these are not troopers
and we are not at war.
TOOTHLESS: Mr. Favor?
It's Clanton.
- What's the matter with him?
- He just sits there and stares.
- Comanche knife, all right.
- They were here.
- Right here in camp.
- Douse that fire.
Wishbone, pass
out the extra rifles.
Rally every spare man
and circle around the camp.
Now, colonel, looks like you're
finally gonna get that war you wanted.
Hmm.
[FLUTE PLAYING STOPS]
The music stopped,
Mr. Favor, what's that mean?
It means the music
stopped, you walking idiot.
Comanche uses a flute in
time of war as a weapon, son,
tries to force his enemy into
the dungeon of his own thoughts,
where his ambitions
and desires and hope
can become a graveyard.
His ambition decays
and his desires can be
banked in the ashes of fear.
I know all about the
Comanche flute and its silence.
Now they stopped talking, that
means they've reached a decision.
Next thing we'll hear
is war drums or nothing.
JOSEPH: There's a war, Favor.
It's Mr. Joseph, I
knew he'd come back.
What happened?
JOSEPH: To hear a Comanche
war talk is to feel his knife.
[GROGAN GRUNTS]
I'm gonna need a light.
Build up that fire and
heat me some water.
And go get me my bag.
There will be war and
still you come back?
To bring the people's
word, "Send Macklin out."
Send him out by first
light or they will attack.
First the cattle, then you
and your men, then Macklin.
I'm disappointed
in you, sergeant.
There was a day when
there was no Indian living
who could get
near you in the dark.
[GROGAN CHUCKLES]
Guess my hairline is
catching up to me, colonel.
It's about a hundred of
them, Comanche and Kiowas.
Their chiefs were talking war.
Your man, that Joseph
tried to hold them off.
He saved my hair for me too when
one of them got the jump on me.
Just led me out of that camp
as if he owned the whole thing.
I never did see the like of it.
Sergeant.
There's nothing to worry
about, colonel, just loss of blood.
A little of my stew and some
rest, and he'll be as good as new.
You sat in council
with Comanche chiefs
and you took a white eye
from under their knives?
- Who are you?
- I am Joseph.
Huh, Joseph is a Comanche
that wears white man's clothes
and earns white man's pay.
He could never argue
with Comanche chiefs
or rescue a cavalry
man from their camp.
Maybe you think of another name?
Iron Bull?
Iron Bull? This tame
red belly Iron Bull?
This woman in a man's trappings?
Iron Bull is a great
warrior, Mr. Favor.
He's a great chief.
The only way he'll show his face
in this camp is painted for blood.
Iron Bull is dead.
He died on the Washita
with his woman and his son.
Iron Bull is not dead.
He cannot be dead.
He's out there waiting
for me somewhere.
- I'm the bait he cannot resist.
- Why, Macklin?
Why should Iron Bull
or any other Comanche
wanna risk breaking
a treaty just to get you?
Yeah, the Comanches
have had many enemies,
but every time the
war lance was broken,
the enemies were forgotten.
Why is Macklin so different?
Because the
Washita was different.
It was not battle.
It was extermination.
- The Washita was a great victory.
- It was butchery
- and it's on your head.
- It was a tactical triumph.
You would like to know
why the Comanche nation
would destroy itself
to destroy one man?
Look in the red
mud of the Washita,
in the forgotten
graves of 245 women
and children and
old men who lie there.
Ask them why the troopers attacked
when there were no warriors to fight.
Ask them why Macklin raised
his sword against his own flag.
Raised over Yellow Elk's lodge
to show there was peace, not war.
Ask them why they
had to die on their knees.
Look in the red
mud of the Washita
and you will see why the
Comanche must kill this man.
You don't believe him, do you?
Suppose you tell us
about the Washita, colonel.
Colonel Macklin.
We got a right to know, colonel.
After all, we're in the middle of this.
The Washita, colonel.
Certainly, Mr. Favor,
you should know.
All of you should know.
Something to tell
your grandchildren.
The Battle of the Washita,
is probably the single most
important battle of the Indian wars.
And the battle plan
was very simple, really.
It's amazing how very
often the obvious evades us.
The plan was the
essence of simplicity.
I got the idea in one
of my many futile sorties
against Iron Bull
and his braves.
And it was to cut the
Comanche down at his source,
cut his roots.
There were people at headquarters
who didn't agree with me.
They tried to recall me at the
last minute, but it was jealousy.
So I proceeded on my own.
We found the Comanches in
camp at the bend of the river.
I split my force
into three sections
so as to cut off any
possible means of escape.
Colonel, please.
Even the weather
seemed to be on our side.
It was a beautiful
autumn morning.
Still, quiet.
We advanced on the
camp at a walk, quietly.
There was no
warning from the camp
because I'd sent my
scouts out to kill the dogs.
It was so quiet,
that I could hear our flag flapping
above the lodge of Yellow Elk.
Flag of peace, obviously
a typical Iron Bull trick.
So we moved in quietly.
I could hear the creak
of the saddle leather,
hear the horses' hooves,
sound of my own
saber as I drew it.
"Sergeant, pass the word.
No quarter.
Do you hear me, sergeant?
No quarter, kill them all, all.
Nits breed lice."
And we charged.
We hit the camp
from three sides.
Once, twice, the third time
we wheeled and went through it.
Carbines, pistols, cold steel,
we gave them everything we had.
And it was done,
basic strategy accomplished.
Kill the women, their breeders,
stock their children,
kill their source of life.
When we rode out
the men began to sing.
I had to do something
to shut it out.
[SINGING SOFTLY]
Oh, the drums would roll
Upon my soul
And this is the way we go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army
Oh.
Leave him be.
It's no use.
From Waycross I was
to take him to a hospital.
The surgeon back at the fort,
he said his mind
is gone to stay.
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army
There will be no war.
Even Yellow Elk could not kill
a man who is already a ghost.
In the Regular Army
Oh.
[HOOFBEATS APPROACHING]
Sergeant, dress
up those troopers.
This is Macklin's outfit,
no ragtag volunteer unit.
- Still think you can get through?
- I will get through.
Get him to the army at
Waycross. He'll know what to do.
You still got your job if
you wanna come back.
Because you let it begin,
because you would not let it end,
I will be back. I
have much to learn.
Check your carbines,
your ammunition.
Remember, this
is Macklin's outfit.
Keep a close interval.
I still don't think you
ought to go, sergeant.
Thanks, Wish.
But where the colonel
goes, I go. I'll make it all right.
Tsk.
Joseph, you can tell
us, are you Iron Bull?
Iron Bull was a warrior.
I am a man of peace.
Gotta walk, ho.
Close up there to double.
Bring up the gun arms.
No quarter.
Close interval.
At a trot. Oh!
Close it up.
At a gallop.
Oh.
[SINGING]: We're
marching to fight
And to kill the Comanche
And this is the way we'd go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army, oh
We're marching to fight
And to kill the Comanche
And this is the way we'd go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army...
Head them up.
Move them out.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
can get some of this down him.
How is he?
He's not got long.
Poor old Charlie.
Where's he from?
He never said.
He's got another name,
ain't he, besides Charlie?
Never let on if he did.
Hope nobody ever forgets
I got a second name.
Yeah, Scarlet, Clanton, Toothless,
you're gonna ride night herd.
That's great. We ride drag
all day and nighthawk all night.
You objecting?
Remarking, Rowdy,
just remarking.
He's gone.
Señor Rowdy, it
was not my fault.
Now what happened?
- Clumsy branch.
- It looked all right to me.
Every horse in the
remuda is spooked out.
There's no use looking
for them in this storm.
We'll go out in the morning.
Here.
[HORSE SNORTING]
CLANTON: My horse.
- Your ponies? CLANTON: Right.
I find horses. I
bring them back.
[SIGHS]
Why do you bring them back?
I do you favor, you do
favor for me. I am Joseph.
You speak real good English
for an Indian, don't you?
I go to God man's school.
Heh, mission Red Hide.
I know what's on your mind.
You know what's on mine.
Wa'bek'sh!
I good Indian.
No fight. I love white
brother. I work, work hard.
You mean you're,
uh, looking for a job?
I work. Work hard.
[CHUCKLES]
You ever hear of a Comanche
looking for work, Quince?
Well, not hardly.
Hmm, still, he did
bring the horses back.
He's a Comanche.
Well, they haven't been
bothering us much lately.
Leastwise not this year.
Look, now that Charlie is
gone, we need another hand.
Yeah, just wondering
what Mr. Favor would say.
As long as he does his work,
I don't imagine he'd mind.
Where you from?
[CHUCKLES]
Everywhere, huh?
I ain't riding with no red hide.
Nobody's asking you to.
He can ride with me
if it's all right with you.
All right. All right.
Pay is a dollar a day and you
get paid off at the end of the drive.
Come on, Joe,
let's get cracking.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
[MAN YELLING]
All right, come and
get it or I'll throw it away.
Come on now, quit your shoving.
Come on, Clanton, I know
those beans are only half-cooked,
but at least they're hot.
Why don't you eat them?
Me, I got a standing objection to sitting
down to eat with any stinking Injuns.
Come on, let's get
this line moving.
Next man.
Mr. Joseph, do you
ever wear war paint?
Paint is for warrior.
I'm only stinking Injun.
Better eat something, Clanton.
Not with that Comanche, Yates.
Ain't one of us ain't lost something
to them murdering savages.
Look, Comanche war is over. It's
been over ever since Colonel Macklin
whipped them down
there on the Washita River.
Then why is Mr. Favor
gone to Dacklin Mill
for an army pass
through this territory?
It's still under army
control, that's why.
[SCOFFS]
Don't go fooling yourself.
This is still Comanche territory
and I ain't heard of Iron Bull turn
themselves into no reservation.
Iron Bull.
Don't downgrade
that buck, Quince.
That's one Injun
Macklin never whipped.
Oh, sure, he's right
over that hill now
with a passel of bucks getting
ready to swoop down on us, you know.
Señors, Señor
Favor is coming in.
It's about time you got back.
Thought for a minute there, you
might be stuck in an army guardhouse.
[CHUCKLES]
Had a little delay
getting a pass.
You probably know
Colonel Macklin here.
Colonel, this is the
ramrod, Rowdy Yates.
ROWDY: Everybody knows
Colonel Macklin of the Washita River.
I was at the Washita but any honor
due is due to men of my command.
Among them my old friend
Sergeant Major Grogan.
Hope you don't mind having a
couple of old warhorses along.
Mr. Favor has kindly consented
to see us as far Waycross.
Glad to have you
around, colonel.
Tim, take care of the
horses, will you, please?
Sir.
Now, Mr. Favor.
I see you, Macklin.
I see you, Comanche.
WISHBONE: Ain't the
rest of you gonna eat
or do I throw this
beef and beans out?
I'd court-martial any
man in my command
who'd throw out food
that smells like that.
What's he doing here?
Oh, well, I hired him.
A Comanche?
Yeah, you see, Charlie passed
on and that left us shorthanded.
And the remuda ran off,
and he brought them back in.
I signed him up.
Huh.
What's your name?
I am called Joseph.
Are you a horse thief?
Why did you return them?
Why does the sun go down?
The horses are
here and I am here.
It was good enough
for your ramrod.
It should be good
enough for you.
Strange to see a Comanche
in the camp of his enemies.
Ain't no enemies here, colonel.
Joseph is one of the drovers.
A warrior working
for the white eye.
Is that fitting?
I am not a warrior.
You have the look of one.
Perhaps you're one
of Iron Bull's braves.
JOSEPH: That is all ended.
Yes, of course, we're at peace.
We're brothers.
Well, we are
brothers, aren't we?
All men, all things
are brothers.
Yeah, of course.
I guess if a man like Colonel
John Macklin can eat with an Injun,
it ain't gonna hurt you none.
I guess that's what they mean
by the power of command.
That's an awful lot of man.
Which one, Wish? Which one?
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
Mr. Favor, something
ahead you ought to see.
Colonel Macklin.
I see you, grandfather.
I see you, Macklin.
I don't see your
warriors. Where are they?
No war. No fight.
War no good.
Go to agency. Eat plenty beef.
Listen to God man.
That's right, I forgot. You've been
converted, haven't you, grandfather?
- Macklin.
- Take a good look, Mr. Favor.
It's Yellow Elk.
Someday I'll tell you what his braves
did to the women at Fort Mecklenburg.
Colonel, put it away.
GROGAN: Colonel!
Mr. Favor is right.
These people are
covered by amnesty.
You're right. You're
quite right, sergeant.
My apologies, Mr. Favor.
It seems that old
hatreds die slowly.
You know, Mr. Favor,
I never figured Macklin would
draw his horns in for a sergeant.
Oh, I think Macklin might have
backed down for another reason.
I'll say one thing for that Indian,
he covers a whole lot of ground.
True.
Ah, thank you.
- Coffee is hot and black, Mr. Favor.
- Huh.
Mr. Favor?
There's one thing, colonel,
on this drive we don't pull
guns on peaceful Indians.
There are no peaceful
Indians, Mr. Favor.
Well, I have the understanding
that, uh, you pacified the Comanche
at the Washita, and,
uh, the war was over.
I killed the roots of the
Comanche at the Washita.
Some of the branches
are slow to die.
Well, in any case, our business is
driving cattle, not fighting Indians.
Um, we should
remember that, please.
- Hey Soos.
- Si, Señor.
Have you seen the sergeant?
He's taking care of
the colonel's horses.
Oh, thanks.
Oh, boy.
If I'd been a hostile
coming up on you like this?
You'd be dead, sir.
I learned a long time
ago to tell the difference
between a white man's
step and an Indian's.
Very good.
That seems like a
good hunk of horse.
Yeah, he is. The colonel
likes fine horseflesh.
You've been with
him quite a while, huh?
Since the beginning.
A good soldier?
A great soldier.
Then how come he pulled a
gun on that old Indian today?
You'll have to ask
the colonel that.
Don't you know?
You would have to
ask the colonel that, sir.
I'm asking you, sergeant.
Please, Mr. Favor,
don't ask any questions.
Just deliver us to Waycross.
That's all you're
expected to do.
All right, sergeant.
I'll leave the colonel up to you.
You better take good care of him.
Oh.
I'll have some of that,
uh, fine coffee now.
That supposed to be
some kind of a crack?
I noticed you, uh, had a
bead on Colonel Macklin today.
How come?
He was gonna kill the old man.
Then you would
have killed Macklin?
I would have killed him.
And then what
would you have done?
I would run away and hide.
Hide until more white men
with "whoa-haws" came here.
Then I would steal their
horses to make them
take me with them
like I did to you.
[LAUGHS]
How come you're so dead
set on joining a trail drive?
I must learn about
your "whoa-haws."
What's it gonna do you
to learn about cattle?
Favor, listen to
me. Listen carefully.
It is a hard thing
for me to say.
Old ways change like old men.
But we fight to keep
old ways. We make war.
We kill many white men.
But white men kill more of us.
War is no good.
But peace, that is also no good.
Where are the buffalo?
You kill the buffalo.
Where once was buffalo land
now you feed your "whoa-haws."
When buffalo die, Comanche die.
There is no food.
There's food for your people
on the reservations, ain't there?
We are men. We are not
"whoa-haws" that white man keeps fat.
War is no good.
And peace is no good.
Either way Comanche die.
Favor, you listen to me again,
Comanche must learn new ways.
Must learn to grow
"whoa-haws" like white men,
must learn to buy
and sell like white men,
to grow things, how
not to be cheated.
Many things to learn, Favor.
You can learn
these all by yourself?
I will learn a little. Somebody
else will learn a little more.
Maybe someday, all
people learn many things.
And then we'll all be smart enough
to live like brothers, is that the dream?
No. Not brothers.
Brothers love.
Comanche, white men hate.
They have killed
each other too much.
Maybe someday many,
many years from now,
Comanche and white
men are brothers.
But not now.
Now if you want
me to go, I will go.
Oh, no, Joseph. No, you stay.
WISHBONE: Mushy, rise and shine.
Listen, hey.
Now go on over there
and poke up that fire.
Yes, sir.
Well, what's holding you up now?
Mr. Wishbone.
Now what's the matter with you?
Look.
Do you think Mr. Favor
ought to know about this?
I'll tell him.
There's no chief in that bunch.
But he'll be along.
Who?
Why, Iron Bull, of
course, sergeant.
He's out to get me.
You know what I am,
don't you, sergeant?
- Sir?
- I'm bait.
He's out there somewhere
and he's out to get me.
It's ironic, isn't it?
The war is over but for Iron Bull
and me, it may be just beginning.
Yes, sir.
[BLOWS]
Mr. Favor.
Looks like they want a powwow.
Rowdy.
Keep those fingers
off the triggers.
I see you, Favor.
I see you, Yellow Elk.
Why are you here?
Favor, listen to me.
Friend, plenty peace,
no war, no fight.
Friend.
My grandfather talks of peace.
Yet I see with him
many young men
and there are more
young men in the hills.
True, they do not wear
paint, but they carry guns.
And the medicine
drums talk of war.
Young men foolish. Want war.
Their hearts bad.
They're sick with sadness.
You perhaps give them gift.
Then be glad, go away.
Just what kind of gift do
these young men want?
Him.
FAVOR: The
colonel stays with us.
You try to take him, you'll have
more war than you can handle.
I came here looking for a
man and all I see are dogs.
Tell me, grandfather, where
is your great chief Iron Bull?
Why has he never
shown his face to me?
Does he know I'm here?
Perhaps he knows
I'm here and is afraid.
Perhaps he's hiding
with the women.
Colonel, get back to the camp.
- Now!
- Colonel.
Have no fear, Mr. Favor.
Without Iron Bull, these
women have no fight.
I don't mind
leading with my chin,
but I draw the line when
somebody else does it for me.
For a minute there,
I thought the colonel was gonna
have us laid out in burying black.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
[MAN PLAYING FLUTE]
[COWS MOOING]
What kind of music
is that, Mr. Joseph?
It sounds so sad.
Man cannot cry.
The music cries for him.
What's it crying for?
Old men, old women,
squaws, children who are dead.
What about the warriors, Joseph?
Does the flute also cry
for them when they die?
Favor, the Comanche
only has two things left.
These young men and his honor.
When they are dead,
even the old man cry.
They're warriors here, Joseph.
Why, what do they want?
They have a saying,
"An eye for an eye."
Macklin was once an enemy.
Maybe he still is.
The war is over. The Comanche
and the soldier are at peace.
Hate knows no peace.
Then hate must be destroyed.
Now hear me, Joseph,
if your brothers
out there attack,
then there will be war
and old men will cry.
I, uh, hate to interrupt,
but you do make
a right smart target,
sitting out here by
yourself with that light.
Mr. Favor, I think a man's
days are preordained.
Besides, the Comanches
are notoriously bad shots.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]
- The men are getting itchy.
- They'd better start scratching.
As long as it's just games
the Comanche wanna play,
we let them play.
[MEN WHOOPING]
Whoa, boy.
Hold your fire!
I told you to hold your fire.
Any red eye comes up to
me doesn't walk away from it.
A boy, Favor.
A boy trying to be a man, no
gun, only a stick to count coup.
It was only a kid
trying to act big.
He was charging, wasn't he?
I say that buck
was out for blood.
With this stick?
If I thought there was a half a chance
for any piece of you to get through,
I'd run you out right now.
Put away that rifle
and get out of here!
A rifle is the only thing the
Comanches understand, Mr. Favor.
You give me 20 men
and I'll make sure.
Colonel, I don't wanna
have to say this again.
This is a cattle drive,
not a cavalry detachment.
If you wanna start a war,
you do it with your troopers,
but you're not gonna
do it here and not now.
- Is that clear?
- As you say, Mr. Favor.
Then get back to the herd.
Joseph, it was a mistake.
You tell that to ghost of boy
who will never be a warrior.
[SIGHS]
Go now while you still can.
- What about you?
- When a fire burns you put it out.
No matter how hot it
burns, you put it out.
[MAN PLAYING FLUTE]
What's the matter, Mushy?
Red hide music
getting under your skin?
No, it ain't that, Mr. Clanton.
I was just thinking
about Mr. Joseph.
Maybe he should be back by now.
[SCOFFS]
Well, it's like I told you,
once a Comanche
always a Comanche.
Next time you see that Injun, it will
be over the sights of a Winchester rifle.
Look, Clanton, if you're gonna tell
another long-winded story of yours,
just step out of line
because I'm hungry.
That stew might have rocks
in it but it will keep a body alive.
- And I'm nearly expired.
- All right. All right. Fine.
Mr. Wishbone, if you'd been
with me on my campaigns
and served me food like
this, I'd never have gotten out
- of the bivouac area.
- Heh, that's what I like about Army.
They appreciate a
man's special talents, heh.
You sure you wouldn't
like some more?
No, thank you.
Everything all right?
The herd is still there,
if that's what you mean.
Where's Grogan?
- He should be back any minute now.
- Uh-huh.
Be back?
Yes, I sent him out to
scout the Comanches.
Sent him out?
[CHUCKLES]
Mr. Yates, one of the first rules
of warfare is to know your enemy,
know his strengths
and his weaknesses.
Don't be concerned. Grogan
is an experienced hand.
Look, colonel, you've had all
the telling that I'm capable of.
For the last time,
this is not a battlefield,
these are not troopers
and we are not at war.
TOOTHLESS: Mr. Favor?
It's Clanton.
- What's the matter with him?
- He just sits there and stares.
- Comanche knife, all right.
- They were here.
- Right here in camp.
- Douse that fire.
Wishbone, pass
out the extra rifles.
Rally every spare man
and circle around the camp.
Now, colonel, looks like you're
finally gonna get that war you wanted.
Hmm.
[FLUTE PLAYING STOPS]
The music stopped,
Mr. Favor, what's that mean?
It means the music
stopped, you walking idiot.
Comanche uses a flute in
time of war as a weapon, son,
tries to force his enemy into
the dungeon of his own thoughts,
where his ambitions
and desires and hope
can become a graveyard.
His ambition decays
and his desires can be
banked in the ashes of fear.
I know all about the
Comanche flute and its silence.
Now they stopped talking, that
means they've reached a decision.
Next thing we'll hear
is war drums or nothing.
JOSEPH: There's a war, Favor.
It's Mr. Joseph, I
knew he'd come back.
What happened?
JOSEPH: To hear a Comanche
war talk is to feel his knife.
[GROGAN GRUNTS]
I'm gonna need a light.
Build up that fire and
heat me some water.
And go get me my bag.
There will be war and
still you come back?
To bring the people's
word, "Send Macklin out."
Send him out by first
light or they will attack.
First the cattle, then you
and your men, then Macklin.
I'm disappointed
in you, sergeant.
There was a day when
there was no Indian living
who could get
near you in the dark.
[GROGAN CHUCKLES]
Guess my hairline is
catching up to me, colonel.
It's about a hundred of
them, Comanche and Kiowas.
Their chiefs were talking war.
Your man, that Joseph
tried to hold them off.
He saved my hair for me too when
one of them got the jump on me.
Just led me out of that camp
as if he owned the whole thing.
I never did see the like of it.
Sergeant.
There's nothing to worry
about, colonel, just loss of blood.
A little of my stew and some
rest, and he'll be as good as new.
You sat in council
with Comanche chiefs
and you took a white eye
from under their knives?
- Who are you?
- I am Joseph.
Huh, Joseph is a Comanche
that wears white man's clothes
and earns white man's pay.
He could never argue
with Comanche chiefs
or rescue a cavalry
man from their camp.
Maybe you think of another name?
Iron Bull?
Iron Bull? This tame
red belly Iron Bull?
This woman in a man's trappings?
Iron Bull is a great
warrior, Mr. Favor.
He's a great chief.
The only way he'll show his face
in this camp is painted for blood.
Iron Bull is dead.
He died on the Washita
with his woman and his son.
Iron Bull is not dead.
He cannot be dead.
He's out there waiting
for me somewhere.
- I'm the bait he cannot resist.
- Why, Macklin?
Why should Iron Bull
or any other Comanche
wanna risk breaking
a treaty just to get you?
Yeah, the Comanches
have had many enemies,
but every time the
war lance was broken,
the enemies were forgotten.
Why is Macklin so different?
Because the
Washita was different.
It was not battle.
It was extermination.
- The Washita was a great victory.
- It was butchery
- and it's on your head.
- It was a tactical triumph.
You would like to know
why the Comanche nation
would destroy itself
to destroy one man?
Look in the red
mud of the Washita,
in the forgotten
graves of 245 women
and children and
old men who lie there.
Ask them why the troopers attacked
when there were no warriors to fight.
Ask them why Macklin raised
his sword against his own flag.
Raised over Yellow Elk's lodge
to show there was peace, not war.
Ask them why they
had to die on their knees.
Look in the red
mud of the Washita
and you will see why the
Comanche must kill this man.
You don't believe him, do you?
Suppose you tell us
about the Washita, colonel.
Colonel Macklin.
We got a right to know, colonel.
After all, we're in the middle of this.
The Washita, colonel.
Certainly, Mr. Favor,
you should know.
All of you should know.
Something to tell
your grandchildren.
The Battle of the Washita,
is probably the single most
important battle of the Indian wars.
And the battle plan
was very simple, really.
It's amazing how very
often the obvious evades us.
The plan was the
essence of simplicity.
I got the idea in one
of my many futile sorties
against Iron Bull
and his braves.
And it was to cut the
Comanche down at his source,
cut his roots.
There were people at headquarters
who didn't agree with me.
They tried to recall me at the
last minute, but it was jealousy.
So I proceeded on my own.
We found the Comanches in
camp at the bend of the river.
I split my force
into three sections
so as to cut off any
possible means of escape.
Colonel, please.
Even the weather
seemed to be on our side.
It was a beautiful
autumn morning.
Still, quiet.
We advanced on the
camp at a walk, quietly.
There was no
warning from the camp
because I'd sent my
scouts out to kill the dogs.
It was so quiet,
that I could hear our flag flapping
above the lodge of Yellow Elk.
Flag of peace, obviously
a typical Iron Bull trick.
So we moved in quietly.
I could hear the creak
of the saddle leather,
hear the horses' hooves,
sound of my own
saber as I drew it.
"Sergeant, pass the word.
No quarter.
Do you hear me, sergeant?
No quarter, kill them all, all.
Nits breed lice."
And we charged.
We hit the camp
from three sides.
Once, twice, the third time
we wheeled and went through it.
Carbines, pistols, cold steel,
we gave them everything we had.
And it was done,
basic strategy accomplished.
Kill the women, their breeders,
stock their children,
kill their source of life.
When we rode out
the men began to sing.
I had to do something
to shut it out.
[SINGING SOFTLY]
Oh, the drums would roll
Upon my soul
And this is the way we go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army
Oh.
Leave him be.
It's no use.
From Waycross I was
to take him to a hospital.
The surgeon back at the fort,
he said his mind
is gone to stay.
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army
There will be no war.
Even Yellow Elk could not kill
a man who is already a ghost.
In the Regular Army
Oh.
[HOOFBEATS APPROACHING]
Sergeant, dress
up those troopers.
This is Macklin's outfit,
no ragtag volunteer unit.
- Still think you can get through?
- I will get through.
Get him to the army at
Waycross. He'll know what to do.
You still got your job if
you wanna come back.
Because you let it begin,
because you would not let it end,
I will be back. I
have much to learn.
Check your carbines,
your ammunition.
Remember, this
is Macklin's outfit.
Keep a close interval.
I still don't think you
ought to go, sergeant.
Thanks, Wish.
But where the colonel
goes, I go. I'll make it all right.
Tsk.
Joseph, you can tell
us, are you Iron Bull?
Iron Bull was a warrior.
I am a man of peace.
Gotta walk, ho.
Close up there to double.
Bring up the gun arms.
No quarter.
Close interval.
At a trot. Oh!
Close it up.
At a gallop.
Oh.
[SINGING]: We're
marching to fight
And to kill the Comanche
And this is the way we'd go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army, oh
We're marching to fight
And to kill the Comanche
And this is the way we'd go
Forty miles a day
On beans and hay
In the Regular Army...
Head them up.
Move them out.
[CATTLE LOWING
AND MEN WHISTLING]