The American West (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Two Front War - full transcript

Narrator: Previously on
"The American West"...

in the wake
of the Civil War,

the country is in turmoil.

The South
is rising up again,

led by ex-Confederate soldiers
like Jesse James...

I'm gonna make this right.

...who takes his hatred
for the Union...

Everything in your vault.

...and becomes an outlaw.

Desperate
to unite the country,

the government looks west,



hoping that by settling
the frontier,

America can put
their differences behind them.

But as settlers head west,
they encounter Indians,

like fierce Lakota warrior
Crazy Horse,

who are prepared to defend
their land to the death.

In response,
head of the US Army,

Ulysses S. Grant,

orders his most
aggressive officer,

George Armstrong Custer,
to send a message.

Get the men ready.

I wanna hit them
with everything we've got.

( theme music playing)

Hup. Hyah!

- ( gunfire )
- ( people shouting )



Man:
Fire!

Hyah!

( whooping)

( horse whinnies )

Hyah!

Narrator:
On November 27th, 1868,

George Armstrong Custer
leads a brutal attack

on an Indian camp
near the Washita River.

An estimated
150 Cheyenne are killed,

and what remains
of their village

is burned to the ground.

It will come to be known
as the Washita Massacre.

Mark Lee Gardner: Custer splits
his command up into four battalions.

He wants to encircle
this village

and make sure there's
no possibility of escape.

He burned the village,
burned their lodges.

He killed 800 horses.

It's a complete disaster for
this Southern Cheyenne tribe.

Narrator: In the press,
the attack is hailed

as the first significant American victory
in the Indian Wars

and gives Custer the glory
he's been after

since the Civil War.

Paul Hutton: For Custer,
it was another great victory.

It assured his place

as the premier Indian fighter
in the United States

and made him famous
once again.

Narrator: Custer's mission
was to put an end

to Indian attacks
in the West,

but the fighting persists.

- ( groans )
- ( Native Americans whooping)

- ( men shouting )
- ( gunfire )

In hindsight,
I don't think the Indian Wars

could have been avoided,
because in those days

you settled scores
with fighting.

The West was to be conquered
by the strongest,

and the Indians
were great warriors, too.

Narrator:
As the violence continues,

back in Washington,
there's hope.

The country has just elected
a new president...

former head
of the US Army,

Ulysses S. Grant.

H.W. Brands: Grant was
a very reluctant political candidate.

People who wanted him
to run would say,

"General Grant,
if you don't run,

then the victories
that your soldiers won

at such cost
on the battlefield

will be lost
in the realm of politics.

We need your leadership
in the White House.

Only you can bring this country
back together again."

Our reports indicate
around 1,000 Indian lodges...

Narrator: Up until now,
Grant has led the army

in their fight to protect
settlers moving west.

So as president,
one of his first orders of business

is to end the violence
with the Indians

once and for all.

What's going through
the heads of Americans

in dealing with the Native Americans
in the 1860s

can be looked at
through Ulysses S. Grant.

Settlers going out west
were getting killed,

and his responsibility
is to protect American lives.

Here is a man
who is actually disgusted by war,

but there are lots of forces
within his own beloved army,

like William Tecumseh Sherman
who's in charge of the army,

who are pushing the policy of
"Let's get rid of them."

Any Indian who reports
to the reservation

will be fed, clothed,
and educated.

All due respect, sir,
many of them don't want that.

A good number will be
more receptive than you think.

They will be
taught to farm.

They will learn
Western culture.

And those
that don't report?

Do we consider them
hostiles?

No, we don't.

I didn't say it was
going to be easy.

Nothing worth having is.

Brands: Grant viewed the Indians
with considerably more compassion

than many
of his contemporaries.

So instead of driving
the Indians off of all of the land,

instead of exterminating
the Indians

as many people
of Grant's day advocated,

Grant said, "No, we need to set aside
territory where they can live.

Territory for their uses
and not for settlers.

Settlers are going
to have to stay off that."

The policy
of reservations.

Narrator:
In the Great Plains,

nearly 40,000
square miles of land

are reserved
for the Lakota Sioux...

roughly the size
of the state of Ohio.

And the US government
makes a promise

to never interfere
with the new Indian territory.

Many Indians agree
to the peace treaty

and move
onto the reservations.

But some,
like Lakota warrior Crazy Horse,

refuse to give up
their way of life.

Robert Redford: If you're
a nomadic hunter and you're moving

and you take away
that chance to move,

you can imagine it's the beginning
of the end for you.

And I imagine
they saw that coming,

and they had
to fight against it.

I don't blame them.

Narrator: As Crazy Horse
continues to resist,

he gets the attention of one of
the most respected Lakota chiefs

in the Great Plains.

His name is Sitting Bull.

Karl Jacoby: Sitting Bull was known both
as a great spiritual guide

and also someone who had
tremendous success

during warfare,
and he was much older,

at least probably a decade
older than Crazy Horse,

and in many respects
better established.

Narrator:
Sitting Bull knows

his people need to form
a united front,

so he calls a meeting
of Lakota leaders.

( crickets chirping)

( speaking Lakota )

Narrator: While thousands
of other Indians

continue to live
on reservations,

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse,
and their followers refuse.

But they also agree
not to fight,

and a fragile peace
is established.

( screeching )

As America gets back
to settling the frontier,

a new kind
of businessman emerges

who sees only one thing
in the West...

the opportunity
to make a fortune.

Narrator: President Grant has
made peace with the Indians...

allowing the country
to move forward

with its plan
of settling the West.

Sir, here's
the latest track map.

Narrator:
A new breed of businessman

is taking full advantage
of the westward expansion.

We build north to Columbus,
then south to Grand Island,

and then we go out
the North Platte route

when we can no longer
reasonably delay that.

But, sir, that would add
hundreds of miles

of unnecessary track.

The government pays us for each mile
of track we complete.

Why would we design
a shorter route?

- Well, sir...
- Get it done.

Yes, sir.

Narrator: Thomas Durant,
president of the Union Pacific Railroad,

has turned progress
into millions in profits.

Eisenbach:
A guy like Durant,

he's facing off against
other railroad barons,

guys who didn't think twice
about cutting a corner here

in order to put your nose
in the dirt.

If you weren't
being ruthless,

your competition was,
and they were going to kill you.

Man: I've been pushing them
very hard.

If you want me to start
working them 12 hours a day,

I can do that.

I think that would probably
help us catch up.

We are over budget
and we're out of time.

Get to work.

Narrator:
Durant has been racing

to complete his most ambitious
project to date...

a rail line connecting
the country from east to west.

Brands:
The Transcontinental Railroad

was the biggest
public works project of its time.

Probably the biggest
public works project

of the 19th century.

Narrator:
Nearly 2,000 miles of track

are laid out
across the country,

cutting through ravines,
solid granite mountain ranges,

and unmapped
Indian territory.

It's one of the most ambitious
engineering projects

the world has ever seen.

Now with the railroad
nearly done,

Durant is ready to unveil

his crowning achievement
to the world.

Durant: There are plenty
of festivities planned

to help celebrate this grand joining
of east and west,

the first transcontinental railroad
in the entire world.

How much
is the golden spike worth?

( laughs )
Next thing I know,

you'll be wanting to pry it
right out of the tracks, right?

(laughter)

- Mr. Durant.
- Ahem.

Henceforth,
there shall be but one

Pacific Railroad.

( applause )

Walter Borneman: This joining of the rails
at Promontory Summit

in terms of the American psyche
really can't be overstated.

It's not unlike men walking
on the moon a century later.

Narrator: The golden spike
is connected to a telegraph wire,

and when it's struck,
it's instantly telegraphed

to stations
across the country,

all the way from Utah
to Washington, DC.

Man:
"To His Excellency

General U.S. Grant,
President of the United States,

we have the honor to report
the last rail is laid,

the last spike is driven,

the Pacific Railroad
is finished."

- Congratulations!
- ( laughter )

Man #2:
Hear, hear.

The Union Pacific,
gentlemen!

( chatter )

Narrator: After years
of turmoil out west,

President Grant knows
this puts America

on the cusp of a new era.

Borneman: For many years,
the concept of frontier in America

has really been that
of a line moving westward.

But what the railroads did
is they obliterated that line.

Suddenly the frontier
was all over the place,

and civilization was filling in
the blank spots on the map

in a very speedy fashion.

Narrator:
As settlers flock west,

an economic boom follows.

And big business
in the East

begins investing
in the West.

Brands: This was the way
you built an economy.

It meant that there were
new outlets for investment.

There were new outlets
for speculation.

There were lots of people who made money
from the Transcontinental Railroad.

There were more people that were going
to make money from more railroads

and from the economic
spin-offs of railroads.

Narrator: But where most of
the country sees progress,

some see a target.

Like outlaw Jesse James.

( train whistle blows )

( chatter )

I'm going to be here.
Train's going to slow down.

That's going to give us
plenty of time.

See how it comes around
this bend here?

That's where we're going
to hit it, okay?

Narrator: In the years following
the Civil War,

Jesse James
and his brother Frank

have been on a crusade
against the Union,

and the young outlaw
has quickly established himself

as one of the most feared
bank robbers in the country.

Burt Reynolds:
I think he was just angry

about the way the country
was coming together.

So he said,
"To hell with it.

I'll just weaken you
at the knees."

Narrator: Now with railroads
expanding across the country,

Jesse sees another symbol

of the North's oppression
of the South.

( whistle blows )

Redford: Railroad was on one track,
and it was kind of stuck.

And they had horses.

So they could rob a train,
then ride away.

( whistle blows )

- ( men chattering )
- Come on, boys, now. Put your back into it.

We got a schedule.

Watch your toes on that.

Now get those up
in a nice big X up here.

( whistle blows )

( screeching )

We'll get this thing going
as soon as we can.

- ( gunshot )
- ( women scream )

Ladies and gentlemen,

I apologize
for the inconvenience.

If you will kindly present
your valuables,

we'll have you on your way
in no time.

That's a nice watch.

Yes, it is.
My daddy gave it to me.

Where you from?

Kentucky.

My daddy
was from Kentucky.

He was a preacher.

Take care of that.

Thank you, sir.

Smile, girls.

Gonna have a nice story
to tell your friends later.

That's a nice suit.

Hey, Frank,
what do you think about this suit?

Boy don't look like
he's from around here.

Jesse:
No, he doesn't.

Where you from?

New York City.

New York City?

What's that?

G-A-R.

That's the Grand Army
of the Republic.

You know, I have a Union bullet
in my lung.

Jesse, we got what we need.
Let's be on our way now.

The war is over.

Jesse.

No, it's not.

Narrator:
In his first train robbery,

Jesse James steals
the modern-day equivalent

of $50,000,

solidifying his reputation
as a notorious outlaw.

( horse whinnies )

But while many
fear Jesse James...

one man sees his crime spree
as an opportunity...

Missouri newspaper editor
John Newman Edwards.

Gardner:
John Newman Edwards

was probably the most hardcore
of Confederates,

and in his opinion,
southerners had been outlawed,

disenfranchised
by the North.

Narrator: Edwards has been
looking for a new way

to push
his Confederate agenda,

and Jesse James
might be the answer.

( horse whinnies )

Drink?

To the Confederacy.

- I was a soldier, too, you know...
- What is it you want?

I wanna know why
you robbed that train.

There aren't a lot
of other ways to survive.

Not for a soldier
who wore gray.

Jesse, you don't have
to be a common criminal

running from the law.

I can make you a hero.

I don't need you
to make me anything.

It's about more
than just you, Jesse.

The Southern spirit,
it still lives.

The people who read my paper,
they believe.

But they want someone
to believe in.

Someone like you.

The South needs you.

Now that you
put it that way...

( whistle blows )

Narrator:
Jesse partners with Edwards

and launches
another robbing spree

targeting northern wealth.

But now he has the power
of the press behind him.

Eisenbach: It's impossible to talk
about Jesse James

without talking about
John Newman Edwards,

who really just becomes
Jesse James' publicist

and is the one
who manufactures the myth

of Jesse James the rebel

who's on this mission to stick it
to the establishment,

justifying
these criminal acts.

( gunfire )

Narrator:
Across the South,

Jesse James is no longer
seen as a criminal,

but as a hero
for the Confederacy.

There was a love affair

with people that stood up
for themselves

and great stories
of people like Jesse James.

They were outlaws.

They were wanted
by the government,

but they were standing up
for themselves.

Narrator: With Jesse James
and other outlaws like him

terrorizing
the railroads...

Come on, let's go.
Let's go.

...the push to settle the West
is once again at risk.

Narrator: President Grant is dealing
with a growing outlaw problem

that interferes
with western expansion.

But now he's about to face
an even greater threat.

( bell ringing )

Durant:
"Julesburg cut denied.

Propose reinforcement
of existing structure.

Authorize expenditure
of no more than $7,500."

Did you see this?

This morning's
"New York Sun."

How much do they know?

Everything.

Narrator: An investigation finds
that Thomas Durant,

the head
of the Union Pacific

and the hero of
the Transcontinental Railroad,

has been stealing
millions of dollars

from the US government.

Durant has been
taking advantage

of the government's offer
to fund railroad construction

by drastically overcharging
for supplies and labor.

He's pocketed $16.5 million
of taxpayer money,

all the while
paying off politicians

to look the other way.

Eisenbach:
The railroads were being funded

through these financial schemes
that were made possible

by not only no regulations,
but members of Congress

who were actually
in on the schemes,

being paid off
by the corporations

and given stocks
at discounted rates.

The American public
is furious.

Your Honor,
I have here receipts

showing that the cost
of construction

was less than half
of what Mr. Durant estimated.

Mr. Durant,
I ask you,

what happened
to the rest of the money?

We have a right to make
a reasonable profit.

A reasonable amount?
100% is a reasonable amount?

Well, who is to define
what is reasonable

and what
is not reasonable?

Mr. Durant, our records
clearly indicate

that you've made
a profit of over 100%,

with no records
of where that money is.

So I ask you again,
where is the money, Mr. Durant?

Narrator: Once the scheme
is exposed, investors run scared

and railroad stocks
plummet,

leaving the nation's economy
in jeopardy.

Borneman:
Everyone is so excited

about pouring money
into railroads,

but when the scandal breaks
on the scene,

suddenly railroads
don't look too good.

It's really not unlike
the dot-com bubble

of the late 1990s.

Everyone
gets overextended.

And at some point,
all bubbles burst.

Narrator: One-third of the country's
360 railroad companies

go bankrupt,

sending the economy
into a tailspin.

It's the crisis
that comes to be known

as the Panic of 1873.

The Panic of 1873

resulted from overexpansion
in railroads,

speculation in railroads,

and it brought down much of
the American financial industry.

The financial panic spread
to the broader economy.

Narrator: The panic causes
the New York Stock Exchange

to close for 10 days.

And America descends into
its first great depression.

The nation plummets
nearly $2 billion into debt,

20,000 businesses close,

and one in eight Americans
are left unemployed.

Hutton: I think there was
a sense of desperation.

Conditions were very harsh,

and the promises made
by the railroad companies

didn't pan out.

Narrator: As his first term
nears its end,

President Grant
is desperate

to pull America
out of the crisis.

( men chattering)

Man: The Treasury has given
and given and given, right?

What is it?

Gold.

Narrator: Nearly 1,600 miles
from Washington,

rumor of gold deep
in the Black Hills of the Dakotas

is beginning to spread.

The only problem...
the Black Hills

are located
on Indian territory...

the same land
Grant promised the Lakota

he would never touch.

During the worst depression
in US history,

President Grant
hears rumors of gold

on the Lakota Sioux
reservation...

land that he promised
the Indians

would remain untouched.

Hoping to avoid a new conflict
with the Indians,

Grant and General Sherman
plan a secret expedition

to verify the find,

and they call on
their top commander in the West.

Mr. President.

Have a seat.

There are rumors of gold
in the Black Hills.

We need you to take
a small team of miners...

and find out
if these rumors are true.

I need you to evaluate
how much gold there is,

where it's located,

and then directly
report back to us.

Report to us
and only us.

Is that clear?

Yes, Mr. President.

Narrator:
For George Armstrong Custer,

the mission is about
more than just finding gold.

Eisenbach:
Custer is seeing himself

as a man who's got
this opportunity.

The opportunity to become
this national hero

by leading this expedition
that is going to solve

all of Americans'
financial problems

by getting
this mother lode of gold

that could be bigger
than the California Gold Rush.

He's got to come up
with a big victory here.

Custer:
"Our initial survey suggests

significant deposits
in the eastern Black Hills,

and I expect
in the next several days

we will find more gold
than this country has ever seen.

Triumphantly Yours,

Lieutenant Colonel
George Armstrong Custer."

Send a copy of that
to Washington

as soon as you get
to Fort Laramie.

Yes, sir.

And send a copy of it
to James Gordon Bennett

at the "New York Herald."

Sir?

You have your orders.

Yes, sir.

Narrator: Looking to advance
his own fame,

Custer announces his discovery
to the national press.

The country was in the midst
of a very, very deep depression,

so gold in the Black Hills
had everyone excited.

Custer started this stampede
into the most sacred Indian land.

Narrator: When news of
the discovery spreads,

thousands of miners flood
the Black Hills,

a direct violation of the terms
of the peace treaty.

Grant:
Damn Custer.

He has got us
in a hell of a spot.

We've had five years
of peace with the Indians.

Now I'm supposed
to throw it all away

over gold.

Perhaps, sir, it's not Custer
that's truly the issue here.

What you've done with
the Indians is admirable.

It really is.

But right now
our own people are starving.

What are those people
going to say

when they find out
that their president

had a chance to end the worst
suffering they've ever known,

but chose not to?

Brands: There was strong sentiment
in Congress in favor of

"Open this territory
to the settlers.

Let's take advantage
of these gifts

that God has placed there,
hidden them from the Indians."

Once the news of gold
in the Black Hills got out,

then Grant's peace policy
was in tatters.

Narrator: Grant has to decide
how far he's willing to go

to keep peace
with the Indians.

Narrator: As President Grant deals
with a crippling economic depression

and a brewing conflict
with the Indians...

900 miles away
in Missouri,

one man
has found his own way

of disrupting
westward expansion.

How you feeling?

Hey, I ever tell you that joke
about the pig and the cow?

Why don't you
tell me that joke?

All right, then.

Cow came up to a pig
on the train tracks,

said, "Moo-ve over,
you're hogging up the road."

( both laugh )

That is not a funny joke.

Well, humor's never been
my strong suit.

( distant train whistle
blowing)

Ask me, this is
my favorite part right here.

( whistle blowing )

We're about to make
some money today, boy.

That's right.

( gunshot )

Narrator: Train robberies by Jesse James
and his brother Frank

are wreaking havoc
on the country's railroad industry.

Over a six-month period,

Jesse and his gang
commit a string of robberies,

making off with
the modern-day equivalent

of over $300,000.

Gardner: The railroads do not want
robbers stopping their train.

They don't want robbers
terrifying their passengers.

It's bad for business.

In fact, there was
one railroad passenger

who said, "I don't care
if it costs me $500.

I'm not riding a train
through Missouri.

I'll go around through Iowa
or Minnesota or whatever,

but I'm not going to take a train
through the state of Missouri."

Narrator: As their losses
from robberies mount,

railroad companies
are desperate to put a stop

to outlaws
like Jesse James.

It's going to require
a massive commitment

of personnel
and resources

to clamping down
on the likes of Jesse James.

But you don't have
an FBI.

You don't have
a federal bureaucracy

and law enforcement armed to protect
business interests across state lines,

and that is where
private business comes in.

Narrator:
The railroad companies turn

to the most famous
private detective

in the country for help.

His name
is Allan Pinkerton.

Gardner: Allan Pinkerton was part of
the Union Intelligence Service

during the Civil War.

He gained fame
by preventing

a supposed
assassination plot

against
President Abraham Lincoln.

Narrator: Following the war,
Pinkerton moved to Chicago

and opened the Pinkerton
Detective Agency...

pioneering modern
investigative techniques

and building massive dossiers
on known criminals.

With over 30,000 agents
stationed across the country,

Pinkerton commands a force

larger than
the US military.

Now he has the biggest case
in his company's history.

He's smart, ruthlessly violent,
and good with a gun.

The bastard was
a Confederate guerilla during the war.

Lord knows how many
Union soldiers he killed.

The Adams Express Company
is calling us in.

They need this man
taken out of commission.

You can say no,
of course.

If you have any
reservations at all...

you should.

When do I leave?

Narrator: Joseph Whicher
is one of Pinkerton's

most talented
young agents.

His mission...
take down Jesse James.

As the greatest
detective agency

hunts down the most infamous
outlaw in the country

and the pursuit of gold

risks breaking peace
with the Indians...

the fate of the nation
hangs in the balance.