The American West (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 8 - Episode #1.8 - full transcript
Previously on
"The American West"...
In the years
since the country
was ripped apart
by Civil War,
America has blazed
a trail west,
but it hasn't been easy.
As the railroads
cut across the landscape,
they triggered bloody conflicts
with Indian nations
and became targets
for outlaws.
Stay in your seats.
Do not move.
But as men like Jesse James
and Billy the Kid
terrorized the nation,
lawmen like Wyatt Earp
emerged,
determined to bring order
to the frontier.
But now the battle
for the West
has reached
a breaking point.
In Missouri, after returning
to a life of crime,
Jesse James
has a bounty on his head
and can no longer tell
who to trust.
This is my brother, Robert,
the one I told you about.
While in Tombstone,
Arizona...
- What do you want?
- I want my $3,600.
...Wyatt Earp's feud
with notorious outlaw
Ike Clanton
has led the lawman
to a showdown
that will change his life
and the West forever.
On October 26, 1881,
Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp
leads his brothers
Morgan and Virgil,
along with gunslinger
Doc Holliday,
on a mission to confront
a gang of ruthless outlaws
led by Ike Clanton,
who are waiting
for a fight
near the place
called the "O.K. Corral."
The Earp brothers
and Doc Holliday
are hearing how
Ike's out to kill them
and that Ike
and his friends have guns.
So when they
start marching
towards the cowboys
to disarm them,
the cowboys
who are half-drunk,
all right, you got
a recipe for disaster.
And that's really
what happens.
Give us your guns.
Throw up your hands!
You boys wanna fight,
we'll give you a fight.
I'm not gonna ask again.
Things happen so fast.
And if something
is allowed to escalate
to the point where people are
actually reaching for weapons,
itjust takes one person
to panic,
and all of a sudden,
people are dead.
In a matter of 30 seconds,
30 rounds are fired,
three cowboys lay dead,
including Ike Clanton's
brother Billy.
Wyatt's brothers
and Doc Holliday are wounded...
while Ike Clanton
gets away.
In the end only one man
was left standing
and only one man was unhurt,
and that was Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt's uncanny ability
to escape harm
at the O.K. Corral
will become a part
of his legend.
News of the gunfight makes
headlines around the world.
But rather than
becoming a story
of the lost triumph
over outlaws,
Wyatt and his men
are portrayed as criminals.
It was covered
as far away as Australia.
It's a tale of
unbelievable lawlessness.
As time went on,
there was more and more concern
about Tombstone
as the symbol of violence
at the American frontier,
and that had the business people
very worried.
In the rapidly
developing West,
it's becoming clear
that Wyatt Earp's brand
of frontierjustice
is beginning to wear thin.
Ike Clanton, the man
who brought on the gunfight,
sees an opportunity
to finally get his revenge
on the Earp brothers.
Ike Clanton and his friends
try to prosecute the Earps
in court.
They bring charges of murder
against the three Earp brothers
and Doc Holliday.
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday
spend two weeks in jail,
but the judge decides that
there's not enough evidence
to go forward to a trial.
The charges against Wyatt
and his brothers are dropped,
but their image
as noble lawmen
has been
irreversibly damaged.
I don't believe Wyatt Earp
ever woke up in the morning
and said, "I'm gonna
go kill someone today."
He's trying
to marshal a town.
And he's,
unfortunately, the guy
who's gotta keep it
somehow civil.
And eventually people
are gonna wanna go after him.
They don't want us here,
they don't want us.
What do you recommend
that we do?
A lot of folks
are moving to California.
Maybe we should, too.
No. It'll look like they're
running us right out of town.
That's right.
We're not going anywhere.
If we leave Tombstone,
it's on our own terms.
This is where we belong.
Here's to the unflappable
Wyatt Earp.
- To Tombstone.
- To Tombstone.
What Wyatt doesn't realize
is that
by staying in Tombstone,
he's making himself
an easy target
for Ike Clanton
and his gang.
Twelve hundred miles away
in Missouri,
Jesse James is settling
back into life as an outlaw.
Despite having
a $5,000 bounty on his head,
Jesse's planning
his next big heist
with the two remaining
gang members
he thinks he can trust...
Robert and Charley Ford.
Jesse James had big, big plans.
He was focused on
this bank robbery
that he was planning
with the Ford brothers.
He was gonna rob
the Platte City Bank.
And, you know,
it was typical of Jesse,
because he alluded to them
that this is something
that's... it's gonna be big
in the papers.
You know, it's something
that's publicized.
So I think that
was exciting for Jesse.
We gotta be careful.
We have to
look after each other.
All right?
Jesse James' latest
string of robberies
has turned him into
America's most wanted criminal.
But what he doesn't realize
is that it's not the law
he should be afraid of.
It's one of his own.
I don't remember
you being this good.
You don't remember
a lot of things, Morgan.
Months after the gunfight
at the O.K. Corral,
Wyatt Earp and his brothers
Morgan and Virgil
are still in Tombstone
trying to carve out
a new life for themselves.
Wyatt sticks around
'cause he's got
financial investments
in town.
And those
financial investments
have just started
to make some money.
So, you know, as far
as the Earps go, right,
that was just
some unfortunate incident.
It's time to move on.
But the Cowboys
weren't letting it go.
Ten dollars.
You still owe me ten dollars.
Virgil.
All right, let me
show you how it's done.
I'm waiting
to see it.
Because you're
my brother,
I'm gonna be easy
on you, all right?
So what you want is...
- Wyatt.
- Somebody call a doctor.
Morgan.
Oh, God.
Ike Clanton and the Cowboys
murder Morgan...
and cripple Virgil
in retaliation
for the three men who died
at the O.K. Corral.
Ike Clanton couldn't
get his revenge in court,
and so they basically
had hit men out for the Earps.
This was the moment
of change for Wyatt.
He felt that the law
would no longer protect him...
and decided that
he would take the law
into his own hands.
Wyatt...
are you sure
you wanna do this?
You going soft on me, Doc?
No, sir, I am not.
This is for my brothers.
Lead the way, sir,
To help him avenge
his brother's death,
Wyatt calls on
his trusted friend
Doc Holliday.
Together,
they form a posse
to track down
and take out
Clanton's whole crew.
I think one of the things we
have to understand about Wyatt
is that he was capable
of impulsive violence.
After his brother Morgan
was killed,
he kind of snaps.
Morgan Earp
was assassinated.
This was not something
thatjust happened.
And Wyatt's reaction
is just as planned
and just as premeditated.
You give me a name,
and I'll let you live.
You go to hell.
You first.
I think Wyatt Earp,
when he went on
the other side of the law,
it was really about revenge.
There wasn't anything
to justify
or redeem the killing,
then it had to be taken in the hands
of certain individuals.
After killing cowboy
Frank Stilwell,
Wyatt and his gang
continue their hunt
through
the Arizona territory,
tracking more
of Ike Clanton's men,
including Charlie Cruz.
Pick it up.
As Wyatt continues
his quest for vengeance,
he's turning
from a man ofjustice
to a cold-blooded killer.
Jesse James has reemerged
from a life on the run,
and with the help
of his trusted gang members
Charley and Robert Ford
he has reestablished himself
as a feared outlaw.
In hopes of ending
Jesse's crime spree,
Missouri governor
Thomas Crittenden
has put a $5,000 bounty
on his head.
And it isn't long
before the opportunity
he's been waiting for
comes to him.
You the governor?
And you must be
Robert Ford.
You ride
with Jesse James.
You see this $1 coin,
Mr. Ford?
Well, that's you.
But this $10,000 coin,
that's Jesse James.
A good gambler
could turn that one dollar
into 10,000.
Are you a good gambler,
Mr. Ford?
I want the reward and immunity
for me and my brother.
Kill Jesse James
and you'll get the money.
Robert Ford knows that
by working with Jesse James,
he and his brother
are now prime targets, too.
Bob Ford decides
there's a big reward,
so he had an incentive.
But there was a real fear
with Bob Ford.
You know,
"I'm a little afraid of Jesse James."
Now the Ford brothers
have to find
the perfect opportunity
to make their move.
Looking at it logically,
you might wonder,
"What was Jesse James
thinking trusting the Fords?"
I mean, anybody
can make a name for himself
as well as a lot of cash
by putting a bullet in his head.
This is gonna be
the best one yet, boys.
Easy money.
But you get to the point
where you get reckless
because you've survived
through all these scrapes.
You kinda think of yourself
as being bulletproof.
And I think that that's what happens
to Jesse James.
Jesse, your breakfast
is getting cold.
No!
I'm not done yet.
Zee...
thank you.
I'm gonna go check
on those horses.
That farmer's
out on his porch.
You probably don't wanna walk around
with that gun on your hip.
Hmm.
Yeah.
We gotta go.
We gotta go.
Come on.
Jesse! No!
No.
No!
Jesse James is shot
in the back of the head
by one of his own gang.
You know,
Jesse's criminal career
came to an end
because of Bob Ford...
some, you know,
riffraff, some boy.
News of Jesse James' murder
makes front-page headlines
across the country.
And three days
after his death...
more than 2,000 Americans
flocked to
Clay County, Missouri,
hoping for a final glimpse
of the outlaw legend,
Jesse James.
You know, Jesse James
is already a hero
to many people.
When he's killed,
he's now a martyr.
And it's the way
that he's killed.
Had he been captured,
been tried,
and had he been executed,
it would have been
much different.
But this is
a collusion between
the governor of a state
and a gang member
who shoots his leader
in the back of the head.
Robert Ford never escapes
his reputation
as the man
who murdered Jesse James,
and is shot down
in a saloon 10 years later.
But as years go by,
Jesse James' legend
only continues to grow.
Jesse reaches
incredible new heights
in the American
imagination...
as a hero, as a martyr
and as a representative
of the defeated South.
But I grew up
in Jesse James country.
When I was a kid,
Jesse James was a hero.
Now I see Jesse
as a tragic consequence
of an awful, awful war,
which was
a tragic consequence
of an awful,
awful institution.
Jesse's story captures
the imaginations
of Americans
across the country.
And tales of his exploits
are enshrined
in dime store novels,
onstage, and eventually
in western cinema...
leading him to become
one of the most
notorious figures
in American history.
Americans, for better,
and sometimes for worse,
truly cut their own path.
And I think that
that's why we always
idolize Jesse James.
Jesse James said,
I'm not gonna take this,
and went and grabbed
what he wanted.
I think there's a place
in America's heart for those people.
But while another
ruthless outlaw may be gone...
there's still one man
causing chaos in the West.
In the territory of Arizona,
Wyatt Earp rides
to avenge the murder
of his brother, Morgan.
Earp and his posse have killed
two cowboys already...
and are now
hot on the trail
of another member
of the gang,
William "Curly Bill" Brocius.
The code of the West,
there were certain things permitted,
and there's certain things
that weren't permitted.
But there was no
law and order,
and usually the guys
that kept the order,
the Wyatt Earps
of the world,
they were
stone-blooded killers.
Come on.
Whoa.
Saddle 'em up.
Let's move.
You're a dead man, Wyatt!
Wyatt shoots Curly Bill dead.
The heel
on his cowboy boot
gets shot out
from underneath him.
He's got holes
all through his jacket.
He leaves
completely unscathed.
Gets his man and leaves
without a bullet hole once again.
Wyatt and his men
survive the shootout,
but after brutally executing
four men in two weeks,
his actions
begin to make headlines.
But instead of
being seen as a hero,
he's branded an outlaw.
You got a lot of people saying,
"Wait a minute.
This guy running around,
shooting people in cold blood?
This isn't justice."
So the bigger issues
of frontier law
versus justice
now become wrapped up
in the story
of Wyatt Earp.
Authorities in Tombstone
assemble a posse
to track down
and arrest Wyatt Earp.
Now that he's a fugitive,
Wyatt Earp decides
to give up on his hunt
for Ike Clanton.
Wyatt finally realized
that he had had enough
and disbanded the posse
and escaped Arizona,
where things were getting
mighty hot for him.
With his reputation tarnished,
Wyatt Earp vanishes
from the public eye.
I think Wyatt Earp
is remembered less
for being a lawman
than for being a vigilante.
What people find appealing
about the Wyatt Earp myth,
what always shows up
in most of the films,
is that when the law
is unable to bring justice,
Wyatt Earp takes the law
into his own hands.
And so it's
as a vigilante,
as a guy who embodies
a kind of higher law
that he's most famous.
The sad thing about Wyatt
is that in his heart,
he just wanted to settle down
and make some money.
But he winds up
getting himself
into one situation
after another.
And so he never
stakes down the roots
that he wanted
to stake down.
And so we have this kind of
myth of Wyatt Earp
as being the guy
who just did it on his own.
He was the cowboy,
that individual...
that was not
what he wanted to be.
Wyatt Earp's quest
for justice has come to an end.
But the legendary lawman
still hasn't made
his final mark on the West.
After returning from exile
in Canada,
Lakota Chief Sitting Bull
has been traveling
across America
with Buffalo Bill Cody's
Wild West Show...
hoping to preserve
what's left of his culture.
But after four months
of touring modern cities in the East,
Sitting Bull
has become disheartened
by what he's seeing
and decides
it's time to go home.
I don't know
how an Indian would have gone East
and gone home
and felt better.
That has to be the most
hopeless feeling in the world,
to know that your land
is now gonna look like that
in about 50 years.
And if you're alive
in 50 years,
that's probably what you're
going to be living in.
But when Sitting Bull
returns to the reservation...
he finds something
unexpected.
A new movement
has taken hold of his people.
A ritual that they believe
could restore the Lakota
to their former way
of life.
It's called
the "Ghost Dance."
The Ghost Dance movement
is something that emerges
in the 1880s.
If you do these rituals,
you can make time
go backwards.
White people
would disappear,
the buffalo
would come back,
and Indian peoples
would be restored
to their former prominence.
It's a very appealing vision.
But as the movement
gains momentum,
government agents fear
it's leading to an uprising.
A lot of the people who are
most active in the ghost towns
are difficult to get to
and so, seemingly,
the reservation
authorities decide,
"Instead we'll
arrest Sitting Bull
because he's close by,
he's in his cabin.
We know where it is."
And they decide to send
a recently created
Lakota police force.
In December of 1890...
the U.S. sends
40 armed guards
to remove Sitting Bull
from his home.
But the chief's followers
are determined
to protect their leader.
Lower your weapon.
I will not go!
The great Lakota chief,
Sitting Bull,
who fought
for over 30 years
to preserve his people's
way of life,
is killed
at the age of 59.
The death of Sitting Bull
was the death
of our culture,
at that moment.
We had faith in one man,
and he's doing everything
he can to keep you alive
and to keep your way
of life alive
and to protect you,
and he dies a violent death
instead of a natural death.
You know,
you've lost your leader
on top of losing everything.
In the wake
of Sitting Bull's death,
many of his followers
flee the reservation
and set up a temporary camp
in South Dakota
at a place
called Wounded Knee.
But the U.S. government
remains fearful
of the possible uprising
and sends the 7th Cavalry
to track them down.
From the U.S. Army's
perspective of hostile
from non-hostile Indian,
is they basically decide,
"Well, anyone
who's off the reservation
is potentially hostile,
and we'll treat them this way."
Just two weeks
after Sitting Bull's murder,
200 more Lakota men,
women and children
are killed by American troops
at Wounded Knee.
It's a very disturbing event.
They begin to throw in
these howitzer shells
into the encampment
at a rate of 50 shots a minute.
It's quite clearly
a disproportionate use of force
against a community
that was not in any way
clearly, um, violent
towards the United States.
Led by General
James W. Forsyth,
the massacre
at Wounded Knee
is the last major attack
by the U.S. government
against the Lakota people.
I think Wounded Knee
was so devastating
that it really did kill
the spirit of a lot of people
because they
were fighting something
that we don't agree with.
And Wounded Knee
was basically the end
of that life.
For decades,
American Indians
have fought to keep their place
in the West.
But now
the Indian population,
once estimated
at over 300,000,
has been cut in half.
Characters like
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse,
they fought to the end.
And, of course,
eventually, the end did come.
I'm honored to be
Sitting Bull's relative.
You know, we're actually
to a point now
where we can survive and thrive,
so we need to do that
in order to honor
our ancestors,
to honor Sitting Bull,
because they didn't want
to lose their way of life.
And we fought and died
to keep our way of life,
and we still have it.
By the end of
the 19th Century,
outlaws like Billy the Kid
and Jesse James
no longer terrorized
the West.
And the war between
the U.S. Army and the Indians
is effectively over.
With the frontier
wide open,
the Government frees up
1.9 million acres
of former Indian territory
in Oklahoma.
And within hours,
50,000 settlers
pour into the land.
It will come to be known
as the "Oklahoma Land Rush."
By 1890, the West has been
settled to the point
where the U.S. Census Bureau
can declare the frontier
officially closed.
In a span
ofjust 25 years,
America has gone from
a country divided by war
to a nation
united by land.
What happened was the West
eventually came to look
more like the East.
Before 1860,
if you went West,
you dropped out of sight,
and people couldn't hear
from you.
All of a sudden,
you could go through
much of the West
in the 1890s,
and you could keep almost
instantaneously in touch
with what was going on
in the East.
And that made all
the difference in the world.
But while the frontier
has been tamed,
there's one place
where the spirit of the West
still lives on.
And cut!
Was that good for you?
That was perfect.
Decades after
escaping Arizona,
Wyatt Earp reemerges
in Hollywood, California,
as a consultant in one of
America's newest industries...
motion pictures.
Wyatt Earp had the advantage
of living
to a ripe old age.
He simply outlived
everybody else.
So, you know what they say,
history belongs
to the victors.
We used to drive cattle
into Dodge City
that would stretch
as far as the eye can see.
Thousands of cattle
coming into town.
Just trample everything
in their path.
By telling stories
about his past,
Wyatt Earp immortalizes
the Old West in film.
Wyatt Earp decides
that if his life
can be made into a film
the way he wants it made,
then the legacy will be the one
that he wants remembered.
And in a lot of ways,
that's exactly what happens.
- First day on the job?
- Yes, sir.
I'm a big admirer
of yours, Mr. Earp.
Earp even inspires
a young production assistant
named Marion Morrison,
who will go on
to become an actor,
taking the stage name
John Wayne.
John Wayne
uses Wyatt Earp
as the model for many
of his Hollywood roles,
creating an iconic image
of the Western hero
and becoming one of the most
prominent western stars
in movie history.
The attachment to westerns
were certainly,
I think, an important part
of this country's evolution,
it's sense of it's identity,
it's sense of freedom.
To this day,
the West is remembered
as an era of violence
and lawlessness
defined by
larger-than-life figures
like Jesse James,
Crazy Horse,
Custer,
Billy the Kid,
Sitting Bull,
and Wyatt Earp.
They were men who took
what they wanted
and fought for
what they believed in.
The outlaws were in some ways
the ultimate individualists.
No one could tell
the outlaws what to do.
A lot of Americans
could imagine,
"Boy, if things
had been different,
I could be as bold
and brave
as daring as Jesse James
or as Billy the Kid."
The Old West engaged
your imagination
in a way nothing else
has ever done.
And it really is
that eternal American figure,
that guy who faces adversity
and comes through it.
The story of the West
is the story
of a country
evolving and growing
through the sheer will
and courage of its people.
I believe that
it is truly American
to strike out in a new life,
in a new existence.
The hardships on those
individuals is amazing.
And despite
all the obstacles,
we've populated a nation
that is now and always has been
one of the great
experiments in history.
"The American West"...
In the years
since the country
was ripped apart
by Civil War,
America has blazed
a trail west,
but it hasn't been easy.
As the railroads
cut across the landscape,
they triggered bloody conflicts
with Indian nations
and became targets
for outlaws.
Stay in your seats.
Do not move.
But as men like Jesse James
and Billy the Kid
terrorized the nation,
lawmen like Wyatt Earp
emerged,
determined to bring order
to the frontier.
But now the battle
for the West
has reached
a breaking point.
In Missouri, after returning
to a life of crime,
Jesse James
has a bounty on his head
and can no longer tell
who to trust.
This is my brother, Robert,
the one I told you about.
While in Tombstone,
Arizona...
- What do you want?
- I want my $3,600.
...Wyatt Earp's feud
with notorious outlaw
Ike Clanton
has led the lawman
to a showdown
that will change his life
and the West forever.
On October 26, 1881,
Deputy Sheriff Wyatt Earp
leads his brothers
Morgan and Virgil,
along with gunslinger
Doc Holliday,
on a mission to confront
a gang of ruthless outlaws
led by Ike Clanton,
who are waiting
for a fight
near the place
called the "O.K. Corral."
The Earp brothers
and Doc Holliday
are hearing how
Ike's out to kill them
and that Ike
and his friends have guns.
So when they
start marching
towards the cowboys
to disarm them,
the cowboys
who are half-drunk,
all right, you got
a recipe for disaster.
And that's really
what happens.
Give us your guns.
Throw up your hands!
You boys wanna fight,
we'll give you a fight.
I'm not gonna ask again.
Things happen so fast.
And if something
is allowed to escalate
to the point where people are
actually reaching for weapons,
itjust takes one person
to panic,
and all of a sudden,
people are dead.
In a matter of 30 seconds,
30 rounds are fired,
three cowboys lay dead,
including Ike Clanton's
brother Billy.
Wyatt's brothers
and Doc Holliday are wounded...
while Ike Clanton
gets away.
In the end only one man
was left standing
and only one man was unhurt,
and that was Wyatt Earp.
Wyatt's uncanny ability
to escape harm
at the O.K. Corral
will become a part
of his legend.
News of the gunfight makes
headlines around the world.
But rather than
becoming a story
of the lost triumph
over outlaws,
Wyatt and his men
are portrayed as criminals.
It was covered
as far away as Australia.
It's a tale of
unbelievable lawlessness.
As time went on,
there was more and more concern
about Tombstone
as the symbol of violence
at the American frontier,
and that had the business people
very worried.
In the rapidly
developing West,
it's becoming clear
that Wyatt Earp's brand
of frontierjustice
is beginning to wear thin.
Ike Clanton, the man
who brought on the gunfight,
sees an opportunity
to finally get his revenge
on the Earp brothers.
Ike Clanton and his friends
try to prosecute the Earps
in court.
They bring charges of murder
against the three Earp brothers
and Doc Holliday.
Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday
spend two weeks in jail,
but the judge decides that
there's not enough evidence
to go forward to a trial.
The charges against Wyatt
and his brothers are dropped,
but their image
as noble lawmen
has been
irreversibly damaged.
I don't believe Wyatt Earp
ever woke up in the morning
and said, "I'm gonna
go kill someone today."
He's trying
to marshal a town.
And he's,
unfortunately, the guy
who's gotta keep it
somehow civil.
And eventually people
are gonna wanna go after him.
They don't want us here,
they don't want us.
What do you recommend
that we do?
A lot of folks
are moving to California.
Maybe we should, too.
No. It'll look like they're
running us right out of town.
That's right.
We're not going anywhere.
If we leave Tombstone,
it's on our own terms.
This is where we belong.
Here's to the unflappable
Wyatt Earp.
- To Tombstone.
- To Tombstone.
What Wyatt doesn't realize
is that
by staying in Tombstone,
he's making himself
an easy target
for Ike Clanton
and his gang.
Twelve hundred miles away
in Missouri,
Jesse James is settling
back into life as an outlaw.
Despite having
a $5,000 bounty on his head,
Jesse's planning
his next big heist
with the two remaining
gang members
he thinks he can trust...
Robert and Charley Ford.
Jesse James had big, big plans.
He was focused on
this bank robbery
that he was planning
with the Ford brothers.
He was gonna rob
the Platte City Bank.
And, you know,
it was typical of Jesse,
because he alluded to them
that this is something
that's... it's gonna be big
in the papers.
You know, it's something
that's publicized.
So I think that
was exciting for Jesse.
We gotta be careful.
We have to
look after each other.
All right?
Jesse James' latest
string of robberies
has turned him into
America's most wanted criminal.
But what he doesn't realize
is that it's not the law
he should be afraid of.
It's one of his own.
I don't remember
you being this good.
You don't remember
a lot of things, Morgan.
Months after the gunfight
at the O.K. Corral,
Wyatt Earp and his brothers
Morgan and Virgil
are still in Tombstone
trying to carve out
a new life for themselves.
Wyatt sticks around
'cause he's got
financial investments
in town.
And those
financial investments
have just started
to make some money.
So, you know, as far
as the Earps go, right,
that was just
some unfortunate incident.
It's time to move on.
But the Cowboys
weren't letting it go.
Ten dollars.
You still owe me ten dollars.
Virgil.
All right, let me
show you how it's done.
I'm waiting
to see it.
Because you're
my brother,
I'm gonna be easy
on you, all right?
So what you want is...
- Wyatt.
- Somebody call a doctor.
Morgan.
Oh, God.
Ike Clanton and the Cowboys
murder Morgan...
and cripple Virgil
in retaliation
for the three men who died
at the O.K. Corral.
Ike Clanton couldn't
get his revenge in court,
and so they basically
had hit men out for the Earps.
This was the moment
of change for Wyatt.
He felt that the law
would no longer protect him...
and decided that
he would take the law
into his own hands.
Wyatt...
are you sure
you wanna do this?
You going soft on me, Doc?
No, sir, I am not.
This is for my brothers.
Lead the way, sir,
To help him avenge
his brother's death,
Wyatt calls on
his trusted friend
Doc Holliday.
Together,
they form a posse
to track down
and take out
Clanton's whole crew.
I think one of the things we
have to understand about Wyatt
is that he was capable
of impulsive violence.
After his brother Morgan
was killed,
he kind of snaps.
Morgan Earp
was assassinated.
This was not something
thatjust happened.
And Wyatt's reaction
is just as planned
and just as premeditated.
You give me a name,
and I'll let you live.
You go to hell.
You first.
I think Wyatt Earp,
when he went on
the other side of the law,
it was really about revenge.
There wasn't anything
to justify
or redeem the killing,
then it had to be taken in the hands
of certain individuals.
After killing cowboy
Frank Stilwell,
Wyatt and his gang
continue their hunt
through
the Arizona territory,
tracking more
of Ike Clanton's men,
including Charlie Cruz.
Pick it up.
As Wyatt continues
his quest for vengeance,
he's turning
from a man ofjustice
to a cold-blooded killer.
Jesse James has reemerged
from a life on the run,
and with the help
of his trusted gang members
Charley and Robert Ford
he has reestablished himself
as a feared outlaw.
In hopes of ending
Jesse's crime spree,
Missouri governor
Thomas Crittenden
has put a $5,000 bounty
on his head.
And it isn't long
before the opportunity
he's been waiting for
comes to him.
You the governor?
And you must be
Robert Ford.
You ride
with Jesse James.
You see this $1 coin,
Mr. Ford?
Well, that's you.
But this $10,000 coin,
that's Jesse James.
A good gambler
could turn that one dollar
into 10,000.
Are you a good gambler,
Mr. Ford?
I want the reward and immunity
for me and my brother.
Kill Jesse James
and you'll get the money.
Robert Ford knows that
by working with Jesse James,
he and his brother
are now prime targets, too.
Bob Ford decides
there's a big reward,
so he had an incentive.
But there was a real fear
with Bob Ford.
You know,
"I'm a little afraid of Jesse James."
Now the Ford brothers
have to find
the perfect opportunity
to make their move.
Looking at it logically,
you might wonder,
"What was Jesse James
thinking trusting the Fords?"
I mean, anybody
can make a name for himself
as well as a lot of cash
by putting a bullet in his head.
This is gonna be
the best one yet, boys.
Easy money.
But you get to the point
where you get reckless
because you've survived
through all these scrapes.
You kinda think of yourself
as being bulletproof.
And I think that that's what happens
to Jesse James.
Jesse, your breakfast
is getting cold.
No!
I'm not done yet.
Zee...
thank you.
I'm gonna go check
on those horses.
That farmer's
out on his porch.
You probably don't wanna walk around
with that gun on your hip.
Hmm.
Yeah.
We gotta go.
We gotta go.
Come on.
Jesse! No!
No.
No!
Jesse James is shot
in the back of the head
by one of his own gang.
You know,
Jesse's criminal career
came to an end
because of Bob Ford...
some, you know,
riffraff, some boy.
News of Jesse James' murder
makes front-page headlines
across the country.
And three days
after his death...
more than 2,000 Americans
flocked to
Clay County, Missouri,
hoping for a final glimpse
of the outlaw legend,
Jesse James.
You know, Jesse James
is already a hero
to many people.
When he's killed,
he's now a martyr.
And it's the way
that he's killed.
Had he been captured,
been tried,
and had he been executed,
it would have been
much different.
But this is
a collusion between
the governor of a state
and a gang member
who shoots his leader
in the back of the head.
Robert Ford never escapes
his reputation
as the man
who murdered Jesse James,
and is shot down
in a saloon 10 years later.
But as years go by,
Jesse James' legend
only continues to grow.
Jesse reaches
incredible new heights
in the American
imagination...
as a hero, as a martyr
and as a representative
of the defeated South.
But I grew up
in Jesse James country.
When I was a kid,
Jesse James was a hero.
Now I see Jesse
as a tragic consequence
of an awful, awful war,
which was
a tragic consequence
of an awful,
awful institution.
Jesse's story captures
the imaginations
of Americans
across the country.
And tales of his exploits
are enshrined
in dime store novels,
onstage, and eventually
in western cinema...
leading him to become
one of the most
notorious figures
in American history.
Americans, for better,
and sometimes for worse,
truly cut their own path.
And I think that
that's why we always
idolize Jesse James.
Jesse James said,
I'm not gonna take this,
and went and grabbed
what he wanted.
I think there's a place
in America's heart for those people.
But while another
ruthless outlaw may be gone...
there's still one man
causing chaos in the West.
In the territory of Arizona,
Wyatt Earp rides
to avenge the murder
of his brother, Morgan.
Earp and his posse have killed
two cowboys already...
and are now
hot on the trail
of another member
of the gang,
William "Curly Bill" Brocius.
The code of the West,
there were certain things permitted,
and there's certain things
that weren't permitted.
But there was no
law and order,
and usually the guys
that kept the order,
the Wyatt Earps
of the world,
they were
stone-blooded killers.
Come on.
Whoa.
Saddle 'em up.
Let's move.
You're a dead man, Wyatt!
Wyatt shoots Curly Bill dead.
The heel
on his cowboy boot
gets shot out
from underneath him.
He's got holes
all through his jacket.
He leaves
completely unscathed.
Gets his man and leaves
without a bullet hole once again.
Wyatt and his men
survive the shootout,
but after brutally executing
four men in two weeks,
his actions
begin to make headlines.
But instead of
being seen as a hero,
he's branded an outlaw.
You got a lot of people saying,
"Wait a minute.
This guy running around,
shooting people in cold blood?
This isn't justice."
So the bigger issues
of frontier law
versus justice
now become wrapped up
in the story
of Wyatt Earp.
Authorities in Tombstone
assemble a posse
to track down
and arrest Wyatt Earp.
Now that he's a fugitive,
Wyatt Earp decides
to give up on his hunt
for Ike Clanton.
Wyatt finally realized
that he had had enough
and disbanded the posse
and escaped Arizona,
where things were getting
mighty hot for him.
With his reputation tarnished,
Wyatt Earp vanishes
from the public eye.
I think Wyatt Earp
is remembered less
for being a lawman
than for being a vigilante.
What people find appealing
about the Wyatt Earp myth,
what always shows up
in most of the films,
is that when the law
is unable to bring justice,
Wyatt Earp takes the law
into his own hands.
And so it's
as a vigilante,
as a guy who embodies
a kind of higher law
that he's most famous.
The sad thing about Wyatt
is that in his heart,
he just wanted to settle down
and make some money.
But he winds up
getting himself
into one situation
after another.
And so he never
stakes down the roots
that he wanted
to stake down.
And so we have this kind of
myth of Wyatt Earp
as being the guy
who just did it on his own.
He was the cowboy,
that individual...
that was not
what he wanted to be.
Wyatt Earp's quest
for justice has come to an end.
But the legendary lawman
still hasn't made
his final mark on the West.
After returning from exile
in Canada,
Lakota Chief Sitting Bull
has been traveling
across America
with Buffalo Bill Cody's
Wild West Show...
hoping to preserve
what's left of his culture.
But after four months
of touring modern cities in the East,
Sitting Bull
has become disheartened
by what he's seeing
and decides
it's time to go home.
I don't know
how an Indian would have gone East
and gone home
and felt better.
That has to be the most
hopeless feeling in the world,
to know that your land
is now gonna look like that
in about 50 years.
And if you're alive
in 50 years,
that's probably what you're
going to be living in.
But when Sitting Bull
returns to the reservation...
he finds something
unexpected.
A new movement
has taken hold of his people.
A ritual that they believe
could restore the Lakota
to their former way
of life.
It's called
the "Ghost Dance."
The Ghost Dance movement
is something that emerges
in the 1880s.
If you do these rituals,
you can make time
go backwards.
White people
would disappear,
the buffalo
would come back,
and Indian peoples
would be restored
to their former prominence.
It's a very appealing vision.
But as the movement
gains momentum,
government agents fear
it's leading to an uprising.
A lot of the people who are
most active in the ghost towns
are difficult to get to
and so, seemingly,
the reservation
authorities decide,
"Instead we'll
arrest Sitting Bull
because he's close by,
he's in his cabin.
We know where it is."
And they decide to send
a recently created
Lakota police force.
In December of 1890...
the U.S. sends
40 armed guards
to remove Sitting Bull
from his home.
But the chief's followers
are determined
to protect their leader.
Lower your weapon.
I will not go!
The great Lakota chief,
Sitting Bull,
who fought
for over 30 years
to preserve his people's
way of life,
is killed
at the age of 59.
The death of Sitting Bull
was the death
of our culture,
at that moment.
We had faith in one man,
and he's doing everything
he can to keep you alive
and to keep your way
of life alive
and to protect you,
and he dies a violent death
instead of a natural death.
You know,
you've lost your leader
on top of losing everything.
In the wake
of Sitting Bull's death,
many of his followers
flee the reservation
and set up a temporary camp
in South Dakota
at a place
called Wounded Knee.
But the U.S. government
remains fearful
of the possible uprising
and sends the 7th Cavalry
to track them down.
From the U.S. Army's
perspective of hostile
from non-hostile Indian,
is they basically decide,
"Well, anyone
who's off the reservation
is potentially hostile,
and we'll treat them this way."
Just two weeks
after Sitting Bull's murder,
200 more Lakota men,
women and children
are killed by American troops
at Wounded Knee.
It's a very disturbing event.
They begin to throw in
these howitzer shells
into the encampment
at a rate of 50 shots a minute.
It's quite clearly
a disproportionate use of force
against a community
that was not in any way
clearly, um, violent
towards the United States.
Led by General
James W. Forsyth,
the massacre
at Wounded Knee
is the last major attack
by the U.S. government
against the Lakota people.
I think Wounded Knee
was so devastating
that it really did kill
the spirit of a lot of people
because they
were fighting something
that we don't agree with.
And Wounded Knee
was basically the end
of that life.
For decades,
American Indians
have fought to keep their place
in the West.
But now
the Indian population,
once estimated
at over 300,000,
has been cut in half.
Characters like
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse,
they fought to the end.
And, of course,
eventually, the end did come.
I'm honored to be
Sitting Bull's relative.
You know, we're actually
to a point now
where we can survive and thrive,
so we need to do that
in order to honor
our ancestors,
to honor Sitting Bull,
because they didn't want
to lose their way of life.
And we fought and died
to keep our way of life,
and we still have it.
By the end of
the 19th Century,
outlaws like Billy the Kid
and Jesse James
no longer terrorized
the West.
And the war between
the U.S. Army and the Indians
is effectively over.
With the frontier
wide open,
the Government frees up
1.9 million acres
of former Indian territory
in Oklahoma.
And within hours,
50,000 settlers
pour into the land.
It will come to be known
as the "Oklahoma Land Rush."
By 1890, the West has been
settled to the point
where the U.S. Census Bureau
can declare the frontier
officially closed.
In a span
ofjust 25 years,
America has gone from
a country divided by war
to a nation
united by land.
What happened was the West
eventually came to look
more like the East.
Before 1860,
if you went West,
you dropped out of sight,
and people couldn't hear
from you.
All of a sudden,
you could go through
much of the West
in the 1890s,
and you could keep almost
instantaneously in touch
with what was going on
in the East.
And that made all
the difference in the world.
But while the frontier
has been tamed,
there's one place
where the spirit of the West
still lives on.
And cut!
Was that good for you?
That was perfect.
Decades after
escaping Arizona,
Wyatt Earp reemerges
in Hollywood, California,
as a consultant in one of
America's newest industries...
motion pictures.
Wyatt Earp had the advantage
of living
to a ripe old age.
He simply outlived
everybody else.
So, you know what they say,
history belongs
to the victors.
We used to drive cattle
into Dodge City
that would stretch
as far as the eye can see.
Thousands of cattle
coming into town.
Just trample everything
in their path.
By telling stories
about his past,
Wyatt Earp immortalizes
the Old West in film.
Wyatt Earp decides
that if his life
can be made into a film
the way he wants it made,
then the legacy will be the one
that he wants remembered.
And in a lot of ways,
that's exactly what happens.
- First day on the job?
- Yes, sir.
I'm a big admirer
of yours, Mr. Earp.
Earp even inspires
a young production assistant
named Marion Morrison,
who will go on
to become an actor,
taking the stage name
John Wayne.
John Wayne
uses Wyatt Earp
as the model for many
of his Hollywood roles,
creating an iconic image
of the Western hero
and becoming one of the most
prominent western stars
in movie history.
The attachment to westerns
were certainly,
I think, an important part
of this country's evolution,
it's sense of it's identity,
it's sense of freedom.
To this day,
the West is remembered
as an era of violence
and lawlessness
defined by
larger-than-life figures
like Jesse James,
Crazy Horse,
Custer,
Billy the Kid,
Sitting Bull,
and Wyatt Earp.
They were men who took
what they wanted
and fought for
what they believed in.
The outlaws were in some ways
the ultimate individualists.
No one could tell
the outlaws what to do.
A lot of Americans
could imagine,
"Boy, if things
had been different,
I could be as bold
and brave
as daring as Jesse James
or as Billy the Kid."
The Old West engaged
your imagination
in a way nothing else
has ever done.
And it really is
that eternal American figure,
that guy who faces adversity
and comes through it.
The story of the West
is the story
of a country
evolving and growing
through the sheer will
and courage of its people.
I believe that
it is truly American
to strike out in a new life,
in a new existence.
The hardships on those
individuals is amazing.
And despite
all the obstacles,
we've populated a nation
that is now and always has been
one of the great
experiments in history.