The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (1955–1961): Season 2, Episode 18 - The Man Who Rode with Custer - full transcript

♪ Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp ♪

♪ Brave, courageous and bold ♪

♪ Long live his fame and long live his glory ♪

♪ And long may his story be told ♪

The battle of the Little Bighorn

in June 1876 was the worst defeat

ever suffered by the white man

in his long fight with the Indians.

The news of this disaster had repercussions in Dodge City

and other frontier towns.

Custer's better critics were a handful of civilians



who worked for the Indian Bureau.

The hoodlum element had an old score to settle with the Army.

For it was the Army which tried to stop them

from cheating their Indian wards.

Business as usual, Mr. Tom.

Maybe this hick cow town ain't even heard

about the licking Custer took.

Newspapers have been making excuses.

You fellas circulate around. Let's get the truth told our way.

Yes, sir. Come on, men. Let's start with this Long Branch Saloon.

Now I'm sick and tired of hearing all this gossip about what happened

to Custer in Montana.

You men weren't there and you don't know what happened.

Now next time there's rawhiding the soldiers,



I'm gonna close every place below the line.

You understand that? Now pass the word.

Shall I take these brave warriors in for packing guns?

No, because I think they're real anxious

to go after Sitting Bull.

Now your name is Johnson. You're a cheap peddler.

You work for an Indian agent by the name of Tom Ellidge.

Is he in town?

At the Dodge hotel. And you better not be showing...

Ellidge is a swindler and a thief.

I don't want him spreading lies about brave men.

You tell him I said so.

You're messing in something too big for a cow town Marshal.

Mr. Tom make you pull in your horns.

What's behind all this?

There are a lot of Indian agents who don't like the Army.

Captain Benteen chased Ellidge out of two jobs for swindling the Indians.

Tried to get him fired.

So Ellidge wants to get even with the Captain, huh?

Hmm. How do you think he's gonna do that?

Maybe Ellidge will tell me.

You take that on back to the office

and ask the other deputies to start a patrol.

Captain Benteen has been a good friend of ours.

Why don't we run Ellidge out of town?

No, not yet. Johnson's too cocky.

I'll go have a little session with Mr. Ellidge.

With the public sore at the Army over the Custer massacre,

now is the time to hit hard.

I've already got six survivors from Major Reno's command ready to testify.

They're being held outside of town and under guard.

There will be two Indians, Mr. Cousin and Mr. Brother, coming into town.

What makes you think two Indians will come into town

at a time like this?

Because I sent them a message

supposedly from their good friend Wyatt Earp.

Watch the north trails and remember I want 'em alive.

You get double that when you bring 'em in.

Who is it?

Marshal Earp.

Just a moment.

Come in, Marshal.

Mr. Ellidge.

That's right.

I just disarmed some of your men.

They were picking a fight with a couple of soldiers.

Now maybe you can tell me why.

It's only natural, isn't it?

Why?

Sit down.

We resent Custer's failure.

It'll make the work of the Indian Bureau twice as hard.

We warned the Army.

And the Army warned you.

Captain Benteen told me before the 7th moved to Fort Lincoln

that he was gonna file criminal charges against you

for what you did to the Indians.

He said that?

Huh. By the time the court of inquiry gets through with Benteen,

I don't think he'll be in any position to make trouble for me.

I get it now.

Now you get a hold of your men and move out. You understand?

So that's the way you help a friend

in serious trouble?

Captain Benteen?

My men have picked up deserters from Major Reno's command.

And they're ready to charge Benteen and Reno

with disobeying orders, stupidity,

cowardice.

I can break your friend.

Get him kicked out of the Army.

Well, I wouldn't wanna see

my friend get kicked out of the Army.

I usually don't make deals, Mr. Ellidge.

You probably heard that.

But in case somebody else holds the trump card,

you might, eh?

What's your deal?

My men are looking for two Cheyenne.

A Mr. Cousin and Mr. Brother.

Yeah, I know 'em.

They weren't in the fight, but they know Two Moon and Brave Bear.

So?

It's important to have testimony from the Indian side.

Now we can pick up Cousin and Brother,

but getting him to talk is something else again.

Can you help us?

I might if it would help Captain Benteen.

He's small fry.

We're after Sherman and Sheridan.

We're gonna prove to congress that the Army mismanaged the whole campaign.

Now you help us do that

and it'll change things for Benteen.

All right.

When you bring in Mr. Cousin and Mr. Brother, I'll talk to 'em,

but your men should be real gentle.

I don't antagonize witnesses, Mr. Earp.

You be sure of that.

Because for every mark on them, I'm gonna put two marks on you.

I just sent the patrol, Wyatt. Did you talk to Ellidge?

Yeah, just now. He thinks I'm on his side.

That's the way we've gotta play it.

Now you go find Johnson. I wanna talk to him.

- Johnson? - That's right.
- Right away.

Don't let him see you. Just come tell me where he is.

- I'll be over in the office.
- Right.

Thank you, sir. I win again.

Mr. Johnson, I'd like to have a little talk with you alone.

I just had a nice little talk with your boss.

I was wrong about him.

I don't like you. I think you know that.

But as an officer of the law,

I do an awful lot of business with people I don't like.

I found out that Mr. Ellidge is on a special assignment.

Just so happens I agree with his views.

He told me about the soldiers.

About the witnesses.

That's right. Major Reno's battalion.

He told me that you knew where to find them.

That I should ask you.

That means we're all working together?

- That's right.
- Good.

I'll send Mr. Masterson over.

You can give him the information.

Marshal Earp.

Marshal Earp, I'm Mrs. Benteen.

Howdy, ma'am.

Howdy, Captain.

I used to know the Captain.

He's angry because I made him to come to see you.

Where can we talk?

Take the side street to the back door of the jail.

I'll join you there.

Giddyap.

And everyone knows that Fred was the hero of that fight.

He saved Major Reno from being wiped out.

But just because he technically disobeyed an order,

he wants to sulk in his tent and let them court martial him.

Do you think that's sensible on his part?

No, ma'am.

I did disobey the order.

I've got to tell 'em so.

But you saved Reno.

You couldn't have saved General Custer even if you tried to join him.

The court will blame me,

excuse me, ma'am. I've read the papers.

They tell it that Custer attacked 5,000 Indians

with only 600 men.

Isn't that the main reason you got beaten, Captain?

Well, yes.

They were all too brave.

But the public doesn't think about that.

They want some officers to punish.

Reno and me. Not you.

The only one that's after you is that crook Tom Ellidge.

He's with the Indian Bureau.

Fred caught him selling supplies that had been bought for the Cheyenne

- and tried to get him fired.
- Wait.

Let me tell Mr. Earp the rest of it.

Ellidge is supposed to be right here in Dodge City.

Yes, he is here.

I'm glad you both came.

You see, I knew Mr. Earp could help us.

I don't see how.

Well, the Captain's tired, ma'am.

He isn't thinking straight.

That was a real good fight you put up on Reno Hill, sir.

I should have let Reno save himself

and gone down the valley to help Custer.

All right, sir, all right.

Mrs. Benteen, I'll take you on over to the Kansas Hotel.

But I think you oughta register under a different name.

I'm gonna ask the Captain to stay here in my office

for a few hours. Ellidge is busy collecting eyewitnesses.

And I'll be busy recollecting them.

I'd consider it a personal favor of you'd stay...

All right, go ahead. You and the missus.

I guess I saw too many Indians.

You wanna rush 'em?

No, just try and knock 'em off their horse.

Aim carefully. Don't kill 'em.

You're not gonna turn 'em loose so they can ride into Dodge, are you?

They need doctorin'.

They'll squawk to Ellidge.

I can't help that.

We'll get the soldiers. Ellidge can take a hand.

Now get on your horses.

Come on.

All right, now get out of here.

How come you started down this way, Mr. Cousin?

Indian agent says you wanna make talk with us.

I do, but first we gotta pick up some soldiers.

Got any objection to helping the 7th Cavalry?

No. We help.

They are brave men. Good.

Better get started. We still got ten miles to that camp.

Yeah. Go get the rest of the horses.

Wyatt, the campfire is getting pretty close.

All right, let's take 'em on foot.

Tie up the horses over there.

Ellidge said he was holding six soldiers.

He can't have more than half a dozen guards out here.

Go in from four sides.

Take the guards, but don't shoot unless you have to.

All right, let's go.

Hold it! Who are you?

Don't shoot, Mr. Masterson!

Drop those guns.

All right, tie 'em up.

Take their sidearms.

Go pick up that man I wounded by the tree. Bring him in.

All the other guards accounted for?

Yeah, we each got one.

Good. They won't be standing guard over any other camp.

All right, walk these men over there and sit 'em down.

I'm Wyatt Earp, United States Marshal.

Is that so?

Are you Sergeant Malloy?

D troop? Major Reno's battalion?

I'm John Smith.

He's Joe Smith.

We're all named Smith.

You're a bunch of stragglers.

You could be charged with desertion.

But that's gonna be up to Captain Benteen.

Captain Benteen of H Troop?

He's dead.

No, he isn't.

Are you sure?

Yep.

Well, that bullet-eating old buzzard.

Benteen made it.

Last time we saw him he was on a hill

yelling orders at Major Reno.

Where were you men?

We wasn't running, mister.

About 1,000 Sioux had us pinned down in the bushes by the river.

Show 'em what they gave us to fight with.

Watch it!

It's not loaded.

An old Springfield.

Even the cartridge extractor is busted.

You got a good Winchester .500 of them and it might have been different.

Yeah.

Yeah, maybe it might have been.

But I haven't got time to refight the battle with you, Sergeant.

I just wanna know why you made a deal with a crook like Ellidge.

And we knew it was the worst messed up battle

any soldier's ever had to try and live through.

So when crazy horse and 5,000 Indians

made their march past the hill,

what was the use of staying?

We were whipped to a frazzle.

So you retreated south, huh?

I'm tired of lying, Mister. We ran south.

The fight was over and none of us knew what to do about it.

Had did Ellidge find you?

You won't believe this, but we just run on to him on the trail in Nebraska.

He was out hunting for troopers like us.

So he offered you money and political influence

so you wouldn't be charged with desertion, huh?

What were you supposed to do in return?

Well...

You better tell me, Sergeant.

We were supposed to swear on oath, blame it all on the officers.

Especially Captain Benteen.

Well, yes, sir.

How do you feel about that now, Sergeant?

Like a skunk.

Captain Benteen was the best officer on the field.

He's probably got the soldiers, too.

Rockin' fool Johnson.

Have the rest of my traitors come in yet?

About 20 of them, Mr. Tom.

Stay here. I'll round 'em up myself.

Ellidge is waiting for the Indian Bureau commissioner,

but I've got all the witnesses he was gonna use against you.

Technically, Sergeant Malloy and his men are deserters,

but the truth is Ellidge was holding them against their will

and was trying to bribe them into lying about you.

It's up to you now, Captain.

Fred.

Yes, my dear?

All you have to do is take those men to Fort Dodge.

They'll tell the truth... don't you see?

Reno's men.

I can imagine what they'll say.

Mr. Earp, you're his friend, a wonderful friend.

Can't you... excuse me.

Sergeant Malloy, come on in. Will you please?

Sergeant Malloy, D Troop, sir.

I'm glad to see you alive, Captain.

If it hadn't been for you, the rest of the boys and me wouldn't have made it.

I disobeyed an order, Sergeant.

Well, who didn't, sir, with 5,000 Sioux and Cheyenne overrunning us?

What was the order?

Mr. Cousin.

Captain Benteen, this is my friend Mr. Cousin.

He talked to several chiefs after the fight.

Mr. Cousin, did Two Moon or Brave Bear think there was any way

of reinforcing General Custer?

No, the Sioux would have killed all soldiers crossing valley.

They had General Custer surrounded.

He's right, Captain.

The white soldier brave and proud.

Indian proud also.

But in war, no chief take blame for defeat.

All Indian people take blame.

We're all to blame, Captain.

Yes, all of us. Cheap politicians scattering the Army

in dozens of little Forts, bad food, poor guns...

Now now.

- Sergeant Malloy.
- Yes, sir.

You and your men report to me at the earliest possible date.

Thank you very much, sir.

We will ride to Fort Dodge.

I've already filed my report,

but you and your men will be asked to make written statements.

If you're required to mention me,

I shall expect you to refer to me as a bad-tempered old buzzard.

- Is that understood?
- Yes, sir.

You checking the arsenal, Wyatt?

You're forgetting Mr. Ellidge. He can't afford to let Malloy get to the Fort.

You think he'll try to stop us?

One of my deputies says he left Dodge

with a bunch of white traitors. You know what that means.

Not more fighting.

This may be the last battle, ma'am.

I think one of the main reasons we take such a licking is that

we spend too much time fighting among ourselves.

Ellidge had his men are in there.

I think they see you. Expect you to go after him.

Well, Captain, what do you think?

I can't take soldiers into a fight with civilians.

But if a fight starts,

we can always ride to the rescue.

All right, we'll start it and you can rescue us.

When the shooting starts, we'll come in from the right and the left.

Fine.

What about Benteen and the soldiers?

They'll all come in, Mr. Tom.

And they'll all get what Custer got.

We can't hold out here.

Are you sure the Captain's men ain't gun-shy?

I don't know.

- Can we shoot?
- No, wait.

Now?

Now.

Charge!

Stop running and keep firing.

Good old Winchester.

That's Ellidge, ain't it?

Halt! Surrender! Drop your weapons!

Bring 'em down here, men.

Sergeant Malloy. Yes, sir.

Didn't I see you and Mike shooting at two horsemen on the Ridge?

Yes, sir. Where are they now?

They're casualties, sir.

Man by the name of Ellidge and a pal of his.

- Wounded?
- Dead, sir.

Well, I wonder how the government will take the news.

Well, bring in the bodies.

We'll take care of that, Captain.

Mr. Masterson and I killed Ellidge in the line of duty.

I fired the fatal shot, sir.

Thank you. Prepare to mount.

Tell Mrs. Benteen that we'll probably be put under arrest

- at the Fort.
- I don't think so, Captain.

If anybody comes out of that court of inquiry with honor,

you'll be the man.

You deserve a better friend, Wyatt.

Troop, forward!

♪ Well, he cleaned up the country ♪

♪ The old Wild West country ♪

♪ He made law and order prevail ♪

♪ And none can deny it ♪

♪ The legend of Wyatt ♪

♪ Forever will live on the trail ♪

♪ Oh, Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp ♪

♪ Brave, courageous and bold ♪

♪ Long live his fame and long live his glory ♪

♪ And long may his story be told ♪

♪ Long may his story ♪

♪ Be told ♪