All language subtitles for The.Good.Lord.Bird.S01E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[wind whistling]

[bell tolling]

bluegrass music

[Henry] Most folks
never heard of John Brown.

If they have, all they know

is he was hung
for being a traitor

and stirring up
all kinds of trouble

and starting the Civil War.

Some Black folks love him,

'cause they think
trouble needed to be stirred.

But some Black folks hate him
for thinking

he was some sort of
bullshit white savior.

Me?
I knew him.

I loved the man.

The day he was hung

there was only one
silver lining:

I could finally stop
wearing that dress.

- upbeat gospel music
-What a beautiful country.

Hallelujah

Come on, children,
let's sing about the goodness

- Of the Lord
- My Lord

Come on children,
let's shout

All about God's rich reward

Guide our footsteps
every day

Keeps us in the narrow way

Come on, children,
let's sing

About the goodness
of the Lord

Yeah, come on, children,
let's sing

About the goodness
of the Lord, my Lord

Come on, children,
let's shout

All about God's rich reward

Guide our footsteps
every day

Keeps us in the narrow way

Come on, children,
let's sing

Come on, children,
let's shout

How the Lord Almighty
has brought us out

There's none like him,
without a doubt

Come on, children,
let's sing

About the goodness

Of the Lord

- somber banjo music
-[Henry] I met the Old Man

two years earlier,
in Bleeding, Kansas.

This was before I fell in love
with a prostitute,

got drunk
with Frederick Douglass,

before we damn near
started the Civil War.

Least, that's how
I remembers it.

My pa was a barber by trade

without full satisfaction.

So he preached the gospel
and offered hot shaves

and trims
at Dutch Henry's Tavern.

Dutch's served
as a post office,

-way station, rumor mill...
-[flies buzzing]

and gin house
for the Missouri Red Shirts

who came across the Kansas
border to drink and throw cards

and holler to the moon about
niggers taking over the world

and the white man's
constitutional rights

being throwed in the shitter.

[John] [Irish accent] Tell me,
friend, are you a Bible man?

Well, boss, I surely is.

Know all kinds of Bible verses.

Ah, wonderful.

Tell me, which books
of the Bible do you favor?

Oh, I favors them all,
but mostly I like...

[grunts]

...Hezekiel.

Ahab, Trotter

and Pontiff the Emperor.

Now, I don't recollect that
I know those, and I've read

the Bible through
and through.

Well, I-I don't
knows them exact.

Whatever verses you know,
stranger,

I-I'd be pleased to hear 'em.

Well, here's one
for you.

"The Lord puts forth His hand

and touches all evil

and kills it."

Oh, that warms my soul.
Give me more.

"Put a Christian in
the presence of sin and he will

-leap at its throat."
-Come on, stranger.

Yeah, "Free the slave
from the tyranny of sin."

-Preach it.
-"Scatter the sinners

as stubble so that the slave
shall forever be free."

[Pa] Yes, sir. I feel
like I done meet the Lord.

[man whistling Beethoven's
"Fifth Symphony"]

[whistling continues]

You look familiar.

What's your name?

[John]
Shubel Morgan.

[Dutch] What you doing
around these parts?

[John]
Just looking for work.

Well, I got some wood out back.

Needs chopping.

Give you 50 cents to chop,
half a day.

[man whistles]

-Mm, no thanks.
-Mm, 75 cents?

[whoops]
Nah.

-[Dutch] No.
-[John] Mm-mm.

[Dutch]
No, well, how about

a dollar, then? Dollar.

That's a lot of money.

I can't.

I am sharing the holy word
with a brother Christian.

Why don't you mind
your marbles,

friend,

and saw
your own wood?

Lest the Lord see you
as a fat sow

and a laggard. Mm?

-Mm.
-Mm-hmm.

[people murmuring]

[Dutch]
Only a white-livered,

tit-squeezing Yankee

would talk like that.

[gun clicks]

Get down off that chair.

Fetch the Bible.

[grumbles]

I'm going to make you swear
on this Bible,

that you is for slavery
and the U.S. Constitution.

If you do that, you can walk
out of here none the worse.

If you is a lying,
blue-bellied free stater,

I'm gonna bust you across the
head so hard with this pistol,

yellow will come
out of your ears.

Now...

put your hand on that.

What is your name?

Shubel... Isaac.

I thought you said your name
was Shubel Morgan.

-Isaac's me middle name.
-Mm-hmm.

-How many names you got?
-How many do I need?

Why, Dutch, that looks
like Old John Brown.

[James]
Shit, Dutch.

I believe that is John Brown.

-Is that true?
-Is what true?

Is you Old Man Brown?

Did I say that I was?

So you ain't him?

I am the child of my Maker.

[Dutch]
Will you stop shitting around,

you goddamn
potato head?

Old Man Brown.
Is you him or not?

[regular accent]
You bite your tongue

when you swear
about our Maker,

lest by the power
of His Holy Grace,

I be commanded to deliver

holy redemption on His behalf.

And that pistol
you're holding

-won't be worth a cent.
-Cut the jitter--

For the Lord
will lift it...

-Oh, Jesus Christ.
-...out of your hand!

Cut the jitter!

Tell me your name,
goddamn it!

[John]
Don't swear

-God's name again!
-I will swear

His cock-dragging name
whenever I goddamn please!

And then I will shove it down
your shit-eating Yankee throat,

you goddamn nigger
turned inside out!

[shouts]

[screams]

Oh, shit...
[groans]

Oh, son of a...
[groaning]

Oh, shit...

My name

is Osawatomie John Brown,

captain of
the Pottawatomie Rifles,

and I am here
with the Lord's blessing

to free

every colored person
in this territory, and any man

that stands
against me will eat

lead grape and powder!

[Pa]
Lordy, Lordy.

[John] I will take you and your
octoroon daughter to freedom

in the name of the King of Zion.

-Massa, my Henry ain't a...
-[Henry] Everybody in Dutch's

knowed I was a boy.

My name is Henry Shackleford.

But the Old Man heard Pa say,

"Henry ain't a" and took it
for "Henrietta."

Whatever he believed,
he believed.

It didn't matter
if it was true or not.

He was a real white man.

I will take you and y-your
Henrietta to safety.

[Pa]
But my child here ain't--

We can discuss raising her--

Oh...

dramatic music

Go!

Oh, you nigger thief!
You owe me $1,200!

Charge it to the Lord, heathen!

[John] I reckon you're not
feeling very righteous

about what just transpired,

seeing as you lost
all the family you had,

and whatever family
you may have left,

you're probably
never gonna see again.

But I know that feeling well.

I know that feeling well.
I've lost many family.

I lost my first wife.

I lost my mother
when I was younger than you.

Come on, now.

I lost my father,
I lost Jesus, of course.

I had a pet squirrel
for 17 years and she died.

But I have a token for you.

A little gift to show
my appreciation

and a gift for your freedom.

And as a welcome
to the Lord's family.

Course, as you are a girl,

we're gonna have to get rid
of you as soon as possible.

[Henry] That onion looked worse
than dry mule shit.

But being that he was white
and I was his prisoner

and hungry from the long ride,
I bit into the foulness

and it went down my gullet
like a stone.

Mm, that's Father's good luck
charm you just swallowed.

I had that onion for 14 months
and nare a bullet nor a knife

scraped nor touched my flesh.

I reckon the Lord must mean
for you not to have it.

-I don't, I--
-[Salmon] "Those who cling

to worthless objects
turn away from God."

That's true. That's good.

That's-that's good, boys.
That's Proverbs.

Even a godly man like myself
has a pocketful of sins.

[grunts]

One of them freed ponies
is lame.

Want to put her in the pot?

But you, my little
onion-eating girl,

chewed up my sins like
Jesus Christ of Nazareth

devoured the sins of the world.

Let's call her
Little Onion, then.

Yes.
[chuckles]

Yes.
[laughs]

Let that be
a lesson to me, boys.

Putting idle objects between me
and the great King of Kings!

Mmm. I have
more for you.

Take this.

Took this off a soldier,
and he'd want you to have it.

Take-take this,
that's my old journal. Uh...

Where is it? Where'd it go?

Boys.

This is a feather
of a Good Lord bird.

-Now, that's special.
-Yeah.

And it doesn't bother me,
giving you my special thing.

Owen, what's Isaiah say
about that?

He says, um, uh...

[Owen]
Isaiah says, "Look before

you leap,
lest thou slip in shit."

[John] It's all right
to stretch the word

of the Lord sometimes,
but-but not too much,

else it becomes
full-out devilment!

Yeah, despite you stretching it
something fierce.

Well, as gunfighters
of the gospel,

we are allowed
a few indulgences.

But we-we ought not
to take advantage. Here.

[Ottawa]
What's to be done with the pony?

What? Oh!

Did you hear that?

Oh, Great Haymaker...

Pray with me.

What's your name?

-I call her Little Onion.
-Yeah, little girl's pa

got killed right in front
of her at Dutch Henry's.

Gah, I should've
shot him!

-Yeah, you should've.
-Doesn't Proverbs also say

the wicked are swift
to shed blood?

[mutters]

Is that Proverbs?

-John, is that--
-[shouts, crying]

[fly buzzing]

[horse neighs]

Oh, no, no, no, no.
Uh... uh... no, I know.

I know, I know.
Ellen's dress. Ellen.

I, uh-- my daughter Ellen
is turning 13, huh?

We-we had a dress, I'm sure
she'd want you to have it.

Pa, that-that's two dollars,
store-bought.

-Would you stop it?
-Mother's not gonna like that.

I am sure that she would love
for a pretty girl like you

to have her dress on the day
of your freedom.

-T-Thank you, massa.
-No...

He's not a master to you, Onion.

Y-You're just as free
as the birds fly.

You don't have to thank me,
you just thank God himself.

You go yonder.
Try on that dress. It's yours.

[John]
Frederick,

teach Little Onion here
how to ride.

There's a war on.

And roust up some game
while you're at it.

We need something
in that pot.

energetic music

[Onion]
I near choked calling myself

a member
of the opposite nature.

[Frederick]
I love cottonwood trees.

But lying come natural to all
Negroes during slave time.

But no man or woman in bondage
ever prospered

stating their true thoughts
to the boss.

Much of colored life
was an act.

And the Negroes that did
what they was told and kept

their mouth shut
lived the longest.

You did good.

[Onion]
Fact is, after a while,

the thought of going back
to Dutch's

and being sold down the river
to New Orleans,

grew less sweet.

Have you bled yet?

-Onion?
-No.

[Onion] There were certain
advantages to being a girl.

Like the fellas figuring
you're tired when you're not.

Not having to lift
nothing heavy.

Not having to carry a pistol
or a rifle.

And just a general niceness
in the way folks were to you.

Hold it.

I come to enjoy those days
in the Old Man's army.

Especially with Fred.

Let's throw him back in,
try to catch him again.

Why?

He was more child than man,

but as good a friend a fella--

or a girl-- could want.

[bird calling]

You ever seen one of them?

That there is a Good Lord bird.

Now I can catch or trap

just about any kind
of bird there is, but...

[exhales]
that-that one's an angel.

They-they say one feather

from a Good Lord bird
will bring you

understanding that'll
last your whole life.

uplifting music

U-Understanding's what I lack,

Little Onion.

W-Where'd you get that?

Ain't allowed to say,
but it's yours.

Any food?

[Onion]
John Brown's fearsome army

weren't nothing
but a ragtag assortment

of the scrawniest,

saddest-looking individuals
I ever saw.

Bushwhackers,
sticky-rope cattle rustlers,

an Indian... and even a Jew.

You roust any provisions?

None to speak of.

Got a lot of these, though.

[horse neighs]

Owen? Owen?

[Onion] I didn't know what
Reverend Martin did to make

those folks so scared of him,

but in five minutes I knew
he weren't no reverend.

Lord...

we thank you
for this bountiful meal...

[Onion]
The Old Man was a plain terror

in the praying department.

They were always long-winded
and could easily last an hour.

Ask your blessing
on my boys, Salmon and Jason,

with their nocturnal struggles.

I know Jason's sap
of manhood is rising.

Oh, Lord,
be with my wife tonight.

Be with all our wives...

[Onion] Just when he seemed
to wrap up one thought...

It's hard not to think of Jonah

-inside the whale...
-...another come tumbling out

and crashed up
against the first.

Forgive the writers
of the Constitution...

Pa! Testing the Good Lord's
patience is a sin!

Even He's got
other prayers to hear!

Lord, I'm sure you are familiar

with the impatience of children.
Perhaps, you're even partial

to their recklessness
and youth, so we thank you

for your understanding.
In Jesus' name we pray.

-Amen.
-[others] Amen.

[Martin] Every time I ride
out of here, there's a new face

rooting around
this camp.

Who's that there?

That there's Onion.

Well, where'd she come from?

Stolen from Dutch Henry hisself.

So, you mean to tell me out
of all the troublemakers

in this country, you went and
picked a fight with Dutch Henry?

I didn't pick a fight.

I was scouting.

Well, you just scouted trouble.

I wouldn't pick a fight
with Dutch Henry

over a box
of crackers.

Pottawatomie Rifles ride
for redemption, not crackers.

John, maybe you should tell

the good reverend
what Jesus would say.

You don't have to teach me
the fucking Bible!

Dutch has got a mess
of Missouri Red Shirts

around his place
and you just

gave him a good reason
to set them all loose.

That is Dutch's nigger,

bought and paid for!

And he will not forget
that kind of wrong.

Dutch Henry is my enemy,
as are all his consorts.

We ride east where the harlot
of slavery sleeps.

You fools want to ride against
Dutch, you go right ahead.

But nobody tells me
which way to ride,

and especially over
no nappy-headed,

bird-gobbling nigger!

You say another word about
my friend Onion here,

I will bust a charge
in your chest!

-Frederick, Frederick...
-Put it down.

Frederick!

Put it down.

-Frederick?
-Fred,

-it's okay.
-Easy.

-Frederick?
-Freddy, easy.

It's okay.

-It's okay, son.
-Fred?

Easy. Easy.

You know what?

I think we're done here.

[Onion]
The Old Man made a big mistake

letting the reverend go
that day.

It would cost him dear
down the line.

Cost him a son.

upbeat piano music

I'm a soldier
of the cross...

The Old Man was furious
with himself.

The more he considered
my pa's death,

the more he felt he owed it
to me to kill old Dutch.

I gave my victory...

[John]
You see that house?

In that clearing there?

Our work is here.

[Onion]
From what I gathered,

the plan was to find Dutch's,

and have him meet his Maker...

Ever since I've been...

...Old Testament style.

Soldier

Jesus Christ has been

In command

I'm gonna keep on
working for Jesus

Ooh...

Who's there?

[John]
We're lost.

Looking for Dutch.

Keep going east,
this ain't it.

We are
the Pottawatomie Rifles!

Come here to free
the enslaved people

of this territory under the
laws of our Redeemer, the Lord

Jesus Christ, who spilled
His blood for you and me.

Where's Dutch Henry?

Dutch Henry
don't live here.

I know that.
You related to him?

[Doyle]
No, none of us here is.

[John]
Oh, are you for slavery

or are you against
the infernal institution?

Didn't I see you there
at Dutch's place?

Dutch's place is down the road
a piece, don't you remember?

[John] I don't recollect every
step that I take in performing

the duties that
the Almighty asks of me.

But I do recollect
you being one of the ruffians

-that tried to blast me--
-But I ain't Dutch!

Dutch's place
is east of here.

And a heathen's haven it is.

I'm gonna ask you one more time.

Are you for slavery
or against it?

You're not gonna find
one slave in this place.

Nare a one.

That's too bad.

It's a big homestead.

Must take
a lot of work.

Where you from?

Fort Smith,
Arkansas.

It's a long way from here.

They pay you to settle here?

Vote the way they say?

Hardly enough,
but it's all right.

A good amount of land,
I vote twice a year.

For slavery?

Well, it's however
they cast it.

Captain, you got to
understand my situation.

I got more plowing than me
and my boys could ever handle.

I'd be sure
happy to have

a couple quality
niggers around here.

I don't like that word.

That word's poison.

-What word?
-I have come

to deliver
His Holy Redeemer's

justice,
free His people

and exact

His revenge for
the murder, rape

and kidnapping of the Negro
by slavers,

those like yourself--

all those involved!

There are
no exceptions!

I'm just a farmer trying to
make a dollar change pockets.

Hey, I know you.

I'm talking now.

I will ask you

for a final time.

Are you for or
against slavery?!

[Doyle] I'll say anything
you want to hear!

Make up your mind.

I can't think straight

with that pig-sticker
under my chin.

Owen!

[woman] I told you, Doyle!
This is what you get

for running around with them

-damn Red Shirts.
-Hush, Mother!

-He's a good boy!
-"Take thine ax

and split your own hand
with it."

Ecclesiastes 12 or...

thereabouts.

-[woman] What's that mean?!
-[Doyle shouting]

No! Please!
Please, no!

[John]
It means he's coming with me.

-[woman] No, please.
-John Jr.,

-this one's yours.
-[man] Don't-don't touch me.

[John]
Time to do your part, boys.

-[woman] No, please, not him!
-[man] Mama! No, don't take me!

-What are you doing?
-[woman] Don't take him!

[man]
Get your hand off of me!

[Doyle]
It's just talk!

I didn't mean nothing by it!
You know me!

Tell him I'm okay!
Tell him I'm okay.

I never done you
nor your daddy no wrong!

Captain, I'm just
a man with a family

trying to make a living slinging
wheat and growing butter beans.

Is that what you said
to Lew Shavers

and those two Yankee women

-you ravaged in Lawrence?
-Wait,

that wasn't me!
Just those I knowed!

You were there.

Well, I was in Lawrence,

but it weren't me
done them awful things.

-It was them others!
-Get down on your knees.

-No, no, no...
-This isn't Dutch Henry.

-He admits to consorting
with slavers.
-We don't know

-he's guilty of anything.
-If someone

came into our home
and stole one of your sisters,

two of your brothers,
your mother,

your grandmother,
chained them, raped them,

forced them to work
with no pay,

only enough food
to keep them alive,

and I met that thief,

I would stab him

through his eye socket
the second I saw him.

I would kill his friends
and anyone

who laughed at his jokes.

And it wouldn't be murder,

-it would be justice.
-[Doyle] God, please! No!

[John]
Is the Negro our brother?

Is Little Onion our sister?

If this man walked

into our home
and stole your sister Anne,

would you kill?

-Yes, sir.
-In the eyes

of our Maker,
is Onion here your sister?

Yes, sir.

[John]
Do we aim to start a war?

Yes, sir.

So I don't care

if this heathen's name is Dutch

or Jim

or Satan himself.

We are at war with slavery!

And just as Christ
once armed Peter,

so the Lord, our God
has put these swords

in our arms.

Gird your loins, Onion.

This is for you

-and your people.
-No, please don't.

[heavy breathing]

Wake up, sleeper!

Arise from the dead

and Christ's light
will shine on you!

[screaming, shouting]

-[blade squishing]
-[body thuds]

pulsing, dramatic music

[screaming]

[Onion] I'd never seen a person
get they head chopped off.

Onion?!

-Wish I never had.
-[horse neighs]

Don't know why the Old Man
would say that's for me.

There weren't going to be
another chance.

I jumped on
the Old Man's pinto,

worked it as fast
as it would go.

I run that pony so hard,
she threw me soon as she could.

Then I run myself past even
when my legs gived out.

Being colored and running alone
with no papers through Kansas

was about as safe as a rope
swing over a lake of fire.

So I ran.

When I was tired of running...

I hid.

I left them all behind.

I was gone.

[horses approaching]

[indistinct chatter]

Whoa!

All right.

Easy, girl.

Fetch me a rope!

A piece on his leg
ought to be good.

Damn it, Kelly, I told you
I ain't no free stater!

Well... I got a paper here

that says you's
a liar and a thief!

Signed by the judge.

Well, I don't care
if it's signed

by Jesus H. Christ hisself.

I ain't scratching
my name to nothing

till I know what it says!

[Kelly] All right then,
go ahead and read it.

[Pardee] You read it then-- my
eyes ain't what they used to be!

Well, you ain't got
to follow it to the dot.

-Then you read it.
-Damn it,

Pardee, I'm trying
to give you a break

so you can hang legal-like.

Now sign it!

You lying cockroach.

You just trying
to jump my claim.

Is that true?

Course not!

He been aiming on my land
since we got here.

That is--

All right.

All right!

I tell y'all what!

-We'll let Nigger Bob read it.
-[groans]

How about that? All right?
And whatever he reads off,

that's what we gonna do,
you're gonna sign it.

-And we'll be done with you.
-Hell.

All right,
read it, Bob.

Me and this mule
and this wagon

belong to Mr. Charles
Buckley Swain.

Ain't my job to do
your reading for you.

[Kelly] What? Boy,
if you was my nigger--

If I was your nigger, I wouldn't
be your nigger for long.

[laughter]

Shh!

What the hell you think
you mean by that, huh?

I already in trouble.
You making me tote that--

Y'all gonna hang me or not?
I got chores.

Come on, Kelly.

We don't need
trouble with Swain.

All right,
I tell you what.

We'll vote on it.

How about that, all right?

All those in favor of hanging
Pardee, raise your hand.

I ain't sitting
here watching you

fiddle your noodle
one minute more.

-I ain't fiddlin' nothing--
-John Brown

is in them woods!

And I aim to find him!
Hyah!

-Come on, boys, we gonna
hang them free staters!
-Come on, boys, let's go!

We-we got legal right here!
We got precedent!

Come back here, boy!
Come back here!

Goddamn!

[Pardee]
Kelly. Kelly!

Come on, least you could do
is give me back my pistol.

I ought to kick your teeth in,
saying you could read

that land title
we signed together.

Hold up, fellas!

Come on, wait up now!

[shouts]

Ah.

Drive me home.

Me, this mule,

this wagon belong to
Mr. Charles Buckley Swain.

Yeah, I live on the way
to Mr. Swain's place.

I ain't riding you nowhere.

Get down out that wagon.

[grunts]

If I gotta walk home,

then you gotta walk home, too,
you Black bastard.

I-I can help you fix that

if you take me
up the road a piece.

What you doing out here,
little girl?

It ain't what it looks like.

I'm just trying
to get to Dutch Henry's.

I wouldn't ride to Dutch's
for $20.

-They'll kill a nigger there.
-He won't bother you.

He's after Old John Brown.

What you know
about John Brown?

He kidnapped me.

Made me wear this dress.

What would John Brown want
with you anyhow?

He need an extra girl
to work his kitchen?

-I ain't a girl. Want me
to show you my privates?
-Whoa! [stammers]

I wouldn't want to see
your privates any more than

stick my face
in Dutch Henry's Tavern.

What you got there,
the cotter pin?

Let me see that.

If you're telling the truth,

was John Brown gonna
run you north?

I don't know.

He's a murderer.

And Dutch ain't?

He's riding on Brown now.

He's got every Red Shirt
in miles

roaming these plains
looking for him.

You can't go back
to Dutch nohow.

Why not?

You go back to Dutch Henry,

he'll sell your ass south
and get his money for you

while he can.

Any nigger that's had
a sip of freedom

ain't worth squat
to a white man.

A high yellow boy like you'd
fetch a good price

in New Orleans.

If I help you find him, you
think he'd lead me to freedom?

He aims to free every colored
in this territory.

I heard him say it
a hundred times.

I don't know nothin' about
no John Brown. Scatter.

Posses from here to Lawrence say
he knocked the heads off

ten white men... with a sword.

Any nigger mentions his name

get shipped out of here
in pieces.

Now, you get away from me.

That's a hell of a way
to treat your third cousin.

-Fourth.
-Third cousin.

My Aunt Stella
and your Uncle Beale

shared a second cousin, Melly.

Jamie's daughter.

[Herbert]
Uncle Beale's nephew

-from his mom's sister Stella?
-Stella was

my cousin Melly's second cousin,

-making Stella your third.
-No, no.

That put my Uncle Jim
back behind

my uncles Lucas and Fergus,

but before my uncles
Lucas and Kurt.

[Bob]
Perzactly.

That makes Uncle Beale and
Aunt Stella first cousins,

which makes you and me
third cousins.

So I'm asking, why you treatin'
your third cousin this way?

I don't give a damn
if you was Jesus Christ

and my son put together,

I don't know nothin' about
no John Brown.

Especially in front of her.

She don't look like she
no kin to him at all.

I didn't say she was kin.
This here girl belong

to John Brown,
and he's looking for her.

If I didn't know better,

I'd say she's kin
to old Gus Shackleford,

whose flame got snuffed out
for talking to John Brown.

Now, Gus had a boy-- Henry.

Trifling little shit,
lazy as hell.

Stop wastin' time!

You know where
the Old Man is or not?

Well, Bob...
[chuckles]

a jar of peaches go far
this time of year.

I ain't got no peaches, Herbert.

I'll tell you this.

This here girl belong
to John Brown,

and you pushing the waters back,

he's liable to ride down here
and put his broadsword

on your neck.

Ride round the cabin, move
straight back into the woods.

You'll see a big tree.

You'll find an old
whiskey bottle stuck between

the low branches of that tree.

And make some noise
when ya get close.

Old Man's got lookouts.

They'll pull the trigger
and tell the hammer to hurry.

Thank you, cousin.

slow music

[Onion] Bob was the bravest
coward I ever met.

But even he got
second thoughts about

joining up with the Old Man.

Little brother,
I got to cut you loose.

I'd like to go, but my hands
is starting to shake.

Old John Brown has chopped off
heads and eyeballs and all.

He ain't gonna be
breathing much longer.

I got a wife and two boys
I hope to see again.

Wait. Can't I come with you?

You are a storm cloud coming.

I like you, Henry, but I don't
like nobody that much.

[gun clicks]

Where's Pa's horse?

[Onion]
The Old Man greeted me

like I'd just got back
from taking a piss.

Mmm. Welcome, Little Onion.
You hungry?

[Onion] He didn't care much
for the details

of his volunteer army.

Men came and went
as they pleased.

Weren't no taking attendance.

The abolitionist army was
a come one, come all outfit.

Captain, I got scared and run.

And I took your horse.

Well, you're not the only one
who got scared.

There's lots around here
that are shy

about putting God's philosophy
into action.

-Frederick?
-Hmm?

What's Psalm 72?

Uh...

You know this one.

Help him out, Owen.

[Salmon]
"He shall defend the poor,

save the children
of the needy

and break into pieces
the oppressor."

Defend the poor,
save the children.

That's all you need to know.

All right. Let's give our,
give thanks for this food.

Everyone, let's say
a blessing here.

Dear Lord, we thank you
for this beautiful animal--

Let me do
the praying tonight, Pa.

[John]
All right.

O Lord, we give thanks.

-Now let's eat.
-Amen!

-[whistling]
-[others] Amen.

-Captain.
-[John] What is it?

I missed you, Little Onion.

[Salmon]
Jason ran off, too.

Couldn't find him.

John Jr. went looking;
now he's gone, too.

Where you think they gone?

[John]
All right.

-[clapping]
-Good news, boys.

My old enemy Captain Pate
has Jason and John.

All right? Got him on
the Santa Fe Trail with a posse.

They're headed to Leavenworth
for imprisonment.

Oh, that's the good news?

[John] The good news is that
we're gonna stop them.

And how big's his army?

Somewhere between
50 and 200 men.

[John]
Hmm.

[Owen] No, we're only
outnumbered three to one,

or eight to one.

Well, you've always been
good at math. Thank you, son.

I say we ride all night and
surprise them in the morning.

Hmm? Let's pray.
Come, come, come.

No, if we have to do it tonight,
let's do it and ride.

Why is it always just as
I'm about to get to the balance

of my thanks with my Savior,
I get interrupted by you?

Jason and John,
they don't have time

for three hours
of your praying.

We can pray while we ride.

upbeat music

[Onion] We rode due north
to meet Captain Pate

and his militia,
of either 50 or 200.

I was full-blown back
in the Old Man's army

and in the business
of being a girl...

again.

But like most things
the Old Man planned out,

the attack against
Captain Pate's Sharpshooters

didn't work out the way
he drawed it up.

We rode out middle summer
and by the end,

we still hadn't found him.

[John] George!
We got some friends here.

This is Esther,
Rose and Abraham.

Frederick, we have
some friends here.

Let's make 'em feel welcome.

-I know that wagon.
-[John] Thank you.

Frederick?

I got to go.

I see you still carrying on
the sissy show.

Thought you says you wasn't
gonna join the captain's army.

I come to live large like you.

So you gonna ride with us?

Not hardly. Captain said
he had but a few things to do,

and then we is
riding to freedom.

He is riding against
Captain Pate's Sharpshooters.

Why would he do that?

Pate's got his sons
John Jr. and Jason.

-When he's riding on Pate?
-The second he finds him.

Count me out of that.
There's 200 in Pate's army.

Pate's got so many Red Shirts,

you'd think he was selling
Calpurnia's flapjacks.

I thought Brown was working
the freedom train north.

Ain't that
what you said?

-No. No, I didn't.
-Yes, you did.

What other surprises you got
round here? What's his plan?

I ain't gonna ask him
them kind of things.

You angling on freedom?

I'm learning to read the Bible
and work a pistol.

-Guess I kind of am free.
-Free to get shot.

I ain't come here
to read no man's Bible

and fight somebody's slavery.

I aim to get out
from under it myself.

My wife and children
is still in bondage.

Why ain't you ask him
when you joined up?

There weren't no asking.

He done pulled a pistol
in massa's face.

Said, "I'm taking your wagon
and freeing your coloreds."

He didn't ask me
if I wanted to be free.

Free and dead is not my plan.

I gone from the frying pan
to the fire.

Whose horses are those?

[Onion] The Old Man's always
got stolen horses around.

I wouldn't snatch
a horse from them.

Ask him. He might give you one.

Shit, he ain't gonna live long,
child. He's crazy.

Calling the coloreds in the
wagon "mister" and so forth.

He does that all the time.

They will kill him
for being so dumb.

He ain't
in his right mind.

[Onion]
Bob had a point.

The Old Man weren't normal.

Do you have a fire in your heart
for justice?

[Onion] All I'm saying,
if you steal

from the Old Man, I don't
want to know about it.

Just be quiet about me,
and I'll be quiet about you...

little girl.

slow music

[birds chirping]

[John shouting in distance]

He's got Jason and John!

He's got Jason and John
in shackles!

Mount up to Black Jack!

Onward, Christians!
Come on, Frederick!

We found them, boys!
We found them! Captain Pate!

He's got Jason and John
in shackles!

In shackles, Salmon! Wake up!

Mount up, boys!

On to Black Jack!

-Help Little Onion get ready.
-Let's go!

Morning, Robert.

I see you're up early,

anxious to strike a blow
for your own freedom.

Sir, I-I got no knowledge
of how to use such things.

Oh, all right then.
This is what you need.

Aim high, strike hard.

It's the only knowledge
you need, Christian.

Onward!
Glorious redemption!

Onion, wake up!

Proud of you, Bob.

upbeat music

[Onion] As we drawed closer
to Black Jack,

the Old Man's herd
thinned out like it did

almost every time
we had a real and true fight.

Come on, boys. Come on.

Oh...
[shushes]

No talking. No talking.

That's Captain Pate, all right,

tucked in right smart
in the tree line.

What's the plan?

Flank or nighttime attack?

I need to seek the counsel
of our personal Savior,

regarding approach.

No, you're right.

I'll talk to His Father.
Straight to the source.

[Shore]
Follow me, men.

Who them fellas?

A free state militia, bought
and paid for by the Secret Six.

Secret Six what?

A bunch of fat white men
back east, easing their minds.

No, they don't have the gumption
to fight for themselves.

[Shore]
I'm Captain William Shore

and these fine gentlemen
are my Shore Sharpshooters.

I will now command.

Where is your leader?

Oh, he's talking
to the King of Kings.

[Shore]
[chuckles] I see.

And what, pray tell,
is his plan?

Well, guessing, I'd say flank
or nighttime attack,

as Pate is hid pretty good
in that tree line.

[chuckles]
Well,

I intend to rout Pate
and his men

and be home in time for supper.

Now, how do you figure that?

Well, I'm gonna
hotfoot it

on down to that ravine yonder

and launch
a full-frontal attack.

-A full-frontal attack?
-Exactly.

-Mm.
-The last thing he's expecting.

Do I have your support?

I'm waiting on Pa.

Pa says a man
who don't consult with God

carves for himself
and cuts his own fingers.

Yeah. How wonderfully poetic.

Well,

while he's jawboning with Jesus,
we will commence our attack.

I'll see you on the other side
to help with the prisoners.

Port arms.

Follow me, men.

[distant gunfire]

haunting music

[men screaming]

-[gunshot]
-Move forward!

[horse neighs]

[John]
Frederick.

tense music

Have we received our
providential orders, Pa?

I have. Full-frontal assault.

Captain Pate!

This is Osawatomie John Brown,
here on behalf

of the emancipation
of all God's creation!

[Pate]
Stuff it, Brown!

Your salvation is in doubt

lest you surrender
my sons!

Go to hell, you loon!

Go to hell!

You and your men
are lying in the mud

with the harlot of slavery!

-[gunshot]
-[shouts]

Eh, to hell with it.

Let's snake down to that ravine,
soften them up,

and then take them.

You take your men left,
I'll take mine right.

Robert, Onion, you--

You stay here
and guard the horses. Let's go.

[Onion] Now, yours truly was
happy to guard the horses.

But Captain Shore's attack
had gived away our positions.

And pretty soon, me and Bob
was in the hothouse.

"Shake Your Moneymaker"
by Lonnie Pitchford

I got halfway down the hill

when I realized...

I had lost my mind.

I got a girl who lives
up on the hill

I got a girl

Who lives up on the hill

Talk she gonna love me

But I don't believe
she will

You got to shake
your moneymaker...

And a child shall lead us!

Onion's here, boys!

There's a girl among us!

Thanks be to God
for inspiring us to glory!

-[bullet whizzes]
-[grunts]

[gunfire continues]

You don't make time for God,

God will not make time for you.

All right. All right, boys!

They've wasted a lot of ammo.

They are nearly spent.

Follow me, walk slow, aim low,

make every fired shot count!

Goddamn it!

[Onion]
An hour later,

they were all out of bullets,
and the battle was over.

[John] My name's
Osawatomie John Brown

and I am here
in the name of freedom!

I heard you the first time,
you blackhearted,

nigger-stealing son of a bitch.

Half them sorry asses
turned tail

when they figured
they was facing

the almighty John Brown.

Where are my boys
Jason and John Jr.?

You ain't never gonna see
them boys again, John Brown.

They at Fort Leavenworth
under federal dragoons.

Then I will go there directly
and exchange you for them.

Damn, you ain't gonna kill me.

You mind telling my boys that
you ain't gonna boil their skull

and eat their eyeballs like--

Tell them I'm not hungry yet.

Onion! A reading from our Lord!

Ecclesiastes.
"The words of the Preacher,

the son of David,
king of Jerusalem."

[Pate]
I should've just

aired you out
in Osawatomie last year!

[John]
You had your chance.

[Pate] You ain't never gonna
make it to Leavenworth!

This trail is crawling
with Red Shirts.

Reverend Martin's Red Shirts...
Oh, look here!

Here are the Federals!

You ain't gonna
make it now!

[Jeb]
Who goes there?

[John] My name
is Osawatomie John Brown.

Then you are under arrest

for violating the laws
of Kansas Territory.

[John]
We don't abide

by any bogus laws
of Kansas Territory.

Well, then you will
abide by this.

[guns clicking]

[John]
Owen? Isaiah 5:22.

"Though by dawn's early light,

the heathen souls were
eaten by ravenous goats."

[John]
I am charged

with liberating every Negro
in this territory.

Hmm. On whose authority?

The Lord of Lords!

The King of Kings!
The Prince of Peace!

-Glory, Hallelujah!
-[others] Amen.

I'm not here
to debate

theological legalism, Mr. Brown.

Now if you tell your men
to lay down their arms,

there will be no trouble.

Does your work entail
the exchange of prisoners?

-It does.
-Well, we have 11 prisoners

here from Black Jack.

Now bringing them to, uh, Fort
Leavenworth for your justice.

All I want is my boys.
Nothing more.

I say 11 for two is a fair deal.

[John] I'll turn myself over,
without a fight

or unkind word.

Oh, but if you don't,

then my brothers here
will aim for your heart.

And yours alone.

[John] And while
we may lose the fight,

of your death we can be certain.

[laughs softly]

[clears throat]

Names of the prisoners?

[John]
Jason and John Brown Jr.

We just came here to settle.

We lost everything.
Our farm, crops,

-animals.
-Burned

by these men right here.

-These rabble!
-[horse neighs]

-Is this true?
-[Pate] We did burn

these nigger-stealers' crops.

Twice.

And I will again,
if we get the chance.

You, sir, have
an ugly disposition.

Now...
[clears throat]

if I transport your prisoners
to Leavenworth,

can I trust you to stay here?

What's your name, son?

Lieutenant Jeb Stuart.

Frederick,
would you fetch Mama's Bible

-for the lieutenant?
-Yes, sir.

Lieutenant, tell anyone
who wants to listen

that I will be right here
for the next three days,

waiting for my sons.

And if they're not here,
unharmed,

I'll burn this territory
to the ground.

And upon their return,

you will surrender yourself?

I...

John Brown,

hereby swear to wait three days
while you fetch my boys,

at which time, I will hand
myself over to the Almighty,

by the hand of God.

[Onion]
John Brown always said,

"Be mild with the mild,
shrewd with the crafty,

rough to the ruffian.

With a liar?

Be a thunderbolt."

What that meant was,

you can lie your ass off
to anyone

who doesn't believe
all people's equal.

He waited for that poor
Jeb Stuart

and bushwhacked the Federals,

and got the Brown family
back together.

[gunshot]

slow music

Oh.

Oh, no.

Oh, we...

Don't touch it.

It's a Good Lord bird.

Oh...

[crying]

L-Let's get the bird

and give it to your pa
when we see him.

-He'll know what to do.
-[horse neighs nearby]

He'll fix the whole
thing up righteously.

Hide. Hide.

[horse neighs]

Evening, Reverend.

Mr. Peabody.

[horse neighs]

That'll teach you
to draw on me,

you stupid
nigger-loving bastard.

We got us a Brown boy.

-The biggest one.
-[chuckles]

You ain't got to shoot him
cold-blooded like that!

What kind of a reverend
is you, anyway?

You rode
with that boy!

Listen, he was a free stater

and a Brown.

Goddamn it!

I don't give a fiddler's fart
if he was George Washington.

He did not draw on you, and
now he's deader than a turnip.

Listen,
Brown won't tarry

when he finds his boy
dead out here.

You want to wait
for him?

You's a muggins.

Let's ride.

Come on.

I'm gonna end up dead
with two inside me.

Goddamn it, let's go.
Son of a bitch.

Wake up.

Wake up.
They gone now.

Frederick, wake up.

Wake up. Wake up!

[crying]

Frederick.

Oh, Frederick.

I was learning quick.

Slavery was a poisonous snake.

Give my hellos to my pa.

Everybody knew that.

But freedom,

the kind that was being
offered, with no home,

no food, and not a friend
in the world?

That snake was
just as poisonous.

One snake pointed north.

One snake pointed south.

And they both bit the nigger.

[John]
You were a friend to Frederick.

He was fond of you.

And for that,
I'll always be grateful.

[John Jr.]
Father,

let's bury Frederick and let
the Federals have the fight.

They'll be here soon, and
I don't want to fight anymore.

None of us do.

We've done enough
for the cause.

somber music

Well...

[takes deep breath]

[chuckles]

[sniffles]

This is beautiful country.

Frederick has left us
a wonderful omen.

[John Jr.]
Please.

Stay with us.

I have only a short time
left to live,

and I plan on dying
fighting for this cause.

America will
never have peace

until we've dealt
with slavery.

So I plan

on sending a message
to the slavers.

I'll take this fight

all the way to Africa,
if need be.

And I hope someday

you'll be
lucky enough

to have a cause
worth dying for.

As misguided though they are,

even the slavers have that.

You're brave boys.

No, you're brave men.

All of you.
I'm proud of you.

Proud of you all.

Are you going
to kill the reverend?

[John]
No.

We don't ride for revenge.

We ride for justice.

I'm gonna go pray,

comingle with our Great Father,

upon whose blood we live.

You bury Frederick right.

You hear me,
boys?

Yes, sir.

And you watch
after Little Onion.

[sniffles]
Mm. Robert?

Would you like
to ride with me?

All right. Well...

[sniffles]
It's been an honor

serving in the great fight
with you boys.

[smooches]

Come on. Hey.
[smooching]

[Onion]
And with that...

he was gone.

I wouldn't see him again
for a very long time.

"The Blood"
by The Zion Travelers

Blood...

Running water

[vocalizing]

Oh, Lord

In your veins

- Ooh...
- What I like about the man

This evening, friends

He watched over me
all night long last night

He kept a guardian angel
around my bedside

Have mercy this evening

The four walls of my room

They were not
the four walls of my grave

That been coming
ever since creation

And I never
witnessed before

And Jesus still had
his darling arms around me

And I got down
on my knees and I said