Original subtitles

DRIVER: Hyah! Hyah!

JIM: Communication is the lifeblood of the people.

If they can't get mail and move about,

exchange goods and ideas, they'll perish.

That's where Wells Fargo came in.

We sent our stages and our freighters

through territory the railroads couldn't reach.

And sometimes we had trouble.

Mostly, it came from Indians.

They'd attack our equipment

because they knew that where we went today,

other white men would go tomorrow.

I was on my way to the Dakotas

where Wells Fargo was clearing a road

through the Black Hills...

Only the Pawnees had other ideas.

So work was at a standstill

and men were dying.

I rode as far as the railroad could take me,

then I went by horse.

All right, men, hold your fire!

They're not coming up any closer.

Wasn't more than dozen of them out there anyhow.

That was enough to kill all of us.

Oh, keep your shirt on, Ben.

What do you expect us to do?

Sit around here like ducks while they pick us off?

Are we supposed to live on nothing but that beans

and slop?

Wells Fargo said that when they hired us...

Now, it's not their fault.

A man using his hands needs meat.

What do you expect me to do about it?

You're foreman here, Fred Heston.

It's your job to do something.

We've had no fresh meat for nearly a month.

And we've had no one to hunt

since them Injuns killed Newt Stover.

I know that.

I know that just as well as anyone.

You don't see me stuffing away any steaks, do you?

Well, you got to do something.

And another thing, mister,

there ain't been no tobaccy!

I tell you, Fred,

I've had about a belly full.

I'm just about ready to quit.

All right, men, all right!

I've sent for the cavalry.

Sure. But where are they?

What good's a cavalry

if they're a hundred miles away

at River Fork?

Yeah.

There are women and children at River Fork, too.

FRED: Mr. Hardie, am I glad to see you!

How are you, Fred?

Men, this is Jim Hardie from the home office.

What's he supposed to do, take on the whole Pawnee nation

single-handed?

No, I was sent down here

to see how you're getting along.

They're rotten.

Tell that to your boss.

Thank you. I will.

What about it, Fred?

Well, these men have got a beef coming,

all right, Mr. Hardie.

Old Iron Hand, the Pawnee chief,

he's been kicking up a ruckus.

When he found out I'd sent for the 5th Cavalry,

he sent a war party out to attack River Fork.

The soldiers no more than got here,

and they got orders to turn around

and go back.

The last two weeks, well,

we've been working and these Injuns

have been picking us off just about as they please.

They nearly got us all today. Yeah.

Tell him about the beans and slop.

I'm going to if you'll give me time.

Newt Stover...

Pawnee's got him about a month ago.

I'm sorry to hear that.

Newt was a good and old friend of mine.

Well, what are you gonna do about it?

Right now, I'm gonna have some of that beans and slop.

I haven't eaten since breakfast,

and I can think better on a full stomach.

Them home office men are about as slick

as a bunch of Frisco dance-hall gals.

He's here for one reason only,

and that's to get that road through by winter.

Well, he ain't a-gonna get away with it.

He doesn't do something by morning, I'm taking off.

Me, too, mister. I'm with you.

They don't come close enough

to the camp for a showdown,

just one at a time.

Try keeping the men in a little closer to camp.

In fact, move your camp right along with them

as they clear the trail.

All right.

That's the main thing you've got to worry about,

is protecting these men.

In fact, why don't you use only half of them to work

and put the other half out to act as guards?

Well, all right.

But what about meat?

That's a problem.

I don't see any alternative

except to shut down for two days,

take off and go hunting.

In fact, it'll give these men a chance

to blow off a little steam.

That sounds like good idea.

I'll try it, Mr. Hardie.

Good. We'll work something out,

don't worry about it.

Good night, Fred.

Good night.

Hey, fellas, look what I got here!

Come on.

Put him down.

Where'd you find him?

Caught him sneaking around behind the tents.

He's a young brave out to make his first kill.

Huh?

You can tell by the way his hair is braided,

the way his face is painted.

Must be all of 17 or 18 years old.

They start 'em young.

He'll die young, too.

Bring him over here.

What you gonna do with him, Ben?

Give him a taste of what they did to Newt Stover.

Now you're talking, Ben.

Injun medicine for an Injun.

It's not gonna work, Ben.

Suppose you'd like me to tie

a pretty little pink ribbon in his hair

and kiss him on the cheek and say,

"Go, little man, and sin no more."

Is that what you want?

No, it isn't.

But I would want to send this boy back to his people

so that he can tell them that we don't mean any harm.

For years, the white man's been taking advantage

of the Indian... now they hate all of us.

Perhaps when they find out we don't mean 'em any harm,

then they'll let this road go through.

That's all I'm interested in.

You got a better idea? Yeah.

Come on, Ben.

All right, Mr. Hardie.

I got it.

You're the first man that ever put me down.

No hard feelings?

No, sir.

Men, you just saw something I never thought would happen.

Ben Costa whipped fair and square.

What do you want me to do with him, Mr. Hardie?

Why don't we put him under guard till morning,

get a good night's sleep.

Yes, sir.

What's your name, boy?

I asked you a question.

I am called Little Wolf.

You have saved my life.

I do not thank you for it, as I am filled with shame.

The son of Iron Hand cannot owe his life

to a white man.

You're the chief's son?

I have brought shame to him and to my people.

No, boy.

Maybe you can bring peace to both of our people.

Use it, white man.

I will show you Little Wolf is not afraid to die.

Tough little squirt, ain't he?

If I set you free, Little Wolf,

will you carry a message to your father?

Will you?

I will take him your words.

Get his pony.

Look, if you turn him loose,

he'll bring back a hundred others with him.

You heard Mr. Hardie, fetch his pony.

All right, Ben.

But I'm a-warning you, mister,

you're signing our death warrant.

Doggone it, man, get going!

You got to talk tough to these jaspers,

Mr. Hardie.

It's the only way they understand.

I'll leave that to you, Ben.

Now listen to me, Little Wolf,

there's no one here believes in what I'm doing,

as you just heard.

If you don't carry the message to your father

exactly as I give it to you,

then these men are gonna hold me responsible.

A wise chief thinks first

of what is best for his people.

You stick to that, sonny,

and you'll never go wrong.

Here.

He's all yours, Little Wolf.

Now this is the message I want you to take to your father,

the Great Chief of all of the Pawnees.

Tell them that when the sun rises tomorrow,

I'll be in his camp to talk of friendship.

I'll be unarmed and I'll be at his mercy,

and yours.

Have you gone loco, Mr. Hardie?

You tell him that.

Now go, Little Wolf.

You must be out of your mind, Mr. Hardie.

You do like you said and them Injuns will kill you.

I've dealt with Indians over the past 12 years, Ben,

good and bad alike.

They all have one thing in common:

if they give you their word, they'll keep it.

I'm gambling they're not gonna kill me.

There's nothing them Injuns respect more than courage,

I know that.

But if you're counting on that,

you're not thinking straight.

According to them, there's all kinds of courage.

The greatest of these is

when a man meets death,

how he dies slow.

Mr. Hardie, what's this I hear about you

letting that Indian boy go?

You heard right.

He sent that boy up to set up

a pow-wow with the chief tomorrow.

What?

Alone and unarmed.

Mr. Hardie, that don't even make good sense.

Now both of you listen to me.

Suppose I went up there armed to the teeth,

and they didn't want me to get through...

It wouldn't do any good, would it?

No.

And if we sit here twiddling our thumbs

waiting for the cavalry to come and bail us out,

we're not gonna get a road finished

before winter either.

No.

JIM: So there's very little choice, is there?

I think the boy will deliver the message

to his father exactly as I gave it to him.

And I'm counting on Iron Hand

to be grateful that he got his son back

all in one piece.

Mr. Hardie, what's an Injun know about gratitude?

He's a father.

The color of his skin is not gonna change that.

If I can convince them

that we don't want their land,

all we want is the right to put a road through,

that we don't want their game,

all we need is enough to eat

until we can finish our job...

And I think I can convince them of it...

Then we've got the situation whipped.

You know, he just might do it.

He whipped me, and that's never been done before either.

He thinks straight, my father.

He is not like the yellow stripes

who think only as they are told.

A good soldier does not question orders, my son,

or there is no order.

This man,

he must be of good heart

to have set you free

and given you the words he did.

No.

It is a trap.

He comes only to see our strength.

We are few now that our war parties are out.

He will come and...

He is not evil, this man!

A boy can speak of good and evil?

Perhaps, Big Hawk, what you say is true...

It may well be so.

We will see.

Sometimes I think he's too pigheaded to be afraid.

Anyone that'd stick his neck out like this

ought to have his head examined.

Every man has his own way of doing a job.

Some give it everything,

some just enough to get by.

FRED: All right. Go on, boys,

get this stuff in the wagon.

Let's get this wagon rolling, let's go.

MAN: Load it up.

Hey, Ben, come over here.

Look yonder. I told him.

You can't say I didn't warn him.

FRED: All right, now let's get these...

Hey, Fred, come here!

FRED: What?

Come over here. All right, men, pick it up.

What's holding you up?

I said let's get rolling.

Take a look, my friend,

seems to me he's heading into trouble.

What are you gonna do about it, Fred?

You heard what he said.

We're gonna stay close to camp.

If he don't come back tomorrow,

I'm gonna notify the 5th cavalry.

He's not back by then, you won't need the cavalry.

Now you go chasing off after him

and you're gonna upset everything.

All right, men,

let's get those wagons going, come on.

Let's roll 'em.

JIM: I didn't know what the smoke signals meant,

and I wasn't supposed to.

It might be Iron Hand's way of telling the others

to give me safe passage,

and it might not mean that at all.

I was beginning to sweat.

He comes.

Bring him to me.

JIM: I heard them behind me, but I didn't let on.

The first sign of worry, and I'd lose face,

and face is as important to an Indian

as it is to an Oriental.

IRON HAND: The White man comes to speak with us.

He is not our captive.

Come.

I come without gun or without knife.

I trust Iron Hand as I trusted his son.

We will talk.

Then we will know if the words are empty between us

or if there can be trust.

Big Hawk, my right arm.

I greet Big Hawk,

as I would greet a friend.

Big Hawk is no friend to the white man.

I'm sorry.

I thank you for keeping your word.

We will sit.

One spark

can start a fire

and destroy every tree.

One word spoken without thought

can destroy every man.

You're a wise man, Iron Hand.

I've not lived as many moons as you have,

but I too have seen men die,

and I say

that any man who dies without purpose,

without reason,

then his death is as useless as a...

As a flower without color,

without smell.

Everything has a purpose,

even the flower you speak of,

though we know not what it may be.

That the white man came alone and unarmed

means more than words.

What do you want from us?

First, I'd like to tell you that

we don't want your buffalo or your elk,

or your deer.

The game that roams this land is yours.

We'll take only what we need to eat

until we finish the job.

But we must finish this road so that our wagons

can travel through this territory unmolested.

When that's finished, we'll leave.

We don't want the land,

only the right to use it.

Among my people there is a saying:

"First the head,

"then the horse,

then the rider."

You come,

then others.

Soon there will be no room for us.

Big Hawk speaks wisely, too.

I can't speak for anyone

other than myself and my company,

which is Wells Fargo.

What we want is as I've told you,

and nothing more.

We will talk...

then we will know.

Well, what do you think?

I don't know.

Not a Pawnee sign all morning.

They're up to something, and I don't like it.

They're probably working him over right now.

And I'll bet you that's just what they're doing.

Fred, we can't sit here while...

Now you don't know that they're doing anything.

Well, we ain't gonna sit by and suck our thumbs

while he's out there and getting himself killed.

Now you heard him say himself, we stay here.

That's all I wanna know.

Oh! Sorry, boss.

Pringle, get some men and let's go.

All right, you men, let's get saddled up here

and get out of here, huh?

JIM: The Chiefs had been gone for hours.

A pow-wow takes time.

Everyone has his say,

everyone must accept the decision.

From time to time I could hear Big Hawk's angry voice,

and I knew he was the only holdout.

Then they came to tell me their decision.

We have talked.

We have decided.

We will take the white man's word.

The road can be finished

and used in peace.

Thank you, Iron Hand.

And I know the Pawnee will keep their word,

and you'll see.

You may go now and tell your people.

Thank you.

They come! The white men.

They're no men of mine.

BIG HAWK: I told you,

he came to spy.

IRON HAND: Come with me.

Well, are these your men?

Yes.

You did not know they were coming?

No.

BIG HAWK: The White man lies.

From the beginning you've lied.

Iron Hand hears only what he wants to hear.

What does the White man say now?

Will he fight the duel of truth?

Or is the white man's heart like the rabbit's?

I'll do anything you want, Big Hawk,

but I want you to understand

that I didn't ask those men to follow me.

They came out of their own concern for me,

such as Iron Hand would go after you

if he thought you were in trouble.

You will duel.

We will learn if you speak the truth.

I wish you did not have to fight this fight.

Big Hawk will kill you.

Could be.

You do not know the rules,

let me explain.

Twenty paces apart you must stand,

with the tree between you.

Iron Hand will give the signal,

and you both race for the tomahawk.

There's no other weapon.

Whoever gets it,

it is his to kill with.

Thank you.

BEN: Sorry, Mr. Hardie, but I thought we were doing right.

It's not your fault.

You had no way of knowing.

Heeeyah!

Come on, Hardie, give it to him!

Come on, get a hold of him.

Each man guards his own honor, my son,

but a man without honor

is a man without sorrow.

Do you understand, my son?

Yes.

But you have also told me that a man without sorrow

is a man without love.

JIM: Well, they kept their word, and we kept ours,

and the road went through on schedule.

But most important of all,

we learned a lot from each other,

and I think that's what counts most in the long run.