All language subtitles for The.American.West.S01E03.1080p.BluRay.x264-BORDURE

Previously on
"The American West"...

Not even 100 years old,

America finds itself
in a crippling depression

and on the verge of a war
on two fronts.

In Missouri, ex-Confederates
like Jesse James

are terrorizing
Northern banks and railroads...

C'mon, Frank.

...forcing businesses
to hire

famed private detective
Allan Pinkerton

to take him down.

He's ruthlessly violent
and good with a gun.

When do I leave?

Further west,

George Armstrong Custer

has confirmed rumors
of gold

in the Black Hills
of South Dakota,

setting off
a massive gold rush.

But the country's solution
to its financial crisis

may lie in the heart
of sacred Indian territory,

land that Lakota leaders
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

aren't going to give up
without a fight.

Midway through
his second term as president,

Ulysses S. Grant
has watched the push

to settle the West
and heal the nation

come to a halt

as America suffers
through a brutal depression.

If you are president
during an economic depression,

your standing is gonna fall.

And this was the worst
economic depression

in American history
up to that time.

But Grant believes
he's found a solution...

the gold in the Black Hills
of South Dakota.

The only problem...

it's on land
that Grant surrendered

to the Lakota Sioux
nine years earlier.

The United States
government wanted the Black Hills,

merchants wanted
the Black Hills,

gold seekers
wanted the Black Hills.

They had a treaty.
They couldn't just take the Black Hills.

Maintaining a peaceful
relationship with the Indians

has been one of Grant's
proudest achievements

since taking office,

and he knows that going back
on his peace policy

would only reignite
the conflict.

In a last-ditch effort

to avoid all-out war
with the Indians,

Grant proposes a deal.

The government offers
to buy back the Black Hills

from the Lakota Sioux
for six million dollars...

$100 million
in today's money.

Over 1,200 miles away
from Washington...

word of the offer
soon reaches respected leader

Sitting Bull...

...who knows his people
now need to make a decision.

He gathers a council
of Lakota leaders,

including the fierce warrior
Crazy Horse.

I think Native Americans'
relationship with the land

was very tight
and had a spiritual component

because they believed
that they were connected

to the land,
they came from the land.

So they had
a very close relationship

with the land,

much more than people
from outside did,

who looked at the land
in a more superficial way.

To the Lakota,
the Black Hills are more

than just a place
to live and hunt...

they're essential
to their culture.

The Black Hills is
important and sacred to us

because that's where
our creation story comes from.

There's a place
called Wood Cave there

that many of us believe
that's where we came from.

We value the land
and the animals

just as much
as we do people.

Gold had no meaning,
no value to us.

Of all the places
the United States

could've wanted
the Lakota to sell...

the Black Hills
were the worst place

that they could've chosen.

Sitting Bull famously
picks up a little pinch of dirt

and he holds it up,
and he says

"I don't wanna sell
any more land,

not even as much
as this little pinch of dirt."

These just came in.

The Lakota Sioux reject
the government's offer,

and Grant's hope for peace
is slipping away.

Grant sympathized
with the plight of the Indians.

But he also understood
that he was losing that battle.

He was losing the battle
with respect to Indian policy.

Ultimately, unless
the American people

were gonna tolerate this,
it simply wouldn't stand.

With all
due respect, sir,

you have exhausted
every political option available

in dealing
with the Sioux.

Our own people
are starving.

It is no longer
a sustainable objective.

It's time we start looking
at military options.

Issue
a proclamation.

All the members
of the Sioux tribe

must report to an appointed
Indian reservation

no later than
February 1st, 1876.

And those that
don't report?

They will be
considered hostile

and treated
as such.

After years of
trying to establish peace

with the Indians,

President Grant
is now provoking a war.

This was the administration's
way of defeating

these uncooperative...
at least in their mind,

uncooperative Indians

and bringing them
to terms.

While the government prepares

for conflict
with the Indians,

nearly 700 miles away

another battle
is being fought.

Jesse James
has been on a crime spree

across Missouri
and Iowa...

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

...fighting for
the Confederate cause

by robbing
the Northern railroads

of their funds.

- Thank you.
- In Chicago,

famed private detective
Allan Pinkerton

is looking to put
a stop to it.

He orders an ambitious agent
named Joseph Whicher

to travel to Missouri

and track down
the notorious outlaw.

Once the Pinkertons
get on your trail, man,

they're not gonna stop

until you are done
and out of business,

one way or the other.

Sir, may I trouble you
for a moment?

Chicago.
You're a long way from home.

There are wanted men
in your area.

Jesse and Frank James,

they were spotted
nearby recently.

- Is that right?
- Have you seen them?

Afraid I can't
help you.

Jesse and his brother
are dangerous men.

I can't help ya.

I'm staying at
Goodman's boardinghouse.

If anything occurs to you,
I want to know.

With no help
from the local law,

Whicher needs another way
to learn Jesse's location.

So he employs a tactic that
the Pinkertons had perfected...

going undercover.

A key to the very long,
successful career

of Jesse James
is unless you grew up with him

or unless you fought
with him in the war,

no one knows
what he looks like.

All the authorities have are
some eyewitness descriptions

which aren't very good.

He can't
really be identified.

Good day, sir.
How are ya?

I wonder if you
could help me out?

I'm a little new to the area...
I was looking for the James farmhouse?

It was very dangerous
for Joseph Whicher,

this Northerner
from Chicago,

to go into Clay County
where Jesse had many friends

and try to somehow
sniff out the James Gang.

To ex-confederates
across Missouri,

Jesse's fight against the North
has made him a hero,

and they'll do anything
to protect him.

Pinkerton agent,
Joseph Whicher,

is on the hunt
for Jesse James,

hoping to end
the outlaw's reign of terror

against the North.

Hey. Good day, ma'am.
How are ya?

Uh, my name is Henry.
I'm looking for

- the James farmhouse.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.

- Do you know... yeah?
- After days of searching with no luck,

Whicher finally
lands a lead...

the location
of the farmhouse

belonging to
Jesse's mother, Zerelda.

Thank you so much, ma'am.
You have a good day. Thank you, thank you.

Jesse's mother, Zerelda James,

was outspoken, dominating.

The neighbors referred to her
as "Captain Zerelda."

There was a very,
very strong bond

between her
and her children.

Even the sheriff warned
Joseph Whicher,

"If the James boys
don't shoot ya,

Zerelda will shoot ya."

Yes?

Good day, ma'am.
I'm Henry Johnson.

I saw your crops
were nearly ripe.

I was wondering
if you need an extra hand

for the harvest.

Come on inside
and let's talk.

I remember the days when
no self-respecting white man

would ever ask
for farmwork.

Times sure have
changed.

Yes...
they have, ma'am.

Archie, will you
fetch me the sugar, please?

This is Archie,
my youngest.

Hello.

Archie, say hello
to Mr. Johnson.

- Hello.
- Thank you, dear.

- Sugar?
- Yes, please.

Joseph Whicher had pale skin,

he had soft hands.

And he was going out
to the James' farm

as some guy looking for work
as a hired hand,

and he just did not fit
that description.

Are you any good
with a hammer?

I have a barn out back
that needs some work.

Sure thing, ma'am.

Right this way.

Seems pretty
straightforward.

I hear
you've been looking for me.

Which is funny because
I been lookin' for you.

I just wanna talk.

But we don't talk
to Northern spies.

Jesse James
and his brother Frank

have just killed
top Pinkerton agent

Joseph Whicher.

They kill him
for a couple of reasons.

They don't want anybody
with any knowledge

of what Jesse looks like,

but he wants
to send a message...

"Don't send these Northerners
from Chicago

to intimidate me
and my family.

Stay out of my turf."

As Jesse James claims
another victory

in his personal war
against the North...

nearly 1,000 miles away,

the Lakota Sioux
have been given an ultimatum

by the U.S. government...

move onto a reservation
immediately...

or risk war.

Lakota leaders Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse

defy President Grant's order
to move onto reservations,

knowing full well that they'll
now be considered enemies

of the United States
Government.

In reality, they all
wanted the same thing,

to protect their
women and children.

We never wanted
to fight anyone.

But when the government
got involved

and the army came,

then it just became
a right or wrong.

When President Grant learns

of hostile Indians refusing
to move onto reservations,

he has no choice
but to take action.

He orders
General William T. Sherman

to mobilize the U.S. Army
in the West,

preparing for an attack
on the bands of Indians

led by Sitting Bull
and Crazy Horse.

But one man won't be
leading the charge this time.

After announcing gold
in the Black Hills,

George Armstrong Custer

is barred from taking part
in the upcoming battle.

Grant eventually
came to conclude

that Custer thought
more about himself

and the image that he cast
than about the mission

or about the broader outline
of policy he was pursuing.

Eventually, Grant
just threw up his hands.

"There's nothing
I can do with Custer."

Left out of the campaign
against the Indians,

Custer begins
to set his sights

beyond his military career.

It is a pleasure
and a privilege as usual.

As Grant's disastrous
second term nears its end,

Custer sees an opening

to advance his own
political ambitions.

Using his celebrity,
Custer begins meeting

with influential politicians
in Washington,

forming powerful alliances
that could help him

achieve his new goal
of becoming president.

A decorated war veteran
like myself

might well be able to pull off
what you're planning.

Custer had a following
all his own.

Members of Congress
would invite him to come speak

and Custer would talk,
and he would persuade them.

In some ways,
he had political clout

that Grant
and Sherman didn't.

Now, they both outranked him,
but Custer had a following.

But Custer is convinced

that if he's going to secure
a presidential nomination,

he's still missing
one thing...

another big
military victory.

You draw
a picture of me?

Look at that.

Frank, come here.

Look at this.

Do you recognize
that place?

Hey, man, I believe
that is to scale.

That is perfect.

Good job,
little brother.

After killing a top agent

from the most powerful
detective agency

in the country,

Jesse James
and his brother Frank

go back to life
as usual.

Uh-oh.

Why am I frownin'
and you smilin'?

I guess that is
pretty accurate.

Thank you.

For Allan Pinkerton,

the brutal murder
of his top agent

has turned his hunt
for Jesse James

into a personal mission
for revenge.

Jesse James is a symbol

of everything the Pinkertons
are against...

lawlessness, unredeemed
Southern insurrectionism.

If Jesse James
was still out there

as a symbol that you
can get away with this stuff,

he had to be killed.

If we can get
to this area here,

the mother's farmhouse...

they all live there
together...

we'll stage
the final raid.

As a private
enforcement agency,

the Pinkertons
are able to operate

outside the limits
of the law.

Once everything's in place,
we'll drive them from the house

with this... a fire bomb.

A gift from an old Army friend
at the Rock Island Arsenal.

We flush them out,

and we take them down,
all of them.

Shoot to kill.

In many cases if you look back,

a lot of people
that implemented law and order

were, in some cases,
just as bad

as the criminal element
themselves.

We're gonna burn
that damn house down.

Wipe it from
the face of the earth.

Do I make myself clear?

Yes, sir.

That defining line

between a lawman
and a criminal,

I think
is much more blurred

in the times
of the James Gang.

A group of Pinkerton agents
surround the James family home

after Jesse and Frank
were spotted there

earlier in the day.

Pinkerton knew
that the James boys

would at some point
come to that house.

He had men ready,
at least eight to ten.

Whenever they learned that Jesse
and Frank were at that farm,

he was gonna send
those men in.

What are we
waitin' for?

Allan Pinkerton plotted
to bring about

the demise
of the James brothers.

His instructions
were not just to attack

or kill
or capture Jesse.

His instructions were to burn
that house to the ground.

Archie, get back!

A late-night attack

ordered by
Detective Allan Pinkerton

has destroyed the family farm
of Jesse James.

But the intended targets
are miles away.

All right, boys, I want to go over
this one more time.

We're gonna start...

Damn it, Frank.

What the hell
took you so long?

Them Pinkertons
came by Mama's.

She's hurt.

Archie's dead.

The Pinkerton men
threw this fireball

into the James family home.

It exploded.

It rips off
part of Zerelda's arm.

It sends a fragment into
the stomach of little Archie,

the half brother,
who's only eight years old.

It's a mortal wound.

Jesse James, who really
is already angry,

he's angrier now
at the Pinkertons,

who he sees as representing
Northern tyranny and oppressors.

So this gives Jesse even more
cause to seek revenge.

Five hundred miles away
in the heart of the West,

another conflict
is escalating.

Led by their chief,
Sitting Bull,

many Lakota have defied
President Grant's order

to report to a reservation.

Sitting Bull knows
Grant will see his actions

as a declaration of war,

so he begins building
a unified war party,

gathering tribes
from across the West.

At first it was
individual tribes

that were protecting themselves
against the government.

But, you know,
at some point

they figure out, "Okay,
we gotta work together now."

Nearly 4,000 warriors

from tribes like the Cheyenne
and the Arapaho

flock from Kansas,
Colorado, Nebraska,

and the Wyoming Territory

to band together
at the Little Bighorn River.

It's the largest
Indian force

the U.S. Army
has ever seen.

Our reports indicate
that around 1,000 Indian lodges

are based here.

We deploy Custer 1,200 men

to track down
whatever remains

of Crazy Horse
and Sitting Bull's war party.

And if necessary,
wipe them out.

Custer?

He has proven that he can
take on these savages and win.

He's our
best option.

Have Custer report to
General Terry at Bismarck.

Grant thought Custer
was a complete hothead.

He was a loose cannon.

He wasn't the military guy
that Grant liked,

which was somebody
who just followed orders.

But there's
this popular outcry

to get Grant
to reinstate Custer

for the big push
into the Black Hills.

After months of building
his political connections,

Custer is sent west
to the Montana Territory

to lead a regiment against one of
the largest Indian war parties

ever assembled in the U.S.,

giving him the opportunity
that could carry him

all the way
to the White House.

Custer was ambitious.

He had great dreams,
he had the American dream.

There's been talk
that Custer hoped to get

the Democratic nomination
for president.

He needs a big victory
to win glory once again

and, of course,
move onward and upward.

After a botched raid
has left his young brother dead,

Jesse James
has declared a personal war

on the Pinkertons.

Jesse James sees
the Pinkertons

as, like,
the ultimate evil...

guys who are breaking
constitutional law

in the interest
of big business.

As news of the raid
on the James' home

spreads throughout
Missouri,

one man sees an opportunity
to use the tragedy

to rally the South together
for the Confederate cause.

I want to run
this front page tomorrow.

"Men from Missouri...

who fought
under Anderson...

it is not because
of the robberies

for which
they are accused.

It is because,
like you,

they fought
for the South.

Newspaper editor
John Newman Edwards

frames the story
of Pinkerton's raid

as a direct attack
on the South

by a Northern enemy.

The Pinkerton raid

turns all kinds of sympathy
to the James family.

They already had a little sympathy
from Southerners.

But now they see an eight-year-old boy
has been killed,

a mother
has lost her child,

so the press, including John Newman Edwards,
have a field day

over what this
Chicago private firm has done

here in Clay County,
Missouri.

The articles appeal
to loyal southerners

and support for
Jesse James and his cause

is at an all-time high.

To show their support,

Missouri residents
give Edwards and his newspaper

the names of anyone who
may have aided the Pinkertons

for him to print
in his paper.

And it isn't long
before Jesse tracks them down.

One man who's revealed
to have helped Pinkerton

was Daniel Askew.

Pinkerton had a man there
acting as a hired hand

keeping watch
on the house.

Daniel Askew makes the mistake
of not leaving Clay County.

Can you fetch us
some water for the dishes?

Daniel Askew.

Do you know who I am?

- Yes.
- That's good.

That seems like a nice family
you got in there.

Please.

Please what?

Whatever you do,

just please don't
hurt my family.

That'd be...

that'd be pretty low,
wouldn't it,

murder innocent women
and children?

Yeah, I don't know if I could stoop
to something like that.

But I guess, uh...

...you're gonna have to
take me at my word.

No one is ever brought
to trial

for the murder
of Jesse's half brother,

which, again,
gives Jesse a reason

to seek his own justice.

If the law is not gonna bring
these guys to justice,

then Jesse's gonna do
what he can.

Five hundred miles away,

Allan Pinkerton
is dealing with the fallout

from his botched raid.

It was Allan Pinkerton's
greatest defeat,

his greatest humiliation.

Pinkerton's reputation

for relentless justice
is ruined.

And he's forced
to back away from the outlaw

he's been pursuing
for the past year,

giving up on Jesse James
for good.

General,
we found them.

Where?

Camped along
Little Bighorn.

Good job,
soldier.

Hyah!

In hopes of securing
a presidential nomination,

George Armstrong Custer
is on a mission

to track down and defeat
a band of Sioux Indians.

Custer's leading one of
three columns of U.S. troops

heading toward battle
against Sitting Bull.

The campaign
on the Northern Plains in 1876

is one of the largest

the army had ever engaged in
in the Indian Wars.

Three great columns
went forward...

one coming up
from the South,

another coming out
of Montana,

and then Custer's column

coming from
Fort Abraham Lincoln.

Together the battalions
make up a force

of nearly 1,500 troops...

with one goal in mind...

to destroy
Sitting Bull's army.

But what the commanders
don't realize

is that Lakota chief
Sitting Bull

has gathered nearly
4,000 Indian fighters...

including the fearless warrior
Crazy Horse.

After hearing reports that
the U.S. Army is closing in,

Sitting Bull calls together
other Lakota leaders

and tells them of
a powerful vision he's had.

There's certain ceremonies

where you go
without food and water,

sometimes for four days.

During those times because of
what your body's going through,

people call it a vision

and because Sitting Bull
is the chief,

a medicine man,
and a healer,

his vision we all agreed
and honored and respected.

He knew they were gonna win.

That's a powerful thing
to know,

it's a powerful faith
to have.

Where can we
cross the river?

Down south here.
Up here, further north.

How many warriors?

I've never seen
a gathering this large.

Sitting Bull's tribe,
Crazy Horse's, too.

Also Arapaho,
Cheyenne.

Do they know
we're here?

I don't think so.

One hour.
Get the men ready.

I will not let
Sitting Bull slip through my fingers.

Yes, sir.

Instead of waiting for the remaining

two columns of U.S. troops
to arrive,

Custer orders his regiment

ofjust under 500 men
to move out.

He leaves all
his heavy artillery behind,

determined to get
all the glory

for defeating Sitting Bull
and his warriors.

Custer is a very ambitious man.

He thinks if he goes up there,
eliminates the Indians,

the windfall of all that gold
comes into the economy,

everybody sees him
as a great hero

who bailed out
the federal government

and now he can
position himself

to become
the commander-in-chief.

"President Custer"...
just think about that.

As Custer rides out,

the Indians
prepare for battle,

determined to fight
for their people's survival.

They're defending their territory,

but they're also
more immediately

defending their families.

They're trying to protect
all of them

from the United States.