All language subtitles for theWayWest_1967-faye-xvid

(INAUDIBLE)

Best not be
looking, Brownie.

I ain't looking.

As hard as I can!

(CHUCKLES)

Howdy.

Well, howdy!

Them pretty peach trees
are sure a long way
from Georgia!

Yeah, and I expect to
plant 'em where the ground
is 40 feet deep,

black as charcoal
and soft as a woman.

Now whereabouts
would that be? Heaven?

Oregon, mister,
haven't you heard?

Right!

(MEN CHATTERING)

I'll tie up, Pa.

All right, son.

It feels just like a holiday
I think maybe
I'll have me a little drink.

AUCTIONEER: All right,
ladies and gentlemen...

I hope I'm not
disturbing you too much?

No, but you're
disquieting the fish.

They're a sensitive race.

Dick Summers.

I've heard about you
ever since
I crossed the Ohio River,

and about as often
as God Almighty.

Well, I hope he doesn't
hold that against me.

I've come to ask
your advice about a guide
to take us to Oregon.

If you want my advice,
don't go.

Especially if you've never been there.

Now, people think a lot
of Jim Bridger as a scout.

What's your opinion?

Pretty good man.

What do you think of Mr. Sublette?

He's the best by far.
He's the best.

Sir, you're a liar.

Mr. Tadlock, I believe
you're beginning to get
a little bit personal.

No, sir, because the best man,
bar none, is you.

Well, I've got
a nice place to live here.
I got breakfast in the river,

dinner out there
in the woods.

This child's
just too fat and lazy to want to move.

A man who's hunted and trapped
from here to the Pacific,

not once but a dozen times?

That's right.
That's why.

I've made inquiries
about you, Mr. Summers.

You're not lazy.

You're sick.

Sick with grief,
and you have been
for two years.

Ever since
your Indian wife died.

You can get out now,
Mr. Tadlock.

You've been here
just about long enough.

Mr. Summers.

My woman died, too.

Listen to me.

I've got many families
coming with me.

Honest men,
women and children.
Good people.

For their sake,
leave this place,

ride your horse again
and take my wagon train

to the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

I can't guarantee I'd leave
anything behind me
except a string of graves.

Why? Do you think we're as
weak as all that?

No, not weak. Unfit.

Greenhorn storekeepers,
tenderfoot farmers,

people that never slept
in anything bigger
than a barn in their lives,

and never looked
at the frost
on the side of a tree

to find out
which way to go.
No, no.

Worse than us
have done better,
Mr. Summers.

We're mere men,
but a man's nature's enormous.

It contains both
the great and the small.

Even the meanest of us
can be as large as
this whole continent.

We can do without you,
Mr. Summers.

We'll lose more,
we'll suffer more,
but by God Almighty,

we mean to plant
a new Jerusalem
in the Oregon wilderness

By God Almighty,
that is a pretty speech.

You poor, miserable,
female-haunted man.

It's hard to believe
that your grief
has so corrupted your guts.

God dang it, Becky,

where'd you put the bed?

(EXHALES)

(SPLUTTERS)

(GROANING)

(WINDING CLOCK)

Oh, Becky.

All I've been thinking
about is you
all the time I was in town.

Quit it.
Now do you hear me?

You hear me?
I said, quit!

What the devil's
the matter with you?

You're going to Oregon.

What?

You already
made up your mind

and you're trying
to change mine
by getting me onto that bed.

Why, Becky,
I wouldn't be...

Woman,

I wish you'd stop
walking around
in my mind.

Lije...

Lije, we had a nice farm in Pennsylvania.

Too many stones,
you know that.

Lije...
Lije, stay home
this time.

I wish I could,
but I can't.

Why?

I don't know why, Becky.

It's just that I...

I gotta go
where I've not been.

And where I can say,
"This far I've come.

"I can't go no farther."

Do you understand that?

You're no good, Lije.

But you're the only
no-good man I got.

Well?

Well, get up and go.

The sun's risen.

Giddyup!
Oregon!

(MEN CHEERING)

LIJE: Giddyup there!

NARRATOR:
On the 16th of April, 1843,

the sun rose in the east
and headed west...

%% Over Missouri

%% And the sun did say
today's the day

%% I'm going to pick up
that Liberty Train
and show them the way

%% The way west to Oregon

%% Write their names
on the mountains

%% Write their names
across the sky

%% Write their names
in giant letters

%% Ten thousand feet high

%% So the world
will remember

%% And their memories
will be blessed

%% That Liberty Train
to Oregon

Caravan!

%% The man
that took the way west

%% The way west

%% The way west %%

That's good shooting.

That was you who got him.
I missed him.

It's just because
I'm a little more hungry
than you, that's all.

You want him, Mercy?

Lord, no!
Looks like Ma's dog.

What is it?

He's a red fox kitten,
Mr. Summers tells me.

Lost his mama,
he thinks likely.

Five weeks old,
Mr. Summers said.

Mr. Summers,
Mr. Summers!

Tell your Mr. Summers
he smells a lot older
than that to me.

Phooey!

(CHUCKLING)

What are you laughing
about now?

That sweet good-looker
there, Mr. Mack.
New married man.

He fetched her flowers.
Imagine that.

Love.
Oh, I just can't wait.
Can you?

Oh, I could.
Don't know
if I will, but I could.

And what if
the right woman, like me,

just fell plump, warm
and happy in your arms?

I don't know.

I figure I could
manage if she did.

Well, come knock
on my porch,

say two or three years
from now.

(LAUGHS)

Darn you!

Mercy!

You're to stop your flashing
and a-fluttering every time

a three-legged boy runs by.

Now, you hear me?

If we don't get
that girl hitched
before we get to Oregon,

she's going to run off
and marry
the nearest buffalo.

(URGES)

Supper!

I think it's best
we ford right here.

Mr. Summers,

can you make that out?

SUMMERS: I can't see it
too well.

It's probably
a cattle train coming
up from Santa Fe.

I see a wagon, Mr. Summers.

No cattle train.

What I see is Steve Brady
out of St. Joe
and bound for Oregon.

Well, maybe.

We'd best camp here
and make the crossing in the morning.

In the rain,
Mr. Summers?

Well, now, it might rain,
Might not.

It might be
a wagon train, might not.

Least ways, it looks like
they're gonna
beat us to the river.

No, sir, Mr. Summers.

They will not.

Speed, Mr. Evans, speed!

Or you and your wife
will be eating the dust

of Steve Brady's wagon train
all the way to Oregon.

Move up
and keep the lead.

(URGING HORSES)

Blow your bugle, son.
We'll breathe some life
into these people.

Blow it loud!

I will, Papa,
as loud as I can.

Smartly, Saunders!
No laggards on
the Oregon Liberty Train!

(BLOWING BUGLE)

Giddap in there!

(WHISTLES)

Move, before
you're trampled underfoot.
Speed, Mr. McBee, speed!

(URGES HORSE)

He's so hard, so hard.

But handsome too,
hear me, Mercy.

She could do worse
than cast eyes
on the Senator.

He's rich as sin.

Yeah, a man his age
is inclined to wed virgins.

Hear me, Mercy?

I hear you
and I hate you.

I mean the both of you.

(CHORTLING)

(URGING)

(NEIGHING)

Faster!

They're trying
to head us off.

Becky...
Where are they going?

We're here first
and we're crossing first.

You're wrong, mister.
You think
you're crossing first.

Bring 'em up!

Giddap there, mules!

(GRUNTING)

By God,

we'll still cross first.

Whoa, mules!

Do you think
I should help, Ma?

You just stay here.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(MEN EXCLAIMING)

Don't drown him.

Grab the rope!

Well, gentlemen,

we made it first,
didn't we?

By God, we did that,
Mr. Tadlock.

Now, Mr. Evans,
we're going to cross.

First!
Right!

(LAUGHING)

Pretty pleased
with yourself, aren't you,
Mr. Tadlock?

It was a cattle train.

You knew it all along.

Mr. Summers, I pay you
to point the way.

Just point the way,

and don't gall me with
your truthful opinions.

Come on, son.

Come on, Becky,
let's take 'em across.

Are you sure
you're all right, Pa?

I'm fine.

All right!

Let's go! Go, mule!

(URGES)

WEATHERBY: Dear God, save this sinner.

(EXCLAIMS)

I'm drowning!

(GASPING)

A stowaway on
a prairie schooner.

MAN: A man of God!

Tadlock, look at this!

We got us a new volunteer.

The name is Weatherby.

Occupation?

A slave, brother,
to the Holy Ghost.

Brother Weatherby,
we're all traveling

under a signed contract
and a set of rules.

Now, what do you have
in the way of supplies?

The spirit of Christ
and the shirt on my back.

You're a wee short.

The Lord will provide.

Well, we can use
a preacher, can't we?

To overcome
the natural calamities
of human nature.

Such as weddings,
babies...

Funerals?
Amen!

We need religion, sir.

ALL: That's right,
we need religion.

Sure, he'll put God
on our train.
Let him stay.

Well, God hasn't seen fit
to furnish him
with even so much as a mule.

I'll take him on,
Mr. Tadlock.
I'll look after him.

Yeah.
Yeah.

(ALL AGREEING)

You can't take that
as an answer.
You know the rules.

I heard them.

Two hundred pounds of flour
for each man and his mate.

Well, I got the flour.

Will you have me,
Brother Weatherby?

I'm yours.

I told you the Lord
would provide.

WEATHERBY: Now, you sinner
you see how quickly.

MAN: Let's go!
Move 'em along.

Ha, mule! Ha!

(WHOOPS)

TADLOCK:
All right, stay in line.

We're sailing, Becky.
Sailing.

Ain't it glorious?

I wish I was home
in my rocking chair,

if I knew which ho
me I wished I was at.

Steady there, steady.

Ha, mule! Ha!

(WHOOPS)

Get in line there!

(NEIGHING)

Easy now. Steady.

(MEN URGING HORSES)

(CATTLE MOOING)

(URGING)

Giddap, there!

(NEIGHING)

That's it, preacher,
ride 'em.

(URGING)

Giddap, there!

Saunders, remember,
we want no laggards!

You're doing
a man's job, son.

TADLOCK: Get in line there!

Keep moving,
Mr. Calvelli.

When I'm ready.

You've got to keep moving,
Mr. Calvelli,
or you'll be left behind.

Come on then.

TADLOCK: Keep them going!

You're drifting!

Hang on, Mr. Calvelli,
hang on there.

Swim!

Swim!

Hang on, Mr. Calvelli.
Stay with it.

The Lord sayeth
in Lamentations,
Chapter 4, Verse 11...

McBee!
Yes, sir?

You and Moynihan get shovels
and bury that man.

Blasphemy!

His soul's in the balance,
Mr. Tadlock.
Heaven or hell!

There'll be
no sermonizing.

A man's dead,
Mr. Tadlock.

LIJE: We need to pray
over him.

The fool's dead
by his own hand.

It was speed killed him, plain speed.

I ain't thinking
there'll be another
life given up to it.

Not speed.

Hear me, all of you.

It was not speed
that sent his soul to hell,
but panic.

Panic and greed!

Greed!

Greed!

Heavy as a stone.

Dead man's money!

Who wants it?

Who wants it?

(MEN EXCLAIMING DISTANTLY)

Look at that.

It was cattle.

Those are emigrants
out of St. Joe.

They've been eating
off the hoof for so long,

they just naturally
grew a set of extra
long horns, that's all.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

%% Her eyes are like stars
in the night

%% The eyes of Mercy McBee

%% Her smile
is the dawn's early light

%% The smile of Mercy McBee

%% It seems she stepped out
of your dreams

%% The face of an angel you see

%% Mercy McBee, Mercy McBee

%% Beautiful Mercy McBee

%% So sweet and so gentle,
so lovely is she %%

I sure can't stand
to wait much longer.

You'd think
he'd be sick and tired

of being
pent up in there,

wouldn't you, Mrs. Fairman?

How do you know
it's a him, Mr. Fairman?

(CHUCKLES)

(CLATTERING)

Leave it, please.

Please leave it,
don't turn it out.

Have patience with me,
Mr. Mack.

I'm just so awful afraid.

Woman,

you were all so warm
and so sweet
when I courted you.

God, how I loved you.

(SOBBING) I can't.

I can't.

Why?

Because I gotta bear
the baby, not you.

Oh, God, please.

If we just had a house
or a place of our own...

And we will
when we get to Oregon.

Oregon?

Nothing's gonna change
in Oregon.

You know that.

And now I know it, too.

I'm gonna take you.

With you
or against you.

And if you scream,
you're gonna have to
scream through my hand.

(MUFFLED SCREAMING)

(WAILING)

(GASPS)

Well, here's a pretty girl.

What are you doing?
Spying on us, pretty girl?

I guess there's no crime
when there's nothing
to spy on, is there?

(BABY CRYING)

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

A boy! It's a boy!

I got me a boy!

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Ride right over on him.

Just ride the front end, Brownie.

Hey, I noticed that.
A mighty handsome possession.

Did you get it off
a dead Indian?

Yeah, my wife.

I'm sorry.

It's just about
the nicest possession I ever seen.

Well, it's about
the only possession I've got.

That and my bad name.

Well, look-a-here.
If it ain't Mr. Evans'
growed-up son.

Brownie?

Shucks.
Go away, will you?

Well, go on, Brownie.
Go on after her.

Don't let a pretty girl ask you twice,
or an ugly one once.

I ain't her mule.

Brownie, when are you
going to carve my name
on the mountain?

I'd rather die first!

What's the date today?

June the 5th, 1843.

LIJE: All right.
On your feet.

We've sat here
long enough.

We'll roll
some miles tonight

or my name's
not William J. Tadlock!

You hear me, you...

(ALL LAUGHING)

Get off those fatty asses
and march!

I'm gonna walk your legs
right down to stumps.

You've been drinking.

Drinking is against
the rules.

Did you ever see me
break the rules, Becky?

You've been guzzling it!

(CHUCKLES)

Sit, wife.

I don't wanna sit.

Well, that's what
you've been asking for.

When we crossed the river,
you asked to sit in a rocker.

And that's what
you're gonna do
on this here Fourth of July.

So sit.

(ALL LAUGHING)

(TADLOCK APPLAUDS)

Very patriotic gesture,
Mr. Evans.

Fourth of July is four weeks
from next Wednesday.

I know it,
Mr. Tadlock!

Sir.

But you'd better
get some strong coffee
inside of you.

We still got two good hours
of daylight.

We move out in 15 minutes.

LIJE: A boy child's
been born!

Nothing new about that.

Been done
a million times before,
will be again, I expect.

But these people,

such is their
miserable nature,

these people
are gonna sit down
and celebrate

like it was the first day of the world.

Mr. Fairman.

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)

Don't get up.

This seems to be
the moment for peace and relaxation.

It's good for people
sometimes.

Yes.

Mrs. Evans,

you think your husband
would make a better
captain of this train?

Hmm?

I don't know.

Spoken truly.

Will you come
with me, please?

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

Well, Mrs. Evans,
I suppose I am too hard on
them sometimes,

but please...

Please sit down.

What do you make of this?

Is it a map?

It's a city,

the drawing of a city.
It's a city that's never
yet been built.

Can't you see it?

Look.

Here's the opera house.

United States post office.

The railroad station.

Look, this is
the grand plaza.

Now all the streets
radiate from this point

like the spokes of a wheel
toward the edges of the city.

Oh, and from here,

parades come marching
down the avenue,

past the steps
of the churches,

past the wide columns

of the governor's mansion.

And the children will play
in a park covered against
the rain by a crystal roof.

Such will be Oregon.

You're not afraid of me,

are you?

You don't know anything
about me, really.

Do you?

(CHUCKLES)

I was a senior senator
from the state of Illinois.

And I might have become
president
of the United States,

but for a woman.

The woman I chose
for my wife killed herself.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for her, too.

It almost ruined me.

But I rose up
like Samson
in his blindness,

and I came west with my son
to make a new and better life

in a new and better country.

There's so few people
in this company
who understand.

None, maybe.

But it seems to me that...
That you do.

You're an
extraordinary person.

You know, it's...

It's no easy matter
to share a vision.

Particularly for a man
and a woman.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Tadlock.

If in the awful peril
of this journey, you should
lose Mr. Evans...

Don't say that.

You need never
lack consolation,

for I shall be
your tower of refuge,

and a new city
we shall build.

If you choose.

(COUNTRY MUSIC PLAYING)

(PEOPLE LAUGHING)

(READING)

(SCREAMING)

(MEN LAUGHING)

(CHATTERING)

(WHOOPING)

(EXCLAIMING)

I told you, Brownie,
you're a fool.
There's nothing to be scared.

Don't show 'em
you're scared, Brownie.

(WHOOPING)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Mr. Summers, sir?

What's that, boy?

I did poor.
I was scared pukey.

Shoot, hoss, every man
gets scared in a fix.

What are they gonna do?

Well, whatever they do,
it's going to be
highly educational.

You know, the Sioux,

if they take a fancy to you,
are inclined to be generous.

Likely as not,
they'll present you
with a wife.

Maybe two.

Or three.

Stop there, sir.
Three is my limit.

Could you go a bit deeper
into that subject, sir?

Deeper?

Are they...

Excuse me
for asking the question,

but are Injun women built any different?

Why, I don't
rightly know, boy.

I never been with
a white woman but once,
and I disremember.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

He'd appreciate it if we'd move
a little faster.

You all right?
Yeah, Pa.

All right, you get back
to your mother.

(LAUGHS)

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

He doesn't like
what you're giving him.

What does he want?

Whiskey.

Whiskey?

Get 'em liquored up,
maybe we could sneak off.

You've got a choice,

you can give it to 'em
or they'll take it.

I agree that the first one
might be a little dangerous,

but the second one
could prove fatal.

(DRUMS BEATING)

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(WHOOPING)

(MEN LAUGHING)

(EXCLAIMS IN SATISFACTION)

You're beautiful.

Mr. Mack.

I've been waiting since Missouri
to tell you that.

Have you?

You sure
got the right name.

Mercy.

That's what I'm needing now.

It's dangerous.

Who are you afraid of?

My wife or me?

Mr. Mack,

I don't know very much.

You know my name.

She's pretty.

Mrs. Mack.

You're pretty.

Why don't she love you?

She's got iron corsets
in her skin.

And what do I have,
Mr. Mack?

You,

hellfire

and sin.

Lead me to it.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

(WHOOPING)

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(GRUNTS)

(CLANKS)

(GUFFAWING)

Come on, Pa.
Come on.

You can do it, Pa.

(EXCLAIMING)

(CHEERING)

(WHOOPING)

(LAUGHING)

You're sorry now,
ain't you?

Well, I'm not.

You'd better get back to your ma and pa.

Please, what is it?

They'll be looking for you.
You'd better go.

Mr. Mack, when will
I see you again?

When will I...
You and I...

Soon.

Please go.

I love you, Mr. Mack.

I do.

Go on.

(DRUMS BEATING)

(MEN LAUGHING)

What is it?

Dead wolf.

It's that Sioux boy.

Dear God.

Shotgun.

I'll get Saunders to bury him.
That leaves...

No.

If they don't find him,
they'll follow us,
teeth to tail.

We'll leave him here
for his friends.

It might give us
some kind of time.

How much time?

I don't know.

Depends on his kin.

They'll spend
one day grieving,
that's for certain.

And another day
smoking and talking.

And if we're real lucky,

one more day of
dancing around and firing up
their courage, but...

But then for sure,

they'll paint those horses
and they'll ride.

Whoa!

What's best to do?

Run or fight?

Neither one.

That ain't the Sioux.
They're still back
over yonder.

What in the hell is that?

That's a nice big herd
of buffalo just feeding
as they go along.

Buffalo?

That's right, Mr. Tadlock.

What would you say if
we was to grow hair and hoofs
and join them, huh?

What are you
talking about?

Mix right in with 'em.

That way if nobody shoots
or shouts real loud,

we might have a chance.

SUMMERS: Those animals
will wipe out
all traces of our wagons.

We can travel right
on with 'em up to
the big pine country

where the Sioux
never ride.

You're sure, Mr. Summers?

Unless he's lost
or drunk or crazy.

Meanwhile, I'll see
if I can keep them busy.

Oh, you're never
gonna make it, Dick.

Oh, I don't intend
to do it alone.

I want you to
come with me, Lije.

We're gonna look alike
and we're gonna ride alike.

We're gonna
make 'em chase us
around in circles

till they
catch us or quit.

With Mr. Tadlock's
very kind permission,

we'll see if we can
go get ourselves killed.

You want to?

Come on.
Come on.

(WHOOPING)

(CHIMING)

Never known that a clock
could be scared before.

Not that I blame it.

(WHOOPING)

Go to it, Lije! Get!

(URGES HORSE)

Come on.

(WHOOPING)

(BABY WAILING)

(SHUSHES)

You want to
stampede them?

(SHUSHING)

Quiet.

Can I kill one
in the morning?

TADLOCK:
Maybe, if there's time.

(WHOOPING)

(MAN WHOOPING SHRILLY)

(NEIGHING)

(MOOING)

We'll camp right here.

I surprise you?

Smell like heaven,
don't they?

Mercy, they'll see us.

Oh, let 'em.

I hope their eyes
bug out as far as
their ugly noses.

Let's run away, Mr. Mack.

Where to?

Poor Mr. Mack,

going back to that
pinewood plank
you call your wife?

I sleep alone.

Mr. Mack,

I've been thinking
over and over
about that night.

I don't want to think
of heaven or hell.

You don't look
the same, Mr. Mack.

You look
a thousand years older.

It's no use, Mercy.

Understand?

No use.

Bye, then.

Bye, dear friend.

Hey, stop that,
you little idiot!

What's the matter
with you?

(MOOING)

(SCREAMS)

(THUDDING)

TADLOCK:
What do you think,
Sioux or Blackfeet?

Let me try
to do something.

I'll ride up there
and talk to them.

Give me some room,
will you?

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

You said
they would never
come this far.

Well, they've never
been known to.

Not in my lifetime
anyway.

(SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

That's the big chief
of the whole Sioux nation.

What does he want?

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

He wants justice.

We'll give him justice,
hey, Mr. Tadlock?

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

The Chief said
he had seven sons.

Now he has only six.

We killed the youngest.

(PEOPLE GASPING)

(MURMURING)

(SPEAKING
FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

He says
he may die of grief.

However, he wants
no blood of ours.
We may go unharmed.

But this is his son,
and he can't bury him,

until the boy
sees the man
who murdered him killed.

We're loaded
and ready to fight.

Tell 'em that, Captain.

Fight!
That's the word, fight!

TURLEY: Fight,
before they attack us.

What say, Mr. Summers?

I'm not your captain.

Mr. Tadlock, I think
you'll find, sir,

that there's not
a coward amongst us.

I am!

We got men to do
the fighting, not you!

Well, I got a man here
in my arms.

He can't fight, but I believe
he can manage to die.

No, no, we can't
give up any human.

(WAILING)

I guess we'll have to
fight, Dick.

All right, but some of us
are gonna have to settle

for a piece of ground
a little short of Oregon.

Mr. Summers, tell them
that we'll punish
the man ourselves,

and that in accordance
with our own rules,

he'll be hung by the neck
until he's dead.

Mr. Tadlock,

who are you gonna sacrifice
if no man here
admits to the killing?

Your son, Mr. Evans.

(PEOPLE MURMURING)

My son?

Your son,
who left the train
in violation

and brought the Sioux
down upon us.

(SCREAMS)

Hold it!
Hold it, hoss.

Yes, Mr. Evans, your son,

if the man who did
this killing doesn't step
up and confess.

No! No!

You try to take my boy
with your rules,
I'll bury you

right here
where we stand.

We shall see
who will live
and who will die.

What you're doing
is terrible cruel,
Mr. Tadlock.

Mr. Fairman,

you carry a shotgun?

It was a shotgun
that killed that Indian boy.

Well, do you carry
a shotgun?

No, sir. No, sir!

McBee, do you posses
s a shotgun?

No, sir.

No, sir!

Well, I see that
you carry
a shotgun, Masters.

Yes, sir.

Me and my sons
and five or six
other men.

Will every man
who owns a shotgun
please step forward.

Which one of you
has the courage
to admit to this...

This killing?

All right then,

if it must be,

it must be
the Evans boy.

Lije...
Damn you! Damn you!

AMANDA: Johnnie. Johnnie!

Johnnie, don't!

Johnnie,
that's my name.

Ain't it, Amanda?

Seems good
to hear it for once.

It weren't you.

It's 'cause of me.

But I don't want
you to die.

I want you to live.

He was with me
all that night.

All that night!

Every night.

Is that true, Mr. Mack?

No, sir.

I killed him.

Do we have any volunteers
to carry out the hanging?

No.

No. No.

Well, Mr. Mack,

that leaves
just you and me.

(INAUDIBLE)

All right, son.

I can't, Papa.

I can't.

Sometimes,

even if you can't,

you must.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(EXCLAIMS TRIUMPHANTLY)

MAN: Whoa, there.
Ho, ho!

(SCREAMS)

Whoa!

Ho, ho. Hold up.

Whoa, there! Whoa!

Mercy?

I ain't dead, am I?

No, I can see I ain't.

Didn't even bust a little finger.

She's all right, ma'am.

We'll catch up!

(SIGHS)

Think you could learn
to hate me, Mercy?

It'd help me tremendous.

Hate you?

I don't know.

I hadn't thought about it.

I could, I suppose.

If I tried.

Oh, Mercy.

(SHUSHING)

Mercy.

I'm most desperate
in love with you.

I'd marry you a million times
if I thought
you'd say yes just once.

Marriage?

Lord, Brownie,
marriage is for
married folk.

I'll talk to the preacher
as soon as I can,
and your folks and mine.

If they say no,

I'll do it anyway.

Brave boy.

But there's just one person
you can't marry without.

And that's me.

Would you tell me
why not?

'Cause I...

I don't
love you, Brownie.

Criminy, wish I could
say the same.

But I...

I'd marry you
even so, Brownie,

'cause I...

I'm carrying
a dead man's child.

(SOBBING)

You all right, hoss?

Nothing wrong with me.

I'm going crazy,
that's all, and don't try to stop me.

Oh, I never tried
to stop anybody
from doing anything.

That's about
the only principle
I've got.

Women.

That's what's
driving me crazy.

That's been known
to happen
once or twice.

It is rare, though.

Mr. Summers,

supposing there's a girl and a man
aimed to marry her.

That's a pitiful case.

But he found out
something about her,

which is

she'd have a baby which wasn't his.

Now how in the world
would he find out
a thing like that?

She told me.

Do you mean to tell me
you've been talking about
yourself all this time?

Yes, sir.

Brownie, you astonish me.

That ain't all.

She said she'd marry me
if I ask her,

but don't expect her to love me.

Said it with tears
in her eyes,
Mr. Summers.

Sounds like
a right smart
honest girl.

Can you get along
without her?

I tried, but I don't feel
I ever could, Mr. Summers.

Well, in that case,
you answered yourself.

How so?

Seems to me a gal
needs a husband.

She could make out
like she liked you

instead of saying
she didn't know.

But a baby?

A baby ain't too hard
to take up with,
no matter whose it is.

But she didn't
have to tell you
about that, now did she?

Did she?
She didn't have to
tell you at all.

Here.

You'd better hang onto
this for a while.

It brought me luck
in love, anyway.

It does stretch on.

You'll find forever.

It's all right, Mr. Summers,
I've known for quite a while.

Known what?

That you're
going blind, sir.

But you'll see to take us
through to Fort Hall

and on to Oregon.

Of that I'm certain.

Where do we cross, Dick?

Well, the best way
is to follow the edge.

It meanders,
but there's good water
and plenty of it

end of each day's march.

You're thinking of
something else.

It ain't easy,
Mr. Tadlock,

not even for hardcase
hunters and
light-packed horses.

But with oxen and wagons
and farmers
and town-livers, it's...

It's a terrible chance.

But you do know
another way.

(SIGHS)

There's a shortcut
right straight through
the heart of it.

Yeah, do you think
we could make it?

There's no water.
There's not one
single place to drink.

for man or beast.

What will we save?

It's a world of
sand, remember.

Days that are sunstroke-hot,

and nights that
are snow-cold.
You think about that

Mr. Summers,
what will we save?

Oh, a week, maybe more.

By God, I'd give my soul
for a week.

All right, get ready
to move on now.
Get those oxen up.

(NEIGHING)

Papa,

why did you take it
away from me?

What, son?

My bugle.

It's where you left it,
in the back of the buggy.

Can I go get it?

Maybe tomorrow.

Maybe tomorrow
I'll let you drive the buggy.

I know, Papa.

A drop at a time.

Why are we in
the middle of this? Why?

'Cause Tadlock wants it.

If you're so much against it,
why don't you
do something about it?

What are we
stopping for?

What's wrong?

By God, there it is.

Look, Mr. Summers, look!

Look, you brought
us to water.

And not a soul lost.

Everybody! Water!

Water!

Water!

Water!

(ALL CHATTERING)

(URGING HORSES)

(PLAYING)

Come on, Pa!

(WHINNYING)

Papa!

Billy, jump!

SUMMERS: We had to
destroy all traces.

The wolves would dig it up,
or thieving Indians
looking for scalps.

I'm sorry, Mr. Tadlock.

I can always come back
and find it for you
any time you want.

Whip me.

Sir?

Lay that whip
across my back.

But, sir...

Do it, damn you!

Do as I say.

Yes, sir.

(PEOPLE CHEERING)

(WHOOPING)

There it is,
Fort Hall.

Now you can rest
your bottom.

(CHUCKLING)

Fort Hall!

MRS. FAIRMAN: Glory be.

We're there, Mama.

LITTLE HENRY:
Hooray for Fort Hall!

BIG HENRY:
Fort Hall, here we come!

Will you, Mercy?

(SOBBING)
It just ain't fair
to you, Brownie.

.
It ain't fair to you

You don't have to cry
on account
I want to marry you.

You'll make
a right smart wife.

And you don't have to
love me back now.

You'll learn to.

And if you don't,

I can always shoot myself
and die famous.

MAN: Fort Hall!

BROWNIE: Come on, Mercy.
Fort Hall.

(ALL EXCLAIMING)

Fort Hall!

(ALL CHEERING)

(WHISTLING)

(BAGPIPES PLAYING)

Colonel, how are you?

Mr. Summers.
It's been a long time.

Colonel Grant of the
Hudson's Bay Company,

this is Senator Tadlock
of the Oregon Company.

Sir.
How do you do, sir?

Whatever I have in Fort Hall
is at your instant disposal.

Thank you, sir.

Stay as long
as you like.

The longer, the better.

The fact of the matter is,
I offer 50 English pounds

and a pair of willing mules
to any family that will
settle right here forever.

On behalf of
the Oregon Liberty Train,

I thank you
for your generosity.

But we'll be leaving
in the morning.

In the morning?

(ALL MURMURING)

How do?

Mr. Tadlock, sir,

I'd like you to
meet my father-in-law.

Oh, how do you do?

Senator.

Dearly beloved,

we are gathered here
in the sight of God,
in the face of this company,

to join together
this man
and this woman.

How old are you, Brownie?

Old enough, preacher.
Now go on and marry me.

If any man can show
just reason

why this young couple
should not
be joined together,

let him now speak
or forever hold his peace.

AMANDA: It's blasphemy!

Step forward, woman.

Well, come on, Mrs. Mack,
speak your piece.

The girl is pregnant,
Mr. Evans.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

How would you know,
Mrs. Mack?

Ask her to deny it.

I don't deny nothing.

No, she don't.

And I don't.

I'm the father, Mama.

I'm the father!

What?

Now get on and marry us
before everyone here
dies of thirst.

Mercy McBee
and Brownie Evans,

in the name of the Father
and the Son
and the Holy Ghost,

I now pronounce you
man and wife. Amen.

I said "amen." You're married.
You can kiss her,
even if you have before.

Thanks, Pa.

Congratulations, Mr. Evans.
Thank you.

You got a good man, Mercy.
Congratulations.

He's a good man.

I've knowed him
since the day he was born.

I just hope, Mercy,
that...

That you're as
lucky as me.

Thank you, sir.

Brought me all the luck
I'm ever gonna need.

I knew it, son.

They're all part Injun.

Go on.

(BAGPIPES PLAYING LIVELY TUNE)

Now don't despair.

No other wagon train
ever tried to get through
to Oregon before,

and that's where
they were smart.

Who's paying you, Caleb?

Yes, siree!
I been to Oregon.

It's not too bad.

Along the way,
my good companion cut off his leg

and parboiled it, boot and all.

Ate it for supper.

Course,
he was half Indian.

I said, who's paying you, Caleb?

Well, it may be a hard way
to Oregon,
but what about California?

GREENWOOD: Truth of
the fact is, I don't want
you fellers in California.

Oh, there's room,
but it ain't fitting.

I mean, you're altogether so
lean, dry and hungry.

Everything in California is so fat
and ripe and juicy.

I don't believe
you'd like it.

Well, it sounds
mighty appetizing.
Tell us more about it.

Mr. Masters,

your signature's affixed
to a document
in my possession.

You're all signed
to go to Oregon.

Signed?
I'll sign anything.

If it ain't written
in holy Irish,
it ain't legal anyhow.

And if I choose
to go to California,

I'll go to California.

(CHUCKLES GLEEFULLY)

Well, I can't
stop you, can I?

Go on, Mr. Greenwood.

Spin out your lies,
so I can see
where they catch.

Gold, Mr. Tadlock.

There's a lake
in California
of pure gold.

That there is just
a little boulder
off of the bottom.

Gold. Fool's gold.

I'd like to see you
prove that ain't gold.

If it were gold,
would I throw it away?

Well, Mr. Turley,
will you be ready to leave
in the morning?

No, no, sir.

Nor can you make me, sir.

It's my wife.
Yes?

She's ailing.

She should never
have come, Mr. Tadlock.

I'm sorry, Mr. Turley.

Senator,

were you expecting
to leave in the morning?

I doubt there'll be many
who'll go on with you.

I appreciate your concern,
Colonel Grant.

Now if there's anything
I can do to help you,

don't hesitate to ask.

There is something,
Colonel Grant.

A sick woman
needs tending.

Of course,
what's wrong with her?

Smallpox.

Pox?

She seems to be
the only one
at the moment.

(SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Your people
must go immediately.

I don't want them in the fort.
What do you mean?

Ten years back,
it killed off two out of
every three Blackfeet.

Six years ago, it wiped out
the entire Mandan nation.

Get your people out. Fast.
Unless you want a massacre.

Hear! Hear!

Listen, listen, listen to me
I have something
to say to you!

You must leave, all of you.
There's smallpox among you.

(MUSIC STOPS)

ALL: Smallpox?

(ALL CHATTERING WORRIEDLY)

Smallpox?
Who's got the pox?

It ain't true!
Who is it?

Now try to stay calm.
Please.

GRANT: All of you,
while there's still time!

What is he talking about?
Who has the pox?

TADLOCK: Mrs. Turley.

(WOMEN SCREAMING)

All right, everybody
to your wagons.
To your wagons!

We must leave
immediately.

Find Brownie.
Hitch up the team.

Start moving
or we'll all be massacred!

Come on!

TADLOCK: We must leave
immediately.

Lighten all wagons!

MAN: Lighten the load!

McBee, didn't you get
the word? Unload!

I got nothing.

Well, get that nothing
off your wagon.

Well, they're my fortune,
these peach trees.

My whole life.
I can't do it.

Well, I can.

It's like killing a child.

Damn it! God damn it!

I wish he was my husband.
I'd hound him in his grave!

MAN: Push, push!

Get up in here!
Get up! Get up in here!

(WHISTLES)

(URGES HORSE)

Get up in here!
Get up in here!

Good to see you,
Mrs. Turley.

Mr. Summers.

(URGES HORSE)

Let's go!

Where you been?

Turleys are moving up
to join us.

Mrs. Turley's ailing
with the smallpox.

She never had the smallpox.

Then what was
Tadlock braying about?

He lied.

Come on.

(URGING HORSES)

TADLOCK: Throw off
everything you can!

Keep only what you need
to stay alive!

(CLOCK CHIMING)

LIJE: Get up there!

TADLOCK: Mr. Evans,
hold up there.

Get it off.

It's my wife's
inheritance.

Then let her be rid of it.

I told you it was...

.
Let him have
the damn clock, Lije

Get it off.

Give me
the clock, Brownie.

(CHIMING)

The Evanses ain't gonna do
what he says no more.

Start 'em up, Beck.

Giddap, mule.
Giddyup! Come on, mule!

Giddap. Giddap, mule.
Giddyup!

(GRUNTING)

Well, you're strong enough
hoss. You just ain't brainy.

(CHUCKLES)

I'm learning.

(GRUNTS)

That's enough, Lije.

Come on.
Come on, Lije.

Now you did
what was needful
and that's enough.

We're very glad.
You're great.

Let me fix your face.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Lije!

(WOMAN SCREAMS)

(CLAMORING)

Hang him!
Hang him the way
he hanged Mr. Mack!

Let he who has
raised his hand
with murder in his heart,

let him be put to death!

No. No, Lije,
they mustn't.

You stinking
dirt farmers.

Ragtag mongrel immigrants!

And I picked you
to make into a colony?

Does anyone here
have the courage to come up
here and hang me?

Step up!

Now what about you,
Captain Evans?

Do you have the courage
to come up here and do it?

Or must I take this rope
in my own two hands
and do it myself?

Must I?

There's been enough.

Let him go.

You coward.

You coward!

You're cowards!
You're cowards!

You're all cowards!

(SOBBING)

TADLOCK: Saunders.

Yes, sir?

I tried to make men
out of them.

You was wrong, sir.

What's that?

You can't get nothing
with a whip,

on yourself or
nobody else either.

LIJE: Dick, do you think
maybe we could go around?

SUMMERS: Before we got
to the Willamette Valley,

we'd all be dead
under the snows.

LIJE: Well,

I guess we could
lower the wagons by rope.

Animals, too.

Well, I'm ready, Captain.

Now who picked you
to go first?

Me, Moynihan,
that's who.

I want the Irish
to have the honor
of placing the first foot.

in that grisly place of deliverance.

Ready?

All right, let her down!

Easy now.

Easy.

(ALL CHEERING)

Beats being drunk,
don't it?

(WOMAN SCREAMS)

Hold it!

I know it can work.

I just hate to take
another chance.

MASTERS: Lije...

What do you want here?

I want to go on.
Lower my outfit.

I'll pay good wages.

You'll have to
ask 'em yourself.

I'm for California.
Head south.

We could go back
to the fort, maybe.

Yes, and let them
see your wife

as healthy as she be.
MAN: Right!

Mr. Summers, do you think
they'd take us in?

You've got
that smallpox mark
on your wagons.

They'd meet you with fire.

(PEOPLE CHATTERING)

Thank you, Saunders.
FAIRMAN: Now hold on,

let's hear from Lije.
MAN: Right.

Well, Lije, it's for you
to say.

What do you think to do?

Well, it's no matter
of my own feelings.

It ain't for me to say
a body's to live or die.

The man said
ain't no wagon train

ain't never made it
to Oregon.

We have to at least try.

Lije.

Lije, look at this.
What is it?

Well, it's a city.

A city that ain't
been built yet.

You see here, Lije,
is the US post office,
and here's the opera house.

And all the streets
come together,
here at the grand plaza,

where the parades
go marching
down the avenues.

And the children
will play in the park,

covered against
the rain
by a crystal roof.

Such could be Oregon, Lije.

Where'd you get this?

It's Mr. Tadlock's,

his vision of
what could be.

Here, you'd best have it.

It's no good to me now.

A city can't be built
by one man
any more than

one man can whip
a wagon train
to Oregon.

If any of you people
go to California,
or back to the fort now,

that's the end of
the Oregon Liberty Train.

Take all of you,

working together to get
those wagons and oxen

down to that river road
to Oregon.

How far to
the Willamette Valley?

From up here,
I don't know.

But from down there,
30 miles flat.

Yeah.

I can't speak
for the others,

but Becky and me,

we think
to go with you.

(CHATTERING)

LIJE: Steady does it.

Easy now, easy.

Hang on, mule.

Hey... Hey, look at that
.
Hang on.

(WHINNYING)

Trying to get away.

MAN: Over here.
Lend a hand
with the wagon, boy.

Come on. Come on.

Flag them down.

All right,
come on, Becky.

We ain't had this much fun
since the county fair
at Ashland.

Yeah, but that
was Kentucky!

(PEOPLE APPLAUDING)

Tell Ma
I'll be down directly.

MERCY: Be careful, Brownie.

(EXCLAIMS)

(MOOING)

Get off your bottoms
and hitch up those wagons!

We still got
three hours of daylight

and the Oregon Liberty Train
keeps moving!

Now, let's start rolling!

Come on,
Mr. Tadlock!

We'll get moving.

No laggards on
the Oregon train!

Hooray for Oregon!

(ALL CHEERING)

I did it for you!

(LAUGHS)

Now you're done with him.
You're done with the devil!

And make those
left behind

know thy healing ways
with the passage of time.

Amen.

Amen.
Amen.

Amen.
Amen.

Brownie.

Thank you, Mercy.

Drink slow now,
you been sweating.

You know, sometimes
I think I just changed
one mother for another one.

Don't say that.

Almost as pretty, too.

Brownie,

I'm beginning to like you.

In 10 or 20 years,

I might even
grow passionately
fond of you.

Don't look away
from me, Brownie.

Oh, Mercy.

Make the sun
go down, Mercy.

Make it go down
right now.

It will.

Soon.

You know, Dick,

you could have a home
with us just as long
as you wanted.

And double welcome.

I've found
my own paradise, Lije,
thank you very much.

You go on to yours,
I'll go to mine.

It ain't easy for a man
to live alone.

At my age,
nothing comes easy.

Those Blackfoot women,

they've got the longest ha
and the softest,
warmest hearts

either side of
the Bay River and hell.

Is that a fact?

Well, maybe
I'll come with you.

But damn it, Dick,
what about your eyes?

How are you gonna see or d
what you're gonna do?

Well, I've got me
a few dim years left.

After that, I'll get myself
a couple of young wives,

a fishing pole,
and make camp
alongside the waterfall.

You know, for a smart man,

you ain't got
a lick of sense.

Not a speck.

I'll talk to you about it in the morning.

Pa.

I know.

That's what
he wanted, son.

Can't change that
in a person.

Come on.

There you go.

%% Write their names
on the mountains

%% Write their names
across the sky

%% Write their names
in giant letters

%% Ten thousand feet high

Hooray for Oregon!

%% So the world will remember

%% And their memories
will be blessed

%% That Liberty Train
to Oregon

%% The train
that took the way west %%

---the end---