NARRATOR: If the land belonged to anybody, it belonged to him.
But by 1876, a number of claimants had pushed into his territory,
made their marks, come and gone.
The Arapaho, Lame Beaver,
Pasquinel and McKeag, the trappers,
and Pasquinel's half-breed sons.
Others, like the pioneers Levi Zendt, had planted new roots.
But two new groups were fighting for domination of the land now:
the men who wanted to harness the river,
and irrigate the fields they plowed,
and the men who needed water for the stock that grazed the open range.
The farmers were led by a stubborn German from the Volga named Hans Brumbaugh,
and the cattlemen, by the Englishman, Oliver Seccombe,
who had established the great Venneford Ranch
with longhorns driven north from Texas
by John Skimmerhorn and R.J. Poteet.
It was a time of change and celebration.
Colorado, the nation's 38th state,
was admitted to the Union on the nation's 100th birthday.
The Union Pacific linked the town to the markets in the East.
And the village, founded 32 years before by Levi Zendt,
got a new name, Centennial.
The next five years was a time of growing hope, and growing hatred.
(GUNSHOTS)
Summer, 1881.
Martin, is your papa home?
Yes, sir. He's inside.
What happened here?
Ah, a bunch of drunks went a little crazy last night.
They were not drunks.
Morning, Mr. Brumbaugh. Clemma.
They were drunks. They were celebrating.
What? Who knows, who cares? They were having fun.
It's more than most people can do around this place.
How much lead you got in stock, Levi?
Hello, Hans. You say lead?
Bullets. Buckshot.
I'll take a look at your rifles, too.
It's time my family all learned how to use a gun.
Hold on, now. What's eating at you?
Otto Kraenzel's dead.
How?
Gunned down, plowing his field.
Oh, Hans.
"Oh, Hans, oh, Hans."
Does that surprise you, Lucinda?
It was bound to happen.
Kraenzel, me, some other farmer.
Seccombe wants every bit of ground in Colorado for his damn cows!
No. Seccombe's not behind this.
He's not even here, is he, Levi?
No! No, he's in Omaha.
Who says he has to be here? Hired killers come cheap.
What about Otto's wife and children?
They got out. They've gone to Denver to sell the place.
Within two days, you hear what I say? It'll be Venneford property.
Hans, it's not Seccombe's way.
You gonna let me look at the guns, or do I have to go to Denver?
Hans...
Levi, when I was a young man, I fought Cossacks who took away
what my father had made for himself.
When I first came to this country, I bought a farm from a man in Illinois
who didn't own it, and the sheriff threw me off it.
But I won't leave this place because some damned Englishman wants it.
It's not a war, Hans.
It's a war as old as the first family.
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
And Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and slew him.
Now is that what you intend to do?
Is that why you want me to sell you guns and ammunition?
Levi, I didn't start this shooting, your side did.
My side?
You helped him get the land he needed to start his scheme.
And I sold you the land to get you started, too.
Now, there's room for everyone.
There was room for everyone,
until you helped Seccombe control six million acres!
Six million?
Check the land office in Denver. I did.
Well, you think about it.
Better than that, you get your hat, and you come with me, Levi.
I want you to see something.
There. That's the last of them.
It's Lost Eagle.
BRUMBAUGH: The Arapaho chief,
wearing a silly turkey feather, and being run off his own land.
Doesn't that make you think?
Didn't that even make you think, when the people in town changed the name you gave it,
to Centennial?
It's a good idea, Hans. The country's had a birthday...
I know the country's had a birthday, and the state's been born,
but why does that mean everything has to change?
What's wrong with Zendt's Farm? I liked it fine.
Well, you're a farmer. I never liked it much.
Everyone I ever knew with that name was stingy, or ornery, downright mean.
Except my mother. And she was born a Spreichert.
Anyway, I don't see the connection.
Progress, Levi. Progress.
Man tramples over what he thinks he doesn't need any more.
He chops it down, he grinds it up, he throws it away,
even if it's his fellow men.
I'm saying I'm not gonna pack up and leave like Lost Eagle.
Well, he fought once, too.
And maybe he should have died in that fight,
instead of riding off on that broken-down horse,
wearing that silly turkey feather, and that stupid hat.
Hans.
Mr. Zendt, Mr. Zendt.
Excuse me, Mr. Zendt. Those Indians, what are they?
Arapaho. The last of the Arapaho.
They headed some place else to live?
Mmm-hmm, a reservation in the north.
They're not living, they're dead.
Sir?
They died making peace. Hans.
You one of those Texans that came up here with Mr. Skimmerhorn?
Yes, sir.
Hans, this is Jim Lloyd.
This is Mr. Brumbaugh, Jim. He owns a farm down on the Platte.
Howdy.
Mr. Brumbaugh's a little concerned about the amount of cattle you've been breeding.
I'm concerned about the man he works for.
I work for John Skimmerhorn, and he's a good man.
You draw your pay from Venneford, you take your orders from Seccombe.
Skimmerhorn does, too.
Well, sir, I don't know Mr. Seccombe too well,
but if Mr. Skimmerhorn says he's all right, he's all right.
I think so, too.
You mark my words, Levi Zendt. That man wants it all.
He wants to change everything.
Now, Hans, you don't know that.
I know, and you know, and this boy here knows.
Unless we fight back, it's all gonna change.
I never heard nothing about any fight, Mr. Brumbaugh.
Well, you're hearing it now. And you can tell Seccombe like I told him before.
I won't be driven off like them. Look at them.
They were here for centuries.
They loved this land more than anybody, depended on it,
and always tried to give back what they got from it.
Look what happened to them.
Say, friend, I got me some prime buffalo hides here.
Do you know any buyers around town?
Calendar?
Nate Person.
Well, my Lord, look at him.
I'll be damned.
Where have you been?
I haven't seen you since the Venneford drive.
Oh, here, there, roundabout, you know me, Nate.
Yeah, yeah.
Are you still with Mr. Poteet?
Oh, no, no, no.
I got throwed too many times off of too many old horses.
I figured I'd better quit while I could still see straight.
I got me a little livery stable over there by the hotel, yeah.
I got my wife with me, my daughter, my two boys.
Well, good.
You remember... You remember Jim Lloyd?
Sure.
Yeah, well, he's on high horn, up there at the Venneford place.
Yeah, he's working for Mr. Skimmerhorn.
No. Yeah.
Bufe Coker's up there, too.
Coker? Yeah.
But how about you, Amos? What have you been doing with yourself?
Well, I just got back from a buffalo hunt with a fellow named Fogle.
Buffalo?
Well, kind of a shame to see them old boys go, ain't too many left around.
Well, it don't pay too bad.
Amos.
How would you like to make yourself a real living?
Doing what?
Well, now,
I know a man says he's gonna be needing a couple of hands in a few days.
Might be hard work. Might even be dangerous.
Nate, it's beginning to sound better and better all the time.
(TRAIN WHISTLE)
(TRAIN BELL CLANGING)
Yeah, old train's right on time.
Mmm-hmm.
Now, there should be someone here to meet us. There's John.
Mr. Seccombe. Welcome home.
Come over here, John, I want you to meet our guests.
A major stockholder from England, Mr. Henry Buckland.
Mr. John Skimmerhorn, my foreman.
You live in an amazing country, Mr. Skimmerhorn.
Mr. Buckland's daughter, Charlotte.
How do you do?
This is one of our hands, Miss Buckland, Jim Lloyd.
Uh, be careful with this.
Careful. All right, you got it, Jim?
There we go.
SKIMMERHORN: Mr. Seccombe?
Uh, I didn't wanna say anything in front of the others,
but, well, the fact is,
we've had a little trouble here since you've been gone.
A farmer named Kraenzel was gunned down,
and Potato Brumbaugh is going around saying it's the start of a range war.
He says the cattlemen will be after his land next.
He told Levi Zendt that he figures you're behind it.
Potato Brumbaugh is the biggest fool in the Union.
Well, I just thought you ought to know about Kraenzel.
I did know.
His widow put the farm on the market in Denver. My lawyer wired me.
We own it now.
I see.
John, I heard about a bargain, and took advantage of it.
You should know me better than to think I'd ever condone a killing.
Friend, excuse me.
I don't suppose you'd know where a man can get a room in this two-bit town?
Try the Railway Arms across the street.
After that, I figured I was stove-up enough. I didn't see no need...
In front of the hotel. Ain't that the Pettis boys?
You mean to tell me Frank and Orvid ain't been strung up yet?
Wonder what they're doing in these parts.
Last I heard, they was in Wyoming, killing farmers.
Well, one thing's for sure. They didn't come down for the scenery. They been hired.
Somebody in Centennial's planning a murder.
(CRICKETS CHIRPING)
Anybody hungry?
(ALL CHATTERING)
Otto, honey, you eat that. Thank you!
Give me yours, Clara.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
Who's there?
It's John Skimmerhorn, Mr. Brumbaugh.
You alone?
I'm with him. Jim Lloyd.
You ride quiet, Mr. Skimmerhorn.
Maybe you eat noisy, Mr. Brumbaugh.
Maybe so, maybe so. Come in.
Thank you.
SKIMMERHORN: Evening. LLOYD: Evening.
Clara, bring two extra plates.
No, thank you, Mrs. Brumbaugh, we really can't stay.
We just came over to... Well...
To what?
We've been talking to Levi Zendt, Mr. Brumbaugh,
and he told us how upset you were about Mr. Kraenzel.
I am upset about Otto Kraenzel, everyone should be upset.
Yes, sir, we are.
Anyway, we just wanted to assure you
that nobody at the Venneford Ranch had anything to do with that shooting.
Now, we may disagree over the fences, but...
Do you know your boss already bought the Kraenzel farm?
Yes, he told me that,
and he swore to me that he heard about it by accident.
And you believe it?
(HORSES WHINNYING)
SKIMMERHORN: I believe that sometimes you have to trust people.
The barn's on fire! The horses!
(GUNSHOT)
Douse the lights!
Cover me.
I'll go with you.
Sweet Sunday, Mr. Brumbaugh, don't you trust us yet?
(HORSES NEIGHING)
(GUNSHOT)
How's your shooting?
Fair. Okay,
I got two seconds to get this off. You cover me.
Orvid! Let's go! Come on, Orvid!
(HORSES WHINNYING)
We'll buy more horses. We'll build another barn,
no matter how many times they burn us down.
No matter how many times they burn us down.
Well, it isn't exactly London, or even Bristol,
but we'll do our best to make your stay comfortable.
Well, I think you've done wonders way out here in the wilderness.
I must thank Mrs. Seccombe for the lovely flowers in my room.
There is no Mrs. Seccombe, Miss Buckland,
but I'll pass your compliments on to the housekeeper.
Oh, do, please.
(KNOCK AT DOOR)
Excuse me.
John, where have you been? I'm expecting you for dinner.
I lost my appetite.
What's happened?
Well, we've just been over to Brumbaugh's place.
Us, and a couple of night riders, and about 100 rounds of ammunition.
Come in.
All right, tell me about it.
Well, Jim said it all. Night riders.
They fired the barn, burned four horses to death, and shot up the house.
Anyone killed? No.
But I'll never know why.
There's two of 'em, Mr. Seccombe.
I heard one man call the other one "Orvid."
The only man I know with a name like that is Frank Pettis' brother.
Hired killers.
What is this country coming to?
Good question.
Well, at least you were both there to give him a hand.
Naturally, we'll help rebuild his barn, give him everything he needs.
Provided, of course, that he intends to stay.
Mr. Seccombe, you couldn't get rid of that man with dynamite.
I'm not trying to get rid of him, John.
No, sir. No, sir, I was using the "you" in a general sense.
Well, I'll get some men together tomorrow,
and we'll go over and help him rebuild the barn.
SECCOMBE: Wait, no.
Mr. Buckland wants to go and visit the line camps tomorrow, I'll need you along.
John, are you sure you wouldn't like to join us for dinner?
I'm sure.
Line Camp Four. Oh.
CHARLOTTE: How absolutely majestic.
Now this is the Colorado I've always dreamed about.
We're in Wyoming, Miss Buckland.
Well, that's what comes of underestimating an American ranch.
How many acres do you say we have, again, Mr. Skimmerhorn?
Oh, well, there's about six million acres, ma'am.
Six million acres.
Indeed, it's a wonder we're not in Alaska.
Giddap!
SKIMMERHORN: And then, in the spring, we round up the calves,
and we bring them here for branding.
Well, it's all most impressive. Most impressive.
I'm sure Lord Venneford will be just as enthusiastic about this as I am,
after he hears my report.
The question is, will Finlay be enthusiastic?
Finlay?
Yeah, Finlay Perkin.
Finlay is... How do I explain Finlay?
Oh, you can't explain Finlay,
all you can do is accept him, like the weather.
He's Lord Venneford's head clerk. Scotsman.
Rather plodding, very stubborn.
One feeds Finlay all one's information,
and then waits for the final decision.
For instance, he has given me a list of the cattle you purchased, Seccombe,
and he's asked me to make sure that it's all here.
How?
I beg your pardon?
Well, Mr. Buckland, the Good Lord himself wouldn't know
where all those cattle are at this moment, or how many.
I don't understand.
Here are two purchases from L.D. Kane of Wyoming.
11,000 head.
That's book count.
It means that Mr. Kane assumed there were that many cattle, and that I accepted it.
I mean, after all, they were on the open range, they were not penned up.
But damnation, man!
John, explain it to him, will you?
Uh, John is much better at this than I am, he'll fill you in.
Thank you, lad.
SKIMMERHORN: Uh, now you see, Mr. Kane's 11,000 figure is an approximation.
There were two purchases, one for 5,000, and one for 6,000.
Now, the way it happens, they bring the cattle into the pen, they're not counted.
The man says, "I have 5,000," and he's an honorable man, and you believe him.
The other man says, "I have 4,000," and he's an honorable man, and you believe him.
So, you put them together, that makes 9,000, you pay the man your money,
and then you do business a month later.
(COW MOOING)
Don't look so worried.
I'm not worried, Miss Buckland.
Charlotte.
(SIGHS)
How I envy you.
On a day like this, I wish I could stay forever.
You know, I've always found cattle absolutely fascinating.
I've noticed in England, the wise farmers build their stock
from young cows and proven bulls,
I suppose they do the same...
I believe you're blushing.
Well, I hope you didn't think that I meant...
Unfortunately, Charlotte, I'm not a proven bull,
just an old one.
Well, that's ridiculous, you're not in the least old.
There. Isn't that beautiful?
Oh, Clemma, beautiful ain't the word.
Jim, don't, people will see.
There's no one around, come on.
Clemma! Clemma, talk to me.
I do talk to you, I talk to you all the time.
I mean, talk to me about us.
Oh, Clemma, Clemma, I love you so much.
I've loved you since the first second I saw you.
I love you so much, I could just retch.
(CHUCKLING) Well, don't do it here.
You know what's wrong with you?
You don't know your own mind.
Somebody ought to make you marry me.
I'd like to see somebody try it.
Here, have some of Papa's whiskey, that'll calm you down.
You do drink, don't you?
Sure I drink.
I'll bet you don't. Let's both have one.
Clemma.
Oh, I forgot. Indians aren't supposed to drink,
not in this town.
All they're supposed to do in this town, is mind their manners,
and step off the sidewalk when a white man comes walking down the street.
Clemma, put it down. Put it down! Clemma, put it...
LEVI (TO HORSES): Whoa!
Mr. Zendt?
Uh, Mr. Zendt, you've known me for quite a while now.
You know I got a good job at the Venneford,
and I got a little money saved up.
Mr. Zendt, I wanna marry your daughter.
I see.
And, uh, what does my daughter say to that?
She won't take me serious.
Well, Jim, she's very young, and besides, she...
Ma'am, can't you reason with her?
Why, I'd marry her tomorrow if I could.
What's the matter?
Why, that bubble-head ain't about to marry you, or anybody else.
She's going to St. Louis.
To get an education, the way I did, Jim.
She won't be gone long, just two years. She'll be back.
Two years.
What a lovely day this has been. Thank you, Oliver.
Well, I hope it wasn't too tiring.
Not all. But then, I'm so much younger than you.
Thank you again.
Well, the rest of you can stand here gabbling all night,
I'm going off to bed.
I still don't understand your book count, Skimmerhorn,
but we'll talk about it in the morning, eh?
Yes, sir. Good night.
Good night.
Uh, good night.
Charlotte? You coming?
Good night.
John, this list he has of our cattle purchases,
how many head does it claim we own?
Just over 42,000 head.
And what's the actual count?
Rough estimation.
25,000.
John, I've never diverted one cent of Venneford money into my own pocket.
I know that, sir.
They've always demanded cash dividends, even when there weren't any.
I've had to buy outside cows and sell them in Chicago, as our own cattle.
It's kept them satisfied,
helped me improve the ranch, extend it.
I know you'll never betray me, John,
but I do wish you had a more grayish outlook.
It's not easy to work with a man who sees everything in black and white.
Well, sir, it's not easy being a man who sees everything in black and white.
Good night, sir.
Good night, John.
(DOOR OPENING)
LEVI: Hans.
Hans.
I heard about the barn. It's terrible, I'm sorry.
But, you know, half the people in town want to help you raise a new one.
I don't need help, and I don't need people. I'm here to buy horses.
Hey, Bufe, hold on.
Here's a fellow knows all about horses.
Remember Bufe Coker?
Oh, sure he does. How you doing, Mr. Brumbaugh?
So, uh, haven't seen you around, Bufe. How you been?
Oh, I've been all right, I guess.
Lost my place out to Venneford.
They're cutting down some.
Oh, sorry to hear that.
It's all right, I guess.
I hear Nate Person's got something for me,
probably working in a livery stable.
Well, you ought to go and get your horses.
So, tell me what happened, Hans.
Who do you think it was?
(PIANO PLAYING)
Howdy, Jim.
Bufe, how are ya?
Calendar? Amos Calendar!
(LAUGHING) I've been great.
How you doing? I'll be damned.
Sit down there, South Calinky.
Just like the old Skimmerhorn trail crew again, ain't it?
How you doing, Nate?
Uh, pretty good, boy. How are you?
Oh, I guess I'll live, if you two fellows buy me a drink.
You're gonna need one.
You're not alone here, Hans. You've got friends. I count myself one of them.
I don't need friends straddling the fence, Levi.
You gotta get on one side or the other.
No, Hans, I'll tell you what I've gotta do,
I've gotta tear down the fence.
Now, I haven't figured out a way yet,
but maybe if you help me on it, we can do it together.
One thing's for sure, fighting isn't the way.
I hear you looking for a job.
Well, if you're gonna offer me one.
Two. He already roped me in.
Well, shoot.
I never rightly know how to put this.
Come on, Nate. You know I don't much like shooting women and kids,
and I don't like whipping little dogs. Ain't much else I wouldn't do.
Some folks might think this is worse than a whipping,
or murder.
There's a man I know who says he's gonna be needing a couple of hands.
I figure that's me, you, Calendar.
(PEOPLE CHATTERING)
Holy Moses.
Let me think on this a little.
Give me a fresh one, will you?
Need another?
What I need is a new throat. How did you learn to drink this stuff?
Hey, Louie, bring the child a nice glass of warm milk.
Who you calling a child?
You know when this child killed his first man?
He was riding north on the Skimmerhorn Trail with R.J. Poteet
when he was 16.
Oh, now, stop it, sport, you scaring me to death.
Oh, yeah? Well, what's this do for you?
(SCREAMING)
Well, look at that, they even fight each other.
(WOMAN SCREAMING)
All right, that's enough!
What'd I say?
Put it down!
I said, that's all.
You ain't down in the Nations now. You're in a civilized American state.
What's more, you're in my town.
Long as you stay here, you're gonna obey the law.
You hear?
They could hear you in Toledo, Axel.
Well, why didn't you bust that up, Levi?
I can't come running over here every time they're having a fight,
I got more important things to do.
Like what? Arresting the Pettis boys?
When the Pettis boys commit a crime, they'll get arrested.
You don't consider barn-burning a crime?
Farmer's barn, anyway.
Brumbaugh.
Well, I consider it a crime, and it ain't gonna happen again.
And you can tell that to your cattleman friends.
I'm here, and I'm gonna stay here.
And when the smoke settles, it ain't gonna be me laying on the ground dead.
Not me. Not me.
Whoa.
Papa.
Where are all the field workers?
Gone. Last of 'em left this morning.
You said the Germans were the best workers you ever saw. What happened?
What always happens. They want their own land.
Couldn't you stop 'em?
You didn't help 'em, did you?
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Well, I signed a few mortgages.
Well, when a man wants his own land, he ought to be able to buy it.
Thanks for the water, son.
Here, where are you going?
To work, with you.
What about school?
I don't need school, I'm a farmer.
You're going to be a lawyer, and you do need school.
Papa...
Now, son, you listen to me.
The man who knows the farm controls the crops,
but the man who knows the law controls the river, and the land,
the Venneford.
I think Seccombe must have given up.
The Pettis boys are just sitting around Centennial getting fat.
He'll find something for them to do.
You don't bring in an infection without someone getting sick.
You go to school, son.
That's the best thing you can do for me.
I got about an hour before the bell.
Uh, Mr. Buckland, I think we're ready.
Have you got the ring?
Uh, yes. Yes, I do.
It seems strange, going home without Charlotte.
Oh? You're leaving us, sir?
It's about time, don't you think?
I'll forget what England looks like.
You know, I still can't understand the...
The book count of yours, Skimmerhorn.
Well, it doesn't matter.
I'll just pass all the information on to Finlay Perkin,
and let him untangle it.
(PLAYING HERE COMES THE BRIDE)
Look, John, you're married.
Yes.
Tell me something.
Just before the ceremony, did you get this dreadful urge to
run?
Well, now, that's nothing a man should be running from.
How do you do, Mr. Brumbaugh? Hi.
Oh, Mr. Brumbaugh, you ever get a hold of them new horses you was looking for?
Yeah, I got a couple.
How about you? You, uh... You land a new job yet?
Oh, yeah.
Uh, Coker, you know, I could use a strong back out at the farm.
What, hauling taters? No, sir.
I mean, thanks, but my back ain't that strong.
Besides, I thought you'd imported all those Germans in.
Gone, gone, all gone.
The Germans, Wolgadeutsche, Indians.
(TRAIN WHISTLE SOUNDING)
I think I have the right idea now.
Oh, what's that?
Nice talking to you, Mr. Brumbaugh.
(BELL CLANGING)
Excuse me.
I'm looking for a merchant named Levi Zendt.
Zendt. I think he has a store around here.
Oh, yeah, yeah.
This, uh, street is Mountain. You follow it to, uh, Prairie.
Take a left, and it's the first building on the left.
Thank you very much.
Are you Mr. Brumbaugh?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, well.
Sabusawa, Japanese Consulate, San Francisco.
Well, well, well, you made it.
Yes, we made it. We made it.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
Name is Takemoto.
Husband. Wife.
Daughter. Son. Son. Takemoto.
Well, well, well. Welcome to Centennial.
Yeah.
They don't speak English, huh?
No, no. No English.
Direct from Japan. Excellent workers.
Well...
Well, um, I have my wagon there, and we'll get your belongings, and we'll go.
So who you working for, Bufe?
Oh, a man name of Garrett,
he's down from Montana.
Uh-huh. What kind of stock's he bringing in? Longhorns?
You gonna see 'em when we unload 'em, Earl.
Uh-huh.
Howdy, I'm Messmore Garrett. Obviously, you're Mr. Person.
Obviously.
Well? Who's gonna unload my stock?
This here is Amos Calendar.
Amos.
Bufe, let's get to work.
God dang!
Sheep?
(BLEATING)
Get these sheep out of here! Get 'em away from me!
I can't see past ten feet!
Somebody help me! I'm gonna...
Nate, have you lost your mind?
You don't herd sheep, you shoot 'em!
COKER: That's my friend!
Get! Get off!
Hey, get these sheep out of here.
(GLASS SHATTERING)
Now, you're making my sheep nervous.
If there's any further interference,
there's gonna be a couple of good citizens around here
with holes in their heads.
Do I make myself absolutely clear?
All right, let's get my sheep moving.
Come on!
Whoa.
Mr. Garrett.
Levi Zendt.
It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Zendt.
Whoever you are, you're a brave man.
Sure you're not afraid of contracting sheep fever, or something?
Not a bit.
I understand you're trying to buy some grazing land.
Well, I was trying. I'm afraid I'm about licked.
Have you ever considered homesteading?
Land Office keeps losing my papers.
Could you use 2,000 acres near Rattlesnake Cliffs?
You're joking.
No, sir, I'm not.
Well, I'm not even gonna ask you what you want for 'em.
Just the going rate.
Well, Mr. Zendt, it's a deal.
Deal.
WARSAW: It'll take two years for that grass to come back
after a flock of sheep's cropped it.
I met this Messmore Garrett once,
up in Butte.
I thought he had a kind of funny look in his eye, even then.
Wait. How about blue vitriol?
We could put blue vitriol on the grass.
Poison a whole lot of sheep but we wouldn't lose any cattle.
Oliver? What do you think?
I think we may be aiming at the wrong target.
Oh, Oliver, don't start nattering on about the farmer again.
It's sheep's the problem here. Now, it is sheep.
Sheep,
or shepherds?
I'm not absolutely certain I understand you, old chap.
Oh, just rambling, Claude, just rambling.
Question is, are the boys still in Centennial?
BARKER: What boys?
Oh, the boys.
Mr. Zendt. Mr. Zendt, there's a terrible rumor going around town,
and I think you ought to know about it.
What rumor's that, Jim?
Well, some damn fool is saying
that you sold 2,000 grazing acres to Messmore Garrett.
But I told them, I said, "Clemma Zendt's father ain't about to..."
But it's true.
It's true?
Yep.
But, Mr. Zendt, Garrett is a sheepman.
You're letting sheep in here!
(CHUCKLING) Well, the Indians let me in.
It ain't the same thing at all.
Oh, I don't know.
Some of 'em sure must have been convinced
that I was gonna wreck the land,
but they sold it to me anyway.
They helped me get started.
And I sold some of mine to Seccombe, to help him get started,
and to Brumbaugh.
Now, how is Garrett any different?
Sheep are different. A sheep ain't an animal.
It's a locust with hooves!
They'll ruin the open range. I don't see how you can do it.
I mean, you own shares in the Venneford.
You wanna buy 'em?
What?
My Venneford stock is for sale.
You want it?
Well, sure. But...
Don't worry about payment, we'll take care of that later.
(STAMMERING) Well, Mr. Zendt, I don't know what to say.
Well, there's a miracle.
Usually, you can't shut this boy up once he opens his mouth.
Howdy, Jim. Morning.
Jim, I'd like you to meet my nephew, Christian Zendt.
Jim Lloyd. Mr. Lloyd.
Pleasure. Same here.
I don't suppose you'd be acquainted with any Indians, would you, Mr. Lloyd?
All the ones I wanted to talk to, they seem to be gone.
Oh, that's funny. I seem to have the same problem.
Mr. Zendt. Mr. Zendt, I've been meaning to ask you.
Did you ever hear anything from St. Louis?
Not directly.
Well, I can't understand it.
I mean, I write, but I must have the wrong address.
Right address, wrong girl.
Martin.
Pa, he's gotta know sometime.
Your sweet little girlfriend, my sweet little sister,
she ran off with an Army officer. She's pregnant.
Nobody knows where they went to.
(CLEARS THROAT)
Well, I have some studying to do.
Excuse me.
I'm sorry, Jim.
Yes, sir. I'm sorry, too.
We'll get together about those shares next week.
All right?
Yeah. Thank you very much.
Whoa, whoa.
I'll arrange a line of credit for you with Zendt.
You can pick up whatever you need and get back to the canyon today.
All right, boss.
I see it, but I don't believe it.
Might as well, Jim.
You must be crazy, working with sheep.
I'm working with a good man, and that's what counts.
Garrett?
He's as good a man as R.J. Poteet.
Maybe better.
I just wonder how you sleep at night.
Times change, Jim.
They sure do.
I guess there's no way in the world
you can change 'em back again, is there?
No way in the world.
Okay, this is a hoe.
Hoe.
That's right. This is a hoe.
And all that is field. All the field.
Field? Yeah, that's right, field.
(STAMMERING) Now... And this is a plant.
Plant. Plants, yeah. Plants, plants.
Okay, excuse me.
The trouble, you see...
The trouble is, there're too many plants. You understand?
No, never mind. You don't...
I'll tell you... Plant.
That's a plant, yeah. Now, you thin the plant...
See how you thin them? Like that, you thin them. That's good, Takemoto.
That's good. Okay, now...
That's good. Now... Yeah, that's good.
Now, what I want you to do...
Uh, uh, what I want you to do...
You see, all I want you to do...
Oh!
That's... That's good. That's... That's...
That's...
That's what I want you to do, yeah.
What do you know?
Well, well, well, I see you found him!
Yes, sir, sure did.
Well, I didn't think you'd mind another jobber, Levi.
What's he selling, women's shoes? Good whiskey?
(LAUGHING) No, better than that. Memories.
Memories?
Oh, come on, Hans. Look at the eyes, the shape of the head.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, meet my nephew, all the way from Lancaster, Christian Zendt.
Hans Brumbaugh. How do you do?
Well, well, by golly! All the way from Lancaster! Yes, sir.
(SPEAKING GERMAN)
Oh, he's a college man. Came out here to study Indian tribal law.
Indian? Oh.
The family didn't know if Uncle Levi was alive, dead, married, single.
So when I found out his wife was a real Indian, I couldn't believe my luck.
Wait till the family finds out.
Oh, come on, it'll do 'em good.
If they don't all keel over in a common fit.
(ALL LAUGHING)
Anyway, he said he wanted to talk to somebody about the land,
so I thought, "Well, I'll show him a man
"who came out here to take something out of it,
"and stayed to plant it and tend it instead."
Well, there's a few of us left, in spite of the Venneford.
Hans, listen, I don't think they're gonna have any time
to be bothering you people any more.
Did you hear what happened?
No, I can't say that I did.
A fellow named Garrett brought in some sheep.
Sheep?
Those ranchers are half out of their minds.
Why didn't I think of that?
Except that they're gonna be rougher on sheep
than they ever were on fences, ain't they?
Howdy, Amos. Jim.
Mr. Skimmerhorn. Hello, Amos.
You're Seccombe, ain't you?
I am.
And you're trespassing, Mr. Calendar.
Get your stinking animals out of here.
How could I be trespassing when this is open range?
You don't know the law, my friend.
Did you ever hear of the doctrine of contiguity?
It holds that a rancher has the right to run his cattle on any part of the open range
contiguous with his own holdings.
That means, next to his own holdings, Amos.
South to Mexico, north to Canada.
Now, Amos, we're trying to reason with you.
And we expect you to be gone from here by noon tomorrow.
Expect what you want. I'm staying till Mr. Garrett tells me to move.
You're making a terrible mistake, my friend.
We'll see.
Yes, we will.
Amos. Amos.
I'm staying.
SECCOMBE: Where are the rest of them?
With Bufe Coker, in Crow's Canyon.
Mr. Seccombe... Is he alone?
No, sir, he's got a woman with him,
Fat Laura, out of Ida Hamilton's House of Mirrors in Cheyenne.
And he's built her a shack up there.
Homesteading? In cattle country?
Where's Coker?
Back in the canyon with the sheep.
He'll have to leave. Tell him.
Not bloody likely. We're homesteading this place.
There's no room here for sheep, or Cheyenne harlots.
You tell him to get out, or suffer the consequences.
Blow it out your fancy nose, Englishman.
Why on God's green earth would anyone want to raise sheep?
Can you tell me that?
You know, it's the Bible that bothers me.
I mean, Abraham was a shepherd,
David was a shepherd, Joseph was a shepherd.
Yes, but when Our Lord was born,
you didn't find Him looking for a sheep pen.
He was born with the cattle, where He belonged.
Hear, hear.
Speaking of shepherds,
I understand one of Garrett's men
has actually built a home near Crow Canyon.
Home? It's a hovel.
We can't have that, can we?
I thought we were going to get rid of them.
I thought you were going to handle it.
I rode out there. I wanted to try reason.
You can't reason with a maniac.
You have to overcome a maniac.
For his own good. I know.
The point, Oliver... I said, I know, Claude.
It's being taken care of.
LEVI: You got it?
Set it right here with the rest of them.
Easy, now.
Well, that's the lot.
Thanks for your help.
Where do you want them, the storeroom?
In a while.
Have some lemonade first.
Ah, nectar!
Levi, you should be ashamed of yourself.
This boy comes all the way out here for a vacation,
and you put him to work. Well, he asked!
Yeah, that's a fact.
Besides, how else can I ever repay you people?
For what?
For everything. Introducing me around,
telling me about the old days, the Indians...
The Pasquinels. Who?
Martin.
The Pasquinels.
You mean, you never heard of the Pasquinels? Jacques and Marcel?
Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.
I remember reading some stories about them.
They were great men. They were my uncles.
Lucinda, why don't you tell him about Lame Beaver?
I have.
Well, did you tell him about the sun dance?
No. What was the sun dance?
I'm sorry.
No. It's not your fault, Christian.
You see, stories like
the one I asked Lucinda to tell, they're...
Well, they're nothing more than fairy tales to Martin.
The fact...
The pain that he sometimes feels,
most of the time, I suppose,
is he's what too many people still call a half-breed,
and they treat him like he's less than half a man.
I didn't think he...
I didn't know.
That's all right.
Maybe someday it'll be different.
Go on, Lucinda. Tell him about the sun dance.
No, I... I think I should spend some time with Martin.
Excuse me.
(DOOR CLOSES)
That's a remarkably nice young man.
Yes.
Yes, sorry to see him leave.
(SIGHS)
Levi, why don't you go with him?
Where?
Home.
Well, this is my home.
Levi, it's been so long.
Maybe things have changed there.
Don't you want to see the rest of your family again?
No.
No!
(DOOR CLOSES)
BRUMBAUGH: You know what you are, Axel?
You're a blasted stubborn fool.
Sheriff! Just a minute, I got the floor.
You're like the farmer who won't fix the hole in the barn roof until it rains,
and then, by God, he won't take his tools out,
because he doesn't wanna get 'em wet.
What's the matter with you, anyhow?
You got eyes. You see those murderers strutting around here...
I've told you 1,000 times, I can't arrest a man till he commits a crime.
What two murderers?
The Pettis boys.
Howdy, Mr. Brumbaugh. Nate.
Like you to meet my new boss, Mr. Garrett.
Oh, oh! So, you're Garrett.
So, you're Brumbaugh.
Yeah, yeah. Well, I've heard some good things about you.
Good things?
Yeah. You been setting this town back on its heels.
I've heard the same about you.
Yeah, well, welcome to the party.
You here to complain, too?
GARRETT: You're damn right I'm here to complain.
A fella named Seccombe has been threatening my sheep herders,
I want it stopped.
Well, what's he threatening to do?
Quit it, Sheriff.
I didn't know the Pettis boys was still in town,
that kind of makes the cheese a little more binding, don't it?
They cattlemen?
They're... They're hired killers. I hope your shepherds know how to shoot.
Well, we outshot 'em once already,
when they hit the herd we was bringing north with R.J. Poteet.
Are you gonna help?
Well, if a crime's committed,
I'll go out and bring the man in.
Ah!
That's what I get paid for.
I'll tell Calendar. You warn Coker.
Right.
Mr. Brumbaugh.
Fool. I said I'd do what I can.
Yeah, then we'll have to do what we have to do.
(DOOR CLOSES)
ORVID: Who is that?
Woman he brung up
from the House of Mirrors in Cheyenne.
Maybe this will bring old Coker in to see what's going on.
PERSON: Bufe!
Now, what the hell is that?
Where's your man, Laura?
Back in the canyon with the sheep. What's wrong?
Well, I guess I'd better go find him.
Orvid, you take the nigger.
(GUNS FIRING)
Laura? Come on!
Laura?
(BULLETS RICOCHETING)
You're gonna be just fine. I'm right here. You're gonna be fine.
Where'd you come from?
Mr. Garrett sent me to tell you the Pettis boys was on the prowl,
which I guess you figured out by now.
It had crossed my mind.
Somebody watch the windows.
She's the only one thinking.
(GUNSHOTS)
Cold, ain't it?
(WHIMPERING)
How's that?
(SOBBING) I'm sure scared, Bufe.
What, of them?
If you just give me a minute to catch my breath,
we'll run them off, get you to a doctor.
You're gonna be fine. Yes, you are.
Brother, this just ain't our day.
It's early yet.
(GASPS)
We sure did have a good time up here these last few weeks, didn't we?
This is the first real home of my own I ever had.
Oh, well, you wait till we fix it up.
Tell me what we're gonna do.
Well, I'm gonna get you some real nice material,
and you can make curtains for all the windows.
We'll have a rug...
Pictures. Oh, yeah.
Pictures on every wall. And a stove.
Good cook stove, not an old clunk like this one.
A big round table with six chairs,
so we can have our friends over...
Laura?
Honey?
She was a good woman, Nate.
(SNIFFS)
I could tell.
Remember that first day we met?
I remember.
You, lugging that Yankee saddle into Jacksborough.
I thought those was tough times.
More and more, they seem like they was some of the best.
Where they at?
Straight ahead, about 200 yards.
Behind some rocks, with Winchesters.
They sure got the edge, ain't they?
Nate?
I know.
You got any regrets?
The life I've lived?
Beats hoeing cotton all day,
seeing nothing but another long row ahead.
And how about you?
Oh, one, I guess, maybe.
Still some horses I ain't never rode yet.
What's he done, gone crazy?
Get him, get him!
(HORSES WHINNYING)
It's gonna be a corker.
Looks like.
Calendar. What in the hell are you doing here?
Bufe's dead.
What?
And Nate Person.
No. How'd it happen? Where?
Up at Bufe's shack. They was gunned, Fat Laura, too.
Who done it?
Who do you think done it?
Nobody from Venneford.
Same thing, Frank and Orvid Pettis.
They don't work here, Amos.
Garrett sure ain't paying 'em,
not for murdering Nate and Bufe,
shooting sheep in the canyons till their shells run out.
You're saying it's Seccombe?
I ain't alone.
But I have to know, Jim, am I riding alone?
Riding where?
River's Edge. That's where the Pettis boys are holed up.
That ain't gonna stop nothing, Amos.
This here is a regular range war now.
The hell you say!
This ain't no damned cowman-sheepman foolishness anymore, Jim.
Bufe Coker's dead. Nate Person's dead.
And they was our brothers, weren't they?
Jim, any man that rode through what we did, coming north,
together with Skimmerhorn and Poteet, is as much a brother
as you and I are ever gonna have.
Wasn't they?
I'll get my gun.
What's up?
JIM: Somebody following us?
Maybe. Maybe not.
You make him out yet?
Nope.
Maybe we'd better wait.
Yep.
(WIND HOWLING)
Good afternoon, boys.
What are you doing up here, Brumbaugh?
Same as you, going after the Pettises.
Why?
Because it's time.
And because that young fellow up there
helped me once when I needed it.
I brought my shotgun.
I reckon we can use all the firepower we can get.
Can't we, Jim?
(HORSE WHINNIES)
You sure it's them in there?
Them and a couple of boys that's been night-riding in Wyoming.
I'll make sure that Frank and Orvid are in there before we go barging in.
Fish in a rain barrel. No problem.
Where they at?
It'll be a straight-on shot. They both got their backs to the door.
Amos, I don't shoot no man in the back.
You won't have to.
I mean it, Amos. I don't care what they done.
Jim. They'll turn, I promise.
All right.
Who takes who?
I'll take Frank, he'll be on the left.
They're both mean, both fast.
The other ones, too.
We're only gonna get one whack at 'em, so we gotta make it count.
Ready?
Yeah.
No change.
Frank's on my left, Orvid's right next to him.
I'll take the door.
When he kicks in the door, you take the window.
I'm gonna knock out this side window and yell, to turn 'em.
Good luck.
Well, I think they ought to raise a statue
to whoever got rid of those vermin.
Somebody said they were gonna close the school and declare a holiday.
The whole town's celebrating.
See, that's the trouble with being a lawman.
All you gotta do is walk in a room, and everybody shuts up.
Good morning, Sheriff.
Morning, ma'am.
Levi. Axel.
I suppose you've heard about the little accident
that befell the Pettis boys.
I believe I did hear something about that, yes.
You wouldn't happen to know where your friend Brumbaugh was yesterday, would you?
You ask him?
He claims he was in the bosom of his family reading the Good Book.
Well, he probably was. He's a real good family man, all right.
Well, you're an honest man, Levi.
You heard any little bits of news I ought to know about?
Hmm.
People don't tell an honest man much these days, Axel.
Nothing about some young cowboy from Venneford,
kinda sweet on your daughter?
Jim Lloyd? Mmm.
Nope.
Well, let me tell you folks something.
What happened to the Pettises was murder,
and I'm opposed to murder.
It don't ever solve anything, it just makes more trouble.
You see, pretty soon somebody's gonna hire a killer
to kill the hired killers' killers,
and then somebody's gonna take care of him.
And it'll just go on and on.
And we can't afford that,
'cause the times have changed. It's a new day here.
And either we're gonna have law and order in Centennial,
or we're gonna have us chaos.
Ain't that what the whole town's celebrating, boy?
(HUMMING)
Well, I better start packing
if I'm gonna catch that train.
I'll help. Thanks.
I guess I have to tear down my imaginary statue.
Axel's right. It's a new day.
Makes a man feel old.
You'll never be old.
Lucinda, I've been thinking.
If you're sure that you wouldn't mind...
You wanna go home for a while, don't you?
(CHUCKLING) I sure don't know why.
Don't ask why, just go.
(WHISTLE BLOWING)
CHARLOTTE: You got your ticket?
LEVI: My what? Your ticket.
CHRISTIAN: I got it right here. I'll hold it for him.
BRUMBAUGH: Maybe you'd better hitch him to your belt, Christian,
or you'll lose him in Chicago.
LEVI: What's that mean?
You change trains in Chicago, Mr. Zendt.
We already told you that, Pa.
It's Centennial to Omaha to Chicago on the Union Pacific.
Then you change stations and take the Pennsylvania to Lancaster.
BRUMBAUGH: Be there in no time.
New day is right. It took me six months to get out here.
Goodbye, Levi, and don't worry.
Hans.
Jim. Mr. Zendt.
Son, take care of your mother.
I will.
I'll miss you.
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)
BRUMBAUGH: Go on.
Oh, Ma. He'll be back before you know it.
Must be strange going back from where you come from, huh?
Well, it's time to get on home.
Yeah.
Beautiful day, ain't it?
Well, that depends on your individual system, Axel.
Seems pretty cool to me.
Seem cool to you, Jimmy?
Oh, I'll warm up, soon as I get me some supper.
Excuse us.
Brumbaugh, your youngest boy can't seem to recall
your being home reading the Good Book last night.
Oh, kids.
Who can figure what they'll remember, and what they'll forget.
Nobody can remember where you disappeared to yesterday, Jimmy.
Went fishing.
Ain't much of an alibi.
Well, Sheriff, are you accusing me of something I'd need an alibi for?
You know as well as I do, I can't bring no charges
unless I got a reliable witness.
What are you saying?
I'm talking about murder and revenge.
I had a little talk with Oliver Seccombe today.
He's just sort of starting to get the picture.
He's kind of getting it clear in his mind
that a society either grows or else it dies.
(HORSE WHINNYING) Ain't no way you can ever keep it the same.
So, all you can do is just grow along with it, or else you die with it.
Now, Centennial here, is still growing.
Gonna have a lot of growing pains, though.
Gonna have more people coming in here all the time,
all of 'em fighting for a piece of land.
So you're gonna have a lot more fights,
but like I say, this one is over.
You farmers, sheepherders, cattlemen,
you're just gonna have to figure out some way to live together in peace.
I mean, either that, or you're gonna have yourselves martial law.
But you do get to take your pick.
Well, peace is all I've ever asked for, Sheriff.
(SNIFFS) Yeah.
Well, right now I'd settle for a little supper myself.
Wind's rising.
Yeah, yeah.
He's right about one thing, though.
It is a beautiful day.