NARRATOR: The final decades of the nineteenth century marked the beginning of slow
but far-reaching changes throughout the American West.
A violent adolescence gave way to a raw-boned maturity.
In Colorado, leaders of the three major power bases,
Oliver Seccombe of the Stock Growers Association,
Messmore Garrett of the Wool Growers,
and Hans Brumbaugh,
representing Centennial's farmers, shifted from open warfare
toward an uneasy peace.
The law officers like Axel Dumire began to insist they keep it.
The frontier was vanishing.
There was time for a man to take a quiet breath
to think about the past instead of the present,
to wonder what had become of the people and places he'd left behind.
There was even time to go back for a while
if a man wanted to and dared to.
There was time, but it was borrowed.
There was peace, but it lacked any feeling of permanence.
It was the calm before the storm.
DUMIRE: Well, if there's anything more ignorant in this world
than the American cowboy,
it's the ranchers that hire them.
Well, what brought that on, Sheriff?
Cartwright's International Circus.
You don't approve of circuses? Oh, I love circuses.
Love them, especially this one.
Look there, Daring Dan. The best act I ever seen.
Well... No, it ain't the circuses I object to.
It's the rabble that follows them around.
These three-card-monte experts, card cheats, shark con artists.
The thing I can't understand is,
take a man, who's got himself a good education back east, comes out here,
takes responsibility of managing a ranch, millions of acres, thousands of dollars,
comes the circus,
he lets some fast-talking dude talk him into buying Yellowstone Park.
A third of it, the middle third, that's what clinches the deal.
Where the hot springs are
so as his cattle won't freeze up during the winter.
You mean that really happened?
Happens all the time. Yeah. Yeah. Fast-talking swindlers
come into a place, suck the town dry before they're through.
Well, they ain't gonna do it here. Not in my town.
Morning, Martin. Sheriff.
Nice day, ain't it? Yes, sir.
Hear from your dad?
Well, nothing yet.
But then he never was one to write much, you know.
No, me neither. I rather get strung up than put pen to paper.
Gonna go to the circus?
Oh, well, Ma kind of wants to go see it, so I thought I'd take her.
Must be a funny way to live, wander all over, see new places, new people.
Centennial getting a little small for you?
I wouldn't say small exactly.
It's just that, I don't know, sometimes a man thinks about spreading out a little.
Sure.
Good morning, ma'am. Good morning.
Mr. Brumbaugh. Well, Axel.
What's the matter, partner? You sound a little peaked.
No problem. Unless you count age, rheumatism, poor crops,
smell of winter in the air.
A little early for winter, ain't it?
Ask the animals. I saw a half a dozen wolves in the foothills already.
Something's wrong, it's cold. And they know it.
I told him he was working too hard.
And I also told him he should go to the circus tomorrow.
(GRUMBLING) Circuses.
I ain't seen one yet that's worth a hoot.
Deliver you half of what they promise and then they cheat you blind for that.
It's a waste of money.
I'll get the door, Hans.
Here you go.
There's two things you can count on this time of year,
the circus coming and him getting grumpy.
What can I do for you, Mr. Dumire?
I'd like a couple cigars. You got my brand right there.
Levi got these just before he left.
Seems kind of funny around here without Levi.
Yeah. Do you have a family, Sheriff?
Yes, ma'am. Back in Kansas.
Why did you leave?
Man's got to make a living.
Mmm-hmm.
I still think there's a lot more to it though.
Show a man a road, and right away he wants to take it.
Sometimes it gets so it seems he doesn't know where home is.
I don't believe I understand men, Mr. Dumire.
Well, just so you understand, you're never going to change them.
Oh, I've known that forever.
That's good. You take care now, ma'am.
Bye.
DRIVER: Whoa.
Thank you, friend.
You shaved.
Years ago.
Still the rebel, Levi?
Not even a "Welcome home" first, Mahlon?
Welcome home.
Brother.
I'll take your case. No. No, it's all right.
Well, nothing's changed.
Why should it be?
It's just that, where I've been, so much has.
Thank you, Jonesy.
Oliver, where have you been?
Oh, riding, thinking. Did Skimmerhorn get off all right?
Yes, he left about an hour ago with Jim Lloyd.
They said this was one train they'd better meet on time.
You'd think the Queen of England was on it
instead of a sour little Scottish accountant.
You must have put the fear of God into them. Mmm-hmm.
Oliver, are you afraid of him?
Afraid of him? Perkin? Certainly not. What do you mean?
Oh, perhaps I don't understand business affairs,
but I can't think why in the world my uncle is sending him over here.
It's simple enough. Lord Venneford wants an accounting.
There's never been an official one, you know.
What's he need an official one for? Isn't your word good enough for him any longer?
Darling, there's no need to be upset. Well, you are.
Well... Well, it's just that...
I mean any accountant can uncover a few discrepancies
if he's bound and determined to find them.
And naturally, I've begged and borrowed a bit from the ranch, here and there.
For the new house, one thing and another.
A bit?
A bit. A very little bit.
Anyway, it's not Perkin that's bothering me, it's this weather.
Colder than usual, don't you think? You know how I hate cold weather.
Traveled 6,000 miles to get away from the English rain and chill.
Oliver, you wouldn't keep anything from me would you?
Darling, have I ever?
Hmm?
Howdy, Meurice.
Well, Sheriff.
"God bless us, every one." How the Dickens are you?
(LAUGHING)
(COUGHING)
It's just a little joke.
What you doing here in Colorado? I thought Kansas was your bailiwick?
It's kind of as though I was following you around, ain't it?
Like a guilty conscience.
Well, it's a new season, clean as a hound's tooth.
Listen, I'd like to know where we stand, though.
I mean, you know, what are the rules?
Same as always, Meurice.
No skin shows. No poker. No shell game.
No shell game? Now, sir, that's a game of skill.
If your eye is as quick as my hand, you'll win. It's simple as that.
Except there ain't been an eye that quick since the world began.
No shell game.
Well, well, well.
Well, it's the kids, Sheriff.
They kept after me, they kept after me.
Did I say anything? No.
Coming to the show tonight?
Someone's got to take the kids in town.
See that dude there with the derby hat on?
Yeah.
Played his shell game?
Three walnuts and the bean. It's another way to cheat an honest man.
Do me a little favor and play it tonight.
Play it? With that dude.
And I warned him.
But I know sure as I'm standing here, he'll be around the lot tonight with a table.
County'll compensate you for whatever you lose.
And I'll make you temporary deputy right now.
You mean if I catch him cheating, I can arrest him?
It'll be a pleasure, Sheriff.
Don't stare so hard, Mr. Skimmerhorn, it's bad for your eyes.
Well, now I wasn't staring, Sheriff, I was just checking...
How are you, Jim? Axel.
Things must be pretty rosy back at the Venneford
if the foreman and top hand can both come to town just to welcome the circus.
We're in town on business. Oh, that a fact?
As a matter of fact, it is. Mr. Seccombe asked us to pick up
some fella coming in on the noon express.
Another one of them Englishmen?
Scotchman, Finlay Perkin is his name.
He's an accountant for the Venneford shareholders back in Bristol.
Yeah.
Just a routine visit. Check the books. You know.
Of course, it's bound to be
a little sticky trying to explain cattle operations to a clerk.
Oh, main thing is, treat the man like a king.
You know, make him feel important.
Like meeting his train on time.
Like that, yeah.
You're 20 minutes late, you know.
We're what?
The express got in early, and pulled out a half hour ago, so...
So your Scotsman's standing around there at the station, while you're here ogling
this lovely young... Oh, my...
Don't talk, just run.
(EXCLAIMING)
Get that dang thing out of my way.
Mr. Skimmerhorn?
What?
Jim Lloyd?
Nacho. Nacho!
JIM: Gomez! It couldn't... The cook!
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
What the devil are you doing here?
I'm working.
For the circus? Part of the circus. This part,
Daring Dan, have you ever seen him? Huh?
No. Listen, Nacho, listen. Come on, I'll introduce you.
We're in a bind, you know, we're a little late.
Come, I'll introduce you. Hey, you know who that is?
Jim. That's Canby.
It is. That's Mule Canby.
What?
Damn, it is Canby! Where is he?
He's over there with the horses. Come on, I'll show you...
Nacho, now we got somebody waiting at the train station.
I'll get you tickets for tonight then.
No, not tonight. Well, Saturday night.
He will like to see you before then.
Well, then come out to the ranch tomorrow.
We'll get Amos Calendar.
Calendar? Yeah.
Sí, bueno. Tomorrow.
Oh, Daring Dan. Don't that beat all?
Come on, Jim. We'll see you tomorrow, Nacho.
See you, Nacho.
Mañana, amigos.
(LAUGHS)
Mule Canby, that takes you back some don't it?
Long time, good time.
Mr. Perkin? Mr. Perkin?
Aye.
How do you do, sir? I'm... I'm John Skimmerhorn.
I'm the foreman at the Venneford. This here is Jim Lloyd.
You been waiting long, Mr. Perkin?
Aye.
Well, why don't we get this luggage over there into the wagon, Jim.
I'm sure Mr. Perkin is anxious to see the ranch. Am I right, sir?
Very anxious.
And I do hope that Americans can keep books better than they can keep time.
BARKER: Hurry, hurry, hurry!
Thrills and sights never before seen on the face of the earth!
Ladies and gentlemen, hurry!
Hurry, hurry. How about you, sir? And you, madam?
And I know that the little ones don't want to miss out on the big show.
Ladies and gentlemen, the main event! Daring Dan...
Found the pea, all right, here we go now. Where is the little pea?
That is the question, that is all you have to know in the game.
Have you kept your eyes on it, sir? Are you sure?
How about you, sir, you care to try your luck?
Better luck next time.
There's the little pea.
Well, thank you, come back again.
All right, let's keep your eye on the little pea.
Here we go. That's all you have to do, is keep your eye on the pea.
Never take your eye off it. That's the simple secret. Well, who's next?
How much?
One silver dollar sir. Double your money every time you play.
Go home a rich man.
Well?
Here.
You're just too good for me, sir. Well, that's it, gentlemen.
Show's starting in the main tent, don't want to keep you from that.
Well, thank you.
Thank you, Deputy.
(CLOCK TICKING)
Tea, Mr. Perkin?
Thank you, ma'am, no.
Something, stronger then. Whiskey?
Mr. Seccombe.
May I ask who's been auditing these books for you?
Those are un-audited records. I keep them myself.
Why? Is there a discrepancy?
Well, if you can call 12,000 missing cows a discrepancy, aye, well,
a discrepancy there is.
Twelve... Twelve thousand, did you say?
So far, ma'am.
I don't suppose the poor beasties were carried off by the devil.
The poor beasties, as you call them, Mr. Perkin,
may never have existed in the first place.
And yet good money was paid for each and every one of them.
Mr. Perkin, I don't know whether or not
I can explain the facts of western life to you, but...
Try me, sir. I was considered very quick at school.
The truth is that we are not a small shop in Piccadilly.
One doesn't buy individual cattle out here, one buys whole herds of cattle.
A buyer can't demand a precise count because a precise count is simply impossible.
Mr. Seccombe,
would you please ask your foreman to bring every Venneford cow,
steer, calf and bull to a central line camp as soon as possible.
I believe it's called a roundup. Mr. Perkin...
So that every Venneford cow, steer, calf and bull can be counted.
Precisely.
Sir, you are out of your mind.
No, sir. I am an accountant.
And we will have an accounting.
(DOOR CLOSING)
LEVI: I did nothing evil.
MAHLON: Child of the devil!
I'll not have you lay the blame on her
for something you tried to do!
Not for rape!
What?
Reverend told me you tried to rape her.
Mahlon, I...
Before Miss Kruger, the blessed woman, who gives her life to that home.
Before the children.
Before the eyes of God himself!
Mahlon, you can't believe that! You can't...
You've disgraced this family, Levi.
You can never work at the market again. Is that clear?
And you will be shunned.
No!
No, I won't be shunned!
Levi?
Are you all right?
Yes, yes, I'm fine.
You hardly touched your supper.
I'm sorry, Mahlon. I know I'm being a poor guest.
I guess I've just learned some new habits.
Levi, Rebecca told me
what really happened.
She felt bad after.
And I...
I have always wanted to tell you how sorry I was, too.
About the shunning and the whole...
Mahlon, it isn't necessary.
Why, it was the best thing that could have happened.
It ruined your life.
It gave me life.
Gave?
Are you trying to tell me that you like the West?
No.
No, I'm trying to tell you that I love it.
Uh-oh.
(ALL CHEERING)
Dig that. I tell you what, boys, if there's a hole in it, I missed. Huh?
He does good with his left hand, huh?
Well, there's not even a crease in there.
You made it dance like that by just coming close?
Yeah, I had to learn a living somehow you know,
after old R.J. Poteet dumped me off at Fort Union, you know.
Ain't nobody gonna hire a drover with one arm, you know.
So I just started practicing, you know, and then I finally got me up an act.
I can't wait to see it.
I hear it's the wildest half-hour anybody ever lived through.
Well, hell, we been just about everywhere with it.
We been to England, we been to Europe... Haven't we, Nacho? We been all over.
And I'll tell you boys something.
I'll never forget them days on our first cattle drive.
Seems like a hundred years ago, don't it?
JIM: The Llano Estacado. The Pettis boys hitting the herd.
(MEN SHOUTING)
You all right, Jim?
I think so.
Let me see it now, yeah, it's just a crease.
(WHOOPING)
Shoot! Shoot!
CANBY: Yeah, yeah, and that other one, the one I got my gun arm.
(CANBY YELLING IN PAIN)
Canby.
I think it's coming off.
Stay down, you hear? You stay right there.
He took a hatchet, Mr. Poteet.
Mule?
It's my shooting arm, R.J.
It's near clean off.
I can't lose my gun arm.
I might as well die as lose my gun arm.
You're not gonna die.
JIM: That R.J. Poteet, he was some kind of man though, wasn't he?
He got us through all of it.
A place nobody had ever been before, all the way to Colorado.
Coker! They're straying over there!
You're the boss.
Well, this is the trail's end. Well, you think you'll be sticking
with this kind of work?
Yeah, if I can find it.
Now, the trick is finding men like you that'll do it.
It's a big wind-blistered world we're riding through, Jim.
I just hope it'll last a little while longer.
Why wouldn't it?
Well, because when men like you and me
point the way to where a town can be built,
then other men come along and they build it.
Settlers that want a home or a title, a piece of ground.
And they'll kill to keep it.
But if you're as much like me, as I think you are, you won't fight for that.
You'll only care about what you're responsible for. Your horse
and your herd.
I don't know, Jim, maybe...
Maybe we're just too restless to inherit the earth.
JIM: I guess you never could forget a man like that.
Never could forget anything that happened on that drive,
or anybody you rode with.
Yeah, it's funny how everybody feels so close on a long drive like that and then
it's over and everybody goes their separate ways.
Well, I'll tell you something, separate ways is one thing,
but herding sheep, I'll tell you something, that is just plain wicked now.
Hey, what ever happened to Bufe Coker. Remember old Bufe?
Bufe's dead.
Bufe?
Gunned down.
Who done it?
Pettis boys.
They got him and Nate Person, both.
Nate? Yup.
Him and Nate and me was herding sheep up there
and some of the ranchers didn't like that too much.
They were wrong.
And that's over now.
Yeah. It's over.
What about the Pettises?
Well, somebody surprised them in a camp over by River's Edge.
I guess the law's satisfied.
Well, maybe the law is.
But what about the rest of the Pettis Gang?
I'm gonna tell you boys something, okay?
You know, I could get here mighty quick if you fellas ever needed any...
Hey!
Oh, no, I mean that. Now, you are dealing with Daring Dan, now.
Oh, yes, sir. Uh-huh.
(HAWK SQUAWKING)
You see that hawk?
Mule.
He ain't hurting nobody.
Come on, Jim. It's just a little old bird, now come on.
That's what they used to say about the buffalo.
CANBY: Oh, my goodness gracious. Me, oh, my.
I want my money back.
Nacho, you and me better go practice.
You better get back to the circus.
I got a lot of practicing to do. I'll tell you that.
SKIMMERHORN: So, how long you gonna be in town for, Mule?
CANBY: Oh, I think we're fixing to leave Sunday night.
JIM: Oh, we'll see you at the show Saturday night.
Okay, we'll be looking for you, now.
JIM: Okay.
Muchas gracias. See you, Amos.
See you.
Adiós, amigos.
Buena suerte.
Bye, Nacho.
Adiós, Nacho.
See you fellas Saturday night, hear?
Bye, Mule. Bye, Mule.
Canby!
What's the trouble?
I owe that man ten bucks ever since the Llano Estacado.
He sold me one of his guns. That old Army Colt.
I promised I'd pay him as soon as I drew my first wages.
I been keeping it in a separate pocket all these years.
Well, you can pay him on Saturday night.
Yeah.
Old Nacho, he hasn't changed a bit though, has he?
What's that he said to you when he left?
Buena suerte. It means good luck.
Well,
we're sure gonna need it now.
How you mean?
Before we rode out here? Yeah.
That little Scotchman was asking me about the books. He's been checking them.
So?
So they don't square with how much stock we been running.
He wants a head count. Not a book count.
A head count? All of them?
That's what he said.
We gonna try that?
Well, I reckon that's up to Mr. Seccombe.
He's the man we work for, Jim.
Don't forget that.
No matter what this Perkin fella tries to stir up.
Just what do you figure he can do?
I don't know anything about English law.
But in this country if a man can't square his books
with the money he's managing,
he can find himself behind bars for a long time.
Did I ever tell you about the first time I saw these plains?
I was 25 years old.
I wanted to write a book,
Travels in the Great American West: All about the noble savage.
A work to rival Rousseau. So I joined a wagon train
with Levi Zendt and his wife, first wife,
Elly.
We were led by a mountain man named Sam Purchas.
PURCHAS: Well, pilgrims, you'll see some country now.
(CHUCKLES) Hey, is that a new bonnet you're wearing?
Yes.
I thought so. It frames that pretty face real nice.
SECCOMBE: Sorry, old boy. I really am.
I mean, there just wasn't another pilot at the fort,
and unfortunately, we are what he calls us.
We're pilgrims.
SECCOMBE: We were something else as well.
We were naive. We trusted him.
Please, would you gimme a hand with your friend, Mr. Seccombe, here?
Mr. Purchas?
I hate to bother you, I don't know what happened to him.
I'm afraid... I'm afraid he's hurt real bad.
Just another step, all right?
He's... He's just right in here.
I don't see anything.
Let me help you.
What happened?
I don't know ma'am. I sure don't.
But I know what I want to happen now.
(MUFFLED SCREAM)
(SCREAMING)
Elly!
(SCREAMING) Levi!
Levi!
(SCREAMING)
Levi!
SECCOMBE: Levi, stop! She's all right.
Elly's all right! Stop, don't kill him!
You kill him, we'll all die!
SECCOMBE: That was the end of it for Levi and Elly.
They turned back the next morning,
and I went on.
But I never forgot that young farmer and his wife.
I never forgot this land.
And when Lord Venneford asked me to establish his American ranch, I remembered,
and I came back. I can't lose it now, Charlotte.
I can't.
We're not going to lose it.
We will if Finlay Perkin has his way.
He'll be questioning Lloyd and Skimmerhorn next.
Well, won't they support you?
I mean, can we trust them to be fair?
What I mean, Oliver, is, is it to their advantage to betray you?
No, that sounds wrong, it's like you're guilty of something.
What I mean... I know.
I know what you mean.
They're honest men.
That's why the ranch has done so well.
Whether they're loyal or not...
Cold?
A little.
There's a storm coming.
The sky's clear.
There's a storm coming all the same.
LEVI: Elly! Elly Zahm!
Get your things.
Hurry up.
What's going on down there?
It's the day of judgment, Miss Kruger. And you're looking at the devil himself.
(LAUGHS)
Elly Zahm, the sun is rising!
KRUGER: Elly Zahm! You come back here.
Do you hear me? You come back here.
I'm never coming back!
Elly Zahm, I forbid you!
You hold it right there, Miss Kruger.
This is a Lancaster rifle.
It shoots straighter than the road to hell and makes a hole twice as broad.
(EXCLAIMS)
Levi, you wouldn't shoot her?
Oh, not without reloading first.
(CHUCKLES) And that still takes the fastest man almost a full minute.
Giddyup!
Elly, Elly.
Laura Lou Booker, you come back here. You're as bad as she is!
Levi, stop. Whoa!
Here, take this.
Laura Lou, no. No, take it.
A wife has to have a little money of her own. Take it.
You're escaping for all of us, Elly.
KRUGER: Laura Lou.
For all of us.
(GOADING HORSES)
LAURA: Excuse me, are you Levi? Sir?
Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.
You are Levi Zendt.
Yes.
You don't remember me.
Laura Lou Booker.
I was Elly's... I know.
Elly's best friend.
I live down the way now.
I heard you were here,
and I saw you walk by and I thought,
"My goodness, that looks like Levi Zendt."
Well, I just came back for a visit.
Oh, I'd love to see Elly again. How is she?
Elly died.
Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I didn't know.
No, no. I should have written. But I'm not much good at letters.
Elly was.
She wrote me dozens. I've kept them all.
And I wanted you to see them.
ELLY: I think we have finally realized what moving west means.
The strange rivers flowing swift with mud,
the lurking Indians, the burden of rifles,
the long, long trails with no homes and no lights at dusk,
and the awful loneliness.
What a story we'll have to tell when we reach Oregon.
We never got to Oregon.
She told me that, too. In one of these.
I suppose she told me just about everything that happened to the both of you.
It's a remarkable record.
As a matter of fact, I showed the letters to a publisher.
He wants to put them in a book.
Elly'd be very proud.
Oh!
She'd laugh, wouldn't she?
To think she was writing American history all that time.
Hmm.
But
that's what history is, women writing letters,
old men telling stories,
young women dying,
new lives, new places.
And of course, that's where the past belongs,
in the history books.
Was it very hard for you to come back home again?
I'm not home.
I'm going home.
Tomorrow.
Where is home now?
Colorado. A little place that Elly and I found together.
Didn't have a name then.
Now it's called Centennial.
(BAND PLAYING CIRCUS MUSIC)
Now listen here, amigo, you make sure them horses is ready.
I'll make sure that ammunition is right.
I don't want no more misfires like we had yesterday.
You check them horses out, now, hear?
JIM: Gee, I sure can't wait to see it.
CALENDAR: He showed me enough already.
Well, I tell you one thing for sure, boys, we're gonna get our money's worth.
I thought Nacho said we were getting in for free?
He did.
(LAUGHING)
MAN: Fire!
(HORSES NEIGHING)
Hey, that's Canby's stable.
NACHO: The gun powder, Canby's in there!
JIM: You can't go in there and that's all.
Canby's in there.
Canby?
Let go! Let go! Let go!
JIM: Get down! Get down!
(PEOPLE CLAMORING)
Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,
in sure and certain hope of the resurrection unto eternal life.
Amen.
Now let us join in a moment of silent prayer.
Amen.
Nacho.
If you need another job. Why don't you stay here?
No.
I'm going home.
Texas?
Chihuahua.
A small town, Santa Ynez.
Gracias, amigo.
Vaya con Dios, amigo.
Vaya con Dios, Mule.
Move them that way, Jesse.
Good afternoon, Jim.
Well, Mrs. Seccombe, what in the world brings you way out here in the boondocks?
Oh, I just decided to let Prince follow his nose.
No, that's not true. I asked one of the hands where you were.
I want to talk to you, Jim.
Have you spoken to Mr. Seccombe lately?
About what, ma'am?
About the ranch, Mr. Perkin, the roundup?
Oh, well, yes, ma'am,
Mr. Seccombe, he said Mr. Perkin wants to count the cows.
Yes.
He seems to think he may find some of them missing.
Well, ma'am, there'll always be some missing. Whenever you take a count.
Always?
Oh, yes, ma'am. I mean, how can you keep an exact record on a spread this big?
You know, calves are still-born.
Wolves carry off the stragglers.
Many?
Well, a good many, yes, ma'am.
As many as ten or twelve thousand?
I see.
All right, you tell me this.
If a roundup were to show that big a discrepancy, what would you think had happened?
Well, I wouldn't know, ma'am.
Could Mr. Seccombe have sold some of them on his own?
Well, ma'am, there's one thing I'm sure of around here,
dead sure of, and that's your husband loves this ranch.
He started it, he built it up,
and he'd cut his own throat before he did anything to hurt it.
If he sold some cows, he had a good reason.
Why don't you ask him about it?
I have.
What'd he say?
Nothing.
Well, he's worried to death, but he won't talk to me. I can't get through to him.
Now I'm afraid that Perkin will force him out.
If he succeeds, that'll be the end of everything for all of us.
Perkin doesn't understand. Oliver's not a dishonest man.
He's never done a dishonest thing in his life.
Well, I didn't get much out of you, did I?
But I thank you for your loyalty.
(CALLING CATTLE)
Well, how's she going, Jim?
John, this is the A-number-one,
rock-bottom, dumbest goldang piece of foolishness
I ever run up against.
They're scattered half way to Canada looking for grass.
Well, just do the best you can.
And don't worry about coming up short. We expect that.
Yeah, but how short?
I mean, what happens if we're, say, oh, ten or twelve thousand short?
Well, then we thank our lucky stars,
'cause we're surer than blazes due to end up shorter than that.
(SIGHS)
Come on.
Right here.
(GRUNTS)
All right. Go ahead.
Come on, girl.
Well,
four loads and we'll be done.
(THANKING IN JAPANESE)
It'll be a real fine harvest, Mr. Takemoto.
Thanks to you and your family.
(THANKING IN JAPANESE)
Well.
Kurt won't be back for an hour. You might as well have lunch.
I'm gonna go over to the house.
Takemoto!
Ain't that your lunch basket?
Hai, lunch.
All right, well, where you going?
Off.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
He say, we go to our garden now.
Your vegetable garden?
Huh.
Don't you know that all work and no play makes Takemoto a dull boy?
(LAUGHS)
(CLEARING THROAT)
Well... Well, anyway, you folks can't work all the time.
You gotta eat, you know.
(SPEAKING JAPANESE)
All right. Go on. Go on. Go on.
(CHUCKLING)
Where's Kurt?
With the wagon. He'll eat in town.
(LAUGHING)
Now what?
It's the Takemotos. They're funny people.
Why? Aren't they working hard enough?
"Aren't working hard enough?"
They're the best workers I ever hired.
Better than the Germans, better than the Russians.
Trouble is they work too hard.
Now they're digging up their own vegetables.
Sure, to sell.
To what?
They sell their crops in town. Make real good money.
They do, now?
Save every penny of it, too.
I saw them in the bank the other day.
They were asking about land to buy.
They'll be leaving you before long, just like all the others.
Come on, sit down.
It's cold outside.
Feels like an early winter. I better get the hay in while I still have help.
John, Dumire says it's snowing already in Wyoming.
I know, I don't like it.
Snowing, you say?
Mr. Perkin, afternoon, sir.
Snowing, where?
In Wyoming. Looks like we're in for a mean stretch of weather.
Well, you'd better hurry up with your count.
I thought you were supposed to be in charge of that roundup, laddie.
Yeah, well, we had about two thousand cows penned up, Mr. Perkin,
but then the main herd busted loose again.
I come to ask Mr. Skimmerhorn if he could lend me some more hands.
Unless you've changed your mind about...
I haven't changed my mind in 57 years, Mr. Skimmerhorn,
I certainly don't intend to start now.
Incidentally, Mr. Skimmerhorn,
you're intimately acquainted with the workings of this ranch.
What exactly do you think has happened to the missing cows?
Well, sir,
I think they may only be missing on paper.
I think your count might turn them all up yet.
And what's your opinion of Mr. Seccombe as an administrator?
Top-notch.
And yours?
Oh, he's the best boss I ever worked for.
(FRONT DOOR OPENING)
Oh, darling.
Oh, I thought it was Perkin.
What are you doing?
Oh, I'm going through the bills. I've been terribly extravagant, haven't I?
Not in my opinion.
Yes, I have. A thoughtless, selfish child, celebrating an eternal Christmas.
And never giving a thought as to where St. Nicholas is going to get the presents.
Charlotte.
My darling.
Please.
Let's stop these pretenses.
Please, let me be your wife.
It's dreadful never being allowed to grow up.
I'm not going to have you worried.
Oliver, the only thing in the world that can worry me,
is seeing you worried. Can't you understand that?
The only way you can hurt me is to shut me out.
I've made such an unholy mess of it all.
You haven't! Now, why do you say that?
Just because one sour little Scotsman can't understand the cattle business.
He understands money, and that's what counts. Profit and loss.
Even Perkin admits that the shareholders
have been receiving their regular dividends.
I've had to sell calves to raise that cash. And I've...
I've
continued to carry the missing cattle on the books.
Oliver, listen to me. Are you the only rancher who's ever done something like this?
No, no, it's common practice.
All right, then what would your friends think if they knew?
Well, they'd understand, of course.
All right, let's weigh Oliver Seccombe in the balance
and see whether or not he's found wanting.
Now, on the one hand, he has failed to list certain cattle sold.
Is that a fair statement?
Yes.
On the other, he started literally from scratch
and he built the Venneford into the finest ranch in Colorado.
His stockholders have never missed a dividend, indeed,
they've received their original investments back half a dozen times.
He's respected by every man who knows him, he's adored by his wife.
Oh, Charlotte...
Wait, I'm not through.
What a barrister you'd have made. But you're wrong.
You're wrong, but, my Lord, you are comforting.
I am not wrong!
Well,
in any event, my darling, thank you.
Thank you.
Levi!
What are you doing back so soon? I didn't expect you till spring.
I got homesick.
(GRUNTS)
Say, Axel, I don't suppose you ran into my wife down here did you?
Or Martin?
Huh?
His name is Mervin Wendell.
I talked with him on the train. He's an actor.
Yeah, I know. I run into him in Kansas once.
He invited Lucinda and I to see a show he's putting on tonight.
Did he?
Excuse me just a minute, Levi.
Mr. Wendell, ain't it?
Sheriff?
What a surprise? Maude, for heaven's sake look who's here.
Yes.
Well, how have you been, old man?
Your trunks are on the cart, sir.
Oh, thank you, lad. Here we go...
Oh, Lord, I don't suppose you'd be able
to change a $20 gold piece?
I don't suppose I would.
Oh.
Well, no matter. I'll catch you next time.
There it is, the Railway Arms, you see it, dear?
MAUDE: Oh, yes.
MERVIN: Have them send someone for the trunks.
Yes, come, Philip.
How long are you planning to stay with us in Centennial?
Two performances, sir.
And, of course, there will be a free pass for you at the box office.
And, of course, you're planning to pay your bills before you leave.
Sheriff.
Where'd they get on the train?
Them deadbeats? Mmm.
Nebraska, Grand River.
What was that all about? Oh, nothing important.
What were you saying, a minute ago?
Oh, nothing important.
I just thought maybe somebody might come down to meet me,
but I guess they couldn't make it.
I'll see you later, Axel.
Well, hang on to your teeth. You're in for a little surprise when you get home.
A surprise?
Eight china plates.
Eight china plates, check.
Five china bowls.
Be with you in just a minute.
Oh, no hurry.
Levi!
(BOTH LAUGHING)
Oh, what are you doing here?
Didn't you get my letter?
Never heard a word.
Oh, well, it looks like progress hasn't speeded up the mails any.
I guess I beat my news home.
Did you have a good time?
Going and coming.
Met some interesting people. But my brothers,
and the people back there... Well, it's just not like out here.
(LAUGHING) I really got lonesome.
Oh, Levi, we missed you so much.
CLEMMA: We really did, Papa.
LEVI: Clemma?
So this is the surprise.
There's another one, too.
She's married now.
Married?
More or less. To a man named Ferguson.
What's more or less mean? Where is he?
I don't know. Around.
He found out I was a half-breed, so he left.
He just left.
Well, at least she's home.
One comes and one goes. It's like a teeter-totter.
Ma.
Excuse me.
Teeter-totter?
(SIGHING)
(GROANING)
She still thinks I'm 10 years old.
Papa, I want to get out on my own.
So, do you now?
I figured I'd wait until you got home first.
I mean, I wouldn't just run off.
I know you probably think I haven't got the sense of a 2-day-old pup.
Martin.
Any man who recognizes his own responsibilities as clear as that
has got all the sense he needs.
Thanks, Pa.
Good afternoon, Mr. Seccombe. Lovely weather, eh?
Don't tell me you enjoy these chill winds, Mr. Perkin.
Aye, I do, indeed! Brisk as the Highlands!
I shall be very sorry to leave.
You're leaving? Aye.
They told me there's a train at 10:00 this evening.
Plenty of time for me to pack to meet it.
Plenty of time for you to write out your resignation.
Mr. Perkin!
I've never appreciated Scottish humor.
That last remark, for instance, appears purely insulting.
Then I apologize, sir.
It was meant to be purely practical.
I don't understand you.
Oh, I think you do, but please yourself.
You can resign, or you can wait to be dismissed. It's all the same to me.
Dismissed? For what reason?
For fraud, sir.
Fraud?
Fraud!
Do you think I'm an imbecile? Do you think I have to wait for a final count
to realize you've been selling off animals to pay for
this monstrous castle?
Heaven knows how much of the stockholders money you've thrown away.
In any event,
I shall report my findings to his Lordship. And I warn you,
he may want to start legal proceedings.
Certainly, if he seeks my counsel, I shall advise him to.
For if ever I've seen fraudulent conversion of corporate funds, it's here!
It's here!
MERVIN: Howl, howl,
howl, howl!
O! You are men of stones.
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so that heaven's vault should crack.
She's gone
for ever.
I know when one is dead, and when one lives.
She's dead as earth.
O, my good master!
Prithee, away.
But, 'tis noble Kent, your friend.
A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!
I might have sav'd her; now, she's gone forever! Cordelia,
Cordelia!
Stay a little.
Ha!
What is't thou sayst?
Her voice was ever soft, gentle and low,
an excellent thing in woman.
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
and thou no breath at all?
Look on her,
look, her lips,
look there,
(GASPING)
look there!
(GROANING)
He faints! My lord, my lord!
He is gone, indeed.
The wonder is he hath endur'd so long.
The oldest hath borne most.
And we, we that are young,
shall never see so much,
nor live so long.
Bravo!
JIM: Oh!
You're hurting me.
Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
It's just... It seems like a thousand years since you've been gone.
I missed you so much.
You haven't changed, you're as beautiful as ever.
Don't say that. I know how I look.
Where did you go? I wrote to St. Louis.
Did some traveling.
Cincinnati, Chicago.
And you'd pick them hell-holes over Centennial?
Life's better when nobody knows who you are.
But Chicago?
I mean...
Chicago's not that bad. Chicago's fun.
Heard I got married?
You can get divorced.
I don't know where he is.
You don't have to know.
He deserted you. We can go to court tomorrow.
No court. Never again.
What do you mean, "never again," Clemma?
I don't want to talk about it.
Oh, all right, all right. We won't talk about it.
Where're your folks?
Out. Some play or something.
Get your coat.
Why?
Last time you asked me to have a drink and I couldn't handle it.
But things are a little different now.
Oh, Clemma, everything is gonna be different,
now that you're back.
Come on get your coat.
Where are we going? To celebrate.
In this town?
The saloon serves ladies now.
Not this lady.
Oh, why not, Clemma?
I'm Indian, Jim.
And one thing that's never going to change in this town
is the way people feel about Indians.
You're with me.
No, Jim. I'm not with you.
I never have been with you and I never will be with you.
You came back.
Not to be with you.
That can change, Clemma.
That can change if you'll just let me...
Jim, leave me alone! Just leave me alone!
All right, all right, all right. But I don't understand why.
(SIGHING)
That's just it.
You don't understand anything but what you wanna understand.
I'm not what you think I am.
I'm not what you want me to be.
You came back, Clemma. That's a start.
Maybe it can be a start for the both of us. If you just let it be.
And there I was standing on the balcony, waiting for Mr. Wendell to say his line.
Excellent!
Oh, Sheriff, did you see them, weren't they amazing?
Amazing.
Well, sir, those are welcome words indeed.
Most welcome.
Perhaps you'll come back tomorrow night, for our second performance.
Have you paid for the hall yet, Mr. Wendell?
I beg your pardon? Paid for it?
I'm sure I don't know.
My dear, have we?
Not yet.
Well, there ain't gonna be a second performance, then. Not here.
Mr. Dumire?
Ma'am, please!
Are you trying to tell me, sir, that my credit's no good?
If you are, spit it out.
No need to be mealy-mouthed.
Your credit's no good.
May one ask why?
Got a telegram here from
the sheriff of Grand River, Nebraska.
"Attached for numerous unpaid bills all equipment
"belonging to Mervin Wendell Troupe playing your city."
Axel, for heaven's sake, they have to make a living.
So do other folks, that's why they got to pay their bills.
And we will pay them, sir, with the receipts from the box office.
Box office receipts have already been impounded.
Maude?
We'll go on.
How?
With dignity.
What do you mean, bribe him? Bribe him with what?
Anything, anything.
Promises!
That's always been your strong suit, promises.
Not in front of the... Not in front of the boy, Maude. Please.
Young man! My key please. Room seven.
Yes, sir. Just a minute, Mr. Wendell.
Excuse me. I...
I wonder if I could help.
I beg your pardon?
My name is Holly. Reverend Holly.
I'm pastor of the Union Church.
How do you do, sir?
I saw the performance tonight.
I thought it was thrilling.
Thank you very much, but I don't quite...
I also ran into Sheriff Dumire and he told me what he'd done.
I see.
Now, the fact is that my church has a fund for emergencies like this.
And, really, we'd be... Well, we'd be honored if you'd let us pay the attachment.
Reverend,
that is a lovely offer.
But we can't possibly accept it.
Oh, it's not charity, Mrs. Wendell.
Please don't think of it as charity. Call it a loan.
Pay it back when you can.
Mr. Wendell.
There you are. My key please.
I'm afraid I have some awkward news.
There was a mistake in reservations.
We've had to give away your room. I don't have anything else.
I don't quite understand.
I am sorry.
We've taken the liberty of bringing down your belongings.
You've talked with Sheriff Dumire.
He came by, yes, sir.
Oh, for heaven's sake.
All right, now that settles it.
Mrs. Wendell, I can't offer you a fancy hotel suite,
but I do have a second home that my family left me. It's very cozy and it's empty.
Please, please, you must take it.
But I don't understand.
We're nothing to you. We're just poor players...
Who strut and fret your hour upon the stage and then are heard no more?
Bravo.
Oh. Oh, no, no, Mr. Wendell. You're much more than that.
Now, in the first place you're very good players.
And you provide Centennial with a service that it badly needs.
You give us entertainment and you give us beauty.
And then again there was a circus performer died here recently
and... So that I think this town in particular
owes something to people like you.
Well, that... That is the most generous gesture I've ever heard of, sir.
Thank you.
And, of course, we'll accept.
Well. Well, come on, then. Let's go.
And bundle up. We don't want you to catch pneumonia.
Thank you.
Come on, get those things off, you're soaking wet.
I just don't think it's fair, I mean for Dumire to...
Well, we'll talk about it in the morning.
Just get in bed and I'll fix you a hot drink.
Levi, where's the whiskey?
Whiskey? I don't know. It's right there where it always is.
Looking for this?
Here you go, Papa.
Clemma!
Come on, Clemma, let's get you to bed. I'm not sleepy.
You're drunk.
That's right, Papa.
Your little half-breed is drunk on your wonderful white man's whiskey.
(SNIFFLES)
Go to bed.
That didn't hurt, Mama.
I've been hit a lot harder than that.
And I've been locked in cells a lot more depressing than the one up there.
So don't think you can punish me anymore like you used to when I was seven and eight.
Clemma.
You said cells?
That's right, Papa.
Your little papoose disappeared for so long
because they wouldn't let her out of jail.
Jail? What for?
The first time? Selling my body.
(CRYING)
At least not everyone back east thought I was totally worthless.
Oh, Clemma.
The last time?
The last time it was for love.
Whatever that is.
He said he loved me.
He said when I cashed the checks,
we'd go away together to a place that was different.
To a place where nobody cared what color your skin was.
So I cashed the checks.
When the police came, he just left without me.
He just left. Clemma.
We should have never sent her to St. Louis.
No, it wasn't St. Louis.
And it isn't Centennial.
It's just...
Just the times.
But you can't choose the times you live in.
You can only try and change them a little bit while we're here.
It's funny, I thought so much about that coming back on the train.
How nothing in Lancaster had changed after I left.
And so much in Centennial had.
Think of it.
Think of how it was before Pasquinel came. And McKeag.
And what Clay Basket saw in her lifetime.
Even what we've seen in ours.
It's a wonderful place, Lucinda.
Because it is changing. It's growing.
Clemma can't see that right now, because she's...
(SIGHING) She's hurting.
But that's part of it, too. The hurting.
We've all been hurt out here because it's been hard.
We know what it is to hurt, to see others hurt.
We care.
The way you cared for me
when you first came to McKeag's cabin and stayed with me.
You saved my life then because you cared.
And we'll save Clemma now
because we both care.
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
Jim, come in. John! John!
Yes. You're half frozen.
Jim, where in the blazes have you been?
East draw, off Pine Creek. What?
JOHN: Are you out of your mind? In this storm?
CHARLOTTE: Bring him over here, by the fire.
Could I get by the fire, please?
Get him to the fire and warm him up.
Get some brandy, Oliver.
It's like the end of the world.
If those were your bags out there, Mr. Perkin, you can unpack them.
Unpack? Why?
Because there's no way in the world you're gonna get into town tonight.
Temperature's 16 below and still falling.
Keeps up, you're gonna be lucky to get out by spring.
But the cattle? They'll survive, won't they?
Not a chance. The grass is sealed off.
What, can't they push the snow aside and fend for themselves?
Not a cow, no, sir.
A cow is an animal least fitted to fight a blizzard.
Now a buffalo has learned to push the snow aside by swinging his head.
A horse will paw away until he finds grass.
Sheep will eat the snow if they can't find water.
Turkeys will roost in the trees to avoid the drifts
and a chicken will peck away until he reaches the ground.
But a cow, sir,
a cow will stand with the snow up to his belly and die of thirst.
If they don't freeze first, they'll suffocate.
I seen... I seen...
Take it easy, Jim, take it easy.
I seen dead cattle piled one on top of another
till they seemed to fill the whole draw.
I seen Pine Creek lined with what must have been a thousand carcasses.
I seen a whole field of ice
with nothing but horns and noses sticking out.
Mr. Seccombe, half our herd must be dead.
So that's the end of all the gambling.
What gambling?
The risk we all took when we ran cattle on the open range
without storing hay to feed them.
Now, Mr. Seccombe, we do have some feed left in the barns.
And I can scout around and see if I can scare up some more.
And if you did, John, how would you get it out to the cattle on the range?
Maybe it is the end of the world.
Clemma? Darling, if you need some more blankets...
Clemma?
(TRAIN WHISTLE BLOWING)
Levi!
Clemma?
Well, as they say...
Mr. Perkin, if you come out with one more cliché about the weather,
I will get up and hit you right in the mouth.
Will you indeed? I will indeed.
Then you'll limit the conversation severely, madam.
Unless you can come up with a sounder topic.
Ha! I could think of a thousand. Such as?
Such as the atrocious bad luck that led you here in the first place.
You don't suppose it's been a bonny picnic for me, eh?
Oh, Mr. Perkin, I don't suppose anything bonny has happened to you
since the day you were born.
Now, now, now.
Well, look at him, what do you see?
A guest in my house.
Let's not forget our British breeding.
He's quite right.
Madam,
I apologize.
Yes, Wallace?
Mr. Skimmerhorn is here, ma'am, to see Mr. Seccombe.
John, come in.
Ma'am. Mr. Perkin.
I'm sorry to interrupt, sir,
but we're starting to run low on feed.
Now, I understand Hans Brumbaugh's got some... Oh, thank you sir.
Hans Brumbaugh's got some over at his place.
I would like permission to buy whatever he's willing to sell.
I can send Jim over to pick it up.
How? I mean we...
Jim's come up with quite an idea. We've been using it to get feed out to the range.
He puts runners on the bottom of the hay wagon,
we use it like a sled. Runners?
That's very clever.
Yes, sir, Jim's a real bright boy.
Oh, yes. Fine.
Yeah. Thank you, sir. Ma'am.
Very clever.
Would you look at that storm?
Well, you know what they say,
"It never rains but it pours."
(SLAMMING BOOK SHUT)
Just about loaded up.
Hi, Sheriff.
What's happened? Levi's dead.
Dead? How?
Train accident last night.
Station master said he was running alongside the train, so...
Must have slipped.
What was he doing at the train station?
Well, I suppose he was seeing his girl off.
She's leaving again.
Bought herself a ticket to Chicago.
You all right? Yeah, sure.
Where you going? To see Lucinda.
Don't go out now.
I got to. I never had a friend like Levi.
It was lovely meeting you. Yes. Hopefully we'll see you on Sunday.
Thank you so much for coming. Bye.
Well,
what a house warming, huh, Reverend Holly?
I told you everyone would want to welcome you.
It's just that we had to wait for the blizzard to subside, that's all.
Yes.
By the way, if you need more firewood, there's plenty of it at the church.
And if you need somebody to carry it over for you. I think maybe we can supply that, too.
Oh.
Oh, I almost forgot.
Now, Mr. Wendell, we can't expect you to perform all the time, can we?
So I've found you a temporary job as well.
Reverend Holly, I don't know what to say.
Oh, there's no need to say anything at all, my friend.
It's not much, but it's honest work.
Baggage handler at the local railway station.
Splendid. Really.
I'm overwhelmed.
Oh, please, please.
Well... Goodbye, Reverend.
Thank you. Thank you, thank you.
Oh.
Goodbye. Goodbye, sir.
Baggage handler at the railway station.
Well, you'll do very well at it, Mervin. I'm sure.
Baggage handler?
Oh, just think of it as another role.
Oh, they want to help us
because they loved our performance.
Dumire didn't.
He doesn't count. He's the law.
The law serves the people.
Yes, those who have power, who have money.
We have nothing.
We have this house. On loan. It's charity.
Out of the goodness of Reverend Holly's heart? Yes, whatever.
(LAUGHING) His heart isn't all that good, my darling.
No man's is. Yes, yes, yes, I know.
It's obvious he finds you attractive.
Most men do.
Some, a few
that we recall more vividly than others.
Are you suggesting the badger game?
Here? Why not?
On a preacher? Who better?
Maude...
How can he tell his parish
that you caught him in a compromising position with your wife?
I don't know.
We belong here, Mervin.
I can feel it.
This house is going to be ours.
This town is going to be ours.
When I first came to this town, many years ago,
Centennial was known as Zendt's Farm.
And I, for one,
will probably always think of it as Zendt's Farm
until the day I die.
We live on land that Levi Zendt developed,
among people that he helped to shape.
He founded our community.
But more than that,
much more than that,
he shared it.
He shared it with farmers,
and he shared it with ranchers,
shepherds,
men of every color and every religion,
and no religion at all.
He shared his land
and he shared himself.
And no man who does that
will ever really die.
May God continue to bless you all
as he already blessed us
with the friendship
and the example
of the man called Levi Zendt.
Amen. ALL: Amen.
How very kind of you to join us today.
I wanted to show my respect for the man who founded this town.
I hope I wasn't intruding.
No, never.
Come I'll get my coat and escort you home.
We came to this land together, Levi and I.
We began together and we end together.
What are you talking about? Nothing has ended for you.
Oh, it has.
It's ended.
LEVI: We can't choose the times we live in.
We can only try to change the way they are a little while we're here.
Think how it was, Lucinda,
before Pasquinel came.
And McKeag.
And think about Clay Basket,
what she saw in her life time.
Even what we've seen in ours.
Men come and go, they talk about my this and my that,
my land, my part of the river,
my range, my crops, my town.
But the truth is, it never belongs to any of us.
It can't.
Men can never claim the land.
But the land always claims man in the end.
And if a man has to die,
this is a wonderful place, Lucinda.
This is a wonderful place.