Buffalo Bill Page #3

That's it, that's my letter,

telling you I was coming.

- I mailed it a week before I left.

- That's nothing.

Private Mulligan didn't get his reprieve

letter till 10 days after they hung him.

Come to think of it,

he never did get it.

Bill, would you get the senator's bags?

- All right.

- Come on, boy.

It doesn't look as if you have been

living in luxury for the past two years.

That's changing, though, right away.

- What do you mean?

- Vandervere's starting a new industry.

- A tremendous affair.

- Industry, here?

Yes, my boy, a craze for buffalo robes

has swept the East.

People will pay anything for them.

Vandervere's formed a corporation.

I'm on the board myself. You, Bill,

will direct the field operations.

- Field operations?

- Yes.

Hire every hunting outfit available.

We want all the hides you can get,

and more.

Vandervere's industry grew

to amazing proportions almost overnight.

The craze for buffalo robes

swept the East.

They brought big prices.

Buffalo hunting

became an organized business...

...and degenerated

into a wholesale slaughter.

It became the sport of the world,

bringing sportsmen...

...from every land, and in a single

month, 5000 head were slaughtered.

- How, Pahaska.

- How, yourself.

- Sit down, Ned.

- No, thank you.

A slight saddle contusion

makes standing more agreeable.

- How's the duke like buffalo hunting?

- Thinks it's the greatest.

Nothing like it in Russia.

He wants you to come over...

...and join him

in post-prandial potations.

What's that?

Fire water.

He'll have to excuse me tonight.

I'm tired.

Say, Ned, these papers you sent over

have got me worried.

How so, my doughty Nimrod?

Bill's wondering about the large scale

buffalo hunting has been assuming.

- It seems to be going on everywhere.

- This started as a business.

Now they're shooting them for sport.

- There's a limit to even the buffalo.

- Limit? Oh, yes.

I suppose there's a limit to

the sands of the seashore...

- ... but who's going to count them?

- Mm-hm.

Maybe you're right,

but it worries me.

What worries me is the grand duke

overstepping the bounds of moderation.

- I'll carry your apologies.

Thanks, Ned.

- Good night, Mrs. Cody.

- Good night.

Bill, why didn't you

join the grand duke?

It's not often you're going to get

to hobnob with royalty.

I like my present company better.

I was afraid when I brought you here,

but now I'm glad. You've been happy.

Bill, at this moment,

I'm happier than I've ever been before.

I am happy too, and tired.

Nothing in the world

can move me right now.

I wonder.

No, sirree. Not even the grand duke

himself could budge me tonight.

Suppose it was someone much

more important than the grand duke.

Who could that be?

No!

Yes.

Bill, what are you doing?

- What are you doing, Bill?

- You lie still. I'll pack up.

- Pack up?

- Yes, I've gotta get you to the doctor.

Oh, Bill, not yet.

Men of the nations, there's a black

cloud coming from the east...

...to cover us all.

We, the Cheyenne, have called

our brothers of the Sioux.

So we can hear

their words about this thing.

Yesterday the buffalo was many as

the blades of grass upon the prairie.

Today the buffalo is few...

...as the leaves

of the oak tree in winter.

The white man has done this thing,

so the red man will starve.

When the buffalo is gone, we starve.

We have no meat to eat...

...no hides to make tepees,

no robes to make beds.

Brothers, it is not good for man...

...to hear his woman

and children crying.

It is a bad thing for man to starve.

There are better ways to die.

The word of the Cheyenne

is the word of the Sioux.

Let both people be bound

by the belts of the war chiefs.

It is the belt of Yellow Hand,

war chief of the Cheyenne.

It is the belt of Crazy Horse,

war chief of the Sioux.

The Sioux and the Cheyenne

will strike together.

The Sioux must strike first.

But why the Sioux?

The Cheyenne are ready.

In the land of the Cheyenne

are many white soldiers.

In our land are few.

My brother is wise in war.

Children.

I...

I am called away.

I must go back to my people.

Go to your homes.

There will be no more school.

Do as I say, go to your homes.

Leave.

Do you have to drive so slowly, Bill?

I'm not taking any chances.

I'll get you to the doctor all right.

Don't you worry, sweetheart.

Tobacco, grandmother?

There you are.

What's she doing here all alone?

She's just old. When Indians get too

old to travel they're left behind...

- ... with a little food and fuel.

- To die?

Yeah.

That's terrible!

Can't we do something?

It's the way of her people.

There's nothing we can do.

Here am I, going to bring a new life

into the world...

...and leaving an old woman

behind to die.

That's nature's way, Louisa.

When anything becomes too old,

it's just pushed aside.

But it shouldn't be.

That's why we have civilization.

Hya!

Bill!

Whoa.

Yee-haw!

Louisa, darling.

Bill...

...is it a boy?

- It's a boy.

- Is he perfect?

Listen to him.

Give him to me.

- Are you all right?

- Yes.

We'll name him after the greatest

scout that ever lived. Kit Carson.

Kit Carson Cody.

It's a lovely name.

Bill, couldn't we take him East?

East? Well, what would we

be doing in the East?

I want him to be safe.

To have care, doctors, schools...

...all the advantages of civilization.

Well, he'll have care,

and he won't need any doctor.

He got here without one.

Schools.

We'll think of that

when the time comes.

It would be nice to go East, though.

But it doesn't matter where we are,

Bill, as long as we're together.

The three of us.

Cody.

Cody, this is providential. I need you.

We're moving out.

- Moving? Where, sir?

- Haven't you heard?

The Sioux have overrun the North,

beaten Crook and wiped out Custer.

- Wiped out Custer?

- And the 7th Cavalry, every last man.

We're joining Crook on the North Platte.

You're the only guide here

who knows that country.

Well, Cody?

You see how it is, general.

Yes.

But you know what

this disaster means.

You're a civilian.

I can't order you to do anything...

...but I can leave it

to your conscience.

We move in two minutes, Cody.

With or without you.

Bill.

Prepare to mount.

Mount.

- Bill, you can't go.

- I don't wanna go.

But you're going.

You can't go.

You don't have to go.

The general said

he couldn't order you to.

Bill, you can't leave us.

Nothing matters so long as we're

together, the three of us.

Bill, I loved you. I could endure anything

as long as you were with me.

You wanted a son,

and I bore him for you, like a squaw.

But he's mine as much as yours.

If you leave now, it's forever.

I'll take him back East with me

to civilization. To safety.

I think we're making

a big mistake, general.

Our problem is to keep the Cheyenne

from joining forces with the Sioux.

You're way off.

The Cheyenne haven't risen.

They will.

They're blood brothers.

Our best move is to keep them

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