Fort Apache Page #5

not a debating society, York.

- Four men, I'll be in command...

- Mr. O'Rourke will be in command.

Mr. O'Rourke in command. Have them take

That's a lot for men who've been

trained to shoot. Thirty will be ample.

Thirty will be ample.

And 18 per revolving pistol.

You'll call for volunteers.

- With the colonel's permission, I volunteer.

- Permission refused.

Carry out your orders, sergeant major.

You'll leave within the quarter-hour,

Mr. O'Rourke. Questions?

Michael.

You know what's

expected of you now?

Sure, Dad, I know.

Derice, go get Quincannon

out of the guardhouse. Wait.

O'Feeney, go to the stables and find

Mulcahy, Shattuck and Johnny Reb.

Tell them they're volunteering

for a hazardous mission.

Beyond the call of duty.

Tell them their regiment is proud of them.

Now, get going.

Come on, come on.

You spoke before of a platoon

from A Troop, Captain York.

I suggest you assemble it.

Light marching equipment,

but full bandoleers.

We leave in 30 minutes.

I'll command, you'll accompany.

- You mean, we're gonna trail the wagon?

- At a striking distance.

Collingwood.

You remember the paper

that Captain Robert E. Lee wrote...

...when he was at the Point?

The one on the trap

as a military weapon?

I do not share the popular view

of Captain Lee's ability as tactician...

...but that paper impressed me.

Particularly the maneuver that Genghis Khan

employed in the battle of Kinsha in 1221.

You recall...?

- Hadn't you better be moving, captain?

- Yes, sir.

What, no debate this time, captain?

No debate, sir. No questions.

Troop is ready, sir.

You're not properly uniformed, captain.

Nor are your men.

They look like scratch farmers

on market day.

Their hats should be creased

fore and aft like a fedora.

And I don't like exposed galluses.

Yes, sir.

Move out in a column of twos, captain.

By twos! By the right flank!

Come on. Follow!

Woman, go on about your business.

Get busy with the wire, sergeant.

All right, you men.

Get out those blankets.

- And work fast.

- Barry and Williams.

Many a pint I had with both of them.

- Why you...

- Sergeant.

Johnny Reb, drop it.

Men, let's get out of here. Fast.

- Bugler, raise those colors to full staff.

- Yes, sir.

Meacham.

- This looks deserted.

- He's here all right. Meacham!

With the colonel's permission, sir.

The door is open, sir.

- Open the shutters. Get the stench out.

- Yes, sir.

Meacham.

- Well, Mr. York.

- Let's go, Meacham.

By your leave, sir.

Another exile in our wilderness.

Colonel Thursday,

our new commanding officer.

Your servant, Mr. Thursday.

- May the Lord...

- Colonel Thursday, Mr. Meacham.

Oh, bless you, I pay no attention

to military titles.

I don't believe in titles of any kind.

We're all his brothers, his children.

Even these savages entrusted to my care.

- I feed them and clothe them...

- And fill them full of rotgut whiskey.

I have a license.

Spirits have their uses.

This is not a healthy climate.

Perhaps the colonel would like a drink

after his ride.

No? Your health.

Mr. Meacham...

...a band of Indians

has left the reservation.

That's right. That Diablo and 30 others,

the ungrateful dogs.

I treat them well.

I have goods for them to buy.

- Knives, calico, wool...

- Cheap, shoddy trash.

No.

Mist... Colonel Thursday,

you know how children are.

They like their bright toys.

Winchester seven-shot repeaters

are not toys, Meacham.

Captain York, I am attempting

to question Mr. Meacham.

Yes, sir.

Right, sir.

There's no reason, to your knowledge...

...why a band of Apache should

go on the warpath?

Not the warpath.

Misguided maybe, like wayward children.

Mister, two of my troopers are dead.

Tortured to death.

Not by my Apaches.

Some other raiding party, perhaps.

How can you be sure?

We've taken Diablo and his band,

what's left of them.

- They'll be here soon.

- You'll keep them here.

You'll assign a troop

to keep them here.

That's what I've been telling Mr. York.

I leave it to you.

How can I, one lone man,

be responsible for all these savages?

Now you see what's happened.

Two of your men have been killed.

Brave men, serving their country, as I am.

This wouldn't have happened

if the highhanded Mr. York...

- Oh, you mealy-mouthed...

- Captain York.

Mr. Meacham is a representative

of the United States government.

He will be treated with due respect.

- May I say something, sir?

- What is it?

No troop or squadron or regiment's gonna

keep the Apaches on this reservation...

...unless they wanna stay here.

Five years ago,

we made a treaty with Cochise.

He and his Chiricahuas

and some of the other Apache bands...

...came on the reservation.

They wanted to live here in peace,

and did for two years.

And then Meacham here was sent

by the Indian ring.

That's a lie. I been...

The dirtiest, most corrupt

political group in our history.

Then it began. Whiskey, but no beef.

Trinkets instead of blankets.

The women degraded, the children sickly,

and the men turning into drunken animals.

So Cochise did the only thing

a decent man could do.

He left. Took most of his people

and crossed the Rio Bravo into Mexico.

- He broke his treaty.

- Yes.

Rather than see his nation wiped out.

The law's the law, and I demand

that you soldier boys enforce it.

Any demands you wish to make...

...you will make through

official channels, Mr. Meacham.

Do not again employ that word

in my presence.

- No offense, sir. No offense.

- Ready, sir.

- Lead the way. Come along, sir.

- Where?

- To your storehouse.

- There's nothing in there.

Here, sir.

- Mister... Colonel Thursday, I protest.

- Put it in writing.

- What's in these boxes?

- It's marked "Bibles," sir.

- That's all it is...

- Open them up.

What's this scale used for?

Weigh government beef rations.

I seem to have gained 75 pounds

since I came to Arizona.

Bibles, sir.

Sergeant, pour me some scripture.

What's in this, brimstone and sulfur?

You know what it is.

I'm entitled to keep it.

Your license permits you

to keep medicinal whiskey...

...but this is no whiskey.

You're not used to frontier whiskey.

I don't know. I've tasted most everything.

Sergeant, you a judge of whiskey?

Well, sir, some people say I am,

and some say I'm not, sir.

Tell me what you make of this.

Well...

...it's better than no whiskey at all, sir.

- Strike a match.

- Yes, sir.

Since it doesn't appear to be whiskey...

...and since it seems to be of highly

inflammable and dangerous liquid...

...I find there's only one thing to do,

Mr. Meacham:
Destroy it.

I protest. I'll write Washington.

I'll have you busted.

Mr. Meacham, you're a blackguard,

a liar, a hypocrite...

...and a stench in the nostrils

of honest men.

If it were in my power,

I'd hang you from a tree...

...leave your carcass for the buzzards.

But as you are a representative

of the United States government...

...I pledge you the protection

and cooperation of my command.

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