How the West Was Won Page #7

vast parcels for every mile of track laid.

Land that would one day

be worth millions.

Hold it.

Set it down.

Workers, up.

Where'd you find them?

About a mile back yonder.

That's Johnny Hormatz.

That's Jack Perkin.

What the hell is this? A picnic?

- Well, the Indians got a couple of our men...

- Mister, you were the foreman here.

Now you're a tracklayer.

Now get back to work, all of you!

Move it!

Fast!

- You.

- Yes, sir.

You're the foreman

till I can find somebody better.

- Yes, sir.

- Get them at it.

- Wait a minute.

- Move it!

Your name Jethro Stuart?

All right, get at it.

Well, Mr. Jethro Stuart, you're hired

to hunt buffalo to feed these men...

...not to stop their work.

Why'd you bring these bodies here?

They're railroaders. I thought somebody

in the railroad might be interested.

I'm the railroad and I'm not interested.

You should've buried them,

then tracked down the Indians who did it.

Well, Mr. King, like you said,

I was hired to hunt...

...not to dig graves or fight Indians.

Those fellas are mostly old soldiers.

You wouldn't think a couple

dead men bother them much.

I don't want anything in their thick skulls

but their work. Do you understand?

Now, get rid of those bodies.

Start tracking those Indians.

You keep forgetting, Mr. King,

my job's buffalo.

It was buffalo.

Go to the paymaster and draw your time.

Well, now, that foreman fella,

you didn't fire him.

You just took him down a peg

because you needed him.

Who's gonna shoot buffalo? You?

- What the devil is that?

- Milk.

Milk?

The Army must've changed

since I was in it.

- Just rode in. I'm hungry.

- You are, huh?

But you'd rather watch them than eat.

- Is that it?

- That's it.

Well, I wish you were as eager

to protect this railroad.

Did you get any word about those two men

who were killed today?

I tracked the Arapahos

and talked to the chief.

Those men were a mile off

the right-of-way...

...where they had no business,

drunk and chasing squaws.

- As much their fault as it was the Indians'.

- That a fact?

Well, soldier boy, your job

is to fight Indians, not to agree with them.

Mr. King, there were 200 Arapahos

and I had 20 men.

Now, to me...

...agreeing seemed wiser than fighting.

To you, huh?

Well, you know, I might just send off

a wire to the colonel.

He may not agree.

I already reported. He does agree.

Acknowledged and understood. Sergeant.

Trouble, sir?

I don't know.

Hey, lieutenant.

I got a message:

Indians are up to something.

You know anything about it?

Chief says railroad busted the agreement.

Changed the route, come smack

through Arapaho hunting grounds.

- You sure the chief's right?

- Plenty sure.

They're getting the war paint ready.

Can you stand there and tell me...

...that one little change is gonna cost

the Arapahos one buffalo.

- Or even one jackrabbit?

- Mr. King.

They can be made to see it differently.

Who's hurting them?

What's a railroad anyway?

Two tracks and a whistle.

It's not the tracks they're afraid of.

It's what the tracks bring.

The buffalo hunters slaughtering off

their herds.

And then the settlers coming in.

And when will that be?

Twenty, 30 years, maybe?

By then, we'll all be dead.

Right now we're just crossing the land.

That's all. Land that's safe

to the Arapahos for our lifetime.

Now, you go talk to them.

Smoke a peace pipe with them.

Do anything they want.

Just get them to make a new agreement.

That's your job, isn't it?

Keeping the peace?

I'll keep the peace, Mr. King...

...but you keep your promise.

Hear your name's Rawlings,

you're from Ohio.

Your pa's name couldn't be

Linus Rawlings, could it?

- Could be.

- Knew him.

Jethro Stuart.

- He used to speak of you.

- Used to?

Pa was killed at Shiloh.

Sit down, Mr. Stuart.

Well, better than dying behind a plow.

I tried it. Settled down for a year once.

Took 10 years off my life.

Your ma...

She must've been something real special

getting old Linus to stay put.

She was, Mr. Stuart. Very special.

Old Linus.

Two years running once.

Your pa and me trapped together.

Up along the Waunakee.

Got so many beaver,

we had to tie them tail-to-tail...

...just to drag them down the mountain.

Over a mile long it was,

that line of beaver pelts.

Mr. Stuart, my father could take the truth

and stretch it about six ways.

You sound just like him.

I'll take it you meant that kindly.

Well, I'd think twice

before I called you a liar.

Tell me something,

talking about liars.

Why would a son of old Linus

get mixed up with a man like Mike King?

I know what you mean.

- But Mike King isn't the railroad.

- Oh?

I don't think he knows that.

He's changing the route back, is he?

No.

I know.

But he'd do anything

to gain a day on the Central Pacific.

He's not a fool. He doesn't want a war,

and neither do the Arapahos.

I think I could get them to agree

to this change in route...

...if I sit down and talk with them

for a while.

- How you gonna get them to do it?

- That's just it.

I need somebody that knows

the language and who they trust.

You wouldn't happen to know someone

like that, would you, Mr. Stuart?

Your pa could set a trap

like no man I ever come across.

Just coax them on and, bam.

You'd better do something

so he'll know you're pledging your word.

That blame whistle's like the crack of doom

for all that's natural.

My ma felt a man ought to

make his scratch on the land.

Leave it a little different

than when he come.

Anyway, thanks for fixing things

with the chief.

Me? I fixed nothing.

You put the words to my mouth

but that won't make them come true.

Jethro, I said what I had to

to keep the peace.

- I know there's a risk.

- Risk?

Maybe you don't understand.

You pledged your word back there.

Not mine, not the Army's,

not the railroad's.

It's your word told them

they'd keep their hunting grounds.

- I think they will.

- I think you got your neck stuck out...

...like a prairie chicken waiting for one side

or the other to chop it off.

Your pa and me got kicked out

of one territory after another...

...with people pouring in,

killing off game, putting up towns.

It ain't gonna stop.

Your treaty's gonna get broke and

I don't wanna be around to see it happen.

Look me up when you get your bellyful.

- Where you going?

- Heading back to the mountains.

A high lonesome

where there ain't no people at all yet.

So long.

By now, the Central Pacific had broken

through the wall of the high Sierras...

... and was straining eastward

across the flatlands of Nevada.

While the Union Pacific,

thanks to its long peace with the Indians...

... was able to keep up pressure

just as avidly in the opposite direction.

The competition was exciting,

but also costly...

... and both companies were itching

to earn money from tracks already laid.

Did the horses ride all right, Jake?

- No better than I did.

We'll have to rest them a day before we can

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