The Last Frontier

Handful of hunters caught

buffalo and deer

Back when the west was young

At the last frontier

Snake bites, Indian fights

plagued the pioneer

The pioneer

We're all at the last frontier

The last frontier

Back when the law was

the law of the open spaces

The folks out there were fair and square

They paid every debt

by the sweat of their honest faces

Snow, heat, little meat

famine almost near

And still they struggled on

hiding every tear

Stout hearts played their parts

in that bygone year

Back there at the last frontier

The last frontier

Did you ever see so many smiling faces?

I wonder what's bothering them?

Ask them, Mungo.

Let them talk first.

I'm getting hungry. Let's make camp here.

I guess this is as good a place as any.

- You got any salt, Jed?

- I ate the last speck day before yesterday.

Mungo?

I sure miss a sprinkle of salt on me meat.

Right now I'd give a whole silver dollar...

for just enough to sting

the edge of me tongue.

You're a mighty free spender

with silver dollars you ain't got, Gus?

I'm a big spender, I am.

You just wait till we trade in these skins...

and I'll show you how fast

I can shed my share.

What you gonna do

with your share, Mungo?

Whiskey.

Dollars?

Right now that appeals to me.

Don't get up, just keep eating.

He wants our rifles.

Give them to him.

He wants more.

- Not one more thing.

- Shut up, Jed.

- Give him the horses.

- Not the horses, Gus.

There's a year's work tied up in those packs.

A year of freezing, starving, and slaving.

I know. I've got more than a year's work

tied up in me...

and I've no mind to lose it

for some tired horses and a pack of furs.

Give them the horses, Mungo.

Red Cloud says we're no longer welcome.

We're not to shoot, fish,

or set traps in the forest anymore.

We must go back beyond the river.

- If we return, we die.

- Why?

We ain't never done him any harm.

There's plenty here for all of us.

- It's the bluecoats.

- Soldiers.

- When did they come?

- In the spring.

- They chop down many trees. Build fort.

- Where?

Paha Saba.

Red Cloud says they all die

before snow falls...

and so will any white man

who sets foot in these woods.

We never fished

nor killed any more than we could eat.

And we're no bluecoats.

Why is he taking it out on us?

- Civilization.

- Civilization?

Civilization is creeping up on us, lads.

The bluecoats ain't satisfied...

with gobbling up all the land

east of Mississippi.

They won't stop till they've pushed us over

the Rockies and into the Pacific Ocean.

It's a drowning fate awaits us all.

These are calamitous times

we're living in, Jed.

Calamitous times.

They ain't pushing me

off the face of this earth.

I'm going down to that fort...

and collect every single thing

that Red Cloud took from us.

Are you?

Me big bull buffalo.

You never tangled with men

like these before, Jed.

You don't know them like I do.

They talk with forked tongues.

Once you set foot inside that fort...

they'll snare you.

And how'll they snare me?

They got wondrous ways. No.

We'll go north to Canada.

We'll get a stake from the Bay Company.

Then we'll strike out for fresh country.

You can go north, Gus.

But them bluecoats owe us for them skins

and I'm collecting it.

- If you want to wait for me here, you wait.

- No, I'd better go with you.

- Somebody's got to do the thinking.

- All right.

You do the thinking,

but I'm doing the talking.

Halt!

Halt, or I'll fire!

See, what did I tell you.

Right away they want to shoot us.

- We go to Canada.

- Not until we get paid.

It's all right, sentry. They're unarmed.

Come ahead.

- Who runs this place, mister?

- I do.

You owe us for five horses,

three rifles and a year's trapping.

- What are you gonna do about it?

- What are you talking about?

What me friend means to say is...

that on account of your building this fort,

stirring up bad feelings...

we was relieved of them things

by Red Cloud.

- You had a run in with Red Cloud?

- Aye.

- How'd you get away?

- We never bothered Red Cloud.

I guess he don't think of us as white men.

I'd like to make good your loss

by giving you men jobs.

The Army needs scouts. We're too busy.

We've got too many places to go.

Wait a minute, Gus.

We ain't got no place to go.

- What'll you pay us?

- $25 a month per man.

Free room and board, guns,

all the ammunition you can use...

and you can keep whatever skins you hunt.

- You're trying to trap us, mister?

- Yes, I am.

We lost our commanding officer and scout

since we started building this fort...

so we're a little short-handed.

The Army needs men.

We get wear those blue coats?

Only soldiers wear uniforms.

No bluecoat, no scouting.

I can't let you enlist.

It wouldn't be right for you.

Why not?

You men are trappers.

You're used to a lot of freedom.

There are certain restrictions

a soldier serves under.

It'd be a tough life for you.

- You done your thinking?

- Canada.

I'll promise you this.

The moment you're ready

to become a soldier, I'll make you one.

You've my word on that.

I like him.

His face don't lie to me.

How about you, Mungo?

You got whiskey?

You can buy anything

inside the fort you want.

- I'll see that you get paid in advance.

- I like him, too.

It's leading us into a trap, you are.

Come on inside.

Parade, attention!

Present arms!

Order arms!

- Dismissed!

- Dismissed.

That's me boy.

Where are you going, lad?

- Whiskey!

- Whiskey!

Mungo, whiskey!

Okay.

Halt.

Get out.

Do you have any whiskey?

Get out or I'll call the guard.

He can't hear you.

- Who's he?

- That's my husband, Col. Marston.

Say.

I guess you have to dress

in a fancy uniform like this...

to have a woman like you.

If you don't leave,

you'll be severely punished, Mr. Cooper.

Mr. Cooper?

- You know me?

- I saw you enter the fort.

Capt. Riordan tells me

he hired you as a scout...

to protect us.

You don't have to worry

about anything, lady.

I'll protect you...

and your husband, too.

- You sure you ain't got any whiskey?

- Positive.

You must have some whiskey 'cause

the Colonel looks like a drinking man.

You've had too much to drink already.

Will you kindly return to your quarters?

You know, I'm really going to be glad

to meet the Colonel.

He dresses so fancy.

My husband isn't here, he's at Fort Medford.

He's at Fort Medford

on the other side of the forest?

I'm sorry to tell you, lady...

but you're a widow woman.

'Cause Red Cloud ain't gonna

let nobody build a fort in his back yard.

Please go.

What kind of woman are you?

Don't you cry when you hear

that your man's dead?

I like strong women.

Take your hands off me.

You're a drunken, filthy animal.

I'm not an animal.

And I wouldn't drink

your whiskey if you had any.

And I feel sorry for your husband.

Bucko.

What's the matter? Somebody shove you?

If I was an Indian,

you'd be a dead soldier, Luke.

- Where'd you come from?

- Where you should have been looking.

I haven't got eyes in the back of my head.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes