? hohooo!!!! what's up, major? cheyenne! circle up! those smoke signals up there are talking about us! that first one says that "the wagons are heading that way," and the second one says he'll be "waiting for" us. get everybody forted up right away! i don't want any fires or lanterns burning after sundown!

get a-moving! hurry up!

( anxious chatter ) mrs. o'malley, you just stop worrying. everything's gonna be all right. sure quiet out there tonight. yep, i just hope it stays that way. man: major adams. yes? isn't there some way we could move around them?

medidine mark? he's chief of the cheyenne. hates white men-- any white men. i've sent mccullough on to getet military escort. that means we'll be losing a lot of time. it's better than losing our scalps. anybody ever try to make peace with this medicine mark? peace? as far as i know, no whihi man's ever set eyes on him and lived to tell about it. it's a funny thing-- most indians won't attack at night, but not this fella. he'll attack any time at all he's got a chance to kill a white man. ( owl hooting ) those gol-darn owls give me the creeps, especially this kind. why? this kind different? yeah, this kind don't fly.

ought to be daylight in about another hour. i don't think they'll jump us-- ( rustling ) man: i'm looking for a fella namemefrancis mason! wellllyou better show yourself, mister... or you'll be dead before you get a chance to lay eyes on him! i'm bije wilcox. are you out of your head, comin' through a cheyenne war party at night up to a wagon train that's waiting to be attacked? them cheyenne don't want this tough old hide. they like white meat, fresh and tender, from the east. scalps is a lot nicer, too-- they ain't been burned to shoe leather. you ram-roddin' this outfit? i am. coulda been right in the middle of this whole wagon train without you knowing it.

o all right. now, sir, where is this francis mason? i'm francis mason. i writ you a letter. i didn't expect to meet you until later. what you're looking for is around these parts, so we can get started right now. started for where? it's a great big country, mister, man can't tell where he's g gna end up. the cheyenne don't give you much choice. i'm alive, ain't i? got a long ways to go. let's get started. i'm not going anywhere yet. with your permission, sir, i'd like to talk to mr. masas alone. go ahead. you didn't seem very anxious. you didn't write me much proof. if i'd have told you all i knowed in my letter, you'd knowed more than me. now,w,aybe you think you don't need me, but you need me, mister mason.

i'm not going out there with you unless you give me some good reasons. you want to find your brother, don't you? that's what the advertisement said. $5,000 reward. to the man who takes me to him. not a cent till then? that's right. i ain't so young anymore. i got the rheumatism. settin' in the sun's a lot easier than setttt' in the saddle. and i ain't risking aches and pains and my scalp for just a ride in the hills. i want that $5,000, mr. mason, and i intend earning it by taking you to your brother. you seem very sure. just as sureres i know medicine mark is setting up in them hills waiting to massacre every man, woman and child on this wagon train. all right. i'll go with you. i want to see the $5,000. i've got it. i said i want to s s it.

the driver will take my wagon to the fort. what about you? i'm going with mr. wilcox. mason, you're a fool. you can't stop me. no, i don't reckon i can, unless i tie you down. but do yourself a favor, will ya? what's that? wait'll the cavalry gets here. they can tell you where the cheyenne are the thickest and where you're g gna get the most trouble. ah! i been hunting and trapping these hills for 25 years. mm-hmm. lookie here. it's all there, every hair of it. and that's the way it's gonna be till it gets put in a pine coffin with the rest of me. quickest way i know of getting killed is getting mixed up with them thick-headed soldiers.

confound the luck. always poking their blue noses into other people's business. i know a way to lose 'em. come on. no. they mustn't waste time. the wagon train'ss depending on them. had my say, i'd set them cheyenne on that whole wagon train. yeah...migig even lift a couple of hair locks myself. howdy, mr. mason. hello, flint. you shouldn't be this far from the wagon train. it's too dangerous. i'm looking out after him. why? what are you up to, bije?

for me, perhaps. i don't like to butt into your affairs, mr. mason, but i know this part of the country-- i know bije wilcox, and there's nothing he wouldn't do for money. that includes murder, gun-running to the indians, horse stealing-- you name it, bije has done it. then how come you ain't hung me yet? how come you haven't been scalped yet? ain't nobody slick enoughh to catch me. there's your answer, mr. mason. now, do you still propose to go out there alone with this man? yes. no. you can stop bije wilcox. you can arrest him for trying to swindle mason. wait a minute. ain't no swindle. you're leading him right into the heart of medicine mark's country. i know where i'm leading him. no white man can go in there and live. hmm...i've lived there. maybe i've got a secret. all right, bije. bubui'm sending a couple of men along with you. no, you ain't, captain. you ain't trackin' me, neither.

don't ever take your eye off this man, mr. mason, bebeuse he's liable to rob you and leave you in the hills to die. he might even sell you to the indians. twentytyears ago you wouldn't have said that to me and lived. twenty years ago i might not have had a reason. good luck, mr. mason. i do, but it's not important. i intend to live until i see my brother's face.

the smoke signals are gone. been gone for some time. maybe they left when they saw the cavalry. no, they're still following us. there's some out there less than 100 yards from us now. don'n'watch for 'em. let's make out like this is just a sunday ride to church. come on, mr. mason. we're stopping here. couldn't have picked a more exposed spot. been looking for it all afternoon. get down off your horse, mr. mason... you're fixin' to become bait. bait?

just a minute, friend. medicine mark's the onlylyan alive can take you to your brother. medicine mark?! that's what i said. now, you wanna run along, go ahead. i don't understand. you mean my brother's a captive? your brother's got a scar on his face. something like a cut? more like a burn. red. no beard will grow over it. like a burn? yes. it wawa a burn. made with a hot coal from the fireplace. did you do it?! how long do o u think we'll have to wait? just as long as he wants us to wait--

that's what they sing about him! sent by the great spirit to save 'em from the white man. great spirit... with all his hate and all his glory, he'd never catch old bije wilcox. exceptin' when i let him. so come on, let's build a fire. build a big 'un, big enough to light up a mountain, big enough to warm all them c cyenne who'll be watching us all night long from behind them rocks. why do you hate him so? can't think of a white man who don't. yours is a different kind of hate-- almost as if you were jealous. jealous? i had more and better chances than him to turn indian, but i stayed with my own people. are you telling me that...

wanting to live where no white man ever lived before. he knowed. how to hunt, how to keep his scalp-- he come out here white-faced and weak as a baby chick. oh, he was a quiet 'un. what little he spoke was against all man. and a hundred times, at night, in his sleep, until i knowed the words myself he'd moan... "cain said to the lord, "'my punishment is more than i can bear. "'i must go straying and stumbling all over the world, and everyone that catches me will kill me.'" ( rustling ) shh.

tell medicine mark i bring him his blood brother who's been s srching for him these past 20 years! varmints. guess they ain't ready yet. "to prevent anyone catching and killing him. and cain left the presence of the lord." sure did, mr. mason. he sure did. ( rustling ) that's just some little ol' night critter out there. indians don't make no noise, mr. . son.

front of you. then your insides get to whipping around like a snake in barrel. what is it? the horses are gone. second nature for a cheyenne to steal a horse, but-- they didn't even leave any hoof marks. they sure were quiet about it. make less noise than a ghost sometimes. then brother

you afraid, wilcox? of nothing i can see, hear, or smell. it's just that i-- i never did think i'i'live to see the day when somebody steal old bije wilcox's horse right out from under his nose! yeah, they make less noise than a ghost. now there's no chance of our getting away even if we wanted to. we never did. it's just... i don't like to be made a fool of-- especially by him! you sure it't' medicine mark's doing? sure i'm sure! i teached him how to steal a horse, didn't i? he's out there probably laughing at us. tell me more about him. tell you what? he ever say he hated me?

derstand-- you know, big talk, big words, and sometime in a foreign language. go on, keep talking. not much more to talk about. i had my knowledge and he took it from me as fast as i could show him. you must have been a good teacher. in a year he knowed more than i did. and then he left? mm-hmm. he left. why? he didn't tell me. he never talked much when we were kids, either. he was different from the other boys, and from me. he stayed by himself... asked only to be left in peace. they said my brother had no fight in him. her tried to make what he called a "man" of him. and i was ashamed of him.

no, i didn't tell you. confounded heathens. they don't act like sensible human beings. tell medicine mark i bring him his blood brother! i know you're out there! my brother learned hate very young. he believed we were all against him-- and it was true. no man was kind to him. except you. you re kind to him, weren't you, bije wilcox? well, he come to me and i teached him all i know. i told you that. what haven't you told me? what else is there to tete? if i'd done him harm he'd have killed me by now. he's had plenty of chances. then why are you afraid? because you are.

and lose $5,000? mm-hmm. and maybe lose you. you black-hearted heathens! that's all the water we got! you want us to die of thirst?! tell my brother i come with love

tell 'em! tell 'em you're medicine mama's-- are you my brother?? tell him! you got the mark! i seen it when you first-- the cheyenne are my people.

i cannot see your face. my brother. see it, and you'll never see again.

we're ready to start any time you are. what about the cheyenne? my scouts tell me they've faded back into the hills. they haven't fadeded very far, captain. the cheyenne stick with a wagon train, even with an escort, waiting for a break. well, it could be that mededine mark has got something else on his mind. i suggest we get started as early as possible. tell me one thing, captain. what do you propose to do about that fellow mason? mr. mason is no longegeour business. our job is to get this wagon train safely to the fort. do you need my help, captaiai if i do, i'll call on you. you still look pretty worried, major. well, i'm not very happy. mccullough.... in your humble opinion-- if you ever had a humble opinion--

to mason? yep. from what i hear, when bije wilcox smells money, there's nobody as dangerous. hmm. if you really want my humble opinion-- you don't get paid for your opinions, you get paid for being out in front there teling me what's gonna happen to us! you heard what the captptn said. who's paying you, him or me?! now go on out there and do your job, will ya? yes, sir, major. sir. charlie, give me another cup of coffee. tell him to have everybody ready to pull out as soon as it's daylight. yes, sir, major, sir.

charles. you say you are medicine mark's brother? yes. i know him by the mark on his cheek. i've been looking for you, charles, ever since father died-- to bring you home. where the cheyenne go, there is my homeme i do not know your father...

if i die for it... he is my brother. untie him. are the bravest warriors ofofhe cheyenne nation so afraid of an old man tha they keep me tied up like a dog? a dog is a dog. the mad dog must be roped and tied until cured by death. he allowed himself to be taken, to my brother. i got other reasons, too. they will be lies. we will not hear them. sit down. my father bull man, greatest of the cheyenne, is old. therefore, listen and remember that you may tell your children and they, theirs.

my brother was kind and gentle. and while he read his books, i thought only foolish things. i was jealous of him. it seemed to me my mother loved him more than me. she saw in him the gentleness that my father and i took for weakness.s. she protected him from our cruelty. but she died too soon. w a father or mother can love one son more than another. our father wawaa strong man-- too strong. his hand was of iron. his slaves hid from him whenene came into the fields. he was angry with you, charles... when you spoke against slavery. my brother stood alone and said god would not have given any man life

but his own people turned aainst him. they said he wanted to destroy his brothers, and we called him cain. because i was ignorant, i hated my brother. and then one day we brave young men b bnd him... and burned the mark of cain on his cheek. and even then he defied us. and suddenly i reaeazed how brave he was, you didn't'tell him of your shame. no. why not? i did not know how-- not then. among the cheyenne, a man who harms his brother is put away from the people. were you sent away? no, my brother was sent away... by a father who did not understand. did you try to stop your brother from going? no.

i was afraid of my father. it is a bad thing to be afraid, but telling about it cleanses the heart. then came the war. many men died..... among them our father. no man fought more bravely. i held him in my arms as he was dying, and he said, "find charles, and beg him totoorgive me." and... and me? and come home? my father is bull man, wisest of the cheyenne. i wear the war shirt. he who wears it is first into battle, last to leave it.

whwhe man kills the buffalo... my people go hungry. he shoots my young men, and our women wail in the lodges. our children have no fathers to make meat. he who wears the war shirt must take care of his people, give them what they need. once i went to war with only a lance to show i was not afraid to die. i wear the war shirt, and it is a heavy burden. i would put it off... but my people need me. ( indians agreeing ) i will wear it... as long as i can. your people are in virginia. come home. the e ite man throws away his son.

the white man steals from his own kind, leaves him to die in the desert. it was your fault. you was the devil tempting me. you had $5,000 in gold totoake into the wilderness where it wouldn't do you no good! you was mad, anyway-- mad with hate. i shoulda killed you dead instead of just leaving you u ere. you think to help a brother? you come too late. charles, what can i do? tell him you're his brother, cain. and i'll give it to you! you'll have back what i took from you! and i'll go to sleep one night without wondering why you don't kill me-- even if it's my last night on earth.

for he harms only his sworm enemies. i am not your enemy. you are a white man. your brother. the cheyenne are my brothers! i died-- they helped me to be reborn. then i, too, will die, to b breborn as your brother. i haha no more words, my father. it will be for you to decide. who wishes to make medicine with the spirit cannot be denied. we will not deny h h, then.

once i have fixed these to your skin, the leather thong will atttth them n the tree. and aftetethat, you will walk four times to the left, and then you will turn and go four titis to the right. remember always: four to the left, four to the right. three times before the sun goes down you are permitted to rest against the tree for a brief period. but you may not eat, you may not drink.

if you have heard the spirit, then try to break free of these. if you cannot, i will cut you loose after sundown. what you dream will come true. i saw myself living to an old man among my brothers the cheyenne-- that was my dream. the tree is ready. the cheyenne do not show pain. the cheyenne honors the brave man. we will return you to your people. it is not necessary that you swing from the pole. it is necessary. yoyo spirit may be different from ours. he may not hear you from this place. he will hear me.

i am ready. kneel. four times to the left, fou times to the right.

your brother has the blood of a warrior. he is stubborn.

i would be proud to call this man brother. i hated you from the first minute i saw the mark of cain on your face. and i hated you more when i seed you had more money than i had ever seed before... and the brains to learn in a year

i curse the day i left you out there to die instead of finishing the job myself. now i curse you for denying your own broroer! i curse you for being the devil-- ( mason screams ) he's your brother! you're killing him! "in my father's house are many mansions." flint: medicine mark! my rifle is pointed at your heart. you will be the first dead, even if we a a die. no one will die-- not today, nor in the days to come.

the warrior medicine mark only talks of peace. . it was his dream. your brother? carry my brother to the horses of the white men. see they make their journey safely. my children will sing of him to their children. i hope the warrior medicine mark is as great in peace as he has been in war. it will take no greatness to lead in peace once we have learned to live without hatred.

can i tell him you called him brother? he knows. what can i say to you? what you say to yourself is more important. hold up! ho! hey, captainin look there. you see what i see? there's a couple of indians with two white men with 'em. that's flint mccullough, ain't it,

mr. mason, i-- i know , bije. you kept your promise. mm-hmm. and i'll keep mine. the money's in my wallet. i think you know where it is. five thousand. yes, sir. well, go ahead and take it. susu do thank you, mr. mason.

now, what could i do with $5,000? well, captain, good luck to you. so long, major. i'll see ya. detail, forward ho! well, mr. mason, how ya doin'? fine, major. you goin' back to richmond right away? no, i think not. i rather like this part of the country. i want to begin a new life, and this seems like a good place. nice and...peaceful. peaceful?

? roll along ? ? wagag train ? ? rollin' over prairie where there ain't no grass ? ? pullin' over mountains where there ain't no pass ? ? sittin' on a board, eyein' the weather ? ? prayin' to the lord we stay together ? ? side by side on the wagon train ? ? wagon train ?

? pickin' up a passenger ininvery town ? ? wonderin' if he's ever gonna shoot you down ? ? lookin'n'or a pal, ain't it a pity ? ? lookin' for a gal, needn't be pretty ? ? if she'll ride on the wagon train ? ? wagon ho! ? ? gotta keep 'em on the run ? ? time to go ? ? and follow the sun ? ? wagon train ? ? never had a cabin near the general store ? ? only had a wagon and a .44 ? ? sittin' on a board, eyein' the weather ? ? praran' to the lord we stay together ? ? side by side ?

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