¶¶
(grinding)
¶¶
(gunshot)
(wings fluttering)
Man: For a second there,
I thought I finally done enough to see Glory.
But my senses is telling me you ain't no angels.
Well, you add a few wrinkles, take away a little hair,
why, it looks like we got Charlie Storm.
Cow rustler, spirit pusher.
Mr. Lawman, I'm not exactly well here right now.
Give me a little assistance getting out of this mire
and I'll turn myself in nice and peaceful like.
-Well, why don't you just get down and walk out? -(Charlie chuckles)
I'll arrange someone to get your mare.
Damn, if I could walk out of here on my own strength,
you'd be having this conversation with only my horse here,
not me.
What do you surmise, Bass?
One of us will have to bring him out of that pit.
Well, you heard the man.
If he could walk in that,
he'd be somewhere dancing with the savages.
Besides, I ain't dressed for this occasion.
(laughing)
See here,
what I was trying to say is... (clears throat)
I'd walk through,
carry him across my shoulders back to you for the iron.
So, you're gonna walk seven paces out there,
in mud that a horse can't walk in?
Yes, sir.
Well, if you say it, I wanna see it.
Marshal, you gonna let that nigger kill himself and me in the process?
Marshal: You need to watch your mouth, old man.
And Mr. Reeves here, he may be a Negro,
but he's my posseman.
And he may be the one just saves your neck.
-I ain't going. -Oh, you going.
-Oh, I ain't going. -If'n he makes it out there to you,
you very well gonna get on his shoulders
and make your way back over here.
No, I won't. I'm good right here.
Above ground and breathing.
That little nigger, he's gonna sink,
and he gonna sink with me in it.
Quite frankly, I don't really care if you survive or not.
Right here it says "dead or alive."
(chuckles) And, Mr. Reeves,
why don't you try and not sink
before you get within arm's shot of this bank here.
I don't suspect mud is going to remove from my linens very well.
Marshal,
you better fix my obit right.
"The outlaw Charlie Storm,
the most wanted outlaw in the Indian Territory,
took a fight on with eight U.S. Marshals and sixteen possemen."
¶¶
You sure you can get me out of this thing?
(grunts)
Well, I'll be.
Marshal: Now, Charlie Storm. Charlie Storm.
Charlie: Yep.
Marshal: By the power vested in me...
from the federal judge Isaac Parker,
I place you under arrest.
Let's go, Bass.
What is it now?
Think I'ma help that mare.
Help it do what?
Help it out.
You know we can't wait on you.
Let's go, Charlie.
¶¶
The outlaws here are unruly.
The only solution to that unruliness is the rule of law.
The law that you were brought here to dispense.
Judge Isaac C. Parker...
is there a man out of the ones that you sentenced
that didn't make a victim out of an innocent man or woman?
Judge Parker: No, you can bring me the final pardon request
for the man that killed his friend.
¶¶
Shouldn't I have a counselor with me?
I do not care to speak with you about your legal status.
The purpose of my inquiry today
is to endeavor to speak with you about softening your heart
in preparation for your inevitable meeting with God.
You shot your best friend in the back.
And it will not be long before you leave this world
and enter into eternity.
Now, I cannot have mercy on you,
but there is one who can pardon your offenses.
There is a savior whose blood is sufficient enough
to wash this stain from your soul.
Now, I beg of you to seek the salvation of His holy cross.
Because I cannot, and I shall not pardon your crimes.
May God have mercy on you.
(bodies thud)
Charlie: I didn't realize at the fort there would be so much unruly activity.
Well, you know today is the day that Judge Parker is gonna send
six souls to meet their maker.
Charlie: Six? At one time?
Marshal: Judge Parker relishes on efficiency.
Charlie: What kind of man hangs six men in the name of efficiency?
Sounds more like an outlaw than the law.
The law he is.
He passed the bar exam when he was 21.
He was a city attorney at 23.
He left the Democrats 'cause he opposed slavery.
Yeah.
All that speak he speaks.
Only thing I can remember is he hung six souls.
-Morning, Judge. -Morning.
It's Charlie Storm here. He's ready for his arraignment.
Marshal, your prisoner is covered in mud,
yet you remain pristine.
Well, you know a good marshal know how to bring his man in
without sacrificing his stature.
-You understand. -Very well.
Bring him to the jailer's. I'll arraign him tomorrow.
Before noon, around 11:00.
(men shout)
Y'all leave me the fuck alone.
(birds chirping)
You know the colored man Bass Reeves?
Eh, no, I can't say I do.
He broke away from his master during the war.
Learned the land, their native tongue before coming here,
and, well, Mr. Reeves has been a posseman for a few years now.
I reckon it's time for a promotion.
You want me to promote a Negro to deputy marshal?
Yes, I do.
Why do you incessantly push me
to do things that are sure to get me fired?
I'm doing no such a thing.
I'm your assistant, and I'm assisting you.
You'd do well just to listen.
Judge Parker: You know as well as I do,
this country, as progressive as it pretends to be,
is not ready for a colored marshal.
These people, they can only handle so much change.
Bass and my Archie homesteaded land together.
He'd have told ya,
you won't find a man more capable with a pistol.
I'll tell ya you won't find a man more loyal to the law.
That's the kind of deputy you need.
Evening, Bass.
Evening, Jessie.
You know Judge Parker?
Yes, ma'am.
Evening, sir.
Evening.
I'll be seeing you.
You're one of our possemen, are you not?
Yes, sir.
How did you and that horse find the occasion
to be so stained by mud?
You'd have to ask Marshal Franks, sir.
As a federal judge,
I'm inquiring of you now, sir.
And, frankly, I expect nothing less
than a straight answer here.
With all respect due you,
Marshal Franks is the man I ride for.
I will give you $20 federal salary
if you speak plainly to me, sir.
Judge, there is not a dollar amount
that will cause me to betray my employer.
Judge Parker: Oh, come on. I employ him.
He employs you.
So, technically, I employ you.
What does he pay you anyway?
What, $3 a week?
I'm offering you 20 to tell me about a horse.
I guess I just don't see it that way, sir.
Miss Jessie.
(smooches)
Judge Parker: You care to hear something humorous?
I was with Franks today,
and he was spit-shine clean.
But his prisoner was covered about like you and that horse.
When I mentioned that fact to him,
he failed to even acknowledge you.
Or your name.
Good Lord, in Jesus's name,
let me know that I'm doing the right thing out here.
(singing in foreign language)
(exhales sharply) Wait.
I firmly believe that it's been appointed to men to live and die but once.
Yet before me stands the soul
that I know has departed from this place.
You killed my brother.
No, wait. I did no such thing.
Now, your brother, he did what he did.
He got justice.
-Don't do this. -(speaking foreign language)
(speaks foreign language)
Oh, please, God...
(Bass speaks foreign language)
Came back to apologize for being rude.
Are you Creek?
(speaking foreign language)
I'm not a boy.
I'm Rufus Buck.
(speaks foreign language)
Rufus Buck.
(speaks foreign language)
Rufus: (speaks foreign language)
Lord above.
Jessie was right about you.
She didn't exaggerate at all.
I've never seen a man utilize his armaments
with such speed and efficiency.
I mean, you had that boy dead to rights and you just let him go.
Thank you.
What's wrong, sir?
Sir, I'm not a lawman.
And some of those folks was white.
You were witness.
Well, they drew first.
On you and me.
You're damn right I'm a witness.
So be it.
If you the witness, who gonna be the judge?
Well, there may be a solution.
(fire crackling)
¶¶
Bass...
(breathing heavily) Bass?
What's wrong?
I think I'm...
I might be a deputy marshal.
You what?
Bass...
You put a star on your chest, you the target.
I've always been the target. It's no difference.
You trying to make a widow of me?
-I'll just leave right now and save you the trouble. -No, I'm not trying--
Let go of me, Bass George Reeves.
Let me alone.
We doing just fine with you on the farm
and walking with the marshal on occasion.
Why now, Bass? Why?
Why?
'Cause we got six souls sleeping in the next room.
(birds chirping)
¶¶
All right, you three go around back and we'll flank the front.
Wait.
Look, Jim, I know we done come all this way,
but I think it's wise for us to call somebody to assist us.
Since when did you go yellowbelly?
I ain't no yellowbelly, my friend.
but you've heard the same stories that I've heard about Dozier.
Six of us here, that ain't enough to bring him in.
You see this?
You see those words?
That says "United States Deputy Marshal."
I am the United States.
And we, as the United States,
are gonna go in there and we're gonna take Dozier
back to Judge Parker to answer for his crimes.
And if any of you are yellow like Tom,
you can just go somewhere and bury your face
'cause your country doesn't need you.
You see it like you want, but I'm going home.
Judge is gonna have your head for this.
Maybe, but he might have yours for not listening to reason.
You two go around back.
Just the five of us?
-It's one man, Ned. -I know.
Bob Dozier!
United States Deputy Marshal Jim Bruce!
I have a warrant for your arrest
out of the District Court Fort Smith, Arkansas.
Your house is surrounded.
Turn yourself in now,
won't be unnecessary spilling of your blood.
Bob Dozier.
-United States Deputy-- -Dozier: I heard you cackle!
Repeating yourself is not gonna endo you anymore jurisdiction
over me or my person than it did the first time.
You might not have heard,
but the United States has jurisdiction over the Indian Territory.
And this is the Indian Territory.
-That right? -Yeah.
How's your government get jurisdiction over land it don't own?
-Pardon? -This land belongs to the Indian.
Savages.
Seems to me the Indians should be giving you jurisdiction.
Seeing as you stole every piece of land from them,
you forced them on this territory,
I don't see them doing so.
Sir, you must be mistaken.
The government doesn't ask for permission.
We are the United States,
and we are advising you to come on out,
or we're coming in there after you.
I dare you.
-Well, go get him. -(gunshots)
(gunshots)
(guns clicking)
Is anyone left?
Oh, yes,
United States Deputy Marshal Jim Bruce,
someone is left.
I told you you do not have jurisdiction over me or my person.
Yet you still choose to awaken me from my slumber.
Cause a ruckus in my town.
Tell me something, Deputy Marshal Jim Bruce,
what do you do when a rodent invades your home?
(screaming)
That question was not designed to be rhetorical.
(grunts)
-You kill it? -Yes!
You just don't kill it.
You kill it and you send it back to where it came from
so that all the other rodents see what happens
they get the same idea.
(screaming)
Dozier: Gather the coins that he and the others carry.
-Put 'em with the gains from last night's coach. -(Jim grunts)
We'll give it to the families that need it.
Keep the rest so we may eat.
I apologize to the women and children
who had to witness that defense of self.
(Jim continues grunting)
Bring him to the vault.
Bring me my knife.
You, government man,
are gonna deliver a message for me.
It needs to be unmistakable. Look at me.
Can you do that?
Senator Smith.
Word reached that you might be slumbering in these parts.
And I heard there are several souls
that slumber in these parts at the hand of a black man.
One of those gentlemen was white.
Now, you know that even here, as progressive as we may be,
a Negro cannot shoot a white man
without the protection of a shield.
Is that what we call a white man that ambushes a judge,
-a gentleman? -You miss my meaning.
No, never mind, because I intend
-to name that man deputy marshal. -(sighs)
Retroactively protecting his bravery last night.
You do realize that if you name that Negro,
the one that lacks the good sense
not to shoot down a white man and he fails,
it will be a setback for the whole Negro race.
-Senator, let me tell you-- -No, no, you hear me out.
You hear me out.
I nominated you because I trust your judgment.
President Grant believes in liberty of the Negro.
He is fighting that unrest in the South.
But in order to protect our progress,
we have to nurture the Negro.
Not just set 'em fully free.
I mean, they're ready to be free,
but are they ready to lead?
And if he fails,
there's likely not to be another one around for 100 years.
So, can you tell me just what it is about this Negro
that makes you believe that he is worthy to carry that burden?
Well, I don't know if it's fair
to hoist the burden of an entire race upon his shoulders.
(sighs)
Your Honor,
-I know you to be a man of the church. -Yes, sir.
-And the law. -Mm-hmm.
But are you willing to gamble your seat on the bench for that man?
I never gamble.
Deputy Marshal Reeves.
Well done, sir.
Judge, I'm sorry, but I've buried my words far too long.
Now, I fancy Mr. Reeves here as a posseman.
And you know I do, but you bring a dishonor--
a dishonor on the name of the marshal by naming him.
Franks, Negro or not, in the course of a day,
I've known this man to rescue a horse,
rescue an outlaw, and bring him to justice,
save a judge from perish from five men,
and refuse a payment worth many times his monthly salary
simply to provide information.
Now, if those actions do not quality that man there
to ride as a deputy marshal in my district,
then I might just pull the stars off every man here.
-Judge, you're making-- -Including yours.
Man: No outlaw will file for a black man with a badge.
He'll be dead in a week. Save them kids.
Judge Parker: Who said that? Now, there will be order in this court.
I'll clear this whole gallery.
(clears throat) Delivery here Judge Parker.
-I'm Judge Parker. Just set it there. -Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, sir.
Judge, you may not know,
why, Mr. Reeves here, he can't read.
And if he can't read, well, he can't write.
Is that right, Bass?
That's right, sir.
Can you tell me how is it that you come to shoot
like a man possessed but you can't read?
My generation was not born free.
My master taught me to shoot,
but he refused to teach me to read.
Said that have made me too dangerous.
More dangerous than you are with those Colts?
(crowd murmuring)
Well, how in God's good name
is he going to read a warrant
and ensure that he brings in the right man?
We don't need litigation by negligence
caused by a Negro.
(clears throat)
-Um... -Man: Tell him, Marshal Franks.
¶¶
My husband may not read...
but you will respect him.
My husband Bass
can be and will be
a deputy worth remembering.
(crowd murmuring)
Okay, now, we've heard you.
-We'll have order in this court. -(gavel bangs)
May I?
Bass, you know I can't do that.
There are no coloreds allowed in the bar.
¶¶
What is that awful smell in my courtroom?
Judge, I suspect the smell
is coming from this here package.
Open it up.
-(crowd murmuring) -Judge, you ain't gonna like it.
It's horrible, Judge, horrible.
Jeez.
(gasps)
Franks: That head was a promise.
It was a promise, and it was a promise fulfilled.
Now, you let him stay where he is.
Should he make his way into town,
then you let the law have its way with him.
Bruce went on a fool's errand.
and he returned home slight of his body.
Well, be that as it may...
is there anyone here...
who will execute service of this here warrant?
Anyone?
No one...
under the authority of this court here
shall stand above the law.
Franks: Judge, ain't nobody ill enough in their right mind
to take on that assignment.
You chase an animal in its own habitat,
and it's simply suicide.
I will.
Oh, that's good.
Mr. Reeves...
you aren't a deputy.
It seems, sir, that we both have a problem and a solution.
You need someone to put an end to Dozier's terror,
and I need to prove I would be a more-than-capable deputy.
Both problems solved by the same solution.
If I can bring him back, you put a badge on my chest.
Judge Parker: So this man here,
who many of you feel isn't worthy enough to strap your boots,
this man has more courage than any of you all combined.
Now, if I grant this request...
is there anybody that will ride with him?
-I ride alone. -No, Mr. Reeves.
As much as it might be your inclination to do so,
you will not ride alone.
My orders.
Who will ride with him?
Ain't nobody going back to hell to chase that man.
We're kinda partial to having our heads attached to our torso.
I will.
Pardon my crime, shit, I'll ride with the nigger.
Judge Parker: Well, you wouldn't be the first outlaw put on a straight path
by being a posseman.
You are charged with some serious crimes, sir.
You would likely fall upon the ground if put in prison
-being as old as you are. -(chuckles)
Upon execution of this warrant with Mr. Reeves here...
I will pardon you.
-What's his name? -Charlie Storm.
Pleased to meet you.
All right, you ain't so bad
for somebody that hung all them sons of bitches.
Franks: Oh, I get it.
We got a Negro and a senile old man
to bring in the most notorious outlaw in this territory.
God save this country.
¶ Can you hear me? ¶
¶ Run away ¶
¶ Freedom, can you hear me? ¶
He restores my soul.
He leadeth me in the path of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of shadow of death,
I will fear no evil!
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling... ¶
Look at my nice star, Daddy.
For thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
-You go to bed now, you hear? -Okay.
The Lord will also be a refuge for the oppressed.
A refuge in the times of trouble.
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father... ¶
What you do...
when the whole world doesn't believe in you?
You make believers out of every last one of 'em.
-(rain pattering) -(birds chirping)
Man: That rain's coming down. Should we get some cover?
(grunts)
I think it'll pass.
Think it's smart to leave town?
I don't think anyone will bother us again.
Thing about the government is they don't like to lose.
Won't pick a fight if the decks are stacked.
Around here, we own the decks. They know that.
Let's ride.
¶¶
Senator Smith: I need to see Judge Parker now, missy.
I have orders from his boss, President Grant,
not to appoint Bass Reeves U.S. Marshal
and to have him arrested forthwith.
I'm sorry, Senator.
Judge Parker's not in the office today.
Nor is Mr. Reeves.
-Where in the hell is he? -I don't know, sir.
But they both have a home.
I'll be sure to pass the message along.
Have good day now.
¶¶
Nellie, would you send Bass out,
so we can allow him to answer to the proper authority?
It ain't nothing he needs to answer for.
Gentlemen, Mr. Reeves is not here.
And it would behoove you to lay those arms aside.
Should one of her innocent children get harmed,
I dare not be the man
to stand between that person and Bass Reeves.
Put your arms away, boys.
It'd be nice if you did, too, ma'am.
I have orders here from President Grant,
delivered from Senator Smith,
that Mr. Reeves stand trial.
Judge Parker: Should they succeed in their endeavor,
I'll take it up with President Grant myself.
-If not-- -No "if not."
Bass Reeves is coming home.
Of course. Sorry, ma'am.
(whistling)
See all them men got sent to their grave?
Son of bitches no better than the outlaws out here.
¶¶
You know, I'm gonna just pull my horse up and turn around
if I don't get some straight talk.
All right, wait a minute, how's a nigger get land?
You can't own land, can you?
You got a pretty wife, you know.
How'd an ugly son of a bitch like you get such a pretty wife?
Don't you speak of my wife.
Oh, so he can talk.
-I talk when I need it. -Uh-huh.
-And don't you speak of my wife. -All right.
Don't you worry about it.
I'm not gonna speak at all.
(distant howling)
I don't know if you realize this,
but you can't get him without me.
I don't need you or nobody out here.
(humming)
(birds chirping)
Charlie: We've been riding for two days. We haven't seen a soul.
You even have a plan, or you just get up and go?
No time to plan.
Well, shit, there's always time for planning.
Plans are the difference between being a cow rustler and a spirit pusher
and being wanted for killing somebody and having to face that hanging judge of yours.
What you trying to say?
You done killed somebody and got away with it?
I'm just saying what I said.
Yo, shut up, Charlie.
You ain't nothing but bluster.
Probably can't even hit a lick.
Can't even hit a buffalo in a herd.
-Shit. -You know, I'm starting to think riding to Detroit
would've been easier on my nerves than riding with you.
You know, your pardon doesn't depend on how many words you speak.
Oh, I know. I just find joy in talking.
Besides, you should thank that God you sing to
I can shoot pretty good, too.
Yeah, okay.
Okay?
Yeah, okay.
Point.
-We do not have time for this. -No, no, no, no.
You just called my ability into question.
Let me put your mind at ease.
I'm either going to prove you right or wrong. Now point.
That rock.
Which one?
-All right, let me bring it closer. -No, no, no.
You don't have to bring it closer.
The big rock in between the--
-In between the trees. -I got you.
(gunshot)
That wasn't me.
Let's go.
¶¶
(gunfire)
(gunshot)
(grunts)
Why'd you tear off like that?
They needed help, I helped.
You don't get it, do you? Them people might've been dead.
You just go off without no plan.
Just tear off like that.
Don't they teach you niggers anything about patience?
You're such a coon.
That is the last time you use that word around me.
That's why you swung on me?
I-- I don't mean nothing by it!
That's what my pappy taught me.
Horse, nig--
Okay, okay, okay.
It don't mean nothing coming from me.
-Well, it means something coming to me. -Well, all right.
Shit.
All I'm trying to say is...
-...you're all coon and no crow. -What?
Coon, coon. You know, an animal-- coon.
He come into your house, he takes what he wants,
and he leaves, he's fearless.
Now, a crow. A crow wants a nut,
he don't want to break his beak. He'll drop that nut in the middle of the road,
wait for a wagon to come by, break it, pick it up,
take his bounty and leave.
It's called patience.
Now, you making no sense, Charlie Storm.
I'm making a lot of sense.
And you'll get it...
as soon as you get it.
Gentlemen, sorry to disturb your brotherly spat,
but the sun'll be set before you settle.
¶ The time has come ¶
¶ For us to part in the parting band ¶
¶ So farewell, friends ¶
¶ Farewell ¶
Sweet song.
Why you getting shot at?
Well, we been moving our people from the south
to this fertile ground in Kansas.
Been doing that since '72.
But the federal government been moving their troops out the south.
So we had to find a new route.
You should come.
Just planted our first collard.
Been fetchin' for people.
Got about 600 right now.
I got land.
-You own it? -I homestead it.
'66, when the law changed.
Became a citizen.
Federal government approved me.
Homestead. You heard of taxes?
Landlords?
I was an undertaker back there in Nashville.
And sometimes I'd have to bury fathers.
Maybe by the next morning,
that landlord would go to that mother,
she'd have about six or seven children.
And that landlord would tell her,
"Your husband owed me before he died."
And then he'd say,
"You have to go some other place, I cannot take care of you."
Now, that's something I would take notice of.
Sooner or later, you find her coming out some disorderly house.
And those children?
State prison.
Sounds like tales of Exodus.
I thought old Abe set you free.
Although the law say we free,
the South still sends for us with money on our heads.
They call that a Southern bounty group.
Southern country is out of joint, sir.
And it's coming west.
They running out of land already.
And when they come,
they're bringing all their ills with them.
I know,
the blood of a white man runs through my veins.
There is some good white men in the Southern country.
But it ain't the majority, to which you just might fit.
Yeah.
Maybe I would.
Maybe you just don't know what you want, but I do.
I want to shut my eyes
without the sound of white oppression
coursing through my ears.
I got a mission, and I'm gonna need to get rested for it.
We gotta finish some work we started days ago.
We'll take you to the next town over.
See that you get a wagon and a horse.
You'll be all right in Cherokee land.
¶¶
Fellas?
Fellas.
Whoa.
I think you and the lady might be lost.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
You can't do that in my territory.
Your territory? (scoffs)
Man as handsome and strong as yourself
needn't worry about us.
We're just wandering.
-We don't want any trouble, either. -Mm-mm.
A couple of my men were gunned down.
We're looking for who's responsible.
-Well, that wouldn't be-- -Why do you care?
Why do I care?
I'm saying, are they kin to you?
-They got to be kin for me to care? -Maybe not.
But to approach a stranger seeking information,
I would judge you to be kin or crazy.
Well, I ain't kin.
Well, then you must be crazy.
I didn't get your name.
Well, I'm Frank James.
This is my brother Jesse.
And this firecracker right here,
-well, that's Belle. -Belle?
Belle Starr, of the Sam Starr Gang.
So if that name means something, I suggest you be on your way.
James, of the Younger Gang?
Yeah, they call us that.
Well, thanks for the information on your compadre.
I think we'll be going to find him now and congratulate him.
Okay.
What'd you put inside of the hole?
Just our dog.
That's a mighty big hole for a dog.
He was a mighty big dog.
(clicks tongue) Come on.
Charlie: You kin to him?
-Do I look like him? -Little bit.
Sure don't sound like him, though. Where you from?
Scotland.
Where's that?
Europe. Read about it. Pinkerton's from there.
Pinkerton? You mean that motherfucker-- can't catch Jesse James?
Yeah.
(laughs) He's about as skillful as...
(chattering)
What's going on up there?
¶¶
We got to go.
(hoofbeats)
Having a plan would come in real handy
about now, wouldn't it?
Who are you?
Bass Reeves.
We don't want no trouble.
Maybe trouble seeks you.
Sheriff, excuse my friend here.
He--He said he knew this land here.
If we knew this was your piece, we could have avoided
this whole unfortunate confrontation.
-Shut up, old man. -Yes, sir.
Man: You say your name was Bass Reeves?
Who asks?
My goodness, thought you was Dick Lassen's boys
riding behind us to get their piece of vengeance.
Sam?
-Sam Sixkiller. -Mm-hmm.
This here is Sam Sixkiller.
He took me in when I left my men.
When I left the war.
Saved my life.
Charlie: What kind of name is Sam Sixkiller?
And this here is Charlie Storm.
Your friends?
Mm-hmm.
What are you doing in these parts, Bass?
I thought you was too fancy to visit these lands again, huh?
I'm just heading to Muskogee for now.
Mm-hmm, me too. Sun's setting,
why don't you come rest up in town,
get that looked after.
Bass?
You all have an open invitation to join us.
We would, but we can't.
Bass has got a family back home
depending on us getting back and finishing this mission.
Mm-hmm. I understand.
You be careful, though. Make you drowsy.
You believe that?
About what?
The white man took his land.
Well, you white. You own land?
Oh, I had land. They took it too.
They? They, who?
Well, Confederates took it first.
That brought the Union soldiers to my doorstep.
Then the Union took it, kept it.
What about your wife, offspring?
No.
So, what's this mission? You on the hunt?
Yeah.
Who would that be?
Bob Dozier.
(sighs) We should get a drink.
-I don't-- -I'll drink for the both of us.
All right.
¶¶
(indistinct voices)
(playing "Oh, Susanna")
Charlie: ¶ Oh, Susanna, Oh, don't you cry for me ¶
¶ I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee ¶
¶ Oh, Susanna, Oh, don't you cry for me ¶
¶ I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee ¶
¶ I drove across a telegraph and traveled down the river ¶
¶ Electric fluid magnified ¶
¶ And killed five hundred chigger ¶
¶ Oh, Susanna, oh, don't you cry for me ¶
¶ I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee... ¶
Bass.
You hear a single word of this?
I apologize, man.
Thought I was gonna have to have a word with Charlie over there.
He's quite a character, isn't he?
You know that man you seek? He's as bad as they come.
We come from the same place,
breathe the same air.
If he's as bad as you say he is,
what that make me?
Huh?!
Dick Lassen is as mean as that man's pinkie toe.
Now, I don't run from a fight, you know that.
But I would not pursue him.
I ain't ever met a man that mean.
Or that fast.
Not even you, Bass.
Well, you haven't seen me for a while.
No. No, I haven't.
Look, he sent a man's head
with a badge attached to his eye to a judge.
Don't you never mind, 'cause I don't know where he is.
Not many do.
Whoa.
(cocks gun)
Whoa, easy guys.
Easy.
It's just me.
I have a message for Dozier.
Any creature that would leave to die, the delegate,
they warrant any punishment that befalls them.
Negro, speaks Creek...
shot five men before they could draw.
(laughs)
Right, and he's looking for me.
Well, I guess my last message wasn't loud enough.
Government man wants to find me, Negro or not...
well, I'll make it easy for 'em.
CHARLIE: ¶ Oh... Susanna ¶
¶ Oh, don't you cry for me ¶
(indistinct speech)
¶ I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee ¶
How come you ain't singing, Bass?
Why aren't you having any fun?
How come you never have any fun, Bass?
¶ Oh, Susanna ¶
¶ Oh, don't you cry for me ¶
(laughter)
¶ Oh, I jumped aboard a telegraph ¶
¶ And traveled down the river ¶
(grunts)
¶ Electric fluid magnified and killed 500 chigger ¶
Hey, Bass, did you hear me?
No "nigger," "chigger."
(laughing)
¶ Kill 500 chigger ¶
Hey, Bass, the horses.
We left the horses back there--
They're gonna be just fine.
-Okay. -We'll get them in the morning.
Okay. Okay.
Okay.
Hey...
You're all right.
You're all right, Bass.
Bass.
Yeah.
What is it, Sam?
I just never thought of you as a law man.
Not after what the law did to you.
The law put me in chains.
But the law also set me free.
Now, I got six little ones, and I need to stay free.
Six?
Gracious, Bass,
you wearing that poor woman out, ain't you?
(both laugh)
I hear there's a black boy seeking my whereabouts.
It's him.
Tom: It's Dozier!
No.
Seek no more, here I am.
Bass?
He rides into my town, we'll take him together, Bass.
No, he rides into your town for me, it's me he gets.
You can't face him alone.
Even if I can't, you with your one arm,
it's not gonna be much help.
I can shoot with one better than most with two,
you know that, Bass.
Sixkiller,
you saved a drowning boy once.
Let that man repay you.
You got two minutes.
I won't need 'em.
Don't tell me you went coward on me.
Well, I'll be damned.
That young Indian was right.
A Negro on a quest for me.
Bob Dozier...
I have a warrant for your arrest.
A Negro with that warrant has no authority here.
Oh, but he does.
And so do I.
I'm gonna excuse your ignorance,
give you a chance to claim your life.
Thank you, Mr. Dozier.
I will return.
But not without executing this warrant.
Dead... or alive.
Is that the way you want it to be?
That's the way it is.
Your move, boy.
(gunfire)
Dead or alive.
Got one, boy!
(grunting)
(groans)
Parker: Bass hasn't been seen in a week,
and he's feared dead.
President Grant will be here in two days.
(screams)
Let's take him together, Bass.
Sixkiller, you saved a drowning boy once.
(Bass screaming)
¶ Will be all right ¶
¶ Pray on ¶
Where are you off to?
Thought you were still asleep.
Well, I'm up now.
Spanish Fort, about a half a day's ride.
You thinking about going alone?
Well, you got one arm,
you liquored,
you'll slow me down.
All right.
Go on, then...
make a widow of your wife, orphan of them kids.
Go on!
Bad-ass Bass Reeves.
The man who rides with nobody by his side.
Shit. Well, go on.
Tom: He may be slow of tongue, but his words are sharp.
Now, Dozier may have some men,
but he don't need them anymore--
Well, what good are you?!
You got one arm.
You can't even go a day without drinking.
The border's right there.
Why don't you run?
You don't have to finish.
Buddy, I seen what you did to Dozier's men.
If you only had some help. (sighs)
I mean, what I'm trying to say is,
if you insist on going
after what you now know...
then fuck it!
I'll go too.
But we better pray my boots become unstuck.
Yeah, I could run. I could be headed for the border.
Keep taking what I want,
shoot anybody who doesn't want to give it to me.
Or maybe I could do something.
You know, something...
Worthy... of a proper obit.
Huh?
Something worth writing about.
Why don't you go home? You're the one with the family.
Leave this fool's errand to this coward here.
And this old drunk outlaw.
If I leave...
Who's gonna save ya from the fool's folly?
Thatta boy!
(laughing)
Thatta boy.
Yow!
(sighs)
"I'll annointest my hand with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life."
40 men on three.
That's not odds I'd take if I was a gambler.
Yeah, you win at them odds, you a legend.
All right, we wait till nightfall,
circle the town,
then we jump them before daybreak.
That's it? That's what you want to do?
That's why we came.
We circled this before, and there were six of us,
or five.
And he was alone.
And he still lives.
Did you go in by surprise?
No, the stupid bastard announced--
Well, you don't knock on the Devil's door and ask to come in.
You wait till nightfall.
You go in real quiet-like, you take out every man that's posted.
You make your way through the house,
you get to his bedroom, you surround the motherfucker,
he comes out with you.
Dead or alive.
Nightfall it is.
¶¶
¶ There was a time ¶
¶ Everything so supreme ¶
Man: And I threw that man right through the window.
Then the boss rides up, lights some dynamite,
tosses it in the house,
we ride off, and then boom!
Whole ground shook.
Man: Is that it?
(mouths words)
¶¶
One for me, and one for--
No, I'm good.
I'm gonna go sleep off this fun.
The stage comes through tomorrow.
We pull this off my way, this town eats for a year.
¶ You may run for a long time ¶
¶ Run on for a long time ¶
¶ Let me tell you that God's gonna cut you down ¶
That's about gonna do it for me.
¶ My God spoke and He spoke so sweet ¶
¶ I thought I heard the shuffle of angels' feet ¶
¶ And he put hand upon my head ¶
¶ Great God almighty, I'll tell you what he said ¶
It's time.
¶ Go tell her long tongue liar ¶
¶ Tell that midnight rider ¶
¶ Tell the gamblers, the ramblers ¶
¶ The back biters ¶
¶ Tell them that God's gonna cut them down ¶
Look a little lost there, fella.
I'm just passing through.
You the law?
I don't know of any colored lawmen around these parts.
(laughing) Come on.
Oh! Easy...
If you've come for Dozier, we ain't got no quarrel.
I do what I do out here just not to die.
Where does Dozier keep his horse?
Outside his house.
Especially since that marshal showed up,
woods are dangerous over there.
You're a lucky man.
Lord, tell me if I should act now.
I'm sorry, Lord.
I was kind of hoping you'd be louder.
But you didn't say no.
You killed a dear friend of mine.
(sighs)
You tried to kill me too.
You didn't die.
Like I said before,
I'm here to return you to Fort Smith.
By the power given me by the Federal Court.
You can cackle all you want.
You and no Federal Court has any jurisdiction over me.
Then maybe I'll just shoot you dead now.
Just pull this trigger.
You won't.
'Cause you ain't me.
(chuckles)
You don't like to shoot first or you would have done so
when my men surrounded you, no?
But me?
I'd shoot you dead.
You better be a good shot.
(chuckles)
I'm better than good.
Did you know I used to be a deputy marshal?
-That doesn't matter. -It matters.
But your government accused me a robbery.
Stripped me of my star.
And lashed me to confess,
locked me up.
I lost my family.
Yellow fever.
Couldn't do nothing.
My Annie was the purest thing I'd ever seen.
So was my Corina, but they met the dirt.
Like an outlaw.
Because law wasn't reasonable,
and my wife and my baby died.
It was made very clear to me that I was to pursue my earnest desires.
Because living is to live...
and then you die.
That may well be.
Jim Bruce, Sam Sixkiller, Belle Starr's brother no longer living, and you are.
But you gonna do your living and dying in Detroit prison.
(gunshot)
(groans)
Oh, you ain't leaving here tonight, colored boy!
You should have thought this through.
Ah!
Man: Get him!
Charlie!
(grunts)
(skin sizzling, screaming)
(thunder rumbling)
Giddup!
Go get that son of a bitch!
(thunder rumbling)
Now, it's too dangerous for you.
I'm gonna be back.
But if I don't,
you make sure you take Nellie and my little ones where they need to be.
¶¶
(voices whispering)
(children laughing)
(kisses)
(voice whispering)
(horse snorting)
(horse neighing)
Cheer up.
(horse neighs)
(horse huffing)
¶¶
(grunts)
I gotta give it to you!
Only one moving!
You and me would've made a hell of a team in another life,
nigger and all.
Why don't you come out now and have a fair fight?
(grunts)
(laughing)
(thunder rumbling)
(humming)
I told you, lawman,
government doesn't have any jurisdiction over me.
(grunts)
(laughs)
Dead or alive.
Thank you.
Well, old man, you got the spirit to ride
or should I just retire you here?
You wish.
-Tom, you coming? -No.
I think Spanish Fort
is a place that needs some looking after.
Well, if anybody ever says
Tom Pinkerton's a coward,
-you just send them my way. -Thanks.
Charlie: Come on, Jake.
Hey, Charlie!
I got my boots unstuck! (laughs)
You crazy.
You gentlemen are making a mistake.
No, Your Honor, you made the mistake.
Charlie: Good people of Fort Smith?
Gather the paper writers!
Charlie Storm and Bass Reeves
have returned with the bounty!
(laughs)
Y'all ain't gonna believe this.
None of you said we could do it, did you?
We done brought back an outlaw
that has killed many lawmen,
innocent people, and others.
We done brought back Bob Dozier!
¶¶
Nellie, Bass is back!
They killed Dozier!
(chatter)
I thought you was dead.
I've been thinking about my obit.
Oh, not this again.
You are no longer an outlaw.
That's my point.
What's a good obit for a lawman?
Man: Bass Reeves!
For some reason...
I think you gonna have plenty of time.
Well, you know. you can't be too careful.
Parker: Gentlemen.
Mr. Reeves, you may enter the bar.
Here and in any court I preside in
as long as there's breath in my body.
Please, sir, come forward.
You have something for us, Judge?
I have a stack of warrants for you.
-No less than 3,000. -Ma'am.
Oh, and, Mr. Reeves, I think you'll need this.
¶¶
(clears throat)
Will you gentlemen be needing any additional help?
Both: No.
¶¶ ¶ Run away, run away ¶
¶ Freedom, can you hear me? ¶
¶ Run away, run away ¶
¶ Freedom, can you hear me? ¶
¶ Gotta keep running, running, running ¶
¶ Running, running, running home to you ¶
He restores my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil!
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we running home to you ¶
¶ Run away, run away ¶
¶ Freedom, can you hear me? ¶
¶ Run away, run away ¶
¶ Freedom, can you hear me? ¶
He restores my soul.
He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil!
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we are running home to you ¶
For thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me.
The Lord will also be a refuge for the oppressed.
A refuge in the times of trouble.
¶¶
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we running home to you ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we running home to you ¶
¶ Whoa ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we running home to you ¶
¶ Father, Father, can't you hear me? ¶
¶ Father, Father, hear us calling ¶
¶ Lord, we running home to you ¶
¶ Gotta keep running, running, running ¶
¶ You gotta keep running, running, running ¶
¶ Running, running, running home to you ¶
¶ You gotta keep running, running, running ¶
¶ Running, running, running home to you ¶
Jam All Productions.
Captioned by Post Haste Digital