Mackenzies Raiders - S1E11: Cholera
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00:00 ♪ [music] ♪
00:08 From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true stories of Colonel
00:12 Randall McKenzie and the cavalrymen he led, McKenzie's Raiders.
00:17 His secret orders from the President of the United States, "Clean up the Southwest.
00:22 Make it a fit place for Americans to live.
00:24 Wipe out the renegades, outlaws, and murderers.
00:27 If necessary, cross the Rio Grande.
00:30 Knowing capture means hanging by the enemy.
00:32 Discovery, court-martialed by the United States Army."
00:36 ♪ [music] ♪
00:51 Late summer, 1873, an epidemic of infectious cholera raged along the border
00:57 country of Southwest Texas.
01:00 Great numbers of settlers dead or dying, the rest terror-stricken.
01:05 Medical facilities almost non-existent, doctors few and overburdened,
01:10 drugs depleted.
01:13 The sickness had hit Fort Clark.
01:15 Colonel Randall McKenzie was almost powerless to defend the territory
01:19 against this mass killer.
01:21 The 4th Cavalry, reduced by sickness to almost half its numbers,
01:25 fought a new foe, fought contaminated water, fought to maintain quarantines.
01:31 But they fought without ammunition, without the aid of drugs.
01:35 ♪ [music] ♪
01:38 Finally, after repeated requests to the War Department, McKenzie was notified
01:43 that an ambulance carrying a relief doctor and medical supplies was on its way
01:47 to Fort Clark.
01:49 ♪ [music] ♪
01:52 - If you can't see them, don't shoot.
02:09 Now, take your horses and ride them around the flanks.
02:13 Hit them from both sides at the same time.
02:15 - I'll cover.
02:16 - There's two of them left.
02:17 - I'll cover.
02:19 [silence]
02:22 [gunshot]
02:37 [gunshots]
02:47 [gunshots]
02:51 [gunshots]
03:19 - Make sure they're all dead.
03:22 [silence]
03:25 They're all dead, Bergen too.
03:46 Water.
03:48 - It's empty.
03:49 We better get some water real soon.
03:52 What's all that?
03:53 - Drugs, medicine.
03:55 - I thought we'd get some guns or something, or even a pay wagon.
03:58 What are we going to do with all this stuff?
04:00 Can we get anything for it?
04:01 - It's worth its weight in gold dust, if we handle it right.
04:04 - Handle it right?
04:05 - Look, you just keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you.
04:08 You'll be a rich man, Trout.
04:10 Put that driver's uniform on.
04:11 - What for?
04:11 Let's get out of here.
04:12 - Just put it on.
04:13 A patrol stops us and you'll be very glad.
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05:02 - Anywhere to the ambulance, the supplies?
05:03 - No, sir.
05:04 Just a patrol return from posting water holes.
05:06 - How many sick?
05:07 - Two, sir.
05:08 I put them in the next room.
05:09 Infirmary and barracks four and five are filled.
05:13 - Two out of ten, that's not too bad.
05:14 - Four others died on the trail, sir.
05:16 - Men been told our doctor's dead?
05:23 - They didn't have to be told, sir.
05:24 They knew it.
05:25 Colonel McKenzie, pardon the impertinence, sir,
05:30 but are you all right?
05:33 - Yeah, I'm all right, Sergeant.
05:34 I'm just tired.
05:35 - There's one dose of morphine left, sir.
05:37 Just one.
05:38 - No, no, no, no.
05:39 I'll be all right after I get a chance to sleep.
05:41 I'll get a chance to sleep when that ambulance arrives.
06:03 - Oh.
06:04 Oh.
06:05 - Hurts, Tony.
06:18 - Just a stomachache, Colonel, sir.
06:20 I'll be riding again.
06:22 - Yeah, sure you will.
06:23 - Oh, I--
06:24 I heard before the doc died, he gave you some stuff,
06:28 and it didn't hurt so much.
06:31 A little thing of powder.
06:34 More-- more-- more something.
06:36 - Yeah, morphine.
06:39 I'm going to give you some.
06:41 This is the last one we've got until the doc comes.
06:44 Here, put this on your tongue.
06:48 That's it.
06:50 Some water.
06:51 Make it easier to swallow.
06:52 Now you just lie back and relax.
06:59 - How long will it take, sir?
07:01 - Not long.
07:02 You'll-- you'll feel strange in a little while.
07:05 Woozy.
07:06 Might even have hallucinations.
07:09 - Halluc--
07:10 - Hallucinations.
07:11 That means, well, you might imagine things are happening
07:14 that really aren't happening.
07:16 You'll feel better in five minutes or so.
07:19 Lie back and relax.
07:20 - Sir, what are you going to give the rest
07:26 until you get more morphine?
07:29 - Soapy water.
07:30 - Soap?
07:32 - Yeah, it's an old remedy.
07:34 Maybe it'll make them sick enough so they
07:36 can throw off some of the poison.
07:39 Rest easy, son.
07:40 Here, soldier.
07:59 Drink this.
08:01 It won't taste good, but it may help you.
08:02 Good boy.
08:09 Now think of back home.
08:11 You get well, and we'll send you back there on leave.
08:13 - The ambulance? - Yes, sir.
08:20 I-- I mean, I don't know, sir.
08:21 It seems it might have been sighted.
08:23 - What are you talking about?
08:24 - Well, another patrol just came in, sir.
08:25 Three men, all sick, delirious.
08:28 Corporal was babbling something about seeing
08:29 an ambulance headed south.
08:31 - Headed south?
08:32 The ambulance was south of here?
08:38 - Well, the patrol was, sir, staking water holes.
08:41 They claim they saw the ambulance last night,
08:42 but it doesn't seem likely.
08:45 - They say exactly where?
08:46 - Well, like I said, sir, they're all delirious.
08:49 But they were patrolling in this area.
08:52 - All right, Sergeant, I want four men mounted right away.
08:55 And Lieutenant Michaels.
08:56 Oh, and Sergeant, have my horse saddled, too.
08:59 - But sir, if you're sending Lieutenant Michaels,
09:01 you could stay here and rest.
09:03 - Sergeant, I'm giving--
09:04 Sorry, Sergeant.
09:08 Soon as the doctor and the medicine arrives,
09:10 I'll permit you to confine me to quarters.
09:14 All right, on the double, Sergeant.
09:16 Oh, and Sergeant, I want my canteen, too.
09:18 Soap solution.
09:19 I'll need it in case somebody on the patrol falls out.
09:21 [DOOR OPENS]
09:23 [DOOR CLOSES]
09:26 [SIGHS]
09:28 Canteen, sir.
09:45 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:49 [HORSE GALLOPING]
09:52 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:55 You all right, sir?
10:21 You all right?
10:24 I'm all right.
10:25 Don't suppose they could have turned around and gone
10:42 back to the fort, sir.
10:44 No, I don't, Lieutenant.
10:47 [WATER SPLASHING]
10:50 We ought to catch up to them in about 10 minutes, sir.
10:57 Perhaps a trifle more.
10:57 Lieutenant, take two men with you.
11:09 Circle around their left flank.
11:11 I'll take the rest and attack them from the right flank.
11:14 We'll attack in exactly 15 minutes.
11:18 Attack, sir?
11:19 What do you mean?
11:21 There were supposed to be two troopers with them.
11:22 Now there's just the ambulance and the drivers.
11:25 Perhaps they aren't just lost.
11:27 Be prepared to shoot, but don't unless we do.
11:30 Yes, sir.
11:31 All right, 15 minutes exactly.
11:32 Take off. - Yes, sir.
11:33 You two men come with me.
11:34 You two stay with the colonel.
11:36 [GRUNTS]
11:38 [WIND BLOWING]
11:41 [WIND BLOWING]
11:44 [WIND BLOWING]
11:47 [WIND BLOWING]
12:14 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:17 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:21 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:24 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:27 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:30 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:00 Cavalry.
13:02 Over there, too.
13:05 Butcher, gun away.
13:06 Are you crazy?
13:07 It's cavalry.
13:08 Just keep your mouth shut and do what I tell you.
13:09 Captain Leon Hempel en route as per orders to Fort Clark, sir.
13:24 [WATER SPLASHING]
13:27 [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
13:39 What's the matter with him, Lieutenant?
13:45 I don't know, sir.
13:46 Colonel hasn't slept in four days.
13:48 We better take him to the ambulance with us.
13:50 Yes, sir.
13:50 All right, you men, give us a hand here.
13:52 [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
13:54 Gently now, gently.
13:57 Watch his head.
13:57 You're heading in the wrong direction, Captain.
14:03 It's past Fort Clark.
14:05 Well, I knew we were behind schedule.
14:07 I was about to double back.
14:08 Well, it's northeast from here, sir.
14:10 It's almost a day's ride with a wagon.
14:12 Lieutenant, you take your men back to camp ahead of us.
14:16 Boil as much water as you can find containers for,
14:19 and then scrub down the walls of all the wards.
14:22 We'll get the colonel in.
14:23 Well, I don't know about that, Captain.
14:25 What if you get lost again, sir?
14:26 Northeast, a day's ride.
14:28 We won't get lost.
14:30 That's an order, Lieutenant.
14:32 I can't lose any time when we get there.
14:34 Yes, sir.
14:35 Detail, mount up.
14:36 Detail, pull in and start pull!
14:47 Pull!
14:48 Well, hurry it up.
14:55 Shoot him and let's get going.
14:56 Yeah, we'll shoot him, but not yet.
14:58 He's our insurance.
15:00 Insurance?
15:01 If they find us with him, we're through.
15:03 If they find us with him, we're safe.
15:05 They won't touch us for fear we'll shoot him.
15:07 That gives us time to sell these drugs.
15:09 I'm for shooting him now.
15:10 He'll be trouble.
15:12 Now, don't get impatient, Traub.
15:13 We will.
15:14 We will.
15:15 But first, you're going in a bracket, Phil.
15:17 You're going to spread the word, drugs for sale,
15:19 health for sale, $100 to save your life.
15:44 Night, a deserted barn.
15:47 Medicine desperately needed to fight the cholera epidemic
15:51 in the hands of outlaws.
15:53 In the surrounding territory, panic-stricken citizens
15:56 ready to meet any terms for the drugs.
16:00 And a prisoner, a hostage to ensure a safe undercover
16:03 operation to be disposed of when no longer useful.
16:08 Well, that's it.
16:09 They're all out.
16:10 Good.
16:11 Last night, you spread the word.
16:13 This morning, we should get results.
16:15 You'll never get away with this, Mercer.
16:18 The good folks will pay whatever
16:19 I ask for this stuff, Colonel.
16:21 They'll keep their mouths shut so they
16:23 can get more when they need it.
16:24 They're starved for it.
16:25 My men will find you.
16:26 We set a pretty hard trail to follow, Colonel.
16:29 My men will follow your wagon tracks.
16:32 One of your men sticks his head through that door,
16:34 and you get a bullet in yours.
16:37 We're going to be stuck here.
16:38 We're going to need some water.
16:39 You'll survive without it, or else you won't survive.
16:43 Oh, boy, I've been waiting for years for something
16:46 like this to come along.
16:47 And it's going to work.
16:49 Nothing's going to stop it.
16:50 Trout, get those cases of medicine open.
16:53 We want to be ready when they come.
16:54 We've got water.
16:57 Well, you won't be needing water anymore, Colonel.
16:59 You might as well be generous.
17:01 There's something wrong with this water.
17:05 It's, uh-- it's medicated.
17:09 Case of contamination.
17:12 Come on, come on, let me have some.
17:15 Contamination?
17:16 Contamination.
17:18 Contaminated water holes.
17:19 That's the way you get cholera.
17:21 You drink from a water hole, and you get cramps, extreme pain.
17:27 Then you die.
17:28 Maybe one day, maybe three.
17:31 How's that?
17:33 You've been drinking from water holes?
17:36 Yeah.
17:37 How long ago?
17:39 Three days.
17:40 You better start praying.
17:41 If you still remember how.
17:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:50 No word from the Colonel yet, sir.
18:12 Who's that, Sergeant?
18:13 Captain Leon Hemphill, Medical Corps reporting, sir.
18:15 Patrol to the north found three corpses.
18:25 Cavalry, and that survivor, all shot.
18:28 Shot?
18:30 Hemphill, that's the doctor.
18:34 Found north.
18:35 Now, where's the Colonel?
18:37 I don't know, sir.
18:39 Sergeant, mount a patrol of three men, and you come too.
18:42 And on the men with side arms and carbines.
18:43 Yes, sir.
18:45 And hurry up, Sergeant.
18:46 Look, lady, for $100, you get one envelope.
18:55 $130 is all we had.
18:57 It was for next year's crops, and I--
18:58 $100 an envelope.
19:00 If you want more, get more money.
19:01 But my children, please.
19:03 Out.
19:04 Get her out of here.
19:07 While you're outside, keep your eyes
19:09 peeled for more customers.
19:11 They should be getting here soon.
19:13 Hey, McKenzie, sorry about that gag.
19:18 I just wanted to make sure you didn't make any noise.
19:20 Clear tracks.
19:34 They're headed southwest, sir, there.
19:37 Mount up, men.
19:38 Now, ride tight and keep your eyes open.
19:40 Sergeant, ride out and take the lead.
19:41 Now, follow that trail real hard and follow it fast.
19:44 Forward, ho!
19:54 Shut the door.
20:09 I can't.
20:10 My stomach.
20:11 Get up.
20:17 Doctor, I got that car.
20:20 I gotta get to a doctor.
20:22 You're not going to a doctor or anyplace else.
20:26 But I'll die.
20:27 I'll die, I tell you.
20:29 Then you'll die, but you're staying here.
20:31 Hey, where are you going?
20:33 To find them.
20:34 They must be around here someplace.
20:35 And stop that whimpering.
20:36 [PANTING]
20:39 How long does it take?
21:00 How long does it take?
21:01 I told you, maybe a day, maybe less.
21:04 What do I do?
21:07 [COUGHING]
21:08 You take morphine.
21:10 Over there in that box, the one marked narcotic.
21:13 How many do I take?
21:27 Take two.
21:29 [SQUELCHING]
21:32 You got a bad case.
21:38 You better take three.
21:39 I thought you said it was going to help.
21:53 It'll help.
21:54 Just relax a minute.
21:55 It'll help.
21:56 [HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
21:59 They come in here, you get it.
22:23 Let's take a look at that barn.
22:24 Maybe they stopped here.
22:28 Hold me.
22:29 There's a camp up ahead, sir, in the hills.
22:31 I think it's them.
22:32 I got a pole!
22:33 Lucky thing for you they didn't stop.
22:45 [SIGHS]
22:47 What's the matter, Mercer?
22:56 You got a stomach ache?
22:57 You wouldn't even let me call a doctor.
23:03 [GUNSHOT]
23:06 [HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
23:09 I killed him.
23:11 I killed him.
23:12 Now I'm going to kill you.
23:20 [GUNSHOT]
23:21 [GUNSHOT]
23:29 [GUNSHOT]
23:30 [HELICOPTER WHIRRING]
23:57 [MUSIC PLAYING]
23:59 The next day, Colonel Randall McKenzie
24:01 returned to Fort Clark with the medical supplies
24:04 that would enable him to defeat the cholera epidemic.
24:07 He brought with him also the body of Mercer
24:10 and the unconscious form of Trout.
24:11 Colonel, I don't know how you did it,
24:20 because you're not suffering from exhaustion.
24:22 You've got cholera, and you've had it some time.
24:27 Will I make it?
24:28 Yes, you're through the worst.
24:31 How about Trout?
24:33 Too much caustic soap and an overdose of morphine.
24:37 How in the world did he get so much?
24:39 Pull him through, Doc.
24:44 I want to see him hang.
24:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
24:57 McKenzie's Raiders rode again and again,
25:03 carrying out the secret orders of the President
25:05 of the United States.
25:06 Do whatever necessary to clean up the Southwest.
25:10 Make it a decent place for people to live.
25:13 Ride with McKenzie's Raiders as they
25:14 relive the blazing pages of history in the making.
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26:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
26:07 (whooshing)