Mackenzies Raiders - S1E8: Eastern Colonel
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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-martial by the United States Army."
00:36 ♪ [music] ♪
00:52 The afternoon of June 8th, 1876 on Mexican territory.
00:57 Another raid by Skitashi, another risk by McKenzie.
01:02 McKenzie, as numerous times before, had violated the border,
01:06 fully aware of the consequences if he were caught.
01:09 But Skitashi had killed and plundered.
01:12 He and his small band had to be stopped.
01:15 McKenzie had no choice but to rely on his secret orders, "Clean up the area even if
01:20 you have to cross the Rio Grande to do it.
01:22 If the United States government catches you, it'll be a court-martial.
01:26 If it's the Mexicans, it'll be a hanging."
01:29 - We're ready, Colonel.
01:30 Both flanks are secure.
01:31 They're cut off from their horses.
01:33 - Horse con over.
01:34 - He's posted on the next rise, sir.
01:36 - Good.
01:37 Then they're completely pinned down.
01:38 Get back to your position.
01:39 - Yes, sir.
01:40 - Skitashi.
01:46 Skitashi, this is McKenzie.
01:49 I have many rifles staring at you.
01:52 Tell your warriors to throw down their weapons and walk north.
01:55 That way, there'll be no killing.
02:00 You don't have much time, Skitashi.
02:04 I'm waiting for your answer.
02:07 - Fire!
02:09 - [gunshots]
02:19 - Federales, Mexican soldiers, a whole troop of them.
02:44 - How much time have they got?
02:47 - No time, Colonel.
02:48 They'll be on us real soon.
02:49 - You want me to stay?
02:53 - Yeah, Charlie.
02:54 Keep an eye on Skitashi for me.
02:56 I'll get the troops back across the river.
02:58 - [gunshots]
03:08 - [gunshots]
03:18 - [gunshots]
03:28 - Looks clear.
03:48 - Yes, sir.
03:49 - [gunshots]
03:59 - [gunshots]
04:09 - Colonel James A. Beasley, Inspector General's office.
04:27 - Oh, yes, of course, sir.
04:28 I was expecting you.
04:29 Sorry I couldn't meet you on your arrival.
04:31 Something, uh-- something urgent came up.
04:34 - Lieutenant, were you ordered into Mexico?
04:36 - Well, Colonel, you see--
04:37 - Of course he was ordered into Mexico.
04:39 By me.
04:40 I'm in command here.
04:42 - Colonel McKenzie, I'm placing you in arrest.
04:44 You'll accompany me back to the fort.
04:51 - Hard to figure what a difference that miserable little river makes.
04:56 - Are you ready, Colonel?
04:57 - Ready, Colonel.
05:10 - You want an order posted, sir?
05:12 - No, it's sufficient that the Colonel knows he's confined to the post.
05:15 - Yes, sir.
05:16 - I want full reports from all the men who went to Mexico.
05:18 That includes you, Lieutenant.
05:19 Have them made out as soon as possible.
05:21 They'll go on with my report to Washington.
05:23 - Won't that mean a court-martial, sir?
05:26 - That's not for me to decide.
05:28 The Colonel's office?
05:29 - Yes, sir.
05:36 - His quarters?
05:37 - In there, sir.
05:38 - Those reports are your first order of business, Lieutenant.
05:43 - The secret orders, by their very nature, prevented McKenzie from using them as a defense.
05:48 He could not tell Beasley or anyone else, not even the court-martial officers.
05:53 In the words of the Secretary of War, "If you're caught, you're on your own."
05:59 [knocking]
06:00 - Come in.
06:05 - Oh, Colonel, please come in.
06:10 - It'll take a while to hear from Washington.
06:14 I've assumed your command.
06:18 - You mean you're going to report the incident?
06:21 - Yes, I am.
06:22 - Do you think I can let pass the shocking disregard of a friendly nation's sovereignty that I witnessed this morning?
06:28 - Well, it's just that in the field, it's not always easy to do these things true blue.
06:35 - Maybe so.
06:36 But I find it incredible that anyone could be so stupid as to risk the security of the United States.
06:42 Don't you realize this is the only sensitive border we possess?
06:45 That violating it could bring irreparable damage to our relations with Mexico?
06:49 - Scataschia is responsible for 19 killings in this territory.
06:52 Then he skips back across the Rio Grande and thinks he's home free.
06:55 How else would you propose dealing with him?
06:57 - As a veteran officer, you should know that no Indian settler or anyone else in the world is worth the grave steps you've taken.
07:05 - I presume you've read your general orders.
07:11 - I've read them.
07:13 - Well, you seem to have dismissed them from your mind as if they don't apply to you, Colonel.
07:19 Of course, I'll include any statement you wish to make in my report.
07:22 - The only statement I'd wish to make is that Scataschia must be stopped.
07:25 - I agree.
07:27 But I have no sympathy for your actions.
07:30 As an inspector, I've seen officers, even generals, disobey their orders before,
07:33 but never have I encountered such flagrant violation.
07:39 - I was given this order by one of the model army officers.
07:43 - You know, sir, you have quite a reputation as an administrative officer, and I respect that reputation.
07:52 But I do wish you could see this thing a little differently.
07:54 - I don't understand. What other way is there to see it?
07:58 - Colonel, don't think for a moment I like what I have to do.
08:02 I remember you well. As far back as the academy. I was two years behind you.
08:09 Like all other underclassmen, you were the one we looked up to.
08:12 You were the leading cadet, and have been an outstanding officer ever since.
08:16 Your career has been brilliant.
08:19 I'm genuinely sorry that I'll have a hand in the scandal that's bound to result.
08:24 - Yes.
08:26 Yes, Colonel, a general court-martial is never a pretty thing to see.
08:29 But of course, you have your duty to do.
08:32 That is, unless you could reconsider the circumstances.
08:38 - Good day, Colonel.
08:41 - What are you going to do if Skitashi strikes again?
08:44 - I'll try to stop him, within the limits of the law.
08:58 The limits of the law.
09:01 - Colonel Beasley now faced the problems of frontier command.
09:06 The overburdened 4th Cavalry was stretched thin to patrol 1,500 desolate miles.
09:13 Finally, Scout Conover returned from Mexico with word of Skitashi.
09:18 - Charlie? - Hi.
09:20 - Say, is the colonel in? - Which one?
09:23 - Well, McKenzie. Who else?
09:25 - Colonel James J. Beasley, Inspector General's office. He's in command now.
09:30 - In command? Do you mean that the ship McKenzie...
09:33 - He's in his quarters. He's confined to the post, under arrest.
09:37 - Under arrest?
09:39 Oh, you were a josh in the age of lieutenant?
09:43 - Colonel Beasley caught us crossing the river.
09:45 - Oh, that is trouble, ain't it?
09:49 - The worst kind.
09:51 Probably means a court-martial.
09:53 - You mean that's what this fellow Beasley is going to recommend?
09:56 - He doesn't have to. Washington won't have any alternative.
10:00 - Well, what does McKenzie say about all this?
10:03 - Nothing. There's not much he can say. It'll wreck him.
10:07 - Oh, he's been in worse trouble than that.
10:10 - No, he hasn't. The Army's not just his career, it's his life.
10:14 They might as well kill him as hand him a court-martial.
10:17 - Ain't there nothing you can do about this?
10:20 - I'd stall the reports. That's about all.
10:23 Colonel Beasley doesn't bend easy.
10:26 - Say, is he in the colonel's office right now?
10:30 - Yes?
10:36 - I'm your chief scout.
10:38 - Oh, you're Conover.
10:40 - Well, I didn't realize we had to have our scouts living undercover in Brackettville.
10:45 - Well, how else are you going to bring things to light?
10:47 - Well, that's true.
10:49 - Now then, about Skitashi...
10:51 - Now, just a minute, Colonel, before we start talking about Skitashi.
10:55 How about McKenzie?
10:57 - I don't think that concerns you, Conover.
10:59 - Well, maybe not, but it just happens that I'm going to make it so.
11:03 Now, what's all this I hear about a court-martial?
11:05 - I don't know what you've heard.
11:07 Colonel McKenzie is under arrest for violating an international boundary.
11:10 - International boundary?
11:12 You mean that little bit of a river down there that I can spit across?
11:18 - Why, shucks, Colonel, everybody use that river.
11:20 I don't see why McKenzie shouldn't.
11:23 - Conover, it's useless for us to discuss this.
11:25 - Why, it's useless for us to try and whip them bandits if we can't use that river.
11:31 - We're going to do the best we can.
11:32 - Well, the best ain't good enough in this case.
11:34 Why, Colonel, when they find out that we ain't going to use that river,
11:38 there's going to be the biggest commotion that you ever seen in your life.
11:42 - The United States Army is equipped to administer law and order.
11:45 - I admit to that, but most of the time, the law and order is done on the other side of the river.
11:51 - Well, according to these reports, things are not half as bad as you make out.
11:56 - Yeah, well, they used to be.
11:58 Of course, McKenzie, he's cleaned up this territory, this area here an awful lot,
12:03 but he didn't do it by just standing and looking at that river.
12:07 - You mean this is not the first time he's crossed the Rio Grande?
12:09 - Why, Colonel, how do you suppose we catch them murderers?
12:12 - Well, that makes it even worse.
12:14 - Worse? Well, I didn't come here to make it no worse.
12:17 I just come here to speak my peace, that's all.
12:20 - Well, you've certainly done that, Counselor.
12:22 I'll expect this information included in your report.
12:25 - Report? Oh, shucks, I ain't going to make out no report.
12:28 - You're a United States scout assigned to Fort Clark. You're under my command.
12:32 - All right, then, Colonel. Since you're my new boss,
12:35 you'll want to know that, in my opinion,
12:38 "scotashi" will begin this afternoon.
12:42 - Why this afternoon?
12:43 - Well, a lot of the men will be in the town at that time,
12:45 and them's the kind of odds it's "scotashi" likes.
12:49 - How do you know he's preparing for an attack?
12:51 - Well, I don't for sure,
12:54 but it's a sense that he ain't going to pack up in the middle of the night
12:57 and go down to that river just for a change of scenery.
13:00 - How do you know about his movements?
13:01 - Now, Colonel, you ought to be able to figure that out for yourself.
13:04 - I'll need more concrete evidence than that.
13:07 - Well, sometimes, Colonel, that's about all the news that a scout can get.
13:11 - Suit yourself, Colonel.
13:13 - Hello, Colonel. - How about it, Lieutenant?
13:32 - Is he in? - Yes, sir.
13:34 - Thanks.
13:35 - Come in.
13:39 - Come in.
13:40 - Sir, I just saw Charlie Conover in the stable area.
13:46 - So?
13:47 - If he says "scotashi" is going to attack, he's going to attack.
13:50 - He said in his opinion, Colonel.
13:52 - Conover's opinion is only the most valuable opinion in this territory.
13:56 Please, sir, let me take a troop after him.
13:58 - That's impossible. You're confined to the post.
14:01 - Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.
14:03 - Listen to Conover. Follow up his report with as many troops as you can muster.
14:08 - All right, Colonel, I will.
14:15 I've never lost respect for your experience in the field.
14:18 - Thank you, sir.
14:21 [ ♪ ]
14:28 [ ♪ ]
14:37 - Fort Clark and a critical moment in history.
14:40 Settlers to be protected, roads to be patrolled, a border to be guarded.
14:45 Many more problems than the 4th Cavalry could hope to cope with.
14:48 And in command, Colonel James J. Beasley, a desk officer.
14:53 Colonel Beasley, by his arrest of McKenzie, had forced himself into a command position.
14:58 McKenzie's only hope for the continuance of his army career now rested with Colonel Beasley.
15:04 - And of course, from their position on the river, I figure they're headed towards a settlement, see?
15:09 - Lieutenant, I'd like to have a word with the troop before we move out.
15:11 - They're here, sir.
15:13 - You must have misunderstood me, Lieutenant. This is not nearly enough men.
15:17 - I understand that, sir. These are the only men available.
15:20 - Lieutenant, there are over 200 men assigned to Fort Clark.
15:24 - I can read you the duty roster, sir.
15:27 - Whatever the other men are doing, relieve them and have them join us.
15:30 - The only men on the post are the cooks and the guards.
15:33 Everyone else is out on detail.
15:35 - You mean out of 200 men, this is all we can assemble?
15:38 - There's 1,500 miles we're responsible for, sir.
15:40 There's not a man wasted and we're still short.
15:43 - Well, we better get started.
15:47 - Colonel Beasley took Conover's advice and rode out to the settlement in hopes of surprising the renegade Skitashi.
16:03 [Birds chirping]
16:09 [Horses neighing]
16:14 [Hooves clopping]
16:20 [Horse snorting]
16:32 [Hooves clopping]
16:38 [Hooves clopping]
16:47 [Gunshot]
16:54 - A girl and her mother inside. - Well, the mother will be all right.
16:59 - The little girl's dead.
17:02 - Can we cut them off at the river? - Well, they've got a good start, but we can try.
17:06 - Leave a trooper with the mother. Come on, let's go.
17:10 - Come on.
17:16 [Hooves clopping]
17:25 [Hooves clopping]
17:51 - He wants to know if you're coming after him.
17:55 [Hooves clopping]
18:02 - Yes, sir.
18:16 [Knocking]
18:19 [Doorbell rings]
18:22 - You sent for me, sir?
18:28 - Colonel, the settler's child is dead.
18:33 - Yes, I know, sir. Conover told me.
18:36 - What did she know about it, Colonel?
18:40 What did she know about reservations and rules and rivers?
18:46 - All she knew was this doll.
18:50 I could never stomach death.
18:54 I guess that's why I'm an administrator.
18:57 [Scoffs]
18:59 Only four troopers.
19:02 - Well, I guess that's the way it is all over the West, sir.
19:05 - I imagine so.
19:08 It's hard to believe.
19:10 It's hard to believe such a situation exists.
19:15 - You know...
19:18 my daughter has a doll like this.
19:21 - Was the little girl the only one killed today, sir?
19:26 - Yes, the only one.
19:29 But that's the same as a thousand, isn't it?
19:32 - I suppose it is, sir, if you look at it that way.
19:36 - He just stood there across the river, staring, waiting.
19:42 - I'm sure the men didn't understand why I didn't go after him.
19:46 - They understood, sir. I doubt if they liked it, but they understood.
19:50 - I didn't like turning back, either.
19:52 But what are you supposed to do? An officer lives by hard and fast rules.
19:56 - Sometimes, sir, an officer finds that those rules don't always apply.
19:59 - But they have to.
20:02 - Yes, sir.
20:05 - Meantime, Skitashi is still free.
20:09 - He'll have more men soon.
20:12 - But where will he get them?
20:14 - From the reservation.
20:16 They'll hear about his success, he'll grow confident, they'll come and join him.
20:21 - So the longer the situation persists, the more disastrous it becomes.
20:27 - Exactly. Today he's a renegade.
20:30 Tomorrow he may overrun the whole territory.
20:34 - Colonel...
20:38 What would you do if I gave you back your command?
20:42 - I'd find Skitashi's position and I'd wipe him out.
20:46 - Wherever the position may be? - Wherever the position may be.
20:50 - All right, Colonel. The command is yours.
20:57 - Oh, about four miles down the road by the crossing.
21:02 - How many men? - Oh, you've still got the same handful.
21:05 I don't know how long they'll be there. He moves around a lot.
21:09 - Yeah, that's Skitashi. We caught him sitting still once.
21:12 He's not gonna let it happen again.
21:14 - Lieutenant Paxson. - Yes, sir.
21:16 - Assemble a troop. Full fighting gear.
21:18 - They've been standing by since Charlie rode in, sir.
21:21 - Good. - Colonel, I'd like to go with you.
21:25 - Well, we need all the help we can get.
21:30 Happy to have you with us, sir.
21:34 - What's that? - The Colonel's report, sir.
21:37 - When does the courier leave? - Not until Saturday, sir.
21:40 - There'll be plenty of time to take care of this when we get back.
21:43 - Yes, sir. - Ready, Colonel? - Ready, Colonel.
22:00 - Well, as near as I can figure, they've been going for about an hour,
22:04 traveling along the river. - What about Federale's?
22:07 - I think we're all right there. - We've been two hours on Mexican soil.
22:10 - Well, there's not much risk as long as we stick this close to the river.
22:13 - Won't Skitashi move south if he finds out we're after him?
22:16 - Let's hope he doesn't. I never did like the idea of a Mexican rope around my neck.
22:20 - Let's go.
22:49 - Get down! Get down!
22:51 - Get down!
22:53 - Get down!
22:55 - Get down!
22:57 - Get down!
22:59 - Get down!
23:02 - Get down!
23:04 - Get down!
23:06 - Get down!
23:08 - Get down!
23:10 - Get down!
23:12 - Get down!
23:14 - Get down!
23:16 - Get down!
23:18 - Get down!
23:20 - Get down!
23:49 - It's pretty hot there for a minute. Did you get him?
23:52 - I got him. - Skitashi's dead, sir. The rest have surrendered.
23:56 - I got some good advice for I.G. officers. Stay behind the desk.
24:01 - Sorry to have caused you so much trouble.
24:04 - That's our job. - My job? Those reports, Colonel.
24:09 - I'll send them on to Washington. - No, you won't.
24:13 - Tear them up, Colonel.
24:16 - Huh?
24:18 - Come in.
24:29 - Yes, Lieutenant? - I hate to bother you, sir.
24:35 - How do I list Colonel Beasley's death in the casualty report?
24:39 - Just as we list all other deaths on Mexican soil.
24:43 - Killed in action. Period.
24:46 - Yes, sir.
24:48 - McKenzie's Raiders rode again and again,
25:03 carrying out the secret orders of the President of the United States.
25:07 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 relive the blazing pages of history in the making.
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