Wanted Dead or Alive S02E28
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00:00The following footage is from our vault of classics, taken ten years after its release.
00:30I'm gonna shoot that place to pieces if you don't come out of there, you understand me, Stokes?
01:00Well, what about it?
01:13Barney Hunter, listen to me. You let me go, and I'll give you twice the reward the Army's offering.
01:20$2,000.
01:23$5,000, you hear?
01:26$5,000, you let me go.
01:28How many people do you have to kill, Stokes, to get $5,000?
01:31Just Indians. I never killed nobody, just Indians.
01:35That's the truth, I swear.
01:38Now, when you come out, Stokes, keep your hands high where I can see them.
02:07Get your head.
02:36$5,000.
03:07All right, Randall, the captain will see you now.
03:10What's the matter with you?
03:11I thought bounty hunters couldn't see beyond the dollar sign on a wanted poster.
03:15You got a rock on your boot, or you got something on your mind?
03:18Strictly Army business.
03:20You know, I hear you got a brand-new commanding officer here in less than a week.
03:23Emergency fuel rations for the troops, and lots of ammunition.
03:26So?
03:27Well, uh, we're at war with this.
03:29Captain Phelps will see you now.
03:34Come on.
03:45Sit down.
03:55What can I do for you, Mr. Randall?
03:56Well, I got a prisoner here that the Army wants, and they owe me some money.
03:59Well, you should have taken him to Fort Carson.
04:01We don't have the authority nor the means for jailing a wanted man or paying out bounty.
04:05Yeah, well, his horse broke a leg. I had to shoot him.
04:07Fort Carson's a long way to be riding double.
04:09Randall caught his man on the Kiowa reservation, sir.
04:12South Pass was the nearest Army post.
04:14If you give me a receipt, I can go ahead and pick up the money myself up at Fort Carson.
04:18Of course, we don't know who your prisoner is or whether, in fact, he is wanted by the Army.
04:22I can vouch for that, sir.
04:24I know Stokes by sight.
04:26Everybody on the frontier does.
04:28He's been stealing from the Kiowas. He killed at least three of them.
04:31The Army should be real pleased to have him in custody here or Fort Carson.
04:36Lieutenant Pierce, as my executive officer, it's your responsibility to carry out orders, not question them.
04:43You're new out here, sir. You don't know what we've been going through.
04:46Five years of killing and getting killed.
04:49Five years of proving to these savages that we're their friends and not their enemies.
04:53Five long years, Captain, just to sign a peace treaty with the Kiowa tribe.
04:58That's enough, Lieutenant.
04:59It just doesn't make sense, sir.
05:01We can't mount a punitive expedition against a friendly tribe of Indians,
05:05less than a month after we signed a peace treaty with them.
05:08Lieutenant Pierce.
05:09All those years of work, and now we get orders to sneak out, ambush them and wipe them out?
05:15Lieutenant Pierce, there are civilians present.
05:23Yes, sir.
05:25There's no rock on your boot at all. You've been walking on a mountain.
05:29Am I to be honored with a comment from you too, Mr. Randall?
05:32None of my business, sir. It just seems to me that Indian war right now would close the frontier.
05:36There'd be a lot of people killed. No sense to it.
05:39I take it you're not only a bounty hunter,
05:42but enough of an expert to disagree with the President and the Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
05:47I don't care one way or the other what the Army does.
05:49All I want to do is get a receipt and I'll get on out of here.
05:54Prisoner's name is Stokes.
05:56Yes, sir. Alan Stokes.
05:59Since he's given the Kiowas so much trouble, he's probably very familiar with the reservation.
06:04Well enough to homestead, I imagine.
06:06Uh-huh.
06:07I'm very sorry, Mr. Randall. I'm afraid you'll have to forget about your bounty and your receipt.
06:12We'll need Stokes and his knowledge of the reservation in order to position the detachment effectively.
06:17He'll act as our guide in the campaign.
06:23I'm sorry too, but horse or no horse, I'm going to take my prisoner and get out of here. Let's go.
06:28Just a moment, Mr. Randall.
06:30You seem to forget that you're on a military post.
06:33Carson!
06:38Yes, sir.
06:40Carson, Lieutenant Pierce is relieved of duty as Executive Officer.
06:44You will replace him.
06:47Yes, sir.
06:49Where does that leave me, Captain?
06:51Right here at South Pass. Under arrest.
06:55I've been on the frontier so long I'm not up on my spit and polish, sir.
06:59Has it become a military crime to discuss an order?
07:02Discuss?
07:04Or question and debate?
07:06In front of unauthorized civilian personnel.
07:09You're a commissioned officer in the United States Army.
07:11I'm also a human being.
07:13That'll be all. Consider yourself confined under arrest to the camp area.
07:17Yes, sir.
07:18Will that be all, sir?
07:20If it won't disturb you, either as an officer or as a human being,
07:24you might find in provision quarters for my wife and child.
07:27They're expected within the week.
07:29Yes, sir.
07:34Carson, see that Mr. Stokes is provided for.
07:37Issue him a horse and arms.
07:39Sign him on the detachment rolls as a contract civilian guide.
07:42Yes, sir.
07:43Wait just one minute. This is my prisoner. I brought him in.
07:46I advise you to leave peacefully, quietly and alone, Mr. Randall.
07:50Yeah?
07:52And if I don't?
07:54I can only assume that you intend to interfere with and harass
07:57a duly authorized military unit in the performance of its ordered assignment
08:01during a state of war.
08:03I'll make that a little clear.
08:04If you stay, I'll have no recourse
08:06except to order you placed before a military firing squad.
08:09That's all there is to it, Mr. Randall.
08:12Seems a way, don't it?
08:14Carson, will you show these gentlemen out, please?
08:16And pass the word.
08:17We'll be moving against the Kiowas in the morning at daybreak.
08:19Yes, sir.
08:20Mr. Randall?
08:21Yeah.
08:23Here's the key to his cuffs.
08:24You ought to have both hands free when you start shooting those Indians.
08:27You ought to enjoy this, Stokes.
08:45Let's go.
08:56If you hurry up, I'd like to get out of here.
08:58What are you sore about?
08:59I waited for you all day yesterday.
09:03Gentlemen,
09:05I'll hear the orders from Washington.
09:07Captain William Phelps has been appointed to the staff at West Point.
09:10Captain Amos Denison has been appointed
09:12to command the cavalry detachment at South Pass encampment.
09:14His name is Phelps, not Denison.
09:16You sure there's nothing wrong with those orders?
09:18There's nothing wrong with these orders.
09:20But these...
09:21These orders were prepared by the post-adjutant, Captain Phelps.
09:24Now, listen to this.
09:25Captain Amos Denison has been appointed to the staff at West Point.
09:29Captain William Phelps has been appointed
09:31to command the cavalry detachment at South Pass.
09:34Captain Phelps switched appointments and had himself sent to South Pass.
09:37Well, what about his orders to attack the Kiowas?
09:40He had no orders.
09:41The Army isn't at war with the Kiowas.
09:43We're not at war with anybody.
09:45It's a murderous attack without justification.
09:48Could lead to disastrous results, not only for the Kiowas,
09:51but for all the Indians.
09:52Well, why would he deliberately want to go out and start a war with the Indians?
09:56Let me read you something.
09:59Now, this was dated six months ago.
10:02William Phelps, Army captain on his way to Fort Carson,
10:05was the sole survivor of an Indian massacre
10:07in which Phelps' wife and child were killed.
10:12Phelps went completely out of his mind.
10:14Doctors had him under lock and key for over a month.
10:18He's out of his mind until the Army lets him write his own orders, huh?
10:21Well, he got better.
10:22Or at least he seemed to.
10:24According to the doctors, he was completely recovered.
10:27Certified fit for administrative duty.
10:30A good officer. Fine record.
10:33I made him post-adjutant.
10:36Listen, a minute ago you mentioned something about his wife and child being killed.
10:39You know, at South Pass, I remember him ordering quarters for the night for them.
10:43His wife and child are dead, Mr. Randall.
10:46I attended the funeral.
10:48In other words, he forged his way into a command at South Pass
10:51so he could get some sort of revenge against the Indians, is that it?
10:54From what you tell me,
10:56his behavior now is just like it was that first month after the massacre.
11:00A man like that leading a detachment.
11:03I don't envy you, Colonel.
11:05You'll envy me even less.
11:06You know, gentlemen,
11:08I have two undermanned regiments out here.
11:11Not only that, but they're scattered over 5,000 square miles of territory.
11:15Well, don't take a whole regiment, just get one fellow.
11:17I haven't a troop, a squad, a single man available right now.
11:20I don't know where I'm good.
11:21Well, I'm sorry to bring all this bad news to the Army,
11:24but I'm sure that they can solve their own problem.
11:27Yeah, well, look, all I need, Colonel, is a slip of paper,
11:29and I'll go with the paymaster and get it.
11:30Randall.
11:32I'm sorry.
11:33I'm sorry.
11:35What?
11:36Somebody has to stop Captain Phelps.
11:38Somebody has to carry orders to the detachment replacing Phelps.
11:42Somebody that knows that territory.
11:44Somebody who knows where this outlaw Stokes
11:46might lead the detachment to set up an ambush.
11:48Congratulations, Josh. You've just been elected.
11:50Look, Colonel, if I go back here, this Captain Phelps is going to have me shot.
11:53And if he doesn't, I'm going to end up in the middle of an Indian war
11:55and get my head blown off.
11:57No, thank you.
11:58Randall, this is a militarily supervised territory
12:00over which I have full command.
12:02Now, in the case of extreme emergency,
12:04my powers include the right to conscript civilian personnel.
12:07I am conscripting you, Mr. Randall, as of right now.
12:10And if you refuse to take orders,
12:11I will have you placed under arrest and court-martialed
12:13for dereliction of duty in the face of danger.
12:18Why be a piker?
12:19Captain Phelps threatened to have me put in front of a firing squad.
12:22That could be the easy way out, Mr. Randall.
12:25With me, you can look forward to spending the rest of your life
12:27in a military prison.
12:30I'll have orders prepared replacing Captain Phelps
12:32and ordering the detachment back to South Pass.
12:44Well, if the Colonel doesn't get me, the Captain will.
12:48If the Captain doesn't get me, the Indians will.
12:51Yeah, and if you don't go and the Captain isn't stopped,
12:54the way I got it figured, a lot of innocent people,
12:56both the Indians and whites, are gonna get themselves killed.
12:59Yeah.
13:01Boy, I sure hear people shooting at me.
13:04Well, we best get at it.
13:06Come on.
13:27You head straight for the South Pass, find Lieutenant Joe Pierce.
13:30Have him bring some men to meet me off the reservation.
13:32Where?
13:33Yeah, well, I can't guarantee anything,
13:35but, uh, have him meet me at the old blockhouse
13:37where I picked up Joe Stokes. He'll know where.
13:39You gonna be able to stop the Captain?
13:41I don't know, Jason, but I'm sure gonna try.
13:43Go ahead.
13:56Let's go.
14:21By now they must have gotten the Captain's message.
14:23Two and a half, maybe three hours.
14:25They come right through that canyon.
14:27The whole Kiowa tribe.
14:29You set your men along the tops of these two cliffs.
14:33That's all there is to it.
14:35Like shooting ducks in a gallery.
14:37You like the idea.
14:39Why not?
14:40They're just Indians.
14:42I wish you were one of them.
14:45Ooh.
14:48Small world, isn't it?
14:50You know, you got quite a job ahead of you.
14:52Wiping out a whole Indian tribe.
14:54The Captain's orders were to place you under arrest
14:56if you showed up here again.
14:58Yeah, I got some orders myself this time.
15:00And I think he's a little bit...
15:02He was going for his gun.
15:04From his shirt?
15:12He dead?
15:13Nope. And you can be thankful he isn't.
15:16Let's get him back to the blockhouse.
15:24Let's go.
15:40Are you clear?
15:41Halt!
15:54Halt!
16:25Looking for these, Mr. Randall?
16:37The mission contained in my orders, Mr. Randall,
16:39is of the utmost importance and urgency.
16:41Nothing, absolutely nothing,
16:43can nor will prevent the successful completion of that mission.
16:46Not you, Mr. Randall.
16:48Not these obviously false and forged orders.
16:55The plan is set.
16:57The tribe is already on the move.
16:59Within an hour,
17:01the Keogh tribe will be wiped out.
17:05And you're a traitor,
17:07giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
17:10I warned you, Mr. Randall,
17:12that you saw fit to ignore that warning and try to stop us.
17:15Lieutenant Carson?
17:18Yes, sir.
17:20Have my orders been carried out, Lieutenant?
17:22Yes, sir.
17:24The firing squad is ready.
17:29You really gonna shoot me?
17:31Take him away.
17:32Now listen to me, Lieutenant.
17:34My life depends on this. This man's crazier than a hood owl.
17:36They had him locked up back in Fort Laramie.
17:38He hasn't got any authority to attack any Keogh Indians,
17:40much less have me shot. He belongs in a hospital.
17:42Have you finished, Mr. Randall?
17:44I came here with orders from Colonel Bradley for you to relieve him of his command
17:47and take his detachment down to the South Pass.
17:49Well, he sat here right in front of me and burned those orders.
17:53This man is dangerous, Lieutenant.
17:55I suggest you draw your sidearm, keep him under constant watch.
18:00You have your orders?
18:02Yes, sir.
18:10Listen to me, Lieutenant. I'm telling you the truth.
18:14Mr. Randall.
18:20Sergeant Jones!
18:31Yes, sir.
18:33Take the prisoner.
18:35Yes, sir.
18:50By the trail, to his right.
18:52March. Detail.
18:54Halt.
18:56Right dress.
18:59Front.
19:20Sergeant Jones, hold your fire.
19:22Order arms.
19:25Lieutenant Pierce!
19:28I gave you explicit instructions to remain at South Pass.
19:31I trust you have an adequate explanation for this flagrant breach of discipline.
19:35Well, sir, I'm afraid it's my fault, Captain.
19:38I don't know this man.
19:40My name is Jason Nichols, courier from Fort Carson,
19:42with an urgent message for the Captain.
19:44Lieutenant Pierce is good enough to bring me here, sir.
19:47Your wife and child, sir, have been seriously hurt in an accident.
19:50Colonel Bradley requests that you return to Fort Carson immediately.
19:55My wife and child hurt?
19:57Seriously hurt, sir. They're in the hospital in Fort Carson.
20:00I was sent to bring you back.
20:03Yes, of course.
20:07My wife and baby.
20:13Lieutenant Pierce, you're the senior officer here.
20:15You will assume command. Proceed with the military mission.
20:19I must return at once to Fort Carson.
20:21Yes, sir.
20:46My wife and child are dead.
20:48I was there. I saw it.
20:50But you ordered Pierce to prepare quarters for them.
20:57Very clever, Mr. Nichols.
20:59What do I tell the colonel, sir? Stop it!
21:01They're safe. They're both safe at the South Pass encampment.
21:05Tell him, Carson. You too, Pierce.
21:07You dined with us only yesterday. You saw my wife. You saw my baby.
21:10They're well. You know they're well.
21:12Captain Phelps.
21:14I'm sorry, sir. You're too ill to know what you're doing.
21:17I'm relieving you of command.
21:19Lieutenant Carson.
21:21Captain will be confined to his quarters pending further notice.
21:24Yes, sir.
21:29Captain.
21:34Withdraw the detachment from its battle positions.
21:36Prepare them to return to South Pass.
21:40Huh?
21:44Nobody moves!
21:46Nobody takes one step to prevent the detachment from wiping out those Indians!
21:51Drop those rifles.
22:10Stokes! Chase!
22:14Soldier! Get him!
22:23Sergeant, dismiss the detail.
22:25Detail dismissed!
22:29Get to the detachment and pull them back.
22:31Tell the Kiowas it was all a mistake.
22:33Tell them the army will leave their reservation as they came.
22:36In peace.
22:38Yes, sir.
22:55Mr. Randall, you can present this to the paymaster.
22:58He'll give you your bounty money.
23:00Want to tell you again how grateful I am to you?
23:03Wait a minute. This isn't right.
23:05There's not enough money right there.
23:07What's for $1,000? That's the posted bounty.
23:09I'm not authorized to pay any...
23:11Listen, Colonel, you forced me into this army of yours,
23:13and I expect prevailing rate of pay on each and every day I serve.
23:18You know, I didn't get this playing horseshoes.
23:29All right.
23:31There you are, Mr. Randall.
23:33Much obliged.
23:35Uh, Randall.
23:38You know, we could use a good scout here on the post.
23:41Interested?
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