At the gallop, ho!
Fort Laramie
Fort Laramie, starring Raymond Burr as Captain Lee Quince.
Specially transcribed tales of the dark and tragic ground of the wild frontier.
The saga of fighting men who rode the rim of empire.
And the dramatic story of Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry.
This is as far as we go, Mr.
That's your line, the creek ahead?
You can water your stock there, we'll wait for that and head back.
Fair enough.
Oh now, oh!
Going down back there, we're stopping a spell.
This the end of the line for us, Captain?
That's what the orders say, Sergeant.
Yes, sir.
Tell the men to dismount and unsaddle, pin graze and water.
Take your mount, Captain.
Yeah, thanks. I want to talk to the driver.
You seen him then, up on the rim?
Yeah, they're keeping their distance.
Ain't every wagon train pushing west gets two escorts, cavalry and engines.
Yeah, of course. I'll tell him.
Dismount, unsaddle, pin graze and water.
Come on now.
Mind your stock, don't take on water too fast.
You're planning to stick to the Oregon Trail, driver?
I'd be a plain fool if I didn't, with them engines staring me down from the top of the canyon.
I don't think they'll bother you. They're not hungry.
We butchered some beef on the agency for them last week.
Can't see we'd look too good to them.
Kind of mangy looking out for it, ain't we?
I've seen worse. You're all right, so long as you don't get any ideas about the old Bozeman Trail.
Well, that's closed now, ain't it?
Yeah, by treaty. That's what's bothering our friends up there on the rim.
They think we aim to cut up to Montana country?
Some of the wagons try it.
Lots of gold up there, ain't they, Captain?
Yeah, and lots of Sioux and lots of Arapaho. It's all Indian country.
Bozeman Trail's closed. Forts and posts are abandoned.
I tell you the truth, Captain. I kind of had my heart set in panning myself a fortune or two.
You wouldn't get to the first turn in that trail.
Nope, I wouldn't. I know I wouldn't.
Well, I had my heart set in my own plot of ground in Oregon, too.
Sure, you'll live longer.
You going up there to the rim, Captain? Talk to them engines?
What for?
Tell them to leave us be.
That's reservation land they're on. They'll leave you be.
As long as you're set straight along the Oregon Trail.
They haven't bothered a wagon train since the treaty.
Well, I can wait till I settle in Oregon.
Then maybe drop down to the mother-load country. If I want gold, bad enough.
Yeah, if you want it bad enough.
You, uh, you don't have it, do you, Captain?
Have it?
The itch, the fever that sets on a man, makes them want to find gold more than anything.
That kind of fever can get you killed, mister.
Yes, sir. I bet it can.
Well, don't you worry yourself about me, Captain.
Me and this little wagon train are staying right smack on the Oregon Trail.
Good. Oh, I'd watch my stock if I were you.
There's alkali in these streams through here.
Won't kill them, but too much will make them sick.
I'll keep an eye on them.
Well, good luck to you, mister.
Thanks kindly, Captain.
We're sure much obliged you rode this far with us.
It's all right. We'll watch you out of sight.
I'd like that.
Yeah, that's if you get a move on. You're wasting daylight at this rate.
Valuable stuff out here, mister.
Kind of like gold, Captain?
Yeah, kind of like gold.
The Indians made no move to follow the train?
No, they left the rim of the canyon a little before we did.
Can't be sure they didn't ride on ahead to intercept the train when it was out of your sight.
They weren't headed that way, but I can't be sure.
I keep feeling like we're sitting on a powder keg, Lee.
Slightest little jar will blow up to a full-scale war.
It's got me edgy.
You got company.
You?
Well, Red Cloud.
Why do you think those Indians were lining the rim of that canyon?
I guess they can't believe it either.
It's not much of a piece, Captain, if we spend all our time watching them,
just to find out they're watching back.
Well, Major, beats killing each other.
You like Red Cloud, don't you, Lee?
Yeah, I like him.
You trust him?
He signed the treaty.
He hasn't broken it yet.
Then you do trust him.
I don't think he'll be the one to break the treaty, if that's what you mean.
You think we will, Zinnie?
No, not we.
But I saw something in that wagon train driver that breaks treaties.
He called it an itch, a fever.
A fever for gold.
You told me you warned him about going up the old Bozeman Trail.
Yeah, I warned him.
I don't think he'll try it.
But if he doesn't, someone with a fever will.
If not the Bozeman, then they'll break new trails up into the Big Horn Range,
over into Black Hills.
That's all Indian territory.
We've both read the treaty, Major.
And Red Cloud signed it. So did we.
Now what do we have to do? Read it to every wagon train that stops at Fort Laramie?
You ask me if I trusted Red Cloud.
I trust him till the next white man goes into Indian country looking for gold.
I suppose you're right.
He got what he wanted.
Powder river country, Black Hills for hunting grounds.
That covers everything to the north and east of us.
And we better stay out of it.
Tell that to the men with the gold fever.
I see them.
Lee, if you were sitting in my chair,
what would you do if you had to translate this problem to Washington?
I'd desert.
No, you wouldn't.
You'd have a plan.
What would it be?
About white men going into Indian country?
We can't protect them.
We'll have to try to keep them from going in.
That's what I want to know. Can we stop them?
We can try. Maybe with official orders,
we can keep them from going in in numbers.
If we catch them, lock them up as treaty violators.
And if they persist?
For provoking an act of war, I'd shoot them.
I said you'd have a plan.
All right.
I'd start by redoubling our patrols all along the North Platte.
We don't have the manpower.
Let the infantry secure the garrison. I'll take a patrol out right now.
You just got back. You're tired.
I'm not tired.
All right. The men are tired.
I've got another plan.
What's that?
I need a drink.
Why don't you go on over, Captain?
Maybe I'll join you later.
Yes, sir, Major.
Why, Lee, I didn't know you were back.
Got back last night, Willa.
You, you the barmaid here now?
Dad's waiting on some trade in the store.
Here.
Help yourself.
Did I say I wanted a drink?
If you'd come to see me, you'd have come last night.
It was...
It was late last night.
That sounded a lot like an explanation, Lee.
I guess I thought you wanted one.
When you see me, it's because you want to see me.
That's a good thing to know.
Yeah, maybe it is.
Are you finished with this?
What's the matter? You running out of whiskey?
Almost.
Well, not plenty.
He doesn't run out, not when he can still get his price.
Oh, it isn't Dad. It's those men with him.
What about them?
What they're not drinking here, they're taking with them.
Huh? Where they going?
I don't know.
Wherever it is, they must expect to stay a long time.
Isn't ten gallons of whiskey an awful lot, Lee?
Couple of drinks of this whiskey is an awful lot.
Say, Willa, you recollect that last shipment of boots we got in?
I thought we put them in stock, but I cannot lay my hands on them.
Aren't you going to speak to Lee, Dad?
He can't see me, Willa, for the dollar signs in his eyes.
Oh, well, good afternoon to you, Captain.
His glass is empty, Willa.
Are you offering me a drink on the house, Pliny?
On the house? Oh, well, I just naturally suppose you were buying your drinks, Captain.
Dad.
Of course, credit is available for an old friend like you, Captain.
I trust you.
That's your idea of a compliment, Pliny?
Oh, boots, that wasn't it, of course. Boots.
I came back here to ask about the boots.
I don't know how you could miss them. They're right next to the cash box.
Oh, my goodness, yes, of course, they must be there then.
Captain, just buy yourself another drink.
I don't know what to do about him, except love him in spite of himself.
Well, you'll never be poor, Willa.
And dowrys are still in style, Lee.
Hmm. Maybe I ask for that.
Are you going to have that other drink?
No, thanks.
This one is on the house.
Oh, you don't want to break his heart, do you, Willa?
No, Willa, I've had enough. I'll, um...
I'll see you, huh?
Sure, Lee.
Sure.
Hey, you soldier.
Hey, you.
You talking to me, mister?
I called you soldier, didn't I?
Is this a friend of yours, Pliny?
Well, he is spending quite a lot of money, Captain.
Yeah, and I aim to spend a lot more.
Maybe with you, soldier boy.
I got nothing to sell, mister.
Well, you could, uh, might give him some information, couldn't you, Captain?
He's such a good customer.
You want to quit bobbing around in front of me.
No offense, no, not the slightest bit of offense, excuse me.
That's better.
You want a drink, soldier?
I'm in a hurry, mister.
You must know this country pretty good.
I'm looking for horses, goodens.
You're new here.
New as today.
Most of the settlers around here have horses.
I said good horses.
I seen the crow bait they pass off for horses over in Laramie Village.
I mean goodens, strong, take a lot of riding.
That's what I want.
Mm-hmm. How many?
Oh, four, say.
Well, the Souter Ranch is about your best bet.
It's a good day's ride from here.
Which way?
West, due west.
You can see the ranch house from the Oregon Trail.
I ain't heading west.
Then south, near Cheyenne.
I ain't heading south.
I can't help you, mister.
You're not trying too hard, are you, soldier?
Hard enough.
Pliny, you'd better get your cash customer out of my way.
No, please, gentlemen, no roughhousing.
This is a respectful place of business, you know.
I told you, quit bobbing in here ever so often.
I only meant to help.
You got any more shoving around you want to do, mister?
Yeah, I kind of forgot my manners.
Reckon you'd speak your piece better if you got paid for it.
What are you trying to buy?
A cracked skull?
All right, all right.
I picked the wrong soldier.
What's he so sore about?
Well, he just misunderstood you now.
Here, I'll help you pick up your money.
All right, if I sit next to you, soldier.
Up yourself.
You get used to the food and time, do you?
You're eating free, ain't you?
It's free.
I'm not eating free.
You're eating free, ain't you?
It's free enough.
You look like a smart man, soldier.
I ain't.
I ain't hear better.
You been talking to somebody dumber than me, then?
Pliny, the subtler.
He put you next to the free meal here in the barracks?
That'd be Pliny.
Him and me, we're dumb in different ways.
He says you know all there is to know about horses.
I've ridden them, eaten a few.
That's all there is to know about them.
Where are the best horses around here, soldier?
Up in the cavalry stables.
I'd like to lay my hands on four goodness.
Well, now, you could try,
but you might get yourself shot in trying.
I'm talking about buying horses, not stealing.
I don't think the cavalry's got any horses for sale, mister.
Are you trying to understand me, soldier?
I'm trying harder to eat.
How much money you make a month
wearing those three stripes of yours?
Now, that just plain took my appetite.
A regular soldier makes 50 cents a day.
I figure those stripes give you a bit more.
You want to raise my pay, is that it?
I want four good horses.
You get them for me.
I'll see you get better in a raise.
You just passing through, are you, mister?
That's all.
Don't worry about the money.
I got it.
What are you figuring on using horses for?
Riding.
Four horses for riding.
There's two of us.
It's hard riding.
You won't get the money just asking questions, soldier.
I guess I'd have to see that money.
We're going to do business, are we?
You got a right price, we'll do business.
This place, you'd get the horses.
It'd be near the fort.
Near enough.
The ranch.
If I told you about it, you wouldn't need me.
I wouldn't collect that money you're talking about.
You're not dumb, soldier.
You're not dumb a bit.
Look here.
Well, you've seen the money.
Now, that ain't all money, mister.
How do you mean?
Some of them pouches, they just don't bulge right for silver.
You see real good, don't you?
Anybody tell you there's an assay office over in Laramie Village?
They might have, if I'd asked.
You want some advice, mister?
I want some horses.
You better not be finding gold in Injun country.
There's a treaty now that says you can't go in there.
Is that a fact?
Listen, of course, you got permission from the Injuns.
I told you I got ten gallons of whiskey.
That's a lot of permission.
Providing I wanted it.
Now then, I took your advice.
You gonna take my money?
A lot sooner take you, mister.
You're going along with me, aren't you?
I'm going with you all the way.
Hey, what's the ID?
You just got yourself a military escort, mister,
and you'll be seen through the main gate of Fort Laramie.
Well, Gorse, how'd you keep from roughing him up?
Same way you did, I guess.
Pliny and Miss Willis said you went plumb white
keeping from hurting him.
One of us should have busted him.
He might have stuck around to prefer charges.
Not this one.
You don't want any trouble, just horses.
If I had my way, I'd have stuffed him in the stockade last night.
You better throw him off the post.
Major says you can't hold a man for what you think he's gonna do.
You told him about it, then?
Mm-hmm. Last night, after you told me.
That was gold in them pouches, sure as anything.
I didn't have to look inside.
Yeah, sure, it was gold.
And it was picks and shovels and pans he bought at the Suttlers.
I got that much out of Pliny last night.
You're not forgetting the whiskey.
I'm not forgetting.
Like he's not, he's got the horses by now, too.
We can't stop him from getting horses, Sergeant.
We just don't have to help him.
You were... you were smart to hear him out.
I... I should have been a little smarter.
He'd stand to talk freer to me, seeing I'd have more need of money.
I had to throw him out before he worked his way any further down the wage scale.
I knew a trooper once, deserted, sold his mount, saddle,
everything up to his kercher for $100.
That's the best part of a year's pay.
You think the Major will stand still for us taking off after him?
Mr. Syvers brings his patrol in tomorrow night.
We're not going anywhere until he's back.
Sounds like an order.
Major Daggetts.
Can't prove anything going after him, of course.
Cavalry patrol? Maybe it'd scare him off a little.
Ah, man, that stupid doesn't scare.
He'd rather be scalped than be poor.
If he goes in, we can all get scalped, trying to save his lousy hide.
Sure like a better excuse to fight a war.
We all would, Sergeant.
Right about there, sir.
They were following rawhide crick moving north.
How many men, Mr. Savage?
Two men. Four horses, four mules.
I couldn't tell enough through the glasses to describe what they looked like.
I know what one of them looked like.
We can't be sure of that, Captain.
Mr. Syvers, you say you fired a signal at them.
Can you be sure they heard it?
They heard it, sir.
I never took the glasses off them.
And when we fired, they stopped and looked at us.
The whole patrol made signs for them to come back.
You think they saw you, understood your signs?
I know they saw us.
One of them had field glasses, too.
Captain trained right on us as they started moving north again.
Is that all, Lieutenant? That completes your report?
That's all, sir.
Except...
I wish I could have stopped them from going in, sir.
Well, you did all you could, Mr. Savage.
Thank you, Captain.
Every bit you could, Lieutenant.
Now go on, get some rest.
That's an order.
Yes, sir.
Major, sir?
Captain, sir?
All right, Captain.
What would you have done in his place?
Exactly as he did.
Glad to hear that.
But now you want to go after the prospectors.
I want permission to go to Red Cloud.
To keep them from being killed?
To keep a war from starting.
The man I saw knows his chances. Everybody warned him.
I got no feeling for him.
I want to think about it, Captain.
While you're thinking, Runner could be on his way to Red Cloud...
I'm aware of that.
And while you're thinking, Red Cloud could be on his way here,
in paint and war bonnets.
If he is, Runner wouldn't stop him.
He might.
I'd say that's a chance we've got to take.
The only chance we have got.
If the Runner gets through and Red Cloud agrees to powwow with you,
what then?
I'll ask him to let us find the prospectors and deal with them our way.
And if he's found them first?
I'll take their bodies off his hands.
How many men do you want, Captain?
Sergeant Gorse.
Just one man?
I want to stop a war, Major, and not start one.
Red Cloud's not likely to consent to a full company.
The Runner will leave the post in an hour.
When can you and Sergeant Gorse leave?
Tell your Runner we'll try hard not to get ahead of him.
That's Black Hill's country ahead, ain't it, Captain?
If you can see it, over the war bonnets.
Red Cloud's not taking any chances.
Would you, Gorse?
No, sir, I wouldn't.
I just keep hoping they're getting an eyeful of this white flag on Toton.
They're in the hills. They got the best view.
We just keep riding, ain't we?
Yeah. As far as the stream.
We'll drop our gun belts when we get there.
And wait for Red Cloud.
Yes, sir.
I guess if I'm gonna die in the cavalry,
I'll just soon do it with you as anybody, Captain.
You could be back at Fort Laramie,
getting rich, selling horses to prospectors.
The air is cleaner out here, as long as it lasts.
The, um, gun belt, Gorse?
Oh.
How could I forget a little matter like that, you spoke?
Hmm.
Yeah, Red Cloud all right.
Two Braves with him.
Another couple hunting in the hills.
It'll be a thousand as long as they stay up there.
You honor our flag, Red Cloud.
We thank you.
Where is honor in white man for treaty boundaries?
It comes slow to some white men.
I came to ask your patience, Red Cloud.
Patience stretches in time like an old hide.
It breaks and is no more.
Since we smoked the pipe,
we've handed over your renegades to let your people deal with them.
Bring white men here.
You will deal with them how?
They're alive?
I did not come here to deliver dead men.
Then they'll be put in the stockade and kept there.
You have been our friend.
Tell your people Red Cloud will not powwow again.
Next time, warriors not stay in hills.
Next time, white men, dead white men.
I'll tell them, Red Cloud.
I hope they listen.
Fort Laramie is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald and stars Raymond Burr as Lee Quince, captain of cavalry, with Vic Perrin as Sergeant Gorse.
The script was specially written for Fort Laramie by Kathleen Height, with sound patterns by Bill James and Ray Kemper, musical supervision by Amarigo Moreno.
Featured in the cast were Jack Moyles and Harry Bartell, with Frank Gerstle, Clayton Post, Howard McNear, Virginia Gregg, and Ralph Moody.
Company attention.
Dismiss.
Next week, another transcribed story of the Northwest Frontier and the troopers who fought under Lee Quince, captain of cavalry.
Time was, a man who wanted to get away from it all could hide in the cellar, take a walk in the woods, or go live in a cave.
Today's best way is not to hide, walk off, or hunt for a cave, but to join the ground observers.
With their eyes on the skies, they're keeping America's defense as man to serve the cause of peace.
See your local civilian defense people. Join the ground observers.
Two hours a week will earn your silver wings.
Help America be strong as a deterrent to any possible intrusion.
Captain tropics.
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