At the gallows, 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.
Are you alright, Jessie?
I'm alright, Major Daggett.
It's been a long walk up here. Would you like to sit?
I want to stand, thank you.
Jessie, whenever you're ready.
Whenever you're ready, Chaplain. Speak your heart.
He was my friend.
Major Thaddeus Hale was first of all a friend to all of us here.
And we'll miss our friend.
Beloved as a man, respected as an officer.
Fort Laramie will be a different place without Thaddeus.
But a better place for his having served here.
Lived among us.
Vigorously and fully for the past six years.
All of us assembled here at his grave can say of him, he was my friend.
All save one.
Jesse Hale can say of him, he was my love, my heart.
There he lived and there he will always live.
God comfort Jessie.
God grant Thad rest and peace and eternal love.
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Amen.
Detail.
Ready.
Aim.
Fire.
Ready.
Aim.
Fire.
Ready.
Aim.
Fire.
The Major's Flag, ma'am.
Thank you, Sergeant.
Thank you.
All of you.
Thank you.
Mrs. Hale...
Captain, look at the day.
It's a beautiful day.
I'm so glad it's a beautiful day.
Blast it.
I'm here on the porch, Captain.
It's kind of chilly out tonight, Mrs. Hale.
It seems so close inside.
Sit down, won't you?
Thanks.
Mrs. Hale...
Jesse, I'm no hand to put words together well.
I can't speak a piece about that.
Don't try, Lee.
There's no need.
I'd liked him, and I'm sorry.
I know.
I watched you out on the walk, stopping, starting.
You didn't want to come here tonight, and I don't blame you.
It wasn't a question of want.
Just, what can a man do?
What can he say to a widow except he's sorry?
Sometimes I think it's harder on the friends who are left.
Like you say, they want to do so much, say the right things.
There's nothing to do, nothing to say.
At least you didn't bake a pie.
I sure never thought of that.
I want you to take some back to old Bedlam.
I'll see the rest get to the enlisted men tomorrow.
Lee, this minute in my kitchen there are 15 pies and three cakes.
I guess women always got to bake something at a time like this.
No, it's just that people have to do something, and there's nothing to do.
Can I talk about that?
If you want to.
Oh, I want to. I need to.
Every time I start, someone tries to stop me.
I think it'll make me sad to talk about him.
Good Lord, Lee, Thad and I were happy.
It doesn't make me sad to talk about happiness.
You were happy, it showed.
Thirty years next month, love and temper in the army.
And there wasn't a day of it we didn't live.
You were a lot alike, you and Thad.
We were just alike, too much maybe.
But we suited each other.
When I bellowed, he bellowed back.
Good, loud time of it we'd have, and then we'd laugh.
Then we'd love.
I think if I had it to do over, I wouldn't change a thing, Lee.
Not even the bellowing.
Well, if Thad wouldn't either, I'd bet on that.
Of course he wouldn't.
Lee, it was a dirty trick.
The way he died? Yeah.
Lived through every battle from Gettysburg to that skirmish with the Arapaho last month.
Cheated smallpox, scarlet fever, scurvy.
And the infernal Plains weather thrived on all that.
And he had to die off duty when lumber pilings fell on him.
One good thing he never knew it.
He'd have been as mad as the devil if he had.
Bellowed his head off. And you'd have bellowed right back.
You bet I would.
Any idea what you're going to do, Jessie?
Live. Sure.
If you're asking me, do I have a place to go, I have.
I have a sister back in Camden.
She's alone. We can make a life together.
It was my home, Camden, a long time ago.
It'll be a different life in Camden.
Hmm. Trade my pistol for needlepoint.
My saddle for a rocking chair will be very different, Lee.
No rush about your leaving. Oh, no, thank heaven.
Mary Daggett and the Major were over earlier.
Said to stay on as long as they liked.
Glad they said that.
Lee, there's one great favor you can do me.
Anything I can, Jessie.
Take the general. Thad's Mount?
Thad was your kind of army man.
And the general's your kind of horse.
Oh, you sit him right well yourself.
But not in Camden, Lee.
Maybe sometime, some special time, you'll ride him.
For Thad and me.
I'd be proud to, Jessie.
Watch it, Lieutenant. He's mean this morning.
Oh, I give up, Mavisom Sergeant.
Best I give you a hand, sir.
Don't. Come nearer. He'll camp on you.
Give him his hand. I can't.
You better, Lieutenant, or you're gonna get it.
Oh.
Thanks for the warning, Sergeant.
You hurt, sir. It'll come later.
Here.
It's been a long time since I've been unseated, Sergeant.
They don't call him the general for nothing.
Might be he knows he outranks you, Lieutenant.
I wonder how Major Hale managed him.
I don't know his secret, but he got his way all right.
Now, look at that.
The captain's got him mild as a kitten.
Bad spill, Mr. Sabitz?
I don't think so, Captain.
It happened pretty quick.
Oh, he hasn't been ridden for a week.
Any new hand would have seemed strange to him.
Yes, sir.
Are you gonna try him out?
I thought I would.
The general and I gotta get used to each other.
Miss Hale asked me to care for him.
Oh, I'm sorry, sir.
If I'd known that, I wouldn't have tried to ride him.
I just thought that he should be ridden.
If you're all right, there's no harm done.
I guess it's my turn to try.
Like I told the lieutenant, Captain,
that horse is mean this morning.
If it was me, I'd set this one out.
We'll see, Gorse.
You've got the touch all right, sir.
Yeah, but look at them eyes.
He's thinking.
He's thinking for sure, Captain.
That's how it's done, Sarge.
I just don't trust that horse.
The captain knows what he's doing.
He always knows what he's doing.
If I was him, I'd rather know what that horse was thinking.
He's got a plan, Lieutenant.
The general's got himself a plan.
I'm just not the horseman that Captain Quint says.
I wouldn't feel too bad about taking that spill.
I wish it hadn't happened in front of the captain.
That's all.
Look out, Captain.
Stick with him, sir. Show him who's boss.
I swear, Captain, if you don't take care, you're gonna get...
Oh, dear.
Come on, Sergeant.
Well, I took your advice, Gorse.
How's that, sir?
I set this one out.
Are you all right, sir?
Older and wiser, Lieutenant.
How beg pardon?
He's a gift horse.
And I looked him square in the mouth.
Oh, yes, sir.
Good morning, gentlemen.
Good morning, Missy Hale.
Oh, uh, Lee, I forgot to tell you one little thing about the general.
Just one little thing, Jessie?
Never try to mount him in the corral.
I guess we can remember that.
Wouldn't you say, Lieutenant?
It's a lesson I'll never forget, ma'am.
Go fetch the general, Sergeant.
See he's rubbed, fed, and stable.
Oh, not just yet, Sergeant.
Just lead him out of the corral and tether him there.
I feel like riding this morning, Captain.
Alone, Jessie?
Alone.
I think both the general and I need work.
Whatever you say, ma'am.
Well, if you'll excuse me, Mrs. Hale, Captain,
I've got some staff duty to tend to.
Mrs. Hale?
Lieutenant?
See you later, Mr. Simons.
You making out, Jessie?
Making out?
Day at a time, Lee.
Yeah.
I keep discovering things.
Just little things every day that help.
The cemetery up there, I...
I found out there's nothing of Thad there.
I can look, I can go there.
Nothing we shared is buried there.
Nothing you shared is buried anywhere, Jessie.
It's a wonderful thing to learn, to know.
You got a good morning to ride?
Crisp and clean. It's a good morning.
Jessie.
Jessie, wait.
Major Daggett?
Morning, Major.
Good morning.
Jessie, I went over to your quarters.
Someone had seen you coming this way.
Doing your own career duty, Major. I'm impressed.
I wanted to be the one who told you.
I'll leave you to your talk.
No, Lee.
Jessie, you'll need your help.
Help?
I wouldn't have had this happen for the world.
I had no idea we were in line for any transfers, but...
Jessie, I...
You need my quarters, don't you, Major?
I'm afraid we do.
Well, my, that isn't the end of the world.
I didn't expect to stay on indefinitely.
How much time can I have?
Well, they're here now, Jessie.
I see.
You can manage makeshift arrangements for a while,
can't you, Major?
Mary and I hoped you'd come over with us, Jessie.
Stay as long as you like.
Thank you, but no, Major.
It's best this way, really.
It's time I started my new life.
That rather almost sounds like a good idea.
That rather almost anything than this, you know that.
Major, it's the Army, I understand.
I will need your help, though, Lee.
You'll have it.
Well, go on, Jessie, take your ride.
Well, I...
Go on.
That's an order, Jessie.
You and the General need the work, like you said.
Thanks, Lee.
Major?
Some days I hate the Army.
Don't let Jessie hear you say that.
She's a 30-year soldier.
Thank heaven I never was a hand to collect.
I learned that moving from post to post.
Dad and I could clear out of a place in two hours' notice anytime.
And did too, I'll bet.
Oh, you should have seen us when we arrived here from Fort Carney.
Two rucksacks, two saddles, and a pair of silver candlesticks.
Only wedding present we had left.
What about all this furniture?
It's yours, isn't it?
It was built right here by Thad Stryker
and a couple of other enlisted men.
Don't you want any of it, Jessie?
It belongs here.
Well...
I'd feel better knowing it was here, Lee.
Sure.
I'll take these bags out.
I'll have the others ready right away.
Now, don't hurry, Jessie, any more than you feel like.
And don't you look so grim, Captain.
I mean it.
There's a time to go, Lee, a right time,
and when it comes, it should happen quickly.
Yeah, that's best.
Oh, I was looking for Mrs. Hale or some name like that.
Her name's Mrs. Hale. She's right inside.
Hello.
Oh, I was under the impression you'd be out of here by now.
Oh, I won't be long.
You're, uh...
Captain Winton's wife?
Jennifer Winton.
Oh, I see.
You're, uh, Captain Winton's wife?
Jennifer Winton.
But all of this quaint furniture,
I do hope it's yours, because I certainly wouldn't want to...
It belongs here.
It was made here at Fort Laramie.
I can believe that.
I mean, it looks so, well, homemade and all.
If you don't want it, Mrs. Winton,
have Captain Winton take it up with the adjutant.
Furniture's hard to come by out here. Someone can use it.
Oh, now you're thinking I'm rude, and I don't mean to be.
You see, we have our own furniture.
It's new and quite lovely.
I'm sorry, but...
What are you sorry about?
It was just such a shock, seeing all of this furniture.
I'm afraid I've not been quite tactful.
You've been quite rude, as a matter of fact.
You're very young and spoiled, and I suspect a little foolish.
I beg your pardon.
You needn't.
This is your first army post, Mrs. Winton?
Maybe it is.
My dear, you have a very great deal to learn.
I'm sure I have,
but I intend to learn it in my own kind of surroundings.
With your own new, quite lovely furniture.
I intend to make a home here for my husband,
the kind of home we're both used to.
Just because he sent out to this desolate corner of nowhere,
I don't intend we should live like the rest of the savages.
Mm-hmm. Well, I wish you well, Mrs. Winton.
Thank you, Mrs. Hale.
By the way, where was your home, Mrs. Winton?
Philadelphia.
Oh, that's just across the river from Camden, isn't it?
If you want to put it that way, yes.
I think I do want to put it just that way.
Sergeant Gorse took your bags over to the stage.
You've still got a few minutes, Jesse.
She can't be over 20.
Not a day over 20.
Who can't be a day over 20?
Well, you saw her.
She came just as you were taking my bags out.
Oh, that one.
Mrs. Winton.
Does she look over 20 to you?
I'm a better judge of horses, Jesse.
Philadelphia girl.
Wonder if I acted like that when I was her age.
Camden's just crossed the river, you know.
Yeah, I remember.
Standing so straight like she was balancing a teacup on her head.
Ramrod straight.
Of course, in Camden it was books.
Books?
Mm-hmm.
What was books?
On your head.
Jesse.
Good heavens, Lee, don't be so dense.
We were taught to walk that way and sit that way.
And with books on your head?
To keep you straight and balanced.
Of course, mostly it gave you a stiff neck,
and I must say it gave you a formidable bearing.
Lee.
Hmm?
That girl's scared to death.
Why couldn't I see that?
Uh, Mrs. Winton?
And why wouldn't she be?
20 years in one protected group,
and then she marries and comes out here.
Why, she isn't prepared for this life.
How could she be?
Nobody much is prepared for this life.
That's exactly what I mean.
And they're not going to be as long as complacent old fools like me
don't have anything better to say to them than,
my dear, you have a very great deal to learn.
Lee, is that cottage out by the root house still empty?
I think so, Jesse.
Well, sir, you can move my old furniture in there right away.
I'm going to speak to Major Daggett.
You're, uh, you're not going back to Camden?
And be a civilian?
Not when there's so much army work to do, Captain.
And if I've learned anything in 30 years, the army's taught me.
It's time I started paying back a little.
And Mrs. Winton's a good place to begin.
That in order, Jesse?
That's in order, Captain. Move out.
Music
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 Marino.
Featured in the cast were Helen Klebe, Sammy Hill, and Parley Bear.
Jack Moyles as Major Daggett, and Harry Bartel as Lieutenant Cyberts.
Music
Company, attention!
Dismiss!
Music
You've just heard another transcribed story of the Northwest Frontier
and the troopers who fought under Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry.
Music
Why be an ostrich when your own welfare and the value of your property may be at stake?
One out of nine dwelling units in our cities, towns, and villages are in slum condition.
About half the rest are no better than fair and will become slums in the future
unless repaired and improved in time.
You can help prevent the growth of slums. How?
With a plan of action worked out by Action, the American Council to Improve Our Neighborhoods.
CBS Radio urges you to write for details to Action, Box 20, New York 19.
That's Action, Box 20, New York 19.
Music
Silence