Go down to the river to eat that snake.
Go on, get. Go on. Get out of here.
Get out of here.
Little early to be quitting, ain't it, girls?
Or is it Christmas?
Girls yourself.
It ain't Christmas, neither.
It's that hell bitch.
She bit a hunk out of him.
I'm glad you got here before fall, Newt.
We've been missing you.
It's supper time.
Either that or old Bolivar's calling up bandits.
We hear you, dern it, we hear you!
'I God, Woodrow,
as long as you've worked around horses,
I'd think you wouldn't
turn your back on Kiowa mares.
You want to think something,
think that roof back up on the barn
instead of sitting in the shade.
I ain't scared to be lazy.
That don't recommend you much.
Can we eat, or are we waiting till the argument's over?
You will starve if you wait for that.
Many thanks.
If you ever get tired of loafing,
you can get work waiting tables.
I had a job waiting tables once,
on a riverboat.
Wasn't older than Newt there, but...
I had to give it up.
How come?
Well, I was too young and pretty.
The whores wouldn't let me alone.
Listening to you brag don't improve the taste
of these Mexican strawberries none.
The only way you'll get better food
is by shooting Bolivar.
And another thing, Bol.
Quit whacking that dinner bell for supper.
Whack it at noon if you want to.
A man with any sense can tell it's sundown
without you whacking that bell.
General Robert E. Lee freed the slaves.
I can whack if I want to.
Abe Lincoln freed the slaves, not General Lee.
He didn't free Mexicans anyway, Bol.
It was, uh...
Americans that he freed.
You're in over your head, Pea.
It was Africans Abe Lincoln freed,
no more American than Call, here.
I'm American, by God.
You was born in Scotland,
though you was on the teat when they brought you.
I'm as American as anybody from Tennessee.
You boys can sleep easy tonight
knowing Captain Woodrow F. Call
is guarding the river,
keeping you safe from Indians and Mexican bandits.
There ain't no Indians no more.
We cleaned them out.
How about Blue Duck?
You never got him.
No, we never got that half-breed.
Blue Duck ain't around here nowhere.
His range is further north.
How come the Captain goes to the river?
He just misses the wild old days
when he had somebody to outwit, that's all.
I'll whack that bell if I want to.
What's the matter with that knife, Bol?
Won't hold an edge?
It is like a wife.
Every night
you better stroke it.
Your wife in Mexico
must be getting rusty by now.
She don't get sharpened more than
twice a year, does she, Bol?
She is old.
Like you.
The older the violin, the sweeter the music.
You ought to bring her to meet me.
No, I know you.
You would try to corrupt her.
How about one of your daughters?
You've got nine, ain't you?
I don't see no scalps.
Good night to slip into Mexico and cross some stock.
Cross it and do what?
It ain't against the law for you to work.
Can I go to Mexico?
I'm getting old enough now.
You'll get old quick if you sit around talking.
Best go on to bed.
It's still early, Captain.
You go to bed now. We got work tomorrow.
Yes, sir.
You ought to let him set awhile.
The only education he's got is listening to me.
What kind of education is that?
You think he'll learn more
shoveling horse poop for you?
I shovel my share. It ain't hurt me.
Fine, if that's how you want to make your fortune.
I think I'll straggle down to that gin palace
see if I can't scare me up a card game.
Now, you pigs...
You don't wait up for me, now.
Evening, my good friend.
Mr. Gus, come in, come in.
Loan me $2.00, all right, Gus?
Why would I loan money to a loafer?
You ought to be trailing cattle.
I'm leaving next week to do just that.
I'll pay you back.
Evening, Lorie. You look fine.
Real fine.
Listen, me and Lorie are trying to talk.
Dish, you got a sour stomach?
What you need is a good game of cards.
Ain't that right, Lippy?
I didn't come in to play no cards.
How about you, Wanz?
Put that rag away.
Most people wouldn't notice dead skunks on the table.
Put you in a better mood.
Nothing else to do around here anyway.
Almost sunup.
How did anybody that pretty wind up in Lonesome Dove?
A gambler named Tinkersley
left her here a couple of years ago.
Before that, he'd had her, uh...
sparking boys in San Antone to
pay his debts.
Damn him.
She didn't mind.
She was rat-holing her tips,
trying to save to get to San Francisco.
He stole her money.
She caught him drunk and tried to shoot him.
He beat her black and blue.
Bit her lip, too.
That's how come she got that scar.
That little scar.
I kind of like her.
You been with her?
Sure, who ain't?
Even Wanz treats himself once or twice a week.
Of course,
she won't have nothing to do with Lippy.
Here's that $2.00 you wanted to borrow, Dish.
Go ahead, take it.
Wouldn't want it said I'd refuse a loan to a friend.
Much obliged, then.
I'll pay you back this fall.
No need to ride off tonight, Dish.
Throw your blanket on our front porch.
I appreciate that. I do, I...
Darn, I think I left something on the table.
Imagine that.
If it's all right with you, Dish,
I won't wait.
No need. You go on.
Get from here, you pigs.
I ain't giving you no biscuits.
Now go on, get. Go on.
What's Dish Boggett doing on the front porch?
Well, sleeping, unless you woke him.
How's that horse bite?
Hell, I been bit worse by bedbugs in Saltillo.
Let me pour some axle grease on it.
Tend to your biscuits.
You up all night reading the good book?
It's hard to have fun in a place like this, but
I do my best.
Biscuits are ready.
We come here to make money.
There wasn't nothing about fun in the deal.
You like money even less than you like fun,
if that's possible.
Wake up, Newt.
You'll poke your eye with your own fork.
See what happens when you keep him up all night talking.
Hurry, Pea.
It'll take a hacksaw to cut them eggs, the way
frying them in coffee grounds, Bol.
I don't care.
Pea eye, it's bad manners to go relieving yourself
where people are eating breakfast.
What would your mama think?
Good morning.
Morning, Dish. Have some bacon.
Thanks, Captain.
You can work it off.
Work it off?
Hey, come look who's riding up the road.
It ought to be Deets.
He's due back from San Antone.
It's Deets, but not alone.
That's Deets all right.
Who's the other one?
'I God, Woodrow, that's Jake Spoon!
Danged if you ain't right.
Lord, how long has it been?
10 years.
Well, howdy, boys.
What's for breakfast?
You're too late. We ate.
You always was a hog, Gus.
Captain. Good to see you.
Where you been all these years?
Arkansas most recently.
Your horse looks like you left in a hurry.
Yeah, that's true enough.
What you think, Captain?
Didn't I find the prodigal?
You did.
Bet it wasn't in no church house.
Pea, it's been a long time.
Thank you, Jake.
This is Dish Boggett. He just signed on.
I did?
And who's this?
Don't you remember me, Jake?
You used to buy me hard candy.
You gave me my first ride on horseback.
My God!
Well, if it ain't Newt!
Little Newt!
I growed up, huh?
You growed up good, Newt.
Thank you, Jake.
Woodrow makes sure he sleeps.
Deets, give his horse a good feed.
Probably been a while since he's had one.
Didn't Deets have that same cap before I left?
Deets wouldn't quit a garment 'cause of a little age.
We can't all be fine dressers like you.
Pea, you best get these two boys to work digging that well.
Well, now, Captain, I...
you don't mind doing a little well digging
to pay for breakfast, do you, Dish?
I don't guess so.
That old pistolero you got for a cook
has been cleaning his gun on this towel.
There's worse he wipes on it.
Where you been all these years, Jake?
Seeing the country.
I was up in Montana two years ago.
Prettier land there never was,
'specially on Milk River.
You can smell Canady from there.
Bet you can smell Indians, too.
Yeah, but it's worth it seeing all the grass.
Grass everywhere.
You wouldn't believe it.
Plenty of water, too.
I'd go today, if I could
sprout wings and fly.
Be safer to walk.
Give somebody else time to lick the Indians.
The minute they are licked,
there's going to be fortunes made in Montana.
What are you saying, Jake?
I'm saying let's us get to it first.
Round up free cattle here, drive them up.
We'd be rich.
Land like you never seen.
We ain't seen you in 10 years.
Now you want us to pack up,
go north, and get scalped.
You were never afraid of a few Indians.
We whupped them down here,
and they was Comanches.
You were never a lover of cows, neither.
Pretty whores, cards, and clean shirts
was more your line.
Yeah, but I can smell an opportunity
when it's under my nose.
What about that trouble in Arkansas?
Mule Skinner threw down on me in a saloon.
Shot back at him and killed a dentist.
Was a pure accident, but I killed him.
He stood in the wrong place?
Actually, he was outside
walking down the street.
A plank wall won't stop no.50-caliber bullet.
But a dentist will.
Dropped him dead.
It was bad luck all around.
Nobody likes a dentist anyway.
This one was the mayor.
Worse yet,
his brother's the she...
his brother's the sheriff.
Young fellow named July Johnson.
He was away at the time.
They wouldn't hang you for an accident,
not even in Arkansas.
Since they don't take much shine to gamblers,
I wasn't going to give them the option.
Good to see you boys.
I hardly thought to find you still here.
Ain't nothing changed much around here
since you left, Jake.
Little Newt sure surprised me.
Guess I thought he was still just a spud.
What about Maggie?
Maggie's been dead nine years, Jake.
Nine years.
I swear...
You've had little Newt all this time.
Wasn't a whole lot of people
scrambling to adopt a dead whore's child.
Ain't that right, Woodrow?
Well, it ain't a holiday.
Let's help them boys out there.
I swear.
It was only the Christian thing to do...
taking him in, I mean.
One of you boys is most likely his dad.
July, get out here. I want to talk to you.
Hello, Peach.
Where did you get the rooster, Peach?
It's my rooster.
July, when do you aim to start after Jake Spoon?
Well...
he'll get over to Mexico or somewhere
you sit around here much longer...
Like you been doing.
The thing is, Peach...
I mean everybody pretty much agrees it was an accident.
Stop that, rooster!
Benny was my husband and your brother
and the mayor of this town.
Now that ought to stand for something, July.
It does...
You're the sheriff, ain't you?
It's what you're paid for.
Well, that's true, but you can't...
You never should have married that woman, July.
Remember I warned you about that?
Well, what's that got to do with this, Peach?
I think you'd rather stay home than do your duty.
That's what I think.
I never said I wasn't going after him.
Oh, rooster!
Guess that will teach him to peck me.
Well, July...
What about Jake Spoon?
I expect to find him
down around San Antonio somewhere, Peach.
I hear he has friends there.
You catch him, you hear me?
I will, Peach.
Don't worry.
Now let's see how you like the cook pot.
Them friends of Jake Spoon's...
they're two of the most famous Texas Rangers
that ever lived. You know that?
I don't suppose there's a sporting woman around.
Are you so rich that's all you think about?
I think about it, rich or poor.
Get from here, you pigs.
Go hunt up another snake or something.
Get!
Sit down, Jake. Let's talk.
Folks that keep pigs ain't no better than farmers.
I'm surprised at you and Call.
I figured you'd at least stay cattlemen
after we quit rangering.
I thought you'd own a railroad by now
or at least a whorehouse.
I guess life's disappointed us both.
I may not have made no fortune,
but I never spoke to a pig, neither.
In all your world travels, Jake,
you didn't run across Clara nowhere, did you?
She's still married to that horse trader Bob Allen,
if that's what you're asking.
You saw her then?
Just for a minute
outside a store in Ogallala.
Bob was with her, so I wasn't asked for supper.
Any young'uns?
Two girls, I believe.
I heard her boys died.
How did she look?
Not as pretty as she once was.
It's been 15 years since we courted her.
Nebraska, huh?
I went by there on my way to Montana.
Bob's close to rich, did you know that?
Army gets most of its horses from him.
First he gets Clara, then he gets rich.
'I God, imagine that.
Him so dumb he can hardly walk through a door
without bumping his head.
Don't seem fair, does it?
Stop digging when you get to China.
You'll know when you're there.
The men wear pigtails.
If you hadn't loaned me that $2.00,
I'd be halfway to Matagorda by now.
No need to thank me.
Easy, now.
Easy there.
Want some help?
Not from you, I don't.
Where's Jake?
Catching a nap.
Oh, man.
He ain't changed a bit, has he?
Look who's talking. When did you change last?
Still breaking horses when there's plenty of gentle ones.
I never seen a more intelligent filly.
Look, how she's watching.
She ain't watching you 'cause she loves you.
Gus.
What?
Why not go up to Montana?
The cattleman's paradise, to hear Jake tell it.
Sounds like a damn wilderness to me.
Aren't we a shade old to start fighting Indians again?
I mean it, Gus.
Why not just...
Go north with the herd?
I tell you what.
You ride on up there, clear out the Indians,
build a little cabin,
get a nice fire going in the fireplace,
me and Jake'll come up with a herd.
I'd like to see the herd you two could get.
Herd of whores, maybe.
You ain't no more a cattleman than I am.
You know it, too.
I want to do it, Gus.
I want to see that country
before the
bankers and lawyers all get it.
Hey, you boys got any water flowing yet?
It's flowing out of me.
I lost two gallons already.
Well, quit work.
Catch a little rest.
We're going to Mexico tonight.
'I God, Woodrow.
Where you off to, looking so pretty?
Just taking a stroll,
since we got the afternoon off.
What do you do in Mexico?
We ride around in the dark,
strike on some horses and cows,
then we steal them.
Like the Mexicans stole them from over here.
Come on in here, son.
Anybody digging a well in this heat deserves a drink.
Well, that's... Thanks, anyway.
Look at the Captain.
Whoo hee hee!
Going to run her out now.
Going to show whose horse she is.
You think the Captain will let me go tonight?
You're sure in a hurry to get shot at.
Any more horse bites?
Quit pulling on that jug.
I want you sober tonight.
Well, speaking of sober...
There's somebody who ain't.
Just leave me alone, Jake.
Go away. Let me get back on my...
I want to see Lorie.
I want to go by myself, Jake.
Dish?
Oh, hello, Captain.
What the hell happened?
I wish I could say.
Well, why can't you say?
Don't believe I can remember.
Jake, you put him up to this?
No. I found him trying to see
how fast he could drain a bottle.
I'll not have men can't do their job.
I can ride, Captain.
Ain't nothing to setting on a horse.
Better not fall off, or the Mexicans will get you.
You men want supper, best go get it.
We're leaving at sundown.
Newt, best go saddle your pony, too, I reckon.
If that old Mexican thinks it's the 4th of July,
I'll give him firecrackers!
That was a foolish thing, Jake.
You might have hit the house
instead of old Bolivar.
No wonder you're on the run.
Evening, Joe.
How's your mama been today?
She was sick again this morning.
Don't you slosh that milk, Joe.
I'm home.
Supper's on the table.
Joe said you were feeling poorly again this morning.
It's living in this town that does it.
You want some buttermilk?
No, sir.
If he wants buttermilk, he can get it himself.
Don't wait on him hand and foot.
I been thinking.
I better go catch Jake Spoon.
Do what?
Catch Jake Spoon for killing Benny.
Now why would you want to do that?
It was an accident,
as everybody with any sense knows.
I know...
Peach been bullying you again, is that it?
Wipe your lip, July.
Joe, run fetch a bucket of water.
We been married five months.
Now you want to ride off somewhere,
and all because of Peach.
Well, that's my job, Ellie.
That's what I get paid for.
If I start now,
I expect I'd be back in a month.
Well, maybe you should at that, July.
I think I should.
Take Joe with you.
Take Joe?
Ellie, he's just a boy.
There could be a fight.
I doubt anybody'd shoot a boy, even in Texas.
I was thinking maybe I'd take Roscoe.
Take Joe.
He's got to grow up sometime.
It won't hurt him.
I don't know, Ellie.
I know.
I'll go tell him.
Better to have that if it's not needed
than to need it and not have it.
You pigs guard the place while we're gone.
They put a gun on you.
Wouldn't be surprised if they make you boss of this outfit.
Better hope not, Deets.
I'd cut your wages for always joshing me.
Big camp's just a couple of miles over that ridge.
Some might think it foolish,
stealing horses from Pedro Flores.
He's got the best-armed hundred vaqueros in northern Mexico.
They're spread all around and can't shoot anyhow.
Most of this crowd can't neither.
Dish is still half-drunk.
Newt ain't ever spilled blood.
I swear, Gus.
You'd argue with a possum.
Be easier than arguing with you, Woodrow.
How many you figure?
I'd say 40 or 50 head.
Speak up, Gus.
Talk a little louder and them vaqueros
probably bring us the horses...
While they're shooting at us.
We'll split up.
Get ready to jump some gullies, boys.
Captain.
What is it?
I hear singing.
White folks singing.
White folks?
You hear anything?
Yes, I do.
I hear something, but it sounds like a bird.
Hell, Deets wouldn't stop for no bird.
No, sir, I guess he wouldn't.
Two of them.
They got a donkey and a mule.
That don't make no sense at all.
Irishmen.
When did Pedro Flores go to hiring Irishmen?
Oh, whiskey made me pawn me clothes
And whiskey gave me a broken nose
Whiskey-o, Johnny-o
Rise 'em up from down below
Whiskey, whiskey, whiskey-o
Open up, this jar must go
John, rise 'em up from down below
Let's eat the donkey.
What's a donkey good for?
Teach it to sit on its arse and eat sugar cubes.
You men just hold steady there.
Murderers, Allen!
Murderers! Heyaaa, mule, heyaaa!
Heyaaa! Heyaaa, heyaaa, heyaaa!
I believe that mule's hobbled, son.
That's why his legs won't work.
He's me brother, but smart he ain't.
I'm Allen O'Brien,
and that would be young Sean there on the mule.
Sir.
Newt, you run get the horses.
Yes, sir.
You know where you are?
Not Ireland. I know that much.
How far are we from Galveston, sir?
Galveston? This is Mexico.
Worse, the part you're standing on
belong to Pedro Flores.
He find you here, he'll hang you sure.
Hang us? Oh, yeah.
Mr. Gus done got the horses.
You boys best pack up and go with us.
We're packed.
We being chased?
I don't doubt it.
Jake's shooting off his pistol like a fool.
Head for home!
Big bunch of horses coming this way.
Flores and his boys?
I believe so.
No wonder we ain't been chased.
While we was in Mexico stealing Flores' horses,
he was back in Texas stealing some others.
That's it.
We'll run straight at them,
grab his herd, and kick for the river.
Be a good joke on that old bandit.
Hang onto your hat, Irishmen!
¿Qué es eso?
Not bad for a night's work...
over 100 horses and two lost Irishmen.
All we need is cattle
and some more cowboys to drive 'em north.
Ain't been here but a day.
Already you've made a horse thief out of me.
That's a step up for you, ain't it, Jake?
Let's get them horses hid in that thicket up there.
Don't you even want your breakfast first, Woodrow?
I could kick you for giving him ideas about Montana.
We'll suffer all our lives.
I'd forgot how determined he gets.
How about loaning me a couple of dollars?
Early in the day to wiggle your bean.
It's for whiskey and a tub.
That girl wouldn't take money from me.
That's because she don't really know you yet.
Roscoe can help if you need anything.
I can do my own choring.
This ain't exactly a cotton plantation.
Well, you ready, Joe?
Yes, sir, I reckon.
Well, give her a kick, and let's go.
Hey, Joe!
Roscoe!
Roscoe Brown!
Morning, Peach.
Hello, Charlie.
I thought July told you to look after Elmira.
She said she don't want no looking after.
We just got back from the cabin,
and she's gone.
Gone?
Gone where?
Maybe on that whiskey boat.
You mean,
she... she left town?
Well, why would Elmira do a thing like that?
Well, who knows... A woman like her.
Maybe got her another man somewhere.
But... but she's July's wife.
She's having a baby, too.
A baby?
July never said nothing about no baby.
I doubt she ever told him,
but I seen her with the morning sickness.
My God...
On a whiskey boat?
July ain't got the sense God gave a turkey,
or he'd never have married her.
You'd best go find him and tell him
his wife's run away.
Well,
July's gone to Texas, Peach.
He left six days ago.
Well, surely you can find Texas, Roscoe.
I can find Texas,
but how do I find July?
Now, listen, Roscoe,
she ain't hardly worth it,
but July dotes on that woman.
He'll want to find her
before she gets scalped by the Indians.
Now, you see to it, you hear,
or you'll be the one gets blamed.
All right, Peach.
I don't know nothing else to do.
Charlie, don't stand in the sun
like you got no sense.
Sweet little thing. Mm-mmm!
Sure is a pretty thing, ain't she?
Aw, she's mine.
See that, did you?
What was it about?
About you.
About me?
You're the only woman we got.
He would have taken advantage of the fact.
He won't now, though, will he?
No.
You took a chance getting on a boat
with a bunch of men like us.
You the one that done it?
Big Zwey.
He done it. He fancies you.
Says he's going to marry you.
He can't marry me. I'm already married.
I'm going to Ogallala to find my husband.
Maybe you heard of him... Dee Boot?
Big Zwey, he likes you.
He's going to marry you.
Tell him I got a husband.
Give me a hand here. Here we go!
You go tell him yourself.
Grab another one, boys.
Watch... watch that!
Cut that one over there!
Get him back over in there!
How did you do?
About 50 head of steers.
No trouble with Flores?
He's dead.
Dead?
Caught one of his vaqueros.
He said old Pedro...
died about a week ago.
What did he do, choke on a pepper?
He just died. That's all.
I didn't know you liked that old bandit so much.
I didn't say I liked him.
I didn't expect him to die, I guess.
He was a rough old cob,
I'll say that for him.
Fun's all over down here now.
Fun?
What would you know about fun?
You never had fun in your whole life.
Fun is my department.
I'll ride into town and scare me up some.
We got enough to do right here.
I'm keeping everything in balance.
You do more work than you got to,
so it's my obligation to do less.
Where the hell's he going?
Hello, Jasper. Ain't seen you in a while.
Is that girl in there gone and got married?
Whenever I jingle my money,
she looks like she's ready to carve my liver.
Never was but one thing worth doing here.
Now I can't even do that!
I hear you and Call are raising a herd.
Well, you're about half-right.
Call is.
He still taking on hands?
He'd find a place for you.
Don't look like you eat much.
He's with the herd about
five miles yonder ways.
Lorie, darlin’.
Lippy.
You and me.
How about a poke?
I'm with Jake now, Gus.
You know that.
Yeah, I do know that, honey.
When I saw Jake riding up to Lonesome Dove,
I knew you and him was settling together.
But Call got him to work this afternoon,
so there ain't no reason
you shouldn't sell me a poke.
I told you the reason.
Jake takes care of me now.
Jake's never taken care of nobody his whole life.
Somebody's always taking care of him.
It was me and Call.
Now it's you.
Ain't that right?
You aiming to marry him?
We ain't talked about it.
He is taking me to San Francisco, though.
Think so, huh?
He promised. I'll hold him to it.
Jake's slippery like an eel.
My guess is he'll use the drive to leave you.
If Jake's going, I'm going, too.
You'd be welcome as far as I'm concerned,
but Call ain't tolerant of women.
I'm going.
It's a free country, ain't it?
If you work for Woodrow Call, it ain't.
I... I tell you...
I'll give you...
$50 for the poke.
$50?
I'll give you $50.
Even if you had $50, Lippy,
the answer's still no.
I tell you what.
Let's cut cards.
Now, if you're high,
you win the $50,
and you can forget the poke.
Now, if I'm high,
I'll still give you the $50,
but I get the poke.
All right?
Well, what about Jake? He's your good friend.
I ain't trying to cut Jake out.
I just want a poke,
and you might need the $50.
You cheated, didn't you?
Wouldn't say I did or didn't,
but a man who wouldn't cheat for a poke
don't want one bad enough.
Come on, darlin’.
Sleep, oh, babe
For the grave becomes
More silent
While it's full
Evil
From the grave a-comes
To wrap the world enthralled...
It's a lucky herd, ain't it?
Got a fine Irish baritone to sing to them.
He sings too sad to suit me.
Well, hello there, Jake.
Wait till I eat my stew. I'll help you down.
I ain't getting down.
Hand me a plate. I'll eat up here.
You sound plum grumpy.
I guess one day's honest work don't agree with you.
Or is it just any work at all?
You're one to talk.
Where you been all afternoon?
I was playing cards with Lorie.
The poor girl thinks you're taking her to San Francisco.
That ain't your business.
She'll go where I say
or get left behind one.
Why not bring her on the drive?
On the drive?
It's safer than you two
just striking out on your own,
especially through Indian country.
Call'd never allow women in camp.
Call ain't God, are you?
What?
I was telling Jake here you ain't God.
You ain't, are you?
Couple more drags through Mexico,
we'll be able to start up the trail Monday.
How does that suit you, Jake?
It don't need to suit me.
I don't know that I feel like bumping cows anymore.
You ain't going on the drive?
Jake's got his own fancies to cultivate.
He don't care that he caused all this.
I didn't cause anything.
Who said Montany's a cowman's paradise?
Well, it is.
You know the country.
We was counting on you to choose the way.
I ain't decided for sure yet.
Well, that's fine.
Let us know when you do.
Yeah, I will.
Think he'll go with us?
I'll tell you what I think.
I think Jake's always been too leaky a vessel
for anybody to put much hope in.
Going to town, Jake?
Sleep, oh, babe
For the
Grave becomes...
What's wrong, Sean?
I miss me mother.
Back in Ireland?
Well, don't worry.
I'm sure you'll see her again someday.
No. She died...
Before me and me brother left home.
Otherwise, I'd still be there.
Mine died, too, you know.
You miss her?
Like I been missing mine?
Sometimes.
Oh, yeah...
Yeah, I do miss her.
What about your pa?
I don't know nothing about him.
Me pa was a drunkard.
He fell down a well and drownded.
He only came home to beat me anyway.
At least you knew who he was.
Ah, it's me ma I miss.
Don't go up there with him.
Please. Don't.
I have to.
I'm sandy.
I should have bathed in the river.
Want me to fill you a tub?
Maybe later.
What was Gus up to today?
He didn't come back till sundown.
He was here a while.
He offered me $50.
Gus always was a fool with his money.
I turned him down, though.
I said I was with you.
I reckon he got his poke.
If I'm wrong, you can hit me back.
We cut cards for it.
I can't prove it, but I know he cheated.
Should have warned you about cutting cards with that old cud.
If it had been anybody but him,
I'd have shot you.
You going with the herd?
I ain't decided.
They don't leave till Monday.
You ain't planning on leaving me here
if you do go,
are you, Jake?
All of them cowboys in love with you?
I'd have to kill half of them
before we got to Red River.
They won't bother me.
Gus is the only one with enough guts to try.
Yeah. He'd want to cut the cards twice a day.
I'm going with you, Jake,
whether you go on the drive or not.
I'm going when you leave.
Maybe we'll go to San Antone and gamble a spell.
I've been.
I don't want to go back.
Ain't you the hard one to please?
Well, no, I ain't.
I just want to go to San Francisco,
like you promised me.
That would please me just fine.
I ain't going to run off and leave you, Lorie,
if that's what you think.
I know you ain't, Jake.
Morning.
You're up awful early.
Jake, let's leave today.
Today?
Go and buy me a horse, will you?
One that's not too tall.
Here's $50.
This Gus' money?
It was.
Well...
I bet a nickel.
Get ready to shed a tear or two.
Ain't afraid of you.
I ain't scared, neither.
How about you, Jasper?
You going to play cards
or just sit there looking ugly?
What's he doing with that?
That's supper.
Bol will make stew with that.
I ain't eating no rattlesnake.
I guess Dish don't want no snake supper neither.
Hey, it's Jake.
And Miss Lorena.
Lorie, darlin’.
That's a fine-looking horse you're riding.
Jake bought her for me from Mary Pumphrey.
Well, I'm surprised she'd sell her.
Well, I had $50 to spend, Gus.
Money well spent, Jake...
Both times.
Howdy, Call.
You never met Lorena Wood.
No. We've not met.
Well, Jake, I see you've made your decision.
We decided to try our luck in San Francisco.
We'll enjoy the cool weather.
It's a hard trip.
Jake ain't one to be put off by hardship.
We hope to ease along with you till Denver.
It's a free country, Jake. Do as you please.
Guess we'll find a ridge to camp on,
somewhere upwind from these stinking beasts of yours.
See you boys on the trail somewhere.
Lorie.
Woodrow...
Let's go if we're going.
I was thinking of making another run to Mexico.
We got enough cattle to stock five ranches.
Let's go.
Boys, check your gear.
We'll be leaving first light in the morning.
Captain, how far is it up north?
Up north ain't a place, Newt. It's a direction.
Where we're going is about 2,500 miles that-away.
2,500 miles?
Now where are you off to?
I forgot something.
Now, if I ain't back in a month,
you girls start without me.
Ya!
You pigs take care of the place.
It's all yours now.
Nobody else's.
I see the morning rush ain't started yet.
It will never start again.
Not ever again.
Don't take it so hard, Xavier.
There's plenty of whores.
Ride up to San Antone
and recruit you another.
I would have given her money,
bought her clothes.
I love her.
Aw, hell, we all love her,
every dern one of us. You know that.
Yes...
But I would have married her.
If it helps any, it's my opinion
she made a poor bargain,
going with Jake Spoon.
Thank you.
Well...
Goodbye, my fine friend.
Goodbye to you, my good friend.
Goodbye.
What are you doing in my wagon?
Jumped off the roof. Here's where I landed.
This wagon's going to Montana.
Yes, sir, and I am, too.
Piano playing's finished around here.
Well, we got two Irishmen
and a bunch of addle-brained cowboys.
I guess we could always use a man
who wears a chamber pot on his head.
Come on, mules. Ya!
Go on, Pea! Pick it up!
Run them out, now!
Funny, ain't it?
All them cattle and 9/10 of the horses are stolen,
and yet we was once respected lawmen.
How many head you think we're starting out with?
Oh, about
2,600 cattle and two pigs.
That was dang stupid,
bringing that sign along.
You'll have us the laughingstock of this country
with that "We don't rent pigs" part.
I figure it's better to say it up front.
The man that does like to rent pigs,
he's hard to stop.
If that ain't bad enough,
you got them Greek words.
I told you
it ain't Greek, it's Latin.
What does it say, that Latin?
Well, it's a motto. It just says itself.
Yo varum, yo vara-feet.
Yo varum double feet...
You don't know what it says.
You found that in some book or something.
Maybe it invites people to rob us.
Anyone comes along that reads Latin is welcome to rob us.
I'd like the chance
to shoot an educated man once.
Jake!
Jake, stop that!
I didn't hit you, did I?
I was shooting at the turtle.
Lucky you hit the river, drunk as you are.
How's your thumb?
All this over
a little old Mesquite thorn.
Ain't that something... ow!
It's made you sick, Jake.
Why'd I get such a fancy for you?
Come on down here with me. Come on.
Why don't I make you some coffee instead?
How do, Miss?
I'm Deets.
Captain sent me ahead
to scout a good place to cross the herd.
Mr. Jake napping, huh?
He's caught a Mesquite thorn in his hand.
Better take a look.
Mesquite thorns...
bad poison.
Deets?
Where'd you come from?
We're all right now, Lorie.
Deets will see us through.
You full of fever.
I'm going to dig this sticker out of you.
I'd soon cut off my hand as have you
dig in there with that.
You want to keep your hand.
I might need you to shoot a bandit
if one's after me.
You best cross the river and make a camp.
Going to come a storm tonight.
Be harder to cross tomorrow.
A storm, you say?
The wind will hit about sundown,
blowing sand, and then lightning.
Don't tie your horses to no trees.
Jake's going to want to rest here a while.
He can rest on the other side.
Get...
Dern little thorn.
Now you be shuffling cards again.
All right, Miss.
Let's get you packed and across the river.
I got to get back to that herd
before that storm come here.
All right.
You sorry you on this trip, Miss?
It's going to be a lot harder than I thought.
Well,
I believe you up to it, ain't you?
I'll have to be to make San Francisco.
Well, Woodrow, here's where we find out
if we was meant to be cowboys.
I reckon.
Don't look good.
Hold them, boys! Don't let them scatter!
I don't like this, Newt.
Come on, Sean. We got to turn the cattle.
Get over there!
Sean!
Over here, Newt! Over here!
I fell off my horse. Hurry.
Look! What is it?
The herd's caught the lightning! Ride off! Get!
Jake, look!
What?
We got to get out from under this tree.
No!
Ain't no place to sit out a storm!
No! I'm staying here!
Don't worry about your dern horse!
Lorie, no! Come back here!
Heave!
It would be easier if you got down from there.
Maybe he's stuck, too.
If I had my gun, I'd unstick him.
Ain't you boys got that wagon unstuck yet?
Not yet.
We lose anybody?
Everybody's fine.
Except I ain't seen Mr. Gus nowhere.
I seen him ride off yonderways
right after sunup.
Probably hunting for his jug. How about the cattle?
I figure we lost 20, 25.
Could have been much worse.
Ain't no point in getting clean.
You'll cross the Nueces River before dark.
That's fine with Lippy.
Could use a good wash.
How many rivers will there be?
Oh, I don't know.
There's a bunch, I bet, though.
Me, I be wishing we'd go around them.
Yeah, that would suit me all right, too.
I crossed an ocean.
I don't know why I'm afraid of crossing a river.
Gus! I found your horse.
He got away last night in the storm.
So I see.
Here you go, darling. Whoa.
I don't see young Jake around nowhere.
He rode off a minute ago
to track my horse.
Track your horse?
He couldn't track an elephant
if he was onto its tail.
I best call him back
before he gets lost himself.
What we got here?
I'll bet you got coffee boiling in there.
I do.
I swear, Lorie,
you're as pretty as the morning.
I guess traveling agrees with you.
You get any prettier, and I may be
forced to cut the cards with you again.
I'll shuffle next time.
I don't trust you.
Who invited you to breakfast?
Jake, you never was grateful for nothing.
I return a $50 horse,
and all you do is gripe about my company.
There's too much of your company.
Jake.
I swear, Jake, are you jealous?
Sure, after you tried poking
every woman I ever looked at?
Well, much as I'd like to stay and discuss
the loves I won,
I best be getting back to the herd.
Thanks for the coffee, Lorie.
Try to keep that mare hobbled at night.
She was on her way to Lonesome Dove.
I can hobble horses without you telling me.
Well, that's good to know, Jake.
Pack up. We're going to San Antone for a while.
San Antone?
Good gambling town. Won't hurt to stop a week.
We'll catch up later.
I ain't going to San Antone. I been there.
Don't buck me!
I guess you'll go where I say go.
Not to San Antonio, I ain't.
Dern it!
I wanted to gamble a little bit between here and Denver.
Go on and gamble if you want to gamble.
I never said you couldn't.
I just ain't going along.
What?
Just leave you here?
Sure. Why not?
Because Gus'll be here every morning
wanting to teach you card tricks.
Well, that's true. He might.
What was Jake up to?
Jake's just up to being Jake.
It's a full-time job.
It takes a woman to help him, don't it?
I'll get some of the boys downstream
to keep the cattle from scattering.
Ease Old Dog in.
I believe the cattle will follow.
Old Dog won't be trouble. He's like me.
Lazy?
Mature. He don't get excited
about crossing rivers no more than I do.
You don't get excited about nothing
except biscuits, maybe,
and whores.
You was over at their camp, huh?
Yeah, me and Miss Lorena always take our morning coffee together.
I hope the weather didn't treat her too bad.
She's fine, just fine.
Good. That's good.
Yeah, we visited the better part of an hour about various things...
And people. Yeah?
Though I can't recall
she ever did, uh,
mention you, Dish.
Look at them pigs swim.
Hey, must not be too bad, huh, Sean?
I'll go first, all right?
All right.
Come on, Mouse.
That a boy, Mouse. That a boy.
Come on over, Sean. Try it. It's even fun.
Come on, boy.
Aah! Water moccasins!
Sean!
Help!
Water... Water moccasins!
Sean!
I'll get him out!
I got him! I got him!
Coming!
Hyah! Go, go, go, go!
Ground his horse.
Snakes! Snakes!
Newt!
Get back, get back.
Watch them. Watch that horse.
Get a hand on him!
Pull him up here!
Sean...
Sean!
Get out... Oh, Lord.
Ain't nothin' much we can do, Newt.
He's been bit too many times.
No!
Pea, you snake bit?
I think I whupped 'em off.
Jasper, give him a good look.
He must've struck a nest.
I've crossed this river a hundred times
and never seen more than two snakes at once.
Storm stirred them up.
All he wanted was to return to Ireland.
Yes, I expect he did.
I don't see no bites.
Sean.
Oh, Sean.
If I'd a'known
that storm was going to stir them snakes up,
I'd a'picked another place to cross.
Wasn't your fault, Deets.
Life is shorter for some.
Sean was an unlucky young sprout.
It was nobody's fault. Nobody's.
Well, you boys best go find his brother, I reckon.
If you want to sing,
go on and do it.
Sleep, O babe
For I'd rather be home
Outside...
I'll say a word.
Just a word here.
This was a good, brave boy
with a fine tenor voice we'll all miss.
There's accidents in life. He met a bad one.
We may do the same if we ain't careful.
Dust to dust...
Now let's the rest of us go on to Montana.
He's right, boys.
Best thing you can do with death is ride off from it.
Sean was the babe of our family.
I wish I could have finished the song for him.
'Twas his favorite.
Maybe you'll ride with me a while, Newt.
Sure.
Ol' Bol won't cross.
He don't want no part of it
after what happened to Sean here.
He's going back to Lonesome Dove
to be with his family,
so I gave him a horse.
Adios, you old bandit.
You can go whack that durn bell all you like now!
Well, we're going to need a new cook.
'I God, Woodrow, but it's a bad start.
Howdy!
My name's Roscoe Brown.
Is... Is this Texas?
I'm lookin' for a fella
may a'rode past here.
His name's July Johnson.
He had a boy with him about yea...
Yea high.
I been ridin' night and day
tryin' to find him.
I'm from Arkansas.
Got any whiskey?
Yes, sir.
I got a bottle right here in my poke.
I'd be glad for you to share it.
Come get this varmint, gal.
You having possum for your supper, are you?
Yeah.
But you ain't,
unless you go catch your own.
I got a biscuit.
Go on. Cook that possum, like I said.
About this man that I was looking for...
I ain't seen him.
You fixing to stay the night?
If it's all right.
I've been riding real hard.
You can sleep down yonder by the creek.
Thank you.
You leave that gal alone.
She's mine,
bought and paid for.
Sure.
You heard me, girl!
Get yourself over here,
or you'll wish you had!
What's going on in there?
Don't go a-hitting on that girl!
Fare thee well
Fare thee well, my fairy fey
For I'm goin'...
to Louisiana for to see my Susianna
Singing polly wolly...
All right.
I know somebody's out there in the brush.
You just come on out and show yourself.
You.
I run off from Old Sam to go with you.
Why, why, girl. You can't go with me.
Janey's my name.
Old Sam used me bad.
I ain't really his, anyway.
He just traded some skunk pelts for me.
I expect he's looking for you.
Nope. No?
Why not, pray tell?
Because I broke his knees with a pan while he was sleeping.
That'll keep him a few days.
Goodness.
You're a rough customer, ain't you?
I ain't rough.
Old Sam was rough.
Well, you can't go with me.
I'm headed down toward
San Antonio to find a man.
I seen that man two days ago
when he come through here.
Him and the boy.
Which way did he go?
Ain't telling you, unless you take me along.
Oh, girl!
I... I can't take you with me.
I got to travel fast.
Call this fast traveling?
I been following you 6 miles
and didn't do more than walk.
I can keep up with you, I reckon,
and I can catch rabbits
and possums to eat, too.
Possum?
I'm going to follow you, anyway.
If I was to go back, Old Sam would kill me.
Yeah, I expect he would.
Well, you might just as well jump on up here then.
Which way?
They was riding that way yonder.
His wife run off from him.
That's why I got to find him.
How many barrels you got of those?
I'll get it.
Easy does it, now.
Took you a while, didn't it?
I been waiting long enough.
Buffalo tongue.
Ain't that something?
You got a buffalo tongue.
You're the one can eat it, too.
Who is that?
Luke.
Luke? Luke.
What are you doing here?
Me and Big Zwey partnered up.
Partnered up?
We're going to Ogallala.
You ain't scared of Indians, huh?
Well, I don't like them much, I guess.
I already killed five of them.
Won't bother me none to kill some more.
Well...
Might not hurt for you to come along at that.
You'll be glad of it
if the Indians get after you.
Big Zwey told me he was going to marry you.
He did, huh?
He ain't as bad as some.
How would you know?
You ain't never been married to him.
He ain't a man to be put off.
You know it.
I'm married.
I doubt he knows what the word means.
I know what it means.
"Dear Ellie,
"we have come a long piece
"and have been lucky with the weather.
"It has been clear.
"No sign of Jake Spoon yet,
"but we did cross the Red River
"and are in Texas now.
"Little Joe likes it.
"His horse has been behaving all right,
"and neither of us has been sick.
"I hope that you are well
"and have not been bothered too much by the skeeters.
"Your loving husband, July."
Well, what do you think?
It's a long letter.
You want me to write something on the bottom of it for you?
You sure?
Maybe put your name?
She'll like it all right without nothing from me.
Well, we'll post it when we get to Fort Worth.
I know I'm slowing you down,
but I'm glad you brought me on this trip.
Yeah. Me, too, Joe.
This town sure growed since I was last here.
Darn people making towns everywhere.
It's our fault, too.
We chased out the Indians
and hung all the good bandits.
Did it ever occur to you that everything
we done was a mistake?
We killed off the people that made this country interesting.
Nobody in their right mind wants the Indians back,
nor the bandits.
If you like civilization so much,
what are we doing riding to the wilds of Montana?
We ain't riding to Montana now.
We're in San Antonio looking for a cook.
Buenos días.
Howdy.
We're taking cattle to Montana and lost our cook.
Yes. I go with you.
My name is Po Campo.
Uh, can you cook? Our boys is awful particular.
Try one of these.
I fried them only this morning.
Dang. That's tasty.
Is it some kind of candy?
Grasshopper.
Kind of good, though, ain't they?
Our boys ain't going to take much to eating bugs.
I cook good beefsteak, too,
and bird egg pie.
Just one minute, I'll be ready to go with you.
Hang on there a minute.
You ain't going to get off down the trail a mile
missing your wife like our last cook done?
My wife's in hell where I sent her.
She made good biscuits,
but her behavior was terrible.
I think this is our man.
Well, we need a cook, I reckon.
I'll buy you a horse.
No. I will walk.
I do not ride animals.
What do you mean, you don't ride animals?
It is not civilized.
Are we not animals, also?
How would you like it if somebody rode you?
That's why I like him. He's a philosopher.
Yeah. I hired him to give you somebody to talk to.
Free the rest of us to get work done.
We'd like a shot of whiskey if it ain't too much trouble.
Howdy, boys. You got a good game going there?
Who the hell is that?
You got mud in your ears, or what?
Rye or what'll it be, old-timer?
Well, rye will do, provided it gets here quick.
You durn cowboys ought to broom yourselves off
before you walk in here.
We got all the sand we need without customers bringing it in.
That'll be a dollar.
Now, besides the whiskey, I think we'll require a little respect.
Now, I'm Captain Augustus McCrae.
This is captain Woodrow F. Call.
If you turn around,
you'll see how we looked when we was younger.
The people here wanted to make us senators.
Back then, we never tolerated dawdling service.
As you can see, we still don't
tolerate it.
Now, then...
If I could have a fresh glass, please?
You broke my nose, you old son of a...
Well...
Here's to the sunny slopes
of long ago.
Whatever happened to Wee Willie Montgomery?
You didn't have to whack the bartender
when he owned that saloon.
You're just mad 'cause they didn't know you.
You're lucky they didn't throw you in jail.
It ain't a crime,
whacking a surly bartender.
I guess they may have forgot us, though.
Of course. We haven't been here in years.
They forgot us 'cause we never got killed.
That's dang foolish to say.
If a thousand Comanches cornered us in a gully somewhere
and wiped us out like the Sioux just done Custer,
they'd remember us sure.
There never was a thousand Comanches in the whole world.
That ain't the point. What, then?
Another 20 years, we'll be Indians.
They be sticking us on reservations,
just to get us out of the way.
Ha! That's danged unlikely.
Well, maybe you're right.
I reckon I am.
Yeah, well, I doubt we'll last another 20 years.
Gus!
Now, where in the hell is he going?
Gus...
What in the hell's come over you, Augustus?
I doubt you'd understand.
I doubt it, too.
When was you the happiest, Call?
The happiest about what?
About being a live human being,
free on the earth?
I don't know.
It would be hard to single out any one particular time.
Well, it ain't for me.
I was the happiest
right here by this little creek.
Me and Clara discovered it
one day when we was out for a buggy ride.
I might had knowed it had something to do with Clara.
That was a long time ago now.
Ah... God, she was beautiful.
I expect it was the mistake of my life...
Letting her slip away like I did.
Well...
You've always got your whores.
Yeah, I guess I do.
I don't know why you're down on whores.
You've had yours, as I recall.
The worst mistake I ever made.
It ain't a mistake to be human once in your life.
Maggie left you a fine son before she died.
You don't know that. He could be yours,
Jake's, or some damn gambler's.
But he ain't. He's yours.
Anybody with eyes can see.
Besides, Maggie told me.
We were good friends.
Ha! I don't know about friends.
I'm sure you was a good customer, though.
The two can overlap.
You'd know about overlapping with whores.
Know what hurt her most?
You wouldn't call her by name.
You'd never call her Maggie.
So what if I had?
It would have made her happy.
What? She was a whore!
Whores got hearts, Woodrow.
Maggie's was the most tender I ever saw.
Why didn't you marry her, then?
She loved you.
She sat in that saloon watching the door
after you quit coming around.
A man's got more to do
than sit in saloons with whores.
Like what? Clean his gun?
Maggie needed you. You let her down.
You know it, too, don't you?
I don't know anything of the danged kind.
That's why you won't claim that boy as your own.
He's a reminder you failed somebody.
You'll never admit that.
Like I said, Maggie was just a whore.
'I God, Woodrow. You finally called her by name.
That shows some improvement now, don't it?
You want some prairie chicken?
I ate enough.
I might catch you a frog for supper.
A frog?
I ain't never et no frog.
Their legs jump out of the pan when you cook them.
No!
Yes, they do!
You got to catch them and throw them back in the pan.
I don't believe that!
How can a dead frog jump out of a pan?
What's the matter?
Hey!
Where you going?
Howdy.
Howdy. Howdy.
Could we borrow some tobacco off of you?
I ain't got none.
Ain't got none?
I reckon you're lying.
Oh, no, I ain't, neither.
Why travel with nothing to smoke?
Because it never agreed with me.
I quit.
Well, we might have to smoke you.
What do you think of that?
My name's Roscoe Brown.
I'm just going down this road.
I ain't looking for trouble.
Going down this road?
Yes, sir.
Let's shoot him and take his horse.
Drop your gun. Wait just a minute!
Yes, sir.
Clamber down off that horse, mister.
I... I'm from Arkansas, and...
Yes, sir.
Strip off them duds. What?
You come into this world naked.
Go out the same way.
I got some money.
There's probably $30 here.
I'll pull this trigger on you for your sass.
That's somebody shooting.
Why, it's just a damn little old girl!
And she's a rock chunker, ain't she, Jim?
She's done all the rock chunking she's going to do.
What are you going to do with that stick, Mister?
Jim!
Damn you!
Get her?
No, she's too fast.
I've never seen anything like it.
That little gal near chunked you to death.
I'm going to give her a bullet
for every rock she throwed.
Shoot this one first.
I don't want to tear his clothes with my 10 gauge.
Put it down.
July!
Roscoe, what in God's name you doing in Texas?
I come for you, July.
It's a lucky thing I found you, too.
Who was that chunking them rocks?
Oh, that is Janey.
You can come on out now.
July's here.
He's the man I've been looking for.
My God. On a whiskey boat?
Well...
That's what Peach thinks.
It just don't make no sense for
Ellie to go running off like that.
That don't make no sense at all, does it, Joe?
Mama always been like that.
She never liked staying in one place too long.
Any idea where she might have gone?
Maybe to go find Dee.
Dee?
You mean your pa, Dee Boot?
But Ellie told me he died of smallpox over in Dodge.
Joe?
Joe, I don't reckon she'd lie to me.
Dee never had no smallpox.
Mama just married you
when they run out of money.
They... They's something else, July.
Ellie's going to have a baby.
Peach seen her with the morning sickness.
A baby?
I'm sorry to be bringing you this news, July,
but I thought you'd want to know.
Joe.
Yes, sir?
Where would she go to find Dee?
He was up to Ogallala last we heard.
Ogallala.
We better go find her, I guess.
What about Jake Spoon?
I can't worry about him no more.
Ellie might be needing me.
Ogallala.
Howdy.
I'm Joe.
That's Janey.
She's shy, but it don't last long.
You ever ate a frog?
Looks like Jake.
No, it's just Lorie resting by a tree.
I bet Jake's gone off to gamble somewhere.
Hell, all I see's a puff of smoke.
I think I'll keep her company
until that scamp gets back.
We got cattle to look after.
Well, what's keeping you?
Hello, Gus.
Lorie, darling.
How long's Jake been gone?
Two days.
He went up to Austin to play some cards.
He left mad.
He's been mad the whole trip.
Well, he'll be back.
Yes, I know he will.
He ain't going to take me to California, though, is he?
No.
Don't be too hard on him.
He got you out of Lonesome Dove.
I didn't get all down in Lonesome Dove.
'Cause back there you was never expecting nothing.
Then here comes Jake.
Get you all full of hope.
Trouble is, Jake ain't a man
to support nobody's hopes but his own.
What did you stop off for?
Well, it's such a nice day,
I thought I'd just ride over
and we'd cut cards or something.
What do I get if I win this time?
Well, I'll be your whore.
You can have a poke on the man.
Why would I want one?
All right, then. If you win,
we'll pretend you're a fancy lady in San Francisco.
I'll bring you a glass of buttermilk.
I don't even like buttermilk, Gus.
Then what? You name it.
I just want to go to San Francisco.
That's what I want.
Lorie, listen to me now, pretty little thing.
Life in San Francisco's still just life.
If you want only one thing too much,
it's likely to turn out disappointing.
The only way to live
is to learn to like all the little everyday things.
Yeah? Like what?
Like a sip of good whiskey
or a soft bed
or a glass of buttermilk
or say, uh...
A feisty gentleman like myself.
Now, you close your pretty little eyes.
Now, go on.
Don't open them till I count to 23.
Ok, now no cheating.
Your cheating days is over, woman.
1...
2...
3...
What are you doing? 4...
Don't open your eyes. 5...
6...
7...
8...
9...
10...
11...
12...
13...
14...
15...
16...
17...
18, 19, 20, 21...
Better make it 27.
21...
22...
23...
24...
25... Don't cheat! Don't open them.
26...
Ok. 27.
Why, Gus!
Aren't you cold?
Let's have us a bath!
Come on, woman.
Hope you can swim. I can't swim.
I can float for about 30 seconds.
Oh, Lord!
Hold your damn nose!
Oh, Lord!
It ain't very deep, is it?
I can float good here.
Man, this water's so cold.
I believe it's shriveled my pod.
Well, it wasn't getting no business today, anyway.
Gus, you scamp!
Boy!
Gus...
Yeah?
I'd go with you to California,
if you was of a mind to.
You would, would you?
Well, I'm complimented. Mighty complimented.
Let's go then, all right?
Jake can take his own chances.
I can't, honey.
I'm bound for Ogallala.
Ogallala? Where's that?
Somewheres up in Nebraska.
What's there?
A woman named Clara.
She's the only reason I ever come on this trip.
You'd go that far for a woman?
You bet.
I'm a woman, and I'm right here.
You can have your pokes.
We both make it to Denver,
I'll buy you a train ticket to San Francisco.
Would you mind getting my pistol for me?
I don't know if that fella's friendly or not.
Looks like an Indian.
How can you tell?
Indians got their own way of riding, see?
This one's a...
Setting on an old Mexican saddle.
I reckon he stole it,
maybe even killed for it.
Go on, go on. Go on. Go.
You want the rifle?
No.
I shot many a sassy bandit with just my pistol.
Go hide yourself behind that scrub. Go on.
I'll be all right. You go on now.
Stay put.
Like to water.
Help yourself.
Hope you like it cold.
I ain't got time to warm it up.
I like it wet.
I know you, McCrae.
From the old days.
I know you, too, Blue Duck.
Where's your friend, Call?
He ain't here just now.
It's my bad luck he's gone.
If I kill you,
then I will have to wait here to kill him, too.
He be back shortly.
You could sit over in the shade and wait,
if you're able, after you and me get through.
There's plenty others need killing besides you two.
I can't wait all day to shoot two
wore-out old rangers
with holes in their underwear.
That's a fine saddle you took.
With luck, it will last another mile or two. Maybe.
You bring that tongue north of the Canadian river,
I'll cut it off
and feed it to my wolf pups.
He's a Comanchero butcher
we should have hung years ago, but we couldn't,
because he was better at riding long distances without water.
But...
He may be after our horses though.
I better go warn Call.
Come on with me, now.
No, I ain't going.
I don't like how them cowboys look at me.
You're sure hard on the boys that love you.
They've got truer hearts than Jake Spoon.
I left that behind when I left Lonesome Dove.
Durn it, I don't like leaving you here
with Blue Duck around.
Jake will be back soon.
Oh, now it's Jake again?
You were the one said something about
going to Ogallala after some woman,
didn't you?
Still got enough light to see where he went.
I'm going to send somebody over here to
stay with you till Jake gets back.
The herd's only a mile away.
All right.
Newt. Yes, sir.
Ride over to Jake's camp.
Keep an eye on Lorena till Jake's back.
Me?
Gus, what is it?
Blue duck's in the area.
Oh, Lord.
Sure it's Blue Duck?
I exchanged pleasantries with him.
Go on, Newt. Yes, sir.
I'll take on the chore.
We need you here.
You know where she is? Yes, sir.
Why didn't you shoot Blue Duck?
Hell, he was ready.
Me and Deets will track him.
He may be circling to steal our horses.
You boys best get back with the herd.
Get your pistols.
Wouldn't surprise me none to see Blue Duck
riding in with a gang.
I don't like the boy going to the whore.
If I'd sent another one of these rowdies, Jake would shoot him.
She should have stayed in Lonesome Dove anyhow.
If you was a young gal,
would you want to stay in Lonesome Dove?
Look how long Maggie lasted.
She just happened to die in Lonesome Dove.
You don't never get the point, do you?
It ain't dying I'm talking about. It's living.
That's good, Po Campo. All right.
Let's go, Deets.
Ok.
Let's see here, Newt.
Howdy, Miss Lorena.
Miss Wood, howdy.
Aw, Newt.
Hello there, Miss Wood. I'm Newt.
Mr. Gus sent me to keep an eye on you.
He didn't come out anywhere on this side.
I don't find no tracks here.
Must have stayed in the creek.
He might have doubled back.
I don't see no blood.
We lost him in the creek.
What in the hell is Newt doing back? I told him to stay over there!
Newt ain't back, just his horse is back.
Gus!
What in the hell happened to you?
Somebody hit me.
All right, Gus, where's Lorie?
I know you're hiding her over here from me somewhere.
Blue Duck.
Blue Duck?
Oh, God, he's got her.
That half-breed's around here?
It's my fault for not shooting the son of a bitch when I had the chance.
Po Campo? Yeah.
I'm going to need some fresh water.
Lippy?
Grab me a box of bullets from the wagon there.
I'm going with you, Gus.
This ain't none of your affair, you darn pup.
I ain't no pup.
And you're a gambling lowlife to let her get stolen.
My God, we'll see about that.
We'll see about that right now.
Now you boys hold that right there.
That ain't gonna happen.
I want me a horse. Mine's rolled down.
You ain't going neither, Jake, not with me you ain't.
I'll go if I damn please! She's my woman!
You should have stayed closer to her, if she's your woman.
The hell with you.
The hell with the whole bunch of you!
You heard him, Jake. He don't want you.
You was sent to watch her, huh?
Well, I'd say you done a damn poor job of it!
You ain't worth your darn wages! I ought to give you a lick or two!
Not another word, Jake.
It ain't that boy's fault. You're the one that went off to town.
Drink and gamble.
You watch yourself, Augustus.
Woodrow.
Don't drink so fast. You'll flounder.
Old Monkey John will like that yellow hair.
Between him and the others,
probably get most of their money
and all of their hides when they see you.
I hope that damned old ranger hurries along.
I owe him a few.
Gus?
He won't come.
I ain't his.
He's coming.
I don't know if it's for me or for you, but he's coming.
I got a
treatment for women that try to run away.
Cut a little hole in their stomachs.
Pull out a gut and wrap it around a limb.
And I drag them 30 or 40 feet and tie them down.
That way,
I can watch what the coyotes are having for supper.
Fresh women is scarce in these parts, eh, Ermoke?
Yeah!
You're all welcome to a taste.
But she ain't free.
Understand?
We got hides to trade.
And horses.
"And horses"?
She won't talk.
By God, I will cut your tongue out, if you don't talk!
What do you care if she talks?
I wouldn't talk to you either, you damned old runt.
My God, we give all them hides for her.
She had ought to talk if I say talk!
You're getting your money's worth.
Most of those hides were mine anyway.
Now get off her!
I don't want her cut.
Hey!
Let's gamble.
I ain't had a game in a while.
What with? You already got our hides and our horses.
The girl.
I ain't won her.
She's ours. We don't want to gamble with her.
She's just half yours.
Ermoke and his boys own a half interest.
We're aiming to buy him out.
By the time you raise the money,
won't be much left to buy.
You'd do better if you buy a goat.
We don't want no damn goat.
Let's gamble.
We want the woman.
If you win, I'll let you have your horses back.
Come in. Come on.
What's wrong with him?
He don't care about the horses.
He wants to keep the woman.
That damn chigger. He's holding up the game.
By God, life is cheap up here on the Canadian.
It's apt to get cheaper.
Let's gamble.
Looks like I win again.
You're a damn cheat.
First you cheat us out of our horses,
then you cheat us out of the woman.
I don't want the woman.
You can have her back as a gift. And the horses, too.
There's an old man following me.
I want you to kill him.
You hear that, Ermoke?
You kill the man, you can have your horses back,
and the woman, too.
We'll take the woman.
The hell you will. She's half ours. You ain't taking her nowhere!
You shut up.
I'll kill you like I killed that chigger.
If I were you, I'd get sober.
Get out of range! He'll kill us all!
That old man's a tough one.
I'm going to show him something tough.
Hell, you ain't hit him yet.
I'll get him.
He ain't got anywheres to go.
Has he?
By God, that's enough.
That is enough!
Look at that.
He's shooting at us now.
He can't hit nobody from there.
He's just wasting his bullets.
Maybe an old man like him needs a better target.
Here comes anoth...
Look what that son of a bitch
done to me!
Monkey!
The Captain's worried about Mr. Gus, ain't he?
Me, too.
I get to expecting to hear him talk...
But he ain't here.
My ears sorta get empty.
Mr. Gus will be all right.
Maybe so.
But he will not catch Blue Duck.
Do you know him, Po Campo?
Yes, I know him.
I once lived up on the llano.
He killed my three sons.
After that, I left the llano.
It's all Jake's fault.
He's a bastard for leaving her.
That's what started all this.
You sure are smitten, ain't you, Dish?
Well,
I'll tell you this...
If she's alive and Gus brings her back,
I aim to marry her.
Marry her?
Marry a whore?
Don't call her a whore.
If you're so in love with her,
why didn't you follow her
and leave Gus here?
He's a damn sight more entertaining than you are.
So is that whore.
Get him, Dish.
You boys want to fight?
Collect your wages first.
We're done with it, Captain.
Jasper?
Yes, sir.
I'm done with it, too.
Let's get back to the herd.
Captain don't take much to sitting around.
Deets.
This one I made for you.
Why, thank you, Po.
Is it of somebody special?
Like a little saint.
You know...
To help protect you on our journey.
I heard they won't attack you at night.
They won't attack at night?
That's what I heard.
I sure hope you're right.
Oh, boy.
It's awful quiet out here tonight.
We don't even know how many there is.
I can go find out.
They'll make soup out of you.
I'd like to know what they was shooting at.
They was shooting at me.
Easy!
I'm Captain McCrae, Texas Rangers.
I'm coming in.
Don't nobody shoot.
Howdy.
Augustus McCrae.
July Johnson, and this is Roscoe.
July Johnson?
'I God, you're the sheriff from over
Fort Smith, Arkansas, looking for Jake Spoon, ain't you?
Well, I have more urgent business than Jake Spoon now.
I was about to say, if you're looking for Jake,
you missed him by 300 miles or so.
The Indians killed your horse?
I killed him myself
for a fort when them Kiowas got after me.
I appreciate your running them off.
We were riding by.
They started shooting at us. We shot back.
They're Blue Duck's boys.
I'm after him and a woman he stole.
He stole a woman?
Yes, sir.
A girl traveling with us.
He probably camped on the river
and sent them bucks back to kill me.
It's quite a ways north.
Well, our horses are pretty near wore out,
but if morning is soon enough,
we'll help you track this outlaw.
There. You see it?
I see it.
I'll be damned.
The wrath of the Lord is about to descend
come sundown.
I best go with you.
You don't know how many there are.
Thanks. All I need's the loan of a horse.
I'll have him back.
You mean to go at them by yourself?
There might be 10 of them down there.
Maybe even more.
They scare easy at night.
I just hope Mr. Duck's there.
I intend to kill him.
Look. I can be of some help.
Stay with your party, Mr. Johnson.
You've got two young people to look after.
Well, Roscoe can stay.
Well, kind of chancey.
You might stop a bullet
and never get to finish that urgent business you mentioned.
That urgent business is my wife.
She left home.
Look, I know it's unlikely,
but it might be that she got stolen, too.
Well, I guess you're no more fool than me,
chasing a woman across the plains.
I might have got one. I don't know.
I doubt it.
Uhh... Ohh... I hurt bad.
Go ahead. Shoot me.
You won't catch me wasting bullets.
Monkey can cut your damn throat if he wants.
He'll die soon enough.
What did she do to earn a kick?
You mind your own damn business.
You're not worth selling.
The Kiowas can have you.
How come you're giving her to the damn Kiowas?
Give her to me.
No.
I want them to carve her up.
Hell, I'll carve her up.
Maybe it will put some spirit in them,
so they can go out tomorrow
and run that old ranger into the ground.
Give her to me.
Hell, I'm mean as they are.
You better be.
If McCrae comes, you better be quick.
Well, there they are.
Have you ever killed, Mr. Johnson?
No.
Well, you do what I do then.
Help her.
Monkey, don't let 'em get her.
Help her?
We'll help her, all right.
Won't we, boys?
Keep away from her, Ermoke.
She's part mine.
Part yours?
Aah, God!
What could you do with your part?
Aah!
Lorena. Lorena. Lorena.
Lorena.
Hey, it's Gus.
It's me.
Lorena.
Was Blue Duck here?
Was Blue Duck here tonight, Lorena?
Was Blue Duck here?
You killed the whole bunch.
I didn't even shoot.
Get back to your people.
There's a dangerous man loose.
Your deputy can't handle him.
I know this is a shock to you.
It ain't a barroom scrape,
so choke it down and get on back.
I'll follow when she's better.
Hey!
Shoot me.
Go, Mr. Johnson. Go now!
Shoot me.
Sure was a lot of shooting.
I'll be glad when July gets back.
What?
I heard something in that brush.
Might be an Indian.
I'll see.
No. Wait. Wait. Wait.
I wish July'd get on back.
It's likely to be morning 'fore they get back.
Joe?
Joe, where are ya?
Shoot him! Shoot him!
What? See him? Shoot him!
Where you been, girl?
Where's Joe?
Was that his name?
It's my fault.
If I'd done what you said,
they'd still be alive.
'I God.
It's my fault.
Hell, you told me to stay.
I know. I'm sure you wish you had, but
yesterday's gone. We can't get it back.
Go on with your digging.
I'll tidy up the dead.
Well...
Guess that's all we can do.
I guess he took Joe's horse.
There. There you go.
Yes. And his life.
I'm sure he had more interest in the horse.
If you're going after him...
I'd like to try and help.
He's better mounted than us.
We got to let him go this time.
Boy, I hate to do that.
These lives here are lost for good, son.
Giving pain for pain won't bring them back.
Best go on and try to find your wife.
If I ever run across Blue Duck again,
I'll kill him for you.
And for her, too.
We'll camp here, Zwey.
Go shoot us a turkey for our supper.
I'll help you build a fire.
I don't need any help.
Zwey, you take Luke with you.
Luke.
Howdy.
You went with Zwey.
I told him we'd hunt better separately.
Why ain't you hunting then?
I am a-hunting.
Right here.
I'm having a baby.
I can't be doing that.
Not for a while.
You ain't having no baby yet.
I only want a little.
Won't take but six minutes.
If Zwey catches you, he'll kill you.
Zwey, he ain't no smarter than a buffalo.
I might shoot him.
Zwey!
Get off me!
Hold still!
Was he trying to marry you?
You could call it that.
He was trying to do me.
I want him to let me alone.
How'd the hunting go? You shoot a turkey?
I got one.
Want me to pluck them feathers?
No, I don't, Luke.
I want you just to stay there.
I wish you wouldn't be doing this.
I won't do it no more.
Next time you go hunting, make sure he's with you.
He can't pester me then.
No, I think I better kill him.
No, Zwey.
Don't! Don't!
Zwey, that's enough. You'll kill him.
Zwey, we might need him if the Indians come! Don't!
Zwey!
He's alive.
He'll quit it now, won't he?
Quit trying to marry you.
Don't he look funny with that ear hanging off?
I'll go pluck that bird, Luke.
Have us some supper to eat.
Hey! Don't be spitting on my floor.
Roy spits where he pleases.
That's why I mentioned it.
Melba, do it in the alley
if you're giving it away. Otherwise, get on upstairs.
You've been known to give it away yourself.
And it's about to break me, Mr. Spoon.
$10.
Spoon?
You Jake Spoon, the Ranger?
I've done some rangering.
He's Jake Spoon, the Ranger.
Never heard of him.
You rode with McCrae and Call.
Ain't that right?
Not anymore, I don't.
McCrae and Call.
Never met them.
I hear they're tough men.
Let a half-breed steal my whore, that tough.
You can't find her?
They lost her. Let them find her.
We're going up to Kansas.
Me and my brothers,
Frog Lip there.
Kansas, huh?
Going to rob some banks.
Ain't that right, Dan?
Ain't got no objection to robbing banks, have you?
It would depend on the bank.
I wouldn't enjoy too much law stacked against me.
Law?
Damn! I want my money back. I wasn't through.
You can't squirt in two minutes,
you need doctors, not whores.
Look, I said I want my money back!
Made her mad, by God, didn't he?
Well, let's go.
Some sheriff will be poking around here soon.
Jake, help drag him out. He's messing up my floor.
You coming, Spoon?
Jake...
Let's go, boys.
Jake...
Jake, you come back here, you bastard!
You ain't never getting me for free again! You understand that?
Jake!
That's Adobe Walls there.
Need to get us out of this lightning.
Find us a nice warm, dry spot.
That'll about do it.
It can rain all it wants to now.
We're nice and warm.
Real warm.
Yeah.
This used to be quite a lively place,
till the buffalo
run out a couple years ago.
They ran north,
every darn one of them.
'I God, look what I found here.
Gold coins.
There's 5s and 10s.
There's even a handful of $50 gold pieces.
That's good luck.
Now we can play ourselves some high-stakes poker.
Now, all that on your side is yours,
and all this over here is mine.
There you go.
Put the cards in your hand, darlin’.
Don't let me see them.
You remember how to play, do you, Lorie?
Good.
Now, your bet.
But be careful,
'cause I'm mighty tricky. Remember?
Tricky old Gus?
That's the idea but,
we hadn't bet yet.
So we'll try it again.
They shouldn't have took me, Gus.
I know, honey,
but they did.
They shouldn't have,
but they did.
They did.
Now, you just go on, cry it out.
Yeah. You got a long time to live,
and you don't want this thing
dragging you backwards, see?
So you just cry it on out to old Gus.
You'll be all right, you hear?
You're safe now.