Ng a sorry old mule named mr. Christopher trouble in a small boy. And i was dreading the moment that we ride into bitter springs. Whoa whoa. Mr. Ramsey, if we hurry we can make the iron riv before sundodo. Well, were mighty anxious, mr. Mccullough. Well hurry, dont worry none. Well, they kee yeah. Gettin so you cant shoot a cannon down th without hittin new settlers. To life. You folks been traveling some . We beeeedoing just that, sir. Georgia, sir. We all from georgia. Hello, courtney. You ought knowowettet. These folks got their rights same as anybody else. This isnt georgia. Boy come on, mr. Christopher. You fixin to gully up all t t water in the world . Whats the matter with him . Whats the matter, sonny . Mule givin you a hard time . Ristopher, he give everybody a hard time. But hes a mighty good mule. Those folks youre traveling with e you take care of the mule, huh . Everybodys got a job, sir mister . This here is thomas pope. Theyre pl to settle down in the iron river valley. This boy here what is he to you . Why, hes with us. Myi take care of him. I know all about that, ramsey. Youre not the first rebel tried to get away with it. Just what yall driving at, mister . Mr. Lincoln freed the slaves. Before you rebs murdered him. Given him a home. The boys a war orphan. Mr ramsay are getting themselves some free labor, isnt that what you meme . You may be the shee, weyo, youre gonna listen till i get done talkin. Maybe yohe same about the other boy. The ramseys are taking care of him, o. No, this boy is one thing. That ones another. Ive had enough of this. Come on, tom, were moving. Ramsey youre not leaving with that boy. By whose authority, sheriff . Cant believe you rereesent many people. I dont care what you believe. Youre free to get water and supplies and rest your animals. Then youre moving on way on. And dont try leleing with that boy. Now, look here ea. Thats not the way. The wars over. Over. Dont he realize it . Some peoples wars are never over. But youre my responsisility, and im staying with you until youre settled. You stay here. Ill take care oey. Ll me about southerners bringing that boy out her. I didnt see any chains. Then you didnt look very hard now, do what i tell you, marty. Flint courtney. I think maybe we better try and talk. Settlers the right to homestead on public lands anywhere. And that includes iron river. Federal law has quite a bit to say out t e emancipation of slaves, too. The war is over, sheriff. You think so . , it isnt over in bitter springs. S im concerned, it isnt going to be over till the last slaver is dead, last rebel is plowed under. If its the boyre worried about, theyre bringing them both up together in the same way, they know their rights, l fight to keep em. Theres nothing that would please me more. Go back come in, nora. Mr. Mccullough, whats that sheriff man mad about . Partly, i guess. Because you havent donewrong. E an, mr. Mccullough . No. Hes just mad at a lot of things. I didnt expect youd get anyplace. Hes a stubborn man, john. I talked to tom pope. Flint, we arent fixin to run. If we have to fight s, well do it. Mr. Mccullough, riff, he talked abouot be, didnt he . Dont he know im free just like mike or mr. John orona or anybody . Even him . No, i dont think he does. Free means doing what you want to do, doesnt it . Thats right. There isnt anything id rather do than what im going fishing exceptin sliding down hay lofts eat it while its hot, ben. Im not hungry. Theyre southernrns, arent they . What about t tt boy, ben . Word gets around fast, doesnt it . One day you gotta stop it, ben, you cant keep going like this forever. I cant . I look at them cong out here, all wideeyed and innocent,ke, like they never did anything wrong. What do they expect me to do, welcome them with open arms . Oh, ben. But he would have grown up clean and free. Did you see the white boy . Youre coloring it, ben. Youre making it sound like its something evil. It is evil. Everything those ramseys and for is evil. Well, i cant do anything about the white boy, but i can save the oth ben. Do you really want to help the boy . If you had this arm. If you had the pain with you every minute, every second, if you knew how it feels. There are all kinds of pain, ben. Nora. What did you do to hme . Mind your own business. Ive seen you shoot horses to put em oeir misery why dont you shoot her . What . Remember when you first got married. She was looking forward to so much. She knew what i was. Are you sure s i had an idea maybe she thought you were like other men, only maybe just bit better. She didnt know you were just onb of hate youre gettiti way ou why dont you shoot me, ben . Its just one step from the ramseys to mccullough to me or any other man that crosses you. You just dont understand, do you . I sure dont. You here, pastor . Thats right, mayor storey. Reverend butler. Yes, i know you didnt, ben thats why i came. Weve got thatatroblem again. We fought in the same armid, ben. Our feelvent t anged none. Why dont theyeytay where they belong . Where is that . Did you invite the reverend here . Right. Youre starting to work the wrong side of the fence, arent you . He wrong side of the fence, ben . Do i have to tell you . I guess i already know. Pastor, this is a town in a northern state. And there aint no place ls. Those people out there have a colored boy with em. That adds up to only one thing. Ben you think hes t t young to know whats good for him. Too young to know his rights. Chains to know theyre there. There are chains of bondage and chains of love, ben. Dont talk to me about love, reverend. The first thing we have to do is set that boy free. Hes got to be free all right, ben. But who with him after we take him . Nora and i will find someplace for him to stay. You cannot do this in the name of bitter there are too many of who stand against this mania of yours, ben. All right. And justice maybe in abe lincolns name. Does that suit you . Do you think it would suit him . You better call a couning. Ill need orders. Im sorry, ben. I wont do it. Its an order, marty. How long, ben . Your own hatre, but how long are you gonna force decent people to bup . I want the boy called daniel. Flint so do the ramseys. Youre not taking the boy. Youve got no legal ri well, i dont think much of the law in bitter springs. If you hand the boy over and le there wont be any trouble. You people said the same thing before you fired on fort sumter, and you got more trouble than you could h come on, boy. I want you to come with me. No i dont want to go hes coming with us. He belongs. Whats, son . L. And i stay with the ramseys just like daniel does. Michael what . Leavy alone, courtney. Well, one day youll under both of you, that im doing this for your own good. Now come on, daniel. Youre free now. Thats enough, courtney. Leave the boy alone. Maybe you think this bad arm makes s less of a man with a gun. I hope youll try me, mccullough. I have no quarrel with you until you draw the gun. Use whichever hand you want. Mr. Mccullough . Im staying with the sherifor. You know, sheriff, a law man that hates tooisnt t. I want to talk to you, mccullough. Courtney send you . Thats n what do you want . I want to tell you about ben. I know a ben courtney i need to know. I doubt it. You see, i was all through the war with him. He wofficer, good to his men. Would do us all some good. He did his b keep em alive. Ight. Im sorry. You see, ben was a regular army man. A little girl from chattanooga. Ir honeymoon when fort sumter was fired on. So ben had to leave his wife and hightail for th so . Well, hem her now and then. First she wrote and told him she was pregnant. Then he got word he was a father a fine boy. So he could get back to his wife and son. But never made it. Why not . They were both killed during tf atlanta. That near killed him. About a week after that he took a miniball in the arm, paralyzed it for life. He cant use that arm,m,it hurt. Everybody suffered in the war. The Town Councils meeting right now. Theyre gonna give ben the authority he needs and the men he wants ur people out of the valley. Well, you tell the town council thaharams. And neither am i. I figured youd im sorry, mccullough. So am i. One thing you watch ben. When he says hes fastt left ha, he meansnst. John its mighty fine, flint. Good, you got other things to worry about besides planting crops. Take these wagons and move em over there against that hill. Yall think theyll come . It doesnt look good. I was wrong. Theyre not gonna takekeaniel. I dont think youll have any trouble tonight. Where you going . Back into town, give it another try. It wont do any good. You know, i was born in the south myself, but i think i kn more about nortrtrners than you do. Theyre not made up of people like ben courtney, p of people just like you are. So dont make the mistake en courtney has made. If you start hating everything like he does, well, theres no hope for any of usnot ever. John im sorry, leona. Leona i know. That wght any less than i do, but were gonna fight. We have a right la this land. And we cant let em take daniel. D our sons have to die, john . Whats all this fighting for . Billy and big daniel are gone, leona. Gone. L the tears in the world wont bring em back. But there and little daniel. I think theyre worth fightingngor. Golly, did you hear that . That sheriff gonna try to kill mr. Ramsey. Yeah, and mr. Ramsey didnt do nothing to him. No, it aint. Mr. Mccullough said it isnt any of our fault. Bubuwhats gonna happen if that ol comes out here to take me away . I dont know. I guess thered be. No, there wont. I wont let there be. Well, what are you gonna do . I aint sayin, but there aint gonna be no fight. Ben . Good evening, maam. Youre mccullough, arent you . Thatsmaam. My husband isnt at home. I cant help you. If you cant, who on earth can . Lene. Please. A mand be out of his mind not to want them for neighbors. Are yoting that ben is out of his mind . Yes, i would. Mr. Mccullough, my husband has been through a gre its hard to believe that you can understand what amo. Just outandout persecution. There are many things th husband hate. The loss of his first wife, his father, his brother the terrible pain in his arm. But more than anything else he hates because the war took hy. When his heart was inside e m. But hes h hlow now. Do you understand that . Mrs. Courtney, youre woman. Ld have another child. sobbing dont to mr. Mccullough, not you too. Ght, mccullough. Youre wearing a gun, no o get out of they way, nora. Well . I wont draw you. Youll draw, or ill put a a llet through you where you stand. Illllave to gamble leavavher alone im sorry. Mccullough, i said draw draw ill keep it in mind. I hope youre those rebs whenen get out there. Your Insurance Company the guy says you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement . , you wont have to worry about replacing your car because youll get the full value back including depreciation. And if you have more than one Liberty Mutual policy, you qualify for a multipolicy discount, saving you money on yoyo car and home coverage. Call for a free quote today. Liberty stands with you . Tastes mighty good, mrs. Ramsey. Flint, what happened . I wish i knew what went on inside e man i mean, what makes him tick. Youre talking about courtney . I sure am. Nothin goes on inside of him except hate. Youre wrong, mr. Pope. Courtney never did nothin to make us believehing el. John. A yankee woman, isnt she . Now, that youve got to be careful. You talk like that, youre no betterrtney is. Youre right had hate in me but that courtney makes me want to hate. I agree with you. But theres something the matter with courtney. Outhern woman . Mrs. Ramsey, you lost two boys during the war, didnt you . Billy and big daniel. Courtney lost his wife and a baby boy at the siege of he never even goto see the boy. Poor man. I think you boys better clean up for supper. Why dont you let them stay . Might as well know whats going on. The stew will be ready in a minute. Flint, whatappen . I dont know. Its in the lap of the gods. Will they come . Council meeting over . s right. Well, lets get on with it. You a councilman now, reverend . Never mind that, ben. Why . Whats wrong . Well, the fact of the matter is, ben, we cant hardly stop them folks from settling out there at iron river if theyre of a mind to. Its federal law. Federal law . To do the usual home chores . Careful, reverend. Your walking on thin ice. We save that boy, or the unini lost the war. If those rebels keep him, every man in this room fought for nothing i suppose youre rabout the boy. Rdly seem right they should have him. You tell me federal law keeps us from running those rebels out. I wish i did. Selfpreservation. This is a union town. Nearly e in it wore the same blue uniform you did. We fought for the union, we support it. Now, i want to aen one question. Where do we get our water . Iron river. Then the men who controy control bitter springs. Ey could cut off our water. W youre beginning to think. If youre worried about the water, go and talk to them, make an agreement. Did they keep their other agreement . The one their states signed when they joined the union . When do you want us to ride, ben . At dawn. The expecting us then. Well be here. At dawn. Ill pray for you, ben courtney. Pray for reverend. Im sorry, reverend. But the war r over. I reckon the most important thing the country has to do is grow. T you do think bens wrong . Oh, i think hes plumb wrong. Then come with me tonight. Where to . The iron river valley. I cant do it, reverend. Its the right thing to do, marty. Maybe. But ive ridden ourtney a long time. Ive got him oble a few times, and hese same for me. Hes gonna need tomorrow. Are you ready . You dont have to go, michael. s me thats the cause of it all. Youre gonna break miss leort if you come along. Wheres mr. Mccullough . Hes down the draw. Then we go up the draw. Michael, i dont think you should come along. Heywhats that . Its just a note. Let me see it. You got a pencil . They come. All right, courtney, thats far e eugh send the boy out, mccullough . Butler in the name of god, men no shooting i wont move from here. Shot a preacher in my life, but if you side hose traitors. Leona. Yes. Get the boys and get down the gulley. Well take care of the guns. All right. Ill count to three, preacher. Ben if your out of the way by then. If you shoot him ill kill you. Leona theyre gone the boys are gone they took the mule. Theyre gone. crying ss leona and mr. Ramsay, im sorry forle i cause you. Im going away now, and maybe i wont cause you any more trouble. I love you. Me too. Michael ramsey. Ben a dirty rebel triri. I tell ya its a trick re hiding them somewhere so we cant find them let it go, johweve gotta. We better find em theyll die out there. Understand how you feel, mister. How do you know how he feels . Yohad a runaway slave. gun fires lling now . No, mccullough. Therell be no killing. You got just what you deserve, ben. All right, courtney. Well help you find the boys, if you wish. Johnhn i dont know if i want your help. We wont take em m you. How do you feel about that, courtney . All right, then. Ur gun. That means theyve gone up into higher country. Thats Rough Country up there. It sure is. You split your men into t the first one ofat finds em fire three shots. Right. Were expecting you to go along with us on this, understand . I toto you i took my o from the town. If thats you want, hat ill do. All right, then. Anything else, mccullough . Th lets mount up. Marty. You ride with ben. Better stop, m whats the matter . Better give old christopher a rest. Should have brought alalg some water. I thought wed find some by now. If i wasnt so thirsty, id be hungrgr boy, are we dumb. We didnt bring. Misssseona had to throw out some stew last night cause nobody wanted any more. Remember . I guess so. Its no use. You cant pick up a trai its baked solid, like rock. Evevything that passes leaves some kind of a trail. Daniel, i don i can go back. Im so thirsty. Maybe we better rest here for a while. Maybe itll rain. Whats this for . third shot ringsben, they f you two little fools waitll your ma gets her hands on you shell tan your od ats enough, dan. Not too much all at once. Okay. Are they all right . Yeah, theyre fine. A little too much sun, thats all. Thank god. Amen to that. Are they all right . Theytheyre all ght. R . Illllake th are they all right . Try it and youre dead. . Are you crazy . I told you to forget about it. Were not taking the boy who are you to say when we obey the law and when we donn him and youre through in brings. Now tell me about bitter springs. Stand back from the boy. Daniel stays. You fools do you think i wont kill you . Im sure you w wld. But while youre doingmr. Mcculy or marty craig here could shoot you. Im counti. One. Two. Dont shoot him please ill go with you. Youre a smart boy,el. But ive got to say something, so everybody underststds. Mr. Sheriff, you aint free. You think im just like my daddy m been. But it isnt true. Maybe she aint my mother, and mr. Ramsey aint my father, but i never knew any other folks, d i sure wouldnt want any. Nt understand. The ramseys are southerners. They kept your people in bondage, like animals. Ii dont understand she. Im from georgia. Dont that make me a southerner, too . Mr. And mrs. Ramsey, they fed me, they taught me to read and they treat me and michael just the same. I dont think they hate me. Youre. Yoyore too young, son. Youll understand when i get you away fromple. Ben, in gods name t interfere any more, preacher. I know whahai have to do. Yes, mic what is it . Im awful sorry. I think maybe i know how it feels to lose somebody y your little boy. Mr. Courtney, i guess i love miss leona and mr. Ramsey courtney, theres something that i think you ought leave me be, mccullough. Weth lived long enough to know well, that life can be pretty rough. We both know your boy died in atlanta a lot of people did. Know. And after all this time,ings g. I dont want you toself. But t n courtney, for what its worthy, listen to me. John and leona ramsey found michael hurt and c in the ruins of a house, alone. And ths in atlanta during the siege. What are you trying to say . As one of them. But the boy the ramseys call michael, whoever he is, he didnt die. Theythey never found his body. There wasnroof. Now, remember what i said whatever youre thinking, you can never really be sure. Yeah, i know. But maybe. Maybe. Mr. Ramsey the war was a horrible thing for all of us. Im ad itover. Youve got a fine boy there, mr. Ramsey. Yes, sir, i think so t t. Mccullough. I heard what you just told him. I thought you knew about michael. What about him . Ididt find michael in atlanta, he was the only one left alivef his whole family. Doesnt sese to make much difference, does it . Of course it does of course it does but if courtks that michael comes from atlanta, hes gonna think that michael is really his. Youre a good man, mccullough. John, youve got two boys, two fine boys. Surely you can loan one to courtney now and then. And allow me to say a few words on behalf of sheriff courtney, . Roll along . . Wagon train . . Rollin o or prairiwhere . . Pullin over mountains where there aint no pass . . Sittin on a board, eyein the weather . . Prayin to the lord we stay toge by side on the wagon train . . Roll along . . Picpassenger in every town . . Wonderin if hes ever gonna shoot you dodo . . Lookin for a pal, aint it a pity . . Lookin for a galal neednt be . Ell ride on the wagon train . . Wagon ho . . Gottataeep em on the run . . To . And follow the sun . . Roll along . . In . Ever had a cabin near the general store . . Only had a wagon and a. 44 . . Sittin on a board, eyeinnhe weather . . Prayin to the lord y together . . Side by side . Head to the stream. That will take you around,