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THE QUEST MOVIE: CAPTIVE -
THE LONGEST DRIVE II TQF: 10+
Quentin and Two
Persons are riding through town to Fort George. They ask the captain to help them find their sister before the Army attacks the Cheyenne - to go along on the raid.
He’s reluctant, but finally agrees after Quentin told him how horrible it was to have their parents kills and
to believe that his brother and sister were also killed. He found his brother
after eight years. And now they found out that their sister is alive as well. Quentin is excited and hopeful that they’ll find her. Two Persons, though, remembers how it was when the army attacked the village he was with.
They find a white
girl, Charlotte, but not their sister. After the battle, Quentin and Two Persons
look over the destroyed camp and all the dead. Quentin: “My God.” Two Persons: “You still grateful to the army?”
They bring Charlotte
and her son back with them. Her Indian husband had been killed a year ago by
the Blackfoot tribe. Quentin treats the wounded army men; tells the captain that
two will be all right, two he’s worried about. As they continue there is
resentment and hostility among some in the army toward Charlotte,
and tensions are high. One man, Kelly, especially makes nasty comments about
Quentin treating her. Quentin tells him that he can’t fight him while he’s
in uniform, but one day he will kill him. The army soldiers are attacked, and
Charlotte warns Quentin of an Indian about to kill him. He turns in time to kill the Indian first, and later when he thanks her, Charlotte tells him he killed her husband’s best friend. As they camp that night, the Captain tell Quentin that he reacted as if Charlotte were their sister.
The army soldiers
are holed up in the rocks, and their situation is grim. The wounded men volunteer
to stay and fight and give the others a chance to escape. As they are a distance
away, they hear drums that indicate that Standing Bear has been killed and the battle is over.
Quentin and Two
Persons get Charlotte a new outfit, and she can’t figure
out the undergarments. It’s a cute scene, because Quentin, as a doctor,
is really embarrassed and shy. Two Persons goes behind the screen and helps her
fasten the dress. They attend a party that night.
Many people accept her, but the widow of a soldier just killed is really nasty to her.
Charlotte points out that her husband was killed by
the soldiers just as brutally, but she leaves rather than cause a further scene. She
struggles to fit into the town society. The owner of the saloon offers her a
job as one of his prostitutes, and she turns him down. Then she attends church
with her son, but after she arranges a private baptism the minister pulls Quentin aside to tell him that the parishioners
won’t accept her coming to their regular services. She’s written
to relatives, but gets a reply that they sold her family home and pay her off with one hundred dollars, having spent everything
she owns. They make it clear she’s not welcome to go stay with them.
An army officer
visits her. They talk, and he tells her that he was also orphaned, and was raised
by an aunt and uncle who regarded him as unpaid slave labor. He finally ran off
and joined the army, and was happier there than with his relatives.
That night Charlotte is attacked by some of the army soldiers, including the one,
Kelly, who was the most hateful to her and Quentin after the rescue. Quentin
and the army officer hear the commotion, and fight off the men. Quentin throws
Kelly out the window, and he rolls off the porch roof, breaks his neck, killing him.
When Quentin gets downstairs and runs outside, he stands over Kelly’s body, saying, “I warned you, Kelly!”
Charlotte is devastated by the attack and by having no money from her relatives - and no
where to go. She considers returning to the Indian tribe, but Two Persons points
out that they will no longer accept her, especially after her actions saved Quentin.
She ends up back at the saloon, to work upstairs until she can make enough money to leave. Two Persons pays to be her first customer, which starts to bring her out of the despair she feels. When they go upstairs, of course he has no intention of following through, but he
helps her realize that she can’t do it and starts crying. Quentin knocks
on the door to the room - she didn’t know that they had planned to help her escape.
At the house the
next day, they are all outside when Callendar, the army soldier, comes by to see if she’s all right. As they talk, he asks her to marry him and move with him to California. She realizes that this would be a wonderful new start for the both of them as well
as her son, and she agrees to his proposal. They go off to live happily ever
after, and Quentin and Two Persons can resume their search for Patricia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BUFFALO HUNTERS
TQF: 10+++
The opening shot shows Quentin chopping firewood (Oh My!!!). Very cute opening, too, with Quentin explaining to Two Persons how he lost their last
ten dollars in a poker game. Two Persons is carrying buckets of water up a ladder
to fill a water tower. It turns out that the two brothers are working in order
to pay for coffee and salt at the small little store. Quentin asks Morgan how
much longer they have to work to buy what they need, and when he starts to tell Quentin how much more wood some peppermints
would cost Quentin interrupts him to say forget the candy! It’s a cute
‘brother’ moment, teasing and fun, but you see the caring they have for each other.
While they continue working, they notice
two buffalo hunters riding in, leading an Indian woman walking behind them tied to a rope.
Two Persons is upset that the buffalo hungers are killing off the Indians’ livelihood, and they mock him that
they’re just helping the army, who are killing off the rest. When the men
go inside, Quentin helps her. The men come out thinking that he’s trying
to steal her, and they fight, getting Two Persons involved also. The store owner
stops the fight and Two Persons tells Quentin that he can’t interfere with how one tribe of Indians may raid and capture
those from another tribe and then sell them. But while they are in the store,
the buffalo hunters steal their horses. They try to stop the thieves, and Quentin
shoots and kills one of them.
They can’t catch up to the hunters
with the nags they left behind, and then the store owner cheats them. He claims
that they didn’t fill the water tower full enough and didn’t chop enough wood, and he won’t give them any
supplies at all, even to pay for what they have done. At night Quentin takes
an ax and chops down the water tower while Two Persons keeps him from shooting his brother.
They track the hunters, finding some
of the band but not the ones who stole their horses. They stampede the herd of
buffalo to keep them all from being slaughtered. Early the next morning the band
of hunters, including the one from the store, attack them while they’re sleeping, and Quentin is knocked unconscious
while both are captured.
Quentin finally comes to, but he is
tied with a rope around his neck and his hands are bound. The buffalo hunters
show him that Two Persons is tied up in a green buffalo hide, which as it dries will shrink until it kills him. They tell Quentin that they will kill Two Persons unless he promises that they will both work as buffalo
hunters to replace the man they killed. He knows that this is the only way they’ll
have a chance to escape, so Quentin promises, but then Two Persons is angry because he would die before he killed the buffalo
for their hides and tongues. He protests that Quentin has shamed them by
‘surrendering’ to these cowards. The Indian way is to die bravely
with honor, and he asks Quentin isn’t there anything he himself would die for.
Quentin angrily answers yes - “you and Patricia” - and then leaves the campfire.
The hunters separate the brothers, keeping one out with the herds and the other in camp at all times. They taunt them, explaining that if either one acts up or tries to escape the other one will be killed.
As Quentin and Two Persons had been tracking the hunter and their horses, they had found three trappers who
had been tortured and killed by one Indian. Two Persons had told Quentin that
it was the Indian woman’s husband. At the time, even though it would slow
their progress and Two Persons was upset about it, Quentin insisted that they bury what was left of the trappers. While they are with the hunters, the woman’s husband attacks at night and kills one of the buffalo
hunters. Two Persons and talk to her, but he doesn’t tell their captors
everything she told him, including the part when she said that her husband will kill them all.
The next day the Indian spooks the buffalo herd. One man rides
off to check, and Quentin tells the others that he thought he saw a man off in the bushes.
He later admits to Two Persons that he really wasn’t sure it was a man, but he used the opportunity to rattle
the men. Quentin feels like they will be safe, until Two Persons reminds him
that her husband doesn’t know they are also captives.
[Blooper: Kurt’s dark roots are showing! And later he throws his knife into a hunter and kills him and runs the other direction to the horses, yet
later HAS his knife!]
One of the remaining hunters leaves, afraid of being killed after he was the first one tortured and killed. They decide to let him run, knowing that there will be more money for the rest of
them with him gone.
Quentin tries to help the Indian woman, taking the bucket toward the stream to get water. The hunters mock him for doing women’s work, and one of them wonders if they got themselves a “half-squaw.” Another tells him that he’d be the one to find out, and he looks Quentin over
and says it would be his pleasure. He asks Quentin if he’s “fit for
doin’ other doin’s of a squaw, are ya?” Quentin hits him in
the face with the pail. They start coming after him, and only the sight of a
horse and rider stop the fight. It’s the dead hunter, tortured and killed
and tied to the horse.
Two Persons and Quentin get the chance to fight when Quentin is going to be killed over hitting the hunter with
the pail. They manage to escape and grab the Indian woman with them, but she
gets shot. Two Persons rides with her to hold her, and Quentin insists they stop
so that he can get the bleeding stopped before she dies. They manage to get into
a shallow space in some rocks, and Two Persons tries to attract the attention of the hunters away from Quentin and the woman.
Two Persons goes after the hunters and kills one. A second one
was shot with an arrow. Then Quentin is shot with an arrow in his leg by the
woman’s husband, when he doesn’t realize that Quentin is trying to help her.
He drags himself away, but is almost taunted by the woman’s husband. It’s
clear that he plans to kill Quentin, and there’s no way he can run with the arrow in his leg. Two Persons shows up, and the woman’s husband grabs Quentin, holding him in front of him as a shield. Two Persons is carrying the gun he took off the dead hunter, but he lays it down and
explains that Quentin is a doctor who was trying to save his wife’s life.
The Indian lets go of Quentin, who collapses. He goes to his wife,
and Two Persons comes over to his brother and jokes that he couldn’t stay out of trouble while he was gone. Quentin reminds him that he was always the headstrong one.
At the end, Quentin and Two Persons wave goodbye to the couple, and Quentin says at least some good came out
of all of this – that they were together again, a family again. Two Persons
knows that he’s thinking about Patricia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SHANKLIN
TQF: 9+
(Guest Stars:
Don Meredith, Marriette Hartley)
Shanklin (Meredith) is the commander
of the Texas Rangers, and has been too aggressive, maybe killing innocent men. The
business owners and politicians are getting nervous about his tactics, but he says that he struggles with bandits attacking
and then fleeing across the border to Mexico.
Quentin and Two Persons are riding
along, and find and help a wounded man. They didn’t know that he was an
outlaw, and are arrested for helping a criminal and are held until they can prove who they are. The Texas Rangers look them up in the “Outlaw Book.”
They’ve never heard of anything like that and ask what’s in it. The
answer is everyone who’s done anything from “stealing chickens to rape and murder.” Quentin mutters under is breath that it’s a “good thing nobody name Baudine ever stole a chicken
in the state of Texas!”
Shanklin still arrests Two Persons
and Quentin, even though they have papers proving they are who they say they are – which most cowboys wouldn’t
even have. He says he’s going to hold them until he can prove that their
crimes just haven’t been added yet to the outlaw book. And then tells them
that any attack on the rangers while the two brothers are in their custody will be seen as an attempt to free them. Quentin adds, “and that’s when you shoot us.”
Once they get to town, Two Persons
is relaxing on a porch and Quentin is beating one of the soldiers at “X’s and O’s”, explaining that
he has a God-given talent. Another old soldier comes up and scolds him for talking
to the prisoners, explaining to Quentin that it makes it that much harder if they have to shoot them. Two Persons points out that Shanklin is putting himself above the law.
The captain determines their innocence, and invites them to his home for dinner.
His cough and symptoms indicate to Quentin that Shanklin has tuberculosis. His
wife asks Quentin about any new drugs, but he doesn’t hold out much hope. The
asked them to join the Rangers to earn money, plus the Rangers are going the same direction they intend to hunt for Patricia. Quentin has to convince Two Persons that they need the money, and he’ll earn
more by scouting for them.
The two brothers are invited to join
the Texas Rangers, and reluctantly do for the opportunity to earn money for their search, even though it will set them back
time-wise. The Mexican outlaw, Medina,
conducts a raid and when Shanklin hears about it, he sets out after him and his band.
The Rangers are riding hard and fast,
and its exhausting. There are a couple cute teasing scenes. At night, Quentin is exhausted and moans, asking what time they have to get up. Two Persons kids him that they glory has worn off already. The
next day Quentin finds Two Persons sitting down, and threatens to tattle to Shanklin that he’s not working. Quentin imitates Shanklin’s lecturing tone, saying that while they are Rangers there will be no sitting
down, there will not be any hunkering down. Two Persons says that he’s
glad that Quentin is in it for the glory. Because he’s in it for the money
he can sit. Quentin sits down heavily beside him, but then Two Persons is up
and ready to ride again.
Quentin and Two Persons help an old man - one of the raiders is in his barn.
They capture him and then Shanklin hangs him. They find the site of the
attack; all the sons were killed and the wife raped. Quentin tries to help her
but has no laudanum and she faints. [Note:
the husband who was left alive to watch and witness the attack is Doc Baker of Little House on the Prairie.]
Two Persons finds Medina as he’s tracking them, but he gets over across to Mexico about two minutes ahead of them. The
Texas Rangers decide to break the law and cross over into Mexico
after them. Quentin and Two Persons sneak in to their compound first and open
the gates for the rangers to ride in. Quentin unties and spooks the horses. In the big shootout that follows, the band of Mexican outlaws is wiped out but it
will make the local towns safer.
When they get back, Shanklin is fired
for going into Mexico and the company
of Rangers is disbanded. He said goodbye to his men, but told them that he’s
proud there is law in the territory now and it’s time for him to move on.
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SEVENTY-TWO HOURS
TQF: 9+
(Guest
Stars: Aldo Ray, who was the yard boss, Heiser, in Riot (Bonanza); Cameron Mitchell, from High Chaparral; and Mitch Vogel,
Jamie in Bonanza)
Two Persons and Quentin ride into a
town, and Quentin jumps off his horse when he sees an old Indian man lying on the sidewalk.
He tries to help him, but the man dies. The Marshall, Jake Horn, sees
them, and comes over. He says that there’s no doctor in town, and that
they had one lined up who got scared off when he heard about what the town is like when the drovers come to town.
Before he heads off, he invites them to dinner that night. They
look around the trail town, and notice two rival cathouses across the street from each other, as well as general rowdiness. They head over to the undertaker, and he insists on charging them for the funeral. They have $1.42 between them, and the funeral is $3.05 - on sale! He offers Two Persons a job for seventy-five cents a day. He
figures he’ll be really busy soon, since two sets of drovers are in town at the same time.
At dinner that night they meet the
marshall’s wife, Sweet Woman, and she is Cheyenne Two Persons talks with
her in her native language and gets her shy daughter, Becky, to warm up to him. Jake
Horn offers Quentin a job as the town doctor. He wants Two Persons to work for
him, but he said he would need to pay off the funeral first. The brothers are
in one saloon with Jake Horn. He takes them over to Silver Tooth Annie’s
tent saloon and they see him settle down the cowboys before things get violent. They’re
impressed that he can restore order and keep everyone happy. He tells them he
tries to be firm but reasonable.
A couple cowboys are trying to tame
a wild horse for the marshall’s wife. Quentin bets the men that Two Persons can do it. He does,
and they are $20 richer. Quentin jokes that his brother comes in handy sometimes,
and then smiled and tells him they work pretty well together. You can see how
much it means to Quentin to have his brother back.
But later one cowboy plays a joke on
another by putting a dead frog in the man’s beer while he isn’t looking.
The man is furious, and ends up shooting and killing the man. Two Persons
throws his knife to kill another man about to shoot the marshall. The drovers bring business to the town, but the killings will hurt the town reputation. A dilemma, because if the drovers start avoiding the town it will disappear.
A humorous scene is when Silver Tooth
Annie sets a skunk loose in her rival’s establishment. It clears out the
place, but things escalate when Maggie grabs her riifle and charges over to Annie’s tent. They shoot at each other, and Maggie gets shot. Quentin rushes
in to help save her, thinking she’s dying. He keeps saying that it smells
like a skunk in there, but is ignored. The two rivals make up as they believe
the one is fatally wounded, but finally he says that the woman is just fine - it was only a flesh wound, and the battle is
back on..
A group of drunken cowboys is laughing
and dancing in the street. One cuts the cinch on a saddle, and when Jesse gets
on it falls to the ground. He sits on it while another cowboy drags it through
the street, as everyone watches and laughs. But he fires off his gun, and a stray
bullet kills Sweet Woman, Jake’s wife. The marshall goes after him, and determines he’ll be rough and hard on the drovers now
even if he has to shoot them. There is a standoff between the marshall and Two
Persons and Quentin trying to protect Jessie. Quentin finally asks the marshall what will happen to Becky?
What is she going to do without her mother or her father.
The marshall backs off then, but insists on holding Jessie for a trial. They lock him in jail, but expect the drovers to come for him before they head back out. Quentin is restless while pacing for them to come, while Two Persons is relaxed and patient. The mayor wants the drovers to take Jessie, and again Jake Horn insists on a trial. Shanghai, the man who hired all the drovers,
comes for him, and claims that his men will shoot the three who are guarding the jail.
All the town people come to support the brothers and the marshall, including the two feuding madames. Shanghai prepares to leave, but before
he does he tells the marshall that if they hang Jessie, he
will be just as guilty since the shot that killed his wife was an accident, and wouldn’t have happened if he had kept
better order in town in the first place. Jake Horn realizes the truth of his
statement, and sends Jessie off with them.
Before they leave, Quentin and Two
Persons stop to say good-bye to Jake. He’s posting a sign, and tells them
that he’s instituted a policy where drovers have to check their guns when they come to town. Most other towns have done that, and things will now be better.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PRAIRIE
WOMAN
TQF: 10
An outlaw, Tom Kurd, sentenced to hang
claims that he saw Quentin and Two Persons’ sister, and asks them to break him out of jail so he can show them where
she is. They talk to the sheriff, who doesn’t go for it. Then while in the jail cell, the outlaw uses a broom handle to knock over a lamp and start a fire. When the deputy comes in to rescue them, Kurd knocks him out, and leaves the deputy
and another prisoner to die in the fire while he escapes.
Quentin and Two Persons split from
the sheriff’s men to track him, and find that he robbed a woman who was home alone with a sick baby while her husband
was out checking his trap line. There’s a huge storm coming, and Two Persons
is anxious to follow the tracks before the storm wipes out his tracks, but Quentin can’t leave with the baby so sick. Quentin doesn’t want them to be separated, but realizes they have to. Two Persons finds a peddler who’s been shot by Kurd, and tracks Kurd into town where he sees Morgan
stalking him. The Marshall
arrests Two Persons for being a vagrant, just to harass him, but finally lets him go when he proves he has money. Two Persons is tracked by Kurd and his friends, and the friends are killed after a chase, then Kurd dies
in Two Persons’ arms without telling him first where Patricia is.
In the meantime, the baby dies despite
Quentin’s efforts, and the mother, Seeba (sp?), loses her mind with grief. She
refuses to believe that her baby is really dead, so Quentin has to deal with her and is worried about her mental state. She keeps rocking the empty cradle until Quentin finally has to use the ax to destroy
it - the only thing that got through to her.
He chops firewood, fixes the roof in a storm, and generally talks to her and provides company since there are
no close neighbors and the wind never stops blowing. At one point she seems surprised
that Quentin casually helps with the dishes, and you wonder if her husband stuck to traditional roles and chores. She tells him that they came west with a wagon train from Ohio, which was almost fun, but while everyone
else continued, her husband decided this is where they were to stop. Now they
are pretty much isolated and alone. She tells him how nice it is to have someone
to talk to.
Quentin’s outside caring for
his horse and she sees him watching for Morgan, knows that he’s worried about his brother. He tells her that she’s too pretty to never smile, and it starts her remembering the past. She gets out old photographs of herself, and gets cleaned up. Its
all very innocent, but she’s starting to become attracted to him doesn’t want her husband to find Quentin there,
knowing he’ll be jealous. Just before Quentin is ready to go, the husband
comes home and is upset that he’s there. Samuel tells Quentin to go, as
Seeba explains that he is a doctor who tried to save their baby son. He manages
to thank Quentin for what he did for his wife and son, but at the same time knows that his wife could easily fall in love
with Quentin. (Since he’s dang far cuter than her husband will ever be
in twelve lifetimes! Sorry!)
This is the episode with the scene
in the opening credits, of Quentin and Two Persons riding up to meet each other by the tree.
It’s a very cute brother bickering/teasing scene. They were both
obviously worried and concerned about the other one, and were pleased and happy to see each other again. Quentin calls out, “Hey, Indian!” and they both laugh.
Two Persons says he didn’t find where their sister is, and that Kurd is dead.
Then he says that he lost their money. Quentin rolls his eyes and says,
“Ah, well that figures!” So Two Persons tries to scold him and says,
“I thought I told you to wait for me back at the cabin!” Quentin
replies, “Well, I don’t have to do everything you tell me to do!”
Two Persons asks how things are at the cabin, and Quentin tells him the baby died.
He asks how the woman is and sees Quentin get very thoughtful when he says that she’ll be all right. Two Persons then asks softly how he is, and Quentin says that he’s all right, too.
They shake off their disappointments, and Quentin smiles and says, “Let’s ride, brother!”
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WELCOME TO AMERICA, JADE
SNOW
TQF: 9+
(Guest
Star: Gary Collins)
The two brothers ride into an unfriendly
town. They bicker over money, because they only have $1.85. Quentin wants to eat a real meal in a restaurant to have real bacon and coffee, and yet if they do, they
won’t have money for supplies. Two Persons says they don’t need supplies,
but Quentin doesn’t know what Morgan is feeding him besides rabbit and pheasant and buffalo rump and other mystery food. Two Persons makes him admit that it tastes good – whatever it is. They both laugh when the only alternative seems to be robbing a bank.
They hear a commotion and go outside. A mine owner is bringing in a wagon load of Chinese workers to break the mine strike. In the fight that ensues, one Chinese man gets a concussion and Quentin tries to help. The man is taken to the local Chinese doctor, and
Quentin works to help take care of the injured man. Both doctors are impressed
with the skills of the other. The Chinese doctor offers Quentin a job, to actually
do the stitching, etc., that he himself cannot do because of arthritis in his hands.
They become good friends, and enjoy working together and learning from each other.
While Quentin is working with the other
doctor, Two Persons sees a pretty Chinese girl and follows her into a store. She
brings out her baby daughter, Jade Snow, and he finds out she is married now. Apparently
he knew her when she had a somewhat shady past. Her name is China, and her jealous husband asks her if they will always
run into her former customers.
Strained relations between the Chinese
workers and the striking miners continue to escalate, and several fights break out.
The store owners refuse to sell to the Chinese, but then while Two Persons and Quentin are in the store a Chinese man
holds up a boot and asks, “how much?” The store owner replies, “Five
dollars.” Turns out he means five dollars for ONE boot. When the man destroys the one boot the store keeper tries to attack him, but Quentin comes to his defense
pointing out that he bought it and can do what he wants. The store owner starts
mocking Quentin for being the doctor who treats the Chinese and says no white person will ever come to him now.
He replies that he’ll treat anyone, “even you.” The
men in the store are all ready to fight. Two Persons steps between the store
owner and Quentin, and says smoothly, “Maybe that’s the problem with Quentin, he’s always feeling sorry
for somebody,” and punches the man. Quentin speaks up, “Well, some
of us are just sensitive, that’s all!” and throws another punch.
The Chinese husband and wife fight
over the baby - he wants to return to China
but their laws say he can take the baby. China asks Two Persons to help her escape with her baby. Quentin and Two Persons have a discussion on duty and responsibility, which is touching. Quentin feels like Morgan shouldn’t get involved with China,
because it’s been a long time and she’s not his responsibility. But
then Two Persons points out that Quentin is just as involved with the Chinese people he’s treating as their doctor. Quentin says that it’s a job and he’s getting paid, but Morgan asks if
it’s only the money? He admits it’s more than that. When he asks Morgan if he feels responsible for China even though he only knew her a short time and it’s
been a long time, Morgan says that he does. Quentin then says, “Well, I
think that’s first class,” and smiles at him.
The Chinese doctor asks Quentin to
help him with an amputation. Quentin works shirtless. Yes. Well.
The sheriff of the town calls in all
the local businessmen to help him keep the peace. He keeps trying to persuade
them to help defuse the escalating tensions and wants to deputize nearly twenty men.
They resist, and tell him maybe they should have marshall
law. He tells them how bad it can be. The
sheriff keeps trying to get the business owners to help diffuse the tensions but they refuse.
It turns out that the man in charge of the mine wants to completely replace all
the workers with Chinese, and has no intention of settling the strike. He regards
the Chinese as less than human, planning to work them long hours with little pay, and says that all the striking miners will
be fired on Monday morning if they don’t report to work. The miners and
townspeople march to the Chinese community, tear it apart, including trashing the store that China’s husband owns. Only Quentin
and Two Persons will help the sheriff. Quentin doctors the injured Chinese. China’s
husband realizes he loves her too much to leave without her. Mr. Pearson of the
mine is fired after word gets back to the mine owner, who is upset because the strike and bloodshed was unnecessary.
Quentin and Two Persons are disgusted
when it looks like no indictments will be handed down for the men who caused the riot.
The men arrested start gloating thinking they’ll be set free, but then the sheriff tells them the army will be
removing them from the territory and that they are all fired from the mine. They
protest that he can’t get away with that, and replies that they got away with murder.
He adds that they will have to answer to a higher power one day, which gets them to thinking. The businessmen try to apologize to the sheriff who is quitting.
He basically tells them off, and that their apology is too little too late.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE
LONGEST DRIVE
TQF: 10-
(Guest
star: Eric Estrada)
Quentin and Two Persons are riding along in the opening scene. They
pass a ranch entrance with a Lazy H brand, and Two Persons recognizes is as Hatcher, who is a friend. Two Persons wants to stop, but Quentin is anxious to keep riding to make town by evening. Two Persons convinces him just to say hello.
Before they get there, however, we see a scene with Hatcher and a young man, Santos (Eric Estrada) working for him breaking horses.
They argue, and Santos quits, telling Hatcher that
he’s jinxed – too many bad years, foolish decisions. He wants Hatcher
to just quit.
As Santos rides off, Quentin and Two Persons
ride up. It takes him a minute to recognize Two Persons from when he was ten. He offers them work to help take a herd toward Pueblo,
Colorado. It’s the direction
they’re going, and Two Persons wants to help out, but Quentin is anxious to keep moving.
The brothers head into town, and see a blacksmith take a man and shake him upside down to get the money he’s
owed. They chuckle at the sight, but also make a note not to get him mad at them. We also see an artist, Tom Wakely, showing a drawing to his girlfriend, Bess. She’s the storekeeper’s daughter, and her father demands Tom get a real
job before courting Bess.
The brothers can’t decide whether to eat first or get cleaned up first, but we see them next in big washtubs. Quentin is trying to read the paper, while the proprietor, Cooley, is grumbling that
his arms are breaking from carrying buckets of hot water to them. We warns them that there’s no doctor in town if they
get ‘new-monie’ from soaking too long in the water, and Quentin tells him that he IS a doctor and you don’t
get pneumonia from taking a bath! Two Persons slowly draws a gun and Cooley thinks
his aiming at him when he shoots a large snake off a shelf. Then Cooley grumbles
that he has to clean up the mess of the dead snake and Quentin makes a sarcastic remark about his sense of gratitude.
Its evening and a clean and refreshed Quentin and Two Persons head into the saloon for dinner. Hatcher comes in tries to get workers on his drive, but everyone turns him down. His biggest rival has hired them all away, plus no one wants to work for him anyway. Hatcher comes to sit them, but when Armes shows up they argue and Ames
shoots him.
Quentin has to operate in the saloon. Santos rushes in, talking too much, and Quentin tells him if he’s going to stay he
can help by holding Hatcher down in case he wakes up. Both Santos and Two Persons grimace and look queasy and distraught. Santos says, “I don’t think
I would like to be a doctor.” Two Persons snorts, “You should live with one!”
As Quentin stays close to doctor Hatcher and oversee his recovery, he hears Two Persons basically promising
to help move his cattle. He grabs Two Persons to haul him outside the room and
discuss it. Then Quentin finds out that Hatcher saved a starving Indian tribe
by giving them cattle, expecting no payment or thanks. Two Persons asks Quentin
if he would even like him if he didn’t help, and of course Quentin understands it’s something they have to do.
They round up the bottom of the barrel workers, and we learn their stories and motivations for the trip. Tucker, the blacksmith, wants to be something more than just seen as a servant. He wants to earn enough money to buy the worst land he can find – so he’ll
be left alone. Cooley used to work on a wagon train, and agrees to be the cook
on this one, but Quentin has to make sure he stops drinking. Then Quentin and
Two Persons haul him into a horse trough to get clean – the first bath he’s apparently had for quite some long
time. Walter Lucas used to work for Hatcher years ago, but he killed men and
that became his reputation. His wife and daughter left him to go to Chicago, and he figures that after they get to Pueblo he’ll keep going, find his wife, and get a little house and be a family again. And Tom Wakely gets caught trying to elope so he joins the drive hoping to prove he
can keep a ‘real’ job. As
they work preparing the crew and rounding up supplies and branding the cattle, two brothers ask for work. Billy Don and Jess, who we learn had a father who was hung for cattle rustling. And after they start, Santos comes along,
not able to see Hatcher do this without him.
They finally set out, planning to go across the badlands to save 300 miles.
As Quentin checks out Hatcher, he scolds him that he won’t have Quentin nursemaiding him the whole trip. Quentin snaps back that he needs to do what he’s told. (I love how Quentin doesn’t take any grief from older men who are used to bossing everyone around!)
The trip has various troubles along the way, the first one happening nearly at the start of the trip. Walter Lucas gets killed as his horse stumbles and falls as he goes after a stray, and he breaks his neck
in the fall. Billy Don and Jess are lazy and leave Quentin out on watch well
past his shift is over. A band of Indians has been following them closely for
days, and finally rides close, circling and yelling. Two Persons tells them to
be still, and Quentin pulls a gun on one of the brothers who pulls his gun on the Indians, knowing they are far outnumbered. Two Persons says that the Indians are just trying to scare them and Quentin comments
dryly that it’s working! The leader hands Two Persons a note, which was
written by Ames saying that this is a good man. Hatcher gets a kick out of turning over the stray cattle with Ames’
brand that they had found. He was planning to sell it and enjoy the look on Ames’ face when he handed over the money.
Then Cooley’s wagon – with Hatcher in the back – nearly goes over a cliff. Hatcher tells Santos later that the ranch
will be his once he’s gone, and they finally admit to each other that they feel like family.
More events happen to hold up their progress. Two Persons finally
locates a water hole, but rides back to keep the cattle from smelling it so they don’t stampede. He’d seen a band of squatters at the hole, which sometimes happens as people try to profit by charging
ranchers to let their cattle drink. Hatcher and Quentin and Cooley ride in to
find that they’re kids, who’s father left and they don’t know if he’s dead or just left them. They pull guns and shoot at the three, but then Two Persons sneaks up behind them
with his own gun. They send the kids off, but until they’ve begged money
as ‘poor, innocent orphans.’
Quentin finds Jess and Billy Don re-branding cattle to eventually steal, and Two Persons shows up. They plan to take them to Hatcher to deal with. Billy Don
pulls his gin and shoots at Quentin who yells at him not to fire but has to kill him.
The shots spook the cattle into a stampede, and Billy Don is killed. The
herd scatters, and the men and horses are exhausted after the extra days of rounding them all up. Hatcher forgives Jess, knowing that he’s not responsible for his brother’s actions. Tucker was hurt earlier, and Quentin doctors him with Two Persons’ suggestion of axel grease. But they’re all exhausted and worn out, low on food, out of water, and the next
water hole isn’t where it’s indicated on the map.
The cattle start getting really restless, and they realize that the cows smell the water. The men head after them, and find a beautiful small lake. The
cattle and horses are at one end, while the men splash and get clean and enjoy the cool clean water themselves.
That night
they enjoy themselves as they’re all clean, refreshed and have clean clothes and clean water again. They get the cattle delivered and sold in Pueblo,
and all receive a nice profit from the proceeds of the sale. Everyone has plans
for the future, and looks forward to their lives ahead. It’s been a successful
drive, and they all leave as friends.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PORTRAIT OF A GUNFIGHTER
TQF: 9-
The opening scene is two parents and
a teenage son, Jim, setting up an elegant dining table with candle holders and a lace tablecloth, even though they are driving
a covered wagon headed west as settlers. A band of wolfers attacks, killing the
parents, but the son gets away and hides even though he’s been shot. Quentin
and Two Persons hear gunshots, and find the son. Quentin gets the bullet out. In typical fashion, the brothers disagree on what to do. Two Persons is anxious to get going after the ones selling guns to Indians, but Quentin says he has to
wait there until the boy lives or dies.
Quentin and Two Persons take Jim to
town and teach him to shoot. He’s a natural, but Two Persons worries that
it’s too easy and natural. Two Persons tells Quentin that everybody has
to grow up sooner or later, “even you!”
Jim sells the wagon and supplies, and
buys a gun and fancy hat and gun. He flirts with the store owners’ daughter.
Someone in town has seen Iron Hawk’s band, and the Indians have the repeater rifles. Quentin and Two Persons question the store keeper about the rifles.
He claims that he doesn’t have to show them any records he might keep, but they persist. Two Persons is getting visibly irritated, and Quentin uses that to their advantage. “Don’t get him riled up; he’s lived with the Cheyenne
a long time!”
The Marshall won’t help go after the man
taking rifles to the Cheyenne.
When they look disgusted, he tells them he’ll ask around. The brothers
are having dinner in the hotel with Jim when a reporter comes in offering money for his story.
Jim bargains the price higher to buy fancy clothes and get reward money for the men who killed his parents. Quentin feels like he’s earned a chance to brag a little, but Two Persons is disgusted at him glorifying
the killing.
Jack Bell, a famous gunfighter, is
in town for the funeral of his one true love. He thinks Jim is after him, trying
to be the one to kill the famous gunfighter, and almost kills the boy. Later
he’s at a table playing cards when two men come to kill him. Jack is holding
a gun under the table, but Jim shoots both first. Jim becomes famous as a reporter comes to talk to him about the shooting. The storekeeper’s daughter flirts with him, and he generally starts changing
from the boy he was coming west with his parents.
The town marshall checked, and the horses were re-shod. Quentin
and Two Persons are ready to go after the gunrunners, and the marshall
insists they take Jim. He’s afraid that Jim is getting a gunfighter reputation,
especially with the relatives of the two men he just killed, and he wants Jim out of town before the dead men’s relatives
come looking for him. The three of them track the gun wagon, and Jim kills the
driver, saying it wasn’t much of a loss. Quentin is dismayed by the casual
attitude of the killing, and how Jim is about being a good shot. The brothers
wanted him alive, to give them the location of Iron Hawk’s band where their sister is.
They go back to town to sleep for the night, planning to head out in the morning, although the marshall wants them gone immediately.
A Mexican boy finds Jim in the barn with the girl, and tells him
that he saw the wolfers, and he goes after them alone. Quetin and Two Persons
find out he’s gone and they argue. Quentin insists on going after Jim,
because he feels responsible for him. Two Persons wants to go immediately after
Iron Hawk. When Jim finds them at a cabin, he kills them all - two men, and two
women. Quentin goes after him and sees what he did. Quentin is appalled at how his abilities with a gun have made him feel like he can take anyone’s
life, and then Jim nearly kills Quentin, shooting him in the arm. Two Persons
had followed Quentin after all, and kills Jim to prevent him from killing Quentin. They
bury the five dead, and Quentin wonders, “If it hadn’t been for that one day, would his whole life have been different?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FREIGHT TRAIN RESCUE
TQF: 9
A band of outlaws attack a few U.S.
Government surveyors as they travel across the desert. They steal their supplies,
wagons, horses, and nearly kill one man. They are nearly three hundred miles
from the nearest town.
Meanwhile, Two Persons and Quentin
arrive in Mule Town. While they ride in, they see huge freight wagons being driven by oxen. They stop one of the mule whackers to ask whether they’ve seen any sign of the tribe Patricia may
be with. He tells them that Mr. Story is the one they should talk to, and they
find him in the saloon after he sells his freight to the storekeeper. He tells
them that he believes he did see their sister - across the mountains. Quentin
is dismayed by the time it will take them to get across the mountains, but Two Persons says he knows a route across the Badlands.
Story overhears that and wants Two
Persons to show him the trail. He plans to move 900 head of cattle across the
trail. About then the one surveyor who had been away from the camp when it was
attacked came into town nearly dead. Quentin clears everyone out of the saloon
and uses tables pulled together to work on the man. He needs Morgan’s help,
and Morgan is squeamish about it.
The injured man manages to tell them
where the others are, and they set out with supplies and a wagon to rescue the surveying team.
Two Persons and Quentin get to know the freight company owner and the bullwhackers.
Quentin laughs to the owner about the man who complains all the time, and he admits that he only keeps him because
he’s good at what he does. The bullwhackers practice with whips one day
as they’re resting at noon, and ‘pretend’ what they
would bet if they were allowed to bet. Two Persons and Quentin have a good time
laughing at the good-natured kidding and competition between them. But then the
meaner one uses his whip to catch Two Persons around the leg and trips him. Two
Persons goes after him with a knife but lets him go. As he turns away, the man
pulls out a gun, but Quentin is faster with his own gun and shoots the bullwhacker, and then is disgusted because he has to
treat him. “I’d just as soon bury you as bandage you.” He sighs heavily, then says he’ll go get his medical kit. Story makes it clear that the next time he tries to pull anything like that, he’ll kill the man himself.
The outlaws were waiting around in
order to attack the rescue party. Two Persons sees them, so they leave one man
to drive all the wagons tied together, and the others sneak around behind to ambush the outlaws. During the shootout, Quentin moves the chambers around to the empty ones.
He deliberately clicks the empty chamber two or three times to fool the outlaw into believing that his gun is empty,
and when the man stands up to kill Quentin, he shoots him instead.
In the meantime, the remaining surveyors
struggle to survive with no food. They have no water, and try to catch the random
snake or rat. After the injured man dies, two other surveyors try to convince
them to turn to cannibalism to survive. The rest of them are horrified, but they
go off over a hill dragging the dead man after they fight about it. One man sets
off to search again for help, preferring to die rather than resort to that. Quentin
finds him along the trail, and he’s only been dead three or four hours before they get there.
They find the other survivors, with
the two men looking much stronger and healthier than the others. Quentin asks
where the wounded man is (not knowing yet that he had since died). He demands
an answer two or three times, while the weaker ones just stare at the two healthier ones.
Everyone in the rescue party is horrified, and they get defensive. They
tell everyone else to stop staring at them, that they did what they had to. Two
Persons comments that they will have to answer to their God in the future.
Blooper:
To me it seemed strange that the freight owner, Mr. Story, wanted Two Persons to show him a ‘secret, unknown’
path across the desert that only the Indians knew. And yet... it looked to me
like they were following a path with wheel tracks! Hmmm.... Although, to be fair, at the end Two Persons was pointing out the path across the plains OFF the path,
so maybe that was it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE LAST OF THE MOUNTAIN MEN TQF: 10+++
(Guest
Stars: Lief Erickson; Pernell Roberts)
Quentin and Two Persons are with Jericho (Lief Erickson), who is one of the last remaining mountain men
in the area. They’ve been trapping with him for three months to earn money.
They ride down the mountain with him to the last rondevous. He knows it’s
the end of an era, and that they are down from nearly three hundred trappers to about twenty.
The others got killed off or gave up.
An arrow goes whizzing by and they realize it’s a Crow Indian. Jericho asks Two Persons, “You know any Crow?” Two Persons: “A Few words.” Quentin: “Well, make ‘em the right ones, will ya?!”
Two Persons says that the Crow is telling them that they are on his sacred ground, and soon Jericho is standing up arguing and mocking. It
turns out that it was Jericho’s good friend, Windy. [Who has a mule named Lizzy – but we wouldn’t have to put that in the
guide!]
They get to the celebration, and there
is fighting and gun play and Indian women. Jericho
and Windy tell Quentin and Two Persons about the old days and how they looked forward to the stuff the traders would bring
from the city. Calder (Pernell Roberts) is there with his half-breed son. The son is attacking an Indian girl, and Two Persons stops him, saying that she didn’t
want to go with him.
Quentin: “Seems to me when I helped an Indian girl you told me not to interfere.” Morgan: “This is different.” “Quentin: “Oh,
it always is when it’s you!”
There is a fight at the camp between
Two Persons and the mean trapper Calder’s son. The son was all humiliated
that he lost the fight and rides off.
Then the buyer tells all the trappers that this is his last trip to buy furs.
There aren’t enough trappers left and not enough fur demand to keep in business.
It’s a sad time for both the trader and the trappers; they are all good friends and will miss each other and
the times they’ve had together. After the fight, Quentin doctors Two Persons’
injured ear. “I don’t want to say ‘I told you so.’” “Then
don’t.”
The buyer offers a whiskey bottle to
the brothers as a parting gift. Two Persons turns it down, but Quentin takes
it and gives it to Jericho and Windy. Calder argues with the buyer and wants credit. The buyer refuses
because he had left another man stranded in a blizzard to die and can’t be trusted.
They steal their furs and kill Windy for his as well. We overhear their
plans to steal from all the trappers. Quentin and Morgan want to go after Calder. Jericho told them that all their three months’ worth of work and all their money
is to use to get their sister back, and has them going back out to trap some more before the snows come. Quentin and Two Persons are setting the traps in the cold water under Jericho’s
supervision, with it clear how much the friends and brothers mean to each other in the kidding that takes place.
The three find Calder and his men, and Jericho
wants to kill him but Quentin doesn’t want him to commit murder. But then
Calder’s son throws his ax which nearly kills Quentin. He loses way too
much blood, and gets an infection from whatever poison was on the ax. Quentin
is consumed with fever and chills and overwhelming pain, and Two Persons and Jericho
try to treat him and keep him as warm as possible.
Calder comments about the lack of resemblance between Two Persons and Quentin.
They don’t answer, and he goes on to say that his Indian son is his even though they don’t look alike. Jericho says, “He’s
just like you. Rotten.” Calder
replies, “I like that.”
Calder leaves him to die, planning to sell Jericho
to the Indians who will torture him to death. As Calder forces him and Two Persons
to walk behind his horses, he taunts Jericho with the painful
death awaiting him. Jericho
begs Two Persons to kill him first, but he refuses. Jericho manages to escape, but as he runs he falls on some rocks and they think he is killed. Calder plans to sell Two Persons into slavery to another Indian tribe.
In the meantime, Quentin manages to
survive and gets to a stream where he finds a mule that Calder didn’t bother to go after. Jericho survives, too, and finds Quentin. He wants to go for help, but Quentin says that he’s lost his brother once and
won’t lose him again. They track Calder and capture him, turning him over
to the army.
At the end of the show, Jericho is going to head back up to the mountains he loves, even though there is no real
future in trapping any longer. Two Persons: “We learned much from you,
Jericho.” Jericho: “Aaahh....”
Quentin: “Jericho...” “Jericho: “Don’t you
say nothin’, boy. I ain’t used to long goodbyes.” They smile in understanding, and before he rides off, Jericho
turns to them smiling and tells them, “When you find that sister a yours, bring her up to the mountains for a visit. Two Baudines is interestin’. Three
oughta be downright overwhelmin’!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DYNASTY OF EVIL
TQF: 9+
Quentin and Two Persons are outside
at night, cooking over an open fire. They are having a thoughtful discussion,
with Two Persons wondering aloud how much the army did him a favor by rescuing him from the Indians. Quentin tells him, “You’re the only one who can answer that.” Then Two Persons wonders how much of a favor they’re doing Patricia.
Quentin says, “Tell you what. Let’s find her, and then you
can ask her.” They both chuckle slightly and it lights the mood.
Other men arrive - three Jordan brothers - who claim the two are trespassing and kick
them off the land, stealing their dinner.
The next day at the Deshant ranch,
the son of the ranch owner, Clay, is working on the books while Jenny tries to flirt with him.
She’s in love with him, but he only likes her as a friend or cousin. His
father is bringing a guest to the ranch that he wants his son to marry, feeling like as a legislator’s daughter she
is more suitable than Jenny. They seem to have taken her in as sort of a charity
case; her mother had a shady past. The scene cuts to Deshant and the girl, Carrie,
riding to the ranch in a buggy, when the Jordans
see them and decide to have some fun. They chase the horse and fire shots in
the air. The buggy hits a rock and Carrie goes flying out of the buggy, and then
the horse runs under a branch and Deshant is knocked out by a branch, which impales him.
Quentin and Two Persons heard the shots
and saw what was happening. Two Persons gets the girl picked up, Quentin rushes
to help Deshant, then Two Persons gets the horse and buggy stopped. Quentin
gets the branch pulled out of Deshant’s leg and they get him back to his house.
Quentin has to stitch him up, and Deshant gives him a hard time. Quentin
barks right back at him, which is funny.
Asa Jordan knows that Deshant is going to send his men after them, so he sends his
sons to the hills to hide. They do come to his shack, and when they don’t
find the sons they tear up the garden and dump beef in the well. There is a long-standing,
on-going feud between them, and neither is willing to let it die.
Back at the ranch, Deshant offers Quentin
a glass of scotch, and they visit and tease each other. You can see the respect
and admiration each has for the other, and they quickly become friends. Deshant
mentions that “You and that brother of yours are an unlikely combination.”
Quentin just smiles. Then Deshant tells Quentin that it feels like he operated on him with a shovel, and Quentin tells
him that’s because there’s nothing inside of him but gristle. He offers to send ten men out to Bear
Mountain to look for their sister, which Quentin is grateful for. When
he asks how long that might take, he’s dismayed that the answer is eight to ten days.
Quentin tells him they wanted to be gone by then, and Deshant asks him what he’s got against a soft bed and good
food. Then he adds that he’s not offering something for nothing - he figures
he’s got a doctor bill to pay.
Jenny kind of gives up on flirting
with Clay now that Carrie is there; so she starts flirting with Two Persons. He’s
very uncomfortable when the makes suggestive comments about imagining him in the bathtub, and later that night goes into the
barn where he’s sleeping and tries to seduce him. She is angry when he
rebuffs her, although by the end of the show she thanks him for being a gentleman.
The feud escalates with Asa Jordan breaking into their house during dinner, and then Deshants
men capture the youngest son and whip him on the boss’s orders. While Quentin
is checking the stitches and Deshant is suggesting he set up a medical practice there after they find their sister, which
Deshant offers to fund. Deshant can tell that Quentin disapproves of his tactics
and methods of running the ranch and the community. He’s pointing out that
he created a huge, wealthy ranch while Asa Jordan
is still living in a shack. Quentin replies, “well, we can’t all
be Matthew Deshants.” I love the way Quentin doesn’t back down. Quentin and Two Persons find out about the whipping and order the son cut down, and
take him home.
Two Persons has had enough and wants
to take off. Quentin is hopeful that Deshants men may come back with news and
wants to wait a little longer. They agree to wait three more days. Clay offers to show them some of the ranch while they’re there, and they find that Jordan’s men dammed up their stream again. While Clay is starting to move the rocks, he’s shot by one of the Jordans and Quentin treats him. The
rancher rides out after the Jordans then,
but they are waiting until he leaves and they plan to set fire to the house. Two
Persons is relaxing by the horse corral and Quentin comes out on the porch with a cup of coffee. They see that the fire has been set in the barn, and work to save the horses and barn. While they’re in the barn, the Jordan’s
are setting a wagon full of hay on fire and push it up against the house, so Quentin and Two Persons rush there to save the
house.
One of the Jordan brothers grabs Carrie and drags her off to assault her, and Quentin and
Two Persons fight the others at the house. Two Persons throws his knife to kill
one of the Jordans, and then Quentin fights
and subdues Asa. Jenny hears Carrie’s screams, and goes after them, shooting
that brother. At the end, the feud is over.
The Jordans move away - their cabin
is gone - with only the youngest son left. There is regret on the part of both
men, but what is done is done.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE SEMINOLE NEGRO INDIAN SCOUTS
TQF: 10
(Guest
Star: Billy D. Williams)
Quentin and Two Persons are riding
over mountains in the opening shot, and they see an army wagon with just three riders in the middle of Comanche country. They notice that men are lurking to ambush the wagon, and try to warn the army. Too late they realize their mistake: it’s
not driven by Army, but Comancheros who stole the army wagon and supplies being attacked by bandits.
As the bullets fly around them, Quentin says to Two Persons, “Reminds me what Tank Logan said right before
they hanged him.” Two Persons, “What’s that?” Quentin, “Hellova way to start out a morning!”
Turns out after the fight that the
ones on the army wagon were really the outlaws, and the ones lurking were the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts – not bandits
after all. They were trying to capture the comancheros running guns and whiskey
to the Indians. Quentin patches up the scout who got shot, and the brothers are
invited back to town for a drink in the ‘colored’ saloon. They tell
Quentin and Two Persons about Chino, who is the leader of
a band who attack anyone and everyone. He has anywhere from 15-50 men with
him at any given time. They have a personal issue with him; he beheaded two of
their scouts. They thank Quentin for buying a round of drinks, telling him that
their pay is short. Turns out they’ve received nothing of what the army
promised them.
The army sends someone after them to
come to a ceremony awarding the four Negro scouts the highest medal of honor. The
families are so proud of their men for getting their medals. While Quentin and
Two Persons are in the army camp, they try to find out whether the army has seen anything of their sister with any band of
Indians they may have come across. They haven’t, but the major tells Quentin
they are bringing in another band of Indians soon and will check then. The major
is racist against the black scouts, but the lieutenant is pleased that the scouts have finally received the honors he’s
been recommending for them. Later that night the cantina, the local sheriff closes
the colored saloon at midnight for them disturbing the peace, even though
they let cowboys act rowdy all night.
Quentin and Two Persons are invited
to Pompey’s home for dinner that night. They can see the bare conditions
of the house. They ask whether they could rent out the lean-to for $1 a day. It helps the family out, and saves their pride that it’s not a charity handout. They are staying in town until they can get word from the major about their sister,
and in the mean time Quentin sees there is no doctor for the black soldiers and their families, and he starts seeing and treating
them all. They also see that scouts aren’t allowed to buy from the white
store.
The army brings back two white women
that they rescued, but neither is Patricia. The one dies, and the other is in
shock. Quentin uses hypnotism on her, and they learn that the Comanches raided
the Cheyenne. She
was captured by Chino’s men and sold to the Comanchees,
but she was able to tell them that Chino’s camp is on
the Concho River.
The scouts ride through Chino’s camp, and Big John Ward is killed in the raid as hi kills Chino. That night an empty chair and un-drunk
glass of beer sits in honor of him at the cantina. It is a somber group. The lieutenant comes in, to tell them that their last request for food and land has
been denied. They want to go back to Mexico, but can’t desert. Quentin
looks over the agreement, and says that the contract should be binding on both sides.
If the army didn’t keep their side of the bargain, the scouts aren’t obligated to, either! They decide to leave that night.
Two Persons helps load while the scouts
enter the general store. Quentin helps out by reading the list of all the supplies
and tools and food and seed for crops. Pretty much everything on the store is
included in the list of what they were promised, so they completely wipe out the shelves.
As the scouts leave, Quentin writes a note indicating the story owner is to bill the army for payment, and tacks it
up with his gun handle. He then pulls the door shut behind him, locking up the
room with completely bare shelves.
The next morning the army rides after
them with the business and store owners from town right behind, and catches up to them as they are in sight of the border. The town posse demands that the army arrest and capture them, or kill them all. Quentin points out that they’ve done nothing against the contract the army gave
them, but the business owners couldn’t care less. When it looks grim, Quentin
asks them to wait before they shoot until the brothers can join the scouts and their families.
The major instructs his men to form a line, to protect the scouts and their families from the town posse, until they
get across to Mexico. The Major suggests with a hint of a smile that Quentin and Two Persons leave, so only the sheriff and the
storekeeper will be at the Army hearing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
General Observations From Watching The Series:
#1 Tim is just too dang cute for words.
#2 In almost every show, at some point the brothers disagree,
with one wanting to push forward in their search and the other needing to stay for some reason; or usually needing to take
additional time to help someone they feel an obligation to.
#3 In many of the shows, it’s Quentin who is the one who’s
hungry or talking about eating and food. I know that Two Persons tends to be
more stoic, as is the Indian way. But Quentin is the skinnier one, and Two Persons
looks more well-fed to me!
#4 The teasing scenes between the brothers are really cute. To me, the conversations they have are the best part of the show. Sometimes they are arguing, sometimes they are teasing, and sometimes they are having more intense discussions. In every case, it’s neat to see the interaction between them.
#5 I left off one ‘blooper,’ but it was in the movie
when they were on the cattle drive. They show a distant shot of the cattle, and
later (supposedly the next day) it’s the very same shot.
#6 I hope I spelled names right.
Some I just couldn’t hear, and every time they said it, it sounded different.
The credits listed some, but not others.
Note: “TQF” is my personal Tim QT (Cutie) Factor, subject to interpretation!!!
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