01x23 - The Return of Red Cloud

[bunniefuu]

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

[Champion whinnying]

♪ Like a steak of lightning
flashing cross the sky ♪

♪ Like the swiftest arrow
whizzing from a bow ♪

♪ Like a mighty cannonball
he seems to fly ♪

♪ You'll hear about
him everywhere you go ♪

♪ The time will come when
everyone will know the name of ♪

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

[horse galloping]

[triumphant instrumental music]

[dramatic music]

[rhythmic drumming]

- Running Bear's teepee's honored, Sandy.

- I read the smoke
signals, and hear drums.

Running Bear is calling
his chiefs to w*r council.

- Many moons I have kept
the w*r drums quiet,

even when Indian Agency moved
us from rich land to here,

where corn won't grow, or
we cannot hunt buffalo.

But now, better to die like warrior

than starve to death in
teepee like old woman.

- But your son is returning.

He has learned our law, he has spoken to

the white chiefs in Washington.

Wait for his counsel.

- Red Cloud is young.

I am old.

I have had many promises from
white chiefs, all broken.

- But Red Cloud has learned new ways.

The old ways bring nothing but death.

- We must do what must be done.

My warriors will not wait long.

[light instrumental music]

- Stay back, Rebel, 'til I whistle.

[Champion trotting]

This time I'll hide the
ball so he can't find it.

[horse trotting]

There's Red Cloud, he's coming home.

[dramatic music]

[g*nshots]

[dramatic music]

Scare him away, Champ!

Go, charge!

[Champion trotting]

[g*nsh*t]

[Champion whinnying]

Good work, Champ--

[whistles]

[Rebel barking]

Not now, Rebel.

Get Uncle Sandy.

[Rebel barking]

Are you hurt bad, Red Cloud?

- I don't know.

I know that was Cal Blake.

- Say.

It did look like Blake, but why
would he try to hold you up?

- I haven't any idea.

- You just stay quiet, Rebel's
gone to get Uncle Sandy.

- Okay.

[waves rushing]

- Well, it's a good thing you've
got tough robes, Red Cloud.

That b*llet might have gone through

instead of just glancing over.

- There for a while I felt like

another redskin biting the dust.

- Running Bear does not laugh.

My son has been too
much with the white man.

- My father allowed me to
learn the white man's law.

The one who did this will
be punished by that law.

- Are you sure it was
Cal Blake, Red Cloud?

- Yes, I saw his face when
I pulled the mask down.

- And it looked like Blake to me.

- What're you gonna do?

- Follow due process of law.

Swear out a complaint for
as*ault with a deadly w*apon

with an attempt to commit m*rder.

[dramatic music]

- Well, this is a serious charge, Marshal.

Was there any evidence
to support Red Cloud?

The warrant's enough, Dabney.

But Ricky North said he
also recognized Blake.

- How close to the
assailant were you, Ricky?

- Well, I wasn't very close,
but he was the same size

as Cal Blake, and looked like him.

- Mighty slim evidence to
accuse a man of m*rder.

- My evidence isn't slim, Mr. Dabney.

I saw Blake's face.

- Comes down to one man's
word against another's.

[door opening]

- I just heard about Blake being arrested

on a trumped up charge.

- It's not a trumped up charge, Edwards.

- Well, it couldn't have been
Blake, because he was working

on the fence for me all day yesterday.

- That's right.

We was together all day long.

He never left my sight.

- Sounds like you were a little hasty

in making the arrest, Marshal.

Now it's three men's word against

one Indian's, and a kid's guess.

- Doesn't an Indian's word count with you?

- Well, it depends.

wherever there's a crime,
there's bound to be a motive.

Now, what would you
say Blake's motive was?

- Well, I don't know.

You better ask Blake.

- Having full authority to enforce the law

in this reservation, I hereby declare

that the evidence is insufficient,

and order the Marshal to release
the prisoner from custody.

- Sure, they're both lying.

- [Red Cloud] You and Edwards
are the ones who are lying.

[dramatic music]

- [Sandy] Hey, that's enough, both of you!

Seems to me Larsen could
be held for as*ault.

- Well, it was provocation on both sides.

- You can find all the
alibis you want to, Blake,

but you're gonna pay for that sh*t.

- Just a moment, Red Cloud.

That's an open thr*at to
take personal revenge,

and no Indian on my reservation
can get away with that.

- [Red Cloud] I don't mean
to take personal revenge.

I mean through the law.

- Maybe, but you're confined
to the reservation, anyway.

- I have a permit to
come and go as I please.

- I'll have it revoked.

- Come on, let's go Red Cloud.

- Oh, Marshal?

Aren't you forgetting to
take off those handcuffs?

- It's no good losing
your temper, Red Cloud,

but it sure begins to look
as though Dabney and Edwards

have something cooked up between them.

- Oh, I'm going to find out.

The Commissioner of
Indian Affairs is waiting

for a letter from me on the
whole situation out here.

- If you're gonna do any meddling,

you'd better use my ranch for an address.

Dabney might get too inquisitive.

- I hope you won't forget what you said

about holding to the law, Red Cloud.

- White man's law, only
good for white man.

You have forgotten the
ways of your people.

- Not one them, and I never will.

[dramatic music]

[arrow thuds]

[arrow thuds]

[arrow thuds]

But our fight must be won with

the white man's law, not with weapons.

- Council will decide.

- You must stop Running Bear
from calling out his warriors.

- I'll do what I can.

The most important thing though

is to make the survey the
commissioner asked me for,

to prove that Dabney moved our tribe

from rich country to land
where we would starve.

- Need any help?

- No thanks.

As long as I can use your
ranch for a mailing address.

- Certainly.

- You've got nothing
to worry about, Blake.

- No?

Do you think that alibi
fooled Sandy North,

or the Marshal, or that educated Indian?

- What difference does it make?

Dabney's the law here.

- He ain't the law in Washington.

You and Dabney, you're
both scared of Red Cloud,

or you wouldn't have sent
me out to bushwhack him.

- What could happen?

- I might get a tomahawk or an arrow

in my back one of these days.

I'd better hit the breeze.

- Hey, Blake?

Where can you get as good
pay as you're making here?

Stick around, Edwards and
I'll take care of Red Cloud.

- Better make it quick,
or I won't be here.

[door closes]

- If he gets away, you know it's only

a matter of time before he'll talk.

- He's not getting away.

Neither is Red Cloud going to keep

stirring up trouble in Washington.

[light instrumental music]

[horse trotting]

[dramatic music]

[horse trotting]

[arrow thuds]

[horse trotting]

- Well, I just about
got my survey finished.

- That's not all you got.

A letter came for you this
morning from Washington.

[door closes]

- The Commissioner wants me
to come back to Washington

right away to meet the House
Committee on Indian Affairs.

- Oh boy, that's great.

- But he also says, copy of
this letter sent to Mr. Dabney,

with instructions to make arrangements

for your transportation.

- That's not so good, Dabney
may find some way of stalling.

- I don't think he'd dare go against

the Commissioner's orders.

- Well, you never can tell.

I'll ride back to the Indian
Agency with you, just in case.

- Thanks, Sandy.

- I wish I could go.

- Well now, we might be able
to get along without you,

but I don't think the
rest of those dishes can.

- Okay, Uncle Sandy.

[upbeat instrumental music]

[dramatic music]

- Well, the Commissioner's
request is rather unusual,

but of course I'll comply with it.

You drop around tomorrow, and I'll have

all the arrangements made for your trip.

- Tomorrow?

I want to leave on this afternoon's stage.

- Well, I can't possibly make
the arrangements that soon.

- Well, delaying isn't
going to do you any good.

I'm going, and you can't stop me.

- Sure you're going, but you're

not telling how to run my office.

- Dabney, I'm beginning
to think you're afraid of

what Red Cloud will report
when he gets to Washington.

- I'm getting tired of
your interference, North.

[door opens]

- So you were gonna bide by the law,

and not take revenge on Blake?

- What happened, Edwards?

- You tell him, Marshal.

- Edwards found Blake dead out in

Mesquite Canyon, by Sentinel Rock.

I went out to get him, and he
had this arrow in his back.

- Before I found Blake's
body, I saw Red Cloud

riding away from Sentinel
Rock in an awful big hurry.

- Are you trying to accuse Red Cloud?

- Trying? [laughs]

Well, you all heard him thr*aten Blake.

He was out there, carrying
arrows like he usually does.

How much evidence do you want?

- As a lawyer, a lot more.

I didn't k*ll Blake, I never even saw him.

- That's enough on evidence to
hold you on a m*rder charge.

Arrest him, Marshal.

- Dabney, you do this and you'll have

an Indian uprising on your hands by night.

- So much the worse for them.

I'm here to enforce the law,

and I can get the calvary to back me up.

- I'm afraid you'll have
to go with me, Red Cloud.

[dramatic music]

- Put your hands up.

Running Bear was right,

the white man's law is
only for the white man.

You're making a mistake Red Cloud.

- I made my mistake when I thought

an Indian would get fair treatment.

I'm going back to my people,

and if they go on the
warpath, I'm going with them.

[dramatic music]

[g*nsh*t]

- Well, you still think you
can civilize an Indian, Sandy?

Take him away, Marshal.

I'll set the trial for

- That won't be necessary, Marshal.

[door closes]

- Well, that about cinches
the case against Red Cloud.

- [chuckles] How far can
you go on sentencing him?

- Oh, the limit.

I'm the law here as far as
the Indians are concerned.

Washington will back me up,

and I got you as witness he
tried to sh**t the Marshal.

- I'm sorry, Marshal, Sandy.

It was such an obvious frame up.

- I don't like having my
g*n snitched, Red Cloud,

but I gotta admit there's
something mighty wrong why

Dabney won't take your evidence,
and will take Edwards's.

- You see, Red Cloud, all
white men are not like Dabney.

- I didn't forget, Sandy.

What made me blow up was the thought

that an evil man can abuse
the law and twist it.

[horse trotting]

- Well, he'll be
reporting to Running Bear.

- My father will stop at nothing, now.

- Marshal, there's gotta be some reason

why Dabney's siding with Edwards.

Something that's paying him off.

- Well, the only thing I can think of is,

the minute Dabney moved the
Indians off the good land,

Edwards had his steers ready to move in.

- Well, Edwards runs a lot of cattle.

Maybe he made a deal with
Dabney, and made him a partner?

- Sounds plausible.

But you haven't got even
circumstantial evidence.

- Red Cloud, I can't promise anything,

but I'm certainly gonna have
a try at finding a link up,

and the place to start looking
is out in Mesquite Canyon.

[dramatic music]

- We have waited long enough, too long.

Red Cloud hoped he could
win back our rights,

under the white man's law.

Now he has been arrested,

and we know there is
no justice for Indians.

The council must meet, and
the council must declare w*r.

[dramatic music]

[horses trotting]

- You know, if Blake was
k*lled over by Sentinel Rock,

the arrow must have come
from around here somewhere.

- Well, it couldn't have been Red Cloud.

- Well, of course it couldn't,
but I told you Dabney

and Edwards are gonna make
it look as though it was.

Let's just hope.

[Rebel barking]

[Rebel barking]

[Rebel barking]

[Rebel whining]

[Rebel barks]

- Rebel find something?

- Yeah, boot marks and cigarette butts.

Looks like somebody waited
here for quite a while.

- Well, Red Cloud's wearing
moccasins, and he doesn't smoke.

- Whoever it was came from over there,

and they went back the same way.

[dramatic music]

- Hoof marks.

When he got here, he
must've mounted a horse.

- Can we follow the trail?

- Easy.

- Be right with you.

[clicks tongue]

[horse trotting]

[dramatic music]

- Edward's ranch.

We practically got them, Uncle Sandy.

- Not so fast, all we know
is we followed the trail here

from Sentinel Rock, that's no evidence.

If I could get in the house,

there might be papers or something around.

- Well, it doesn't look as
though there's anybody around.

- They've probably all gone to

the agency office for the trial.

You stay here with Champ, I'll
take Rebel and scout around.

- But I could help you look for things.

- No, if I guessed wrong
and run into trouble,

I don't want you taking chances.

Go ahead, Rebel.

[horse trotting]

[Rebel whining]

Ricky!

Come over here!

[horse trotting]

Hey, look what I found.

- Half of an arrowhead?

What good is that?

- Hawk feathers, and a shaft.

Looks like somebody was trying

to make an arrow like Red Cloud's.

Cigarette butts like we
found at Sentinel Rock.

[dramatic music]

[horses trotting]

- Now we're sure, aren't we?

- We're sure of this much.

Edwards will have to explain
why somebody was trying

to make a charopy arrow in his backyard.

- [Larsen] Get those hands up, North.

- [Man] Hold it.

- All right North, you
start talking first.

Looks to me like you're
figuring on robbing the place.

You kid, get down off that mustang.

Get down!

- Go on, Ricky, take
those things to Red Cloud.

- Come on, Champ!

[Champion trotting]

[Rebel growling]

[punches]

[punches]

[punches]

[punches]

- Partner, get up.

[Champion trotting]

- Red Cloud, you're charged
with one count of m*rder,

and one of violent
as*ault on Marshal Hale.

How do you plead?

- Not guilty on the first count.

Guilty of as*ault on the Marshal.

- Mr. Edwards, can you
identify this arrow?

- Sure, it's a charopy arrow,

and it k*lled my foreman, Cal Blake.

- The same kind of arrow that

the defendant Red Cloud was carrying?

- I object, that's a leading question.

- Objection's overruled.

[dramatic music]

Marshal, I'll hold you responsible

for any disturbance during
the course of this hearing.

Now, you saw Red Cloud at
the scene of the m*rder?

- Yeah.

[intense music]

[horse trotting]

- On the strength of the evidence,

Red Cloud, I find you guilty
of m*rder in the first degree,

and will recommend the death penalty.

[dramatic music]

- Running Bear.

- No more talk.

[horse snorting]

[horses galloping]

- Marshal Hale, Red Cloud.

Uncle Sandy found these
things on Mr. Edwards's ranch.

Somebody was making
arrows like yours there.

- Well, where's Sandy?

- At Mr. Edwards's ranch.

Larsen captured him.

We've gotta get out there
and help him, Marshal Hale.

- We'll do just that, Ricky.

- Thanks, you can follow me.

- That's just an attempt to
manufacture evidence, Marshal.

Pay no attention to it.

- Just a minute, Dabney.

You run this Indian Agency,
but it's my job to decide

if there's evidence of a crime.

Especially off the reservation.

- Well, what're you gonna do about it?

- Like I said, go out and get Sandy North.

- But you've got a dangerous
predator to watch over.

- Don't worry 'bout that, Marshal.

I'll come along with you.

- All right, let's go.

- It's no use, Dabney, we got
too much working against us.

- Their evidence isn't worth a hoot.

- Well, I don't know about you,

but I'm getting out of
the territory while I can.

[horses trotting]

- [Dabney] What's the matter, Edwards?

- It's Sandy, and he's got Larsen.

- Marshal, our friend Larsen here

turned out to be quite a storyteller.

He's got a very interesting story to tell

about the deal Dabney made with Edwards.

Boy, he cheated the
Indians out of their land.

[horses galloping]

[horse galloping]

- All right, now get to your horses.

- I'll hear the rest of the
story when I get back, Marshal.

- Where you going?

- If I get to Running Bear in time,

there won't be any Indian uprising.

[horse galloping]

[Champion whinnying]

- What do you think of
the law now, Running Bear?

- Law good.

Men bad.

- Rebel should be in on this.

[Rebel howling]

[laughs]

[Champion whinnying]

And Champ certainly should be.

[Champion whinnying]

[triumphant instrumental music]

[Champion galloping]

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

♪ Like a streak of lightning
flashing cross the sky ♪

♪ Like the swiftest arrow
whizzing from a bow ♪

♪ Like a mighty cannonball
he seems to fly ♪

♪ You'll hear about
him everywhere you go ♪

♪ The time will come when
everyone will now the name of ♪

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪

♪ Champion the Wonder Horse ♪