02x26 - A Grave for Jim Bowie

[bunniefuu]

♪ Jim Bowie, Jim Bowie

♪ He was a bold adventurin' man ♪

♪ Jim Bowie, Jim Bowie

♪ Battled for right with a powerful hand ♪

♪ His blade was tempered and so was he ♪

♪ Indestructible steel was he

♪ Jim Bowie, Jim Bowie

♪ He was a fighter, a fearless and mighty adventurin' man ♪

- [Narrator] This is the story of

one of the most fabulous character's in American history.

In the early 19th century,

he roamed the dark and bloody ground of the middle west,

armed only with a mystic faith and a bag of apple seeds.

He loved all men, and for them, he planted apple trees.

A few of which, now gnarled and old,

still bloom in the spring.

As if to keep alive the legend of Johnny Appleseed.

Jim Bowie had heard of Johnny Appleseed,

but had never met him.

I guess he never would have,

if he hadn't been playing blackjack

on the Ohio River steamboat Majestic one day.

- Now Mr. Bowie, we played all night and most of the day.

Yes sir, Mr. Bowie.

You won yourself a steamboat.

One of the grandest old steamboat's I've ever owned.

She was built by Captain Shreve himself.

She was narrow enough at the waist

to negotiate even the bends in the Kentucky.

And if you should ever want to take her up to Missouri,

she's light enough of draft to run on heavy dew.

- Well how 'bout her boilers, colonel,

you didn't mention them.

She got grand old boilers too?

- Well, I'll tell you Mr. Bowie,

the time has come for her boilers--

[expl*si*n]

♪ That you're born

♪ Till you ride in a hearse

♪ There's nothing that happens that couldn't be worse ♪

♪ Every man has to die

♪ And the hour may be near

[laughing]

- So, you're still alive?

- Where am I?

- Owensboro, Kentucky.

Where'd you think you were?

- What happened?

- One of those smoke belching devil boats

that desecrate this beautiful river threw up.

[laughing]

And you needn't thank me again for saving your life.

And you needn't tell me again who ye are.

You'd be just wasting your breath.

I know who you are.

[laughing]

- What happened to the others?

Am I the only one who was saved?

- Yes.

The Lord had other plans for you.

And I'll tell ya about them

now that I've finished this grave.

- Am I dreaming this?

Am I already drowned, dead?

- You're not dreaming, and you're not dead.

Yet.

But you will be in a minute.

- That's my knife.

- Yeah, it's your knife.

You've taken and k*lled God's innocent creatures

with this knife!

Alligators and bears, even men.

And now you're gonna pay for it Jim Bowie.

As sure as my name is Johnny Appleseed!

- Johnny Appleseed?

- Yes, Johnny Appleseed!

And I don't plan--

[screaming]

Those good things that people say about me.

And I don't yell at sick.

And anybody who tells you different,

is a confounded double tongued liar!

[heavy breathing]

[hysterical laughter]

[birds chirping]

♪ 'Round the time that you're born ♪

♪ 'Till you ride in a hearse

♪ There's nothing that happens that couldn't be worse ♪

♪ Every man has to die and the hour is here ♪

♪ But worse than the dyin' is livin' in fear ♪

♪ Evil walks beside you

♪ Good his flock inside you

♪ One of them will guide you

♪ To the grave

♪ You must choose 'twixt the devil ♪

♪ And the angels above

[gasping]

[screaming]

♪ From the time that you're born ♪

♪ 'Till the day that you die

♪ There's three things to count on ♪

♪ That never go wry

♪ Every night there'll be darkness ♪

♪ Every day there'll be dawn

♪ And time goes on forever long after you are gone ♪

♪ There's nothing that happens

♪ That couldn't be worse

[grunting]

- I hope you're gonna like these roses Sarah.

[humming]

What's that Sarah?

Hm?

Am I still just as lonely?

Hm?

Oh, Mr. Bowie.

Yes, he'll be himself in no time at all.

Oh, what about your father?

Five thousand in gold?

I can't hear your voice at all anymore, Sarah.

Well you can tell me about it later.

Bless you, Sarah.

I see I have company.

Oh, Mr. Bowie.

I was hoping that you'd lie quiet for a little while!

I'm John Chapman.

You just call me Johnny, everybody does.

- I thought everybody called you Johnny Appleseed.

That's what we call you down in Louisiana.

How come you knew what name to call me by?

- By your knife.

[chuckles] Everybody's heard about that.

[goat bleating]

That's Effie, she likes me to milk her by four.

She gets very upset if I don't.

You're welcome to come if you like.

We can go ahead and talk while I milk.

[singing]

- You know, I don't think Johnny Appleseed's

anybody for us to be fooling with.

- Shut up.

He's got five thousand in gold, ain't he?

- No, Big, wait.

That's Jim Bowie with him.

And I know he ain't nobody to fool with.

- Why, there's my hat.

[milk splashing]

Oh no it isn't, is it one of yours Johnny?

- No that's not mine.

Let me see it here.

Belongs to Chancey Carven.

Young fellow disappeared about three months ago

from Green River.

Last time he was seen he was with the two Hart brothers.

- The two Hart brothers?

You mean Big and Little Hart?

Aren't they in jail for m*rder?

That's what we read down the river.

- Escaped.

Looks like they've come back here to their old hideout,

cave in the rock.

It's down the river a piece, about a mile.

- Are you afraid of them Johnny?

- The Harts?

No, I wasn't thinkin' of me.

I was thinkin' of the boy's mother.

I promised her that I'd keep an eye out for him.

- Might be smarter, keep an eye out for the Hart's.

[apple crushing]

What are you doin'?

- I'm savin' the seeds.

I guess I've planted every variety of apple there is.

[chuckles] You'll find my apples in Michigan, Illinois,

Indiana, Missouri, Ohio,

Pennsylvania too.

And here in Kentucky.

I guess it was always my mission in life

to plant apple orchards.

But you haven't been listenin'

to a word I've been sayin', Mr. Bowie.

- Huh?

- Yer still thinkin' of Sarah, and about my talkin' to her.

- Yep.

That and what you said about my father.

You know when he died, I used to think about him a lot.

Johnny, do you really think that I could talk to my father?

- If you wanted to, you could.

- You mean if I had that kind of faith, that kind of belief?

- Faith is the substance of things hoped for.

The evidence of things not seen.

That's what faith is, Mr. Bowie.

- How 'bout having faith

that you could find a lost silver mine,

that's not quite the same thing is it?

'Cause right now, that's about the

only kind of faith I can muster up.

[thud]

You know what Johnny, out in Texas country,

there's a silver mine that the Spaniards once worked.

They thought it was the richest in the world.

Then they were wiped out in an Indian m*ssacre.

Why there isn't a white man alive

who knows where that mine is.

Now if I can find this silver mine,

and I'm going to, why man!

I'm telling you, I'm gonna be the richest man

in the whole world!

- I wonder what'll happen if you don't.

[laughing]

- Well then, I guess I'll be the poorest man

in the whole world.

- Something tells me, Mr. Bowie,

that you're never going to be a rich man,

and you're never going to be a poor one either.

And that mine you're goin' lookin' for,

you're not gonna find it.

Don't ask me to tell you why, because I couldn't.

- Well, don't worry about it.

I wouldn't believe you even if you could.

I'd still go lookin' for it.

Right now, I think I better go look for a new pair of boots

and some pants, I think I used these.

Where's that store you were talkin' about?

- It's about two miles down the river road.

A minister owns it and he runs it in between Sundays.

His name is Rudsill.

- Rudsill?

I somehow don't like leaving you here alone.

- Alone?

I'm never alone, Mr. Bowie.

- Well I was thinkin' about the Hart brothers

being less than a mile away.

- Don't worry about them, I don't have anything they want.

- I guess you're right.

I won't be long.

[door shuts]

[humming]

[door opens]

[humming]

- Hello Johnny.

Remember me?

- Sure.

You're Miciah Hart.

I knew you were around these parts,

but I didn't figure you'd come visitin'.

- How'd you know I was in these parts, Johnny?

- I found a piece of rope down in the orchard.

And a hat with a silver buckle on it.

I'm going to take it back with me

to Chancey Carven's mother.

I guess I might as well, he's dead, isn't he Miciah?

- Where's the gold, Johnny.

Old man Crawford left you his cabin, his land,

his orchard, and five thousand dollars in gold coin.

It's all written down in this bible I found.

All I want is the gold.

[laughing]

Where is it Johnny?

Where's the gold Johnny?

I want it.

- That's an ugly bruise ya got there, reverend.

How'd you come to fall?

- Well I don't know as I know exactly.

Funny thing, everything's perfectly clear

up 'till the time I fell, or fainted or whatever happened.

I was standin' right here where I am now,

I had a bible in my hand,

and I was talking to my friend Clem Higby,

we was tryin' to figure Dave Crawford's will.

You see, Mr. Bowie, this Mr. Crawford, he left everything

he had in the world to a man he didn't like.

Hated him in fact.

Wouldn't even let his daughter marry him.

And worse than that,

he left him five thousand dollars in gold,

all in gold coins.

It was all written out in this bible I had of his.

But the funny thing, it didn't say where the gold was.

He intended to tell me, I guess, but he didn't,

because he was dead by the time I got up to his house.

That's what Clem and me was talkin' about when I-

Hey, I remember now.

I didn't fall, I was struck down by a g*n butt.

By a man that was in the store here

when I was a talkin' to Clem.

I didn't pay no attention to him 'till after Clem left,

then he come up and demanded the bible.

Said he was a good friend of Johnny Appleseed

and he'd deliver it to him personally.

You don't know Johnny, but--

- Yes, I do know him.

Who was the man, did you recognize him?

- Well, I ain't certain for sure,

but I think it was one of them Hart brothers,

the one they call Big.

- Reverend, is that your mare saddled out there.

- Yeah, sure--

- Well, I'm borrowin' her if you don't mind,

and I'll pay you for the boots and the clothes later.

Thank you, reverend.

[humming]

- Where's the gold, Johnny?

- Five thousand dollars is a lot of money.

Could help a lot of people I know here in Kentucky.

But I don't know where any such gold is,

or where it's hidden.

And if I did know, I'd never tell you.

- Wiley, let's build up that fire under him.

- No, Big.

No, I tell ya, I won't do it.

- I said build up that fire.

- No, I won't do it Big, now cut him down I tell you.

[struggling]

Big!

I'm leavin' you!

And I ain't gonna have nothin' to do

with the killin' of Johnny Appleseed.

You can't k*ll his kind dead, I'm telling you that now Big,

you just wait and see.

[glass clattering]

- Build up the fire, Miciah, and be done with it.

- I said I'd k*ll you Johnny

if you didn't tell me where that gold was.

And I'm goin' to my way, slow like.

- Don't turn around Hart,

unless you want a knife in your back.

Alright, start movin'.

Kick that fire out from under him and quick, go on!

[rustling]

[fighting]

[grunting]

[thudding]

[screaming]

[fire crackling]

[stomping]

[wood creaking]

[heavy breathing]

You're alright, Johnny.

You're alright.

[panting]

- You had to k*ll him, didn't ya Mr. Bowie?

- Never mind about that Johnny.

How are ya?

Are you alright?

- I'm alright I guess.

Except for my conscience.

That's botherin' me some.

- Your conscience?

- That's right, my conscience.

I just lied.

I think for the first time in my life.

I just lied to Hart about that gold he was after.

But you know all about the will and the gold,

or else you wouldn't be here.

- Yes, I do Johnny.

How do you mean you lied?

- When I told him that I didn't know anything about a will

or where any gold was hidden.

That's when I lied.

Because I've known all about the will and the gold

and where it was hidden for the last hour.

- Well you couldn't have.

That's not possible.

You've been strung up there for at least an hour.

- Sarah.

That's what she was tryin' to tell me this afternoon,

when you met me at her grave.

About her father,

bein' sorry for the way he treated me all these years.

And about his leavin' me the land,

and five thousand dollars in gold.

You see, he hid the gold,

and then he died without tellin' anyone about it.

Guess if it hadn't been for Sarah,

it never woulda been found.

You still don't believe about such things,

do you Mr. Bowie?

- Where is the gold, Johnny?

- At the foot of Sarah's grave.

[humming]

You know there's a great need

for men like you in this part of the country, Mr. Bowie.

You sure I can't convince you to stay?

Now this place is a little run down, but the land is good.

It's yours to settle down on if you want to.

I'll plant ya another orchard come next spring.

That'll give me plenty of time to dispose of the gold

to the people who need it.

- Well, you haven't even found that gold yet, Johnny.

[chuckles]

- And you don't think I'm goin' to.

But I will!

Right where Sarah said it would be!

Yes sir, right where she- huh?

Hear that?

There it is!

Yes sir!

There it is!

Right where Sarah said it would be!

[grunting]

Yes sir!

There we are Mr. Bowie, look!

[gold jingling]

- Well now look at this.

What was it you said faith was Johnny?

- Faith?

- I know, don't tell me.

Faith is something I don't have much of,

except in a silver mine.

- I wish you wouldn't go searchin' for that mine in Texas,

Mr. Bowie, because you won't find it.

- What am I gonna find Johnny,

you didn't tell me last night.

- You've been to San Antonio, Mr. Bowie?

- Mhm.

- And is there, an old building there

with crumbled down walls and no roof on it?

Kind of a church maybe?

- Yes there is, right in the middle of town.

An old abandoned mission, it's called the Alamo.

Why?

- Don't go there, Mr. Bowie.

'Cause if you do, all you'll find, is death.

- You're wrong Johnny.

What I'll find is silver, remember?

Lots and lots of silver.

But if I don't, I'll still be the winner.

I'll say hello to Sarah for ya.

Then we'll both say hello to you.

Goodbye Johnny.

- Goodbye Mr. Bowie.

- Jim.

- Jim.

[humming]

♪ Jim Bowie, Jim Bowie

♪ He was a fighter, a fearless and mighty adventurin' man ♪