04x13 - Further West

[bunniefuu]

Previously on AMC’s Hell on Wheels…

***

I will enjoy taking your railroad from you.

***

I could easily provide you with over 800 workers.

Perhaps you could use a former Union Pacific man to accompany your fresh mormon workers.

This is me cousin, "Dandy" Johnny Shea.

I can't think about going back, I'm better off here.

What is it, Bohannon?

I quit.

We are on the verge of taking that mountain, thanks to you and your steam shovel.

You can't quit now. I-I-I-I won't allow it!

Railroad's your dream.

Cullen...

What happened to Ruth?

You gave her every chance to walk away from her deed.

No, it ain't about what I gave her.

She threw her life away on an empty ideal.

Is that what you want?

I'm going home, doc.

Home?

This is your home.

[Sighs] Listen to me.

In the not too distant future, this railroad will be finished.

I will be back in New York, and I will need someone I can trust out here.

You got Delaney. He's a good engineer.

Delaney.

Delaney is not half the man you are.

Might be more if you treat him right.

I don't think you understand what I've done for you.

What... what I'm offering you.

What your family needs from you.

[Sighs]

I won't take you back.

Not again.

Yeah, I know it.

[Distant voices]

[Machinery rumbling]

I asked Mr. Delaney make sure that boiler don't run dry.

It do, we'll be pickin' iron out our ass 'til Christmas.

[Chuckles]

You make sure you get to the top of that Mountain, Psalms.

You make sure you make it to where you goin' too, Mr. Bohannon.

[Grunting]

Yep.

[Clicks tongue]

[Western folk music]

♪ ♪

Hello?

Anyone here?

Father Hatch?

Whoa.

[Animal grunts]

[Snuffling, growling]

Go! Get outta here!

Skit!

Go!

[Animal growling]

[Crows cawing]

Elder Moss.

Wh-what happened?

Huh? Where is everybody?

Where is everybody? Where is everybody?

[Hoarsely] Na-o-mi...

Naomi, yeah.

Yeah, where is she? Where's Naomi?

Huh? Where's Naomi?

[Gasping]

[Long exhale]

Elder Moss?

Elder Moss?

Elder Moss!

It appears you've ruffled feathers, miss Ellison.

I will not be intimidated, Mr. Campbell.

Get out.

I didn't come here to rehash, Louise.

I came here to talk about the future.

Our future.

I intend to purchase <i>the leader</i> from Durant, but only if you agree to stay.

And this is my sugar?

Territory status is upon us.

A territory needs a press.

Voice of progress.

A national voice.

I plan to give it to you.

Along with my full protection.

We'll rebuild this newspaper together.

How incredibly generous.

You accept my offer, then?

No. I reject it absolutely.

But I would like to thank you.

For days, I've been feeling useless, futile.

I was losing the sense that my profession even mattered, that my... newspaper mattered.

But obviously, it does.

I will never let you take it from me.

[Chicken squawks]

Need a room and a bath. A barber if you got one.

If you'll sign in.

Yeah.

Cullen Bohannon.

I thought that ragged countenance bore a resemblance.

You, sir, have come a long way for nothing.

Yeah? How's that?

Pestilential grasshopper has brought plague to this city that has left a lack of circulating currency and a surplus of laborers.

I have made a deal with brigham young for 800 men.

Haven't left a hirable worker within 500 Miles.

You stable yourselves?

Yes, sir.

I got one horse.

My spies tell me that Durant is cresting Sherman Peak.

He is.

And that his new steam engine shovel was your invention.

It was.

They tell me something else, too.

That you quit the U.P.

Is that true?

Well, I am curious.

What brings you to this mecca of polygamist pretension?

Searching for my wife and my boy.

Think they might be here.

She's mormon.

Excuse me.

Mr. Bohannon.

Brigham young is rumored to have a bed 7 feet long by 96 feet wide to accommodate his 55 wives.

I do hope yours is not found among 'em.

You know what the wagons cost.

My brother broke it down to the red cent.

He does the figuring.

It's a fair price.

The figures don't tell all, Mr. Spinoza.

When you get your damn fill of starin', let us know if we got a deal.

You are speaking with God's high minister.

Profanity will not do.

Brother Gundersen.

'Course, uh, you used your own horses, that's a savings.

Do not negotiate with the man, Zeke.

He's God's whatsit.

Just like last time, Mr. Young.

The numbers is what they are.

And what they are is too high, my benighted friend.

Lower your price if you wish to transport our mormon workmen West.

What I wish for is for fair profit.

I have consulted and prayed...

And here is what I will pay.

You can get your damn wagons somewhere else.

Zeke.

[Murmurs]

Leave the door open, brother Gundersen.

To release the polluting vapors.

[Chuckles]

I take it the price would have been lower had we not been mormons.

Mm. Hmm.

Michael.

Mick.

Ha.

The bleedin' cavalry's comin'.

What's he want, then?

Ah, no matter.

I've taken on twice these with nothin' but a barstool and water back.

Mr. Mayor.

From president-elect Grant, received within the hour.

Acknowledging the basic judicial system I have established here, authorizing the creation of a legislature and the removal of the "provisional" from my title.

Fancy words.

You and your men will leave Cheyenne.

And what if we don't have a mind to?

You'll be taken into custody and sh*t.

On what charges and by whom?

Conspiracy and attempted assassination of a government official...

[Belches]

And by me.

Like hell.

[Indistinct order]

Good news.

There's a train leaving tomorrow morning.

You'd best be on it.

This here's a credit ledger for the fort.

It's got written down the names of every family member who lived there.

Any survivors in it would have come here.

You don't know that.

They need brigham young's permission to settle elsewheres, and we both know that.

I can't help you, gentile.

Excuse me.

You'd have a record of where they went, and that's all I'm asking for.

Sir, you're not allowed in here.

sh*t, son. I ain't allowed anywheres.

Church records are a sacred trust and obligation brought forth by Joseph Smith himself, kept by the church for its members.

Well, I am a mormon.

Was.

My wife is.

Please.

Fort Smith, Wyoming territory?

Yes, sir.

What...

No, hey! Ow!

It wasn't an Indian att*ck that k*lled them. Fort Smith was hit by smallpox.

Small... smallpox?

The survivors arrived two weeks ago. Most of them are sick and dying. They've been quarantined.

How... how many survivors?

Not many.

Oh, uh... Looking for my family. My, uh, wife and boy. They were at Fort Smith. Name's Bohannon.

I'm not seeing anyone with that name.

Naomi and William? Uh... Hatch? Might be under.

Oh, yes. Here it is.

Mist... Mr. Bohannon! Mr. Bohannon, please.

There. Last bed.

I thought she'd be gone by now... But perhaps she was waiting for you?

[Sniffling]

H-hold still. I know it hurts.

[Woman sniffles]

Been three girls hurt this month. Cut, noses broke up.

Same man?

No. Whole bunch of 'em.

Dead rabbits, they go by.

Fix these bandages in the morning.

Will I still be pretty when this heals up?

Shouldn't be bad, you care for it.

Your girls are getting hurt and cut up by customers.

What business is that of yours?

Well, the girls come to me, is all. They ain't being looked after.

I'm leaving Cheyenne. I'm taking 'em with me, so you won't have to worry about it.

Taking 'em where?

West. Cheyenne's been hard on everyone.

Don't mean you run.

[Laughs]

Campbell gave me a choice. I chose me life.

Fine. I'll come with you.

You don't even know where we're going.

Them girls need caring for, Mickey. I-I'll see to 'em, tend to 'em, and keep 'em in line.

Make you madam, you mean?

Partner.

You need money to buy into a partnership.

I got money. I reckon this'll buy me 15%. But you say what's right. Assuming it's money I need to partner with ya.

[Grunting]

[Muttering] Peek-a-boo, hot dang...

Oh, there you go.

[Laughs]

[Glass clattering]

Oh, yeah.

What do you want, carrot snapper?

Ah.

Uhh... [Thud]

Huh? [Speaking Norwegian]

[Moaning]

Huh? [Speaking Norwegian]

[Gagging]

[Speaking Norwegian] That's it.

[Continues in Norwegian]

Shh.

[Laughs]

You find the good stuff, Harry?

He did.

Oh. A bottle missing...

Where's Harry?

You will read here, the arrangement as much as brother Brigham proposed.

Impossible...

You are pleased, brother?

Have the money released.

Good.

Because, if I may...

Go ahead.

I am most happy to have been able, in my small way, to forward Heavenly Father's work, and it is my hope...

I am bold, now, I know...

You can see what I have done here.

The impossible, you have said. Mm.

You realize what I could accomplish there, among our workers on the Central Pacific?

You wish to join huntington?

Is that it?

I have answered you once.

I join no one.

I am your servant, and the Lord's.

Never Huntington's.

There as here, I look after our interest and the souls of our mormon Brethren.

You see now how I might be effective?

You...

Yeah.

I come for Naomi...

And William.

Are they alive?

[Sniffles]

Where are they?

[Whispers] I prayed... He'd take me...

Not them.

I prayed...

Where are they, mother Hatch?

West...

Where you'll never find them.

Away from you.

I'll stay with you, mother Hatch.

[Coughing in background]

I'll watch you die.

I'll make sure they burn you good.

When I find Naomi, I'll tell her you were miserable to the end.

When my son grows old enough to know his grandparents...

I will make sure he never hears your name.

[Coughing]

[Gasps, liquid gurgles]

Mr. Bohannon?

Mr. Bohannon?

Rest easy, brother Bohannon.

She d*ed peaceful, knowing you were here.

You listen to me.

She was a vengeful woman.

She d*ed the same.

[Background conversation] [Wagons rattling]

Mr. Bohannon.

Good-bye, sir. I'm just leaving for California.

Did you find your family?

Searched high and low.

They ain't here.

Well, sir, you have the visage of a man who could use a drink.

Searched high and low for that too.

Ain't here.

Well, then it is fortuitous that you have run into me.

[Pats wagon]

Come along, sir.

Let us imbibe in our comfort.

Come in, why don't you?

The Cheyenne Palace is mine.

The Comfort House is mine.

Jailhouse across the street...

Mine.

The hotel...

Will be mine, one way or another.

Now, that leaves just one outstanding item.

Which is?

Chicken Hill.

Accept my offer of fair market value or surrender it to the U.S. Cavalry, who will bivouac there until permanent barracks can be constructed.

[Exhales] You want Chicken Hill?

Take it.

There's the deed.

Now, if you can take it off my desk, it's yours.

[Laughing]

[Distant clanging, wagons rattling]

[Grunts]

Aah!

[Grunting and groaning]

[Screaming]

Ow!

How 'bout that?

[Both panting]

[Thwack, squish] Ow!

[Women giggling]

[Thud] Oh!

Uh...

Ah!

[Scattered laughter]

[Men continue grunting]

Should we intervene, major?

Only if g*ns come out.

[Man laughing in background]

[Both grunting]

[Man shouting at fighters indistinctly]

Okay... I'll give you...

Double fair market value.

Triple.

Done.

There are many problems I can't solve, Mr. Bohannon.

But locating whiskey in this sober place is not one of 'em.

[Chuckles]

It's called Valley Tan, made from... Imported fire and brimstone.

[Coughs]

[Chuckles]

Now, looking for your wife and son...

That's an ambitious undertaking, especially for an ambitious man like yourself.

But I'm curious, how do you begin?

Where do you start looking?

I only started here.

Now I'm heading west.

Mm-hmm.

The mormon faithful...

Are 80,000 strong, covering almost as many miles.

It seems to me that your plan, "Head west," is guaranteed to do only one thing, hmm?

Fail.

That begs the question how badly do you really want to find your family?

Thank you for the drink. But I prefer rotgut.

If rotgut is all that you have had, rotgut is all you prefer.

Central Pacific could expand your preferences, Mr. Bohannon.

Uh-huh.

Mr. Bohannon, there is a better way to find your family.

If you will indulge me.

I plan to drive my road right into the heart of mormon country, from California all the way to salt lake city.

There is nothing that will happen in mormon country that I w't know about or can't find out about.

Now, if you work for me, all of my resources will be at your disposal.

Your family's out there, we'll find 'em.

How's that sound?

Sounds like I'd be back to working on the railroad.

I've dug that ditch.

There's a difference between digging a ditch and owning it, sir.

Now, we will find your family, if that's what you really want to do, but this time, for the first time, you'll have something to show them for all your work, more than a canvas tent and a mud floor.

I'm prepared to offer you a small interest in my company.

How does that sound?

♪ The day draws a shade ♪
♪ pulls the thread of ♪
♪your frayed lace undone ♪
♪ it falls like the ♪
♪ evenings that charm ♪
♪ then devour their young ♪
♪ the face of the moon on the ♪
♪ river will shiver and run ♪
♪ from belief to ♪
♪ surrender and I want you ♪
♪ to lead me on ♪
♪ ♪
♪ the quiet of midnight ♪
♪ is bright in the sky ♪

Look alive, girls.

Go on.

♪ As men from the county line get down ♪
♪ and take up their arms ♪
♪ no one you can name is just ♪
♪ that one thing they have shown ♪
♪ you speak from the ♪
♪ shadow and I want you ♪
♪ to lead me on ♪
♪ ♪

Beautiful day.

970 mile to go!

[Laughs]

To collis P. Huntington, director of Central Pacific Railroad.

Stop.

Sherman peak is behind me.

Stop.

[Telegram machine clicking]

I am coming for you.

Stop. [Laughs]

The zebra shall be eaten.

Stop.

[Background conversations, speaking mandarin]

Excuse me, I...

Excuse me?

[Speaking mandarin]

Name?

Cullen Bohannon.

Railroad experience?

More than enough, chan!

More than enough.

[Speaking mandarin]

Welcome to the great state of California, Mr. Bohannon.

Ambition get the best of ya?

I'm here 'til I find my family.

Whatever you can do to help me, you'll do.

Whatever's my share, I keep, whether I'm here a week or a year.

Agreed.

5% then?

1 1/2.

It's a big company.

[Laughs]

Come with me! I want to show you a telegram.

Durant is on the downslope of Sherman Peak.

Now... with you in camp, maybe this is the moment when the zebra turns tables on the lion.

What say you, Mr. Bohannon?

I say blood will be spilled.

♪ They say everything can be replaced ♪

[Laughs]

♪ ♪
♪ yet every distance is not near ♪
♪ so I remember every face ♪
♪ of every man who put me here ♪
♪ I see my light come shinin' ♪
♪ ♪
♪ from the west unto the east ♪
♪ ♪
♪ any day now ♪
♪ any day now ♪
♪ I shall be released ♪
♪ ♪