 Family Theatre presents Dennis Morgan and Mala Powers. Virtual Network and Cooperation with Family Theatre presents Dennis Morgan in Shadow on the Mountain. To introduce the drama, your hostess, Mala Powers. Tony LaFranco. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives if we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray, pray together as a family. Tonight Family Theatre takes great pleasure in presenting Shadow on the Mountain starring Dennis Morgan as Bill Wyatt. The Washington Territory of 1856 was a wonderful country. Plenty of game, an abundance of fish, and the richest black soil God ever gave a man to work. Yes, sir, it was pretty close to being heaven. In fact, it kind of seemed that the mountains were reaching up, trying to connect earth and heaven since they seemed so much a part of each other anyway. It was a good place for a man to bring up a family. The Indians taught us how to kill and cure all the game we needed. We taught them how to use the soil. It was a fine arrangement. I wish we could have kept it that way. Just in time for dinner. Come on in. Bill, he's going to be trouble. A lot of trouble. I can feel it. I know. What are you talking about? I'm talking about the governor moving the engines. Moving the Nisqually? Everybody in town is talking about it. He ain't come right out and said it yet, but we'll shoot. Come on inside. But that's what Mason says they're planning to do. Governor says he's going to put them all on a reservation. He must be out of his mind. Hello, Jeff. Nice to see you, Jeff. Howdy, Miss Wyatt. Jeff says Governor Stevens is going to try to move the Indians. That's what they're saying, ma'am. Going to put them on a reservation. On a reservation? I don't understand. Mason says it's to clear more land for the settlers. But isn't there a treaty? Mason says Governor Stevens made a new treaty so as he could move the tribes where he wanted to, ma'am. Lashai wouldn't sign. Governor swears he did. But why? Mason says he told the chiefs he'd give them all sorts of stuff if they'd sign. Well, the catch is, there ain't a word in the treaty that says when they'd get it. What are we going to do, Bill? I don't know. Well, Bill, some of the boys was hoping you'd take a hand in stopping it. Seeing you've been a soldier. I will. Jeff, you ride back along the inlet, tell every settler to this side of Olympia to meet at the governor's office tomorrow morning. Sure thing. Tell them I sent them and tell them not to do anything till I get there. Anything else? Yes. Pray, Jeff. If we can't change the governor's mind, there's going to be a mighty bloody war on Washington territory. I met with the governor, but it didn't do any good. The treaty had been signed, and Stevens held it up for all the world to see. Then he proclaimed a state of emergency and ordered all women and children into Army forts and all men between 16 and 60 into volunteer groups to herd the Nisqually and Puyalluk into the reservation. I joined Olson's volunteers because they were based at Fort Silicon, where I had left Martha. I missed her a lot on the long trips with the volunteers. It was a cold September morning when the 20 of us rode out of the pine forests and under the carbon flats. It had been raining ice water for three days and nights. Most of us were mad at the world, some because of the freezing cold and others because the war was lasting longer than it should have. Say, Bill. Yes? The war will sure be over by Christmas, won't it? It sure ought to be, boy. Lordy ain't it ever going to stop raining? What are you talking about, Hank? Haven't you heard that a wound isn't half as bad if you've got a clean shirt? Shoot. I think it's really great having a shirt washed all day long. Real safe. Yeah, real safe. We don't all die of the crude first. I've gone it, Bill. We've got no business fighting the Nisqually. And I guess you know that better than anybody. Bill, you did write a letter to the president, didn't you? I mean, you weren't just saying it. No, I wasn't just saying it. It takes a long time for one of those clipper ships to get around the horn. First thing you know, the great white father will be reading that letter and calling a whole war off. Quiet. Hold! Base camp here! No fires! No fires. No fires. That captain sure trying to make the fires of perdition look worthwhile, ain't he, Bill? He's got a knack for picking campsites, too. Right in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but buffalo grass. Well, at least we know we won't be surprised in the middle of a big plain like this one, eh? Hey, Bill. Hmm? You know where we are? Look at the mountain. What are they calling it now? Tacoma or Rainier? No, no, look. The mountain's to the west, not 10 miles. Behind us, the Puyallup River. Our right smack dab in the middle of the governor's reservation. Right, Johnny. That's right. I don't blame ol' Lush Eye for being mad. Saltwater Indians on land where there ain't no water but rain. Hank, I think maybe you and I are fighting on the wrong side of this war. I think... Hank, keep close to the ground. I can't take it. The grass just suddenly come alive. They must add caves in it. It's the sense we have it. Get down, Hank! He can't load laying down. Nothing to shoot out. I can't see them. Get down! Lord, it ain't any of us left alive, Bill. Bill, we got to get out of here. Come on, we got to make a run for it. No, Hank! Hey, Frank! Hey! Hey! Why didn't you keep down? Something soft and hot at the top of my head threw me flat on my back in the wet grass. I might have been able to get up and run. I thought of it, but there wasn't any place to go. And I seemed to have trouble even thinking the thoughts I knew I ought to be thinking. The Indians would be coming out of their ambush to take the guns and the ammunition from the dead. But I didn't care. It didn't matter. All that matters, I was holding on. Holding on to the daylight and the sound and feel of the rain as a beat against my face. I dug my fingers into the earth and held on tight. But something pulled them out. I was falling! Fall! Till it come easy. Oh. Many setting sun, you like crazy woman in land of darkness. Miss Quali? Me, Miss Quali. Am I much hurt? Mmm. Pretty near. Tominoose. Bad eagle scratch. Understand? I understand. I get Leshy now. Let's see what they did to the top of my head. Oh. If I live long enough to get bald, I sure won't be much to look at with a cut like this. Glad it wasn't deeper till it come. Leshy. I'm glad to see you well again, my friend. We have worried much about you. I guess I had a good nurse. Miss Dickey is good medicine. She said I was asleep for many senses. You talked of many things, Delicone. What did I say? You talked to your woman and you cursed your governor. Stevens, we know he's wrong, Leshy. But there's nothing we can do. Turning brother against brother. Only a very evil man could cause so much sorrow. Brother against brother? Now he has the Indian killing the Indian. He has hired the Snoqualmese to fight us. Hired the Snoqualmese to fight the Nisqually? Why his move? For him it will shorten the war by many months. You know you're licked, but you're going to go on fighting. Which is the greatest evil? To die fighting or to stop fighting and die of starvation. I wish I could help, Leshy. You can, Bill Wyatt. I can't carry arms against my own people. You must go to your governor. Ask him to let us make peace before it is too late, before the snows come. He won't listen. It is in Nisqually's only hope. Tell him we have had enough of war, but cannot live where there is no food. Ask him to pow wow. So we may make a new treaty. What if he won't? Then tell him we will go on fighting till the last Nisqually is dead. I will go to him. You will have to set out on foot, my friend, for we have eaten our camp horses. But when the braves come back, I shall have one of them steal a horse for you and meet you by the Puyallup Chuk at dawn. Puyallup River at dawn. I'll be there. Here, you will need your rifle to kill more of my friends. I don't think so, Leshy. Since you have come to us, you have new enemies, my friend. The Snoqualmys will know you are coming before you have left the light of our fires. Why should they want to kill me? We, too, have spies among us. They will know that you go to make peace. If you are successful, they will no longer be paid to fight us. You will need your rifle. The village about four hours before daybreak and headed for the rendezvous at Puyallup. The night here had frozen the mud. The going was a lot slower and harder than I thought it was going to be. It's going to take forever. Maybe I'd better get a rest a minute. It's a little time to catch my breath. What if that's the Snoqualmys? No India never wears spurs. Who goes there? Russell's Rangers. Who's that? Bill Wyatt, Olson's volunteers. My glad to see you. Olson's volunteers. Thought they was wiped out. They were. Oh, but me and I almost got it. You mean out of all that killing you're the only one that got away? It does seem kind of funny. One man left after a massacre. Don't it seem funny, boys? Wait a minute. What did you say your name was? Bill Wyatt. Look. Any of you men ever heard about the deceased Joe Bolson? How do we know this fella ain't a spy? Hang on. Don't be a fool, man. Of course I'm no spy. Would I get my scalp torn up this way if I was? He's all right, Jake. Let's get on with the raid. Shut up. Raid. You're going to raid Lesha's village? None of your business while we're on it. But there's nobody there except squads and children. How do you know? Are you there? Come on, Jake. That's not war. It's murder. I got no time to stand here wrangling with a man who most likely saved his neck by running when the first red skin showed. Well, aren't you just lucky we ain't taking the time to hang you for a coward. You're calling me a coward. You, Jake Russell. Do you think I haven't heard about some of the things you've done? Do you think there's anybody in the territory who hasn't heard the way you murdered 20 Indian refugees from ambush at Green River? You better shut your mouth wide before I shut it for you. Go ahead, try it. You're putting on a mighty good show with one rifle. It's my show. And I say you're not going to do any raiding tonight unless you do it on foot. Come on, get down off that horse. I'm going to borrow him for a while. You're asking for an awful lot of trouble, Wyatt. Jake, somebody's coming. Sure sounds like a mess up in town. All right, let's get out of here. I'll take care of you later, Wyatt. Stay where you are, Russell. You shoot off that pop sun. You'll be dead before the flight is over. Come on, man. I just stood there watching the group meld in the forest. I was so mad I didn't even think of the reason for their leaving. That is, not until I turned around. There in front of me was the reason for their leaving. And this squally war party sitting silently on horseback. I recognized their leader. We'd cut timber and speared salmon together from boyhood. Elassi, high as telecom. You wait. Quickly choke. Understand? I understand. I'll be there. Elassi told me to wait by the deep water. So I walked to the Puyallup River and waited. Then, just before daylight, I heard horses coming. So I took my rifle and hid behind some rocks. It was Elassi. He was leading a big sorrow. Elassi, over here. Elassi, what happened to the raiding party? Tenas Memoros Tiracum. Then? No more raids for them. Jake Russell? Tamanus Man. He will not need his horse. Well, it just so happens I'm not a ghost man and I do need a horse. Make him go fast, Tiracum. I will, Elassi. Yes, yes, what is it? I'd like to see the governor. Not today. Come back tomorrow. He'll be in conference with General Gray all day. Come back tomorrow, please. Tell him I came with a peace offer from Leschi. What did you say? A peace offer from Leschi. Yes, yes, of course. Of course, just a moment. Don't be foolish. I'm not going to risk the lives of my men. What is it, Mason? A young man here says he's got a peace offer from Leschi. If you know what's good for the territory, Stevens, you'll take it. You just run the army, General. I'll take care of the territory. Send him in, Mr. Mason. Good luck. Thanks. Governor Stevens? General? What's this about a peace offer, young man? How soon will he move his tribes to a reservation? He asked me to arrange a meeting with you, sir. He wants to talk the terms over with you. Impossible. I will not change the terms of surrender. At least hear him out, Stevens. Governor, the Indians can't live on the land you've set aside for them. I've seen it, and so has General Gray. No one could scrape a living out of it. When the white man came to the end of the Oregon trail, sir, he found Leschi and his people ready and willing to help. It was the Nisqually who did what we tried to do and couldn't. That's true. They planned the government road over the mountains, and we'd given it up. They even helped us clear the land for planning. And don't forget the Munson party, either, Stevens. They spent the winter of 47 Nisqually villages. Leschi was the man who saved every mother's son of them. They deserved more than they're getting. Governor Stevens, I was in the Nisqually village only last night. They'll never be able to get through the winter. Their women and children will die. Young man, what is your name? William Wyatt, sir. Mr. Wyatt, the Washington territory is being used as a testing ground for the reservation system. And that system will be used as I think it should be. Not you, nor the Indians, nor the Army can dictate the policy. At least he can do his pow-wow with the old chief. Lives are being lost every day of this war. That's true. Perhaps you have an idea there. Mason, Mason! Yes, sir? Bring pen and ink. Yes, sir. Take this down to Leschi, leader of the Nisqually and the Puyallup, from Isaac Engel Stevens, from the Washington territory. A message. In order to arrange new terms of surrender, I will comply with your suggestion. Meeting will be held between us at... Where should we meet, General? How about Fort Stilicum? Held between us on the grounds in front of Fort Stilicum on September 24th. I can assure you some settlement can be arranged. Now let me sign it. Now you're getting some sense. Thank you, Governor. I'd hoped you wouldn't let him down. But I do not propose to pamper the Indians. You, Mr. Wyatt, were by your own admission in the camp of the enemy in time of war. Therefore you are under arrest for treason. Treason? You're mad. Mad? To win a war with a single blow? When Leschi comes to Fort Stilicum, it is to be hanged. Somebody to see you, Wyatt. Bill. Martha. Bill. When I heard about the Olsen massacre, I thought you... Bill don't ever go away again. Not much chance of that, honey. Here. Here, sit down. Bill, will things ever be the same as they used to be? I mean... I don't know, honey. I don't know. I was at the Fort when they hanged Leschi. Oh, darling, it started out to be such a great country. But now... Now hold on there. Wait a minute. It's still going to be a great country. Just having a hard time being born, that's all. That's what Leschi said before he died. I saw it all, Bill. He said he wasn't the first innocent man to die in the war, and that he wouldn't be the last. He said that the birth would be slow and painful, but that one day the earth would bring forth a great nation. He said he wasn't angry at anyone, but that he hoped the governor would see that he was destroying his own people along with the Indian. Is the war over, Martha? Might as well be with Leschi dead and Halasse in prison. They have no leader now, but they won't stop fighting. They won't last out the winter. I'm afraid that'll have to be all for a while. But I only just got here. The time can't be up already. It ain't. You want it in the governor's office, right? Seems strange being back on horseback again, even if it was between armed guards. The town itself hadn't been touched by the war. In fact, it was hard to realize there'd ever been a war in such a peaceful-looking place. As we dismounted and walked up the steps, I could see one of the new clipper ships anchored in the sun. It had the same lines as a canoe. As I looked at it, I couldn't help wondering if we'd ever stopped taking from the Indian without giving something back. The governor's office was crowded with people, and right in the middle of them stood Halasse. Come in, Mr. Wyatt. What's going on? What's going on here? Don't you know Wyatt? This here is a trial for you and Halasse. You're both being tried for treason. It was hard to believe that the governor would actually go through with it. It didn't make any sense at all. No one in the courtroom had wanted war. The Indians didn't. The people didn't. Yet there I was on trial for my life for trying to stop it. And Halasse on trial for his life because he dared to fight for what belonged to him. Gentlemen, this trial will come to water. Halasse, do you have anything to say in your own defense? How is it you ask me to defend myself now when that is the crime for which I am to die? You are on trial because you broke a treaty. Then this quality never broke no treaty, Stevens. And darn well you know it. Order! Order! There was no treaty. We asked for water. You tried to give us sand. We asked for trees. You would give us leaves of grass. You tried to force us to these things. And we defend ourselves. We ask for peace. You murdered our leader. You hire our brothers to kill us. You starve our women and children. Now you want to laugh at us. I tell you this. The rabbit does not laugh at the bear. You will never laugh at Nisqually and Puyallup. We have tried to be your friends. But that is finished. You have cast evil shadow on the mountain. It will not go away. The stain of our blood and blood of those you forced to fight us will not go away. It will be on your hands forever. I have spoken. Wait! You have something to add, Mr. Wyatt? Governor Stevens, since you drew up the treaty and started this war, you've been a cheat and a liar. You're making a farce of this affair. I demand a trial by jury for both Elassie and myself, and that you bring this meeting to a close. I'm afraid Governor Stevens can't do that, Mr. Wyatt. He no longer has the authority. May I remind you, General Gray, this is a territorial, not an army affair. You're wrong there, Mr. Stevens. You were just a few minutes ago on the clipper ship that's anchored in the sound. And in compliance with those orders, I proclaim the state of martial law for the territory of Washington. And all governmental affairs now being in the hands of the military, I dismiss this trial and declare it null and void. I have furthermore been instructed to make a new treaty, which will be satisfactory to the Indians and to appoint William Lyndon Wyatt, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. At last the Nisqually got what they wanted, land on the sound and peace. But Elassie had been right that day when he made his speech in the Governor's office. There was a shadow on the mountain. It was kind of like a man going back to the land of his birth after being away for 20 years. Things are never quite the same or as good as he remembered them. At a little informal gathering the other night, the topic turned to prayer. And a friend of mine was asked, what's the world's best prayer? I thought he would say the Lord's Prayer or the Ave Marie or something like that. Instead I confess I was shocked when he quietly announced the alphabet. I thought he must be teasing, but the alphabet isn't a prayer I protested. Being of a deep spiritual turn, he proceeded to prove the opposite. The alphabet he began is one of the few tools that man has that's almost infinite in scope. It's an immense treasury. It contains all the thoughts that the wise men of the past have ever shaped and expressed and all the beautiful thoughts that those yet unborn are going to express. Since God is wisdom uncreated, man needs something as vast, as vast as the alphabet to praise him. In its tongue-less combinations the alphabet contains the sigh of the wind, the dance of the rain, the sweetness of growing things, the rush of the river, the unrest of the sea. All of these things expressed or yet to be expressed. Our communication with God according to the laws in which he made them. I began to see what my friend meant. I was almost breathless with the beauty of it and the others were hanging on his words, but he didn't stop there. Since everything he added comes from God. We need something of an almost infinite content to give him back some of his fullness and perfection. That's what prayer is, giving him back some of his fullness and perfection. The treasures of the alphabet are as yet unexplored. In fact, they're almost inexhaustible, just like the treasure of music. That's why I insist that the alphabet is the world's best prayer and the world's prayer book. For in its limitless combinations it becomes the cry of finite man to an infinite God. Language. Beautiful this thought, isn't it? Family prayer is beautiful, too. For the family that prays together stays together. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of. Family Theater has brought you Dennis Morgan as the star of Shadow on the Mountain with Malapowers as your hostess. Others in the cast were Peggy Weber, Irene Tedro, Ted DeCorsia, Herb Vigran, Norman Field, Howard Culver, Herb Lytton, John Sheehan, and Tony O'Dare. The script was written by Robert Hewell Solomon with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman and was directed for Family Theater by Joseph F. Mansfield. This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who felt the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need, and by the hundreds of stars of stage, screen and radio who have so unselfishly given of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theater stage. To them and to you, our humble thanks. This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theater that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to join us next week at this time when Family Theater will present Jack Benny in the Golden Touch. Join us, won't you? This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.