 Raymond Burr as Captain Lee Quince, specially transcribed tales of the dark and tragic ground of the wild frontier, the saga of fighting men who rode the rim of empire, and the dramatic story of Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry. You see that, Mont? I blew the top of his head clean off. Beginning work. Right at the eyebrows. Sliced him just as clean. You figure that killed him, then. Oh, sure, he's dead. Well, I declare that makes a fair morning shooting, Harrison. Yeah. Let me see now. You killed a crazy horse, black leg, an American horse just since I've been walking. You ain't forgetting Roman knows. You shoot him, too? Oh, yeah, the last one, he was Roman knows. Well, now, ain't that peculiar. I'd have sworn he was killed at the rickery a year too back. No, I just now killed him. Hey, you think maybe they'll give me a stripe for that, Monk? Oh, I don't know, boys. Seeing he's been dead that long, they might not figure it's worth no stripe. Yeah. You ain't practicing much, Monk. Oh, didn't you know? I was killed a while back, whilst I took the time to reload my spring field. Now, get me another. Who'd you get, boy? I missed the target. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Well, I guess I've been lying on my belly too long. Yeah. Oh. Hey, it happens, don't it, Monk? What happens? Men get themselves killed on account of having to stop and reload after every single shot. Sure, it happens. My daddy used a spring field just like this one in the war between the states. Your daddy used one in the Civil War, boy. Now, don't you start that up again. We both used them, Yankees and rebels alike. Now, if you're saying it's time we had a better firearm again, the Indians, you're just right, Harrison. You are just right. You tried them, Spencer's, Monk? Sure. We had them in the war. They load right behind the bore. Their shapes are all right. Shorter, you know. Make better carrying for a trooper, but they ain't the answer. Not sure I'd rather try one. Captain Quince, him and their mother officers, they got the answer, boy. Henry Rifles. Yeah, them repeaters. You ever ask yourself any questions, boy? There'd be a good one for you. How's that? How come the only ones that's got them new Henry Rifles is some of the officers and most of the Indians? I don't ask myself questions like that, Monk. Make mighty interesting answers, questions like that. Monk, you better hold your tongue. We ain't exactly alone. Boy, you ain't never alone in the army. Don't stop talking in my account, man. I'm very interested in what you're saying. Must be. Seeing you's writing most of it down. No, just making a few notes. Go on about the rifles. What's he talking about, you suppose? You got some business here, mister? I have papers for Major Daggett, giving me permission to move freely about the post. Well, now, ain't that nice of the Major sending us a moving target to practice on? You some kind of spy coming around here and muffed it, sneaking around the rifle, butch writing down everything we say? I'm a correspondent for the New York Star. That's a newspaper. You want to buy a paper, Harrison? Who'd I get to read it to me? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. All right, man. Maybe you can point out Captain Quince to me, then. You're facing that way, Harrison. You point him out. He was a fairer to head of the line. Now, I ain't saying he's there now. I think I can find him. He would be the one carrying the Henry rifle, wouldn't he? Harrison, I think I'm going to pass that suggestion on to the Major. I think we'd do a sight better shooting at a living target, especially if he carried a notebook with him. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Yes? Captain Quince? That's right. You're sure you are Captain Quince. Something on your mind, mister? I'll just take your word for it. I don't think I can walk anymore. My name is Harkness, David Harkness. I'm a correspondent from the New York Star. That is a newspaper. Yes, I know. Did you walk out from New York, Mr. Harkness? It feels like it. I think I have just been initiated into the army, Captain. Initiated? Mm-hmm. The Major told me I would find you on the firing range. I walked there. A sergeant said you might be at the cavalry stable, so I walked there. From there, I walked to the saddlery on someone's advice, then to the corral and to the post office. And finally, here to old, uh, old what is it? Old Bedlam. Old Bedlam. I think maybe your men wanted to be sure I had a long walk. Mm-hmm. The men wanted to know who was listening in on private conversations, writing down what they said. I told them who I was. After you made your notes. That's right. The Major gave me a free hand on the post. Guess I used it a little too freely. I didn't mean any harm, Captain. The men will talk for you once they know you and trust you. Well, then you don't have any objection to my talking with the men. No, not if they don't. Captain Quince, one thing I heard, uh, overheard bothers me. Can I ask you about it? Go ahead. At target practice on the firing range, those men are still using single shot spring fields. Them and, uh, few Spencer carbines. Now, the men say they're outmoded. They are. The men are not issued Henry rifles? We don't have them to issue. But some of the officers have them. Am I right? Some of us. I have one. You have one, but your men have it. Mr. Harkness, my men make $13 a month. They can't afford to buy Henry rifles. You mean to say you bought yours, Captain? Like the rest of the officers who have them at the subtlest store. Shouldn't the army equip itself with the best possible arms? Of course it should, but guns cost money, Mr. Harkness. So far we can't afford the kind of guns we need. Well, in Washington, they talk of nothing but appropriations for the army in the West. Talk doesn't send us any guns. Well, these Henry rifles, they are to be had. I mean, providing the army gets the money to pay for them, they're not in short supply. A lot of the Indians have them, Mr. Harkness. I heard that, too. I couldn't believe it. I've seen it. How do the Indians get them? Who in the world would sell guns the army needs to the Indians? Well, renegade whites, traitors, kind of men who get rich and other men's blood. I am a long way from home, Captain Quincy. It's another world. I've got an awful lot to learn. You never stop learning out here, Mr.... Well, Captain, I'm here for a month. Can I learn enough in that time to give me a fair picture? Well, you've got a good start. You admit you've got a lot to learn. You sent for me, sir? Sit down, Captain. Yeah, read this. Well? I'm just assuming that the anonymous Captain in Mr. Harkness's story is you. I'd talk to him if that's what you mean. I'd say you did quite a good job of talking, Captain. The men have outmoded equipment. The officers buy their own repeating rifles. The Indians have little trouble coming by Henry Rivals. You want that printed in a large New York newspaper? Do you? I emphatically do not. It's the truth? Of course it's the truth. That's not my point. I'd like to know your point. Ali, I don't want our tempers involved in this. I'm questioning your judgment and I want some answers. That's good. So do I. You sent this Harkness looking for me, right? Yes, I sent him. You knew he was a correspondent for a newspaper. You gave him the run of the post. That means he can ask questions and get answers, right? Yes, that's right. He asked me some questions. I answered him. I see you did. It's an army secret that we're short of equipment. I've sent the same information on to Washington for months now. You know that, Captain? I've requested, I've pleaded, I've begged. And nothing's happened. There a long way from the problem, Lee. The need diminishes with the miles between. This kind of newspaper article can stir a public opinion. Just wonder if it's wise. If plain fact stirs him into action, I don't see it's unwise. The army moves its own way. I know you don't always agree with it, Captain. But if this article causes trouble, it's my trouble, not yours. Then I'd say you'd better make up your mind, Major. How's that? Harkness, if he's got your leave to be here and take a square look at things, ask questions, get answers. You're gonna get articles like that one. If you don't want them, why kick him off the post? Did Mr. Harkness tell you how the people in the east feel about the Indians? We talked about guns. As I understand him, we're the villains, Captain, the army. And the red men are all peace-loving hunters who never kill or plunder a raid. Is that all, Major? No, that's not all, Captain. The settlers along Fish Canyon have reported a rash of small raids. Take a patrol out tomorrow morning, bring me a full report. Right. I want you to take Mr. Harkness along, Captain. It's not my job to mind what he sees, who he talks to, what words he sets down. I want him to see all he can see and write all he can write, so long as it's true. You'll tell him that? I'll tell him. Any questions, Captain? No, sir. Then move out. Now, how are you riding, Mr. Harkness? If I join the army, Captain, I put in for the infantry. The other day, when you were walking, you wanted a horse. Yeah. I'm hard to please. You're human. How long will we be out, Captain? Depends on what we find and who we find. Major said we were going to talk to some settlers. About Indian raids. And we might find Indians, too. Yeah. Or they might find us. I guess you never know, do you? They never know. Captain, will you let me know when we're in Indian country? You're in it. Well, the settlers, I should think they'd want to live near a Fort Laramie for protection. Well, we'll be coming on as some settlers soon. Ask them. That was a deserted cabin along the creek, Captain. No Indian signs around. What about the calendar place, Mr. Cybert's? Straight ahead, sir. Fish canyon. Dead? How far, Mr. Cybert's? I'd say about two miles, sir. Fine. Mr. Calender's the one I was telling you about. I remember, Mr. Cybert's. Oh, uh, you know, Mr. Harkness? We met last night. Well, Lieutenant Cybert's was a big help, Captain. That's all? I didn't do much, really. What do you mean, Lieutenant? Those diaries of yours gave me a lot of valuable background. Diaries, Mr. Cybert's? They're not much, sir. Well, it just gives me something to do sometimes. I'd like to read your sometime, Captain. I'd have to write it first. You don't keep any written record of your experiences out here? No. Well, I think that'd be a lot you'd want to remember, Captain. Well, there's more I want to forget. Two miles, Mr. Cybert's? Two miles, sir. Settler, Mr. Harkness? I sure do. Well, climb down then. Looks quiet enough here, Mr. Cybert's, but keep an eye alert. Yes, sir. Sergeant? Sergeant, take Harrison and Monk's circle back by the bar in those sheds near the wash. Check the area for Indian signs, report back. Yes, sir. This would be Mr. Callender's place. That's right. Can't blame him for choosing this spot. Beautiful company. Access far as you go. No need for the rifle, Mr. Callender. I'm a judge of that. I have no use for the army. Since all the last time, say it again. Now get off my land. Guess you haven't been raided along here. Reports that you had. That's always your excuse, ain't it? Come snooping around a man's property, claiming to look for Indians. Seen any Indians, Mr. Callender? Seen nothing. Now you don't frighten me. Riding up in numbers. I got my rights in your trespassing. Don't have any trouble with the Indians? Don't have no trouble with anyone. Save the army. That one out there, young one, sitting his horse up proud. Lieutenant Cybert's? Their name's no matter. Caught him here a week or so back, fired on him for snooping. Sneaking up on a man's own land. Told him not to come back. I know that. That one more bar you wear. Don't make you any more welcome. Just tell the army. Good enough, Mr. Harkness. Oh, no, I haven't. The army is out here to protect people like you, Mr. Callender. What have you got against that? I'll tell you. If you're too dumb or too green-horned to know, there was no trouble out here till the army came. Red men are all right. You know how to deal with them. Get better, stop them. Where he is. That's far enough, Sergeant. You all right, Captain? You find anything, Sergeant? No damage, Captain, but a lot of horses was here. Back by the corral. They're fresh marks, sir. Got a lot of neighbors. Have you, Mr. Callender? All I need. We didn't come on any settlers on our way here, Captain. You heard him say it, Mr. Harkness. Red men are all right. You know how to deal with them. Guess maybe Mr. Callender knows how. You're getting off my property now? Thanks for the help, Settler. Better eat something, Mr. Harkness. Captain, I can't. There's too much that just doesn't set well in my stomach. Coffee, then. It goes down when nothing else will. Thank you. Where are we camped, still in Fish Canyon? North end of it. We did a good job of covering the canyon today. And tomorrow? We'll head back to Fort Laramie and report the Major Daggett. Five families slaughtered. And that's your report, isn't it? It's about it. How do I do it, Captain? How do I show what I saw today to the people back east? I... I don't know your job, Mr. Harkness. If I can write it just as I found it, maybe it'd jar them out of their complacency. Persecuted Redmen, peaceful hundred of... They're nothing but savages. They're the butchers. These Indians, yes. What do you mean? I'll tell you, I saw a slaughter once. The remains are one. Eighty men, women and children, huddled beneath a flag that was supposed to give them immunity. But they were killed anyway. Ridden down, slaughtered, hacked, shot. Indians don't put much value on human life, do they? This was white men's work, Mr. Harkness. White men's? White army men. You saw this happen? Some of us were sent out after it happened to move the dead to burial grounds. Yeah, savage is a savage, Mr. Harkness. Color of his skin's no matter. I'll try to remember that, Captain. Once you see it, you don't forget. What about a man-like calendar? Indians have been at his place, too. I think so. But he wasn't killed. His cabin still stands. Could be. He trades with them. Horses, grain... Henry rifles. Might be. Well, if you thought he did... I'd have to know he did, Mr. Harkness. Yeah, you would, wouldn't you? The day of riding ahead, you, uh... You'd better get some sleep. Indians, help on the bluff. Mount, make for the rocks. Sergeant, Sergeant, pass the word. Mount, make for the rocks. Mr. Cybertz. Mr. Cybertz. Here, Captain. In your tent. No, sir. You better mount, sir. Harkness. Harkness. Mount, make for the rocks. Hey, Mr. Cybertz. No, sir, but he's armed, Captain. Yeah, he better be. Well, let's go. Mr. Cybertz. Right, Captain. Indians riding away from you. Ain't that right, Captain? Yeah, just right, Monk. I'll look on ahead, Mr. Cybertz. You check the other way. Yes, sir. Captain, this man is hurt. They get you, Gors? Nick, that's all. Little Nick in the shoulder. Like we had a thousand times, Captain. Yeah, let's have a look. He's lost a lot of blood. He's gonna make somebody a wonderful mother, Captain. I think you'll live, Gors. I don't know. This sure oughta get me a couple of days in the hospital, don't you think? A couple of days of sleeping, spoon feeding, maybe? You, uh... you're gonna live till you get to the hospital? I can see I better save my real suffering for the medical officer. Oh, Captain. What do you think of it, Captain? What's it supposed to be? Oh, the account of the raid. On our camp at Fish Canyon. Yeah, raids like the Battle of Buran with Indians. Well, I colored it a little. You counted a hundred Indians, Mr. Harkness. I saw maybe 20. Well, I did that on purpose, Captain. And Sergeant Gors got a flesh wound in the shoulder. He didn't die a hero's death like the Sergeant in your story here. Don't you see, Captain, the people back east, the people in New York and Washington, they've got to be blasted out of their beliefs. It's lies about a pitch battle that never happened. Well, you think they'll pay attention to the story as it really happened? You think that'll get you the guns and the equipment you need? I don't know, Mr. Harkness. I don't know your business. When you came here, you said you wanted a fair picture of the West. I still do. You're getting it. We got settlers who get massacred. We, well, like the five families you saw in Fish Canyon. We get settlers like Mr. Callender, who don't. We got red men who slaughter innocent whites, and we got red men who sit down at treaty tables and try to make peace. Well, all that doesn't make exciting reading, Captain. It makes life and death out here. You're quite a realist, aren't you? I live here, Mr. Harkness. The army is always right? The army is not always anything. Not always right? Not always wrong. You tore up the story. I didn't. Well, I'm right back where I started, Captain. How are you? I've still got a lot to learn. And it's still a good sign, if you want it. Fort Laramie is produced and directed by Norman MacDonald and stars Raymond Burr as Lee Quinn's Captain of Cavalry with Vic Perrin as Sergeant Gorse. The script was specially written for Fort Laramie by Kathleen Height with sound patterns by Bill James and Ray Kemper, musical supervision by Amarigo Moreno. Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartel, Jack Moyles, Sam Edwards, Parley Bear and Luke Ruegman. Company tension. Dismiss. Next week, another transcribed story of the Northwest Frontier and the troopers who fought under Lee Quince, Captain of Cavalry. Many people who should know better sometimes use their automobiles to take out whatever is bothering them on other people. Keep this in mind. Driving too fast or trying to beat traffic lights doesn't prove you're better than the other guy. You can prove your superiority by setting a new safety record. Not only that, but you'll be around to enjoy it.