"_" "_" "The Schroeders brought this all the way from Germany." "So, shouldn't we be saving that for when Daddy's back?" "Your father is more of a whiskey man, Eli." "Don't be reading at the table." "I'm not reading." "Don't be scribbling at the table, either." "He's writing a letter to Ralph Waldo Emerson." "Who names a child Waldo?" "Mother, is Eli really your son, or did you steal him from a zoo?" "You're not funny." "I thought it was funny." "♪ And sinners plunged beneath that flood ♪" "♪ Lose all their guilty stain ♪" "♪ Lose all their guilty stain ♪" "♪ Lose all their guilty stain ♪" "Quiet, Momma." "It's probably a coyote." "Indians." "Is your gun loaded, Martin?" "Get your gun." "There's about a dozen of them out there... maybe more." "Momma, get away from that door." "That's the first place they're gonna start shootin'." "Put that down and get your rifle primed now." "_" "Eli, put that rifle on the floor!" "If we give them a fight, they'll kill us!" "They're gonna kill us anyway, Momma." "No, not you three." "You're young." "They'll want you as captives." "Momma." "I love you all very much." "Momma, no." "Get that door shut!" "Eli!" "Eli!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Help me!" "I thought you were dead." "I was watching you for a long time." "Did you see what they did to Momma and Lizzie?" "_" "_" "Leave it for the sheriff." "I mean, what're you gonna do, put him in the back of your truck?" "Your daughter's there, for Christ's sakes." "Exactly." "I don't want her thinking McCulloughs are the kind of people who drive by a dead man and leave him hangin' in the sun." "C'mon, darlin'." "Come on, now." "Leave that." "Let's go." "You can keep your granddad company." "Endive." "Mm-hmm." "Mexican hat." "Good girl." "You're giving me easy ones." "You wanna know what's happening, don't you?" "I know you're not gonna tell me." "Indian blanket." "Good girl." "You missed a spot." "Who do you figure for it?" "Well, hell, Pete, I dunno." "Though there is a revolution goin' on the other side of that border over there." "And our county does harbor every type of cattle thief known to man." "Then we got the trigger-happy Rangers, a sheriff who can't tell his ass from a hole in the ground, and a whole collection of yahoos who go for a rope every time a Mexican looks at a white lady." "So I dunno, son." "It's a pretty short list of suspects." "Well, I got a pretty good idea which yahoo I'm gonna go see first." "Great goddamn way to start a birthday party." "Get up!" "Get up there!" "Get up there!" "What's that in the back?" " It's a man." " Is he dead?" "Get away from there." " Did you run him over?" " Get." "Go on, get." "Oh, my God." "Go inside." "Jeannie, are you okay?" "Everybody's fine." "All right, go on with your granddaddy." "You too." "Get on in there." "Somebody strung up one of Pedro García's hands by the side of the road." "I wasn't gonna leave him there." "Should we cancel this party?" "We can't." "We got to show the world" "South Texas is a great place to do business." "I'm sorry, baby." "I understand." "Here's your julep." "Ah, 'tis that time." "Oh, yeah." "That's spot-on-the-nose perfect, darlin'." "But just for the sake of an experiment, would you mind passing me that bottle over there?" "Ohh, yeah." "You're gonna be drunk." "Oh, honey if you had to lay down as much bullshit as I'm about to lay down tonight, you'd get drunk, too." "Here you go." "Come here." "Hey." "You see that rig out there?" "Yeah." "After I get done tonight, we'll have enough money to buy six more just like it." "Why do we need so many?" "We're running out of time." "Another year like the one we just endured will finish us." "The era of the cattle baron is over, honey." "It's over." "What if there isn't any oil in the ground?" "Oh, I'm betting there is." "But what if you're wrong?" "If there's no oil, do we lose the ranch?" "Well, that's always a risk." "Any time you find a decent piece of land, sure as sunup, someone out there's gonna try and take it from you." "Does that scare you?" "Not anymore." "Oh." "Nice to see you back, Miss García." "That's my father's man." "Yeah." "Damn shame." "Poor old Armando." "They say he was, uh, riding with the Mexican bandits, though." "Who found him?" "Pete McCullough." "Well." "If it ain't Pete McCullough." "You getting ready for that fête galant-ay tonight?" "I had my shirt pressed special." "You have a hand in that?" "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." "Niles." "Well..." "If you're referring to that strung-up cattle rustler, now that you menti it," "I might know something about that." "Armando couldn't rustle up supper, let alone 70 head." "He was confederating with the sediciosos, Pete." "Armando cut the fence, and he looked the other way when them Mexers stole your property." "I tell you, my friend, he admitted to all of it." "In the end." "Jesus, Niles." "You and your daddy ain't exactly strangers to backcountry adjudication." "You enlightened plenty of rustlers at the end of a rope." "That ain't how we do things anymore." "Oh." "If I catch someone stealing my property," "I'll see that he's dealt with." "I don't want your help." "You hear me?" "Oh, I hear you all right." "But you might want to make sure your daddy is of a similar mind." "I had a little talk with Niles Gilbert." "That so?" "Yep." "Is this one of them vaudeville routines, or are you working your way up to a question?" "Did you put him up to hanging that man?" "I asked him to sniff around about, see who was hitting our cattle." "And you didn't consider how he might interpret that?" "I don't want this family in bed with the Law and Order League." "And I don't want the home I spent my whole life building to get snatched out from underneath our noses." "Sometimes it feels like" "I'm in the front of the boat bailing water while you're behind me drilling holes." "Who's running this ranch, Daddy... you or me?" "Well... allegedly, you are." "Armando's wife seemed to be holding up well." "Considering." "I'm going to the service tomorrow." "Oh, I want to come, too." "She will be very appreciative of that." "Yeah." "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "Why do you say that?" "_" "_" "Cesar." "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "No." "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_" " _ - _" "_" "♪ Way down on the levy in old Alabamy ♪" "♪ There's Daddy and Mammy ♪" "♪ There's Ephraim and Sammy ♪" "♪ On a moonlight night, you can find them all ♪" "♪ While they are swinging, the banjos are syncopating ♪" "♪ What's that they're saying?" "♪" "♪ What's that they're saying?" "♪" "♪ While they keep playing, a-humming and swaying ♪" "♪ It's the good ship Robert E. Lee ♪" "Hi, Mr. McCullough." "I'll take care of that." "Howdy." "Hey, boys." "Hey, John, how are you?" "So nice to see you." "Thank you for being here." "Okay." "♪ Go take your best gal ♪" "How you doin'?" "♪ And go to the levy ♪" "Why, Niles Gilbert." "Don't you clean up nice." "Mind my bag." "Why, Sally McCullough." "I had no idea it was possible for a wildflower to bloom indoors." "Phineas." "What kept you?" "The guests already started to arrive." "One last investor to round up." "Should be a good group tonight." "We have done everything we can to make the place lovely for them." "Well, may I offer a little something for your troubles?" "I figure at least one man in this family ought to buy you nice things now and again." "I love it." "Thank you." "You're very welcome." "Now, if you'll excuse me..." "Those real Comanches out there?" "Mm-hmm." "Our esteemed guests deserve a little authenticity." "Who do you got down there?" "Ah, it's a good crowd." "Eight or nine bankers with ties to this part of the state, all looking for a place to park their cash." "Mm-hmm." "John Barton's the first man I want you to meet." "He's always been a big faof yours." "Well, that's good to hear." "You did good, son." "Now, the only way this is gonna work is you got to sell the virgin potential of the land." "All right?" "They could be the first to discover oil here and get ahead of the wave that's about to come." "Plus, we're offering 1/8th royalties." "No one else is gonna come even close to that." "You got something to say over there?" "This whole thing's a swindle." "Well, that's a strong word, little brother." "Is it?" "We ain't found a drop of oil on this property." "There's no reason to believe 6 or 7 or 100 new rigs is gonna change that." "Well, the oil is there." "How do you know that?" "Call it faith." "Faith might work with Comanches, but not with those bankers downstairs." "They want hard evidence." "You got anything real?" "Anything at all?" "Phineas, if you had the money, would you invest it here, in oil?" "I've done dumber things." "So tell me, Pete, what's your plan?" "Drink hemlock?" "Hang a noose?" "Stop sucking the blood out of our core business." "I had to lay off 10 vaqueros to help pay for the oil rig." "Now we're shorthanded, and our fences are unguarded." "That's how these rustlers keep getting away with our livestock." "If blaming me makes you feel better, fine." "It's your choice got us into this mess." "Cattle ranching's the past." "It's always been there, and it always will be." "It's stable." "It's stagnant." "In this life, if you don't move forward, you die." "Now, in five minutes, I'm gonna go down there and convince these rich bastards that our shit comes out gold-plated, that South Texas is the happiest, safest place on this green Earth." "I'm gonna get them to open up their wallets and give us what we need to create a great Goddamn empire." "You gonna help me do that or not?" "Yes, sir." "Fine." "Good." "Then get the hell out of my sight." "I can't believe this." "Jeannie?" " You're so grown up." " Thank you." "How long has it been?" "Three years, I think." "Oh, Lord, it has been that long." " Jeannie, say hello." " Hello." "Lourdes, Pedro." "Thanks for coming." "Well, it's a rare pleasure celebrating someone being older than me, Peter." "How is the colonel?" "Still kicking." "For your future, compadre, a piece of my past." "It belonged to my uncle Arturo." "May it continue to bring your family the luck it's brought mine." "Well, I sure do appreciate it." "Do you have time for a smoke with your old friend?" "Oh, I'm sure Pete does." "Of course." "Maria told me what you did for my man Armando." "I'm sure you'd do the same for one of ours." "Yes, of course." "Like for like." "You know we had nothing to do with it, right?" "This would mean a lot more coming from your father, Peter." "Well, Pedro, I'm the one runnin' the business." "Now, you're sure you speak for the colonel?" "My name's McCullough, just like his." "Mm." "You are two very different men." "Your father is a simple animal, Peter." "He is untroubled by his conscience." "He sleeps soundly, secure in his belief that men are as expendable as beef." "But he does not seem to realize that this philosophy, this approach to life can be very contagious." "And once it begins to spread, it spreads very quickly." "What river is this?" "The Llano." "That's impossible." "It's a whole day's ride." "Daddy's never gonna catch up to us." "I think I can shimmy my hands." "For what?" "We need to stay ready." "We're not gonna escape, Eli." "How much do you remember about last night?" "Enough." "You were out for most of it." "It was obvious they were gonna kill Momma, but I don't think they meant to kill Lizzie." "After you shot that Indian, the others began shooting the house, and Lizzie was hit." "When they saw she was shot, they looked over her wounds." "I thought maybe they were gonna doctor her, but... they must have decided she wasn't gonna make it." "You got Lizzie killed, Eli." "I hope it was worth it." "_" "_" "They're gonna kill us if we don't start doing what they say, Martin." "You hear me?" "You'll make a good little Indian, you know?" "_" "_" "_" "_" "_ and a little bit of English." "What's your name?" "Toshaway." "I'm Eli." " They're gonna separate us." " Why would they do that?" "These guys are from two different bands." "Get off me!" "Get off me!" "Why do you think they stopped tying us up?" "Nowhere to run to." "Here." "Eat something." "You know, I never knew a place like this could exist." "You need to eat." "I'll bet our tracks will be covered up by the wind." "They're gonna kill you if you don't eat." "They're gonna kill me anyway." "I thought for sure I'd go to Harvard." "I wrote Emerson about 10 letters, but I never got a chance to send any of them." "I'd like to think he would have taken them seriously, though." "Here." "It's not that bad when you get used to it." "I'm sure you have your own name for this." "But we call it an Indian blanket or an Indian sunburst." "It's interesting to note that small, stunted, or useless plants, such as the Mexican plum or the Mexican apple, we name after our enemies, the Mexicans, with whom we'll likely be at war with for centuries to come." "But even now, we name colorful or beautiful plants after you Indians, as you will all soon be vanquished from the Earth." "It is, of course, a great compliment to your race." "Though, if your vanquishing had come a bit sooner," "I would not have complained." ""It is the fate of a man like myself to be misunderstood."" "That's Goethe, in case you were wondering." "I've always been proud of you, buddy." "Martin..." "Martin!" "Martin!" "No!" "Martin!" "Martin!" "No!" "Martin!" "Martin!" "No!" "Martin!" "No!" "Martin!" "Martin!" "Martin!" "No!" "_" "_" "Your brother died with great honor." "He only pretended to be a coward." "Really, he was a coyote sent to test us." "_" "Bad medicine for Urwat." "And for the rest of us." "It's been forever, hasn't it?" "Uh, yeah." "Uh, Christmas three years ago." "Good memory." "So, you here for a while, or are you...?" "Oh, no... just until things settle down." "Then..." "I'll be off again." "So, how's your husband?" "He passed away." "So sorry." "When?" "Almost two months ago." "God, that is terrible." "How are you doing?" "I'm all right." "Just..." "It's nice to..." "To be home, around family and... familiar things." "Well, I-I better get back." "What's happening around here, Pete?" "Everything seems different." "Everyone seems very nervous." "Mexico is in bad shape." "Since they overthrew Huerta, the revolutionaries have all been fighting each other to replace him." "So that spills across the river and causes trouble." "The local yokels get worked up, cause even more trouble, and you know..." "And people get hung." "Yeah." "Nice to see you." "You haven't aged a day." "Who wants to hear a few words from the man of the hour?" "Anyone?" "I guess, uh..." "Pete." "Thanks for taking care of Armando." "Yeah, sure." "No problem." "I enjoy delivering speeches just about as much as I do hearing them." "But considering we got a lot of people here who've traveled many a mile, and given that only the devil knows if I'm gonna be standing here this time next year," "I figured I better pay you all my respects." "I was born on the same date as the Republic of Texas." "Hear, hear." "And you do not reach my age without accommodating your fair share of change." " That's right." " Yeah." "I was taught at a very early age you have to roll with the punches." "Hear, hear." "Now..." "Now, I see some old faces here from a lot of different sides of a lot of different fights." "Some of you, I've rode with." "Yes, sir." "Some of you, I've fought with." "And some of you, I've bled with." "That's right." "And some of you, maybe back in the bad old days, might have taken a shot at me." "Maybe one of your relatives did." "But I guess what I'm trying to say here is that those times are over." "We're entering the modern age." "If anyone picks up a gun now, it's because we're out for quail or deer." "Yeah." "I hear ya." "I've lived all over the West." "And this little patch of South Texas," "I decided to call home." " It's good weather." " Yes, sir." "The sweetest water for 500 miles." "Yeah." "Absolutely." "We got oil, we got gas, we got monster bucks and quail comin' out our ears!" "So there's a good reason I chose to raise my family here, and I'm honored you all could come down and share it with me." "So... here's to coming' together." "Hear, hear." "Here's to the good guys finally winning." " Yeah!" " Yeah!" "Here's to family and home and the most bountiful place on God's green Earth." "God bless Texas!" "God bless Texas!" "Ah, I need to wet my whistle here, Niles." "Don't be shy." "Hell of a speech, Colonel." "A real inspiration." "Oh, thanks, John." "That means a lot coming from you." "Now, listen, can I bend your ear and we talk a little business outside?" "Sure." "You're buying the drinks." "Ah, you're drinking." "Oh, I wouldn't listen to what anyone has to say about this place." "If you'd put $100 into this land around here about five years ago, you would have $2,000 today." "That railroad is about the best thing that ever happened to us." "Hm." "I want everybody on this ranch working on putting this out!" "A dry well shouldn't have caught fire like this." "They used dynamite." "I've got tracks!" "Five or six horses!" "Hyah!" "Let's go!" "Hyah!" "Hah!" "Hyah!" "Hah!" "One of them split off." "Hyah!" "Right here." "Five of the riders keep hard south for the river." "The other looks like his horse threw him." "This bastard's close." " I got him." " Hyah!" "Daddy." "Daddy!" "That's Pedro García's son-in-law!" "I don't give a shit!" " Hey, hey, hey!" " Stop it!" "Come on!" "Stop it!" "Get your hands off me!" "Get your hands off me!" "You kill him, and we start a war." "The war's already here." "I thought your kind did your killing with a rope." "That's the best idea I heard all night." "Tom, toss me that lariat." "Yeah, boss."