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00:00 ♪ [music] ♪
00:08 From the archives of the United States Cavalry, the true stories of Colonel
00:12 Randall McKenzie and the cavalrymen he led, McKenzie's Raiders.
00:17 His secret orders from the President of the United States, "Clean up the Southwest.
00:22 Make it a fit place for Americans to live.
00:24 Wipe out the renegades, outlaws, and murderers.
00:27 If necessary, cross the Rio Grande.
00:30 Knowing capture means hanging by the enemy.
00:32 Discovery, court-martialed by the United States Army."
00:36 ♪ [music] ♪
00:53 October, 1873, Texas country.
00:57 Fort Clark was fast becoming a vital part of the border territory's expanding economy.
01:02 Colonel McKenzie's remote 4th Cavalry outpost depended largely on local
01:07 settlers for forage, fresh beef, and horses.
01:11 In return, the settlers grew to depend on the patrols of Cavalry Blue as their only
01:16 protection against death, from violent nature, from violent men.
01:21 - All right, Mr. Fields.
01:25 We'll take all of them.
01:27 Just give this to the paymaster at the post and he'll cash it for you.
01:34 - This doesn't look like McKenzie's signature to me.
01:53 This requisition you gave me is a forgery.
02:01 - Now he's been paid off now.
02:02 - Well, it looks like we bought ourselves some horses.
02:06 - All right, let's get him out of here.
02:08 - Colonel McKenzie had made the Army uniform a symbol of absolute trust.
02:13 But now this trust was reaping grim rewards.
02:18 - Colonel, Josh Benson is in your office waiting for you.
02:21 He's been there for a half an hour.
02:25 - What's his business?
02:26 - I don't know, sir, but he's all steamed up.
02:30 - I imagine he is.
02:35 - Ah.
02:37 Mr. Benson.
02:37 - Colonel McKenzie.
02:39 - What can I do for you, sir?
02:40 - May I be frank, Colonel?
02:42 - Certainly.
02:44 - I will put it to you simply, Colonel.
02:46 You are an inefficient commander.
02:51 - More killings done by men in Army uniform, I gather.
02:53 - More killing by your troopers, Colonel.
02:57 - That's a very serious accusation.
03:01 - What else am I to believe?
03:03 How do you explain this series of murders?
03:06 First Adams, then Gifford, then Harry Towne.
03:10 You know them all as well as I do.
03:12 And the only single fact to come out of it all is that the attacks were made by soldiers.
03:16 - All right.
03:18 I admit that everything you say is true, excepting those were not my men.
03:22 - Are you prepared to prove that, Colonel?
03:25 - How do you mean?
03:25 - I speak for 30 families, families who are still alive, who have not yet been attacked.
03:31 This group has sent me here to tell you this, beginning now, keep your patrols away from us.
03:36 We are prepared to shoot anyone in uniform and ask questions later.
03:39 - Give me no choice, Mr. Benson.
03:41 You must be aware that my orders to this fort obliged me to protect the peace.
03:45 To do that, I depend on my patrols.
03:47 - Now you're threatening those patrols with death.
03:51 You're courting disaster, Mr. Benson.
03:53 - Perhaps.
03:55 But until these assassins in uniform are dead, we must protect our lives.
04:00 Good day, Colonel.
04:04 - Good day, sir.
04:07 - Sergeant.
04:15 - Sir?
04:17 - Order out another patrol, ready to ride immediately.
04:20 We'll be gone two days.
04:21 - Yes, sir.
04:23 - The marauders in uniform had to be stopped.
04:29 To this end, McKenzie led his troops out of Fort Clark to search the territory for some sign of the disguised killers.
04:40 [HORSES GALLOPING]
04:44 He found what he was looking for, more ruthless men.
05:08 He was looking for more ruthless attacks on helpless ranchers.
05:12 Hysteria was so great that every soldier was in danger of being shot on sight by frightened civilians,
05:18 unable to detect protector from assassins.
05:22 McKenzie returned to Fort Clark driven by the knowledge that immediate action was necessary to stem this widespread threat.
05:36 [HORSES GALLOPING]
05:40 - Come on in, Lieutenant.
05:47 - Any luck, sir?
05:53 - I'm afraid this requires a little more than luck.
05:57 I got enough sand in my eyes to fill a bucket.
06:00 - I'll get the sergeant to hustle up some hot water.
06:02 - No, later, later.
06:04 Lieutenant, everywhere I went, stories of men in uniform committing every crime in the book, lots of them.
06:10 - Deserters, sir?
06:11 - Can't be. There aren't that many in this territory.
06:13 Can't be regulars, there aren't that many men out on pass.
06:16 - Sounds like the Jayhawkers during the war.
06:18 - Exactly, professionals.
06:20 We've got to break up this gang before they get more uniforms or they'll terrorize this whole territory the way they did Kansas and Missouri.
06:27 Take a look.
06:31 It is Horse Ranch, Paso Doble Mine, Stageway Station, Hacienda Quintera.
06:38 We got there an hour after they hit the place.
06:41 Before that, here and here.
06:43 - Like the scattered buckshot.
06:45 - Exactly.
06:47 Buckshot has a pattern like that, arcing from the muzzle.
06:54 - Prieto.
06:55 - Prieto.
06:56 The gun muzzle pointing right into the heart of our territory.
07:01 I don't know what we're going to find there, Lieutenant, but that's where we're going to start looking.
07:05 Across the river.
07:07 - Across the river, sir?
07:09 - Tell me, Lieutenant.
07:12 You ever hear of a man named Nolan?
07:15 Um, Amos Nolan.
07:17 - I don't think so, sir.
07:19 - He's a scout, kind of a no-good drifter.
07:23 I want you to meet him three weeks from today on our side of Devil Horn Ford.
07:29 When that plan works out, I think he'll come out of Prieto with exactly the information we want.
07:34 - Can this, uh, Nolan fellow be trusted, sir?
07:39 - Hmm. I've often trusted him with my life.
07:42 - That's strange. I thought I knew them all.
07:46 - When you're in the Army a little longer, Lieutenant, you'll find out that you never know it all.
07:50 Every day, something new.
07:52 - Yes, sir.
07:54 [door closes]
07:56 [music]
08:00 [horse whinnies]
08:07 [indistinct chatter]
08:17 [music]
08:19 - Extraordinary circumstances once again forced McKenzie to violate Mexican sovereignty.
08:35 Following his secret orders, he crossed the Rio Grande,
08:39 knowing that his capture in Mexico would surely mean his death.
08:43 [music]
08:45 - Are you alone?
09:03 - I don't seem to be now.
09:07 - Mind if I sit down?
09:11 - My name's Rita.
09:13 - What are you? Drifter? Saddle tramp?
09:17 - My name's Amos Nolan.
09:20 I'm a professional scout.
09:22 That is, when I need a job.
09:24 - Andele.
09:39 - Fet me!
10:06 - You can give these back to him when you see him again.
10:09 - I'd help if you'd ask.
10:13 - When I want help, I'll ask.
10:16 - Just being friendly.
10:18 - Well.
10:24 You next? - No, thanks.
10:26 I just want to say a man who handles himself like you do could find some work around here.
10:31 - A man that's got angles doesn't need a job.
10:34 - Fair enough.
10:36 You're a scout.
10:38 I can smell him a mile away.
10:40 I suppose that getting paid for leading freighters into Fort Clark is your idea of an angle.
10:45 - You suppose right, mister.
10:47 - With me, that's a job.
10:49 - It's a job with angles.
10:51 That's a fancy gun belt you're wearing.
10:55 - Yeah. A friend of mine makes 'em.
10:58 - Suppose he'd make one for me?
11:00 - Depends.
11:02 On an angle?
11:04 - Sometimes a scout's information is worth a lot of money.
11:07 - Uh-huh.
11:09 Well, like I told your friends, when I need help, I'll ask for it.
11:13 - Any idea when that'll be?
11:15 - Depends on how long my money holds out.
11:18 The slow action around here, that'll probably be two or three weeks.
11:22 I'm going back to the fort.
11:24 - You don't expect to find any action there?
11:26 - Maybe. Maybe not.
11:29 - If you hear anything, I'll be here.
11:32 - Senor!
11:44 Are you coming back?
11:46 - In three weeks.
11:48 - Well, what do you think of Nolan?
11:53 - I don't know. There's something about that guy that bothers me.
11:56 - Exactly.
11:57 - He's from Kansas?
11:58 - He's a scout. Like I told him, I can smell him a mile away.
12:01 - He's got a sharp pair of eyes. He noticed your belt.
12:04 - He was admiring it.
12:06 - The kind of admiration I don't trust.
12:08 - I think maybe you'd better follow him.
12:10 - Settle up and get on his trail and let him out of your sight.
12:13 - We'll find out just how legitimate Mr. Nolan is.
12:25 May 17th, 1875.
12:28 McKenzie rode to his secret rendezvous with Lieutenant Summers at Devil Horn Fort.
12:33 But a sick sense warned him of something he had not foreseen.
12:38 [HORN BLOWING]
12:41 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:43 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:46 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:48 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:50 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:52 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:54 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:56 [HORSE GALLOPING]
12:58 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:00 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:02 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:04 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:06 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:08 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:10 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:12 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:14 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:16 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:18 A few hundred yards across the river, Lieutenant Summers waited for Scout Amos Nolan.
13:24 Under the watchful eye of the enemy, it was too late for McKenzie to turn back.
13:29 One salute, one word of recognition could destroy his plan.
13:33 There was only one chance.
13:35 I still say there's something snaky about him.
13:41 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:43 Somebody's coming.
13:45 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:47 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:49 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:51 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:53 [HORSE GALLOPING]
13:55 Don't shoot!
13:57 What?
13:59 [HORSE GALLOPING]
14:01 [HORSE GALLOPING]
14:03 [HORSE GALLOPING]
14:05 [GRUNTING]
14:07 [GRUNTING]
14:09 [THUD]
14:11 Snaky, huh?
14:27 That saddled tramp would murder his grandmother for a plug dollar.
14:30 [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
14:32 [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
14:34 What happened?
15:00 [CHUCKLES]
15:02 You don't remember.
15:04 Only that you jumped me.
15:07 My watch.
15:13 And your wallet.
15:16 I'm sorry, Mark.
15:18 I had everything set up, but they got suspicious and followed me,
15:21 so I had to make it look good.
15:23 -And you found them? -I think so.
15:25 -The next step is to make sure. -Yes, sir.
15:28 Now, look, we've got three weeks.
15:30 Three weeks.
15:32 -I want every second to count. -Yes, sir.
15:35 First, you know where we can get a Conestoga wagon?
15:38 -A Conestoga wagon? -A Conestoga.
15:41 Yes, sir. I think so, sir.
15:43 Get it. Get it.
15:45 And have the carpenters start taking it apart immediately.
15:49 -Yes, sir. -Another thing, Lieutenant.
15:52 I want five men trained to hip-shoot the eye out of a squirrel
15:55 in the middle of a somersault.
15:58 -Sir? -After two weeks of long-range practice,
16:01 give each of these men a week's furlough so his absence won't be noticed.
16:03 -You got that? -Yes, sir.
16:06 I may be wrong, Mark,
16:08 but I think they're going to attack in here again.
16:11 They're going to attack an army freight wagon
16:13 coming in secretly with something they need more than guns and bullets.
16:16 A wagon load of army uniforms.
16:20 How are they going to find out, sir?
16:26 From Amos Nolan?
16:27 For a price?
16:29 -Get going, Lieutenant. -Yes, sir.
16:55 McKenzie's plan to entrap the outlaws
16:57 raiding American settlers in stolen cavalry uniforms
17:00 would require split-second timing and precision-like teamwork.
17:04 That's as sharp a squad as I've ever seen, Colonel.
17:15 They'll have to be.
17:17 -Keep at it, Lieutenant. See you back at the fort. -Yes, sir.
17:22 (SIREN WAILING)
17:23 (KNOCKING)
17:44 Come in.
17:45 -Lieutenant. -You sent for me, sir?
17:49 Yes.
17:50 I'm leaving now.
17:51 I want to go over with you once again exactly what I expect of you.
17:54 Yes, sir.
17:56 Now, remember, the whole operation depends on split-second timing.
18:00 In the first place, I'm counting on their buying my information about that wagon
18:03 -and setting out for you. -Yes, sir.
18:05 So, you see, you'll really be on your own,
18:07 because I probably won't be able to get back to you in time.
18:09 I understand, sir.
18:11 Now, if everything goes according to plan, you'll be escorting that wagon
18:13 -and they'll attack you. -Yes, sir.
18:15 That's when we use surprise.
18:17 Don't let them get too close.
18:19 When you do open fire, shoot to kill.
18:21 Every shot must take deadly effect.
18:24 It'll seem strange shooting at cavalrymen, sir.
18:26 I know.
18:27 Lieutenant.
18:31 The whole success of this mission depends on you.
18:35 It depends on your following your orders straight down the line.
18:38 Yes, sir. I understand, sir.
18:39 Oh, and Lieutenant.
18:44 Good luck.
18:48 Good luck to you, Colonel.
18:49 Let's see if your information's worth buying.
18:56 -$500 first. -Talk first.
18:59 Lay it on the line first.
19:01 That's better.
19:06 There are two convoys headed for Fort Clark.
19:12 The second one's the one you'll be interested in.
19:14 It's loaded with carbines and ammunition.
19:16 And what's in the first?
19:18 Just shipment of uniforms.
19:20 Well, I guess you've earned your money.
19:25 Keep an eye on them, Kansas.
19:26 Why are you more interested in uniforms than in guns and ammunition?
19:33 You'll see.
19:34 (BIRDS CHIRPING)
19:35 So that's why you wanted the uniforms.
19:54 Yeah, and we got a lot of guys just dying to use them.
19:56 -All right, let's get on with it. -Huh.
19:59 Well, let me tell you the trail that wagon's going to take.
20:01 Oh, you're going to do better than that, Mr. Nolan.
20:03 You're going to show us the way.
20:04 That wasn't part of the deal.
20:08 What do you want to be, Kansas? A sergeant or a corporal?
20:11 I'd hate to have a saddle tramp outrank me.
20:14 There you are.
20:15 Hey, Corporal, these ought to fit you.
20:19 Put them on. We got to get going.
20:21 This was the unexpected.
20:23 The one thing McKenzie hadn't counted on.
20:25 In uniform with these Jayhawkers, he'd be shot down with the rest.
20:29 He remembered his own orders.
20:32 "Don't let them get too close. Shoot to kill."
20:35 Following McKenzie's timetable,
20:40 Lieutenant Summers left Fort Clark with a Conestoga supply wagon.
20:44 The bait to attract the marauders.
20:58 Lieutenant Summers knew this had to be the disguised renegade patrol.
21:02 McKenzie had done his job well.
21:05 Get fast.
21:14 Now, remember, keep a steady course and move when I call for action.
21:22 Yes, sir.
21:23 Pull out. Get in.
21:24 Get in fast.
21:26 Yes, sir.
21:27 No escort.
21:44 There's one man on the seat and an officer in the lead.
21:47 Sit and duck.
21:48 Lay down, Scout.
21:49 Lay down, Scout.
21:50 McKenzie's voice kept mocking him.
22:03 "They'll be in cavalry uniforms. Don't let them get too close."
22:08 [♪♪♪]
22:10 Steady now. Don't let them get too close.
22:23 Steady.
22:26 Fire!
22:29 [GUNFIRE]
22:31 [GUNFIRE]
22:34 [GUNFIRE]
22:37 [GUNFIRE]
22:39 [GUNFIRE]
22:53 [GUNFIRE]
22:55 We almost shot you, sir.
23:08 I'm aware of that, Lieutenant.
23:10 You followed your orders explicitly.
23:13 Permit me to congratulate you.
23:15 Thank you, sir.
23:17 [♪♪♪]
23:19 Hey, Corporal.
23:32 Yeah?
23:36 You got a match?
23:37 Uh...
23:39 Yeah, I think I have.
23:42 [SIGHS]
23:43 Thanks.
23:50 How long you been in this outfit?
23:53 I enlisted in Houston.
23:55 Just got in this afternoon and some lieutenant gave me this fort.
23:59 Yeah.
24:00 That's a lieutenant for you.
24:02 Well, I enlisted to fight.
24:04 Well, you'll probably get a chance.
24:06 How long you been in the Army?
24:10 11 years.
24:11 11 years?
24:13 And still only a Corporal?
24:16 Must be the stupidest man in the outfit.
24:18 Sometimes I'm inclined to agree with you.
24:22 Watch out, Corporal. I think you'll be fine.
24:26 Colonel McKenzie?
24:28 The tube is ready for inspection, sir.
24:31 What's the matter with you, Private?
24:35 Oh, it's just the excitement, I think.
24:38 [♪♪♪]
24:41 He's a rookie.
24:44 He'll be all right.
24:46 [♪♪♪]
24:50 [♪♪♪]
24:57 McKenzie's Raiders rode again and again,
25:02 carrying out the secret orders of the President of the United States.
25:06 Do whatever necessary to clean up the Southwest.
25:09 Make it a decent place for people to live.
25:11 Ride with McKenzie's Raiders as they relive the blazing pages of history in the making.
25:17 [♪♪♪]
25:22 [♪♪♪]
25:25 [♪♪♪]
25:28 [♪♪♪]
25:31 [♪♪♪]
25:37 [♪♪♪]
25:43 [♪♪♪]
25:49 [♪♪♪]
25:55 [♪♪♪]
25:58 [♪♪♪]
26:02 [♪♪♪]
26:06 (dramatic music)
26:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]