LAKOTA BETRAYAL
A Novel
MOVIE TREATMENT
Lakota Betrayal
Based on the Novel by Andrew Pedan Greenwood
© 2012 by Andrew Pedan Greenwood
Contact: James Clois Smith Jr., Sunstone Press / (505) 988-4418
Log Line: In 1872, young Nate Henderson travels from Texas with his family, dreaming of gold in the Black Hills. But tragedy strikes in Nebrtaska, and his life is transformed forever. He develops a strong relationship with both the largest Lakota Sioux tribe and with their sacred Black Hills. Eventually he discovers first-hand the might of the Seventh Cavalry and the intentions of its leader, George Armstrong Custer, to remove all Indians for the Dakota Territory. Nate, placing himself in great peril, secretly devises an intricate plan to reverse the seemingly inevitable fate of the Sioux and their allies.
While cleaning out his deceased parents’ attic, the author discovers on old document written on parchment, that relates to the Indian Wars, and suggests events that seem incredulous.
Fade to:
Movie Titles
Act I
In their hotel in Galveston, Texas, JOSEPH HENDERSON tells his family, RUTH, his wife and children, eighteen-year old NATE and fifteen-year old BECKY, that he has decided to search for gold in the Dakota Territory. Having lost most everything, including his social status in Savannah, and after trying to recoup his wealth in Galveston, it was time to move on so he could fulfill the promise he made to them to be “important,” again. Nate and Becky are given the option of staying behind, but they are unsure of what to do.
Cut to:
Nate learns from a newspaper reporter who’d been to the frontier, about the perils associated with the Dakota Territory and the journey to get there.
Cut to:
After seeing the girl who gave him his first kiss arm in arm with another man,
Nate decides to go with his father.
Cut to:
Becky agrees after Nate promises her she can go anywhere she wants after they
find the gold.
Fade to:
Joseph and Nate practice with the new Spencer rifles purchased by Joseph by shooting driftwood and sea shells on the Galveston beach.
Cut to:
Ruth and Becky go to the store and buy food items.
Cut to:
Nate and Joseph prepare the covered wagon. They apply wax to flooring and side boards for river crossings. They add a water barrel for collecting rainwater. They talk about the possibility of encountering Indians.
Fade to:
The Henderson family depart Galveston, crossing the new bridge from Galveston
to the mainland.
Cut to:
The Hendersons make camp with other travelers headed for Fort Worth,
California, and other destinations west or north. Joseph tells them he’s was going to Salina to start a new hotel.
Cut to:
In Waco, the Henderosns join a large wagon train for fifty dollars.
Cut to:
The wagon master, RUSTY KERR, and scouts are very efficient. They provide
Lighted campfires as the wagons arrive for the night’s rest.
Cut to:
The scouts ride into camp with fresh meat from hunting each evening. Joseph
exclaims he’d made a good deal by joining the wagon train.
Fade to:
The wagon master tells everyone that Indians have been following the wagon
train. One family has mules that cannot continue, and rather than leave their belongings behind and continue their journey by riding with others, the family decides to stay. Ruth prays for them.
Cut to:
Nate and Joseph have their first turn as night sentries during which Joseph
tells his son for the first time about his experiences in the Civil War.
Cut to:
In Fort Worth, Joseph treats his family to a night in a hotel, including hot
baths, and takes Nate to Hell’s Half Acre, gives him money and tells him
to have fun.
Cut to:
Nate meets real cowboys and a beautiful prostitute.
Fade to:
The wagon train moves north from Fort Worth, adding two more scouts
who are also veteran Indian fighters.
Cut to:
The Indian fighters fascinate their audience, including Nate and Becky with
their stories about Indians around the evening campfire.
Cut to:
A new family with the wagon train has two young twin girls with whom
Becky plays every night.
Cut to:
The wagons cross the Red River using ferries operated by Cherokee Indians. The Hendersons observe them working, and Joseph relates the stories about their removal from their lands and the Trail of Tears.
Cut to:
Nate and Becky listen another story around one of the campfires from HAMBONE,
one of the Indian fighters. He relates that the Indians in the Dakota Territory are the most dangerous, especially the Sioux.
Cut to:
The night before they reach Salina, the wagon master, who’d learned of the true destination of the Hendersons, privately wishes them good luck on the remainder on their journey alone to the Black Hills, and offers advice about what to do when they encountered Indians.
Cut to:
In Salina, the Hendersons restock their supplies and add goods they might trade
with Indians.
Cut to:
Before leaving the next morning, Becky goes to tell the twins goodbye, but
their mother reports they are asleep in the wagon and are ill.
Act II
Hambone offers additional specific advice about fighting Indians.
Cut to:
The wagon train departs Salina heading west; the Hendersons depart alone
heading north.
Cut to:
When they camp for the night, Nate provides fresh meat for the family by
shooting his first living creature, a jack rabbit. He has mixed feelings.
Cut to:
Taking turns on the overnight watch, nothing is seen but deer, raccoons
and skunks.
Fade to:
The first encounter with an Indian since leaving Salina occurs. A lone Indian
follows the wagon, and when beckoned, comes close enough to be given food, handed to him by Becky who receives a necklace in return.
Cut to:
That evening, when Nate is away hunting after they stopped for the night, the same Indian returns with others wearing war paint. Joseph fires a warning shot, and Nate returns and together, Nate and Joseph using their Spencer rifles, repel them, killing some of them.
Fade to:
Overnight while standing watch, Nate hears Becky moaning in her sleep inside
the wagon. When she awakes, it is clear she has fever. Ruth gives her quinine water, and forces Nate and Joseph to drink plenty of quinine water themselves to prevent them from falling ill. Ruth takes no quinine herself, though she tells Nate and Joseph that she did. Nate concludes that the twin girls infected Becky, who unfortunately is gravely ill.
Cut to:
Becky dies, and now Ruth has the fever. Nate digs the grave, and with his father
lays his sister to rest after giving her a sad farewell.
Cut to:
Joseph wants to alternate the horses with the mules to pull the wagon so they
can travel fast and continuously to Fort Laramie for medical help for his wife. Ruth says she won’t get in the wagon, knowing that such would likely kill the animals, leaving her men helpless in hostile territory, and also knowing that the effort would be of no help to her.
Cut to:
Ruth dies and is buried. Joseph and Nate talk about the loved ones they’ll miss
and recommit themselves to finding the gold so that Ruth and Becky wouldn’t have died in vain. They discuss what they’ll do with their wealth and Joseph tells his son he’ll be his partner in any venture, and in any place he wanted.
Cut to:
Meanwhile, a dozen Indians are following the wagon.
Cut to:
The twelve Indians attack, and some have rifles. Joseph and Nate take cover under the wagon, and they shoot every one of them, but Nate is shot in the thigh with an arrow, and Joseph is shot through the neck and heart and is killed.
Cut to:
Limping, Nate walks out to a wounded Indian and shoots him between the eyes.
Cut to:
Nate buries his father, prays for guidance, and decides to continue on for the sake of his family, especially Becky’s.
Fade to:
Nate continues west and using a map, locates where he is to turn north. At that
point at a river’s bank, he sees a wagon train headed for Oregon, impresses its Indian fighter with his account of killing the Indians who’d attacked him and his father. He wonders why his father had not waited to travel with this wagon train.
Cut to:
Nate continues on alone, and in the evening hunts for fresh meat. He sees two
Indians on horseback following and watching, but has no fear of them
Cut to:
Nate shoots and kills a deer, and using hand gestures, invites the two Indians
to share his kill.
Fade to:
Nate is confronted by ten Sioux warriors, all carrying rifles. TOKALA, the
leader, speaks English having served as an army scout. He approaches Nate by himself, and convinces him he has no choice but to surrender.
Cut to:
On the ride to the village, Tokala sits in the wagon with Nate, and explains what’s to become of Nate. He’ll be a slave to Tokala’s sister who lost her husband a few months ago. He also tells Nate that any attempts to escape would result in his very unpleasant death.
Cut to:
As he approaches the Sioux village, he can clearly see the Black Hills in the distance.
Act III
Nate, the captive, arrives at the massive village and is impressed by both its size, and by the people there who all seem to be working -- women in the river doing laundry, or at their tepees preparing meals, and men making tools and weapons.
Cut to:
He meets his owner, CHUMANI, and her daughter, KIMEMELA, about the same
age as Nate, who both give him an icy reception. Kimemela has been taught a little English by her uncle and can translate for Nate.
Cut to:
Many of the villagers curse Nate and throw stones at him, but he’s given a necklace signifying he’s Chumani’s property and told wearing the necklace will keep him unharmed.
Cut to:
Nate takes his assigned station outside Chumani’s tepee and waits for his orders
and for some food. When he’s fed by the women, he knows what he’s been given to eat is not as good as what they had.
Cut to:
After a very restless, and fearful night, he and the women walk a few miles to
collect wild berries and vegetables, and Nate’s hands are bloodied by the thorns, but he works hard, providing more produce than Chumani and Kimemela had ever gathered by themselves.
Fade to:
Chumana rubs a herbal paste on Nate’s hands, taking the pain away immediately,
and looking in her eyes, Nate is reminded of the nurturing his mother provided for so many years. There’s a connection between the two.
Cut to:
While sitting outside, he sees another Sioux woman wearing one of Becky’s dresses confiscated when he was captured. Tokala drops by and gives him his belongings that weren’t given away including some of his clothes, and his mother’s bible.
Cut to:
Nate and four other slaves, Crow and Pawnee, are taken into the Black Hills to gather firewood for the village, using the Henderson wagon, now without its canvas top. They are guarded by one Sioux warrior, KANGEE. Nate is overwhelmed by the beauty he sees in the hills.
Cut to:
The Indian slaves plot to kill Kangee and escape, but Nate’s actions save the Sioux warrior’s life, and during the action, Kangee saves Nate’s life. All four of the Indian slaves are killed.
Cut to:
Before leaving, Nate insists on filling the wagon with firewood.
Cut to:
Kangee allows him to clean up in a nearby stream, where Nate “pans” for gold
with his hands and finds a nugget, which he drops back into the water, saying “Father, it was here.”
Fade to:
Everyone in the village learns of Nate’s actions in the Black Hills that saved
Kangee’s life. Chumani and Kimemela invite him to eat inside the tepee and share
the same food.
Cut to:
Kangee, Tokala and Nate share a smoke in Kangee’s tepee, Nate’s first smoke of anything. Kangee gives Nate a gift, and both men assure Nate that no harm will come to
him in the village. They tell Nate he’s earned respect and would be allowed to go on a hunt in the near future.
Cut to:
Chumani asks Nate to teach her daughter more English, that she’d had a vision that someday Kimemela would live among whites.
Cut to:
The English lessons begin, as Nate and Kimemela walk through the village
identifying objects in their native tongues. Nate enjoys spending more time with Kimemela.
Fade to:
Nate is allowed to go on a hunt, but must use single shot rifle.
Cut to:
The Sioux hold their annual three-day Sun Dance, but Nate is forbidden from
observing.
Fade to:
The village is then relocated nearer to where scouts say the herds of buffalo are,
and Nate is impressed with the process as thousand of Sioux march along, dragging bundles of their belongings. He encounters the chiefs, and is intimidated
by CRAZY HORSE.
Cut to:
On the buffalo hunt, Nate participates with scouts who chase the buffalo into the
actual hunters. Again he’s impressed with the horsemanship and archery skills of the hunters, and is astounded by his first glimpse of a massive herd of the animals sacred to the Sioux.
Cut to:
Nate witnesses with awe and admiration the processing of the slain buffalo.
Fade to:
Nate tells Chumani and Kimemela how self conscious he feels by his appearance, obviously different from other men in the village. They provide him with a headband, a sharp knife to shave with, and tell him to not wear a shirt and that sun will tan his skin.
Cut to:
Nate initially gets sunburned, but likes his new appearance.
Cut to:
Nate takes part in an attack on a small band of Crow trespassing in the Black Hills. It is the first time he uses a rifle for other than fresh meat, and he must consider what he’s done as being in a war, much like his father had done in the Civil War.
Cut to:
Kangee and Tokala present Nate with a hawk’s feather for his headband, signifying that Nate is now a Sioux warrior.
Cut to:
Kimemela asks him why he has two names, Nate and Nathaniel, and after explaining, they agree he shall call her Kim.
Cut to:
Nate speaks with Crazy Horse who questions his loyalty to the Sioux.
Act IV
During his first winter in a smaller village in the Black Hills, Nate becomes closer to his Sioux friends. Inside a teepee away from the snow, he learns of their families and past experiences.
Cut to:
Although the weather was bitterly cold much of the time, Nate enjoys the
environment, hunting deer, elk, rabbit, and his love of the Black Hills deepens.
Cut to:
Nate pans for gold in the chilly stream, partly as a way to honor his dead father, using what he could.
Cut to:
By the end of winter Nate has collected two bags of nuggets and gold dust.
Chumani tells Nate he can keep it, although she and the other Indians don’t understand why he wants it.
Cut to:
The large village is reassembled in the early spring, adjacent to the river.
Cut to:
Nate participates with other warriors in expelling enemies from their lands.
Fade to:
During the Sun Dance, which again Nate is forbidden from observing, Nate goes
on a vision quest into the hills for two nights. He sleeps under the stars near a mountain top.
Cut to:
Nate sees a male and female deer with a fawn, but doesn’t believe he received
a vision He returns after much personal reflection which leaves him at peace with his life among the Sioux.
Fade to:
Another winter comes and Nate pan for gold, collecting another two bags of
gold in the Black Hills.
Cut to:
Nate hunting with other warriors in the snow -covered hills.
Cut to:
Nate and Kimemela walking through the hills and practicing their English
and Sioux.
Cut to:
Nate shooting fish with bow and arrow. The wooden arrow floats to the fish so that Nate can retrieve it.
Fade to:
In the summer, Nate is permitted to be a hunter, not a mere scout, for the big
buffalo hunt. He performs well.
Fade to:
The third winter comes and there are more conversations in teepees about the
growing number of whites in the territory.
Cut to:
Conversations about the slaughter of the buffalo sponsored by the U.S. Government.
Cut to:
Conversation of love, between Chumani and Kangee.
Cut to:
And similar conversations between Nate and Kim.
Fade to:
When the winter ended, again Nate was sorry to leave the Black Hills. He’d
filled one more bag with gold.
Cut to:
Back in the large village, Kangee will marry Chumani, and that afterward, Nate
will not be needed by her, and will be a free man. But as such, he cannot live permanently in the village any more.
Cut to:
Nate pleads his case to Crazy Horse who offers a compromise. Nate will live
among “his own people” for two years, and be allowed to visit each full moon for two days. If he still wants to marry Kim and live in the village, then Crazy Horse will grant permission.
Cut to:
The wedding of Chumani and Kangee is a festival.
Fade to:
Before leaving, Nate and Kim seal their commitment to one another physically in the prairie outside the village.
Cut to:
On his way to find the white settlement, Nate considers that this was to be the destination for his family over three years ago.
Act V
Nate arrives in Stonewall, in the north central part of the Black Hills. The town, adjacent to the large military base for the Seventh Cavalry, with its two-story wooden buildings, the restaurant where he eats at a table with forks and knives for the first time in in over three years.
Cut to:
The hotel room Nate rents, of course, has a bed with clean linens, punctuating the differences between the Sioux and the white man.
Cut to:
Nate gets a job at JAMES MADGET’s stables, and the owner is curious about
Nate’s journey to Stonewall and his purpose there.
Cut to:
Nate meets ANN MILES, the daughter of Seventh Cavalry Colonel NESLON MILES,, who immediately shows interest in him, and invites Nate to take her on horseback rides into the hills on Sundays.
Cut to:
Because he’d be there for two years, Nate decides he should try to make friends. He goes to a saloon and in conversations with soldiers there, understands the existence of the wide spread disdain for all Indians. He gets into a fight with several soldiers.
Cut to:
Nate goes east into the hills on his first horseback ride with Ann Miles and they
enjoy talking about their past experiences. They agree that what is happening to the Indians isn’t right, but Ann tells Nate that the gloomy fate of the Indians in the Dakota Territory is inevitable.
Cut to:
Nate meets JAY OATES, the local Indian Agent, and learns what his
responsibilities are and about his sympathy for the Indians.
Cut to:
Nate and Ann Miles ride west into the hills and encounter a Sioux war party.
Nate confronts the war party, and conversing in their language, he is recognized as a friend and the couple are unharmed.
Cut to:
Against Nate’s wishes, Ann tells everyone about the encounter.
Cut to:
James Madget suspects that Nate must have lived among the Sioux, but he doesn’t really care.
Cut to:
Ann’s father is grateful to Nate and invites him to a dinner party at his home the following night.
Cut to:
Nate attends the dinner party and meets LARRY GLENN, a recent arrival to the
base from Kansas, and he meets General GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER whose countenance eerily reminds Nate of Crazy Horse. Ann Miles repeats the story of the encounter with the Sioux war party in the hills.
Cut to:
The officers take Nate outside and offer him a job in the army, as a soldier or as
a scout. Nate says he’ll consider the offer, but has no intention of accepting.
Cut to:
Nate learns of Custer’s plan for eradicating the Sioux: waiting until winter when they break up into smaller, relatively defenseless groups in the hills.
Cut to:
At the end of the dinner party, Ann refers to Nate as her boyfriend which causes him concern. He misses Kim.
Cut to:
Nate takes Ann on another ride, in the safe east direction this time, planning to address her feelings that he’s her boyfriend and letting her know he’s committed to another. But before he can bring up the subject, Ann makes an exceedingly aggressive attempt to seduce him. He withstands her advance, and although a bit hurt and disappointed, Ann decides that Nate and she can be just friends.
Act VI
At the full moon, Nate returns to the village. Just before arriving, he removes his shirt, dons his moccasins and headband, and stashes his saddle where he can recover it on his return trip. His skin is whiter than when he’d last been there.
Cut to:
Kim rides out to greet him (having been told by scouts that he was on the way)
and they make love away from the village.
Cut to:
To his surprise, Kim, and his other Sioux friends ask Nate about the girl with
fair hair, obviously having heard about the encounter the war party had with Nate and Ann Miles.
Cut to:
Nate asks to meet with the chiefs, hoping he can do something to prevent what
he was told was inevitable.
Cut to:
Nate meets with the Sioux chiefs and tells them of Custer’s plan to wait until
winter to attack. Then he lays out his plan he’s been thinking about for days, that would have the Sioux form alliances with other tribes, including their enemies, create a republic with an army of warriors large enough to defeat the Seventh Cavalry even with its superior weaponry. He would draft a declaration of independence for the new republic. He tells the chiefs that the history of the white man in America would make them understand and accept the declaration and their demands. The chiefs agree to consider the plan, and Crazy Horse tells Nate to gather more information about Custer and the Seventh Cavalry
Cut to:
Nate visits Chumani’s old tepee with Kim. Inside are blankets, the five bags of
gold, and little else. Kim tells Nate that while single women cannot live alone in the village, she does spend time in the old tepee reading.
Fade to:
On Nate’s return to Stonewall, and while still wearing no shirt, his headband and moccasins, he is shot at by miners who think he’s a real Indian.
Cut to:
Mr. Madget informs Nate that Deadwood is now the place to be, a real boom
town, and that he’d be moving there.
Cut to:
Jay Oates talks about recent raids in the hills by Sioux war parties, and Nate tells
the Indian Agent that he knows who led the attacks, and that he has talked with the Sioux chiefs. They agree to help each other.
Cut to:
Over dinner with Ann’s family, Nate learns of some atrocities by the U.S. toward the Indians.
Cut to:
Later that evening, fueled by whiskey, Nate goes to the saloon hoping to engage in another fight with some soldiers. But when there, Carl tells him of the deaths of his soldier friends at the hand of the Sioux, and Nate feels compassion for the corporal’s loss. Carl Johnson wishes he wasn’t involved in the conflict with the Indians.
Cut to:
Mr. Madget moves to Deadwood, taking all the tools in the stables, but gives his stables to Nate who can feed and board animals for 25 cents a day each, and arranges for Nate to do some blacksmith work for army horses, until the requisitioned army blacksmiths arrive at the base.
Cut to:
Nate goes to the saloon and convinces the soldiers there that he is not an Indian
lover, but confuses his friend Carl by what he says. He hopes his work on the military base will provide opportunities to learn more that will help his Sioux friends.
Cut to:
Nate tends the stables a few hours a day, and works on the military base as much
as he can. He learns about the Seventh Cavalry, the number of soldiers now and expected, its weaponry, and he learns a lot about General Custer, who everyone is willing to talk about.
Cut to:
Nate prepares for his next trip to the village, buying gifts for his friends including dresses for Kim and Chumani from the only place in town where pretty dresses are available -- the saloon with the many prostitutes.
Fade to:
While riding through the hills, Nate is spotted by two Indians who may have
seen him change from his white man’s clothes into his Indian clothes. He worries the Indians might be army scouts.
Cut to:
At the village, he discovers that Chumani’s old tepee is now his, with a white beaver painted on its exterior. Pale Beaver is Nate’s Sioux name.
Cut to:
Nate presents his plan to the chiefs he met with before, and to other chiefs present, GALL from the northern Sioux tribe, LITTLE FOX of the Cheyenne, and LONE WOLF of the Arapaho.
Cut to:
Nate presents his gifts to his friends and they talk about the plan and whether the chiefs will accept it. Everyone agrees Nate is a good friend to the Sioux.
Cut to:
The chiefs accept Nate’s plan, and Nate meets in the great teepee with Crazy
Horse and SITTING BULL who delineate everything they want the declaration to say in terms of territory and conditions of the new treaty. Nate agrees to bring the document back to them for their signatures at the next full moon, and that he’ll bring Jay Oates who will act as witness, and as the one who will deliver the document to Custer.
Cut to:
Nate tells Kim all of the reasons why he loves her.
Fade to:
Nate returns to Stonewall, but rides an extra five hours so he can ride into town from the north as if he were coming back from Deadwood where he had told people he was going when he left.
Cut to:
In the saloon, there is much talk about a possible spy, but Nate is able to deflect the suspicions that he is the spy.
Cut to:
Nate attends a birthday party for Ann’s father, banters with General Custer, and when leaving, informs Ann that he thinks Major Glenn is interested in her romantically.
Act VII
Nate struggles with attempts to write the declaration. He goes to Deadwood where he heard there was a school being built in hopes of finding a teacher there who could help him.
Cut to:
Nate visits Mr. Madget who is prospering, but who complains about the
lawlessness in Deadwood and the many shootings.
Cut to:
Nate buys textbooks from the local teacher, and one is a history book containing a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Cut to:
Back in his hotel room in Stonewall, Nate writes the Declaration of Independence
for the Lakota Republic.
Cut to:
Nate, Ann and Larry Glenn go for a ride, and with encouragement from Nate, Larry and Ann begin to warm to one another. Larry Glenn is definitely interested in the colonel’s daughter, and tells her he’ll be leaving the army in July, which to her makes him an eligible and desirable bachelor.
Cut to:
Nate and Jay Oates, the Indian Agent, travel through the Black Hills to present the document. Oates is taken aback when Nate changes into his Indian clothes, and is more than impressed when Nate tells him more about his experiences in the village.
Cut to:
In the great teepee, the chiefs approve the words Nate wrote and sign the document,
with Jay Oates attesting to the validity of the marks made by the chiefs. But instead of Oates presenting the document to Custer, Crazy Horse insists that he present it personally. The other chiefs agree, and Jay Oates’ assignment is to tell Custer to meet Crazy Horse at Eagle Mesa at the next full moon for a meeting. Crazy Horse intends to show Custer the size of the army of warriors now assembled on behalf of the Lakota Republic.
Cut to:
Oates and Nate observe the celebration in the village where the chiefs announce the impending peace and the securing of the lands they call their own.
Cut to:
Nate tells Kim he’ll not return at the next full moon, as he wants to be at Eagle
Mesa for the big meeting. She understands.
Cut to:
Jay Oates asks Nate if he really knows what he’s doing by wanting to live his life
among the Sioux.
Cut to:
Nate convinces Oates to hire him as an assistant so he can go with him to Eagle
Mesa.
Cut to:
On the way back to Stonewall, the Indian Agent worries that peace for the Sioux
may be difficult, as fighting has always been the way Sioux men proved their value and gained glory and respect.
Cut to:
Oates and Nate tell Custer about the meeting with Crazy Horse, and the General
is angry that the Sioux didn’t disperse into smaller villages in the hills as they’d always done before in the winters. He also wants to know how Oates had found the Sioux when he hadn’t been able to.
Cut to:
Talking with soldiers at the saloon, Nate learns more about Custer’s foul
disposition and how everyone is now convinced of the existence of a spy helping the Sioux.
Fade to:
Custer leads three hundred men to Eagle Mesa, taking Oates and Nate along.
When they established their camp, with cannons and a Gatlin gun, Custer addresses the men and tells them that tomorrow will be a monumental day.
Cut to:
The following morning at the meeting at Eagle Mesa, Custer at first refuses to
accept the document presented by Crazy Horse who is supported by apparently only 500 warriors. Custer tells Crazy Horse to surrender, but the chief signals, and quickly Custer’s men are surrounded by over eight thousand warriors on foot and on horseback. Custer is humiliated, and agrees to take the document to Washington.
Cut to:
Nate doesn’t understand why the general, at first enraged, suddenly became calm and seemed content back in his own tent. Obviously the general has a secret plan.
Cut to:
Custer leaves for Washington, taking his wife, Major Glenn and a small detail. The railroad is only a day’s ride east from Stonewall.
Act VIII
Nate returns to the now massive village of the alliance during a snow storm. He’s greeted warmly as everyone is pleased with the results of the Eagle Mesa meeting and everyone knows his role.
Cut to:
Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull tell Nate that when it’s over, he’ll become a Sioux, be allowed to observe the Sun Dance, and be allowed to live in their village.
Cut to:
There is some tension in the large village as many tribes living there were
previously not on friendly terms with one another. Small fights break out between various tribes members.
Fade to:
Nate returns to Stonewall in another blinding snowstorm, having to camp
overnight in the bitter cold.
Cut to:
Nate catches a severe cold and Ann Miles tends to him, bringing him soup.
Cut to:
When Nate’s asleep, she decides to do his laundry, and discovers the moccasins, headband, deer skin shirt, and a copy of the document Nate had written. She’s enraged. He’s the spy, and Ann knows Nate’s girlfriend is a Sioux squaw. She’s insulted, and tells Nate she’s going to tell her father.
Cut to:
Nate destroys most of the evidence, but COLONEL MILES places Nate under
24-hour supervision, saying he’ll wait for Custer’s return and that Custer will decide what to do with him. Carl Johnson is put in charge to make sure Nate doesn’t leave town.
Cut to:
Nate asks Jay Oates to go to the village and tell Kim why he won’t be able to visit for awhile.
Fade to:
Months pass, and Carl and Nate become closer friends. With Colonel Miles permission, Nate and Carl visit Deadwood.
Cut to:
During a poker game, Nate antagonizes a buffalo hunter who tries to kill Nate. But Carl Johnson kills the buffalo hunter first, saving Nate’s life.
Cut to:
On the ride back TO Stonewall, Nate is grateful to Carl and doesn’t want to lie to him any more, telling him everything. Carl says he’ll not tell anyone about Nate’s involvement with the Sioux.
Cut to:
Custer returns but there’s no announcement about the new treaty or about the Lakota Republic.
Act IX
Larry Glenn tells Nate that while in Washington, Custer never presented the document, and that when Larry argued with the general he was threatened with a court martial. But Custer did convince the government to send many more troops, all that would be needed to end the conflict with the Indians, and that they would arrive in a week.
Cut to:
Custer is not going to wait for the additional troops, wanting more personal glory,
and plans to leave June 22nd with seven hundred men to attack the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and the northern Sioux. Custer counted on the fact that the large alliance wouldn’t stay together (which they didn’t) and now, except for the southern Sioux, Nate’s friends, all of the Indians Custer would attack would be easy prey.
Cut to:
Carl allows Nate to go warn his friends after Nate promises that he would return
and not get Carl in trouble for letting his prisoner escape.
Cut to:
Nate finds the village, tells the chiefs the bad news, including the reinforcements
on the way, and of Custer’s impending attacks on the northern tribes. Sitting Bull says he’ll send a messenger to warn Chief Gall, and that he and Crazy Horse will decide what to do to avoid the soon to be invincible, augmented Seventh Cavalry.
Cut to:
Kim was not in the village, as she and other women including Chumani had gone away to do as Kangee described a “woman thing.”
Cut to:
Crazy Horse gives Nate one of his headbands as a show of trust, gratitude and respect.
Cut to:
On the way back to Stonewall, Nate doesn’t know that he’s been reported as having escaped.
Fade to:
Nate is captured at the place he told Carl Johnson he’d meet him. But Carl has to act as if he was arresting Nate for escaping, and locks him in the stockade.
Cut to:
Nate offers a plausible explanation to Colonel Miles who says he’ll let Custer decide what to do with him and that he’ll keep Nate locked up in the stockade until he and Custer returns.
Cut to:
Nate learns of the massacre of Custer and his men included Colonel Miles, Ann’s
father, and finds out that the attack on the general by thousands of warriors was led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse.
Cut to:
The reinforcements arrive, and tomorrow the new officer in charge, GENERAL TERRY, will lead the final battles against the Indians in the Dakota Territory, eventually including the southern Sioux tribe. Carl Johnson sadly tells Nate that he will be participating in those battles.
Cut to:
The first reports from General Terry report easy victories over the northern tribes: Arapaho, Cheyenne, and the northern Sioux.
Cut to:
Ann and Larry Glenn visit Nate the day before Glenn is to be discharged. Larry, as the temporary base commander, dismisses all charges against Nate and sets him free, as he, Nate, and Oates are the only ones alive who know about the “document.” Ann and Nate embrace and she whispers, “Go find her.”
Fade to:
Nate rides through the hills, and at the site of the village he’d last visited, only one tepee remains -- his -- along with a covered wagon and Tokala on horseback. Nate’s Sioux friends are taking refuge in Canada, and it is everyone’s wish that Nate take Kim to live among white people, as the future of the Sioux is not a good future. It is also Kim’s wish for herself, and for the son she gave birth to just weeks earlier when Nate was giving the chiefs the bad news. Nate with despair agrees, and in the wagon are the five bags of gold.
Cut to:
As they ride south toward Nebraska, neither Kim nor Nate ever turn around to look at the Black Hills.
Fade out:
Epilogue
The end of the Dakota Indian war is summarized, along with the deaths of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. Chumani, Kangee and Tokala are sent to the Pine Ridge Reservation. Ann and Larry Glenn married and lived happily in Philadelphia. All treaties with the Indians in the Dakota Territory were rescinded, and the Black Hills was changed forever, although the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1980 that the Black Hills were taken from the Sioux illegally. The author briefly recounts his recent visits to the Black Hills and speaks favorable of the towns there today. Nate and Kim moved to Houston, were wealthy hotel owners, and became stalwarts in the community. The author discloses that after genealogical research he is pleased to say the son born to Kimemela in 1876 was his great grandfather.
Credits