The American West (2016) s01e02 Episode Script

Narrator: Previously on "The American West" In the wake of the Civil War, the country is in turmoil.
The South is rising up again, led by ex-Confederate soldiers like Jesse James I'm gonna make this right.
Who takes his hatred for the Union Everything in your vault.
And becomes an outlaw.
Desperate to unite the country, the government looks west, hoping that by settling the frontier, America can put their differences behind them.
But as settlers head west, they encounter Indians, like fierce Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who are prepared to defend their land to the death.
In response, head of the US Army, Ulysses S.
Grant, orders his most aggressive officer, George Armstrong Custer, to send a message.
Get the men ready.
I wanna hit them with everything we've got.
(theme music playing) Hup.
Hyah! - (gunfire) - (people shouting) Man: Fire! Hyah! (whooping) (horse whinnies) Hyah! Narrator: On November 27th, 1868, George Armstrong Custer leads a brutal attack on an Indian camp near the Washita River.
An estimated 150 Cheyenne are killed, and what remains of their village is burned to the ground.
It will come to be known as the Washita Massacre.
Mark Lee Gardner: Custer splits his command up into four battalions.
He wants to encircle this village and make sure there's no possibility of escape.
He burned the village, burned their lodges.
He killed 800 horses.
It's a complete disaster for this Southern Cheyenne tribe.
Narrator: In the press, the attack is hailed as the first significant American victory in the Indian Wars and gives Custer the glory he's been after since the Civil War.
Paul Hutton: For Custer, it was another great victory.
It assur his place as the premier Indian fighter in the United States and made him famous once again.
Narrator: Custer's mission was to put an end to Indian attacks in the West, but the fighting persists.
- (groans) - (Native Americans whooping) - (men shouting) - (gunfire) In hindsight, I don't think the Indian Wars could have been avoided, because in those days you settle scores with fighting.
The West was to be conquered by the strongest, and the Indians were great warriors, too.
Narrator: As the violence continues, back in Washington, there's hope.
The country has just elected a new president former head of the US Army, Ulysses S.
Grant.
H.
W.
Brands: Grant was a very reluctant political candidate.
People who wanted him to run would say, "General Grant, if you don't run, then the victories that your soldiers won at such cost on the battlefield will be lost in the realm of politics.
We need your leadership in the White House.
Only you can bring this country back together again.
" Our reports indicate around 1,000 Indian lodges Narrator: Up until now, Grant has led the army in their fight to protect settlers moving west.
So as president, one of his first orders of business is to end the violence with the Indians once and for all.
What's going through the heads of Americans in dealing with the Native Americans in the 1860s can be looked at through Ulysses S.
Grant.
Settlers going out west were getting killed, and his responsibility is to protect American lives.
Here is a man who is actually disgusted by war, but there are lots of forces within his own beloved army, like William Tecumseh Sherman who's in charge of the army, who are pushing the policy of "Let's get rid of them.
" Any Indian who reports to the reservation will be fed, clothed, and educated.
All due respect, sir, many of them don't want that.
A good number will be more receptive than you think.
They will be taught to farm.
They will learn Western culture.
And those that don't report? Do we consider them hostiles? No, we don't.
I didn't say it was going to be easy.
Nothing worth having is.
Brands: Grant viewed the Indians with considerably more compassion than many of his contemporaries.
So instead of driving the Indians off of all of the land, instead of exterminating the Indians as many people of Grant's day advocated, Grant said, "No, we need to set aside territory where they can live.
Territory for their uses and not for settlers.
Settlers are going to have to stay off that.
" The policy of reservations.
Narrator: In the Great Plains, nearly 40,000 square miles of land are reserved for the Lakota Sioux roughly the size of the state of Ohio.
And the US government makes a promise to never interfere with the new Indian territory.
Many Indians agree to the peace treaty and move onto the reservations.
But some, like Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, refuse to give up their way of life.
Robert Redford: If you're a nomadic hunter and you're moving and you take away that chance to move, you can imagine it's the beginning of the end for you.
And I imagine they saw that coming, and they had to fight against it.
I don't blame them.
Narrator: As Crazy Horse continues to resist, he gets the attention of one of the most respected Lakota chiefs in the Great Plains.
His name is Sitting Bull.
Karl Jacoby: Sitting Bull was known both as a great spiritual guide and also someone who had tremendous success during warfare, and he was much older, at least probably a decade older than Crazy Horse, and in many respects better established.
Narrator: Sitting Bull knows his people need to form a united front, so he calls a meeting of Lakota leaders.
(crickets chirping) Narrator: While thousands of other Indians continue to live on reservations, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and their followers refuse.
But they also agree not to fight, and a fragile peace is established.
(screeching) As America gets back to settling the frontier, a new kind of businessman emerges who sees only one thing in the West the opportunity to make a fortune.
Narrator: President Grant has made peace with the Indians allowing the country to move forward with its plan of settling the West.
Sir, here's the latest track map.
Narrator: A new breed of businessman is taking full advantage of the westward expansion.
We build north to Columbus, then south to Grand Island, and then we go out the North Platte route when we can no longer reasonably delay that.
But, sir, that would add hundreds of miles of unnecessary track.
The government pays us for each mile of track we complete.
Why would we design a shorter route? - Well, sir - Get it done.
Yes, sir.
Narrator: Thomas Durant, president of the Union Pacific Railroad, has turned progress into millions in profits.
Eisenbach: A guy like Durant, he's facing off against other railroad barons, guys who didn't think twice about cutting a corner here in order to put your nose in the dirt.
If you weren't being ruthless, your competition was, and they were going to kill you.
Man: I've been pushing them very hard.
If you want me to start working them 12 hours a day, I can do that.
I think that would probably help us catch up.
We are over budget and we're out of time.
Get to work.
Narrator: Durant has been racing to complete his most ambitious project to date a rail line connecting the country from east to west.
Brands: The Transcontinental Railroad was the biggest public works project of its time.
Probably the biggest public works project of the 19th century.
Narrator: Nearly 2,000 miles of track are laid out across the country, cutting through ravines, solid granite mountain ranges, and unmapped Indian territory.
It's one of the most ambitious engineering projects the world has ever seen.
Now with the railroad nearly done, Durant is ready to unveil his crowning achievement to the world.
Durant: There are plenty of festivities planned to help celebrate this grand joining of east and west, the first transcontinental railroad in the entire world.
How much is the golden spike worth? (laughs) Next thing I know, you'll be wanting to pry it right out of the tracks, right? (laughter) - Mr.
Durant.
- Ahem.
Henceforth, there shall be but one Pacific Railroad.
(applause) Walter Borneman: This joining of the rails at Promontory Summit in terms of the American psyche really can't be overstated.
It's not unlike men walking on the moon a century later.
Narrator: The golden spike is connected to a telegraph wire, and when it's struck, it's instantly telegraphed to stations across the country, all the way from Utah to Washington, DC.
Man: "To His Excellency General U.
S.
Grant, President of the United States, we have the honor to report the last rail is laid, the last spike is driven, the Pacific Railroad is finished.
" - Congratulations! - (laughter) Man #2: Hear, hear.
The Union Pacific, gentlemen! (chatter) Narrator: After years of turmoil out west, President Grant knows this puts America on the cusp of a new era.
Borneman: For many years, the concept of frontier in America has really been that of a line moving westward.
But what the railroads did is they obliterated that line.
Suddenly the frontier was all over the place, and civilization was filling in the blank spots on the map in a very speedy fashion.
Narrator: As settlers flock west, an economic boom follows.
And big business in the East begins investing in the West.
Brands: This was the way you built an economy.
It meant that there were new outlets for investment.
There were new outlets for speculation.
There were lots of people who made money from the Transcontinental Railroad.
There were more people that were going to make money from more railroads and from the economic spin-offs of railroads.
Narrator: But where most of the country sees progress, some see a target.
Like outlaw Jesse James.
(train whistle blows) I'm going to be here.
Train's going to slow down.
That's going to give us plenty of time.
See how it comes around this bend here? That's where we're going to hit it, okay? Narrator: In the years following the Civil War, Jesse James and his brother Frank have been on a crusade against the Union, and the young outlaw has quickly established himself as one of the most feared bank robbers in the country.
Burt Reynolds: I think he was just angry about the way the country was coming together.
So he said, "To hell with it.
I'll just weaken you at the knees.
" Narrator: Now with railroads expanding across the country, Jesse sees another symbol of the North's oppression of the South.
(whistle blows) Redford: Railroad was on one track, and it was kind of stuck.
And they had horses.
So they could rob a train, then ride away.
(whistle blows) Come on, boys, now.
Put your back into it.
We got a schedule.
Watch your toes on that.
Now get those up in a nice big X up here.
(whistle blows) (screeching) We'll get this thing going as soon as we can.
- (gunshot) - (women scream) Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the inconvenience.
If you will kindly present your valuables, we'll have you on your way in no time.
That's a nice watch.
Yes, it is.
My daddy gave it to me.
Where you from? Kentucky.
My daddy was from Kentucky.
He was a preacher.
Take care of that.
Thank you, sir.
Smile, girls.
Gonna have a nice story to tell your friends later.
That's a nice suit.
Hey, Frank, what do you think about this suit? Boy don't look like he's from around here.
Jesse: No, he doesn't.
Where you from? New York City.
New York City? What's that? G-A-R.
That's the Grand Army of the Republic.
You know, I have a Union bullet in my lung.
Jesse, we got what we need.
Let's be on our way now.
The war is over.
Jesse.
No, it's not.
Narrator: In his first train robbery, Jesse James steals the modern-day equivalent of $50,000, solidifying his reputation as a notorious outlaw.
(horse whinnies) But while many fear Jesse James one man sees his crime spree as an opportunity Missouri newspaper editor John Newman Edwards.
Gardner: John Newman Edwards was probably the most hardcore of Confederates, and in his opinion, southerners had been outlawed, disenfranchised by the North.
Narrator: Edwards has been looking for a new way to push his Confederate agenda, and Jesse James might be the answer.
(horse whinnies) Drink? To the Confederacy.
- I was a soldier, too, you know - What is it you want? I wanna know why you robbed that train.
There aren't a lot of other ways to survive.
Not for a soldier who wore gray.
Jesse, you don't have to be a common criminal running from the law.
I can make you a hero.
I don't need you to make me anything.
It's about more than just you, Jesse.
The Southern spirit, it still lives.
The people who read my paper, they believe.
But they want someone to believe in.
Someone like you.
The South needs you.
Now that you put it that way (whistle blows) Narrator: Jesse partners with Edwards and launches another robbing spree targeting northern wealth.
But now he has the power of the press behind him.
Eisenbach: It's impossible to talk about Jesse James without talking about John Newman Edwards, who really just becomes Jesse James' publicist and is the one who manufactures the myth of Jesse James the rebel who's on this mission to stick it to the establishment, justifying these criminal acts.
(gunfire) Narrator: Across the South, Jesse James is no longer seen as a criminal, but as a hero for the Confederacy.
There was a love affair with people that stood up for themselves and great stories of people like Jesse James.
They were outlaws.
They were wanted by the government, but they were standing up for themselves.
Narrator: With Jesse James and other outlaws like him terrorizing the railroads Come on, let's go.
Let's go.
The push to settle the West is once again at risk.
Narrator: President Grant is dealing with a growing outlaw problem that interferes with western expansion.
But now he's about to face an even greater threat.
(bell ringing) Durant: "Julesburg cut denied.
Propose reinforcement of existing structure.
Authorize expenditure of no more than $7,500.
" Did you see this? This morning's "New York Sun.
" How much do they know? Everything.
Narrator: An investigation finds that Thomas Durant, the head of the Union Pacific and the hero of the Transcontinental Railroad, has been stealing millions of dollars from the US government.
Durant has been taking advantage of the government's offer to fund railroad construction by drastically overcharging for supplies and labor.
He's pocketed $16.
5 million of taxpayer money, all the while paying off politicians to look the other way.
Eisenbach: The railroads were being funded through these financial schemes that were made possible by not only no regulations, but members of Congress who were actually in on the schemes, being paid off by the corporations and given stocks at discounted rates.
The American public is furious.
Your Honor, I have here receipts showing that the cost of construction was less than half of what Mr.
Durant estimated.
Mr.
Durant, I ask you, what happened to the rest of the money? We have a right to make a reasonable profit.
A reasonable amount? 100% is a reasonable amount? Well, who is to define what is reasonable and what is not reasonable? Mr.
Durant, our records clearly indicate that you've made a profit of over 100%, with no records of where that money is.
So I ask you again, where is the money, Mr.
Durant? Narrator: Once the scheme is exposed, investors run scared and railroad stocks plummet, leaving the nation's economy in jeopardy.
Borneman: Everyone is so excited about pouring money into railroads, but when the scandal breaks on the scene, suddenly railroads don't look too good.
It's really not unlike the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.
Everyone gets overextended.
And at some point, all bubbles burst.
Narrator: One-third of the country's 360 railroad companies go bankrupt, sending the economy into a tailspin.
It's the crisis that comes to be known as the Panic of 1873.
The Panic of 1873 resulted from overexpansion in railroads, speculation in railroads, and it brought down much of the American financial industry.
The financial panic spread to the broader economy.
Narrator: The panic causes the New York Stock Exchange to close for 10 days.
And America descends into its first great depression.
The nation plummets nearly $2 billion into debt, 20,000 businesses close, and one in eight Americans are left unemployed.
Hutton: I think there was a sense of desperation.
Conditions were very harsh, and the promises made by the railroad companies didn't pan out.
Narrator: As his first term nears its end, President Grant is desperate to pull America out of the crisis.
(men chattering) Man: The Treasury has given and given and given, right? What is it? Gold.
Narrator: Nearly 1,600 miles from Washington, rumor of gold deep in the Black Hills of the Dakotas is beginning to spread.
The only problem the Black Hills are located on Indian territory the same land Grant promised the Lakota he would never touch.
During the worst depression in US history, President Grant hears rumors of gold on the Lakota Sioux reservation land that he promised the Indians would remain untouched.
Hoping to avoid a new conflict with the Indians, Grant and General Sherman plan a secret expedition to verify the find, and they call on their top commander in the West.
Mr.
President.
Have a seat.
There are rumors of gold in the Black Hills.
We need you to take a small team of miners and find out if these rumors are true.
I need you to evaluate how much gold there is, where it's located, and then directly report back to us.
Report to us and only us.
Is that clear? Yes, Mr.
President.
Narrator: For George Armstrong Custer, the mission is about more than just finding gold.
Eisenbach: Custer is seeing himself as a man who's got this opportunity.
The opportunity to become this national hero by leading this expedition that is going to solve all of Americans' financial problems by getting this mother lode of gold that could be bigger than the California Gold Rush.
He's got to come up with a big victory here.
Custer: "Our initial survey suggests significant deposits in the eastern Black Hills, and I expect in the next several days we will find more gold than this country has ever seen.
Triumphantly Yours, Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
" Send a copy of that to Washington as soon as you get to Fort Laramie.
Yes, sir.
And send a copy of it to James Gordon Bennett at the "New York Herald.
" Sir? You have your orders.
Yes, sir.
Narrator: Looking to advance his own fame, Custer announces his discovery to the national press.
The country was in the midst of a very, very deep depression, so gold in the Black Hills had everyone excited.
Custer started this stampede into the most sacred Indian land.
Narrator: When news of the discovery spreads, thousands of miners flood the Black Hills, a direct violation of the terms of the peace treaty.
Grant: Damn Custer.
He has got us in a hell of a spot.
We've had five years of peace with the Indians.
Now I'm supposed to throw it all away over gold.
Perhaps, sir, it's not Custer that's truly the issue here.
What you've done with the Indians is admirable.
It really is.
But right now our own people are starving.
What are those people going to say when they find out that their president had a chance to end the worst suffering they've ever known, but chose not to? Brands: There was strong sentiment in Congress in favor of "Open this territory to the settlers.
Let's take advantage of these gifts that God has placed there, hidden them from the Indians.
" Once the news of gold in the Black Hills got out, then Grant's peace policy was in tatters.
Narrator: Grant has to decide how far he's willing to go to keep peace with the Indians.
Narrator: As President Grant deals with a crippling economic depression and a brewing conflict with the Indians 900 miles away in Missouri, one man has found his own way of disrupting westward expansion.
How you feeling? Hey, I ever tell you that joke about the pig and the cow? Why don't you tell me that joke? All right, then.
Cow came up to a pig on the train tracks, said, "Moo-ve over, you're hogging up the road.
" (both laugh) That is not a funny joke.
Well, humor's never been my strong suit.
(distant train whistle blowing) Ask me, this is my favorite part right here.
(whistle blowing) We're about to make some money today, boy.
That's right.
(gunshot) Narrator: Train robberies by Jesse James and his brother Frank are wreaking havoc on the country's railroad industry.
Over a six-month period, Jesse and his gang commit a string of robberies, making off with the modern-day equivalent of over $300,000.
Gardner: The railroads do not want robbers stopping their train.
They don't want robbers terrifying their passengers.
It's bad for business.
In fact, there was one railroad passenger who said, "I don't care if it costs me $500.
I'm not riding a train through Missouri.
I'll go around through Iowa or Minnesota or whatever, but I'm not going to take a train through the state of Missouri.
" Narrator: As their losses from robberies mount, railroad companies are desperate to put a stop to outlaws like Jesse James.
It's going to require a massive commitment of personnel and resources to clamping down on the likes of Jesse James.
But you don't have an FBI.
You don't have a federal bureaucracy and law enforcement armed to protect business interests across state lines, and that is where private business comes in.
Narrator: The railroad companies turn to the most famous private detective in the country for help.
His name is Allan Pinkerton.
Gardner: Allan Pinkerton was part of the Union Intelligence Service during the Civil War.
He gained fame by preventing a supposed assassination plot against President Abraham Lincoln.
Narrator: Following the war, Pinkerton moved to Chicago and opened the Pinkerton Detective Agency pioneering modern investigative techniques and building massive dossiers on known criminals.
With over 30,000 agents stationed across the country, Pinkerton commands a force larger than the US military.
Now he has the biggest case in his company's history.
He's smart, ruthlessly violent, and good with a gun.
The bastard was a Confederate guerilla during the war.
Lord knows how many Union soldiers he killed.
The Adams Express Company is calling us in.
They need this man taken out of commission.
You can say no, of course.
If you have any reservations at all you should.
When do I leave? Narrator: Joseph Witcher is one of Pinkerton's most talented young agents.
His mission take down Jesse James.
As the greatest detective agency hunts down the most infamous outlaw in the country and the pursuit of gold risks breaking peace with the Indians the fate of the nation hangs in the balance.