‪[dramatic music]
‪Come on out, Webb! Law won’t ever stop!
‪Excuse me, you need to get ‪to the back of the line.
‪Sally.
‪Shouldn't talk to my sister like that.
‪[Sally] You're awfully tough when ‪it's four of y'all and two of us. [gasps]
‪[grunting]
‪[Esme] ‪Think it's okay ‪to let them wander on their own?
‪Black folks been disappearing up and down
‪the Territory.
‪You are to deliver the prisoner
‪Jackson Cole to the Red River,
‪turn him over to the Rangers.
‪I ain't been home for 41 days.
‪[Sherrill] ‪You ride out tomorrow.
‪[Jackson] Mighty strange, this feeling.
‪Riding to my death.
‪We both Negroes.
‪We know the world in the same ways.
‪You asked if you had the grit ‪to be a deputy marshal.
‪You don't.
‪You giving up on me?
‪I never give up, Billy.
‪[wolf growling]
‪[laughs]
‪[growling]
‪Where you taking that creature?
‪Reintroducing the beast ‪to a rightful home.
‪No animal belong in a box.
‪That is the truth.
‪She won't be in there long.
‪[growling]
‪Did you make a home for yourself?
‪Marry, have a family?
‪I have.
‪And what would you do now to protect it?
‪To hold on to it?
‪I'd wager you'd kill a thousand.
‪And no man would fault you.
‪I surely would not.
‪These badges we wear on our chest,
‪made from different materials.
‪Yours a tin star,
‪mine a star cut from a ‪cinco‪ peso piece.
‪Just raw materials.
‪But the power they give--
‪The real power lie beneath.
‪In the heart.
‪You honor the badge, Bass.
‪But even with it, a man like you
‪couldn't arrest a man like me ‪once we cross that river.
‪You touch that other bank, ‪it's a whole other law.
‪I have no mind to arrest you.
‪No, by those angry eyes,
‪I'd reckon you'd just as soon kill me.
‪My prisoner a good man.
‪I trust you'll see he get a fair trial?
‪Well, he's my prisoner now.
‪My prisoners always get what they deserve.
‪[knife unsheathing]
‪This one tell you what he did?
‪I know he killed a man.
‪He told me why he did it.
‪Might've even had just cause.
‪But did he tell you ‪how he killed old James Neblett?
‪He kidnapped and rode that man ‪blubbering and praying
‪all the way from Austin to ‪Neblett's property in Columbia.
‪Then he chained him to the one pecan tree
‪Neblett hadn't burned down
‪and he shot him in his ‪blubbering, praying mouth.
‪No man deserves to die that way.
‪Not even a Yankee.
‪But I don't need to tell you ‪about killing Yanks.
‪As I recall, you're something ‪of an expert on the subject.
‪Saddle up.
‪You're in my prayers.
‪Ah, don't bother the big man about me.
‪We need to ride.
‪Billy, bring that mule.
‪We can't have this man ‪walk all the way to Fort Worth.
‪He won't.
‪On that, you have my word.
‪Bass.
‪Where I built my ranch,
‪the land is littered ‪with ancient bones of giants.
‪Monsters.
‪Thigh bones as big as a man.
‪Locals call 'em ‪huesos de ángeles.
‪Angel bones.
‪But I know a monster ‪when I see one, Bass Reeves.
‪[Joshua] Moving out!
‪Come pay me a visit one day.
‪You'll feel right at home.
‪[ominous music]
‪[soaring, triumphant music]
‪[intriguing music]
‪[sniffs]
‪[spits]
‪Sara?
‪It's Bass.
‪Place don't smell right.
‪You ride ahead. I'll catch up.
‪Come on.
‪[clicks tongue]
‪How much longer we gonna ride, Bass?
‪These horses need rest.
‪Shoot, we need to rest.
‪I'm tired.
‪We're all tired.
‪We've been riding straight for days.
‪Look at Pistol.
‪Hardly hold his head up.
‪Tell you what.
‪We'll stop the night in Checotah
‪if you stop flapping your gums ‪till we get there.
‪[Bass clicks tongue]
‪[water splashing]
‪You took your time.
‪Sally, I'm leaving.
‪I should be gone already.
‪What are you talking about?
‪I can't stay here. They'll have my neck.
‪They was just kids being stupid.
‪You got nothing to worry about.
‪Maybe you don't, but ‪my last name ain't Reeves.
‪Arthur Mayberry, I never ‪took you for no chicken.
‪And I never took you for a fool.
‪You don't understand.
‪I'm asking you to come with me.
‪We can visit Paris and…
‪you can write poems by the "Seene."
‪Seine.
‪And Reeves don't run.
‪I'll wait there for you.
‪By the Seine.
‪I'll send you a poem every day.
‪[dramatic music]
‪[overlapping chatter]
‪[grunting]
‪[dramatic music]
‪[jaunty piano music playing]
‪[lively chatter]
‪[chatter stops]
‪We don't want any trouble ‪here tonight, Deputy.
‪Just payday in Checotah.
‪Whiskey.
‪[bottle clinks]
‪[liquor pouring]
‪[indistinct chatter]
‪[door opens]
‪[Calista] You too shy to go inside?
‪I'm just waiting for you to come out.
‪I see you got yourself into some trouble.
‪All in a day's work.
‪Mm.
‪Bought this for you in Fort Smith.
‪Thought you might not get ‪the latest out here.
‪Thank you, Billy Crow.
‪You're welcome.
‪[Braxton laughs]
‪[Braxton] My feet shot out ‪of them stirrups
‪and I flew off of that horse ‪like I'd been plugged.
‪Damn nearly was.
‪I landed upright in time
‪to hear the report of a Winchester.
‪I dove into that sagebrush ‪and when I came up,
‪I saw that man hoofing it ‪faster than a stuck deer. [laughs]
‪Whoa.
‪Mind you don't fall, partner.
‪Mind you keep your voice down
‪while the rest of us try to think.
‪[laughing] Barkeep,
‪I reckon my friend here has had his fill.
‪Barkeep.
‪I reckon we all had enough ‪of this cowboy's ballyhoo.
‪I reckon people ‪on the far side of the Territory
‪about had enough of it, too.
‪[chuckles]
‪You got too many teeth.
‪Outside, fellas.
‪You sure you want to do this?
‪Sure am.
‪Then I guess we'd better be ‪getting on with it, then.
‪Deputy Marshal Reeves.
‪Braxton Sawyer, Texas Ranger.
‪I'm mighty honored to meet you, sir.
‪Let me buy you a drink.
‪[fireworks popping]
‪[cheering and whooping]
‪My daddy had a good outfit ‪not far off the Shawnee Trail.
‪I loved riding that range ‪with him, moving herd.
‪We got into some trouble after the war
‪when drovers started ‪bringing their longhorns up.
‪My daddy already lost one herd
‪and he wasn't about to do it again.
‪So we mounted up ‪and we turned those longhorns
‪and their cowboys right around.
‪But, you know, not without a scrap.
‪Daddy got lead in the belly
‪and was dead before ‪the marshals showed up.
‪I mean, they would've hung ‪my daddy anyway,
‪if he was still alive to hang.
‪And…
‪well, for assault with intent to kill,
‪they gave me 18 months at the ‪Detroit House of Corrections.
‪That was my first time ‪out of the Territory.
‪I'm mighty glad you came back.
‪Well…
‪I guess this is home.
‪[chuckles]
‪[Bass] Esau Pierce tell you to follow me?
‪[Braxton] I was holding forth ‪gone three hours
‪before you brought ‪your storm cloud in here.
‪I didn't follow you.
‪And who the hell is Pierce?
‪Man from my past.
‪What are you doing here, Bass?
‪Sometime I get to wondering ‪why a man like me
‪putting folk in manacles.
‪This thing…
‪weigh just as much as the chain.
‪Someone once told me there ‪ain't no law in the Territory.
‪Starting to think ‪there ain't no God either.
‪Hmm.
‪Don't despair, amigo.
‪-God is present. ‪-[taps on table]
‪And He knows your good work.
‪Many miles back to Austin,
‪and I'd hate to ride all of them sober.
‪[clears throat]
‪[wistful music]
‪You gonna stand there all night?
‪[wistful music]
‪[chuckles softly]
‪That's all right. Go ahead.
‪[fireworks popping outside]
‪Are you going to be a baby about this?
‪No.
‪Well, then stop your squirming.
‪You're the most glorious ‪creature to grace this earth.
‪[winces]
‪-[sighs] ‪-It burns.
‪I thought you said ‪you weren't gonna be a baby.
‪Just didn't think you were going ‪to hurt me so bad.
‪Hurt a strapping, young raider like you?
‪Oh, you ain't seen nothing yet.
‪Marry me, Calista.
‪You can't afford the ring ‪it'll take to hitch me.
‪[panting quietly]
‪[urinating]
‪[footfalls approaching]
‪This the one who done Webb.
‪[stops urinating]
‪-[thud] ‪-[grunts]
‪[grunting]
‪[Bass coughs]
‪[grunts]
‪[groans]
‪[spits, coughs]
‪Where were you…
‪two hours ago when I was ‪spoiling for a fight, hmm?
‪[grunting]
‪-[grunting continues] ‪-[women screaming]
‪That bounty on you?
‪[gun clicks]
‪Pays the same dead…
‪…or alive.
‪[dry fires]
‪[groans]
‪Give it a spin.
‪-[chuckles] ‪-[cylinder spins]
‪Adios, Reeves.
‪[dry fires]
‪[groans]
‪Aw.
‪[cylinder spins]
‪[Trey] Bullet's in the chamber.
‪I can feel it.
‪Best not miss, then.
‪[gunshot]
‪[thuds]
‪[Moose] Come on. Come on, come on.
‪Now that's how you aim, Billy Crow!
‪-Let's get you some help. ‪-No.
‪[groaning]
‪Let's get them sons of bitches.
‪-[fireworks popping] ‪-[lively chatter]
‪[laughs]
‪[townsfolk whooping and cheering]
‪There.
‪[suspenseful music]
‪[lively chatter]
‪-[fireworks pop] ‪-[gunshot]
‪-Whoa! ‪-[screaming]
‪[grunts]
‪[grunting]
‪[Dora] Hurry up in there.
‪Don't need a saddle, just get the horses.
‪[both grunting]
‪[Moose] What is it?
‪[groaning]
‪[grunting]
‪[gun cocks]
‪Don't.
‪[crowd chatter]
‪Easy, fellas.
‪[gun cocks]
‪[chuckles]
‪Good work, Billy Crow.
‪[melancholy music]
‪Have a nice time earlier?
‪She said I can't afford the ring.
‪[sniffles]
‪But she did bring me my apparel.
‪Well, that's something.
‪[grunts]
‪So glad y'all could make it.
‪I think I was bleeding before I realized
‪Pearl Lee's real name was Pearla Lee.
‪-Pearla Lee. ‪-[laughs]
‪[laughter]
‪God rest her soul.
‪"I'd shudder and start if I heard the bay
‪Of bloodhounds seizing their human prey."
‪[both] "And I heard ‪the captive plead in vain
‪As they bound afresh his galling chain."
‪Frances Harper is a brilliant role model.
‪It is young women like you, ‪Sally, that give me hope.
‪[kids chattering indistinctly]
‪Bennie.
‪Don't walk off like that.
‪You don't scare me!
‪Let's go.
‪Fred Douglass consented to have ‪his image on our next pamphlet.
‪Might even write some words.
‪What have they done to you?
‪I'm fine.
‪You're sitting in my chair.
‪It's so good to see you, Bass.
‪My, it's been forever.
‪I'd like you to meet Edwin Jones.
‪Hello, Esme.
‪I kept it warm for you.
‪Now, Bass. You stay right there.
‪No, no. My mistake, Reeves.
‪Let's not get off on the wrong foot.
‪As the good book says,
‪"But when you are invited, ‪go and sit in the lowest place
‪so that when he who invited you comes,
‪he may say to you, ‪'Friend, go up higher.'"
‪I didn't invite you.
‪We've been hearing ‪about your adventures, Bass.
‪Now we see the danger you face.
‪We're all very proud of you.
‪Mm-hmm.
‪[Edwin] Reconstruction is dead.
‪Has the world changed for the Negro
‪in the United States of America?
‪Yes, in many ways.
‪But we need to ask, how much has changed?
‪And for how many?
‪Why, they will use just about
‪any pretext to drive out,
‪lock down, or string up the Black man.
‪The Klan continues to rain terror upon us.
‪We are the only ones who can keep us safe.
‪Edwin and I have traveled ‪far and wide, Bass.
‪You won't believe the things we've seen.
‪[Jennie] He'll believe you.
‪He's seen it all himself.
‪I seen some things.
‪Well, you must have heard the stories
‪about Black men disappearing.
‪Rumors of Black men ‪being killed for sport.
‪Legally, slavery is supposed to be dead.
‪But in practice it is only wounded.
‪We need a place ‪where we can be safe and free.
‪But let there be no doubt ‪that we still need to fight.
‪I think we're doing ‪our fair part right here.
‪Well, sure. And I-I admire that.
‪You have made a career ‪that honors your talents
‪instead of violently suppressing them.
‪But tell me…
‪…why are there not ‪more stories like yours?
‪Black folks make up, what,
‪ten percent of the population ‪of Fort Smith?
‪How many former slaves right here
‪have had the same good fortune ‪that you have?
‪I'm sorry your wife couldn't join us.
‪How long you been away from home?
‪Like your beautiful family,
‪my wife and children make ‪great sacrifices for the cause.
‪-[Bass] Hmm. ‪-We all must.
‪Esme and Edwin were speaking about
‪whole towns made up of Black folk.
‪Whole counties. Whole states.
‪Up Kansas way and throughout ‪the Indian Territory
‪lies a rich land of opportunity
‪for industrious, caring, ‪God-fearing Black men and women.
‪Where do you expect ‪the Indian people to go?
‪Think they don't suffer?
‪You see all them white folks ‪coming up on those riverboats?
‪You know where they will settle.
‪Your beloved Indian Territory
‪is not going to stay Indian for long.
‪And our people need real protection.
‪My job is to protect everyone.
‪Black, red or white.
‪Are you happy with what you are doing?
‪I have to ask, respectfully…
‪…which master do you serve?
‪Esme says old William Reeves ‪taught you to shoot.
‪George Reeves made you shoot the very men
‪who were fighting for your freedom.
‪And now Judge Parker puts ‪the names on your bullets.
‪Man is lucky to have such a hired gun.
‪I'm the only one pulling the trigger.
‪You ever felt the lash on your back?
‪Hmm?
‪You carry on about our experience
‪like it's a set of boots we both own.
‪I did not have to experience ‪those wrongs to denounce them.
‪To fight against them.
‪Think hard about what you are doing.
‪Ride with me, with us.
‪Together…
‪together we can build a place
‪where everyone can live free.
‪Mm. [chuckles softly]
‪Is that why you were so eager ‪to meet my husband?
‪[scoffs] That why ‪you brought him here, Esme?
‪We may support your vision, Mr. Jones.
‪But my husband is not a face ‪for your pamphlets.
‪He ain't no show pony ‪for you to trot around.
‪I see you two have your house in order.
‪I admire that.
‪Even envy it.
‪I apologize.
‪I did not mean to overstep.
‪And we do not want ‪to overstay, do we, Esme?
‪I'll see you to the door.
‪[tense, dramatic music]
‪[door closes]
‪[footfalls approaching]
‪Shouldn't you be asleep, Sally gal?
‪I'm sorry I missed the carnival.
‪I guess I missed a lot.
‪Forgive me?
‪Maybe just this once.
‪You didn't like that man, did you?
‪Daddy just had a bad day. That's all.
‪You and Mama okay?
‪We're okay.
‪You lucky you're your mama's daughter.
‪[chuckles] That's funny.
‪She always say I'm my daddy's girl.
‪[footfalls approaching]
‪[door opening]
‪[Bass grunts]
‪[groans]
‪Want me to fix you a bath?
‪Maybe tomorrow.
‪I'm sorry I had to leave.
‪I should've told you sooner.
‪I ain't angry that you left.
‪Disappointed by the man you brought home.
‪Every time you come back,
‪you bring less and less of you.
‪Maybe you the one that changed.
‪How dare you?
‪Where my husband?
‪Where that light in your eyes?
‪[melancholy music]
‪[indistinct chatter]
‪Scrutinize those receipts, Mr. Reeves.
‪You 50 bucks short, Florence.
‪You delivered that man's boots, ‪you earn less.
‪I did not deliver boots,
‪I delivered a living, breathing man
‪into the hands of a Texas Ranger.
‪Well, I got the telegram right here.
‪"Confirmed. Texas Rangers having received
‪from Deputy Marshal Bass Reeves
‪at Red River the boots ‪of one prisoner Jackson Cole,
‪which they promptly ‪delivered at Fort Worth."
‪[keys jingling]
‪[indistinct chatter]
‪Ramsey!
‪Who making Black men disappear?
‪Who Mr. Sundown?
‪[door opens]
‪Make way.
‪Ramsey!
‪Who is Mr. Sundown?
‪♪ He ride by night ♪
‪♪ Drawn fast to the firelight ♪
‪♪ Ain't no peace to be found ♪
‪♪ When the sun go down ♪
‪[crowd shouting and jeering]
‪Heard you lost that prisoner.
‪Tough break.
‪[man] Hang 'em already.
‪[crowd cheering]
‪[man 2] You had it coming!
‪[Wylie shouting]
‪[neck snaps]
‪[shudders]
‪[crowd cheering]
‪I love you, Mama.
‪[man 3] You had it coming!
‪[neck snaps]
‪[crowd cheering]
‪[chuckles]
‪Bass Reeves!
‪Mr. Sundown is ‪cinco‪ peso.
‪Cinco‪ peso is Mr. Sundown.
‪Cinco‪ peso.
‪[snaps]
‪[crowd cheering]
‪[Esau] [echoing] ‪You honor the badge, Bass.
‪These badges we wear on our chest,
‪just raw materials.
‪But the power they give…
‪[echoing]
‪What are the chances of Parker giving me
‪a writ for a Texas Ranger?
‪Nil to none.
‪[birds chirping]
‪[Esau] ‪Well, cock-a-doodle-do.
‪[echoing]
‪Blood can be the heaviest ‪damn thing in the world.
‪I always said we weren't so different.
‪Except that one thing.
‪[echoing]
‪Blood never weighed me down at all.
‪But all this blood on your hands…
‪filling them up so much, you can't hold
‪those precious children…
‪you can't caress your pretty wife.
‪Bass, you're gonna bend and bow ‪under the weight of it
‪till you break and burn.
‪Only God…
‪can judge me.
‪[Esau] ‪As you judge me.
‪But what if God already did?
‪Hmm?
‪What if he weighed out your soul ‪and found it wanting?
‪Don't you see?
‪I am his judgment.
‪Heaven is full of killers, Bass Reeves.
‪By His grace they have welcomed me ‪as they will welcome you.
‪[haunting music]
‪[dramatic music]
‪[Jennie] ‪Bass is dedicated to justice.
‪There's hardly much room ‪for anything or anyone else.
‪Looking for a Moody O'Neil.
‪Sitting on this porch.
‪You set out to hang an old Black woman
‪in a white man's noose.
‪Slave catcher, that's all you is.
‪Mama.
‪Get upstairs.
‪[flames crackling]
‪[Billy] Where's the old crow?
‪[gunshot]
‪Want to say your goodbyes?
‪[haunting music]