"Son of the Morning Star" - 1991 Custer Complete TV Mini-Series - Part 1

[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] over there get horsey sir go see oh my god sir we are glad to see you have you seen Custer we've had no word from him since Sunday afternoon when he left us and rode off with five companies I believe Custer's command has been defeated oh that's hard to believe I think Custer's somewhere down the Bighorn grazing his horses you are wrong captain Benteen what am i hear fallen sir permission to go sir what happened your captain Benteen mistakes were made [Music] [Music] Oh I'll wipe their look there he is damn him he will never fight anymore [Music] I always called him by his baby name Audie he was the first child of a second mare six years older than his brother Tom none of his brothers could pronounce Armstrong when they were boys what they called him Audie a handful of men on a dried patch of grass [Music] they can wait my name is Elizabeth custard you need a new uniform I thought the 7th cavalry will be receiving them for new world does not know that the 7th cavalry even exists uniforms would be too much to hope my husband was a great hero of the Civil War he was at least surrender at Appomattox he was daring and dashing the youngest brevet major-general the history of the army at age 23 he captured the imagination of the whole country the seventh gallery had been organized in the years following the rebellion homesteaders the miners in the Kansas Pacific Railroad all were living America West if the regiment was formed to protect them from the Indians [Music] arrangements had been made with the tribes by this time but the feeling on the frontier was that no Indian had any rights that a white man was obligated to respect the general was not believed at the time with his assignment the plains were considered the great American desert my husband was a hero he wanted Washington I married the man in 1864 but he had 12 years together I adored him [Music] [Music] [Music] I was very young the first time I saw him he sat on his horse he had a large nose deep-set blue eyes and light hair that was long and wavy [Music] don't in the grand he do I admired him all of the Cheyenne women talked of him as being a fine-looking man my name on the agency role is Kate big head I was born when my people were in camp on the East River I spent my childhood with a southern Cheyenne [Music] - almost 14 years many time I thought of that handsome man I first saw in the south we Cheyenne called him Hyatt see long hair the Arikara called him creeping panther who comes in the night the crow called him son of the morning star who attacks at dawn [Music] I'll remember him I saw him die [Music] he was called curly as a child in his 14th year he watched helpless as soldiers killed one of his relatives for taking a cow in his misery and confusion he had a vision [Applause] a warrior rode out of the lake she seemed to float on the ground while riding his horse the warrior carried no scalps his unbound hair hung below his waist and he wore a smooth round table behind one ear the warrior's body had been decorated with hail spots and a streak of lightning ran from his forehead to his gin bullets and arrows attacked him but fell away without pageant [Music] a storm broke yet he passed through unharmed his own people clutched at him trying to pull him down but he wrote through them a red-backed hawk to above his head [Applause] the vision faded that boy's name was changed to Crazy Horse from that time on he felt destined to protect his people from the white man the white people had been moving west for years building cutting roads pushing the Indians before them by 1866 barely an Indian nation in America was living on the land we was born to the Indians did not intend to no further [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] they called it the Federman massacre after the officer who swore that with aging Ram he could wipe up the entire scene nation it was no massacre them soldiers were stupid and they wrote to their deaths [Music] [Music] goom's of the Federman massacre was carried east it was said that the heads were crumbled brains were left to freeze on the rocks bitter feelings were awakened then the government was implored to punish the Indians [Music] the order the army received was this we must act with convicted earnestness against the suit even to their extermination men women and children [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the Plains Indian the flames begun Moorhead a gun [Music] the war with the Indians for me would end 10 years later on that hill they call Custer's last stand they call it Custer's last stand but it was not his it would be our last stand [Music] they have fled they're cowards and you will pursue them Colonel Custer are we pleased to have you finish and kill every last bloody red savage on these Plains miss Turner [Music] [Music] for the seventh Cavalry crisscross the plains at some point it was a new kind of war fought in wide-open empty spaces against a complex enemy scattered scattered Oh carry on sir the men have done 30 miles today they can do more there are many nations have many chiefs and each warrior could make his own decision about when and who to fight when we fought we fought fiercely when we fled it was to avoid slaughter we had been invaded [Music] it was a grueling campaign covered well by the Eastern Press over a million dollars have been spent with little to show for the effort I believe we found the messenger sent from Fort Wallace you've been a kidder what's left in it so many arrows anymore Tom that's the mansion in New York Hilda come on all that remains of good men sir lying in a regular order in a limited circle find a mangled bodies of lieutenant hitter and his company all individuals scalped skulls broken upper arms slashed to the bone mr. rivers Lakota slashed the arm crippling the warrior in the next life this man won't even be able to settle his horse the Indians go let the scalp there beside it he was a traitor in their eyes brutally hacked and disfigured so as to be beyond recognition as human beings we shall buried cavalry provisions were terrible the men were eating rations left over from the Civil War soldiers suffer from inactivity restlessness scurvy and cholera my husband was a strict officer conditions demanded it [Music] [Applause] deserters general Oh Donald Oh a shadow we have dessert as follows men in suits and bring out of the middle line send a supply wagon after sound assembly you wish permission to speak soldier yes sir granted I've heard talk general 30 men fan to desert tonight or near the route to Colorado [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] I have no sympathy with those men they will receive no aid is this clear [Applause] relating back to the fourth form your men [Applause] [Music] I was a frontier wife and as a young woman I had met him nothing delighting me more than to be rescued by a gallant man adi knew this and when he heard of cholera epidemics at Fort Riley in Fort Wallace he simply left his regiment on the trail and rode alone almost 300 miles to meet perhaps it was unwise but oh it was gallant [Music] [Music] thank you for informing me that thing gonna sick I went to four walls and I didn't find you so so I mean done with the fort hays I had to leave a few men there [Music] it's been still no wife you men make you live without me for a time and you ever beautiful O'Reilly [Applause] [Music] I didn't marry or for me to sleep in one bed in human another [Music] Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer yes sir you're under arrest you may proceed sir doctor I can coach my husband was court-martialed he was made the martyr for an unsuccessful Indian campaign you swear that the evidence you shall give in the case now in hearing shall be the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God I do well dr. Coates when you saw the deserters did you give them any medical attention no sir what reason did you not as I was going to a General Custer said to me not to go near those men at that time I stood of course how pages orders how long were those men in the wagon before you gave the medical attention I suppose to ours what kind of medical attention did you give them I administered opiates and made him comfortable just as I would have been on the battlefield what was the result of the wound received by private Johnson that one was fatal resulted in death when you reached camp on the night of the 7th and gave the wounded man medical attention who instructed you or directed you to give attendance General Custer in what words or language did he give the order he said doctor my sympathies are not with those men who were wounded but I want you to give them all necessary attention afterwards did or did not the accused frequently inquire after their condition he did sir what did you understand the cues to mean when he directed you not to go near the wagon containing the wounded men when they came in I had at that time an idea the objection was made for a fact I had an idea the general wished to make an impression on the men Lieutenant Colonel WW cook after you arrived at Fort Wallace with no orders I remind the court how many of the detachment departed for days and started to Fort Harker with General Custer one soldier and three officers what authority did General Custer give you to leave Fort Wallace verbal or written verbal Thank You lieutenant Oh may I add sir that between the summer of 1866 and 1867 more than 500 members of the seventh Cavalry deserted when we fought the war against the Southerners men who deserted during combat were shot there was a buffalo hunt the dismounted deserters were shot down while begging for their lives [Music] I have never failed to relieve an imperiled friend this huge charge will let them married or without having provided for the burial of a single fallen man in my command is here charge for finally have a saw a man in any straight suffer went by my authority I could relieve him as he a chalk [Music] asked you at your hands gentlemen in the name of justice a finding of acquittal of all these charges and specifications [Music] the Court finds brevet Major General George Armstrong Custer ten eternal seventh u.s. cavalry as follows on the first specification of the first charge guilty of the second specification of the additional charge guilty the general was found guilty of mistreating captured desires and of being absent from his command without authorization he was suspended from the army for one year our lives had changed so much the railroads divided the Buffalo white men shot them from trains for sport the homesteaders cattle grazed on our lands as we went hungry by the age of 26 Crazy Horse was a leader of the Teton Lakota Nation there was a serious man we never sang he never danced he never boasted of his victories but he did take another man's wife black Buffalo woman wife of no water you see a Lakota woman was free to choose another husband but no water was a jealous man [Laughter] crazy horse disappeared from the village for a time at the age of 27 mr. Custer was without a command we return to our home town of Monroe Michigan [Music] it's cool here didn't general Sheridan order you to shoot deserves about trial what about general Hancock himself didn't he say shoot deserters he took a leave to find me knowing only be granted your officers looked on it as ordinary occurrence you did it because we are determined not to live apart again you know we have time we have one year with no pay we'll survive general colonel the war has been over a long time and I am really only a colonel a dishonored one it was and the summer one long perfect night but you came back to me it is mine blessed be our memories which preserve the joy as well as the sadness it's Mary for time and eternity [Music] in 1868 a treaty was signed more stopped the forts along the Bozeman trail were closed and reservations were built we were to stay in one place now while the white people could roam free the Lakota were to keep forever the lands west of the Missouri River and a quarter territory the Black Hills and the mountains and valleys of the Little Bighorn the white man was by law not allowed to enter these unseeded lands without permission from the Indians the white man brought us gifts he gave us laws and then he broke the law the Pioneers felt betrayed by the Treaty of 1868 they thought prime land had been given to the Indians and all the Indians were not even using it or erupted one more time drink of your fine burger sweet yes ma'am may I have your autograph [Music] Custer my daddy said you're going to be President soon your daddy is a wise man [Music] are you metal still Sheridan yes may I have your autograph too you might also want the autograph of this gentleman General William Tecumseh Sherman the hero of Atlanta do any of you know general Custer's yeah we are proud to know him miss my daddy says he is a brave Indian fighter and the army should cherish him you your daddy is a wise man thank you [Music] I love the pizza I do not understand you lord help me I do not understand this popularity the youngest Civil War general brave Indian fighter half of his men were killed during battle in the south whose reckless impulsive to magic indefatigable vain [Music] Ulysses what do you think of our idea the Easton press will devour us the Bureau of Indian Affairs / the Department of the Interior has failed we simply can no longer think of the Indian tribes as independent nations they have to become citizens individually responsible to the US law you want to hold them collectively not individually responsible I fought my civil war and it was long and bloody you want to repeat it fighting Indians instead of rebels if we are finally to have one nation sir a winter campaign sounds costly and dangers the Indians think they're safe in the winter but they're vulnerable they have no grasp of their ponies and their food supply is limited and their villages are virtually a mobile only you plan we swing three swords at the winter camps along the Washita and a south Canadian River Valley I launched one column D stored down the South Canadian a second column will operate southward toward the Antelope Hills in the head of the Red River these two columns will act as beaters in for our third and strongest column the 7th cavalry who will lead this seven [Music] we want Custer Custer he's been suspended from duty reinstate him Ulysses no no no no no he'll charge his men into some sleeping village and commit slaughter [Music] I've always known you as a man who didn't turn back was stopped until the thing intended was accomplished [Music] tester it's your decision [Music] a telegram arrived as we dined with friends it read general G a customer Monroe Michigan General Sherman Sully and myself and nearly all the officers of the regiment have asked for you and I hope that the application would be successful can you come at once signed to enroll Philip Sheridan I miss your clothes I have been reprimanded and now I return a humble man victory [Music] I have you with me before long how come the seven colonies had a spoon to eat [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] I [Music] did he think top just before you arrived home rotten you missed it line could hit the side of a barn door fair didn't ask for me we're glad to have you back sir [Music] Sherman and Sheridan both they asked that I return they need [Music] [Music] [Music] the u.s. said it wanted peace [Music] we were given lands we were to have them for as long as the Buffalo loans when the Buffalo was gone we were to give up our ways and begin to live like the white man chief Red Cloud told us how the white men lived you must put away the wisdom what your father's he said you must lay up food and forget the hungry when your house is built your storeroom filled look for a neighbor and seize all he hands [Music] [Music] our land for as long as the Buffalo looms [Music] by a year's time the white man broke the promise [Music] odors from general sully sir is that all sir yes Betty's he has no business commanding my expedition I don't know what grant was thinking giving the seventh day I don't think he'll last long now that you're back besides you have such natural leadership qualities [Laughter] thank you should have been the general I didn't need to be general I promised Livie I'll be better now that you're back where then yes cook is of course delighted that you're back he wants to know if you saw his darling Diana in Monroe still slit me Benteen is no friend he calls us the custer clan and so we are our mother and father fine Nevin is sickly and Boston my Boston is growing he's he's a man now and Margaret the beauty General Custer permission to enter sir Aryan gentlemen the 7th cavalry is a disgrace the men are depleted and demoralized and it will be our job to bring them back to fighting condition lieutenant cook and on three columns sent out in search of Indian and countless wenzer tonight by the end of the week we shall all of us march to the Medicine Lodge Creek and return here maybe then we will be prepared for the duty that awaits us are these general Sully's orders sir they will be captain we're yes sir you will collect all the men's horses and divide them according to color I want each company on its own color horse it will be an impressive sight Napoleon did it yes sir cook can the band play Garryowen no sir I want to hear it by tomorrow night yes sir [Music] right breast [Music] our beans children [Music] [Music] it's me [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] we call it Morgan Hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] my husband was called many things brave souls were hard taskmaster fearless reckless it was all of those things and his men were proud to follow in his charge the 7th cavalry long for record of his own regiment eager into uncharted [Music] I have your orders shall I read them to you you've never read orders to me sir if you wish for the record [Music] or for General Grant proceeds south in the direction of the Antelope Hills then toward the Washita River the supposed seat of the hostile tribes destroy their village and capture the ponies kill or hang all warriors and bring back all women and children [Music] yes sir the winter of 1868 the shy encamped on the Washita River all night was a beautiful place [Music] campaign of 1868 my husband had waited for his victory he was ready our chief Black Kettle flew an American flag over his teepee the Commissioner of Indian Affairs had told him it would keep us safe [Music] The Sound of Music walked me up [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] those cabinets moving well with the victory don't you think soldier what should we do about major Elliot sir you wrote off for 15 men there's not been seen since it's unfortunate that we have Indians approaching and I intend to save my wounded you call your men we're moving out captain we're deserting major Elliot we call your men [Applause] [Music] Ouachita was a great victory for my husband 51 lodges were destroyed 53 women and children were taken prisoner and the hundred men three Indian warriors were killed eleven of our warriors died and we remember their names the rest of our dead were women and children [Music] it was always about the land the land divided us we both wanted [Music] permission to enter Heder I feel it's my duty to inform you that the men are in an ugly mood they feel you left the field without ascertaining the condition of major Elliot is that also your belief captain phidias I will not be chastised by you I will not tolerate insubordination let a man make such an accusation and I will horsewhip him within an inch of his life you're smashed I don't need to defend my axis to anyone you need to fend them to me sir I will see you again mr. Benton cap supply became a holding place for many Cheyenne women and children me she was my cousin she was captured by the soldiers [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] she had a blond-haired child a girl named yellow bird Custer's child so says my family history I never saw the child she died at one year if it worked true then this made custom my relative in a way [Music] we talked Custer came to our camp in the large of the medicine arrow keeper he was offered the pipe I come for peace I do not come for war none among the white man wants to live in peace with the Cheyenne or cell in that diamond we have learned that you have white captives I wish the chief to return the women they are also I wish that the Cheyenne returned to their reservation and momomo not walk I keep my captives live honest i keep your men until the women are released david honest there was the name this test this test [Music] [Applause] [Music] he says that if you break this piece with the Cheyenne and you follow them you and all your soldiers will be killed [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] I will remember my words I will not hunt the Cheyenne and so it was agreed Custer held three of our Chiefs captive for their freedom we would trade to captured white women the next day in those times a white woman was told that it was better to kill herself than be taken captive by us our warriors felt the same I know so little about them I think in the end we will know nothing maybe that's best for me I don't have to know what they tell me what do they think the world is suddenly we Europeans arrived we we bring horses and guns and wagons we build houses we've run trains across the land what do they think of us what was their world like before we became such a part of it or do they think of these things are they able to what do they think of you I am a Bluecoat I speak with forked tongue they think I'm very handsome so I understand and what do you think of them are they beautiful by the women beautiful to you you are the most beautiful woman in the world and I know a lot about the world [Music] after you left for Fort Dodge [Music] I went and stayed at my father's house in Monroe flips it and look out the window remember that Custer boy walk back and forth in front of my gate hoarding the obsessively [Music] I remember that pester boy fresh out of West Point dead drunk horribly drunk stood outside your gate holid your name my brothers came and dragged me away shameful I haven't had a drink since no do shameful how you wooed me I was meant to do it and there was nothing I meant to do but I will not attempt even if it's good what [Music] even if I'm wrong [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] we lit the Prairie on fire now of course we know fires did not stop the white man but then we lit the tall grass on fire to slow the Bluecoats if they tried to chase us [Music] [Music] untie them tell them they can go tell them that when the Cheyenne returned to the reservation then they will be free men the kids so I'm gonna mid side so it said gave out and then pinned up someone more not Okies nasty stomach for me What did he say is there free men now take them back to our camp [Music] the white captives were returned our Chiefs were not returned they were killed by the blue coats we moved west now we do closer to our friends the Lakota [Music] [Music] Red Cloud went to meet with president ulysses s grant the Red Cloud was a peace chief he had opposed the white man but now something had changed him he had seen the cities the machines the number of people he saw the inevitability of the white men we welcome chief Red Cloud of the Oglala nation he came here to witness ways of our people we invite him to hear our words and recognize the sincerity of our prophet Shakopee Kalina no Kitab no John Cacioppo we look I come from where the Sun sets Oh Kankakee Linda okay a jerk Nia you were raised on chairs we are better to kill my catchy hmm again dear love I want to sit as I sit with the sunsets Tonka Sheila yeah picky okay okay Lakota or young keiki in the Dakotas Pagliacci um cool ygd watch his knee yes I want no roads there okey cheetah Oh young keiki you should be bartylla I asked that he removed Fort Fetterman Fort Fetterman must remain Fort Fetterman yep icky he talked only in a hint hello as a protection for Indians and whites alike no han was a sukhino pinion or walnuts I am NOT at heart and aggressive expansionist I do not believe in something but I do believe in is one nation for all me thought oh yeah a family of my people died recently for one nation Oh yet they won't see the Tinky nothing can chief Red Cloud Control his warriors can he keep peace oh cool a catchy aquele glues no gene Makakilo to the hokey-pokey anak MP u hav cha-cha ITA's if uncle Ania whose voice was heard first in this land Piz it was the red people who used to bowl what key store iocai our nation's is melting like the snow on the sides of the hills when the Sun is warm while you people are like the blades of grass and spring times when summer is coming you tell in this very directly survival is victory chief Red Cloud again they will oh here HR yellow you can't stop us now you can only survive among us he alone your topic or your kiss me hello taking us in escapes you need your anything to check this is your land llama coach a kingly power yo [Music] duck where you got your white these lines boundaries whether Landon's li mochou cheeky Iranian a honky yellow [Music] what do I conquer beetle it is lies [Music] the Americans invaded our sacred Black Hills [Music] I came to the Northern Cheyenne when their reservation was in the Black Hills Country but white men found gold there so the Indians had to move out the Cheyenne were told that they had to go to another reservation but not many of them moved they said it was no use as the white men might want that reservation to [Music] the Army did not invade the Black Hills I went in to try to stop the flow of settlers back east the banking house has failed the stock market crashed farm prices plummeted during the worst grasshopper plague in history 20% of the city's labor forces were unemployed nice talk there were more people in jail than any other time in the history of the nation homeless tramps roamed the country the nation needed expansion to the west [Music] that was my animal boys I pray for you maybe just to reach out touch an enemy to bloody knife my friend why are you not out here living like a real Indian cocky it is finished is it it is time to live like the white man the progress Crazy Horse had this to say about those treaties which he never signed one does not sell the land upon which all living things walk [Music] [Music] the Indians gave up all hope of ever living peacefully with the white man [Music] [Applause] president grande found himself caught on the horns of a dilemma prospectors and settlers clamored for protection as they moved into the Black Hills the tide was deep the migration inevitable I will not cede the Black Hills Territory but they have broken the treaty to themselves by attacking the settlers trespassers in our mind sir they started it so we issue an ultimatum all Indians must report to their agencies by January 31st 1876 or be considered hostile I heard the story that before the great battle crazy horse ruled a long ways to the burial scaffold of his three-year-old daughter [Applause] she had died of cholera one more gift from the white band [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] crazy horse stayed with his child for three days and three nights and when the three days were done he painted red lightning on his face and point hailstones on his body and he tied a brown pebble behind his ear for this the warrior in his vision had told him to do [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all Indians must report to their agencies by January 31st if this request is not complied with if the Indians do not come in the commission of Indian Affairs will turn the problem of the hostiles over to the War Department who will initiate a campaign aimed at containing the hostiles and returning them to the reservation and to the jurisdiction of the United States of America and then sons-of-bitches military operations may be commenced whenever in the opinion of the War Department such action becomes necessary and sometime this winter it will become necessary [Music] agreed we've been killing Indians for hundreds of years let's get the business over with I want Custer to add the expedition we need one great bloody battle he'll guarantee [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] thanks for watching if you'd like to help us produce more compelling historical content like this please like comment below and share this video with fellow history buffs and of course be sure to subscribe to help keep history happening [Music]

Channel: LionHeart FilmWorks

Views: 445,157

Rating: 4.6873798 out of 5

Keywords: 1876, battle of the little bighorn, battle of the little bighorn movie, battle of the little bighorn reenactment, crazy horse, general custer, george armstrong custer, george armstrong custer battle of little bighorn, george armstrong custer biography, george armstrong custer death, george armstrong custer documentary, george armstrong custer movies, republic, sitting bull, sitting bull movie, son of the morning star, tv mini-series, tv western, western

Id: RR0xXrTlPdM

Length: 89min 45sec (5385 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 25 2019