[MAN] THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS, SALT LAKE CITY.

THE AMERICAN NATION IS DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION, AND NO POWER CAN SAVE IT.

IT IS DECREED THAT THE MEASURE WHICH THEY HAVE METED OUT UNTO THE SAINTS SHALL BE METED UNTO THEM, AND THEY ARE HASTENING UNTO THEIR WORK OF DESOLATION, WAR, BLOODSHED, AND DESTRUCTION, AND WOE, WOE IS THEIR DOOM.

THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY WOULD CRY, "O LORD, HASTEN THY WORK.

"LET THE WICKED SLAY THE WICKED UNTIL THE WHOLE LAND IS CLEANSED."

WILFORD WOODRUFF.

[MAN] TIME AFTER TIME, CONGRESS AND PEOPLE IN THE EAST SAW THE WEST AS A SAFETY VALVE, A PLACE WHERE YOU COULD GO AND ESCAPE THE PROBLEMS OF WHERE YOU WERE.

IT WAS PART OF THE WHOLE MYTH OF THE WEST.

YOU COULD ESCAPE AND BE FREE.

WELL, WE THOUGHT WE COULD ESCAPE WHATEVER NATIONAL TENSIONS AND UNRESOLVED PROBLEMS WE HAD, BUT IT CAME BACK, YOU KNOW, LIKE A BIG WIND FROM THE PRAIRIE, BIGGER AND BIGGER EACH TIME.

[MAN CHANTING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] [MEN CHANTING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] [NARRATOR] FROM THE BEGINNING, THE UNITED STATES HAD ENVISIONED AN ORDERLY EXPANSION INTO THE WEST.

TREATIES WERE SUPPOSED TO LEGITIMIZE SETTLEMENT.

OFFICIAL SURVEYS WERE TO MAP THE LAND.

THEN AMERICANS COULD SPREAD PEACEFULLY ACROSS IT, ALL UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND PROTECTION OF THEIR GOVERNMENT.

BUT THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH AND THE WAR WITH MEXICO CHANGED EVERYTHING.

AMERICANS WERE NOW MOVING WEST IN EVER-LARGER NUMBERS, AHEAD OF THEIR GOVERNMENT, SEARCHING FOR NEW TREASURE, CLEARING LAND, BUILDING TOWNS AND CITIES, STARTING OVER.

BUT THE NEW SETTLERS BROUGHT WITH THEM THEIR NATION'S OLDEST AND MOST DIVISIVE ISSUE-- SLAVERY.

ONCE SEEN AS THE LAND OF HOPE AND NEW BEGINNINGS, THE WEST BECAME A BREEDING GROUND FOR THE BLOODSHED THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY ENGULF THE WHOLE COUNTRY.

AND WHEN WAR FINALLY CAME, THE RESULT IN THE WEST WAS CHAOS.

HATRED CONSUMED ENTIRE COMMUNITIES.

CRIMINALS LED ARMIES, AND NO ONE WAS SAFE.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, ENGAGED IN A STRUGGLE SIMPLY TO HOLD THE COUNTRY TOGETHER, COULD DO NOTHING TO STOP IT.

A PIOUS NEW HAMPSHIRE WOMAN WHO MOVED WEST HOPING TO KEEP THE REGION FREE OF SLAVERY INSTEAD WOULD WATCH AS HER KANSAS NEIGHBORS WANTONLY KILLED ONE ANOTHER.

A DEVOUT MORMON WHO HAD FLED WEST WITH HIS PEOPLE TO AVOID PERSECUTION WOULD TAKE PART IN THE WORST MASSACRE OF INNOCENT PIONEERS IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

A FANATICAL METHODIST PARSON WOULD TRANSFORM HIMSELF INTO A CELEBRATED SOLDIER AND THEN TRY TO BUILD A POLITICAL CAREER BASED ON MURDER, WHILE A CHEYENNE CHIEF WHO WANTED NOTHING BUT PEACE WOULD FIND NO ESCAPE AS TIME AND AGAIN HIS UNSUSPECTING VILLAGE BECAME A BATTLEFIELD.

[WOMAN] WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WONDERFUL DREAM-- THAT THE WEST WILL UNITE THE SOUTH AND THE NORTH, THE WEST WILL BE THE KIND OF NEW CHILD WHO BRINGS THIS TROUBLED MARRIAGE TOGETHER-- 1850s CARRY A DIFFERENT LESSON ENTIRELY, WHICH IS THAT THIS IS THE CHILD THAT WILL BLOW UP THE MARRIAGE.

THAT'S THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL MOMENT OF THE WEST FOR THE NATION.

THAT'S WHERE THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT HOW CENTRAL THE WEST IS TO THE WHOLE STORY OF THE COUNTRY.

[THUNDER] [MAN CHANTING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] [WOMAN] A GREAT WORK IS TO BE DONE, AND KANSAS IS THE GREAT BATTLEFIELD WHERE A MIGHTY CONFLICT IS TO BE WAGED WITH THE MONSTER SLAVERY.

AND HE WILL BE ROUTED AND SLAIN.

AMEN AND AMEN.

JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[NARRATOR] IN THE SPRING OF 1855, THE REVEREND CHARLES H. LOVEJOY OF CROYDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE, HIS 43-YEAR-OLD WIFE JULIA LOUISA, AND THEIR CHILDREN CROSSED THE MISSOURI RIVER INTO THE NEWLY CREATED KANSAS TERRITORY.

THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF SETTLERS POURING IN THAT YEAR TO STAKE CLAIMS IN WHAT HAD RECENTLY BEEN INDIAN LANDS, BUT THE LOVEJOYS AND OTHERS LIKE THEM FROM NEW ENGLAND WERE A DIFFERENT KIND OF AMERICAN PIONEER NOT INTERESTED IN GOLD, LAND, OR ADVENTURE.

THEY WERE ABOLITIONISTS-- PART OF A GRASS-ROOTS MOVEMENT SWEEPING THE NORTH.

THEY WERE OUTRAGED THAT IN A NATION FOUNDED ON THE IDEAL OF FREEDOM, NEARLY FOUR MILLION AMERICANS WERE STILL OWNED BY OTHER AMERICANS.

THE LOVEJOYS HAD COME WEST, DETERMINED TO KEEP THE SOIL OF KANSAS FREE FROM SLAVERY.

FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY AS THE UNITED STATES EXPANDED WESTWARD, CONGRESS HAD QUARRELED AGAIN AND AGAIN OVER WHETHER THE NEW TERRITORIES WOULD BE SLAVE OR FREE, EACH TIME WORKING OUT A FRAGILE COMPROMISE.

[DUNCAN] EVERY TIME THAT THEY THOUGHT THAT THEY HAD HODGEPODGED SOMETHING TOGETHER, SOME NEW LAND IN THE WEST WOULD BECOME AVAILABLE THAT AMERICANS WERE SETTLING AND WANTING TO BRING INTO THE UNION, AND IT KEPT BRINGING IT RIGHT BACK TO CONGRESS.

WELL, WILL IT BE FREE OR SLAVE, AND WILL THAT UPSET THIS DELICATE BALANCE THAT WAS CONSTRUCTED 10 YEARS AGO OR 20 YEARS AGO OR 30 YEARS AGO?

[NARRATOR] IN 1854, CONGRESS HAD CREATED TWO NEW TERRITORIES-- KANSAS AND NEBRASKA-- AND PROPOSED TO HOLD A SPECIAL ELECTION WHICH WOULD LEAVE THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY UP TO THE SETTLERS WHO LIVED THERE.

MANY IN CONGRESS BELIEVED THIS NEW COMPROMISE WOULD HOLD THE NATION TOGETHER.

INSTEAD, IT WOULD TEAR IT APART, AND THE WEST WOULD BECOME A BATTLEGROUND FOR THE SOUL OF THE COUNTRY.

[MAN] WE ARE PLAYING FOR A MIGHTY STAKE.

THE GAME MUST BE PLAYED BOLDLY.

WE ARE ORGANIZING.

WE WILL BE COMPELLED TO SHOOT, BURN, AND HANG, BUT THE THING WILL SOON BE OVER.

IF WE WIN, WE CAN CARRY SLAVERY TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

SENATOR DAVID ATCHISON, MISSOURI.

[MAN] COME ON THEN, GENTLEMEN OF THE SLAVE STATES.

SINCE THERE IS NO ESCAPING YOUR CHALLENGE, I ACCEPT IT IN BEHALF OF THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM.

WE WILL ENGAGE IN COMPETITION FOR THE VIRGIN SOIL OF KANSAS, AND GOD GIVE THE VICTORY TO THE SIDE WHICH IS STRONGER IN NUMBERS AS IT IS IN THE RIGHT.

SENATOR WILLIAM H. SEWARD, NEW YORK.

[LIMERICK] TO HAND THE ISSUE TO KANSAS IS TO ASK FOR THE MOST EXPLOSIVE CONDITIONS POSSIBLE-- TO TAKE THE MOST UNSETTLED KIND OF SOCIETY AND THROW INTO THAT THE ISSUE THAT MADE CONGRESSMEN WANT TO KILL EACH OTHER.

IF YOU WANTED TO DESIGN THE WORST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS TO DRAMATIZE HOW BITTER THESE FIGHTS WERE, YOU COULDN'T DO BETTER THAN WHAT THEY DESIGNED FOR KANSAS.

[NARRATOR] ON ELECTION DAY, NEARLY 5,000 ARMED PRO-SLAVERY MEN LED BY SENATOR DAVID ATCHISON FLOODED IN FROM MISSOURI, TRYING TO INFLUENCE THE VOTE AND THE FATE OF KANSAS.

THEY SEIZED POLLING PLACES, CAST FOUR TIMES AS MANY BALLOTS AS THERE WERE VOTERS IN THE TERRITORY, AND INSTALLED A LEGISLATURE THAT MADE IT A CRIME TO EVEN CRITICIZE SLAVERY.

THEIR OPPONENTS, CALLED FREE SOILERS, COUNTERED WITH THEIR OWN ELECTION.

THEY DREW UP A CONSTITUTION THAT OUTLAWED SLAVERY, THOUGH IT ALSO BARRED BLACK SETTLEMENT, AND THEN APPLIED FOR ADMISSION TO THE UNION AS A FREE STATE.

KANSAS NOW HAD TWO GOVERNMENTS, AND ITS PEOPLE WERE ABOUT TO GO TO WAR WITH ONE ANOTHER.

[MAN] BOTH SIDES WERE SUPPLIED FROM THE OUTSIDE.

IT WAS ALMOST AS IF A CIVIL WAR WERE TAKING PLACE IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY WITH THE SOUTH PROVIDING THE ARMS, THE MONEY, AND THE MEN ON ONE SIDE, AND THE NEW ENGLAND, IDEOLOGICALLY COMMITTED ABOLITIONISTS ON THE OTHER.

[NARRATOR] BY THE FALL OF 1855, REVEREND AND MRS. LOVEJOY WERE LIVING IN THE ANTISLAVERY STRONGHOLD OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS.

JULIA BEGAN WRITING A STREAM OF LETTERS TO NEWSPAPERS BACK EAST.

[JULIA LOVEJOY] THE GREATEST TROUBLE IN THIS PART OF THE TERRITORY NOW IS ABOUT OUR MISSOURIAN NEIGHBORS, WHOSE HEARTS ARE SET ON MISCHIEF.

WE ARE APPREHENDING TROUBLE, IF NOT HARD FIGHTING, IN OUR QUIET COMMUNITY.

[MAN] IMAGINE A MAN STANDING IN A PAIR OF LONG BOOTS, THE HANDLE OF A LARGE BOWIE KNIFE PROJECTING FROM ONE OR BOTH BOOT TOPS, A LEATHER BELT BUCKLED AROUND HIS WAIST, ON EACH SIDE OF WHICH IS FASTENED A LARGE REVOLVER.

IMAGINE SUCH A PICTURE OF HUMANITY WHO CAN SWEAR ANY GIVEN NUMBER OF OATHS IN ANY SPECIFIED TIME, DRINK ANY QUANTITY OF BAD WHISKEY WITHOUT GETTING DRUNK, AND BOAST OF HAVING STOLEN A HALF-DOZEN HORSES AND KILLED ONE OR MORE ABOLITIONISTS, AND YOU WILL HAVE A PRETTY FAIR CONCEPTION OF A BORDER RUFFIAN AS HE APPEARS IN MISSOURI AND IN KANSAS.

JOHN H. GIHON.

[NARRATOR] IN THE SPRING OF 1856, SOMEONE WOUNDED A PRO-SLAVERY SHERIFF, AND 800 ARMED MEN BENT ON REVENGE STORMED INTO LAWRENCE, GOT DRUNK, DESTROYED TWO NEWSPAPER OFFICES, BURNED DOWN THE HOTEL AND THE HOME OF THE FREE-SOIL GOVERNOR.

[GUNSHOT] [LOVEJOY] I CAUGHT MY DARLING BABE FROM THE BED, MOANING AS HE WENT.

I RUSHED TO A PLACE OF SAFETY OUT OF TOWN AS FAST AS MY FEEBLE LIMBS COULD CARRY ME.

THE SCENE THAT MET OUR GAZE BEGGARS DESCRIPTION-- WOMEN AND CHILDREN FLEEING ON EVERY HAND, CATTLE, AS THOUGH AWARE THAT DANGER WAS NEAR, HUDDLING TOGETHER.

IT WILL NEVER FADE FROM MEMORY'S VISION.

[NARRATOR] WHEN MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR CHARLES SUMNER DENOUNCED WHAT HE CALLED "THIS CRIME AGAINST KANSAS," A SOUTH CAROLINA CONGRESSMAN STRODE ONTO THE SENATE FLOOR AND BEAT HIM SENSELESS WITH A CANE.

THREE DAYS LATER, ON THE NIGHT OF MAY 24th, A STRANGE, DRIVEN MAN CALLED FIVE UNARMED SETTLERS WHOM HE BELIEVED FAVORED SLAVERY OUT OF THEIR CABINS ON POTTAWATOMIE CREEK.

WITH THE HELP OF HIS SONS, HE HACKED THEM TO DEATH WITH BROADSWORDS.

IT WAS A "WAR TO THE DEATH BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL," JOHN BROWN SAID.

"WE MUST FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE."

[CANNON FIRES] DURING THE NEXT 3 MONTHS, SOME 200 MORE MEN WOULD DIE IN WHAT WOULD COME TO BE KNOWN AS BLEEDING KANSAS.

[LOVEJOY] AUGUST 25, 1856.

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF WAR, WAR OF THE MOST BLOODY KIND, A WAR OF EXTERMINATION.

FREEDOM AND SLAVERY ARE INTERLOCKED IN DEADLY EMBRACE, AND DEATH IS CERTAIN FOR ONE OR THE OTHER PARTY.

A CRISIS IS JUST BEFORE US, AND ONLY GOD KNOWETH WHERE IT WILL END.

JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[MAN] WE ARE GATHERED HERE TO BUILD UP THE KINGDOM OF GOD, TO MAKE THE WILDERNESS BLOSSOM AS THE ROSE AND FILL THESE MOUNTAINS WITH CITIES.

MY SOUL FEELS HALLELUJAH.

IT EXALTS IN GOD THAT HE HAS PLANTED THIS PEOPLE IN A PLACE THAT IS NOT DESIRED BY THE WICKED.

BRIGHAM YOUNG.

[NARRATOR] IT HAD BEEN 10 YEARS SINCE BRIGHAM YOUNG LED HIS LATTER DAY SAINTS WEST, AND WHILE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WRESTLED WITH THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY, HE CONTINUED TO BUILD HIS MORMON KINGDOM IN THE DESERTS OF UTAH.

SALT LAKE CITY, WITH NEARLY 10,000 RESIDENTS, WAS NOW THE SECOND-LARGEST CITY WEST OF MISSOURI, ECLIPSED ONLY BY SAN FRANCISCO.

NEW COLONIES STRETCHED FOR 300 MILES ALONG THE WASATCH MOUNTAINS.

THE MORMONS PRINTED THEIR OWN CURRENCY, DROVE FEDERAL OFFICIALS OUT OF UTAH, AND PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THAT POLYGAMY-- PLURAL MARRIAGE-- WAS PART OF CHURCH DOCTRINE.

POLYGAMY WAS MOSTLY MEANT FOR IMPORTANT MORMON LEADERS.

BRIGHAM YOUNG HIMSELF HAD 27 WIVES.

YOUNG'S CHIEF LIEUTENANT, HEBER KIMBALL, HAD 43.

MOST POLYGAMISTS HAD NO MORE THAN TWO WIVES, AND FOUR OUT OF FIVE MORMON MEN HAD JUST ONE.

STILL, THE PRACTICE TURNED MANY AMERICANS AGAINST THEM.

[MAN] AS TO POLYGAMY, I CHARGE IT TO BE A CRYING EVIL, SAPPING NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL CONSTITUTION OF THE PEOPLE PRACTICING IT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME PERVERTING THE SOCIAL VIRTUES AND MORALS OF ITS VICTIMS.

IT IS A SCARLET WHORE, IT IS A REPROACH TO THE CHRISTIAN CIVILIZATION, AND IT DESERVES TO BE BLOTTED OUT.

CONGRESSMAN JOHN A. McCLERNAND, ILLINOIS.

[NARRATOR] IN THE ELECTION OF 1856, THE BRAND-NEW REPUBLICAN PARTY RAN ON A PLATFORM OPPOSED TO WHAT THEY CALLED THE TWIN RELICS OF BARBARISM-- SLAVERY AND POLYGAMY.

THE REPUBLICANS LOST, BUT THE ISSUES WOULD NOT GO AWAY.

[MAN] MR. PRESIDENT, I BELIEVE THAT WE CAN SUPERSEDE THE NEGRO-MANIA WITH THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL EXCITEMENT OF AN ANTIMORMON CRUSADE, AND THE PIPINGS OF ABOLITIONISM WILL HARDLY BE HEARD AMIDST THE THUNDERS OF THE STORM THAT WE SHALL RAISE.

ROBERT TYLER.

[DUNCAN] AND WHEN DEMOCRAT JAMES BUCHANAN WON THE ELECTION, TO SORT OF TAKE THE HEAT OFF OF THIS BUILDING TENSION OVER SLAVERY, HE DID A VERY REMARKABLE THING THAT'S ONLY HAPPENED A FEW TIMES IN OUR HISTORY.

HE SENT AN ARMY OUT AGAINST CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES.

[NARRATOR] IN THE SUMMER OF 1857, 2,500 TROOPS HEADED TOWARD UTAH TO REASSERT FEDERAL CONTROL.

AT THE SAME TIME THE ARMY SLOWLY MADE ITS WAY WEST, A LONE WAGON TRAIN ENTERED THE SOUTHERN PART OF MORMON TERRITORY.

THEY WERE SETTLERS MOSTLY, FAMILIES TRAVELING WITH SMALL CHILDREN ON THEIR WAY TO CALIFORNIA AND A BETTER LIFE.

BUT RIDING WITH THEM WERE A BAND OF MEN WHO CALLED THEMSELVES THE MISSOURI WILDCATS, AND THEY WERE BENT ON CAUSING TROUBLE FOR THE LATTER DAY SAINTS.

[MAN] THEY SWORE AND BOASTED OPENLY THAT BUCHANAN'S WHOLE ARMY WAS COMING RIGHT BEHIND THEM AND WOULD KILL EVERY GODDAMN MORMON IN UTAH.

THEY HAD TWO BULLS, WHICH THEY CALLED ONE HEBER AND THE OTHER BRIGHAM AND WHIPPED THEM THROUGH EVERY TOWN, YELLING, SINGING, AND BLASPHEMING OATHS THAT WOULD HAVE MADE YOUR HAIR STAND ON END.

JOHN D. LEE.

[NARRATOR] ON SEPTEMBER 7, 1857, THE WAGONS REACHED A GRASSY AREA CALLED MOUNTAIN MEADOWS.

THERE SOME 200 PAIUTE WARRIORS, ENCOURAGED BY THE MORMONS, ATTACKED.

[GUNSHOTS] THE EMIGRANTS DROVE THEM BACK.

THE INDIANS SETTLED IN FOR A SIEGE, THEN ASKED THE MORMONS TO JOIN THEM IN DESTROYING THE COMMON ENEMY.

ELDERS SENT A MESSAGE TO SALT LAKE CITY ASKING BRIGHAM YOUNG WHAT THEY SHOULD DO.

YOUNG SENT A COURIER BACK WITH ORDERS TO LET THE WAGONS GO, BUT BEFORE THE MESSAGE ARRIVED, THE MORMONS AT MOUNTAIN MEADOWS RESOLVED TO WIPE OUT THE WAGON TRAIN AND BLAME IT ON THE PAIUTES.

ONE OF THE MEN ORDERED TO LEAD THE FIGHTING WAS JOHN D. LEE, A MORMON SO LOYAL THAT BRIGHAM YOUNG HIMSELF HAD ADOPTED HIM AS A SPIRITUAL SON.

LEE WAS USED TO FOLLOWING CHURCH ORDERS.

HE WAS, AS HE SAID, "AS CLAY IN THE HANDS OF THE POTTER" WHEN IT CAME TO CARRYING OUT THE WISHES OF HIS ELDERS, BUT EVEN HE WAS STUNNED AT WHAT HE WAS NOW BEING ASKED TO DO.

[LEE] THE ORDERS SAID TO DECOY THE EMIGRANTS FROM THEIR POSITION AND KILL ALL OF THEM THAT COULD TALK.

THIS ORDER WAS IN WRITING.

I READ IT AND THEN DROPPED IT ON THE GROUND, SAYING, "I CANNOT DO THIS."

I BOWED MYSELF IN PRAYER BEFORE GOD, AND MY TORTURED SOUL WAS WRUNG NEARLY FROM MY BODY BY THE GREAT SUFFERING.

IF I HAD THEN HAD A THOUSAND WORLDS TO COMMAND, I WOULD HAVE GIVEN THEM FREELY TO SAVE THAT COMPANY FROM DEATH.

[NARRATOR] BUT IN THE END, JOHN D. LEE DECIDED TO FOLLOW ORDERS.

ON THE MORNING OF SEPTEMBER 11th, HE RODE OUT TO THE BESIEGED WAGON TRAIN UNDER A FLAG OF TRUCE.

[DUNCAN] JOHN D. LEE AND SOME OTHERS CAME TO THEM AND SAID, "THROW DOWN YOUR ARMS.

"WE'VE GOT THE INDIANS UNDER CONTROL.

YOU COME OUT WITH US, AND YOU'LL BE SAFE."

AND THEY WERE RELUCTANT TO DO IT, BUT THEY FINALLY DID.

AND AS THEY MARCHED OUT, THE ORDER WAS GIVEN, "DO YOUR DUTY."

[GUNSHOT] [NARRATOR] THE MORMONS OPENED FIRE, EACH MAN ASSIGNED TO SHOOT THE EMIGRANT WALKING NEXT TO HIM.

LEE'S TASK WAS TO KILL THE SICK AND WOUNDED RIDING IN A WAGON IN FRONT OF THE OTHERS.

THEN THE PAIUTES SWEPT IN AND FINISHED OFF THE REST.

[GUNSHOTS] IN LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR, 120 PEOPLE HAD BEEN BUTCHERED AT MOUNTAIN MEADOWS.

ONLY 17 CHILDREN WERE SPARED, THOUGHT TOO YOUNG EVER TO TELL THE HORRIBLE STORY.

THE DEAD WERE STRIPPED OF THEIR CLOTHING AND BELONGINGS, WHICH THE MORMONS SOLD AT AUCTION.

THEY WERE HASTILY BURIED IN SHALLOW GRAVES AND SOON DUG UP AGAIN BY WILD ANIMALS.

[MAN] WELL, I'M A GREAT-GRANDSON OF JOHN D. LEE.

MY MIDDLE NAME IS LEE, AND I'VE STUDIED HIS LIFE AND HIS TRAGEDIES.

I WILL ALWAYS BELIEVE THAT IT COULD ONLY HAVE HAPPENED AT THAT PARTICULAR MOMENT-- THAT IF THIS WAGON TRAIN HAD COME THROUGH-- AS THEY HAD BEFORE-- TWO WEEKS EARLIER, TWO WEEKS LATER-- THEY MIGHT HAVE GONE UNSCATHED, SO IT'S ALMOST A GREEK TRAGEDY.

[NARRATOR] TWO DAYS AFTER THE MASSACRE, BRIGHAM YOUNG'S MESSENGER FINALLY ARRIVED AT MOUNTAIN MEADOWS WITH THE ORDERS TO LET THE WAGON TRAIN PASS.

JOHN D. LEE WAS CHOSEN TO RIDE TO SALT LAKE CITY AND TELL BRIGHAM YOUNG WHAT HAD HAPPENED.

PRECISELY HOW MUCH THE MORMON LEADER WAS TOLD OF HIS PEOPLE'S ROLE IN THE SLAUGHTER IS UNCLEAR.

PUBLICLY, YOUNG BLAMED IT ALL ON THE PAIUTES.

MEANWHILE, WINTER HAD STOPPED BUCHANAN'S ARMY'S ADVANCE, AND THE MORMON WAR ENDED BEFORE IT REALLY BEGAN.

IN A NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT, THE PRESIDENT PARDONED YOUNG AND HIS FOLLOWERS FOR INCITING A REBELLION, AND YOUNG IN TURN RESIGNED AS GOVERNOR, BUT HE REMAINED IN EFFECTIVE CONTROL OF HIS PEOPLE.

THE ATTEMPT TO DIVERT THE NATION'S ATTENTION FROM SLAVERY HAD FAILED.

FOUR YEARS LATER, BRIGHAM YOUNG STOPPED AT MOUNTAIN MEADOWS.

FEDERAL TROOPS, OUTRAGED AT THE MASSACRE, HAD ERECTED A MAKESHIFT MONUMENT TO THOSE WHO HAD BEEN MURDERED.

ON IT WERE THE WORDS "VENGEANCE IS MINE, SAITH THE LORD, AND I WILL REPAY."

YOUNG GAZED AT IT FOR A TIME, THEN ORDERED THE MONUMENT TORN DOWN.

"VENGEANCE IS MINE," HE MUTTERED, "AND I HAVE TAKEN A LITTLE."

[MAN] MEXICANS!

IT WOULD APPEAR THAT JUSTICE HAD FLED FROM THIS WORLD, LEAVING YOU TO THE CAPRICE OF YOUR OPPRESSORS, WHO HAVE BECOME EACH DAY MORE FURIOUS TOWARD YOU.

MY PART IS TAKEN.

THE VOICE OF REVELATION WHISPERS THAT THE LORD WILL ENABLE ME WITH POWERFUL ARM TO FIGHT AGAINST OUR ENEMIES.

JUAN CORTINA.

[HORSE WHINNIES] [NARRATOR] THE TREATY THAT ENDED THE MEXICAN WAR IN 1848 HAD PROMISED ALL THE BENEFITS OF UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP TO MEXICAN-AMERICANS.

BUT AS CIVIL WAR NEARED, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROVED UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO KEEP ITS PROMISES.

IN CALIFORNIA, NEW MEXICO, AND TEXAS, MANY MEXICAN-AMERICANS WERE DENIED THE RIGHT TO VOTE, LOST THEIR LANDS IN COURT, AND OFTEN FOUND THEMSELVES PERSECUTED RATHER THAN PROTECTED BY OFFICERS OF THE LAW.

ON JULY 13, 1859, A RANCHER NAMED JUAN CORTINA RODE INTO BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS, TO BUY SUPPLIES.

HE WAS A MEMBER OF AN OLD LANDED MEXICAN FAMILY THAT HAD SEEN ITS POWER AND INFLUENCE DECLINE WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE AMERICANS.

ON THE MAIN STREET, HE SAW THE CITY MARSHAL PISTOL-WHIPPING A MEXICAN LABORER WHO HAD ONCE WORKED FOR HIS FAMILY.

WHEN THE SHERIFF REFUSED TO STOP, CORTINA SHOT HIM IN THE SHOULDER, SWEPT THE PRISONER ONTO THE BACK OF HIS HORSE, AND RODE OFF WITH HIM.

A LITTLE OVER 2 MONTHS LATER, WITH SOME 75 ARMED FOLLOWERS, HE RODE INTO TOWN AGAIN, FREED 12 PRISONERS FROM JAIL, SEIZED ARMS AND AMMUNITION, AND SHOT DEAD THREE AMERICANS WHOM HE SAID HAD KILLED MEXICANS WHILE THE LAW LOOKED THE OTHER WAY.

[GUNSHOT] THEN CORTINA RETURNED TO HIS RANCH AND ISSUED A PROCLAMATION.

[CORTINA] WHEN THE STATE OF TEXAS BECAME PART OF THE UNION, FLOCKS OF VAMPIRES IN THE GUISE OF MEN CAME WITH CORRUPT HEARTS AND THE MOST PERVERSE INTENTIONS.

BECAUSE YOUR INDUSTRY EXCITED THEIR VILE AVARICE, MANY OF YOU MEXICANS HAVE BEEN ROBBED OF YOUR PROPERTY, INCARCERATED, MURDERED, AND HUNTED LIKE WILD BEASTS.

MEXICANS!

IS THERE NO REMEDY FOR YOU?

[NARRATOR] FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, DESPITE CONSTANT PURSUIT BY AMERICAN SETTLERS AND MEXICAN NATIONAL GUARDSMEN, CORTINA AND HIS MEN HELD ON TO THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY.

SYMPATHETIC MEXICANS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE BORDER SECRETLY PROVIDED THEM WITH FOOD AND SUPPLIES.

"OUR PERSONAL ENEMIES," CORTINA VOWED, "SHALL NOT POSSESS OUR LANDS UNTIL THEY HAVE FATTENED IT WITH THEIR GORE."

FINALLY, THE STATE MILITIA, KNOWN AS THE TEXAS RANGERS, WAS SENT AGAINST HIM.

[MAN] WELL, JUAN CORTINA-- HE WAS THEIR HERO, TO THE INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE THE SMALL RANCHERS AND SO FORTH.

HE WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS ABLE TO STAND UP AND SAY, "YOU'RE TAKING OUR LAND, "AND NOW YOU TAKE AWAY OUR DIGNITY, "AND NOW YOU MISTREAT US.

YOU PUSH US AROUND.

WE'VE HAD IT."

THE TEXAS RANGERS DIDN'T ALLOW ANYONE TO RISE UP AS A CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE.

AND WHEN YOU TOOK ON THE LAW, YOU USUALLY GOT LYNCHED IN THAT BORDER REGION.

AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THEY HAD INTENDED FOR HIM-- JUST TO CATCH HIM AND LYNCH HIM SORT OF AS AN EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU DON'T DEFY THE NEW GOVERNMENT.

[NARRATOR] THE RANGERS, NOW BACKED BY FEDERAL TROOPS, PURSUED CORTINA'S MEN TO RIO GRANDE CITY AND CLOSED IN FOR THE KILL.

[GUNSHOTS] [MAN] CORTINA WAS THE LAST TO LEAVE THE FIELD.

HE FACED HIS PURSUERS, EMPTIED HIS REVOLVER, AND TRIED TO HALT HIS PANIC-STRICKEN MEN.

ONE SHOT STRUCK THE CANTLE OF HIS SADDLE.

ONE CUT A LOCK OF HAIR FROM HIS HEAD.

A THIRD CUT HIS BRIDLE REIN.

A FOURTH PASSED THROUGH HIS HORSE'S EAR, AND A FIFTH STRUCK HIS BELT, BUT HE GALLOPED OFF UNHURT.

COLONEL J.S.

FORD.

[NARRATOR] CORTINA FLED ACROSS THE RIO GRANDE.

FOR ANOTHER 15 YEARS, HE AND OTHERS CONTINUED TO LAUNCH RAIDS ON AMERICAN SETTLERS AND STEAL TEXAS CATTLE.

THE BORDER REGION REMAINED A NO MAN'S LAND.

AS HIS LEGEND GREW, ANGLOS DENOUNCED CORTINA AS A MURDEROUS REBEL, BUT TO MEXICAN-AMERICANS, HE WAS THE ROBIN HOOD OF THE RIO GRANDE.

[ROMO] MY GRANDFATHER TALKED ABOUT HIM, AND MY UNCLE CLAIMS HIM AS A RELATIVE, AND I WAS SORT OF STRUCK BY THAT.

TO EVERY FAMILY, HE WAS PART OF US IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER.

HIS LEGEND IS PASSED ON.

HIS LIFE LIVES ON.

[LOVEJOY] OUR NEW ENGLAND FRIENDS MAY WONDER THAT THE WARLIKE SPIRIT HAS TAKEN SUCH HOLD UPON THOSE WHO, UNTIL THEY CAME TO KANSAS, WERE AS COMPLETE PACIFISTS AS THE MOST ORTHODOX QUAKER.

BUT, SIR, SUCH INDIVIDUALS ONLY NEED A LITTLE KANSAS EXPERIENCE TO UNDERSTAND THE MATTER.

JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[NARRATOR] ON OCTOBER 16, 1859, JOHN BROWN BROUGHT HIS KANSAS BRAND OF ABOLITIONISM EAST TO HARPERS FERRY, VIRGINIA, WHERE HE TRIED TO START A SLAVE REBELLION.

[GUNSHOTS] 10 PEOPLE WERE KILLED.

BROWN WAS CAPTURED, TRIED, AND SENTENCED TO HANG.

AS HE WAS LED TO THE GALLOWS, HE HANDED A GUARD A SLIP OF PAPER.

"I AM NOW QUITE CERTAIN," IT READ, "THAT THE CRIMES OF THIS GUILTY LAND WILL NEVER BE PURGED AWAY BUT BY BLOOD."

THE WHOLE COUNTRY WAS NOW BEGINNING TO EXPERIENCE THE FEAR THAT HAD GRIPPED KANSAS FOR SO LONG.

IN 1860, THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, ABRAHAM LINCOLN, WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT, PLEDGED TO HALT SLAVERY'S FURTHER SPREAD IN THE WEST.

[CANNONS AND GUNS FIRING] ONE BY ONE, SOUTHERN SLAVE STATES LEFT THE UNION, AND ON APRIL 12, 1861, REBEL GUNS FIRED ON FORT SUMTER.

THE CIVIL WAR THAT HAD ALREADY BEGUN IN THE WEST NOW EXPLODED IN THE EAST.

[MAN] JULY 15, 1861.

WASHDAY IN CAMP.

WE WENT TO DEMPSEY'S RANCH AFTER TWO COWS AND BORROWED A SMALL FRAGMENT OF A NEWSPAPER THAT TOLMAN AND JACKSON BROUGHT FROM FORT OWEN ON THE BITTERROOT.

BAD NEWS FROM THE STATES.

THE NORTH AND SOUTH ARE FIGHTING.

[NARRATOR] IN COLORADO, REGIMENTS OF UNION VOLUNTEERS WERE RECRUITED TO PROTECT THE RICH MINING DISTRICTS FROM THE CONFEDERATES.

ONE OF THE FIRST TO STEP FORWARD WAS A BIG, BEARISH METHODIST MINISTER NAMED JOHN M. CHIVINGTON.

HE WAS 6 1/2 FEET TALL, WEIGHED 250 POUNDS, AND SOMETIMES DELIVERED SERMONS WITH A REVOLVER RESTING ON THE PULPIT.

CHIVINGTON, ONE ACQUAINTANCE IN DENVER SAID, IS "A CRAZY PREACHER WHO THINKS HE IS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE."

OFFERED A CHAPLAIN'S COMMISSION, CHIVINGTON REFUSED.

HE WANTED TO FIGHT FOR THE UNION, HE SAID, NOT JUST PRAY FOR IT.

MEANWHILE, IN JANUARY OF 1862, A CONFIDENT REBEL ARMY OF 3,500 SOLDIERS HAD MARCHED WEST OUT OF TEXAS INTO NEW MEXICO, WHERE IT DEFEATED UNION FORCES AT VALVERDE, SEIZED ALBUQUERQUE, PLUNDERED SANTA FE, AND MOVED NORTH TOWARD COLORADO.

THEIR PLAN WAS TO CAPTURE DENVER AND THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN GOLD FIELDS, THEN SWEEP ALL THE WAY WEST TO TAKE CALIFORNIA AND ITS MOTHER LODE OF MINERAL WEALTH.

THEIR MOTTO WAS "ON TO SAN FRANCISCO," BUT THEY HADN'T COUNTED ON CHIVINGTON.

[MAN] HERE'S THIS ARMY OF TEXANS THINKING THEY CAN LIVE OFF THE LAND, AND THEY MOVE THROUGH NEW MEXICO TERRITORY WINNING THEIR BATTLES, AND THEY GET UP THERE TO NORTHERN NEW MEXICO, AND THEY HAVE NO IDEA THAT THERE'S ANOTHER ARMY COMING AT THEM.

[NARRATOR] CHIVINGTON WAS NOW A MAJOR WITH THE FIRST COLORADO VOLUNTEERS-- HARD-DRINKING MINERS EAGER FOR A FIGHT.

THEY HAD MARCHED 40 MILES A DAY THROUGH ICE AND SNOW AND FREEZING WINDS TO STOP THE TEXANS.

THEY MET IN A PLACE CALLED APACHE CANYON.

CHIVINGTON SENT SOME OF HIS MEN SCURRYING UP THE CANYON SIDES.

"THEY WERE UP ON THE WALLS ON BOTH SIDES OF US," ONE CONFEDERATE REMEMBERED, "SHOOTING US DOWN LIKE SHEEP."

THEN CHIVINGTON HIMSELF LED THE CHARGE.

[MAN] MAJOR CHIVINGTON, WITH A PISTOL IN EACH HAND, CHAWED HIS LIPS WITH ONLY LESS ENERGY THAN HE GAVE HIS ORDERS.

OF COMMANDING PRESENCE, DRESSED IN FULL REGIMENTALS, HE WAS A CONSPICUOUS MARK FOR THE TEXAN SHARPSHOOTERS.

BUT AS IF POSSESSED OF A CHARMED LIFE, HE GALLOPED UNHURT THROUGH THE STORM OF BULLETS.

OVANDO J. HOLLISTER.

[NARRATOR] THE REBELS FELL BACK.

THE TWO ARMIES MET TWO DAYS LATER AT GLORIETA PASS, AND FOR FIVE BLOODY HOURS, THEY SLAMMED AWAY AT EACH OTHER AMIDST THE BOULDERS.

BUT WHILE THE BATTLE RAGED ON, CHIVINGTON AND SOME OF HIS MEN SLIPPED 16 MILES BEHIND THE CONFEDERATE LINES TO A CLIFF THAT OVERLOOKED THE TEXANS' SUPPLY WAGONS.

THERE, THEY LOWERED THEMSELVES BY ROPES, DROVE OFF THE GUARDS, BURNED 85 WAGONS FILLED WITH PROVISIONS, AND BAYONETED 500 HORSES AND MULES.

THE CONFEDERATES, WHO HAD SEEMED SO CLOSE TO VICTORY, NOW FACED STARVATION AND THIRST AS WELL AS A HOSTILE ENEMY.

[JOSEPHY] AND THEY HAD TO TURN AROUND AND RETREAT, GET OUT OF THERE, AND THEY PANICKED.

THERE THEY WERE, HUNDREDS OF MILES FROM THEIR BASE IN SAN ANTONIO IN TEXAS, NOTHING BUT DESERTS AND MOUNTAINS BETWEEN THEM AND THEIR HOMES.

[NARRATOR] COLUMNS GOT LOST.

BOOTS WORE OUT.

MEN HAD TO STAGGER THROUGH SEARING SAND IN BARE FEET.

SOLDIERS ABANDONED THEIR WEAPONS, COLLAPSED FROM EXHAUSTION, DEHYDRATION, SUNSTROKE.

3,500 MEN HAD MARCHED OUT OF TEXAS TO CONQUER THE SOUTHWEST.

1,500 OF THEM NEVER RETURNED.

THE DREAM OF A CONFEDERATE WEST WAS DEAD.

GLORIETA PASS WOULD BECOME KNOWN AS "THE GETTYSBURG OF THE WEST."

AND JOHN CHIVINGTON, "THE FIGHTING PARSON," WAS A UNION HERO.

[LOVEJOY] BALDWIN CITY, KANSAS, OCTOBER 8, 1862.

OUR CAMP MEETING IN THIS PLACE WAS A GLORIOUS SUCCESS.

REVEREND CHIVINGTON, WHO WITH HIS COMMAND HAS ACCOMPLISHED SUCH WONDERS OF LATE IN NEW MEXICO, WAS PRESENT AND PREACHED FROM THE STAND IN HIS REGIMENTALS.

HIS PERSUASIVE ELOQUENCE AND CLEAR, RINGING, STENTORIAN VOICE SWAYED THE MULTITUDE LIKE A WESTERN TORNADO AS IT BENDS ITS MASSIVE OAKS.

THE WORK OF GOD IS STILL GOING ON.

JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[DUNCAN] THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REALLY DIDN'T HAVE MUCH OF A GRASP AND CONTROL OF THE WEST BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR, BUT ONCE THE WAR STARTED, THEY WERE CONCENTRATING ON ALL THOSE BATTLES IN THE EAST, AND WHATEVER CONTROL THEY HAD, THEY LOST IT ENTIRELY.

[MAN] THE CIVIL WAR DOES CREATE MORE OF A VACUUM IN THE WEST, AND THE RESULT IS THERE'S GOING TO BE FAR MORE VIOLENCE.

IT'S GOING TO BE FAR HARDER TO MEDIATE THINGS.

THINGS ARE GOING TO BE MUCH MORE OUT OF CONTROL IN THE 1860s THAN THEY EVER WOULD HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE.

[NARRATOR] BY THE SUMMER OF 1863, THE NORTH SEEMED TO BE WINNING THE CIVIL WAR.

ROBERT E. LEE'S ADVANCE INTO PENNSYLVANIA HAD BEEN STOPPED AT GETTYSBURG, AND ULYSSES S. GRANT HAD SPLIT THE CONFEDERACY IN TWO BY TAKING THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TOWN OF VICKSBURG.

YET FOR ALL THE FIGHTING BACK EAST, THERE HAD BEEN FEW CIVILIAN CASUALTIES.

IN THE WEST, IT WAS A VERY DIFFERENT WAR.

[LOVEJOY] GUERRILLA PARTIES ARE MAKING DREADFUL SLAUGHTER UPON THE UNION MEN IN MISSOURI AND STEALING AND DESTROYING THEIR PROPERTY.

THE ENTIRE ROUTE ACROSS THE STATE BEARS THE MARKS OF THE RAVAGES OF WAR.

ANARCHY REIGNS IN MISSOURI.

JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[NARRATOR] IN KANSAS AND MISSOURI, BOTH SIDES WAGED RELENTLESS GUERRILLA WARFARE ON INNOCENT CIVILIANS AS WELL AS RIVAL ARMIES.

UNION FORCES WERE LED BY JAMES H. LANE, A CADAVEROUS FORMER SENATOR FROM KANSAS, WHO WANTED TO SEE PRO-SLAVERY MISSOURIANS "CAST INTO A BURNING HELL."

HE DID HIS BEST TO DO JUST THAT, HAUNTING THE TRAIL OF REBEL ARMIES, RAVAGING THE HOMES OF ANYONE WHO DARED HELP THEM, THEN SACKING AND BURNING WHOLE TOWNS.

CONFEDERATE GUERRILLAS RESPONDED IN KIND.

THEIR MOST CELEBRATED LEADER WAS A FORMER SCHOOLTEACHER FROM OHIO WITH LIMITLESS ENTHUSIASM FOR LOOTING AND KILLING NAMED WILLIAM QUANTRILL.

UNION FARMERS, HE WARNED, SHOULD NOT BOTHER TO PLANT CROPS-- THEY WOULD NOT LIVE TO HARVEST THEM.

AND HE SWORE HE WOULD BURN JIM LANE AT THE STAKE.

AND OF COURSE, IF YOU'RE A GUERRILLA FIGHTER AND YOU FIGHT UNDER THE FLAG OF THE CONFEDERACY, THEY IMPART TO YOU LEGITIMACY.

FROM THE UNION POINT OF VIEW, THESE WERE SHEER CRIMINALS.

[NARRATOR] ONE OF QUANTRILL'S RAIDERS WAS AN ACCUSED HORSE THIEF KNOWN AS "BLOODY BILL" ANDERSON.

HE WORE A NECKLACE OF YANKEE SCALPS INTO BATTLE, LAUGHED AS UNARMED PRISONERS WERE GUNNED DOWN, THEN ORDERED HIS MEN TO MUTILATE THEIR CORPSES.

"I WILL KILL YOU," HE WROTE TO THE READERS OF ONE ANTI-SLAVERY NEWSPAPER.

"I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN LIKE WOLVES AND MURDER YOU."

ON THE MORNING OF AUGUST 21, 1863, QUANTRILL, ANDERSON, AND 450 MEN RODE TOWARDS THE ANTI-SLAVERY STRONGHOLD OF LAWRENCE, KANSAS-- HOME OF JIM LANE.

WITH HER HUSBAND SERVING IN THE UNION ARMY, JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY AND HER CHILDREN NOW LIVED IN A LITTLE HOUSE JUST OUTSIDE OF TOWN.

[GUNSHOT] [LOVEJOY] AT AN EARLY HOUR FRIDAY MORNING, I RUSHED OUT, AND I COULD THEN SEE EVERY HOUSE THIS SIDE OF LAWRENCE WITH A VOLUME OF DENSE SMOKE ARISING FROM THEM AS THEY ADVANCED, FIRING EVERY HOUSE IN THEIR MARCH OF DEATH.

[NARRATOR] THE RAIDERS SURROUNDED A DOWNTOWN HOTEL.

A GUEST HUNG A WHITE SHEET FROM THE WINDOW AND ASKED QUANTRILL WHAT HE WANTED.

"PLUNDER!"

HE ANSWERED.

THE GUESTS WERE ORDERED OUT AND ROBBED.

THE HOTEL WAS SET AFIRE.

QUANTRILL, WAVING TWO OF THE SIX PISTOLS HE CARRIED, ROSE IN HIS STIRRUPS AND SHOUTED, "KILL!

KILL!

LAWRENCE MUST BE CLEANSED, AND THE ONLY WAY TO CLEANSE IT IS TO KILL!"

THEN, WHILE QUANTRILL DEMANDED THAT THE TERRIFIED STAFF OF ANOTHER HOTEL COOK HIM A BIG BREAKFAST, ANDERSON AND HIS MEN BEGAN TO CARRY OUT QUANTRILL'S ORDERS.

[GUNSHOTS] [LOVEJOY] ALL THE BUSINESS HOUSES, BANKS, STORES IN THE CITY WERE ROBBED AND BURNED, SAVE ONE, AND MOST OF THE BUSINESSMEN KILLED.

MRS. REED PUT OUT THE FIRE SIX TIMES TO SAVE HER HOUSE, AND THEY WOULD FIRE IT ANEW, BUT SHE, BY ALMOST SUPERHUMAN EXERTION, SAVED IT.

ONE LADY THREW HER ARMS AROUND HER HUSBAND AND BEGGED OF THEM TO SPARE HIS LIFE.

THEY RESTED THE PISTOL ON HER ARM, AS IT WAS AROUND HIS BODY, AND SHOT HIM DEAD, AND THE FIRE FROM THE PISTOL BURNT THE SLEEVE OF HER DRESS.

[NARRATOR] 183 MEN AND BOYS WERE KILLED.

FEWER THAN 20 HAD BEEN SOLDIERS.

AND 185 HOMES WERE BURNED BEFORE QUANTRILL AND HIS MEN RODE OUT OF LAWRENCE, LEAVING BEHIND 80 WIDOWS, 250 FATHERLESS CHILDREN.

JIM LANE, THE PRINCIPAL TARGET OF THE RAID, HAD MANAGED TO ESCAPE THROUGH A CORNFIELD IN HIS NIGHTSHIRT.

[LOVEJOY] THE FIRES WERE STILL GLOWING IN THE CELLARS.

HERE AND THERE AMONG THE EMBERS COULD BE SEEN THE BONES OF THOSE WHO HAD PERISHED.

THE SICKENING ODOR OF BURNED FLESH WAS OPPRESSIVE.

[NARRATOR] TO AVENGE THE LAWRENCE MASSACRE, FEDERAL TROOPS FORCED FROM THEIR HOMES EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD LIVING IN THREE MISSOURI BORDER COUNTIES AND HALF OF A FOURTH.

THEY DROVE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ONTO THE OPEN PRAIRIE, WHILE UNION GUERRILLAS FOLLOWED IN THEIR WAKE, BURNING AND LOOTING THE EMPTY HOUSES THEY LEFT BEHIND, RAIDING THE REFUGEE COLUMNS, STEALING EVEN WEDDING RINGS.

[THUNDER] [LOVEJOY] THE VERY AIR SEEMS CHARGED WITH BLOOD AND DEATH.

PANDEMONIUM ITSELF SEEMS TO HAVE BROKEN LOOSE, AND DEATH RUNS RIOT OVER THE COUNTRY.

[NARRATOR] DURING THE COURSE OF THE CIVIL WAR, NO CIVILIANS WOULD SUFFER MORE THAN THE PEOPLE OF KANSAS AND MISSOURI.

[MAN] WE JUMPED INTO THE STAGE.

THE DRIVER CRACKED HIS WHIP, AND WE BOWLED AWAY AND LEFT THE STATES BEHIND US.

THERE WAS A FRESHNESS AND BREEZINESS AND AN EXHILARATING SENSE OF EMANCIPATION THAT ALMOST MADE US FEEL THAT THE YEARS WE HAD SPENT IN THE CLOSE, HOT CITY TOILING AND SLAVING HAD BEEN WASTED AND THROWN AWAY.

SAM CLEMENS.

[NARRATOR] BACK IN THE SPRING OF 1861, 24-YEAR-OLD SAM CLEMENS AND HIS ELDER BROTHER LEFT MISSOURI FOR THE NEWLY CREATED NEVADA TERRITORY.

TWO WEEKS IN THE CONFEDERATE MILITIA HAD CONVINCED SAM THAT HE WAS NOT CUT OUT FOR COMBAT.

LIKE THOUSANDS OF OTHER YOUNG MEN, NORTH AND SOUTH, HE PREFERRED TO GO WEST RATHER THAN TO WAR... AND SO HE SKEDADDLED.

[CLEMENS] HAM AND EGGS AND SCENERY, A DOWNGRADE, A FLYING COACH, A FRAGRANT PIPE, AND A CONTENTED HEART-- IT IS WHAT ALL THE AGES HAVE STRUGGLED FOR.

[NARRATOR] THEY MADE 8 TO 10 MILES AN HOUR THROUGH AN UNBROKEN SEA OF GRASS.

A PONY EXPRESS RIDER GALLOPED PAST.

COYOTES HOWLED.

THEY SAW BUFFALO, ENCOUNTERED THEIR FIRST INDIANS, TALKED WITH A REAL-LIFE OUTLAW.

SAM CLEMENS LOVED IT ALL.

IT TOOK THEM 20 DAYS TO REACH CARSON CITY, THE SMALL TOWN THAT WAS THE CAPITAL OF NEVADA TERRITORY.

[CLEMENS] DEAR MOTHER, OUR CITY LIES IN THE MIDST OF A DESERT OF THE PUREST, MOST UNADULTERATED AND UNCOMPROMISING SAND, IN WHICH INFERNAL SOIL NOTHING BUT THE FAG END OF VEGETABLE CREATION--SAGEBRUSH-- IS MEAN ENOUGH TO GROW.

NEVADA TERRITORY IS FABULOUSLY RICH IN GOLD, SILVER, LEAD, COAL, IRON, QUICKSILVER, THIEVES, MURDERERS, DESPERADOES, LAWYERS, CHRISTIANS, INDIANS, CHINAMEN, SPANIARDS, GAMBLERS, SHARPERS, COYOTES, POETS, PREACHERS, AND JACKASS RABBITS.

[NARRATOR] STILL, THERE WAS LITTLE TO DO IN CARSON CITY, SO CLEMENS SET OUT ON HIS OWN.

[CLEMENS] BY AND BY, I WAS SMITTEN WITH SILVER FEVER.

PROSPECTING PARTIES WERE LEAVING FOR THE MOUNTAINS EVERY DAY.

PLAINLY, THIS WAS THE ROAD TO FORTUNE.

[NARRATOR] HE SPENT SIX MONTHS WITH THREE PARTNERS IN A 10-BY-12-FOOT CABIN-- PANNING, DIGGING, DRINKING, GOING MORE AND MORE HEAVILY INTO DEBT.

[CLEMENS] WE WERE STARK MAD WITH EXCITEMENT, DRUNK WITH HAPPINESS, SMOTHERED UNDER MOUNTAINS OF PROSPECTIVE WEALTH, ARROGANTLY COMPASSIONATE TOWARD THE PLODDING MILLIONS WHO KNEW NOT OUR MARVELOUS CANYON, BUT OUR CREDIT WAS NOT GOOD AT THE GROCER'S.

[NARRATOR] CLEMENS WOULD LATER BOAST THAT HE BECAME A MULTIMILLIONAIRE FOR JUST 10 DAYS, UNTIL 14 ARMED MEN JUMPED HIS CLAIM.

NEXT, HE TRIED HIS LUCK IN VIRGINIA CITY, NEVADA.

IT WAS A TINY MINING TOWN THAT HAD GROWN TO A FULL-FLEDGED INDUSTRIAL CITY IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS.

15,000 PEOPLE LIVED THERE.

THEY HAD PUT IN GASLIGHTS, BUILT STOCK EXCHANGES, THREE THEATERS, FOUR CHURCHES, AND 42 SALOONS.

AND THERE WAS A NEWSPAPER-- THE TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE.

SAM CLEMENS TALKED HIMSELF INTO A JOB AS A REPORTER.

[GUNSHOTS] [CLEMENS] DEAR MOTHER, I HAVE JUST HEARD FIVE PISTOL SHOTS DOWN THE STREET.

AS SUCH THINGS ARE IN MY LINE, I WILL GO AND SEE ABOUT IT.

P.S.

THE PISTOL DID ITS WORK WELL.

ONE MAN, A JACKSON COUNTY MISSOURIAN, SHOT TWO OF MY FRIENDS-- POLICE OFFICERS-- THROUGH THE HEART.

BOTH DIED WITHIN THREE MINUTES.

MURDERER'S NAME IS JOHN CAMPBELL.

[NARRATOR] SOON HE WAS COVERING EVERYTHING FROM INDIAN ATTACKS TO THEATRICAL PERFORMANCES, ALWAYS IN HIS OWN DISTINCTIVE STYLE.

"I HAVE HAD A CALL TO LITERATURE OF A LOW ORDER-- i.e., HUMOROUS," HE TOLD HIS MOTHER.

"IT IS NOTHING TO BE PROUD OF, BUT IT IS MY STRONGEST SUIT."

IN THE WEST, WHILE SITTING OUT THE WAR, SAM CLEMENS HAD FOUND A NEW CALLING, AND HE BEGAN TO SIGN HIS ARTICLES WITH A NEW NAME-- MARK TWAIN.

[TWAIN] IT IS BY THE GOODNESS OF GOD THAT IN OUR COUNTRY WE HAVE THOSE THREE UNSPEAKABLY PRECIOUS THINGS-- FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE, AND THE PRUDENCE NEVER TO PRACTICE EITHER OF THEM.

[MAN] LISTEN TO ME CAREFULLY, AND TRUTHFULLY FOLLOW UP MY INSTRUCTIONS.

YOU CHIEFS ARE PEACEMAKERS.

THOUGH YOUR SON MIGHT BE KILLED IN FRONT OF YOUR TEEPEE, YOU SHOULD TAKE A PEACE PIPE AND SMOKE.

THEN YOU WOULD BE AN HONEST CHIEF.

SWEET MEDICINE.

[WOMAN] A PEACE CHIEF ASSUMED THE ROLE OF A FATHER TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE TRIBE.

HE WAS SELECTED BECAUSE OF HIS GOODNESS, HIS GENEROSITY, HIS BRAVERY, HIS COURAGE, HIS CONCERN FOR THE WELL-BEING OF OTHERS.

AND HE NEVER ACQUIRED WEALTH FOR HIMSELF.

HE ACQUIRED WEALTH TO GIVE TO THOSE LESS FORTUNATE.

SO THAT YOU GOT A FATHER, A SPIRITUAL LEADER, A TRUE SERVANT OF THE PEOPLE, A PERSON THAT HAD TO LIVE A MORALLY UPRIGHT LIFE IN EVERY RESPECT.

[NARRATOR] ONE OF THE MOST RESPECTED PEACE CHIEFS OF THE SOUTHERN CHEYENNE WAS BLACK KETTLE.

AS A YOUNG MAN, HE HAD PROVED HIMSELF AS A WARRIOR.

NOW HE HAD COME TO BELIEVE THAT MAINTAINING PEACE WITH THE WHITES WAS THE BEST WAY FOR HIS PEOPLE TO SURVIVE.

IN 1861, BLACK KETTLE AND OTHER PEACE CHIEFS HAD SIGNED A TREATY AND AGREED TO MOVE ONTO A SMALL RESERVATION ALONG SAND CREEK, SOUTHEAST OF DENVER.

BUT THE RESERVATION WAS EMPTY OF GAME.

WHITES TRESPASSED ON IT.

SOME CHEYENNE WERE REDUCED TO BEGGING SETTLERS FOR FOOD.

[HORSE NEIGHS] [PEOPLE CHANTING IN NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGE] SOON, EVEN BLACK KETTLE LEFT FOR THE OLD HUNTING GROUNDS.

AND YOUNG CHEYENNE WARRIORS BEGAN ATTACKING STAGECOACHES AND DESTROYING OUTLYING RANCHES.

[MAN] THE YOUNG MEN'S EXUBERANCE SOMETIMES WOULD GET OUT OF HAND.

SOME OF THE OLD CHIEFS SIMPLY COULDN'T CONTROL THEM.

YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WHITE SOLDIERS AND BEFORE THE RESERVATION DAYS, BOYS HAD A WAY TO BECOME MEN.

AND THE WAY BOYS BECAME MEN WAS THROUGH PROVING THEMSELVES IN HUNT OR PROVING THEMSELVES IN BATTLE.

AND SO WHEN THINGS BEGAN TO CHANGE AND SOME OF THE OLD CHIEFS BEGAN TO GO THE PEACEFUL WAY AND SAY, "WE CAN'T KEEP ON WITH THIS.

"WE'VE GOT TO FIND A PEACEFUL WAY OF RESOLVING DIFFERENCES," AND SO ON, SOMETIMES THE YOUNG MEN FELT LEFT OUT.

THEY FELT THAT THEY WERE BEING DENIED MANHOOD.

[MAN] THE DENVER COMMONWEALTH, JUNE 15, 1864.

THE BODIES WERE BROUGHT TO TOWN THIS MORNING.

IT WAS A MOST SOLEMN SIGHT INDEED TO SEE THE MUTILATED CORPSES STRETCHED IN THE STIFFNESS OF DEATH UPON THAT WAGON-BED.

THE GENERAL REMARK OF THE HUNDREDS OF SPECTATORS WAS THAT THOSE THAT PERPETRATE SUCH UNNATURAL, BRUTAL BUTCHERY AS THIS OUGHT TO BE HUNTED TO THE FARTHEST BOUNDS OF THESE BROAD PLAINS AND BURNED AT THE STAKE ALIVE.

[NARRATOR] THE GOVERNOR OF COLORADO TERRITORY ASKED WASHINGTON FOR TROOPS, BUT WITH THE CIVIL WAR STILL RAGING, THERE WERE NONE TO SPARE.

HE THEN CALLED FOR CIVILIAN VOLUNTEERS, AND HUNDREDS SIGNED UP.

IN COMMAND ONCE AGAIN WOULD BE THE FIGHTING PARSON-- JOHN CHIVINGTON, THE HERO OF GLORIETA PASS.

NOW A COLONEL, HE BURNED WITH POLITICAL AMBITION AND SAW A WINNING ISSUE IN RIDDING HIS REGION OF ITS INDIANS.

MEANWHILE, AN OLD TRADER NAMED WILLIAM BENT DESPERATELY TRIED TO MAKE PEACE.

HE HAD BEEN LIVING AMONG THE CHEYENNE FOR NEARLY FOUR DECADES.

FOUR OF HIS CHILDREN HAD CHEYENNE MOTHERS.

HE TOLD CHIVINGTON THAT THE CHIEFS WANTED TO BE FRIENDLY.

CHIVINGTON REPLIED THAT HE WAS NOT AUTHORIZED TO MAKE PEACE.

IN SEPTEMBER OF 1864, BLACK KETTLE AND SIX OTHER CHEYENNE CHIEFS CAME TO FORT WELD NEAR DENVER TO TALK.

AS EVIDENCE OF THEIR GOOD FAITH, THEY BROUGHT WITH THEM FOUR WHITE CAPTIVES THEY HAD RANSOMED FROM OTHER BANDS.

[MAN] WE HAVE BEEN TRAVELING THROUGH A CLOUD.

THE SKY HAS BEEN DARK EVER SINCE THE WAR BEGAN.

WE WANT TO TAKE GOOD TIDINGS HOME TO OUR PEOPLE, THAT THEY MAY SLEEP IN PEACE.

I WANT ALL THE CHIEFS OF THE SOLDIERS HERE TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE FOR PEACE AND THAT WE HAVE MADE PEACE, THAT WE MAY NOT BE MISTAKEN FOR ENEMIES.

BLACK KETTLE.

[NARRATOR] WHEN BLACK KETTLE AGREED TO RETURN TO SAND CREEK ON THE RESERVATION, REGULAR ARMY OFFICERS LED HIM TO BELIEVE HIS PEOPLE WOULD BE SAFE.

BUT CHIVINGTON WAS NOT AN OFFICER IN THE REGULAR ARMY.

HIS NEW COMMAND, THE THIRD COLORADO VOLUNTEERS, HAD YET TO FIGHT A MAJOR BATTLE.

SCORNFUL DENVER NEWSPAPERS WERE CALLING THEM "THE BLOODLESS THIRD," AND THEIR ENLISTMENTS WERE ABOUT TO RUN OUT.

ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, CHIVINGTON WAS DETERMINED TO HAVE HIS WAR.

AT DAWN ON NOVEMBER 29, 1864, HE AND 700 MEN REACHED THE EDGE OF BLACK KETTLE'S CAMP ON THE BANKS OF SAND CREEK.

MANY OF THEM WERE DRUNK FROM THE WHISKEY THEY HAD SWALLOWED TO WARM THEM DURING AN ICY, ALL-NIGHT RIDE.

ONE OF WILLIAM BENT'S SONS, ROBERT, WAS RIDING WITH CHIVINGTON, COMMANDEERED AT GUNPOINT TO SHOW THE WAY TO THE CHEYENNE CAMP.

BENT'S OTHER CHILDREN-- CHARLES, JULIA, AND GEORGE-- WERE ALL INSIDE THE CAMP.

SOME REGULAR ARMY OFFICERS PROTESTED THAT TO ATTACK THE PEACEABLE VILLAGE WOULD BETRAY THE ARMY'S PLEDGE OF SAFETY.

CHIVINGTON IGNORED THEM.

"DAMN ANY MAN WHO SYMPATHIZES WITH INDIANS," HE SAID.

"KILL AND SCALP ALL, BIG AND LITTLE.

NITS MAKE LICE."

HE ORDERED THE ATTACK.

[MAN] FROM DOWN THE CREEK, A LARGE BODY OF TROOPS WAS ADVANCING AT A RAPID TROT.

IN THE CAMPS, ALL WAS CONFUSION AND NOISE-- MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN RUSHING OUT OF THE LODGES PARTLY DRESSED, WOMEN AND CHILDREN SCREAMING AT THE SIGHT OF THE TROOPS, MEN RUNNING BACK INTO THE LODGES FOR THEIR ARMS.

BLACK KETTLE HAD A LARGE AMERICAN FLAG TIED TO THE END OF A LONG LODGEPOLE AND KEPT CALLING OUT NOT TO BE FRIGHTENED, THAT THE CAMP WAS UNDER PROTECTION AND THERE WAS NO DANGER.

THEN, SUDDENLY, THE TROOPS OPENED FIRE ON THIS MASS OF MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN, AND ALL BEGAN TO SCATTER AND RUN.

WHITE ANTELOPE, WHEN HE SAW THE SOLDIERS SHOOTING INTO THE LODGES, MADE UP HIS MIND NOT TO LIVE ANY LONGER.

HE STOOD IN FRONT OF HIS LODGE WITH HIS ARMS FOLDED ACROSS HIS BREAST SINGING THE DEATH-SONG.

"NOTHING LIVES LONG," HE SANG, "ONLY THE EARTH AND THE MOUNTAINS."

GEORGE BENT.

[MAN] I NEVER SAW MORE BRAVERY DISPLAYED BY ANY SET OF PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH THAN BY THESE INDIANS.

THEY WOULD CHARGE ON THE WHOLE COMPANY SINGLY, DETERMINED TO KILL SOMEONE BEFORE BEING KILLED THEMSELVES.

WE, OF COURSE, TOOK NO PRISONERS.

[DIFFERENT MAN] AFTER THE FIRING, THE WARRIORS PUT THE SQUAWS AND CHILDREN TOGETHER AND SURROUNDED THEM TO PROTECT THEM.

I SAW FIVE SQUAWS UNDER A BANK FOR SHELTER.

WHEN THE TROOPS CAME UP TO THEM, THEY RAN OUT AND SHOWED THEIR PERSONS TO LET THE SOLDIERS KNOW THEY WERE SQUAWS AND BEGGED FOR MERCY, BUT THE SOLDIERS SHOT THEM ALL.

[GUNSHOTS] ROBERT BENT.

[HENRIETTA MANN] MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS IN THE BAND OF BLACK KETTLE WHEN THEY WERE ATTACKED.

THERE WAS ONE LITTLE CHILD THAT WAS WALKING UP THE CREEK BED, AND THERE WAS A SOLDIER THERE THAT WAS USING THE LITTLE BOY AS TARGET PRACTICE.

HE TOOK ONE SHOT, AIMED, MISSED HIM.

A SECOND CAME ALONG, TRIED, AND MISSED HIM, AND A THIRD SAID, "LET ME KILL THE LITTLE DEVIL."

AND THE LITTLE BOY DROPPED DEAD.

YOU HAD PREGNANT WOMEN WHOSE BODIES WERE BEING CUT OPEN AND THE FETUSES BEING TAKEN FROM THEM.

THE PRIVATE BODY PARTS OF MEN AND WOMEN WERE CUT FROM THEM, AND SOME OF THEM USED AS SADDLE HORNS, HATBANDS, TOBACCO POUCHES, UH...AND PUT ON PUBLIC DISPLAY IN DENVER CITY.

UH...AND IN SUCH A WAY THAT YOU WOULD BEGIN TO ASK, "WHO IS THE SAVAGE IN THIS CASE?"

IT CERTAINLY WAS NOT THE CHEYENNE.

[NARRATOR] WHEN THE KILLING STOPPED, NEARLY 200 CHEYENNE-- MOST OF THEM WOMEN AND CHILDREN-- LAY DEAD AT SAND CREEK.

BLACK KETTLE WAS AMONG THOSE WHO HAD MANAGED TO GET AWAY.

REGULAR ARMY OFFICERS WERE APPALLED BY WHAT CHIVINGTON'S VOLUNTEERS HAD DONE.

GENERAL GRANT HIMSELF PRIVATELY DECLARED THE MASSACRE NOTHING LESS THAN MURDER.

THE CONGRESS AND THE ARMY LAUNCHED SEPARATE INVESTIGATIONS.

[MAN] THE COMMITTEE ON THE CONDUCT OF THE WAR-- AS TO COLONEL CHIVINGTON, YOUR COMMITTEE CAN HARDLY FIND FITTING TERMS TO DESCRIBE HIS CONDUCT.

WEARING THE UNIFORM OF THE UNITED STATES, WHICH SHOULD BE THE EMBLEM OF JUSTICE AND HUMANITY, HE DELIBERATELY PLANNED AND EXECUTED A FOUL AND DASTARDLY MASSACRE WHICH WOULD HAVE DISGRACED THE VERIEST SAVAGE AMONG THOSE WHO WERE THE VICTIMS OF HIS CRUELTY.

[NARRATOR] BUT BY THE TIME THE TRIBUNALS REACHED THEIR VERDICT, CHIVINGTON WAS A CIVILIAN AGAIN AND BEYOND THE REACH OF MILITARY JUSTICE.

IN THE END, NO ONE WAS EVER PUNISHED, NOR DID CHIVINGTON EVER ADMIT HE HAD DONE ANYTHING WRONG.

SPEAKING BEFORE A REUNION OF COLORADO PIONEERS NEARLY 20 YEARS LATER, HE DECLARED, "I STAND BY SAND CREEK."

[BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL] ONE TIME I WENT TO THE SAND CREEK SITE YEARS AGO TO PUT A SIGN UP TO COMMEMORATE WHERE THAT MASSACRE HAPPENED... AND I WAS ALONE THERE.

IT WAS ABOUT 6:00 IN THE MORNING JUST AS THE SUN WAS COMING UP, AND IT WAS VERY, VERY QUIET, AND I SWEAR I HEARD BABIES CRYING.

AND IT WAS SUCH A STRONG EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR ME, I LEFT THERE.

BUT I'VE TALKED TO SEVERAL OF MY COUSINS WHO HAVE ALSO GONE THERE EARLY IN THE MORNING.

THEY SAY THE SAME THING.

[NARRATOR] ALL OF WILLIAM BENT'S CHILDREN HAD SURVIVED THE MASSACRE.

ROBERT, WHO HAD BEEN FORCED TO SHOW CHIVINGTON THE WAY TO BLACK KETTLE'S VILLAGE, TESTIFIED AGAINST HIM.

CHARLES JOINED THE DOG SOLDIERS, A SOCIETY MADE UP OF THE CHEYENNES' MOST FEARED WARRIORS, AND WENT ON A RAMPAGE OF TORTURE AND KILLING.

ALL WHITES, HE NOW BELIEVED, WERE HIS ENEMY.

HE EVEN TRIED TO KILL HIS OWN FATHER.

[MANN] AFTER THE MASSACRE, THERE WERE MANY CHEYENNES THAT WANTED TO TAKE REVENGE AND JOIN THE LAKOTA AND CONDUCT RAIDS ALONG THE PLATTE.

BLACK KETTLE INSTEAD CHOSE TO TAKE HIS BAND SOUTH INTO SAFER TERRITORY.

[BLACK KETTLE] ALTHOUGH WRONGS HAVE BEEN DONE ME, I LIVE IN HOPES.

I HAVE NOT GOT TWO HEARTS.

I ONCE THOUGHT THAT I WAS THE ONLY MAN THAT PERSEVERED TO BE THE FRIEND OF THE WHITE MAN, BUT SINCE THEY HAVE COME AND CLEANED OUT OUR LODGES, HORSES, AND EVERYTHING ELSE, IT IS HARD FOR ME TO BELIEVE WHITE MEN ANYMORE.

BLACK KETTLE.

[MAN] AMERICA HAS NO NORTH, NO SOUTH, NO EAST, NO WEST.

THE SUN RISES OVER THE HILLS AND SETS OVER THE MOUNTAINS.

THE COMPASS JUST POINTS UP AND DOWN, AND WE CAN LAUGH NOW AT THE ABSURD NOTION OF THERE BEING A NORTH AND A SOUTH.

WE ARE ONE AND UNDIVIDED.

SAM WATKINS.

[NARRATOR] ON APRIL 9, 1865, FOUR BLOODY YEARS OF CIVIL WAR FINALLY ENDED WHEN ROBERT E. LEE SURRENDERED HIS ARMY AT APPOMATTOX COURTHOUSE IN VIRGINIA.

[LOVEJOY] BALDWIN CITY, THE STATE OF KANSAS.

MR. EDITOR--TOWNS ARE STARTING UP AS BY MAGIC ALL ALONG THE VALLEY, AND THE SOUND OF THE HAMMER IS HEARD ON EVERY HAND.

I WISH TO SAY TO OUR FRIENDS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, ONE AND ALL, WE HAVE NEVER REGRETTED COMING TO KANSAS.

WE HAVE NEVER WAVERED, NEVER FLINCHED, NOT EVEN WHEN 3 TIMES IN 24 HOURS WE WERE COMPELLED TO FLEE FROM OUR HOUSE.

I TELL YOU ALL, THOUGH WE HAVE FELT THE HORRORS OF WAR, IF WE WERE NOT IN KANSAS ALREADY, WE WOULD COME AS SOON AS STEAM COULD BRING US.

YOURS RESPECTFULLY, JULIA LOUISA LOVEJOY.

[NARRATOR] THE NEWLY REUNITED NATION NOW TURNED ITS ATTENTION TO THE WEST AS NEVER BEFORE.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF SETTLERS-- MANY OF THEM WAR VETERANS-- RUSHED WEST TO START NEW LIVES.

[MAN] AT THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR, MOST OF THE TROOPS WERE MUSTERED OUT-- NEARLY A MILLION STRONG, VIGOROUS MEN WHO HAD IMBIBED THE SOMEWHAT ERRATIC HABITS OF THE SOLDIER.

THEY NATURALLY LOOKED FOR NEW HOMES TO THE GREAT WEST.

THESE MEN FLOCKED TO THE PLAINS AND WERE STIMULATED BY THE DANGER OF AN INDIAN WAR.

WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN.

[NARRATOR] IN THE WINTER OF 1866, TROOPS OF THE 18th INFANTRY-- THE REGULAR ARMY UNIT THAT HAD SUFFERED MORE CASUALTIES THAN ANY OTHER IN THE CIVIL WAR-- OCCUPIED A BRAND-NEW POST IN DAKOTA TERRITORY CALLED FORT PHIL KEARNY.

BUT A LAKOTA LEADER NAMED RED CLOUD AND OTHER WARRIORS WERE DETERMINED TO DRIVE THE SOLDIERS AWAY.

[MAN] WHOSE VOICE WAS FIRST SOUNDED ON THIS LAND?

THE VOICE OF THE RED PEOPLE, WHO HAD BUT BOWS AND ARROWS.

WHEN THE WHITE MAN COMES IN MY COUNTRY, HE LEAVES A TRAIL OF BLOOD BEHIND HIM.

I HAVE TWO MOUNTAINS IN THAT COUNTRY.

I WANT THE GREAT FATHER TO MAKE NO ROADS THROUGH THEM.

RED CLOUD.

[NARRATOR] FOUR DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS, THE LAKOTA AND THEIR ALLIES ATTACKED A WAGON TRAIN BRINGING FIREWOOD BACK TO THE POST.

MANY INSIDE THE FORT FEARED FOR THEIR LIVES, BUT A 33-YEAR-OLD LIEUTENANT NAMED WILLIAM J. FETTERMAN SAW HIS CHANCE.

HE ASKED TO LEAD A RESCUE MISSION.

"GIVE ME 80 GOOD MEN," HE BOASTED, "AND I CAN RIDE THROUGH THE WHOLE SIOUX NATION."

[MAN] FETTERMAN WENT OUT WITH 80 MEN, AND THERE'S A RIDGE JUST NEAR.

YOU CAN SEE THE TOP.

YOU CAN SEE IT THERE FROM THE FORT, AND HIS COMMANDING OFFICER CARRINGTON GAVE HIM ORDERS NOT TO GO BEYOND THAT RIDGE.

WHAT HAPPENED WAS THAT THE INDIANS UNDER RED CLOUD HAD AMASSED 2,000 SOLDIERS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIDGE.

THEY WERE ALL HIDDEN IN GULLIES AND RAVINES-- THE SIOUX, THE ARAPAHO, AND THE CHEYENNE-- AND FROM THESE THREE GROUPS, TWO MEN WERE CHOSEN FROM EACH TO BE DECOYS.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS BUT A VERY HONORABLE THING.

SO THE DECOYS RODE UP ON THE RIDGE IN SIGHT OF THE FORT.

[NARRATOR] THE INDIANS BEGAN TAUNTING FETTERMAN FROM HORSEBACK, EVEN GETTING OFF THEIR PONIES AND ADJUSTING THEIR BRIDLES DESPITE THE ARMY BULLETS BUZZING ALL AROUND THEM.

WHEN THEY RACED OVER THE RIDGE, FETTERMAN HURRIED IN PURSUIT... AND DISAPPEARED.

[WOMAN] A FEW SHOTS WERE HEARD, FOLLOWED UP BY INCREASING RAPIDITY.

A DESPERATE FIGHT WAS GOING ON IN THE VALLEY BELOW THE RIDGE, IN THE VERY PLACE WHERE THE COMMAND WAS FORBIDDEN TO GO.

THEN FOLLOWED A FEW QUICK VOLLEYS, THEN SCATTERING SHOTS, AND THEN, DEAD SILENCE.

LESS THAN HALF AN HOUR HAD PASSED, AND THE SILENCE WAS DREADFUL.

MRS. FRANCES GRUMMOND.

[NARRATOR] A NERVOUS SEARCH PARTY FOUND FETTERMAN AND HIS COMMAND LATE THAT AFTERNOON.

THEY WERE ALL DEAD.

[MAN] WE PACKED THEM ON TOP OF THE AMMUNITION BOXES IN THE WAGONS.

COULD NOT TELL CAVALRY FROM THE INFANTRY.

ALL DEAD BODIES STRIPPED NAKED, CRUSHED SKULLS WITH WAR CLUBS, EARS, NOSE, AND LEGS HAD BEEN CUT OFF, SCALPS TORN AWAY AND THE BODIES PIERCED WITH BULLETS AND ARROWS, WRISTS, FEET, AND ANKLES, LEAVING EACH ATTACHED BY A TENDON.

WE WALKED ON THEIR INTERNALS AND DID NOT KNOW IT IN THE HIGH GRASS...

PICKED THEM UP-- THAT IS, THEIR INTERNALS-- DID NOT KNOW THE SOLDIER THEY BELONGED TO.

SO, YOU SEE, THE CAVALRY MAN GOT AN INFANTRY MAN'S GUTS, AND AN INFANTRY MAN GOT A CAVALRY MAN'S GUTS.

PRIVATE JOHN GUTHRIE.

[MOMADAY] THERE WAS A BUGLER WHOSE NAME WAS ADOLF METZGER, AND HE WAS PINNED DOWN, AND HE EXPENDED ALL OF HIS AMMUNITION, AND THEN HE TOOK HIS BUGLE AND STARTED FIGHTING WITH IT FIERCELY.

AND HIS BODY WAS THE ONLY ONE THAT WAS NOT DEFILED THERE.

AND INDEED, THE INDIANS PLACED A BUFFALO CLOAK OVER IT BECAUSE HE FOUGHT WITH SUCH BRAVERY, AND THEY PAID HIM HOMAGE FOR THAT.

[GRUMMOND] THE LADIES CLUSTERED IN MRS. WAND'S CABIN AS NIGHT DREW ON, ALL SPEECHLESS FROM ABSOLUTE STAGNATION AND TERROR.

THEN THE CRUNCHING OF WAGON WHEELS STARTLED US TO OUR FEET.

THE GATES OPENED.

WAGONS WERE SLOWLY DRIVEN WITHIN, BEARING THEIR DEAD BUT PRECIOUS HARVEST FROM THE FIELD OF BLOOD AND CARRYING THE LIFELESS BODIES TO THE HOSPITAL WITH THE HEARTRENDING NEWS, ALMOST TENDERLY WHISPERED BY THE SOLDIERS THEMSELVES, THAT NO MORE WERE TO COME IN.

[MAN] DEAR GENERAL SHERMAN, IN TAKING THE OFFENSIVE, I HAVE TO SELECT THAT SEASON WHEN I CAN CATCH THE FIENDS, AND IF A VILLAGE IS ATTACKED AND WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILLED, THE RESPONSIBILITY IS NOT WITH THE SOLDIERS, BUT WITH THE PEOPLE WHOSE CRIMES NECESSITATED THE ATTACK.

GENERAL PHILIP SHERIDAN.

[SHERMAN] DEAR GENERAL SHERIDAN, I WILL BACK YOU WITH MY WHOLE AUTHORITY.

I WILL SAY NOTHING AND DO NOTHING TO RESTRAIN OUR TROOPS FROM DOING WHAT THEY DEEM PROPER ON THE SPOT AND WILL ALLOW NO MERE VAGUE GENERAL CHARGES OF CRUELTY AND INHUMANITY TO TIE THEIR HANDS, BUT WILL USE ALL THE POWERS CONFIDED TO ME TO THE END THAT THESE INDIANS, THE ENEMIES OF OUR RACE AND OF OUR CIVILIZATION, SHALL NOT AGAIN BE ABLE TO BEGIN AND CARRY OUT THEIR BARBAROUS WARFARE.

GENERAL WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN.

[NARRATOR] FOR THREE YEARS, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WAVERED BETWEEN A POLICY OF NEGOTIATION OR WAR WITH THE INDIANS OF THE PLAINS.

BUT IN 1868, THE PROBLEM WAS TURNED OVER TO TWO OF THE MEN WHOSE MILITARY STRATEGY HAD BROUGHT THE SOUTH TO ITS KNEES.

DURING THE CIVIL WAR, PHILIP SHERIDAN HAD SO THOROUGHLY STRIPPED THE BOUNTIFUL SHENANDOAH VALLEY, HE LIKED TO CLAIM THAT A CROW WISHING TO FLY OVER THE VALLEY HAD TO CARRY ITS OWN RATIONS.

AND WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN HAD CUT A SWATH FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA, LEAVING THE BLACKENED CHIMNEYS OF HUNDREDS OF HOMES AS TESTIMONY TO THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HIS METHODS.

TOGETHER, THEY WOULD TRY TO DO TO THE INDIANS WHAT THEY HAD DONE TO THE SOUTH, AND THEY WOULD START WITH THE CHEYENNE ON THE SOUTHERN PLAINS.

THE CAMPAIGN THEY DEVISED WOULD BE WAGED IN THE WINTER, WHEN THE INDIANS WERE MOST VULNERABLE.

IT CALLED FOR THREE SEPARATE COLUMNS TO FORCE THE CHEYENNE BACK ONTO THEIR RESERVATION.

THE SOLDIER MEANT TO DO THE REAL FIGHTING WAS SHERIDAN'S FAVORITE OFFICER, ONE OF THE UNION'S MOST CELEBRATED GENERALS-- GEORGE ARMSTRONG CUSTER, WHO HAD BUILT HIS REPUTATION LEADING DARING CAVALRY CHARGES AGAINST THE CONFEDERATES.

CUSTER LEAPED AT THE CHANCE.

[MAN] NOVEMBER 23, 1868.

REVEILLE AT 3:00.

SNOWED ALL NIGHT, AND STILL SNOWING VERY HEAVILY.

DAYLIGHT FOUND US ON THE MARCH.

ALL LANDMARKS WERE INVISIBLE.

THEN GENERAL CUSTER, WITH COMPASS IN HAND, TOOK THE LEAD AND BECAME OUR GUIDE.

SECOND LIEUTENANT EDWARD S. GODFREY, SEVENTH CAVALRY.

[NARRATOR] CUSTER DROVE HIS MEN RELENTLESSLY UNTIL ONE NIGHT, HIS INDIAN SCOUTS REPORTED THEY HAD FOUND A CHEYENNE VILLAGE OF SOME 50 LODGES.

HE ORDERED HIS MEN TO PREPARE FOR A DAWN ATTACK, THOUGH HE DIDN'T KNOW HOW MANY INDIANS WERE THERE OR WHOSE VILLAGE IT WAS.

AS IT HAPPENED, IT WAS BLACK KETTLE'S.

HE AND HIS BAND WERE NOW ENCAMPED ALONG THE BANKS OF THE OUASHITA RIVER IN WHAT IS NOW OKLAHOMA.

A WHITE FLAG FLEW ABOVE HIS TEEPEE.

[BLACK KETTLE] I HAVE ALWAYS DONE MY BEST TO KEEP MY YOUNG MEN QUIET, BUT SOME WILL NOT LISTEN, AND SINCE THE FIGHTING BEGAN, I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO KEEP THEM ALL AT HOME.

BUT WE WANT PEACE, AND I WOULD BE GLAD TO MOVE ALL MY PEOPLE DOWN THIS WAY.

I COULD THEN KEEP THEM ALL QUIETLY NEAR CAMP.

BLACK KETTLE.

[NARRATOR] SOME OF HIS YOUNG MEN HAD SLIPPED AWAY TO STEAL LIVESTOCK AND RAID SETTLERS.

THERE WERE FOUR WHITE CAPTIVES BEING HELD IN THE VILLAGE.

IT WAS THE PONY TRACKS OF ONE OF THE WAR PARTIES THAT HAD LED CUSTER'S SCOUTS TO THE EDGE OF THE CAMP.

NOVEMBER 27, 1868, DAWNED-- TWO DAYS SHORT OF THE FOURTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE SLAUGHTER AT SAND CREEK.

[MANN] MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER WAS AMONG ABOUT 400 INDIVIDUALS THAT FOLLOWED BLACK KETTLE AND WERE CAMPED ALONG THE OUASHITA WHEN THE SOLDIERS CAME IN FROM THE FOUR DIRECTIONS... TO THE TUNE OF THE MILITARY BAND PLAYING GARRY OWEN ON SUCH A BITTERLY COLD MORNING THAT THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE MEN FROZE TO THEIR LIPS AS THEY WENT ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER.

[NARRATOR] CUSTER AND MORE THAN 600 SOLDIERS CHARGED THROUGH BLACK KETTLE'S CAMP.

[WOMAN] IT WAS EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN THE SOLDIERS BEGAN THE SHOOTING.

[GUNSHOTS] ALL OF US JUMPED FROM OUR BEDS, AND ALL OF US STARTED RUNNING TO GET AWAY.

I WAS BAREFOOTED, AS WERE ALMOST ALL OF THE OTHERS.

KATE BIGHEAD.

[NARRATOR] THE KILLING WENT ON FOR HALF AN HOUR.

THE SURVIVORS HID IN THE TALL GRASS.

[MANN] MY GREAT-GRANDMOTHER ESCAPED AGAIN, FORTUNATELY, BUT BLACK KETTLE AND HIS WIFE DID NOT.

HE BROUGHT HIS PONY UP ALONGSIDE OF HER AND TOLD HER TO GET BEHIND HIM.

SHE CLIMBED UP BEHIND HIM, AND AS THEY STARTED TO RIDE ACROSS THE OUASHITA, WERE KILLED.

HE DIED FIGHTING FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED IN, AND THAT WAS PEACE.

[NARRATOR] IN THE SPRING, THE LAST CHEYENNE HOLDOUTS FROM THE RELENTLESS WINTER CAMPAIGN BEGAN TO SURRENDER.

ONE BAND WAS LED BY A CHIEF NAMED ROCK FOREHEAD.

CUSTER DECIDED TO TRY TO TALK HIM INTO GIVING UP RATHER THAN RISK AN ATTACK.

HE ENTERED THE VILLAGE WITH ONLY AN INTERPRETER AND WAS TAKEN TO THE CHIEF'S TEEPEE.

THERE, SEATED UNDER THE SACRED ARROWS, THE CHEYENNES' MOST HONORED AND POWERFUL MEDICINE, THE INDIANS PASSED ALONG A CEREMONIAL PIPE FOR CUSTER TO SMOKE.

HE TOLD THEM IF THEY RETURNED TO THE RESERVATION, NO ONE WOULD BE HARMED, AND PEACE WOULD BE RESTORED.

EVENTUALLY, ROCK FOREHEAD WOULD AGREE TO GIVE UP.

BUT ON THAT DAY, HE WAS NOT CONVINCED THAT CUSTER WAS TRUSTWORTHY, AND HE TAPPED OUT THE PIPE'S ASHES ON THE GENERAL'S BOOTS TO BRING CUSTER BAD LUCK AND TO DRIVE HOME A WARNING.

[BIGHEAD] THEY TOLD HIM THEN THAT IF EVER AFTERWARD HE SHOULD BREAK THAT PEACE PROMISE AND SHOULD FIGHT THE CHEYENNES, THE EVERYWHERE SPIRIT SURELY WOULD CAUSE HIM TO BE KILLED.