Hell On Wheels 01 01

Do you not pine for your own homeland, Mr.
Bohannon? No.
And why is that? It's gone.
# Bright and fair # And rich in its treasures # Muldoon # # Won't you come back soon # Love you # So, tell me, Bohannon, did you see the elephant during the war? Yes, I saw my share of action, yeah.
Where? Yeah.
I don't like to talk about it.
I loved the war.
I loved the war! The best thing that ever happened to me.
I thought you said you were against it? Oh, yeah, I was.
But that doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy myself once pressed into service.
Hey! Oh, hey, I'm skint.
No, this one's on me.
Well, thank you.
Most men shrink when they see the elephant up close.
Oh, yeah? - But I blossomed.
- Mmm-hmm.
Thank you.
Though I I must admit that there were certain lines that I crossed, lines of morality that I didn't think myself capable of crossing.
But that's what men do in war.
Moral men don't.
So, you did nothing that you were ashamed of? I did plenty I was ashamed of.
You ever been to Meridian, Mississippi, Mr.
Johnson? That is my Remington pointed at your gut.
So, let's take a walk out back.
I know about the two men you killed in Maryland.
I read in the paper about Prescott getting killed in that church by a Griswold.
But I'll be damned if you didn't show up a few days later with a Griswold strapped to your hip, as plain as day.
And then you ask me about Meridian? That cinched it.
I am not proud of what happened to your wife, Bohannon.
It didn't happen to her.
You did it to her.
Yes.
Yes, we did it to her.
I did it to her.
Your wife was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I want you to know, it wasn't my idea to kill her.
She hung herself.
No, she didn't.
The sergeant strangled her and strung her up.
Sergeant? What sergeant? Oh, he's out here, too.
I figured you were saving him for last.
Oh, you didn't know about him? You tell me who he is.
Well, it hardly matters now.
No! Tell me his name.
Tell me his name.
Is it a villain you want? I'll play the part.
After all, what is a drama without a villain? What is the building of this grand road if not a drama? This business is not for the weak of heart.
It is a thorny, brutal affair that rewards the lion for his ferocity.
What of the zebra? What of the poor zebra? Well, the zebra is eaten as the zebra should be.
Make no mistake.
Blood will be spilled.
Lives will be lost.
Fortunes will be made.
Men will be ruined.
There will be betrayal and scandal.
And perfidy of epic proportions.
But the lion shall prevail.
You see, the secret I know is this.
All of history is driven by the lion.
We drag the poor zebra, kicking and braying, staining the earth with his cheap blood.
History doesn't remember us fondly, but then history is written by the zebra for the zebra.
One hundred years hence, when this railroad spans the continent and America rises to be the greatest power the world has seen, I will be remembered as a caitiff, malefactor, who only operated out of greed for personal gain.
All true.
All true.
But remember this, without me, and men like me, your glorious railroad would never have been built.

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