Hell on Wheels

[repeated line]

Cullen Bohannan:
Dammit, Elam!

Town Sign:
Hell on Wheels. Population: One less every day.

Lily Bell:
It's not your manners, Mr. Bohannan, it's your manner.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Mr. Gundersen, have you ever had your heart ripped out by a woman?

The Swede:
I was married once, sir, but she run off with a gypsy. Uh, my heart was not ripped out, but, she did steal my cuckoo clock.

Eva:
No one's ever gutted a man for me before.

Mr. Toole:
[toasting] To Mr. Bohannan. He may be a son of a b*tch, but he's *our* son of a b*tch.

Sean McGinnes:
I came to America to build a life in this world, not the next.

Ruth Cole:
[about her father] He wanted to be a Christian. But in the end, what he really wanted was to be a martyr.

Louise Ellison:
I can assure you, Mr. Bohannan, I'm neither a lady, nor a whore.

Eva:
[answering the door] The man of the house is out.

Declan:
The man of the house is dead.

Cullen Bohannan:
[toasting] To the truth...

Louise Ellison:
And consequences.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
You amused?

The Swede:
No sir. I'm just looking forward to watching, yet again, as you smite the forces again' you.

Cullen Bohannan:
You ain't whore nor squaw; you shouldn't be out here.

Lily Bell:
You don't know who I am, or what I'm capable of.

Cullen Bohannan:
No, I don't. And I sure as hell don't care.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Your look of disdain reminds me of my dear wife back in New York.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[as Henri silently mops up] What Hannah failed to grasp was that, where most men seek the warm glow that only whiskey can provide, *I* imbibe to fuel the conflagration. There's a fire in my belly, which must be fed. Otherwise, we'll never see the Pacific.

Henri:
And did your wife accept this excuse, Mr. Durant.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
As a matter of fact, she didn't.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Sourpuss? Well, lookee here. They said they found a bear killer out on the prairie, but it looks to me like they got themselves a railroad man a long way from home.

Elam Ferguson:
Marked up white woman mine.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Mr. Lincoln may have outlawed slavery in the South, but these Comanche ain't never heard his proclamation. That white woman is White Feather's. She's worth more than either of us has on us.

Elam Ferguson:
She worth three blankets and a horse, that's what she say.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
She's worth twice that, and a box of rocks.

Cullen Bohannan:
[buying new clothes] The black man chooses, and the white man pays. It's the new reckoning of the world, Mr. Collier.

Charles Collier:
[about his old clothes] Oh, Mr. Bohannan...

Cullen Bohannan:
Burn it. But shoot it first.

Eva:
We don't get that bullet out, he gonna die!

Cullen Bohannan:
I need some coffee grounds.

Sydney Snow:
I need a doctor, not some pencil dick.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Listen to me, you little piss-ant, I am your only hope of surviving past sundown.So my advice is: Don't - piss - me - off.

Cullen Bohannan:
You arrest the church lady for shooting Sidney Snow, that might be your last act as provisional anything.

John Campbell:
McGinnes, control your man!

Mickey McGinnes:
Johnny! I said stop, let go of him.

Dandy Johnny Shea:
I heard ya, Mick! Thing is, I love ya, but I don't work for ya.

John Campbell:
A madman.

Dandy Johnny Shea:
That's what they called my father.

Cullen Bohannan:
Congratulations, you ain't dead.

Sydney Snow:
All this to see me hang?

Cullen Bohannan:
Nope. First you gonna save the church lady.

Sydney Snow:
One good act ain't gonna wash away all the bad I've done. What becomes of men like us, Bohannon? Where do you suppose we end up?

Cullen Bohannan:
Nowheres good.

Sydney Snow:
I saw this Union boy once, crawl a half-mile. Nothing from the waist down. He couldn't have been more than 17. It's a hell of a sight to see. A man with no legs, pulling himself along. I chased him 'til he couldn't go no more and I pinned him with my foot. Said, "What's your hurry, boy?" He started looking through his jacket right about then, for a photograph. See, he wanted to see his momma one last time before he died. I remember he dug all through that coat. He looked real hard. Kept begging me to help him find it. I said, "Well, hell, boy. That picture's probably in your pants pocket." I had a good laugh.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
I'm sorry, Ruth.

Ruth:
It wasn't your fault. Or God's will.

Cullen Bohannan:
I'll figure a way out.

Ruth:
I'm fine, Mr. Bohannon. The only thing more satisfying than shooting Mr. Snow, was the moment you told me he was dead.

Cullen Bohannan:
Mr. Toole, if I gave a sh*t about what you thought, I'd give you a bottle and ask!

[first lines]

Oakes Ames:
Sir, can you hear me? We're trying to establish the connection between the corruption of this railroad, and its near total decimation. [no answer]

Oakes Ames:
Sir, we're just trying to understand what happened here.

Cullen Bohannan:
The White Spirit.

Sean McGinnes:
I - want - you.

Ruth:
Are you talking about marriage?

Sean McGinnes:
Yes, of course.

Ruth:
You're Catholic, Sean. I'm a Congregationalist Minister. I can't marry a Papist.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
You are an interesting anomaly, Mr. Bohannan. A gunslinger and an oyster brat.

Cullen Bohannan:
[scoffs] Yeah, I wouldn't go that far in either direction.

Lily Bell:
You're here to kill me...

Elam Ferguson:
Mr. Durant promised me my land, and my house down by the river.

Lily Bell:
My life is worth only a few acres of river bottom.

Elam Ferguson:
It's a nice spot.

Lily Bell:
I have borne every privation for this railroad. I lost my husband, killed another human being, suffered humiliation at the hands of your wife, I've even endured your bed.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
That, Lily, makes you a whore.

Lily Bell:
Know then that when your precious railroad is ripped from your thick and grasping fingers, that you've been undone by a whore.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
What am I going to do!

The Swede:
Your suffering, that is good. Suffering builds character.

Oakes Ames:
How is it you decided to defend the bridge, and not the town?

Cullen Bohannan:
I learned in the war to protect strategic assets.

Oakes Ames:
The town?

Cullen Bohannan:
The town ain't nothin' but wood and canvas - replaceable.

Oakes Ames:
And its inhabitants?

Cullen Bohannan:
Replaceable.

The Swede:
In your own myopic single-mindedness, [chuckling] I was surprised that you made it so easy to take her from you. Thank you. It was inexplicably pleasurable.

Cullen Bohannan:
Not as much as it'll be to see you swing, you evil son of a b*tch.

The Swede:
Regrettably not, Mr. Bohannan. For you and I are now consummated. Are we not?

[last lines]

Oakes Ames:
Mr. Bohannan, it's going to take some time to sort this all out. Meanwhile, the President of the United States has ordered the construction of the railroad to continue. Would you entertain in assuming Mr. Durant's role in leading us westward. Mr. Bohannan, will you finish this road?

[first lines]

Chief Many Horses:
It is good to make this sacrifice where the sun can look down and see you. It is a great privilege to dance with the sun. The sacrifice will be hard, but you are strong and brave. You will not give up, as I did not give up when my father brought me to this place. Follow the sun all day and pray. If you are strong and true, your sacrifice will be rewarded, and you will have a vision.

Elam Ferguson:
[getting ready for boxing match] You don't understand, this is something I have to do.

Eva:
Why, 'cause you're half white, or 'cause you're half black?

[last lines]

Chief Many Horses:
You've done it, my son. Your sacrifice is over.

Bull Skull:
Father, I was blessed. I had a vision. I seen a great steal beast. His breathe was smoke. It shook the ground. I killed it.

[first lines]

Louise Ellison:
[in her newspaper article] To build the Transcontinental Railroad, Thomas 'Doc' Durant once said, "A man must face his demons and destroy them, or become undone by them." The Hell on Wheels of 1868 is no place for bashful men, the deluded, or unassured. No place for sloppy men, drunk and disorderly in their heavenly vestments, on their way to an early grave. The railroad has contained the West these last three years, with its iron horse and rails pinned to the ground. Each passing day brings with it civilization, if not civility. And men in suits, who do now with their pens what earlier rougher men did with their guns.

Louise Ellison:
Cullen Bohannan, late of the Union Pacific, is more gunman than suit. His return to Cheyenne, these days referred to as the Magic City of the Plains, after months lost to the prairie and presumed dead, with a Mormon wife and child in tow, might be just the grease we need to turn the wheels of our national obsession. Buried these long winter months in snow, and now up to his wheel wells in mud. Or, might he be the match-strike of self-emolation, for Mr. Bohannan has always worn his integrity like a millstone around his neck.

Psalms:
Never thought I'd see the day where I'd be the boss of the boss.

Cullen Bohannan:
Don't get used to it Psalms.

Eva:
[with a knife to her throat] I don't want my money back, I swear. I just want to know how you cheated me.

Gambler:
You cheated yourself, woman, by sitting down at a table with the likes of me. Now you are either desperate, greedy, or stupid.

Eva:
I'm desperate. And stupid. And I need to know how you did it.

Gambler:
That's dangerous knowledge for someone who doesn't know how to use it.

Eva:
I know how to use it.

Eva:
I've considered you a friend, Mr. Bohannan. I expect that might mean something to you, since you ain't had many.

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, one fewer now.

Cullen Bohannan:
Everything I put my had to - all the death and destruction and was put to me - all that is for naught if I don't finish this road.

Louise Ellison:
I'm interested in your story, Mr. Bohannan. My readers will be, as well.

Cullen Bohannan:
[chuckles] Ain't a story, Miss Ellison, just a life. It's mine to live. Nobody's to read about.

Cullen Bohannan:
You know, ain't none of this is your fault, son.

Ezra Dutson:
You traded yourself for me.

Cullen Bohannan:
Come on, you would have done the same.

Ezra Dutson:
Anyways, thank you.

Cullen Bohannan:
You're welcome.

[last lines]

Louise Ellison:
[in her newspaper article] The defrocked Chief Engineer's return to Cheyenne means another actor has entered the play, already half finished. With the bombastic dreamer, his legacy depending on completing this road. And the carpetbagging bureaucrat, tasked with bringing civilization to a land that, just yesterday, boasted wild and free. Cullen Bohannon, for reasons this reporter has yet to divine, seems determined to see this road through. Whether he does it as laborer or boss, alive or dead, only time will tell, dear reader. Only time will tell.

Declan:
This place has beaten me down, Eva. I can't drink the whiskey, or the water.

Dutch:
I'd rather die on the move, than stuck in Hell on Wheels.

Psalms:
How come you never give that baby no name?

Elam Ferguson:
Seem like every time I name something, somebody take it away from me.

Mickey McGinnes:
You're probably not the first person to squeeze a bit of lead into a U.S. senator.

Cullen Bohannan:
[holding up a deck of cards] You know what we call this out here? Railroad Bible.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I cannot allow them to continue to terrorize my railroad.

Cullen Bohannan:
You want revenge?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I want justice.

Cullen Bohannan:
Different words for the same thing.

Griggs:
Would ya just look at that. A ninja, a n*gger, and a greyback. We got ourselves a rainbow, boys.

Cullen Bohannan:
[Durant has just rescued Cullen from execution by firing squad] What the hell you doin' here anyway?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[Durant produces a piece of paper] This... is a warrant for your execution.

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah? No sh*t.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
And this... [he produces another piece of paper]... is a pardon. Signed by my friend Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.

Cullen Bohannan:
Playin' God comes natural to you, don't it?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[chuckling] Well, yes. But, like any benevolent God... I'm here to help you.

Cullen Bohannan:
I'm supposed to believe you don't want nothin' outta this?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
On the contrary. My motives are purely selfish. But that is not to say that you can't benefit as well. You have a lot of unfinished business on this earth, Mr. Bohannon. What will it be? Life... [he holds up the pardon]... or death? [he holds up the execution warrant and gives Cullen a meaningful look]

Lt. Weston:
Now, Mr. Bohannan. You are guilty of armed robbery and sedition. A capital offense. I may be able to get that commuted to life, if you give me the names of your cohorts.

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah. I might just fly my ass outta here if I sprouted me some wings. [his head is dunked back into the tank]

Doc Whitehead:
I'll pray for you, son.

Cullen Bohannan:
If you going to pray, pray for me to die well, Doc. That's all I got left.

Lily Bell:
You will not profit off other people's misery.

Sean McGinnes:
Bloody good that, coming from an English woman.

Lily Bell:
I beg your pardon.

Sean McGinnes:
Ah, you people built an empire of misery on the backs of the Irish and the everyone else, haven't you?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[holding gun on Bohannan] I can't help wondering if I haven't made a grave mistake.

Cullen Bohannan:
I'm beginning to come around to the same conclusion.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I think you should thank me.

Cullen Bohannan:
Tell you what, I'll say "your welcome."

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I could always make you.

Cullen Bohannan:
I don't think so.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[pushes the gun in his face] You don't know a thing about me.

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, I know... I know you're the type of man who likes to do his dirty work from a distance. Not up close like this. [grabs the gun and puts him in a head lock]

Cullen Bohannan:
Who's the executioner now? Why don't you ask for a stay, huh?

Cullen Bohannan:
What's to keep me from lighting out of here first chance I get, huh?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
For a man like you, his word is stronger than any set of shackles.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[after being stitched up] There are some men who need killing. You and I both know that, Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
Eh, I've drunk from that cup. It don't quench.

[first lines]

Psalms:
[at his door] You need to get on from this place.

Cullen Bohannan:
Good morning to you, too.

Psalms:
I been prayin' the blood of Jesus on you, missus, and the baby. But I ain't strong enough for what's comin' next.

Cullen Bohannan:
You look like you seen a ghost.

Elam Ferguson:
[encountering Ezra at the stream] Frog legs jump out of the skillet when you fry 'em up, don't they, boy?

Elam Ferguson:
Who do you belong to?

Eva:
We used to belong to each other.

Elam Ferguson:
Can't no slave own no slave.

John Campbell:
Laws exist to protect us, not only from others, but from ourselves.

[first lines]

Louise Ellison:
I see why they call this place Hell on Wheels. Rough men, loose women, whiskey, sin, and guns.

Cullen Bohannan:
Ain't a church social, ma'am.

Louise Ellison:
How many men do you have?

Cullen Bohannan:
Near 3,000. Work 6 days a week, sunup, sundown. $1.50 a day. Them's good wages.

Louise Ellison:
How many miles do you make a day?

Cullen Bohannan:
Two now, weather and Indians permittin'. Rust eaters lay the rails. Walking boss makes sure the gauge is right. Spiker teams secure the rails to the ground. Fish-plates tie them together. Three swings of the hammer per spike, 10 spikes per rail, 400 rails to a mile, 1,500 miles to Sacramento.

Louise Ellison:
Do you really believe you can win the race against the Central Pacific to build this road?

Cullen Bohannan:
Wouldn't be here otherwise.

Louise Ellison:
You think you can do it without Thomas Durant's political connections? Without his money, his ego to drive it on?

Cullen Bohannan:
Well here I stand, and here he don't.

Aaron Hatch:
It is by Heavenly Father's decree that we're here. And it shall be by His will, not yours, that we leave.

Cullen Bohannan:
Even God can't stop the rail, Mr. Hatch.

Cullen Bohannan:
[about Durant's schemes] Sh*t! I should have killed that son of a b*tch when I had the chance!

Louise Ellison:
[walking up from behind] May I quote you on that, Mr. Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
God's been slack with the grace of late.

Ruth:
Then show them yours.

Margaret Palmer:
So, you're borrowing money you don't have, from a company you don't work for, to buy property you can't afford, to build a city that doesn't exist.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
"Spear-heading" as it were. A new way of doing business in America.

Dick Barlow:
How's that coffee?

Elam Ferguson:
It's better the second day.

Dick Barlow:
It's a sock.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
[twirling his gun cylinder] The United States Cavalry was not built for waiting.

Elam Ferguson:
We ain't come here to kill women and children.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
The disorganized brain is lacking in moral principles. You aware of that, Bohannan?

Cullen Bohannan:
Not something I ponder nights.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
Moral principles are the first line of defense against criminal behavior.

Cullen Bohannan:
Learn somethin' new every day.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
Without moral principles, these Mormons will inevitable turn to violence to solve their problems, just like the heathens.

The Swede:
They're planning his escape, now you do your duty.

Aaron Hatch:
My duty's to God.

The Swede:
God speaks through me!

Cullen Bohannan:
In a couple days I'll be free of this place.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
Or dead, I think.

Cullen Bohannan:
Could be likely both.

John Campbell:
Quite a place you've built here.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Yes, well, one day this will be the largest rail hub in the nation.

John Campbell:
I have no doubt - with our help.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Well, in that case I hope you've brought bags of money with you.

John Campbell:
We've bring something even more valuable. Governmental oversight.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Yes, hmm. Why don't we discuss that over lunch...

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
First order of business, I intend to build a Court Hose, State House, Jail House, and a Treasury.

John Campbell:
Ah, the four horsemen of civilization: a lawyer, a politician, a policeman, and a collector.

Aaron Hatch:
We voted that you stay.

Cullen Bohannan:
I voted that I leave. I won.

Cullen Bohannan:
[suddenly hugs the Swede] Bless me father, for I have sinned. Only you knew my heart. From the moment you saw me you knew me. I bear the mark of Cane. Please, forgive me. I'm a sinner, a killer of men, en-slaver of the sons of Ham. I have defied not only God, but you as well. Please, I beg you forgive me.

Ruth:
[to Ezra] Do you make trouble because you think Mr. Bohannan will come back a save you? Or do you make trouble because you miss him, and don't know what to do about it?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[seeing hung man] This is not how mete out justice in Cheyenne.

John Campbell:
It is now.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[secretly reading posted letter]

John Campbell:
Dear General Grant, upon arrival to Cheyenne we were able to effect immediately gains in curbing the rampant notorious violence of the place. Mind you there is still much to be done, but our campaign of passification has begun. Sadly, I have found Thomas Durant more enamored with being leader of the railway than actually leading it. This could be my own interpretation of the situation, but I think not. Ultimately the railroad will be one of many jewels in the crown of your Administration. However, without sounding overzealous, I recommend strong action here, by which I promise to bring both unruly institutions to heel: Cheyenne and Thomas C. Durant. With your continued support, I am confident that greatness lies before us in the West. Respectfully yours, John Campbell.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[angrily crumples the letter and tosses it into the fire]

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
Where is Elam?

Psalms:
Elam gone.

Cullen Bohannan:
Gone? Where to?

Psalms:
Just disappeared. Took off to find you. Horse come back. No Elam. We reckon he dead, too... Well, I better be goin'...

Naomi Bohannon:
Who's Elam?

Cullen Bohannan:
He's, um...

Cullen Bohannan:
[gathers winnings into Elam's hat]

Elam Ferguson:
[drunk, suddenly throws up right into the hat] Where my money at?

Cullen Bohannan:
Put your hat on, you might find it.

Elam Ferguson:
[tries to put it on]

Cullen Bohannan:
Uh, uh, uh. [takes the hat away]

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[standing next to Elam in a gunfight] What's that smell?

Elam Ferguson:
I'm drunk.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Christ!

Cullen Bohannan:
Yep.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Not everything bad that happens to you is my fault, Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
Mostly it is.

Elam Ferguson:
[to Bohannan] Drunk or sober, you a better shot than me.

[first lines]

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
We are on the verge of taking that mountain, thanks to you and your steam shovel. You can't quit now. I-I-I-I won't allow it!

Cullen Bohannan:
Railroad's *your* dream.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Cullen, what happened to Ruth... you gave her every chance to walk away from her deed.

Cullen Bohannan:
No, it ain't about what I gave her.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
She threw her life away on an empty ideal. Is that what you want?

Cullen Bohannan:
I'm going home, doc.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Home? *This* is your home.

Collis Huntington:
Well, I am curious. What brings you to this mecca of polygamist pretension?

Cullen Bohannan:
Searching for my wife and my boy.

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
You'll be taken into custody and shot.

Dandy Johnny Shea:
On what charges and by whom?

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
Conspiracy and attempted assassination of a government official.

Dandy Johnny Shea:
[long rude belch]

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
And by me.

Dandy Johnny Shea:
Like hell.

Soldier:
[shouts an order and a dozen guns are trained on them]

John Campbell:
Good news. There's a train leaving tomorrow morning. You'd best be on it.

SLC Records Clerk:
Sir, you're not allowed in here.

Cullen Bohannan:
Sh*t, son, I ain't allowed anywheres.

Collis Huntington:
If you work for me, all of my resources will be at your disposal. Your family's out there, we'll find 'em. How's that sound?

Cullen Bohannan:
Sounds like I'd be back to working on the railroad. I've dug that ditch. [picks up his hat to leave]

Collis Huntington:
There's a difference between digging a ditch and owning it, sir.

[last lines]

Collis Huntington:
Come with me! I want to show you a telegram. Durant is on the down-slope of Sherman Peak. Now with you in camp, maybe this is the moment when the zebra turns tables on the lion. What say you, Mr. Bohannon?

Cullen Bohannan:
I say blood will be spilled.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Mrs. Palmer, I believe this to be the finest staircase in the Dakota territory.

Margaret Palmer:
I believe this to be the only staircase in the Dakota territory, Mr. Durant.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
You look like a queen.

Margaret Palmer:
And you look like an old tick-fevered hound.

Cullen Bohannan:
[to Gundersen] You can only kill me once. That ain't gonna be good enough for you, is it? You'd rather see me suffer and die little-by-little each day.

Cullen Bohannan:
I'm still liable to kill you. Know that.

The Swede:
Don't you think it possible for a man to change? Can't you believe I am not the man I was?

Cullen Bohannan:
I don't trust you farther than I can spit.

Cullen Bohannan:
[Rev. Cole is on his knees with his back to the door, cradling Lt. Griggs' severed, cloth-wrapped head in his arms when Cullen walks into the church] Uh... I don't, I don't mean to disturb your prayers, preacher.

Reverend Cole:
How can I help you, son?

Cullen Bohannan:
[sitting down on a pew] I'm on a dark... path, sir. Been on it for awhile now.

Reverend Cole:
Where does the dark path lead?

Cullen Bohannan:
More blood. More hatred. I met somebody who reached out to me, asked me to turn away from that darkness, and uh... you been wantin' to preach to me, so... here's your chance.

Reverend Cole:
[Cole sets the bundle down and stands up] Well, there... there is a God. Of that, I have no doubt. [pause] But there's a... [he quickly pushes the lid shut on Griggs' slightly open coffin]... there's a Devil, too. And you, y'know what that ol', that ol' Devil did? Want me to tell you about that? [Cullen shrugs] Yeah? Well, that Devil, he, uh, cut off God's arms. And he hacked off God's legs. And he gouged out His eyes. Ripped out His tongue and then left Him lyin' there in a bloody heap on the floor. But... he left God's ears, so He could, He could hear us down here when we're wailin' and thrashin' and prayin' for His help. [he puts his hand on Cullen's shoulder] But brother, there ain't a damn thing God can do to help us.

Cullen Bohannan:
What're you sayin', preacher?

Reverend Cole:
Just... choose hate. It's so much easier. [Cullen gives him a disturbed look and gets up to leave] Brother! [he points emphatically as Cullen turns around and stares at him] Choose hate.

Lily Bell:
I'm afraid I'm not much of a carpenter.

Cullen Bohannan:
[testing her floor boards] No ma'am, you ain't.

Lily Bell:
Could you possibly help me? That is, if you're not busy killing anyone.

Elam Ferguson:
You told me somethin' once. It's the only thing that set me free.

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah, what's that?

Elam Ferguson:
You gotta let go of the past.

The Swede:
[mocking Bohannan as he searches for his quarry] In the midst of my homeland, there is a god who goes by the name of Loki. This Loki is the god of chaos. He causes nothing but trouble where ever he goes. No matter how hard the other gods try catch him, the slippery little devil always manages to escape.

The Swede:
I used to be a bookkeeper.

Cullen Bohannan:
You look like a bookkeeper.

The Swede:
Mm. I was always more comfortable around numbers than people. I could control numbers.

Cullen Bohannan:
The war put a stop to that, didn't it?

Cullen Bohannan:
You know why that man didn't finish eating your sorry ass? 'Cause you Yankees all taste like sh*t!

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
How do you put your trousers on, son?

Cullen Bohannan:
Sir?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Over those big balls of yours.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
What are you planning to offer the Mormons in exchange for your men?

Cullen Bohannan:
Open passage west on the U.P. for their settlers.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Free rail tickets. Hmm, you are desperate.

Cullen Bohannan:
Why the hell else would I bring else.

Mike Malone:
You the Sheriff here?

Elam Ferguson:
Chief of Railroad Police.

Mike Malone:
[long stare]

Elam Ferguson:
What?

Mike Malone:
Oh nothin'. Just didn't figure on the Chief of Police being so...

Elam Ferguson:
Black?

Mike Malone:
Drunk.

Aubrey:
What's your name, stranger?

Cullen Bohannan:
This ain't about me. It's about the boy.

Aubrey:
Yeah, well, there's something about you I don't like.

Cullen Bohannan:
Hell, there's something about me a lot of people don't like.

Reverend Cole:
[Cullen drunkenly stumbles past Rev. Cole's church late at night] Mr. Bohannon, did the good Lord save you from hangin' so you could drown yourself in whiskey?

Cullen Bohannan:
It's a little late for proselytizin', ain't it, preacher?

Reverend Cole:
Y'know, you were right, y'know, you don't deserve forgiveness.

Cullen Bohannan:
[drunkenly laughing] Yeah.

Reverend Cole:
Well, neither did I. Yet I, I stand here, my wickedness washed away by the, by the blood of the Lamb.

Cullen Bohannan:
[stumbling away] The hell you know 'bout wickedness?

Reverend Cole:
You ever hear of Bleedin' Kansas? [Cullen stops dead in his tracks and turns around slowly] Y'know, I rode with Martyr John Brown.

Cullen Bohannan:
John Brown was a cold-blooded killer.

Reverend Cole:
You in a position to throw stones on that account, Mr. Bohannon? [pause] That's right. 'Cause, y'know, one night... we authored the deaths of five men. Slave owners. We pulled them from their homes and butchered them with broadswords. [pause] Y'know, drunk as I was, I, I neglected to put an edge on, on my blade. It was hard work, brother, but I... I kept a-hackin'... and a-hackin'... and a-hackin' 'til I couldn't hack no more. Now THAT'S Bleedin' Kansas.

Cullen Bohannan:
W... why didn't you just shoot 'em?

Reverend Cole:
Ah... mercy of a bullet was somethin' they didn't deserve.

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, I owned slaves.

Reverend Cole:
Yeah, well, lucky for you, you weren't in Kansas that night.

Cullen Bohannan:
[Cullen chuckles humorlessly and staggers closer to Cole] No, preacher. That's lucky for YOU. [he takes a swig of whiskey]

Reverend Cole:
[grabbing Cullen's hand] No one deserves forgiveness, brother. That's the beauty of grace.

Cullen Bohannan:
[Cullen pulls away and turns to go] I thank you for the sermon... preacher.

Reverend Cole:
I used to be a lot like you, Cullen. Only difference was I had a cause. What is yours?

Cullen Bohannan:
[Cullen stops again] Yeah, John Brown's dead. That's right. Yeah, I believe we hung his sorry ass. [pause, then Cullen begins singing "Dixie" sarcastically; Cole walks away in disgust] "Wish I was in the land of cotton/Old times there are not forgotten/Look away... look away... look away... Dixieland..."

Sentry:
What's the world coming to, sir?

Cullen Bohannan:
The world ain't comin' to nothing, son. Same as it ever was.

Cullen Bohannan:
You have any idea what they took from me?

Elam Ferguson:
They ain't took nothin' from you that ain't been took from me.

The Swede:
Now now, boys. I doubt Mr. Durant wants his new foreman assassinated.

Bolan:
He shot my dang ear off, Swede.

The Swede:
Too bad it was not your tongue.

Cullen Bohannan:
How come every time I turn around, we're knee-deep in my business?

Elam Ferguson:
'Cause you're the boss, and I wanna keep my job.

John Campbell:
I've been tasked to bring order to this city by the next President of the United States.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
You say you bring order, yet men hang from salon rafters and lampposts.

John Campbell:
Lynch, burn, bludgeon, or bury. I'll do whatever's necessary to rid this city of corruption - then seize your railroad.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Seize my railroad? Are you having headaches, John?

John Campbell:
Huh?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
That edema. Oh, forgive me, I have a degree in Ophthalmology from Albany Medical College. You see, ocular malformations can inhibit mental processes, clouding one's sight, leaving one delusional.

John Campbell:
My vision is perfectly clear. In fact, I see into the future, doctor. You're not in it.

Sydney Snow:
That little Mormon wench has got your balls pressed tight between the pages of her Bible.

Cullen Bohannan:
My wife's name is Naomi.

Sydney Snow:
That's what I like about you, Bohannon. You carry the worrying share for the both of us.

Naomi Bohannon:
Part of you wishes you were ridin' with him.

Cullen Bohannan:
Sidney spoke true about that train last night. Sick and wounded, killed 'em all. The doctors too. I can't make sense of it. Can't. We was tired of losin' the war. Men like Sidney, they like to think we won somethin' that day. Me, I just... all I remember is, after it was over, how hot my gun was. Smelled like blood and honeysuckle. So when we talk about Sidney, yeah, I ain't no better than him.

Naomi Bohannon:
No, that's your mistake.

Ruth:
[packing church things] We're always the first to go. The saloon and the whorehouse, the last. Why do you suppose that is, Mr. Bohannon?

Cullen Bohannan:
Sin takes longer to pack.

Louise Ellison:
Well, I see nothing's changed around here.

Cullen Bohannan:
One less mule [seeing Durant] one more jackass.

Louise Ellison:
What did you mean when you said General Grant's men murdered your family?

Cullen Bohannan:
[continues walking away]

Louise Ellison:
If I'm going to write the truth, I'm going to need...

Cullen Bohannan:
What truth, yours, mine, or theirs?

Louise Ellison:
*The* truth.

Cullen Bohannan:
There's no such thing.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
The school of hard knocks was my teacher. And do you know what I learned?

Sean McGinnes:
If Mr. Bohannan finds out that I've been...

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
That a man who is encumbered by what's right and what's wrong, will never achieve anything.

Sean McGinnes:
Are you listening to me?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I am not encumbered by what encumbers most men, because I am not most men.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[cross examining] You've written numerous articles about Mr. for the New York Tribune since your assignment at Hell on Wheels, haven't you?

Louise Ellison:
Yes.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Do you know him well?

Louise Ellison:
I don't think anyone knows him well.

Ruth:
My father once told me, to put the past behind you, you must accept that you've moved beyond it. I don't think you have, Mr. Bohannan. The truth is, until you do, I'm not sure the railroad can save you.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
The only and only thing I ever truly wanted. To be known as the man who built the Union Pacific Railroad.

Louise Ellison:
That's all?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[laughs] Well, that's quite enough, thank you.

Cullen Bohannan:
[toasting] The the truth...

Louise Ellison:
And consequences.

Cullen Bohannan:
You come here to kill me?

Jasper Prescott:
Yes.

Cullen Bohannan:
Anything I can say to talk you out of it?

Jasper Prescott:
No.

Cullen Bohannan:
[shoots him between the eyes] I *am* sorry for your loss.

Cullen Bohannan:
General. I think maybe you're in need of a good snipe hunt.

Ulysses S. Grant:
I've been known to enjoy a good snipe hunt now and again.

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, where the hell is Cheyenne?

Ulysses S. Grant:
I had the Bureau of Land Management rename the town of Durant to Cheyenne.

Cullen Bohannan:
You renamed Durant's town?

Ulysses S. Grant:
Yes, sir, I did.

Cullen Bohannan:
[laughs heartily] Oh! Does he know yet?

Ulysses S. Grant:
Nope.

Cullen Bohannan:
Can I tell him?

[first lines]

Priest's Voice:
Unburden yourself, my son.

Union Soldier:
I was with General Sherman on his march south. What we did... evil, unspeakable things.

Priest's Voice:
You were a soldier. You were following orders.

Union Soldier:
No. They were not just orders. We opened a dark door, and the Devil stepped in.

Senator Jordan Crane:
So you'll be paying yourself to build a railroad with government subsidies.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Now that, my friend, is inspirational.

Cullen Bohannan:
If that's how God goes about his business, he can keep 'em.

Sean McGinnes:
Keep God?

Mickey McGinnes:
Do you not believe in a higher power?

Cullen Bohannan:
Yes sir, I wear it on my hip. [shows his gun]

Sean McGinnes:
Mickey has twelve toes.

Mickey McGinnes:
Sean's got eight.

Sean McGinnes:
Individually, we're freaks.

Mickey McGinnes:
Put together, we're whole.

Prostitute:
You better keep your eye on your flock, Reverend. We do our own convertin' here.

Daniel Johnson:
Rise and shine, Bohannan. It's another beautiful day on the railroad.

Cullen Bohannan:
You need to let go of the past.

Elam Ferguson:
Have *you* let it go?

Sean McGinnes:
Do you not pine for your own homeland, Mr. Bohannan?

Cullen Bohannan:
Nah.

Sean McGinnes:
And why is that?

Cullen Bohannan:
It's gone.

[last lines]

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[drinking alone] Is it a villain you want? I'll play the part. After all, what is a drama without a villain? And what is the building of this grand road if not a drama? This business is not for the weak of heart. It's a thorny, brutal affair, that rewards the lion for his ferocity. What of the zebra? What of the poor zebra? Well, the zebra's eaten, as the zebra should be. Make no mistake, blood will be spilt, lives will be lost. Fortunes will be made, men will be ruined. There will be betrayal, 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 its cheap blood. History doesn't remember us fondly. But then history is written by the zebra, for the zebra.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
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 a caitiff, a 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 be built.

The Swede:
This brigand... this rebel has upset the balance once again, and he must be dealt with.

Mr. Toole:
I still don't follow.

The Swede:
Why does that not surprise me?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Senator Crane has come here to offer you a better way of life.

Chief Many Horses:
Better than what?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
...Better than what you have.

Chief Many Horses:
I like what we have.

Senator Jordan Crane:
[to Durant] You once had my head in a vice. Now I have your pecker in my pocket.

Ruth:
The Chief is your father?

Joseph Black Moon:
[yes]

Ruth:
Why did you leave him?

Joseph Black Moon:
[turning her words back on her] So I could help "the inferiors".

Mr. Toole:
Out of the way, Bohannan. We aim to go after the Engines, and there's nothin' you can do about it.

Cullen Bohannan:
The hell I ain't.

Mr. Toole:
You're out-numbered. He can't kill us all, lads...

Cullen Bohannan:
Eh, I can kill about five of ya.

Mr. Toole:
You hear that? He's not even fully loaded. Only five bullets he's got.

Cullen Bohannan:
No, I got six bullets. I was just gonna shoot you twice.

Eva:
[to Elam] He's paying me, just like he pays you. The only difference being, I don't gotta kill nobody.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
I don't know if I can do it.

Doc Whitehead:
You be strong, son. You be strong.

Jack:
Indians killed us, rustled our cattle. I played possum while they done this to me. [reveals his bloody head]

Cullen Bohannan:
How many dead?

Jack:
Five. Six if I die. [pulls his scalp from a bucket] Think they can sew my hair back on?

Cullen Bohannan:
I think you ought'a stop talkin' and put your hat back on.

Eva:
[treating her patient's vaginal bleeding] One day it'll come on, and I won't be able to stop it.

Louise Ellison:
What causes it?

Eva:
A whore's life. She had a good run, though. It's almost two years.

Louise Ellison:
How old is she?

Eva:
Nineteen, I think she said.

Cullen Bohannan:
You fight your war, I'll build my railroad, you crazy son of a b*tch. [starts walking away]

Doctor Major Augustus Bendix:
Bohannan, do you want to know why you lost the war? The typical Southern lacks the ability to look beyond his own parochial interests. It's a malformed brain plate, perhaps.

Declan:
You must be Mr. Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
I am.

Declan:
My brother considered you the only upright man he'd ever met in America.

Cullen Bohannan:
Damn it. Ruth, it's my job!

Ruth:
I understand that. But killing them should make you lose your appetite as well.

Cullen Bohannan:
I don't take joy from it.

Ruth:
A man who hates his sin can be redeemed from it, even if he can't turn away from it. Do you hate your sin, Mr. Bohannan?

Cullen Bohannan:
[sits back down] Cornbread's dry.

Ruth:
Then there is hope for you.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
No carpetbagger will take my railroad.

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah. That's what I thought about my farm back in Mississippi.

Naomi Bohannon:
[about Ruth] She doesn't like Mormons.

Cullen Bohannan:
I doubt she's met many before you. But, uh, she really speaks her mind. But she's a good woman, and she can help you make your way here.

Naomi Bohannon:
That's my husband's job.

Eva:
I'll take your money, Mr. Durant. For a poke.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[choking on his food] No, no, you misunderstand. No, I... that was *not* a condition of my offer.

Eva:
Look, I know I ain't so pretty right now, but I clean up good.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
No, I... it's not... Eva, you're beautiful. Well then, why not take a ride? It's no trouble. Don't mean nothin' to be no mores anyway.

Eva:
That, my dear, is a tragedy.

[first lines]

John Campbell:
Allow me.

Louise Ellison:
I gather this isn't the first time you've helped a woman into her clothing?

John Campbell:
Nor is it the first you've been helped into yours.

Louise Ellison:
What if I told you that it was?

John Campbell:
Why, I'd say you've kept poor company.

Louise Ellison:
Company has a way of damaging a girl's reputation.

John Campbell:
That was not the passion of a woman overly concerned with her reputation.

Louise Ellison:
That was the triumph of curiosity over experience.

John Campbell:
Several triumphs. At least three.

Louise Ellison:
Two. Maybe.

John Campbell:
Well, two so far.

Collis Huntington:
Tell me, did you ever have the opportunity to work with Cullen Bohannon? That man impresses the hell out of me.

The Swede:
Everything I know I learned by careful study of Cullen Bohannon.

Collis Huntington:
How about that?

Cullen Bohannan:
I've killed far better men than you for doin' a lot less than that.

John Campbell:
I have no shred of doubt.

Ruth:
[distraught] He'll never go to school. Never have a sweetheart. Never get married. He hated doing chores. He brought live toads into the church. He was wild and headstrong, and I could never get him to take a bath. But he was a good boy. And the last time I saw him, I spoke to him in anger.

Louise Ellison:
You killed that man. After the fire. I know he was monstrous.

Eva:
You don't know nothin' but words.

Eva:
Enough things happen to you long enough out here, you can do anything. You'll see.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
Drop that gun.

Sydney Snow:
Yeah, come on and take it.

Sydney Snow:
[gunshot] Ahh!

Sydney Snow:
[gunshot] [coughs] Well, dip me in dog sh*t.

Sydney Snow:
[coughs and laughs] The church lady?

Mr. Toole:
I don't know whether you're aware of it. But we Irish are the "n*ggers" of the British Empire.

Elam Ferguson:
Is that what this is about? Showing that you aren't at the bottom of the barrel no more?

Mr. Toole:
You're damned right it is. Any last words?

Elam Ferguson:
I'm gonna kill your lily white ass.

The Swede:
In the end, when all is said and done, all we own is our death. It's conceived in us the moment we was born, and we carry that burden the best we can. [closes dead man's eyes] I've seen men die screaming. I've see men die with nary a bleat.

Bolan:
Mmm. Well, this one here died trying to draw down on Cullen Bohannan.

The Swede:
Well then, perhaps he was stupid after all.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I was raised in a shanty town in Hell's Kitchen. The only difference between us and the rats was that the rats were well fed, and cleaner.

Cullen Bohannan:
Whoever you're shootin' at is gonna be just as scared as you are. You take your time, don't loose your head. Count your rounds as you fire. If you're calm, you'll count their rounds, too. The trick is, making sure the other man has to reload before you do.

Elam Ferguson:
And if I don't?

Cullen Bohannan:
You're dead. End of lesson...

Mr. Toole:
What 'er you smiling at?

Elam Ferguson:
You're out.

Mr. Toole:
[click]

Elam Ferguson:
Any last words?

Mr. Toole:
Got to hell, you black dev...

Reverend Nathaniel Cole:
[clawing at his shirt] Look inside your heart. Inside your heart.

Carl the Bartender:
Sorry, Reverend, I'm afraid it's empty. Same as my wallet.

Elam Ferguson:
Any harm come to you, I go weak in the head.

Eva:
Are *are* weak in the head.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
Anything moves, shoot the sh*t out of it.

Sean McGinnes:
[worried about Bohannan] He, uh... he knows. He as much as said so.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Sean, if he knew, you would have a hole in your head right there. Find your manhood and embrace it. We're in the endgame.

Mickey McGinnes:
It doesn't sound like rustling to me.

Cullen Bohannan:
What I'm saying is, what would horse thieves want with a baby?

Mickey McGinnes:
Well, baby thieves need horses, surely.

Jack:
Mr. Bohannan, don't leave us out here.

Cullen Bohannan:
We all been left out here, son.

Sean McGinnes:
Smart money always hedges its bet.

Mickey McGinnes:
Smart money's on Bohannan...

Elam Ferguson:
I'm only gonna say this once. This here baby white, I know that. I do, but she mine. I don't care what color she is, she mine. She ain't got no other father but me. Who else gonna love her?

Cullen Bohannan:
Elam, that baby ain't gonna bring you nothing but a heap of trouble and pain for the rest of your life.

[first lines]

The Swede:
In the beginning, there was blood. The land demands it. Every new land demands blood, and we relent. It is our nature. [farmer bludgeons a pig] We are after all, animals. In our arrogance we forget this. But, in the end we rise from the land - only to return.

Bauer:
A good butcher does not waste lives.

Eva:
[to Elam] You're a fool to rather have a pocket full 'o gold eagles, than a strong-backed, sweet-mouthed woman, willing to wash your drawers and warm your bed, all for nothin' but a kiss. [fends off a kiss] And a promise.

The Swede:
Our Lord rode into Jerusalem on the back of an ass. One of the first things he done when he got there was cleanse the Temple. Threw the money lenders out on their avaricious rumps. It's time we over turned the tables, Reverend. We must cast them out.

Mickey McGinnes:
We didn't do it, Mr. Bohannan. You know me.

Cullen Bohannan:
Did you take credit for it?

Mickey McGinnes:
Well, yeah. But it was just running me mount.

Cullen Bohannan:
You run your mouth, you take the consequences. They all thing you did it. Congratulations, dumb ass.

Bauer:
Either you kill them or I will. YOU HEAR THAT IRISH? Either way, you going to die!

Cullen Bohannan:
Okay, the whole damned town heard you. You proved you're a man. Now git yer ass on outta here, before I show 'em otherwise.

The Swede:
You keep agitating trouble on this railroad, and you're goin' to a deep sleep at the bottom of your mud pile. And they'll be no one to mourn or miss you, either.

Cullen Bohannan:
You will miss me, Mr. Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
[to Elam] Just be careful. Next time a noose goes around your neck, it might not slip off so easy.

Bauer:
[protesting being kicked out of town] This is a free country, by God!

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah. That's about the funniest damned thing I've ever heard.

[first lines]

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Have you thought of everything?

Martin Delaney:
Of course not. It doesn't occur to me how to engineer my own destruction.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
We crossed the Missouri like this.

Martin Delaney:
Greater river than the Croix. Thicker ice, colder weather.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
And larger balls on my Chief Engineer.

John Campbell:
[about being sent to Wyoming] This is not a place of hooded rascals sitting in ashes. It's wild, surely. But so is an unbroken horse. We'll break it.

Mickey McGinnes:
All women are whores by nature. I suppose except for me mum. It's the one thing all women have in common. Whoring.

Maggie Palmer:
I actually liked you until today.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Oh, you still like me. You just don't trust me. That's perfectly normal. [big smile, then fades]

Maggie Palmer:
So here you sit with your money. Alone.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
You're not allowing me to leave. Is that as Bishop Dutson, or a the Swede? Also known as Thor Gundersen.

The Swede:
The late Thor Gundersen was Norwegian!

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, who ever you are, you better shoot to kill. I'm comin' back to finish this once and for all.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
[babbling while riding along] Yeah, I got me a young Squaw and an old Squaw, and the young Squaw is lazy. But the problem is that the old Squaw used to be the young Squaw, and she's lazy too. And now all they do is fight about who's doing what, and neither one of them is doing anything but fightin'. And that's why I sleep on the roof. Oh, now, I might go down there if I want a little jackrabbit stew or - or if I feel my sap a-rising.

Cullen Bohannan:
[checking on Indian player] He's dead.

Elam Ferguson:
I reckon game over.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
No, you can't leave, the game just started.

Cullen Bohannan:
Yeah, well it just ended.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
You walk off that field, they will kill you. Lose or quit you die, told you before... Didn't I?

Elam Ferguson:
You sayin' we can ride up outta here?

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Yep.

Cullen Bohannan:
What about Red Bear's shame?

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Oh, Red Bear is happy. He just wants to see his children happy, especially Buffalo Face here. [indicating squaw with facial hair]

Cullen Bohannan:
Is that his daughter?

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Yeah. He's been trying to get her married off for a long time now.

Elam Ferguson:
Married?

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Well, I said I'd do it if'n he'd let you boys go. [sighs]

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, thank you. Congratulations.

Jimmy Two Squaws:
Well, thank you... Oh. I-I suppose they're gonna have to call me "Jimmy Three Squaws" now.

Cullen Bohannan:
Prayed to God. He didn't answer me. This crazy feller, he - he upped and saved me by marrying a bearded Squaw.

Ruth:
[giggles]

Cullen Bohannan:
Think that's funny?

Ruth:
[laughs] Yeah. And how do you know it wasn't God who saved you?

Cullen Bohannan:
'Cause it was Jimmy Two Squaws and Buffalo Face.

Ruth:
God can have a sense of humor too, Mr. Bohannan.

Cullen Bohannan:
Well, it is one hell of a big one, then.

Hannah Durant:
[about Lily] I understand, she's attractive and capable, and very smart. And that makes her very dangerous.

Cullen Bohannan:
You shouldn't test a man who's jealous or afraid for his life, Lily.

Sean McGinnes:
I want the truth!

Ruth:
And I thought it was me you wanted.

[first lines]

Carl the Bartender:
New in town?

Hawkins:
Yeah.

Carl the Bartender:
You lookin' for work?

Hawkins:
I'm lookin' to do a job on the railroad. [pays and walks out]

Hawkins:
[on his knees] I know'd something was squirrelly when you let this here n*gger get the drop on you. I never figured you for no n*gger lover! [raucous laughter]

Elam Ferguson:
[shoots him through the head]

Cullen Bohannan:
Damn it, Elam, the man wasn't done speakin' his last words.

Elam Ferguson:
Yeah he was.

[last lines]

Lily Bell:
[hands him a telegram]

Cullen Bohannan:
No, I already buried Hawkins.

Lily Bell:
It says, "all those aiding and abetting."

Cullen Bohannan:
But Doc just... Doc just held the horses.

Lily Bell:
I'm sorry Cullen.

Cullen Bohannan:
[telegram falls from his hands]

Ruth:
[about her father] He wanted to be a Christian. But in the end, what he really wanted was to be a martyr.

The Swede:
Your Southern prison exposed bone - the marrow truth of who we are.

Cullen Bohannan:
We? You got rye in your pocket?

The Swede:
In Gundersenville, cold rat meat was a delicacy. And then of course human flesh. You watched as we fought over scraps, and they - they laughed. [points at him] We lived in our putrid holes we scratched out of the ground. Drinking and defecating in the same water, with disease, vermin, starvation, and cold. A cold death. All the while, you were watching. When I see you, I see them. I hated you even before we met. Now you know why you hate me, huh?

Cullen Bohannan:
You're one insane, evil, son of a b*tch.

The Swede:
Not insane. One day, very soon, you will understand that. The reason you hate me is that I am a constant reminder of the capacity for evil that reside within you.

Lily Bell:
Mr. Ferguson, I sent for you.

Elam Ferguson:
I ain't your carriage pony.

[first lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
[holding the Bible under her hand] You do swear by almighty God, the searcher of all hearts, that the evidence you give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as you shall answer to God on the last great day?

Ruth:
[kisses the Bible]

Judge Webber:
In the matter of the United States versus Ruth Cole, the defendant stands accused of unlawfully, feloniously, and of malice aforethought shooting into Sidney Snow two mortal wounds of which he died, contrary to the law, peace, and dignity of the Wyoming territory. Having heard these charges, what say you?

Ruth:
Guilty.

Cullen Bohannan:
Hanged by the neck until dead. Did you hear him in there?

Ruth:
Pardons are for cowards, like Sidney Snow.

Louise Ellison:
I've come for comment on the kangaroo court you authorized on your arrival and your acquisition of McGinnes' casino thereafter.

John Campbell:
Ancient history, miss Ellison.

Louise Ellison:
I prefer to call it context.

John Campbell:
Burn this city down, you'll have no friends left but the ashes.

Louise Ellison:
Exactly as much as Ruth Cole.

John Campbell:
You'll cast her as some Saint?

Louise Ellison:
I'm still deciding on the devil.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[wistfully] When we lost my only son to cholera, I was away working. Do you know where I was and what I was doing?

Cullen Bohannan:
No.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Neither do I.

Ruth:
Would you do anything different if you could go back?

Cullen Bohannan:
I would be a better husband, a better father.

Ruth:
I would be more patient with Ezra.

Cullen Bohannan:
[chuckles] They don't get more patient than you. Boy didn't make it easy on you, setting fires, rustling horses, kicking frogs.

Ruth:
What I would give for a church full of frogs.

Ruth:
The brave choice is always family.

[repeated line]

Hang Man:
You don't got to worry. I'll be there.

Administrator:
God hasn't given up on this place yet.

Cullen Bohannan:
This wasn't God's doing.

John Campbell:
I thought we shared a vision for what this city could be.

Louise Ellison:
The only vision that I have is a poor girl swinging from a rope.

John Campbell:
What befell miss Cole was a tragedy, but printing this won't bring her back.

Louise Ellison:
The governor controls a great many things. The press is not one of them.

[last lines]

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Send for 300 workers from Omaha to lay track, and two trainloads of lumber from Chicago. Oh, and throw up a wire to general Grant. Tell him we'll summit before month's end.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Well, what is it, Bohannon?

Cullen Bohannan:
I quit.

Chief Many Horses:
[sharpening his knife as he speaks] Your brother was the runt of the litter. Smaller than all the other boys. How they picked on him and teased him. He was always in a fight. But he never backed down. It made him strong. It made him a great warrior. But not a great man. He never learned, as you did, that sometimes it's better not to fight, and other times, you must fight the ones you love. When I saw what you were wearing, when I saw what you had prepared for your brother, I hoped that you would return to me. But now I see in your eyes you are becoming your own man. And so today I mourn for one son, Pawnee Killer, and I mourn the loss of my other son, Black Moon, which hurts me so much more. [slices into his own arm with the knife]

Lily Bell:
Well, you did it. Forty miles. You said you would, and you did.

Cullen Bohannan:
First time in my life. Failed as a tobacco farmer, lost a war, now I'm a railroad man. Maybe third time's the charm, huh?

Reverend Nathaniel Cole:
We're all held accountable, ya know, one way or another...

Reverend Nathaniel Cole:
[as Griggs turns away, the Reverend unsheathes Griggs' sabre and beheads him]

Cullen Bohannan:
You're workin' for a carpetbagger.

Sydney Snow:
[chuckles] My loyalty runs the length of a dollar bill these days.

Cullen Bohannan:
Let go of my men.

Sydney Snow:
Let's say I don't.

Cullen Bohannan:
[picks up Snow's pistol and inspects in the chambers]

Sydney Snow:
If you'd come to kill me, I'd be dead already.

Cullen Bohannan:
My men, at the depot, 10:00 AM.

Sydney Snow:
You done lost your nerve.

Cullen Bohannan:
[punches Snow hard]

Sydney Snow:
[recoils from the punch] Mm.

Cullen Bohannan:
That's for putting a gun on my wife and boy. Next time I won't knock.

John Campbell:
[in passing] Good morning.

Cullen Bohannan:
No it ain't...

John Campbell:
Time, Mr. Durant, is a fickle mistress. First it appears an endless supply, and then suddenly the last few grains of sand trickle down the hourglass.

Cullen Bohannan:
Lot o' men lost their way after the war.

Ruth:
He's not lost, Mr. Bohannon. The forces of darkness reside within him. I looked into his eyes. I saw a wickedness there that is yet to be unleashed.

Sydney Snow:
Lying just outside the house of the Lord?

Cullen Bohannan:
If you're so sure I'm lying, why don't you arrest me?

Sydney Snow:
Well, sh*t, I don't want to ruin all the fun.

Cullen Bohannan:
Ain't too late to walk away.

Sydney Snow:
Yeah, it is. For both of us.

Cullen Bohannan:
Hmm. Best pray on it then. Just to be safe.

Sydney Snow:
Oh, I leave the prayin' to you. You gonna need it.

Sydney Snow:
Adapt or die, Atwood. Adapt or die.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Your confidence is very annoying, Bohannon.

Cullen Bohannan:
I was just ponderin' what you'd do if things was similar. I'm wrong, you tell me now.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
[c*cks his gun]

Cullen Bohannan:
Just like old times.

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
I preferred the cover of the hotel. When they were shooting at you.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
Sidney! Sidney Snow!

Cullen Bohannan:
[to dying man] Where'd he go?

Mickey McGinnes:
Where is that bastard?

Thomas 'Doc' Durant:
Gone.

Cullen Bohannan:
No, he ain't.

Cullen Bohannan:
I know what you see when you look at me.

Psalms Jackson:
Doubt that.

Cullen Bohannan:
The man who killed Elam. But that wasn't Elam. The one you and me knew. He never come back. That's all I'm gonna say about it. Now or ever.

John Campbell:
You look rather cavalier for a man who's set to hang.

Sydney Snow:
[scoffs]

John Campbell:
Is it your habit to take the law of the land so lightly?

Sydney Snow:
Ain't the usual thing for a governor to come down here and conversate with condemned fugitives.

John Campbell:
I'm askin' if you hold the law in contempt.

Sydney Snow:
The law and me have been at each other pretty hard for a long time now. We know each other well.

John Campbell:
You have certain skills, Mr. Snow. I may have need for those skills. The question is whether you can put them to use for someone other than yourself.

Sydney Snow:
I have never tried.

Cullen Bohannan:
You ain't had it easy in Cheyenne. I know that, all right? I do. But it ain't always gonna be Cheyenne. The railroad'll move on, we'll...

Naomi Bohannon:
This isn't about Cheyenne! I washed the blood off of you. Washed the blood off of you of a man that you killed, that you loved. I ain't forgettin' that. That's you. That's who you are.

Cullen Bohannan:
You're the new marshal?

Sydney Snow:
You know, it surprised the hell out of me too.

John Campbell:
Few things I find pleasant in Cheyenne. But this wine's one.

Louise Ellison:
What else?

John Campbell:
Sittin' across from you while I drink it.

Louise Ellison:
I agree. About the wine.

John Campbell:
Mm.

[last lines]

Cullen Bohannan:
Let me spell it out for you, Mr. Campbell. Release them prisoners. I'm only askin' you once.

Louise Ellison:
If that's a threat, I didn't hear it. Now, would you let this lady and me go on with our dinner?

Cullen Bohannan:
You remember, I asked you as a gentleman first.

Cullen Bohannan:
Miss Ellison... [turns and walks out]

[last lines]

Fellow Prison:
Hey, Johnny Reb. Time to wake up!

Cullen Bohannan:
[looks out of his cell window]

Fellow Prison:
You better start singing Dixie. 'Cause you're next. [hood is put over his head]

"One less donkey; one more jackass."

Bohannon

They call me The Swede... I am Norwegian...