Frontier

My grandfather told me when I was a kid

he could listen to the coyotes howling at night.

He could see the herd of buffaloes pass by.

He was taught that the gods were the thunder,

the sun and the rain.

That the land was for everyone.

But when the white men arrived,

this became a disaster.

My mother was a Chiricaguan Indian

and that's where my nickname came from.

Chiricahua.

My dad was a missionary who came to Santa Fe

in New Mexico

supposedly to turn the Indians into Christians.

And to make the matters worse,

my father had the bad idea

of knocking up the Chief's daughter, my mom.

My grandpa did not take long turn him into a martyr.

No! No!

No, don't kill me, I beg you!

No!

No, don't kill me!

Being half Indian and half Mexican

has its advantages.

With the Apaches, I'm okay.

I get them some things, like guns, and they respect us,

to me and the Mexican family with whom I work as a cowboy.

But the Indians are more violent than ever.

Wagons full of pale faces keep arriving from far east.

Now, I just heard that we are not Mexicans anymore.

That the Yankees already own half of Mexico.

Now the situation is getting rough.

Calm down.

It would've been easier if you had sold.

If you had moved.

Hang him up.

Rope him up!

Jacinto,

check how many cows went down to the water.

Yeah, pa.

Chiricahua.

Morning, Don Joaquin.

How many did you get?

Not too much.

Most of the cowboys are heading west, boss.

They say here's a lot of gold over there.

If we can not get anymore cowboys,

we're gonna have to go and do it ourselves.

But that cattle has to be in Kansas this month.

It's dangerous, Don Joaquin.

There's a lot of cow snatchers over there.

And the Indians are very upset.

That's why we're taking you with us, Chiricahua.

Okay, Don Joaquin.

With the Apaches on this side of Texas, we have no problems.

They are friends.

But the Comanches beyond the north,

they're very cruel.

Even hate their mothers.

Hey, Papa, I need to go to town.

Who can take me right now?

You, Chiricahua, you can take her.

Of course, Don Joaquin.

Anything you say.

Hey, wait, I'm going with you.

Jacinto, we're not done here yet.

Come on, Dad, I need to buy some things.

All right.

You're such a pain in the ass.

Don't worry, Don Joaquin,

we'll be back very soon.

All right, take care.

Be right back, I'm going with Don Pancho.

I'm going for some things.

Okay, I'll wait for you here.

Good morning, Don Pancho, how are you?

Juanita, how you been?

You look very nice today.

What do you need?

This is the list, I hope you can read my writing.

Oh, it'll be ready in a minute, yeah.

That's fine.

This county of San Marcos

has always been a very quiet place.

I remember when my grandpa told me

that the wind not always blow in the same direction

and now I get it.

You can start to feel an air of tragedy.

Come on.

Hi, my name is Jacinto.

Hi, my name is Ellie.

Are you a newcomer?

- Yes. - I had not seen you before.

My family and I recently arrived here.

Where do you come from?

From New York.

Wow!

That's not very similar to this.

I don't know.

Hey, would you like to have a soda with me?

I'm sorry but my brothers are waiting for me.

But, I...

It's Don Laureano.

Son of bitch.

They killed Don Laureano.

This will be like a kick in the balls to Don Joaquin.

He was his compadre and his best friend.

Here you go, Juanita.

Thank you, Don Pancho.

Please put it on my tab. I will, of course.

This little pretty Mexican girl,

she's not bad at all.

What's your name, precious?

Where you from?

Hey, I'm talking to you!

Will you please take your hands off of me?

Hey, it's okay.

We just want to know you, pretty.

They say Mexican girls kiss pretty well.

Let's see.

Hey, you leave her alone.

You keep out of this, old man,

or we'll burn your fucking store down.

No!

We don't want any problems.

Just leave her.

Get out of here.

This fucker has big balls.

He surely is the boyfriend of this mamacita.

It's your boyfriend, mamacita?

What you need is a real man.

No!

Chiricahu, no, don't do it!

Mamacita saved you.

Jacinto, where the fuck is Jacinto?

What happened?

We'll explain later, move it!

Yah! Yah!

Fuck!

It's so painful what happened with Laureano.

They say he was killed for assaulting them.

Nobody knows that yet.

Let's see,

if they had wanted to assault him,

they would've shot him right then and there.

Why did they hang him?

For Christ sake,

this is not an appropriate topic for the dinner table.

I have heard that Texans

want to get all Mexicans out of the state.

Maybe it could've been that.

Can they do that, Dad?

Of course not, son, but we must be very careful.

All kinds of people are coming to this state.

By the way,

what happened yesterday in the store of Don Pancho?

What happened?

Nothing, Papa.

Just two gringos that were getting aggressive

but Chiricahua knew how to control them.

Nothing happened.

Who we should help is Marta and her daughters.

Martha.

Martha, you're gonna need help at the farm.

I can recommend a good foreman.

I really don't know what's going to happen.

Without Laureano, things are going to be very difficult.

There is already someone

who has made us an offer for the ranch.

What do you mean an offer?

When?

Some days ago.

They talked to Laureano.

How strange.

He didn't tell me anything.

He did not want to talk about it.

You know, when I tried to talk about it even he got upset.

Good morning, Ramon.

We're dismayed because of the death

of my compadre, Laureano.

Man, I know.

It was a terrible thing.

Do you know something?

Who could have done it and why?

Nothing, Don Joaquin.

Maybe it was a robbery.

Laureano was very appreciated all over the county.

Everyone loved him

and if they killed him, it wasn't for stealing,

at least by no on from here.

I agree with you, Don Joaquin,

and by the way they did it,

I'm sure there were many of them, not just one.

May I?

I have something to say.

The day they brought Don Laureano's body back,

I saw something, something strange.

His boots and his clothes were muddy.

There has been no rain these days.

What was Don Laureano doing in the mud?