This is a story
of the Spanish conquest of California,
and the search for the legendary
seven cities of gold.
A story of primitive Indians,
an army of mercenaries, and the man of god.
His name was father Junipero Serra, a franciscan priest.
While the conquering army carried muskets,
he carried a cross.
Where they sought treasure, he sought salvation.
The man who lived our story
spoke Spanish and various Indian tongues.
The only change we have made is to set their words in english.
Juan, hurry up, we're late.
Hah!
Carlos! Luis!
Take her to the carriage.
We can take her to Mexico City.
You need not bother, señor. The earth is just as soft here.
She's dead.
I'm sorry.
- I don't think it could be helped. - No, señor.
You would have had to reduce the speed of your carriage.
Capt. Portola has explained it, padre.
There's no reason for insolence.
Nor for arrogance, lieutenant.
All right, padre, what do you want us to do?
We can have the driver charged,
if you think that will help the woman.
Take a detail and bury her.
That will not be necessary, captain.
You're in a hurry. She can wait.
One moment.
- Are you bound for Mexico City? - Yes.
We could leave you a horse.
Except on the most urgent mission,
it's the rule of our order to walk.
On a leg like yours?
I've had it a long time. We're old friends now.
Let me be a friend, too, father.
If I left you a horse,
you wouldn't leave him out here to die, would you?
I never left anyone to die.
Carlos, leave the father your horse.
If we were in too great a hurry, padre,
it was for the glory of Spain.
Yeah! Yeah!
Master Perez.
Your orders are covered here.
Step to the map.
This stretch of land is California.
We Spaniards discovered it, but nothing's been done about it.
It's a rich land, belonging to nobody at the moment.
But many countries are beginning to learn of it
and that's why we're here.
To see that it belongs to us.
You will occupy it from the south bay
and from the north bay.
Outfit for at least a year.
You'll find the details inside.
We're sending four parties, two by sea.
Vila, you'll sail first.
Perez, you'll follow with supplies.
Capt. Rivera will take the first land soldiers.
He'll establish a forward base
and wait there for the main expedition.
That will be under the command of capt. Portola.
- Well, gentlemen. - To the seven cities of gold!
Jose, do you know how much gold Cortes got out of Mexico?
Six million gold ingots each one like that.
And shiploads of slaves.
My grandfather's grandfather was with Cortes.
You should see...
You should see my mother
when she speaks of the gold he brought back.
Have you ever heard of the battle of Cholula?
There was a fight.
I have.
They got all the caciques together
and they turned the guns on them.
They'd never seen guns before.
And then Cortes gave the order.
"Drive your lances into their faces."
I know the story.
It's old as it's pitiful.
Your grandfather's grandfather
walked in blood up to his ankles.
Padre.
Padre, you forgot your table manners.
There are more important things.
There are, but we wouldn't agree on them.
Good morning, your excellency.
Father Junipero Serra. Capt. Portola.
- We've met. - Good.
Father Serra has been assigned to the expedition.
He'll be the spiritual director.
Just what does that mean?
He'll be in charge of founding the missions.
He'll speak for the church. And he'll travel with you.
I see.
The map gives no indication of the cities of gold.
Did you expect to find them on the map?
Of course, they're not on the map,
but they must be there somewhere.
The legend couldn't live so long if they didn't exist.
I've heard it all my life.
They're there, waiting for you to find them.
Could I have a word alone, your excellency?
About the appointment of this man Serra as spiritual adviser.
- He's a cripple. - Yes, Don Gaspar.
To reach California, we have to go through murderous country.
Considering the importance of our mission,
we shouldn't be burdened with any man
who isn't physically fit, there's too much at stake.
I think, gentlemen, you're discussing my infirmity.
Yes, we are.
It will inconvenience you in no way.
That I promise.
Poncho, could you find room for this for me?
With pleasure, padre.
- Juan? - Yes, father?
Could you find room for the little virgin for me?
Padre, you're overloading the mules.
But a statue of the little virgin weighs nothing.
It's the space, padre, not the weight.
We have to load more ammunition at Querado
and you keep bringing more and more trinkets.
Only a few more little things.
Padre, tell it to the captain.
There's nothing to be said.
Captain, I have been commissioned
to take the word of god to a group of primitive Indians.
I can't just march up to them and explain the holy Trinity.
I need these things for my work, just as you need guns for yours.
I'll have to win their confidence not their fear.
These beads are my weapons.
You strip these mules of supplies and ammunition
and we'll all be dead
before you can baptize your first Indian.
I need the space, father.
And I want to be over the Ridge by dawn.
Now if you will give us your blessing we'll get started.
You'll have your space, captain.
In the name of St. Joseph, our patron,
I ask that this company of men be blessed in their journey.
I ask that they be returned safely
to their Homes and friends.
For those who do not come back,
may they perish as honorable soldiers.
And may all their days be given
to the greater honor and glory of god.
I cannot ask this blessing in St. Joseph's name
without saying something further to you.
You are starting out on this mission as very bad soldiers.
That is not new to the men of Spain.
A long time ago, we came to Mexico.
We took a group of simple Indians,
Indians of childlike love,
and we turned them into a race of slaves.
Their skin was darker than ours
and because of that, they were beneath us.
And so we told ourselves it was just.
So a handful of soldiers, like yourselves,
stripped them of their gold, their love and their freedom.
Now on the dawn of a wonderful mission,
you are starting out in the same way.
You plan to walk across their fields,
to take their gold and leave them nothing.
You plan to pillage and plunder, and loot and lust.
And all because their tongue is strange
and their skin is copper.
In the name of St. Joseph
and all the saints who surround the throne of god,
I say, "how dare you?"
How dare you forget you are children of god?
How dare you forget
you are bound to every other child of god?
Well, remember it now.
Burn it into your hearts.
Burn it in deeply.
And then ask yourselves.
What skin has been chosen for paradise?
What is the color of an immortal soul?
Forward!
The priest is gonna give us trouble.
Oh, I don't think so.
I've just assigned him to your platoon.
Thanks.
What kind of a priest is he anyway?
I don't know.
But he's some kind of man.
Bring up loaded muskets.
Bring up loaded muskets!
Do you need muskets to get past half a dozen Indians?
There may be a thousand more we can't see.
And you propose to solve that by killing five of them?
The only way to get through
is to teach them about the white men.
I agree, Don Gaspar.
They'll take your trinkets and split your head open.
That, lieutenant, will solve one of your problems.
Don Gaspar?
Go ahead.
Give him his chance.
Beads.
We should have shown them gun fire right here.
No, wait.
Trouble arises.
We'll camp here.
Sergeant, make camp here.
* señorita Carmelita was a lady of many charms *
* I would gladly fight the army just to die in her arms *
* when I stepped in to her parlor *
* sweet caresses to share
* señorita Carmelita had the whole army there *
* ay, ay, ay, ay, ay
* oh, saved her weekends for me *
* señorita Carmelita
* had a kiss I cannot forget
- * if her padre hadn't caught me * - good evening, captain.
- Father. - Have you eaten?
Just.
I came to thank you.
I brought some wine.
I thought we might have a drink for friendship.
We haven't been the best of friends so far.
Not at all, father.
You have your way of handling Indians and I have mine.
Today you were right.
To the men of Portola.
To the companions of god.
All I can see you're busy, captain.
- Excuse me. - Good night.
Good night, father.
* a wandering
* minstrel
* and have no fortune
* yet have I dared
* to look
* upon your face
- * you are-- - Sit down, father.
Would you like a little wine?
Padre, let me give you some advice.
Don't push your luck with these Indians too far.
But I Grant you this, what you did took courage.
- It took faith. - And beads, padre.
You can't do much with just faith.
You can't do anything without it.
Look now, I warn you, padre,
don't waste the church's wisdom trying to convert me.
Stick to your savages.
Where are you from, lieutenant?
All over, but mainly Seville.
It's a lovely city.
Cafes, theaters, casinos.
But out here it's hard to remember.
Never a day passes I don't remember Spain.
What do you remember?
A fragrance, a hillside,
the birds turning in the sky over the cliffs of Majorca,
my youth, my mother.
What do you think of?
I think of a woman, too.
No, I don't.
I think of a hundred of them, all beautiful, all laughing.
But, uh...
You wouldn't understand the way I think of them.
Who understands sin better than a priest?
* no other aim have I--
Put out the fire! Take defensive positions!
Sentry!
Report!
A single Indian, sir.
I shot at him but he disappeared in the dark.
Double the sentry and picket the canyon.
Yes, sir.
Is he dead?
His name was Juan Jesus Ortega.
The only son of a house in Catalonia.
And I will have to tell them
that he died at the hands of a savage.
His death could have been avoided
if we had set an example
and shot a few Indians at the entrance of that canyon.
Father.
May I--may I see your leg?
Do you know about medicine?
Only from a book, and too long ago.
The leg is swollen. It's been swollen before.
Would you know if he was fit to go on?
I don't see how he got this far.
It'll be all right. You can Lance the ulcer.
Oh, not here, padre.
You might die if you don't get back to Mexico City.
There's no need to concern yourselves.
My leg is fine.
Is it?
A litter will be ready in the morning.
You'll have an escort to the first military establishment.
But, captain, the founding of the mission was entrusted to me.
There are priests with the other groups.
They can do all the spiritual directing we'll need.
You're angry with me, I know.
I've waited years for this commission, I'm going on.
You will leave after the morning fires are out.
Good-bye, father. Lieutenant.
They are right, father.
I-I wouldn't let a mule go with a leg like that.
If it were the leg of a mule, how would you treat it?
For an animal, there are certain poultices, much too strong.
Put one on it.
- I am not a surgeon, father. - Never mind.
Mules I treat, not people.
I am not a man to step above his station.
Imagine that I am one of your mules.
Oh, father.
Imagine that his mule has traveled hard, which it has,
that this mule's leg is painful, which it is.
Would you do less for such a mule than for any of the others?
There is a remedy.
- Hot pitch and turpentine. - Get it.
Yes, father.
Tell me, old friend, how do mules pray?
Father.
It's all right, Juan, I'm ready.
Father.
Where is he?
There he is in the hill.
Sergeant, have the men form up ready to advance.
Form up!
The litter is ready, father.
This is farewell.
- I, uh, wish you godspeed. - I'm not going back.
It's not necessary.
You are ignoring my order?
Captain, you know my life is dedicated to obedience.
But the reason for your order has been removed.
The abscess is gone.
Yes, captain, and I'm going to California.
Tell me, padre, how did you do it?
With beads, my son, with beads.
Corporal, have you seen the padre?
No, sir, I haven't.
Padre, capt. Portola wants you to stay with the column.
It's dangerous to fall behind,
and what's more you're holding us up.
I've found some flowers.
Father Palou wants me to send back word
of any new plants we might find.
This is no time for picking flowers.
Even if it's a flower no one's ever picked before,
I'm gonna ask you to name it.
I'll name it scurra.
That's Latin for fool and you're doing a foolish thing.
Now come on.
Wait.
Halt! Halt!
Take a look at your friends now.
You think your trinkets would help you this time?
Look! Look!
That would never have occurred to me.
Would you call it a miracle, padre?
It is fortunate that they're ignorant and foolish, like me.
It's a foolish world, padre.
The trouble is, it isn't foolish like you.
Half full. It's a day of miracles.
But we need one more to find our way.
We can follow the trail to the column.
We'd better lie down and cover our heads.
Let's go on. We can reach that light.
- There's no light. - There's a light.
Did you sleep well?
I had a crazy dream.
We found a little house, and a man and his wife
gave us all the water we could drink.
There never was wine like that water.
What were they like?
Oh, the woman was very gentle, beautiful.
- And the man? - He was a man with a beard.
And the child?
There was no child.
He was behind you. She lifted him from the basket.
It was my dream, padre. There was no child.
The woman's dress was blue,
and the man's strange coat had red sleeves.
Are you trying to tell me I talked in my sleep?
No, lieutenant, I'm telling you it wasn't a dream.
I think I know what you're trying to tell me.
It was the holy family
and they came down from heaven to lend us a hand.
That's nonsense, padre. I don't accept it.
Well, which way shall we go?
- North? Northwest? - It doesn't matter.
Whichever way you choose will be right.
We weren't saved to perish in this miserable desert.
Northwest.
Here! Here!
Here!
- What are you doing? - An entry for my diary.
"On the 17th day, our first blue Jay."
Tell me when your diary reads "San Diego harbor."
All I want is to come over a hill
and see Rivera's camp and our ships anchored in the harbor.
See Spanish faces and eat some fresh food.
When you put that in your book, it'll be worth reading.
The ships are in! The ships are in!
Rivera's camp is a league seaward!
Now don't tell me you did this with beads.
Rivera's camp is a league seaward, sir.
Carry back the news.
Tell the mass sergeant I want extra wine
broken out for tonight.
Make your camp above our camp and send the priest, quick.
- What's the matter? - Plague.
- Dr. Pratt. - Hello, father.
We're under quarantine, the entire camp.
Scurvy and typhus.
A dying soldier needs you inside.
- Is that sweet water? - I wish it were.
Dr. Pratt, where is father Vizcaino
- and the other chaplains? - Sick, all of them.
It was the drought.
We haven't had any rain for six months.
Sixty of us are dead now,
buried under the sand of dead man's point.
You come too late, father. He's gone.
He's dead, father.
The weight of the sheet will not torment his poor body now.
Fever and death.
We brought our customary gifts to the Indians.
It is difficult to say, captain.
We have buried 60 already.
I just don't know
how much longer we will be under quarantine.
We'll have to go on just as we had planned.
Perez, you will have to go back to Mexico City for supplies.
Vila, you'll have to take us to Monterey bay by ship.
I can't do it.
Of the ship's company,
all I have left is a cook and a boatswain.
I can give you 16 leather jackets.
- Are they sailors? - No.
Well, that would mean the loss of the ship.
All right, you're the commander by sea.
Can San Antonio get back to Mexico
for supplies and reinforcements?
It's your ship, Perez. What do you say?
I don't know. We've only half a crew.
- Can you make it? - I can try.
That's all anybody can do.
My company will move on to Monterey bay by land.
- When do we leave? - We leave tomorrow.
Have you learned anything from the Indians around here?
- Will they attack? - I don't know.
I'll have to leave a platoon of leather jackets as guard.
We'll maintain this a permanent base of supplies.
One of you will be in command.
Vila, you're not well enough.
Pratt, you're too busy with the sick.
- Jose, it will have to be you. - Me? Stay here? No.
I haven't come all this way just to be stuck here.
It'll have to be you.
Captain, it need not be Jose.
I can take charge of the mission.
I'm leaving a platoon of soldiers, father,
and I'm leaving them under the command of a soldier,
not a priest.
This is a fort and a hospital.
It's also a mission, captain, or it will be before morning.
I choose this ground for the mission church
of San Diego de Alcala.
In the name of the father, and of the son,
and of the holy ghost, amen.
I'm sorry you won't be along, Jose.
Your regret gives me great comfort.
I have no choice in the matter. This place must be held.
You're the only man I can depend on.
- I'm honored. - And bitter.
I know what you're thinking. We've always fought together.
We came all the way from Spain together.
But my hands are tight.
We came looking for cities of gold.
You make me a nurse for the sick and a keeper of a priest.
You'll lose nothing by staying here.
To make your lot more bearable,
you'll get your share of anything we find.
My lot is more bearable already, old friend.
- Good luck, captain. - Lieutenant.
Forward!
Inspect the livestock, sergeant.
Yes, sir.
- See anything? - No, sir.
Down!
Hold your fire! Hold your fire!
Wait till they get closer.
Load this Cannon.
Fire!
Juan! Juan!
- Get this man to the hospital. - Yes, sir.
Carlos, Pedro, give me a hand!
How can we help?
Go to the hospital and prepare bandages.
Come and sit down.
Fire the Cannon!
We have a hostage. Looks like an important one.
Bring him over here.
The artery seems to be severed. Make him lie still.
Hold this tight while I clean the wound.
Tighter.
Tighter, father.
Is this the white man's torture? I am not afraid.
I am Matuwir, grandson of Miscomi, the chief.
It's to stop the blood, up here above.
It will make the arm well.
It is a death wound. I have seen them before.
Loosen the tourniquet in 15 minutes,
then tighten it again for 15.
It will have to be repeated through the night.
I'll send you a man.
There's no need. They have enough to do.
We want to help you.
The bleeding has stopped. No torniquet now.
You'd better get some sleep, father.
- I'll set a guard on him. - I'll stay.
Matuwir, many of your people are wounded.
- Here, we can heal them. - They will not come.
They'll come if you tell them, Matuwir.
Matuwir is not the chief, not yet.
My grandfather speaks for all the dieguenos.
Keep it like this till the arm is well.
Let the healing speak to your wounded.
Tell them to come.
- They are your enemies. - We're all brothers, Matuwir.
Do you mean we were born of the same woman?
Under the same sky, under the same god.
That is enough for brothers.
Scissors.
Come.
It's all right.
Tell them to come, Matuwir. Tell them to come.
- You let him go? - Yes.
You had a reason or has your reason ended?
I thought it best.
Well, didn't you care what I thought?
Do you think I'd brought him in here just to save his life,
so he could go back and try to kill us again?
- No. - Then why did you let him go?
Because it was the only way we could ever keep him.
I am not interested in the salvation of souls, padre.
I'm interested only in the safety of my men.
So am I, lieutenant.
Then let me make the decisions!
I am in command here, and I'll issue all the orders.
You will go.
Atanuk says to kill, but you will go.
Does Atanuk speaks for your grandfather?
- No one speaks for Miscomi. - That's why I come to see him.
Because you are white,
he believes you have come to steal our sun.
I have come to be friends and to tell you of my god.
Which is your god, god of grizzlies?
He's the god of all things.
He made the sun, the mountains, the wind.
Did he make scissors?
My grandfather says he does not like scissors.
My fathers before tell of men who come with your god evil men.
Then they were men who do not obey my god.
If you will let us stay by the great waters,
we will not be evil.
My grandfather asks if he may keep the scissors.
You may keep them.
He says he does not like the scissors, but he will keep them.
You may stay by the great waters
but none of my children will know your god.
I shall try to teach them.
Would you like to hold him?
I can't let you keep him,
but you can come and see him at the mission whenever you wish.
Go!
You'll have many hills to travel.
Will you come to visit me some time
at the place of the bells?
I am better here.
If you'd come, I will show you
how to make the sound of the bells.
I will come.
But I will not choose your god.
You will not have to choose him, Matuwir.
He will choose you.
How is their catechism, father?
Oh, they're not interested.
It will take 500 years to baptize one of them.
We've worked 1,700 years, Vizcaino,
and some we haven't baptized yet.
What's her name, padre?
- Which one? - The beautiful one, of course.
They're all beautiful to me.
Well, I'm more discriminating. You know which one I mean.
- Ula? - Ula.
That's a lovely name. It suits her.
I come to see gray robe.
Are those drums from your village?
- War drums? - Death drums.
For Matuwir, you will make the sign of good.
Has Matuwir in trouble?
The old chief Miscomi, he will sleep all the winters.
- He is dead? - Yes.
Matuwir ask for the sign of good for Miscomi.
You tell him I will come.
You will make the magic
and let Miscomi sleep in the good weather of god.
Matuwir will come to church.
He will marry and you will make the sign of good.
Gladly, Matuwir.
But first, you must have the saving water.
- Matuwir not afraid. - Come to church, Matuwir.
I will tell you the things you must know.
Wait.
The good weather of god.
The bishops should say it as well.
Gray robe!
- Matuwir marry. - Good.
- Which one? - All.
All three of them?
Matuwir is a chief.
This is Rano. Yumas tribes killed her husband.
These are her daughters,
Dira and Kukura.
Matuwir.
According to our custom, this is not permitted.
But they are sisters. This is wife without husband.
It is right for Matuwir to marry all.
- It's at least an idea. - It is not our way, Matuwir.
Rano, you go away.
I take these two.
God's law is one husband to one wife.
You'll have to choose. Only one.
Matuwir gave his word.
He will walk the path of gray robe.
Dira is good and wise,
but not so pretty as Kukura.
Dira, go away.
Not to have so many women talking always.
This is good.
Tomorrow, you bring Kukura to the church.
Hello.
I see you many times at the mission.
- I see you, too. - Well, not for long.
Every time I look at you, you look away.
Why, Ula?
How do you know my name?
I know your name because I want to know you.
I know your name. It is Jose.
But that is all I know about you.
Well, that's a good beginning.
What else would you like to know?
How many wives have you?
None. I have no wife, Ula.
- Good? - Good.
- Now I go. - Oh, no.
Portola! Portola is coming!
Portola!
Portola is coming! Portola is coming!
- We will go on with the sewing? - Not today. It's better you go.
- Don Gaspar. - Jose.
Take those litter cases to the hospital.
- Sergeant? - Yes, sir.
Take these litter cases to the hospital.
See to it that the men are fed.
Yes, sir.
- And the animals, Jose-- - I'll take care of it.
- What happened? - Worse than you can imagine.
- The supply ship is not back? - No, it isn't.
- Father. - Take this horse.
Do you have a guard around the food supply?
Yes, sir.
Double it.
Did all the men come back, captain?
Five are dead.
Father, have you ever watched men starve to death?
Yortez, take care of the animals.
Feed these men right away.
Yes, Jose,
I thought of you many times.
Cities of gold.
You were lucky you stayed behind.
Is the bay of Monterey more beautiful
- than our little harbor? - There is no bay of Monterey.
That map was made 160 years ago.
Landslides, erosion, the tides must have filled it in.
What did you find?
Parched land, dead hills,
and savages too worthless to fight.
You should have made the trip, father.
The devil in all his forms must have marched with us.
I was counting on that supply ship.
Thank god we have food.
Yeah, I saw it.
A few rows of corn that will feed us for a week.
We have enough supplies to last us till the ship comes.
- If it comes. - It will be here.
I'm in no mood for your cheerfulness, father.
If it hasn't come yet, it will never come.
We're starting back for Mexico tomorrow morning.
You can't. You can't give up the mission.
I can't?
We've all worked so hard to build it.
Yes, we've all worked hard. It all adds up to nothing.
Nothing? You call building a mission nothing?
Mission.
Ask the padre how many Indians he's baptized
in his precious mission.
- How many, father? - I'll tell you, none.
Not one heathen Indian in nine months.
- Not one. - It takes time.
That's one thing we don't have now.
Let's be truthful, father. We both failed.
Neither of us can ask more men to risk their lives.
I tell you, the supply ship will come.
And if it doesn't?
Are we supposed to bury men in the earth
so you can hang bells from the trees?
Can I issue the marching orders, sir?
Yes, lieutenant.
- He's right, father. - He's right today.
We're soldiers, father, not priests.
We can't afford to live in tomorrows.
We leave for Mexico City tomorrow.
Then it is true what they are saying in the village.
The soldiers are leaving.
- You will go, too? - Yes, Ula.
I'll go with you.
Oh, you can't go, Ula. It's a long, hard trip.
But Diegueno women are very strong.
- I will march with you. - Now listen to me, Ula.
You are a strong woman
but you're also the sister of the chief.
Matuwir would never permit it.
Your tribe will stop us before we marched a mile.
Impossible.
Nothing is impossible.
How many men besides the litter cases can you take?
Fifteen.
The rest will go by land, the same route we came by.
How many horses are fit for the trip?
Thirty-one.
Sergeant, tell the muleteers to--
Yes, father?
I want to speak to you alone, captain.
We're in the midst of planning. Can't you make it later?
No.
Gentlemen, I'll call you.
I see you've ordered the bells carried aboard the San Carlos.
Yes, it's customary. I thought you'd be pleased.
I am.
I've never heard of a ship carrying mission bells
being lost at sea.
For that reason, the supply ship cannot be lost.
I don't understand.
She's carrying mission bells. I ordered them.
But you had bells.
I ordered more,
for all the missions we're to establish up the coast.
We don't base military decisions on mission bells.
When we get back to Mexico, captain,
am I free to say you have no faith
in the protection of our lady?
Please, father, I'm a soldier. I must be realistic.
And I must be stubborn.
I'm saying that the supply ship is not lost.
How long would you like us to wait?
Till we're all dead?
Till St. Joseph's day.
If the ship is not here by then, I'll leave without argument.
When is St. Joseph's day?
Nine days from now.
Nine days.
That's right, captain.
Nine days, the exact time of a novena.
I suppose, if I say no,
you'll tell everyone in Mexico I'm a doubter of novenas.
Very well, father, we'll wait nine days.
Thank you.
Father, you're a very difficult man.
No, Don Gaspar.
Our lady is a very persistent woman.
The last of the beef and 50 pounds of dried beans.
Fresh water?
We've moved 30 skins aboard, sir.
You don't seem to have much faith in the novena, captain.
A soldier's faith.
We have three more days to run, father.
The ship will be here.
If it isn't, I want this one ready to leave fully loaded.
With the streams drying up,
we may not be able to take on water.
Don't worry, captain. The lord always provides.
Father, I've seen a great many armies
that believed in the lord,
but none of them ever travel without a quarter master.
Gray robe!
Matuwir is here.
Matuwir bring Kukura to see gray robe.
Good.
Let's go on with the lesson.
Kukura, sit down.
You see?
It is as I told you.
All is arranged.
Arranged.
I have talked to Matuwir
and he says since my heart is with you,
I can leave my tribe.
You talked to Matuwir?
You told him about us?
I told him I was your woman.
Was it wrong to speak the truth?
Well, it's not a matter of right and wrong.
This was something between us, you and me.
It had nothing to do with your brother.
But he is also my chief.
I told him you did not want me to go with you
because of our people.
Well, it isn't only that, Ula.
Last night, Matuwir called his council.
They say I can go with you.
Your church will have two marriages.
What do you mean?
That's Ula's secret.
She will tell you.
Look, Ula...
I don't want to hurt you,
but I must tell you things you will not like to hear.
You don't know what it's like in Mexico City or Madrid.
Things are different and strange, like...
Like nothing you can imagine.
You just wouldn't get along with my people.
I'm not afraid.
Oh, you don't know my people, Ula.
They'd never let you belong.
Now, go back to your tribe.
I don't want you to come with me.
I don't want you to be hurt.
You don't want me?
No, it isn't that, Ula. I don't want you to be hurt.
You don't want me.
Now, Ula, wait. Ula, stop.
Ula, I didn't mean it that way.
Ula, stop!
Ula, I didn't mean it!
Ula, stop!
Ula! Ula!
Ula, I didn't mean it that way.
No, listen. Now, wait!
- I didn't mean it, Ula. - Leave me!
Really, I didn't.
Ula!
How do you put it down in the book, father?
That I attacked her?
That I killed her?
That's what you all think, isn't it?
Well, I make no apologies or excuses to anyone.
I'm not writing it down at all, Jose.
It's something for you and god to remember.
Don't preach to me. I'm not a child, I'm a man.
And I'll go to hell like one.
If that's blasphemy, that's the way I feel.
It's not manly to go to hell, Jose.
It's your pride.
Well, why not pride?
Do you expect me to be meek
in front of your painted heathens?
Beg their forgiveness?
I'll see them damned first. Of course, I'm proud.
It was a sin, Jose.
Do you think I'm a murderer?
Have some more wine, Jose.
Then say it, padre. Say it.
Go ahead if you think so. Say it.
No man is murdered except in his own heart.
Then who has the right to say it?
A pack of savages?
You.
Then I say this:
I'm made of flesh and blood, not a plaster.
And I have neither guilt, nor shame, nor fear
and the whole thing means no more to me than this.
Burial rites?
Not this time.
Those are war drums.
With that girl dead, we're in trouble.
We can't defend this Garrison against a large scale attack.
No.
I can take the main body south, set up a rear guard.
You can't pack by dawn.
I could take what we need and leave the rest.
I could try it.
You could try something better.
What is that?
You could publicly punish the offender.
You could show them that we don't approve of what Jose did.
Yes, I could flog him in the center of the Plaza.
I do not flog Spanish soldiers for the benefit of Indians.
Matuwir wants to see gray robe.
Matuwir comes for him.
The first time you came here, I dragged you in, dying.
You were lucky to escape with your life.
Lieutenant, we are sorry for Ula.
All of us.
He is sorry too.
What's this talk of my regret?
She's dead and it was none of my doing.
If you want to humble yourself before him,
that's your affair, not mine.
At camp, the birds of morning sing.
Ula does not answer.
What was done is wrong, Matuwir.
And it's against the white man's law.
Can this make Ula sing?
You will give him to us.
Matuwir, I cannot give him up.
This means good-bye to a friend.
Jose?
Fools! why do they gape at me?
There's something I want you to do.
Go to the church and stay there.
- You're not serious. - That's an order.
Now, go there and stay there.
Water last night.
Mud now.
Dust by noon.
I have some holy water in the church.
Not much to be sure, a Kegful.
You better leave it there, father.
You may have a thirsty angel.
There are 30 skins of fresh water on the San Carlos.
Can we get to it?
We can try.
Perez!
Rivera!
All right.
You'll get to the San Carlos as fast as possible.
Load all the water and return.
All right, check your pieces.
We can take position on the south side, sir.
Good.
- You can place your man on the north side. - Captain!
Look, the San Carlos!
Lieutenant, call off the detail.
You should be pleased, father.
With the San Carlos sunk,
there'll be plenty of room in the harbor
for the supply ship, if it ever gets here.
The novena is not over, captain.
We still have 12 hours. That's a long time.
Yes, it is, father.
It's a long time for dying men.
We are turning Jose over.
Does captain Portola know of this?
No, father. We men have decided.
Please, step aside, father.
Go back to your quarters, sergeant.
You are not our commander.
I will not allow you to take a man from this church.
You know what a sanctuary mean, sergeant?
Yes, father.
There's a sanctuary back home, but not here.
Who are you to say where sanctuary is?
It's where the lord is,
in a cathedral or here in a mud hut.
There's a light burning in there.
As long as that light burns, there is sanctuary.
Stay here, my son.
Step aside, father.
I know you're tired, sergeant,
but if you violate that sanctuary,
you may not rest for all eternity.
I won't be threatened, father.
I'm a soldier and a man.
You're a sick child.
Now, go to bed.
Will you give the men communion in the morning, father?
Yes.
I'm ordering an attack.
But the ship--
The nine days are finished at dawn.
We'll attack, father.
And all be killed?
Well, if we are, you won't be too displeased.
Just what does that mean, Don Gaspar?
If you die, you'll be a martyr.
As for the rest of us, we'll just be dead soldiers.
Orders!
Halt!
Faces!
I want these mounted men to take the creek and hold it.
Yes, sir.
Father!
Will you give the men communion before we attack?
Oh, my god.
I am heartily sorry for having offended thee
and I detest all my sins
because I dread the loss of heaven
and the pains of hell.
But most of all, because I have offended thee,
my god,
with all good,
I dessert it with all my life.
I firmly resolve, with the help of thy grace,
to confess my sins,
to do penance,
and to amend my life.
Amen.
Father.
They cut out his heart.
It was a great one.
We'll bury him in the Glen.
There's an echo there.
You can hear the bells after they stop playing.
I'll get a stretcher.
Mother of god!
After all our prayers and suffering,
after Jose's sacrifice.
Forward!
Father, are you ready?
We can say that I baptized a flower.
Father, we forgot to pack the bell.
I didn't forget.
Then you haven't given up?
I'll never give up.
Forward!
Sergeant!
Sergeant, take a bearing from the hill.
Yes, sir!
The San Antonio!
The San Antonio! She comes!
The San Antonio, sir.
It's the San Antonio.
Sergeant, form up!
We're going back!
Form up down the hill!
We're going back!
You can live two years on the food we brought.
There'll be even more at harvest time.
Load all that into the compound.
- Faces! - Yes, sir.
Detail a party to remove the ammunition.
Yes, sir.
Wait a minute.
First the beads, the mirrors,
the ribbons, the presents,
and then the ammunition.
I brought a present for you, father.
These are for the mission of Monterey.
We'll find the bay, Don Gaspar. We'll find it.
We'll find it, father.
And a greater bay that lies north.
The one we'll name for St. Francis.
A clear voice and loud,
one my Indians will love.
I can hear them coming.