Nez Perce 1.2 - Discovery

Nez Perce : Discovery
Genre : Historical
Showrunner: Scott Cooper
Writer : Dwight Gallo
Cast: Adam Beach, Matthew Rhys, Ray McKinnon, Gil Birmingham, Forrest Goodluck, Damon Herriman, Jay Tavares, Kevin McKidd, Gabriel Mann, Michael Horse, Michaela McManus, Duncan Ollerenshaw, Tanaya Beatty

Plot:
1805. William Clark (Kevin McKidd) and Meriwether Lewis (Gabriel Mann) and their Corps of Discovery are frozen and starving in the Bitterroot Mountains during their journey to the Pacific. Almost completely out of food, Clark takes six hunters and hurries ahead of the group to hunt. Young Nez Perce boys notice Clark and his hunters. They are frightened and hide in the tall prairie grass. Clark spots the grass moving and quietly walks toward them. When he discovers that they are children, he offers them each a ribbon as a friendly gesture. Clark and the hunters follow the boys to a Nez Perce village. They are then taken to meet Chief Twisted Hair (Michael Horse), one of the Nez Perce chiefs, who invites Clark and his men to stay for a meal. Clark sends one of the men back to grin Lewis and the rest of the part to set up camp near the village.

1877. General Sherman (Ray McKinnon) stands in front of the Wallowa Valley to show General Oliver O. Howard (Matthew Rhys). Sherman tells Howard that in 1863, a Nez Perce chief sold the entire Wallowa Valley to the U.S. government, but that now there is a contention among certain Indian groups regarding the legality of the sale. A compromise was reached and the valley was divided in half, with the western half opened for settlement while the eastern half went back to the non-treaty Nez Perce who refused to assimilate into civilized society. In that time roughly half of the Nez Perce Nation has adopted white man's ways. They got to school and church. They look to the future, while the other half, the non-treaty Indians, led by Chief Joseph, have clung on to the past. Sherman tells Howard that four years ago, President Grant reaffirmed that half of the Wallowa Valley is to be reserved specifically for the non-treaty Nez Perce, but that the order was officially overturned - this morning. Sherman sits back down and gives Howard his orders: to proceed directly to the Wallowa Valley and rendevous with a Captain David Perry, then escort the Nez Perce tribe onto the neighboring reservation at Lapwai. Howard asks what to do if they refuse to be moved, and Sherman tells him to move them by force, by any means necessary. Howard asks if this is about Custer and Little Big Horn, or if it's actually about the gold that was discovered in the valley last winter.

On the streets of Washington, D.C., Howard buys a newspaper. Everyone on the crowded street is reading about the massacre at Little Big Horn. Howard runs into an old friend, Col. Nelson A. Miles (Damon Herriman), who offers to buy him a drink. At a tavern, Miles orders a shot of whiskey while Howard orders a cup of black coffee. They toast and drink. They talk about their time at West Point together. Howard tells Miles that he's being sent out to Wallowa to move the Nez Perce. Miles says the writing is on the wall. Little Big Horn has changed everything. Now the U.S. is going to hit the Indians full force.

Joseph (Adam Beach) watches as dozens of Nez Perce children, dressed in white man's clothing, pour out a school building in Lapwai, a town inhabited by miners and missionaries and Nez Perce Indians who have converted to Christianity and adopted white man's ways. The teacher, Rebecca Fuller (Michaela McManus), helps a Nez Perce student with his homework, when the doors opens. Joseph stands in the doorway, reluctant to approach. Rebecca sends the student home and looks at Joseph. Before she can say anything, Agent Robert Montieth (Duncan Ollerenshaw) bursts into the school house, announcing that Chief Joseph has been spotted in town. Rebecca motions to the side of the doorway, where Joseph stands. Montieth looks at Joseph, shocked. Joseph tells them that he means them no harm and that he will not stay long. Montieth is shocked that Joseph speaks English, albeit broken. Rebecca tells Montieth that she and Joseph attended school together in Lapwai, many years ago. Rebecca tells Montieth that she will be fine and that he can leave. Once Montieth has left, Rebecca gives Joseph a tender hug.

In the Nez Perce village, Wahlitits (Forrest Goodluck) comes out of his tipi, walking at a brisk pace. His father Eagle Robe (Jay Tavares) stops him in his tracks, asking him who is going to see. Wahlitits says nobody, but Eagle Robe knows he is going off to see Little Bird. Eagle Robe urges his son to be careful as Little Bird has promised to another man, but that he won't stop his son from being with the woman he loves. Wahlitits smiles and quickly leaves. Eagle Robe watches him disappear into the woods, then get back to work.

Joseph and Rebecca sit in the school house. He tells her that the white men have come before, but never this many. And there are soldiers too. All of them over the land granted to them by the great chief in Washington. He asks here why they are here. She hesitates, then takes something out of her desk drawer and sets it on the table with a soft thud. Joseph looks down at a small gold nugget. He picks it up and asks if it is the same rock they found in the back hills. Rebecca slowly nods. Joseph asks if what Red Grizzly says about Yellow Hair is true. Rebecca says it is. Joseph asks her if the white men know the difference between Lakota and Nez Perce. She tells him that some do, but many don't, and urges Joseph to be careful.

1805. By the time Lewis and the rest of the Corps of Discovery make it to the Nez Perce village, Clark has already made friends with Twisted Hair and has started to gather maps and geographic information from the Indians about the route further west. Twisted Hair introduces Clark to his daughter Winter Moon (Tanaya Beatty). She takes Clark by the hand and leads him into a tipi where the two have sex. With the Corps of Discovery's horse all in poor health, Lewis makes a deal with the Nez Perce for younger, healthier horses, giving the tribe guns and tobacco in return. Over the next couple of days, the Corps live among the Nez Perce, resting and building five dugout canoes to use once they reach the Columbia River, their gateway to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark thank Twisted Hair and the Nez Perce tribe for their hospitality and bid them fareful, hoping to cross their paths again on their return trip.