SYNOPSIS
Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan of the Missouri Mounted Volunteers completes his service in Mexico at the end of the Mexican
War of 1848 and leads his men back to Santa Fe, the old Spanish Capital. The Southwest Territories are now secured as part
of the rapidly growing United States. His volunteer regiment of rough frontiersmen disbands to return to their homes and families.
Doniphan has been away from his comfortable and quiet farm for over two years. He is anxious to return to his beautiful
wife, Maggie, and his two children, 14 year old Katharine, and 8 year old Christopher. In Santa Fe he quickly learns that
the intrepid Maggie has recently left Missouri with his young family to travel to the Oregon Country with her father and mother
as part of a larger group of westward bound emigrants. Her letters to him have not been delivered. She does not know if he
is alive or dead.
Embittered by the brutalities of the conflict in Mexico, the experienced horse soldier rides north in hopes of over taking
the slow moving wagon train. He is joined on his trek into the raw and untamed frontier by the black mountain man and scout
Jim Beckwourth, and a young Paiute Indian guide simply known as Tal. The Rocky Mountains provide a formidable barrier and
an attack by Cheyenne Indians during a spring snow storm nearly ends their brief journey when the starving Indians try to
steal the men's horses and supplies.
At Fort Bridger, Doniphan learns of the recent massacre of an emigrant wagon train from Missouri by a band of Ute warriors
led by the fierce sub-chief Black Hawk. Most of the party were killed and butchered in the vicious attack. There were a few
survivors, but their whereabouts are unknown. Doniphan quickly goes to the site of this disaster and discovers the grisly
remains of a mass gravesite now dug up by wild animals. The large hole in the ground is simply marked as the last resting-place
of the "unknowns". The dismembered bodies in the mass gravesite are unrecognizable. He stumbles upon the carefully hidden,
but well marked graves of two others- Maggie's father and mother. A cruel confirmation that this was his family's wagon train.
Someone has taken the time to provide a decent burial for the older couple. A person apparently known to them. The fate
of Doniphan's family is uncertain, but he strongly feels that they may still be alive somewhere nearby. He knows that he must
search for them in this vast and open wilderness that seems to reach out forever across the distant horizon. The horseman
will have to look for his past to find his future.
A frontier trading post sits isolated in a wide-open valley. The men seek information about Doniphan's family, but instead
find trouble with a group of army deserters who prey on unsuspecting travelers. The veteran cavalry officer and his companions
quickly dispatch the ruffians in a violent fight to the death, but not before the faithful Tal is killed in the brawl. Doniphan
learns from the post trader's wife that a white girl was seen recently with Black Hawk's band of Ute. The trail becomes stronger
as it heads south into the great mesas and plateaus of the rough Ute high country desert.
The ride across this bitter and sun-scorched land is difficult. The vistas are spectacular and breath taking. Misery and
beauty blur into one surrealistic image. The two men split up in hopes of covering more ground at a faster pace. Searching
endless canyons and draws in this country of incredible landscapes, Doniphan's horse becomes caught in a concealed quick sand
bog along the banks of a small grassy stream. An unseen and deadly advisory that will not release the faithful stallion from
its death grip.
The horse soldier must shoot his best friend. Another cruel fate of the unforgiving elements. Doniphan is now on foot in
this hostile land. He begins a merciless walk into the unknown. After three brutal days his body is consumed by the sun and
wind that constantly blows the ever-changing sands of time across the desert landscape. Abruptly attacked by a hungry mountain
lion, he kills the beast and survives, only to collapse from fatigue and exhaustion. His search has come to an end....
A hunting party comes across the unconscious Doniphan. The men are part of a small Mormon settlement that lies along the
mighty Green River. An oasis among the brilliant crimson cliffs and mesas. They take Doniphan back to their isolated part
of the world where he quickly recovers from his brief ordeal. The leader of the Mormons recognizes the former commander from
Missouri.
He tells him that the hunting party recently encountered a group of peaceful Ouray Indians and traded goods with them.
The Indians spoke of "a crazy woman who traveled with a small boy and a holy man." She was searching for a young girl taken
by a band of Ute's known to visit this region.
Doniphan becomes excited, he knows that this must be Maggie and his young son, Christopher. The Mormons speculate that
the holy man is Brother Ingram, a renegade Prophet of the faith denounced by Bringham Young as insane. He may be taking Doniphan's
wife to Cove Fort, a small stockade and trading post on the edge of the Great Basin desert. The post is a popular place for
the Ute to trade their white captives for much needed gunpowder and rifles.
Doniphan leaves for the fort and meets again with Beckwourth, now accompanied by a small boy he found in the smoldering
remains of a homestead attacked by Black Hawk's warriors. The boy has seen Doniphan's daughter with the Ute. The men leave
the boy with another group of settlers and ride hard for Cove Fort. Arriving, they find Maggie and his son safe and sound.
A US Army cavalry unit arrives simultaneously at the scene. They also have been following Black Hawk's trail of terror,
and have located the Ute leader's camp nearby. They plan to attack the Indians at first light the next day. Doniphan knows
that he must get to his daughter before the attack, or Black Hawk will immediately kill her when the fighting starts.
The former horse soldier has traveled a dangerous path, encountering severe hardship and peril against violent men, wild
animals, and an unforgiving, hostile country. A man fighting against the elements, he has been forced to survive against insurmountable
odds in his relentless search for his family. An intruder in an environment larger than life, Doniphan must now complete his
long journey, as he rides the desperate trail of the last horseman.
THADD TURNER * Old West Alive! Productions
10560 E. Rio Verde Drive, Hereford, Arizona 85615. (520) 366-5916 * (240) 201-7084 fax
thaddturner@aol.com* www.oldwestalive.com * WGAw Registration No. 864413
