Young Riders 101
Set in the 1860's, just before the Civil War, The Young Riders focuses on the exploits of a group of Pony Express Riders based at a way station in Sweetwater, Nebraska. A raw onion-eating, horse trough-bathing, tiny pearls of wisdom-spouting former Texas Ranger named Aloysius "Teaspoon" Hunter heads the outfit. There were six riders at first: a quiet Southerner whom folks called The Kid (no relation to Billy The Kid); a half-white, half-Kiowa named Buck Cross and his friend Ike McSwain who is mute; Lou McCloud, a young woman who masquerades as a man to ride with the Pony Express, Jimmy Hickok, a cocky teen with a hair-trigger and William F. Cody, a savvy and overly confident rider with an extraordinary marksman's eye. The group was later joined by a free born black man named Noah Dixon.

Why am I a Young Riders fan?
I'm not a big fan of westerns, but I very much enjoyed this one. The scenery was beautiful. The characters were unique but real, and the stories invited the viewer to share in their triumphs and sorrows.

Man: Help you, sonny?
Kid: It’s me, on the sign outside.

Teaspoon: You will ride seventy-five miles one day, flat out.
Cody: That’d kill the horses.
Teaspoon: You will change mounts five or six times a day.

Teaspoon: Boys, I’m here to learn you my bag of tricks. You will learn ‘em good.

Teaspoon: If it’s trouble you want, you’ll get a belly full.

Teaspoon: What is your name?
Cody: Cody. William F. Cody. "Billy" if you’d like.
Teaspoon: I don’t like.

"You don’t need to impress me, Cody. I ain’t gonna be chasin’ you." Teaspoon, after Cody shows off his skill with the rifle

Teaspoon (to Lou): You sure you can cut this work? You look to me to be a might puny.

"Puny, but spry." Teaspoon, after Lou demonstrates her equestrian ability

Teaspoon: This outfit didn’t hire orphans for nothin’.
Emma: They’re not orphans while I’m around.

Sam: Why don’t you ask me out to your place sometime? I could use a nice, quiet meal.
Emma: We tried that. You got bored.
Sam (optimistic): Well, let’s, uh . . . try it again.
Emma (with a smile): I’ll think on it.

Jimmy: The one with the scar back there? How’d you know he was gonna back down?
Sam: Well, I figured a man carryin’ so many guns, he must be afraid of everything.

"A girl with no ma, no pa, no kin. What’s left for me? Scrubbin’ floors, or worse?" Lou, on why she joined the Pony Express

"I expect I got more expertise than most." Teaspoon, when the Kid has a question about women

Teaspoon: Some people get married, and they call it love . . . but it weren’t really who they thought it was in the first place. So, the years pass by, and you find out you done married up to a stranger. So. The question is. If they’s married to a stranger, who was they with all that time before?

Scarface Guy: First, I’m gonna finish my coffee, and then I’m gonna kill you.

Kid: It’s gonna take some gettin’ used to, now that you’re a girl.
Lou: I’ve . . . always been a girl, Kid.

"Nothin’ personal friend, but I could eat me a horse." Cody, to the horse he rode in on

Longley: Calvin LeBrock? Lon Thatcher sends his regards.
LeBrock: Tell him to go to hell.
Longley (brightly): Oh, I’m sure he plans to.

Emma: Hope you boys are hungry.
Cody: I was born hungry, Emma.

Teaspoon: I suppose you don’t know that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins?
Cody: Yeah? What are the others?
Teaspoon: Let’s see there’s, uh …
[He thinks and smiles, then sobers.]
Teaspoon: Never mind.
Cody: Well, don’t matter. I’ll get around to ‘em, sooner or later.

[Buck watches Hickok venturing closer to a rattlesnake.]
Buck: He takes one bite out of you, it’s all over, my friend.
Jimmy: Maybe I’ll take a bite out of him.

"Remember, Hickok. There’s always one more waitin’." Buck, after killing a second rattlesnake that Hickok didn’t see

Lou: What’s wrong with Jimmy?
Cody: Must be somethin’ he ate.
Kid: Or somethin’ eatin’ him…

[The Kid was trying on cologne.]
Lou: You smell like a whorehouse!
Kid: What? . . . How would you know?

Jimmy: Well, if I spooked your horse, I didn’t mean to.
Longley: No, that doesn’t sound like an apology to me.
Jimmy: Sorry . . . but apologizing’s something I only do on Sundays. Today is Tuesday.

"I’m not lookin’ for trouble, but I see it in his eyes. Sooner or later, one of us is going to have to take him on." Longley, to Marshall Kane about Hickok

"Buyin’ supplies can be tiresome, but I never did know it to start a war." Teaspoon, walking up on Jimmy and The Kid fighting

[Teaspoon and Jimmy are in a sweat lodge.]
Jimmy: You mind tellin’ me what we’re doing here?
Teaspoon: Sweatin’.

[Someone knocks at the back jail door.]
Marshall Kane: Go ‘round front!
Voice: Can’t!
Marshall Kane: Sure you can. Move your right leg, then your left leg, then your right leg again. Sooner or later, you’ll get there.

"If you ever hit me again . . . I’ll forget you’re my friend." Jimmy, to Kid

Emma: There’s no difference between you and Jimmy - except that he’s too young to know better.
Marshall Kane: What do you want from me, Emma?
Emma: I guess I want what you can’t give me.

"If you’re still here when the sun goes down, I’ll forget I have a badge." Marshall Kane, to Longley

Teaspoon: You know, son, you’d be a lot cooler if you took that shirt of yours off.
Lou (quickly): I’m fine.

Emma: Was it worth it?
Jimmy: I had no choice.
Emma: Did you want one?

"My Pony Express riders over here. Fine bunch of boys . . . Most of the time anyway." Emma, introducing the guys to her attractive friend

Cody: I’m in love.
Jimmy: With yourself.

Lou (about the girl the others are admiring): What do you think, Kid?
Kid (abruptly stopping staring at the girl): Safer not to.

Lou: Alright, she’s beautiful. But can she ride?
Jimmy: Funny, I was just thinking that.

Emma: Well, Jimmy, Cody, you’re both wrong. She was smilin’ at Lou.
Jimmy: At Lou?
Cody: Lou?
Emma: I guess she takes a shine to the silent type.

"Someone in this group’s gotta show some style." Cody, considering getting his hat re-lined

Teaspoon: Pride is a cheap commodity. It can leave a man when he’s been whupped and kicked. Pride goes on, comes off easy, like that hat. But self-respect, nobody can take that from you. Goes clear to the bone.

Knickerson (laughing, to Ike): Is that right, dummy? You really can’t talk?
Teaspoon (very serious): The only dumb thing, mister, is you callin’ that boy a name.

[Shots are fired.]
Kid: Emma, get down!
Emma: Get down yourself!

Buck: He says it’s not our problem.
Jimmy: Man sends someone to kill me, I made it my problem.
Buck (translating for Ike): "They came for me."
Kid (to Ike): Then they came for us.

Cody: Somebody’s gonna have to slow ‘em down.
Jimmy: Somebody’s my middle name!

"One thing’s for sure: it ain’t a sign of welcome." Kid, about an Indian drawing left at the scene of an attack

[The riders learn about recent Kiowa attacks.]
Cody: Look at the bright side, Jimmy. Maybe we’ll get a few days’ rest while they find us a route around ‘em.
Lou: Around ‘em? Hell, they’ll send us through ‘em!

Lou: We didn’t go lookin’ for no trouble. Honest
Emma: Didn’t go lookin’ for a way around it, neither.

Teaspoon: As far as the Pony Express is concerned, if one rider don’t make it, the next one will.
Cody: Somebody tell that to the Kiowa.
Jimmy: Somebody tell that to the Army.

Teaspoon: Indians is fightin’ for their way of life . . . Just like our kin fought the British almost a hundred years ago. Except the Indians is called savages. Our kin was called patriots. Probably because they won.
Jimmy: Fine. Next time an Indian chases me, I’ll get off my horse and sing him Yankee Doodle.
Cody: Then he’ll kill ya for sure.

Red Bear: At least in battle there is honor.
Buck: But the white man, he doesn’t fight for honor. He fights for land.

"I will see you in the land behind the sun, my brother." Red Bear, parting ways with Buck

Cody: You snuck out last night?
Buck: I had to see someone.
Jimmy: Who?
Buck: My half brother.
Jimmy: Which half? White or red?

Buck: You all don’t know the first thing about my people.
Lou: Your people? Which side are you on?
Buck: No side.
Jimmy: Better pick one.

"There’s this Indian saying: white man thinks with his head, but an Indian thinks with his heart. When your heart’s in two pieces like Buck’s, that’s a . . . tricky bit of business." Teaspoon, explaining Buck’s dilemma to the others

Emma: Every time one of them kids rides out . . . tears me up they might not ever come back.
Teaspoon: Emma, they stopped bein’ kids the first day they took a run. People shoot at you, you grow up quick.
Emma: Shoulda had more time to be kids. Be brought up proper.
Teaspoon: Well, if they’re willin’ to fight for each other, we must be doin’ something right.

[Lou has tried on a dress at a store, and Kid just stares at her with admiration.]
Lou: Say somethin’.
Kid (appreciatively): Damn.
Saleslady: That’s it? What are you, blind? She’s beautiful.
Kid: I don’t know if I’ll ever look at you again and not see you like this.
Lou: Is that good?
Kid: It depends on who’s watching.

Lou (about being able to wear a dress): You can’t imagine how good it feels.
Kid (suggestively flirty): Good thing I can’t.

Kid: Save that dress for when you come home?
Lou (teasing): You look better in pants.

Jimmy: We did good today, huh.
Kid: Yeah. We didn’t shoot anybody.

Jimmy: Should be easy.
Cody: Like walkin’ on water.

Biggs: Now, who are you?
Lou: Don’t you know?
Biggs: How the hell should I know?
Lou: Mary Louise McCloud . . . was my mother.
Biggs: That’s impossible. I had two daughters and one son.
Lou (after a brief pause): You still do.
Biggs: Louise.

Jimmy: A girl.
Lou: Something wrong with that?
Jimmy: Only thing wrong is I didn’t see it sooner. I’m tellin’ you, Lou, it’s a relief, ‘cause the way you and Kid been lookin’ at each other all this time . . . Hell, I even caught myself lookin’ at you like that a couple times.

Jimmy (to Lou): All I’m gonna say is that . . . you’re the best lookin’ boy I ever seen.

Cody: I wouldn’t let that go to your head, Lou. I seen him lookin’ at his horse the same way.

[The vet checks Katy, Kid’s horse.]
Kid: Alls I can say is, her walkin’ just seems a tiny bit off.
Doc Wheeler: You sure she’s not just tryin’ to get out of ridin’ in the rain?

Kid: What’s a colored man doin’ out here?
Buck: What do you mean?
Kid (after a pause): Back in Virginia, we’re just not used to seein’ em out.
Lou: Out of their place?
Kid: I don’t mean that.
Lou: You’re a long way from Virginia, Kid.

Cody: Come on, Jimmy. We got a corral to fix.
Jimmy: You’re gonna need your jaw fixed, you wake me up like that again.

"I didn’t tell him nothin’. As miraculous as it may seem to you gentlemen, some people can manage to do the right thing without getting a kick in the pants." Teaspoon, to Jimmy and Cody. Teaspoon illustrates his point by kicking Cody in the butt.

Kid: One thing’s for sure. He belongs to somebody.
Teaspoon: Kid . . . I know where you come from slavery’s a way of life, but there’s still some thinkin’ you could do on it.

Ulysses: They ain’t gonna stop until they bring me back. That’s why I got to leave.
Emma: That’s why you got to stay. You can’t run forever.

Ulysses: You’d be risking a town full of enemies . . . I can’t ask you to do that.
Kid: Don’t have to ask.
[Ike signs to Buck.]
Buck: Ike says we were never that popular in town to begin with.
[The others laugh.]
Cody: Speak for yourself, Ike.

Deputy: What are you gonna tell the townfolk?
Sam: As much of the truth as they’re willing to hear.

Jimmy (impassioned): I’m tellin’ ya. She was the most beautiful woman I ever seen.
The Kid: Sounds like you made a hell of an impression of yourself.
Cody: Yeah. One close look at you and she took off for the next county.

Teaspoon: This all kinda reminds me of the story of the three frogs. One day, this here girl frog devised a jumpin’ contest ‘tween a couple bullfrogs that caught her eye. Well the first frog jumped like there was no tomorrow, while the second one was real careful and took his time.
Lou: What happened?
Teaspoon: Well, the first bull frog, he overshot the mark and had to double back, while the second one plopped along nice ‘n easy and got there right about the same time.
Cody: So which frog got the girl?
Teaspoon: Neither. By that time she was tired of both of um and went on to the next pond. Funny thing about girl frogs. You don’t catch them. They catch you.

Teaspoon: Fire you? Why would I do a fool thing like that?
Lou: 'Cause I’m a girl, remember?
Teaspoon: That mean you don’t sit a saddle as well, ride as hard, or shoot as straight?
Lou: No... but the company’s got rules, and you work for the company.
Teaspoon: Company’s company... And family’s family. You’re family, dammit. And family sticks together.

Lou: Yesterday I did something no self-respectin’ woman would ever do.
Rachel (intrigued): Really? What?
Lou (scandalous): I walked in on Kid in the shower.
Rachel: So?
Lou: So, I didn’t walk out, leastways not as fast as I should.

Rachel: Where’d you get the idea men and women are all that different?
Lou: Well, in the shower, for one place.

Lou (dressed as a saloon girl): How do I look?
Jimmy: Definitely missed your calling.

Jimmy: Cody, ya know the trouble with you is you're always making mud out of clear water.

Cody: I don't know about you, but I'm gonna keep my money in my sock from now on.
Jimmy: Lord knows you ain't hurting for room there, seeing how your foot is usually in your mouth.

Cathleen: What did he want?
Buck: He wanted to buy you.
Cathleen: He wanted to buy me?
Buck: He offered me three ponies.
Cathleen: And what did you tell him?
Buck: I asked for four.

Kid: Ever since you all found out that Lou was a girl, she's been acting more and more like a woman!

Kid: Jimmy?
[No answer]
Kid: Jimmy!?
Jimmy: You got something to say, Kid, or do you just like the sound of my name?

Kid: I thought you said it was a good day to die.
Curly: Mmm, tomorrow is better.

Jimmy: Kid, you got all the answers. Problem is, they ain't to my questions.

Lou (quoting Teaspoon): 'Son, there's only one thing you can't save a person from and that's themselves.'

* The Good Old Days weren't always so good.
* It doesn’t always take a man to do "a man’s work."
* Don’t judge people by their size.
* Sometimes you don’t have to win, you just have to keep standing.
* The importance of a job can very often not be measured by its pay.
* People who are looking for trouble will usually find it.
* You can't fool people forever, but then again, you don't always need to.
* You gotta learn control.
* Sometimes it takes a hot place to cool a man’s fire.
* Straight lines may be quick, but they ain’t always safe.
* It seems like the better you get at fighting, the more you’ll find a reason to.
* Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
* There’s dignity, and then there’s dignity.
* People who feel compelled to say "I ain't lookin' for trouble" are usually looking for trouble.
* Sometimes doing the right thing can - for a little while - feel like the wrong thing.
* Get while the gettin’s good.
* "Too many to count" equals "too many to fight."
* What if, for a change, you start thinking everything’s going to be okay?
* A deal is a deal.
* Age don’t matter. Poison from an old rattlesnake’ll still kill you.
* It’s easier to play a chief than to be one.
* Sometimes we do not see because we choose not to.
* There’s always a last man.
* Never look back.
* Men lie, but numbers don't.
* People don't have to be related to be family.
* Those that love you will let you know when you're out of line.

[The riders are about to confront a band of bad guys.]
Lou: What would Teaspoon say?
Cody: "Run like hell."
Kid: Too late for that.

At Thompkins’ store, Jimmy looks on as Cody admires his own reflection. Cody says that the "eagle feather" he's put in his hat looks great, and that it suits him. Buck, passing by, observes and says simply, "Turkey feather," as he walks on. Jimmy bursts out laughing and agrees that it suits Cody just fine.

Teaspoon tries to help Jimmy lose some of his demons in a sweat lodge. Jimmy gets panicky about not being able to breath and starts to hyperventilate. Teaspoon tells him to calm down and relax. Jimmy replies tensely that he is relaxed - and then he passes out, falling to the ground. Pleased, Teaspoon says, "That’s better."

[Running Pony indicates his price for the horses he’s just delivered.]
Teaspoon: Two hundred dollars?! I wouldn’t pay that much money for your horses, your women, your young’uns, the game in your land, all the stars in the sky!
Buck: You don’t really want me to tell him all of that, do you, Teaspoon?
Teaspoon (a lot calmer): Tell him we’ll settle for one-eighty.
[Buck relays Teaspoon’s offer, but Running Pony firmly repeats two hundred.]
Teaspoon: Okay.

The riders are sitting down for a meal, and Emma starts to serve Cody. However, she’s so busy smiling and making eye contact with the visiting Sam Kane that she doesn’t realize that she’s repeatedly spooning food onto Cody’s plate. The riders look at Emma looking at Sam, and Cody offers, "You oughta come by here more often, Marshall."

Teaspoon had his sore foot propped up on the desk; he was asking Buck's advice on how to treat the nasty wound. Buck replied seriously, "You could try wrapping it in a bandage." Teaspoon asked, "Would that help?" Buck replied with a laugh, "At least we wouldn't have to look at it ..."

Jimmy had offended Ambrose, the small, bookish fellow who idolized Jimmy. Furious, Ambrose told Jimmy to step outside. Knowing that he would easily beat Ambrose, Jimmy tried to talk him out of it, but Ambrose insisted. Jimmy tried refusing to fight, but Ambrose would keep on. Jimmy would finally throw a punch, which would knock Ambrose down, but he kept getting back up. Hurt but still trying, Ambrose finally gets up only to lose consciousness. He falls forward, and Jimmy catches him. (What a great picture of putting a disagreement behind you to be there for someone when it counts.)