The Year: 1867

Pilot (P)

Sully first saw Mike when she and the Reverend were walking from the church into town and Mike fell in the mud. He was in the meadow, negotiating with Black Kettle and Colonel Chivington. Mike first saw Sully in Loren's store when he threw his tomahawk to splinter a sign that said no dogs or Indians. Loren was hostile to Sully, Black Kettle and Wolf. After Sully threw the tomahawk, Chivington drew his gun but Wolf's bared teeth and growl stopped anything further. Sully retrieved his tomahawk, Mike posted her advertisement for a home and office, and they exchanged a long look. As Mike was trying to mount a horse, Sully surprised her by helping her onto her new horse. When she thought he had taken down her ad, Sully told her he was answering it. He walked and she rode to his homestead site, and when she fell getting off her horse, he said that she better learn to make it on her own. Sully seemed unwilling to go near the homestead. Mike agreed to rent the homestead for one dollar per month, and Sully walked away. On the way to help Mike move in, Charlotte told Mike the basics of Sully's life: Sully came west in '59 for the Pike's Peak Gold Rush and married Loren's daughter, Abagail, over Loren's objections; Abagail died in childbirth and Loren still blamed Sully. Charlotte said Sully was a man of his word. In the homestead, Mike found things as Sully had left them when Abagail died: the hope chest, a baby's bootie, and a copy of the wedding photograph that showed Sully with short hair, clean, and in a suit. The next Sunday morning, Mike was rebuffed by the townsfolk over a medical emergency and she found Sully visiting the grave of Abagail and Hannah. She asked what Sully had told Black Kettle about her. Sully replied that he said she was a medicine woman that had come from the east, but that Black Kettle said among the whites, only men make medicine. Some days later, Mike met Sully leaving the meadow and learned the negotiations were over. Sully said Chivington came to steal the land so he could become Colorado's first governor. When Charlotte died, Sully was in the back of the funeral, observing. After the children moved in with Mike, Mike entered the saloon to treat Myra but some drunken cowboys tried to block her exit. Sully grabbed one and threw him out the door, and in unconventional style, fought with the others. He threw his tomahawk to disarm the first drunk, and then helped Mike out of the saloon. As she climbed in the wagon and drove off, she thanked him and held out her hand. He touched it and watched them drive away. When Mike was searching for Brian who had run away from home, Mike was found by Indians and brought to camp. Sully was there talking with Black Kettle, and translating her problem to Black Kettle and receiving an answer, he told her the Indians would help look for Brian in the morning. Mike said that Sully was Brian's hero. In a tense conversation, Sully told Mike the Cheyenne believe if a woman acts like a brave, she'll become one, but Mike said she'd chance it. Sully assured Mike that she was not a poor mother, and told her that he does not get homesick. In settling down for some sleep, he covered her with his red serape and then lay on the opposite site of the tepee, clearly nervous about her presence. Sully's wolf helped track Brian and they found him down the slide of a cliff. Sully climbed down and brought him back up. He steadied Brian as Mike set his leg. As Sully was carrying Brian home, the army charged the Cheyenne who were helping them look for Brian and Mike stepped in front of the soldiers. At first, Sully was incredulous but then he joined her and she diffused the situation. Some weeks later, Mike and the children were in the store and the Reverend told them Sully had carved the wolf; Mike bought it for Brian. After the Sand Creek Massacre, Sully brought a wounded Black Kettle to Mike at the homestead for surgery. He told Mike that he believed that the white man was trying to rid the country of the Indians, as they were doing to the wolf, both of whom had been a friend to him. He asked Mike to help hide Black Kettle and she agreed to hide him in the barn. The soldiers came to search the homestead, and Sully tied the barn door to give him time to help Black Kettle out the back door, then threw his tomahawk to cut the rope holding the door. The army looked but saw no evidence of Sully or the Cheyenne. After Black Kettle was strong enough to ride, Sully told the family that Black Kettle had given Mike her new name, Medicine Woman, and that Black Kettle would now have to fight, something he did not want to do. Sully said he was afraid of horses and that everyone was afraid of something. He walked into the woods with a long look back. Some weeks later, he brought Christmas gifts to the family: the "Medicine Woman" sign for Mike, a pocketknife to Matthew, a hair comb to Colleen and a wolf puppy to Brian. He agreed with nervousness and pleasure to stay for Christmas dinner. Notes: Sully wore a hat throughout but it was never seen again. He wore a red and black striped serape, buckskin pants, beads, medicine bag, turtle pouch, moccasins, and had a braid. Wolf was his constant companion. He wore his shirts outside his pants. He had a tomahawk and knife on a belt. He also wore a white and striped coat under the red serape during the winter. The sign remained near the homestead door until Mike and Sully married and moved to the new house. Mike put it in the trunk buried during the Founder's Day celebration in Season #6 (COF). In an interview with Beth Sullivan, she said Abagail and Sully were married in 1861. The grave marker says she died in 1865. Beth Sullivan also said Sully was born in 1835 so Sully was 32 here and was 26 when he married Abagail.

The Year: 1868

Epidemic/101 (E)

Sully was going to the telegraph office to send a wire to the President on behalf of Black Kettle when he literally ran into Mike. He helped her pick up her packages and they talked about how Chivington was reprimanded after Sand Creek and Custer had taken over. Mike thought Custer could not be worse than Chivington. Just then, Emily came running with her sick baby, and Sully watched as Mike treated the baby and then found Emily's husband dead. When Mike tried to convince the town to use the old boarding house for a clinic for the influenza epidemic, Sully helped Mike break into the building. As Mike ran out of medicine, he offered Mike purple-cone flowers as alternative Cheyenne medicine but she refused. Sully helped Horace to the clinic. The town rioted and wanted to break into Loren's store for supplies but Sully threw his tomahawk into a log that Hank was about to use on a window and stopped the riot. When Mike came down with the influenza Sully caught her as she collapsed and carried her into the clinic. When Colleen said they were out of medicine, Sully started to get Cloud Dancing. Matthew went instead, taking Sully's medicine bag. Sully stood vigil, and watched while the women sponged Mike's back. He promised Brian that his ma would not die. When Cloud Dancing came, they took her from the clinic to give medicine and ceremony. They then brought her back to the clinic as well as a supply of Indian tea for her and everyone. Emily believed Sully and took the Cheyenne tea. But when Custer showed up, Olive and the others helped hide Cloud Dancing. Sully stood vigil and was there when she woke up. After Mike went back to sleep, he kissed her on the forehead, gave a longing look and blew out the lamp.

Cowboy's Lullaby/107 (CL)

Mike invited Sully to dinner at the homestead with the reason that Brian wanted to show him the puppy's new tricks, and he held Brian during the singing by Red McCall, a visitor with a baby. Several days later, after McCall had run away, leaving the baby with Mike and stealing money from Loren, the kids summoned Sully to track and find Dr. Mike when she was late coming back from an appointment. He had an angry response to Colleen's use of the child's clothes found in a trunk in the barn. Sully found McCall while tracking Mike and Wolf discouraged McCall from pointing his gun at Sully. Sully told McCall that if he ever had a child again he would never give it up. McCall agreed to give back the money and gave it to Sully to return to Loren. Sully found Mike in a cabin with a rabid bear outside. After a discussion of the abandoned baby where he offered to take the baby and raise it, Sully enabled them to escape by getting Mike to open the cabin door, posing as the bait and getting the bear to rush in after him. He jumped and grabbed a rafter as the bear rushed past. Then he and Mike ran out, bolting the door after them. Returning to town, they returned the money to Loren and said it was from someone they never met. Sully took Mike to the reservation where Black Kettle said he could not take the baby because he feared he would be unable to feed the Cheyenne that winter. At the homestead, Sully brought McCall back to claim the baby and offered him the clothes in the trunk.

The Visitor /102 (TV)

Robert E. made a new tomahawk for Sully who tested it by throwing it into a fence post. Shortly thereafter, Sully was the first to reach him when the forge exploded and Robert E was burned. He helped carry Robert E to the homestead and maintained a presence during the treatment of Robert E, which disturbed Mike's mother who was visiting. As Elizabeth was viewing Mike's garden, Sully appeared and said he built the homestead for his family who had died. Sully said you don't get over the loss of a child. Elizabeth offered condolences and Sully told her that if Colorado Spring had a doctor, perhaps his wife and child might still be alive. He came to town to say goodbye the day Elizabeth left to return to Boston and they shook hands with a silent respect.

Note: the old tomahawk had a dark handle and darker metal. The new "prop" tomahawk was shiny metal wrapping around blonde wood that was decorated on the handle. The real tomahawk that Sully threw (in one camera angle) into the post was slightly different in that the wood wrapped around the end of the blade.

The Prisoner /103 (TP)

Sully was with a hunting party with the dog soldiers and Black Kettle when they heard gunfire. Sully wanted to go back to camp with the party but Black Kettle told him to stay. Sully came to town and was there when Cloud Dancing was brought to town as a prisoner by Custer. When Black Kettle showed up under a flag of truce, Sully translated, telling Custer that Black Kettle had no control over the dog soldiers that were making the raids. Sully had trouble controlling himself with Custer's arrogance. Sully said that Black Kettle said Custer was too young and foolish to live to be an old man. Later, when Mike went to treat Cloud Dancing, Sully went into the barn with Mike to translate, even though Cloud Dancing spoke English. Custer arrived and Sully asked why he killed women and children. Custer ordered that Sully stay away or Cloud Dancing would be shot. Custer brought Cloud Dancing out for a public execution and Sully objected. Custer said Sully should convince Cloud Dancing to reveal where the dog soldiers were. Sully asked Cloud Dancing to lie and tell them anything. Cloud Dancing refused and said he knew the truth. Sully accepted his friend's decision. After the execution turned out to be a fraud, Sully enlisted Mike and the town to free Cloud Dancing during Olive's Hurdy Gurdy dance. First, Sully stole the keys to the shackles from the barn and replaced them with fake keys. Mike used the real keys to unlock Cloud Dancing's chains while treating him. Cloud Dancing grabbed the first solider, and Sully dressed as an Indian fought off the guards who came running in. After the soldiers were subdued, Sully tied up Mike to make it appear she had been a victim, and helped Cloud Dancing out of the barn. As they left, Custer came in and fired a shot in their direction; Sully took a pitchfork and threw it, pinning Custer's hand to the wall. As Mike was leaving the barn after treating Custer, Sully called to her from behind a horse and told Mike that Cloud Dancing made it away safely and that she had the heart of a warrior. When she asked if Cloud Dancing said that, Sully said, 'No, I did," and disappeared.

Note: Cloud Dancing calls Sully by his name and not an Indian name.

Law of the Land /105 (LOTL)

While hunting with Brian with bows and arrows, they found an injured deer. At first, Sully wanted to put the deer down, saying to Brian that the Cheyenne believed if you take the deer's last breath, her spirit would live on. Brian convinced him to spare the deer and let Mike heal it, so he gave the breath back to the deer and took the deer to Mike. When Brian insisted, Sully confessed that his first name was Byron and that it was not good for a deer or a man but Brian named the deer Byron anyway. Later, Sully heard there was trouble in town and came to the church to find Mike, the Reverend and an injured Jon who had stolen a cow and taken refuge in the church. Mike asked him to stay to protect Jon. Sully watched as the town interviewed candidates for sheriff but was not part of the decision committee. As a mob tried to hang Jon, Sully saved him by throwing his tomahawk at the hanging rope and slicing it. He maintained a watchful presence during Jon's trial. Sully, Mike and the family convince Brian to let the deer, now healed, to return to the wild. Sully said that he had told Brian of the Cheyenne belief that wild animals should live free and that you should only take you needed for food

Note: the closed captioning put the Cheyenne words up when Sully asks the deer's permission to take her earthly life. Sully kept string in the turtle pouch.

The Great American Medicine Show/108 (TGAMS)

Sully brought Wolf to Mike for treatment when Wolf tangled with a bobcat and they witnessed Franklin posing as a Kickapoo Indian. After rescuing him from the rain barrel, Sully saw the Sun Dance scars and knew Franklin was Cheyenne. Sully tried to convince Franklin to join the Dog Soldiers who were fighting to keep what was left. Franklin scoffed and said Sully was white and Sully responded that although he is "veho" or white, his spirit goes with the Cheyenne. Later at the medicine show, Sully's presence made Franklin run to the edge of the woods where Cloud Dancing and others were waiting. Cloud Dancing invited him to join them, and told Franklin he was listening to the wrong spirits (alcohol). Franklin told the story of his band being killed while he and his son were out hunting. Sully watched as Franklin left the show and joined the Cheyenne. Sully was in town when Mike convinced Doc Eli to operate on Myra and Mike asked him to sober up the Doctor. He did so and then waited with Horace and Hank on the porch, keeping the peace between them.

Father's Day/104 (FD)

Sully followed Mike and Ethan Cooper into town, and watched as Ethan offered to sell his horse. Sully was goaded into buying it when Jake and Loren told the crowd that he could not ride. After an unsuccessful attempt to ride the horse at Robert E's corral, Sully went to Cloud Dancing for help. When Cloud Dancing noted that Sully never wanted a horse, but when Sully said this one came to him, Cloud Dancing said what you fear will always come to you. Sully told him why he was afraid of horses: he saw his brother dragged to death in the stirrup of a horse when he was young. Cloud Dancing instructed Sully to thank the horse for the gifts he would give him, and to spend all his time with the horse, and a shirtless Sully did so. Sully learned to ride and in another shirtless scene, galloped for the first time and learned the feeling of flying. Cloud Dancing noted that God created the four-legged and two-legged and that we are all relatives. Meanwhile, Sully did not trust Ethan Cooper with a mixture of jealousy and suspicion. Sully provided a turkey for the family dinner and reluctantly came to dinner and graciously allowed Ethan the glory of carving the turkey. Ethan gave him further reason not to trust him when he claimed he had a mine in Carson City but Sully had heard mining had closed down. He counseled Mike not to let Ethan take the children back to San Francisco. At the Social Picnic, when Mike was upset about telling a family why their mother really died and the lack of faith in her skills that would result, Sully told her that telling the truth makes people trust you. During the dance, Ethan asked Mike to dance and she glanced at Sully who said nothing so she went accepted the invitation. But he stayed and watched as they danced and flirted. Later, during the picnic, Sully saw Ethan steal the schoolhouse money raised through the auction. Sully confronted him but Ethan pulled a gun. Ethan then stole Sully's horse and to catch him, Sully borrowed some one else's horse, and he took a small moment to gather the courage to ride the strange horse. After a furious ride, Sully tackled Ethan. Ethan pulled his gun again and Sully threw his tomahawk, knocking the gun from Ethan's hand. The two were struggling with him when Mike arrived and fired Ethan's gun in the air. Sully wanted to arrest Ethan but Mike convinced him to let Ethan go so that the children would not know their father was a thief. As Mike told the children why Ethan left, Sully arrived with a "letter" from Ethan to help them understand. Matthew knew their father could not read or write, but Sully convinced him not to reveal the truth for the sake of Colleen and Brian, because in this case the truth would only hurt. As Mike comforted the children, Sully walked away.

Note: Sully wore a black belt with the buckskin pants.

The Healing /105 (TH)

Sully was in town as Mike examined Sam in Myra's room and pronounced him dead. Loren discovered that Maude had never formally signed the homestead land over to Abagail and thus the deed did not pass to Sully after Abagail's death. The next Sunday, Sully was visiting the graves of Abagail and Hannah before joining the family for a picnic. Colleen noted he was visiting the graves a lot, and Brian said he must have loved them very much. Mike looked pensive. Meanwhile at the cemetery, Loren and Olive approached to pay their respects on the second anniversary of their deaths. Despite Sully's offer to let the past be, and Olive's support, Loren refused to forgive Sully for Abagail's death, saying Sully married Abagail without Loren's permission. Then Loren told Sully the homestead land was not his and to get off. Sully stormed off. The next day, Sully went to the clinic to tell Mike the news, and Loren, mad about his hernia, told them both to get off the land. Another day, as Mike prepared to do an autopsy on a man who died, Sully objected saying the Cheyenne believe a man takes his scars into the afterlife. Mike countered that was the living who kept their scars. Sully bristled and Mike asked Sully if was not time to put Abagail to rest. Sully said these things happen in their own time, and told Mike to go ahead, she was good at cutting. The next day, Sully tried to make peace with Loren but he refused, shouting that Abagail was supposed to marry Martin Anderson and help run the store, but Sully changed all that. Sully said he loved Abagail and Loren attacked him and then collapsed. Olive gave permission for Mike to operate, and Sully assisted by holding the lamp and encouraging Mike. After the surgery, Sully offered to donate blood to Loren. Loren asked Sully if he was doing it for the land and Sully insisted he did not care about the land. As Loren recovered, he realized he had been inappropriately blaming Sully for Abagail's death. He asked Sully into his room to talk. Loren asked if Abagail hated him because he had disowned her when she married Sully, and Sully said that Abagail knew Loren still loved her. Loren gave him an enveloped. Sully tried to refuse and Loren asked him why he had to be so stubborn, to which Sully replied "for the same reason you do, I guess." After Loren fell to sleep, Sully stayed and found some peace with Loren. In the envelope, Loren gave Sully the title to the land. The next morning, he walked to the homestead to tell Mike and the family they did not have to move because of Loren's gift. Mike asked him what to do with Abagail's trunk, and after a long moment of reflection on the wedding picture and ring, he told Mike to give it all to Loren. At Mike's invitation, he hesitated and then agreed to stay for dinner. Notes: although the script says this was the second anniversary of Abagail's death, it has to be the third year if she died in 1865or she would have died in 1866. It would have been the fifth anniversary if she died in 1863 (AWA).

Bad Water /109 (BW)

Sully was in town one afternoon when a fight broke out between Matthew and Calvin Harding, son of a local mine owner and he helped break up the fight. Some time later, Mike needed to check Willow Creek for mercury poisoning and Sully and children went with her. When she found evidence of the poisoning, Mike went to the saloon to confront Mr. Harding, and in the course of the conversation, Sully said that the mine operations were not safe because two of his friends were killed in mine cave-ins. When Mike wanted to go to sample the water, Sully offered to go for her, saying he had done assay work before, but she said a judge might consider him biased. He was forced to accept the fact that she would go with him. At camp their first night, Sully told her not to waste the water, and that they could not have a fire because someone might see it. As he lay down, he watched her button her shirt after washing up, then rolled over, and then looked back again, swallowed hard and rolled over. The next morning, he was packing the horses in order to wake up Mike and told her to pack up "all that junk" and not to use the fancy soaps because everyone could smell them. His hostility showed when he said he knew this would be a bad idea. Later that day, as they stopped to rest the horses, a mountain lion spooked the horses and they ran away. Sully became even more irritated and told Mike to get rid of all her junk and take only what she needed. He thought she took too much, but Mike was able to mesmerize a rattlesnake with a mirror while Sully killed it. They found Happy Walker and his still, but Happy was dead from the poisoning. They were climbing a steep mountainside and Sully again chided Mike for taking too much stuff, insisting she leave the tent behind and scoffing at the idea that it might rain. Just then, guards from the mind rode past, and in their attempt to remain unseen, Mike fell down a cliff and broke her wrist. At camp, Sully helped Mike take a drink of water and told her was no sin to let someone help you. Mike said she wanted to prove to him that she could do anything that he could and he responded saying quit trying so hard. Mike said it was an old habit and Sully said to give it up. He moved away and watched Mike struggle to unpin her hair. He came up behind her and brushed her hair and they both felt stirrings of feelings. Mike and Sully then were trying to cross a river when the guards spotted them and threw dynamite into the river. It exploded next to Sully and he was stunned but Mike saved him from drowning. While their clothes were drying, Sully said the Cheyenne would say that Mike had a debt on him, but Mike said they all had a debt on each other. Mike asked him if the clothes were dry, and he told her not to look while he went to see. They were dry and Sully took them to her. As she struggled to put them on, she insisted Sully keep his eyes closed which he struggled to do. Sully had to help Mike button her shirt, and did so with a combination of fascination, desire and nervousness. That night, during a rainstorm, Mike invited him into the lean-to he had built, and when he refused, she told him not to be so stubborn. He said it was an old habit and she said to give it up. He tentatively went into the lean-to and lay behind her spoon fashion, and she grabbed his hand. But neither could sleep. Finally at the mine, Mike and Sully were gathering the water sample and doing a test when they were found by the mine guards and captured. They were held in a tent and Sully told Mike they would probably take them somewhere and make it look like an accident. But Mike was summoned to save the owner's son from mercury poisoning which softened the owners attitude. Sully offered a solution of a tailings pond for the runoff waste from the mine. As they headed back to town on borrowed horses, they found a hopelessly lost search party and Sully lead the way home. Upon their return to town, they thanked each other, and both knew things between them would be different.

Notes: Sully rode a brown and white horse. He wore a blue bandana after they got wet in the river.

Running Ghost /110 (RG)

Sully and the family were with Cloud Dancing collecting herbs and medicines when they heard gunshots in the distance. Sully knew it was men hired by the railroad to kill buffalo for the workers, but his tone implied more, and then Cloud Dancing explained that when the buffalo were gone, so were the Cheyenne. Sully then was at the reservation when Iron Knife had words with Black Kettle and Cloud Dancing about doing something about the buffalo hunter. Iron Knife stormed off, and Sully said they should go after them. Black Kettle said Sully should go and talk with the buffalo hunter and Sully agreed. Cloud Dancing told of Iron Knife's family dying of starvation last winter, and offered to go with Sully. Sully said no, that the buffalo hunter might like to kill more than buffalo. Sully approached the camp and introduced himself, and said he came to speak on behalf of the Cheyenne nation. Tate Rankin asked if he was a half-breed and Sully answered that it did not matter what he was, that what he had to say was important. Sully gave Rankin Black Kettle's request: to leave enough buffalo so the Cheyenne could survive the winter. Rankin said the railroad did not care about the Cheyenne and that they should eat coyote. Rankin said you cannot stop progress and Sully said progress to some is death to others. When Rankin counter that the Cheyenne could go the way of the buffalo, Sully said they would not go without a fight, and that they would not wait until the last buffalo was gone. Rankin asked which side Sully would be on, and Sully told him that if he kept killing buffalo, he would find out. Sully turned to leave but Rankin struck a blow with a rifle butt in Sully's back, knocking him to his knees. Rankin and the two buffalo skinners beat Sully and threw him down a hillside, and he came to rest against the body of Iron Knife. That evening, at the homestead, Cloud Dancing brought Sully to Mike, saying that this was Rankin's answer and that Sully had spoke her name when he had found him. The next morning, with Brian asleep in the rocking chair, Mike and Cloud Dancing continue their doctoring and Cloud Dancing said that the spirit said his injuries were bad but that he would live. Later that day, Sully awoke and Mike attempted to examine his injuries. They discovered he did not have feeling in his legs, and although Mike thought it might be temporary, she was unsure. Cloud Dancing went off to find a root he believed would help. Some days later, Sully was sitting up in bed, tended by only Colleen and Brian. Colleen offered him bowl of soup that she insisted he eat. Brian offered him a cookie only after he finished his soup, to which Sully slightly smiled. But Sully had no appetite and at Brian's request for a story, told the story of the White Buffalo. Brian interrupted with disbelief, but Sully said the white buffalo was one in a million, and the Cheyenne called him Running Ghost. Sully said that Cloud Dancing says that if you see one, you know it is real. Just then, Mike and Matthew came home and she saw Sully's despair. She asked the children to leave and tried to encourage Sully that healing would take time. He asked if he would heal, and for the truth and she said she did not know and had no idea of his chances. At his frustration, Mike tried to encourage him, saying that there was therapy to help, and she began to massage his legs. He became increasingly uncomfortable as did she, and finally he said he did not want to do this right now. As she pulled back, Sully said Mike should not feel sorry for him, and she countered that she would not feel sorry for him if he would not feel sorry for himself. She left and he was stung by her words. Cloud Dancing came by the homestead with the root he had found, asking after Sully as his "younger brother." Mike said Sully was not in the mood for company and Cloud Dancing told of two more Cheyenne being killed by Rankin, and that Black Kettle might not be able to stop a war. Over the weeks to come, the family took Sully to the hot springs for therapy, and the kids cheered him on from the bank while Mike and Matthew held him in the water. Brian told him to remember how he had taught him to swim. Two weeks later, the Reverend and the family were encouraging Sully on to do more pull-ups to strengthen his upper body, and Sully did so, not really believing. Even later, as Matthew rubbed more of the Cheyenne root on Sully's legs, Sully looked at Mike for encouragement and received none. But then Mike saw his toes move, and Sully moved his foot, and in Mike's joy, Sully was determined to walk again for another purpose. Anxious to get strong, Mike and Matthew helped Sully begin walking again by going outside the homestead. Sully insisted on doing more than Mike thought wise, and his strength gave out. As Mike and Matthew caught him and helped him back to the steps, Sully looked at Mike in frustration and Mike return with sympathy. Some time later, Sully was dressed in his buckskins and a green shirt at the family cleared up dinner. Sully wanted to go outside for more firewood, but Mike insisted he stay and Matthew went instead. Brian said they were lucky to have a doctor for a ma, and Sully agreed with a look to Mike that said he understood. Brian asked that Sully complete the story of Running Ghost and Sully obliged. He said, "It was the winter of '60. Cloud Dancing was hunting out near Cedar Lake when he heard the sound of cracking ice. He climbed a ridge to take a look. A heard of buffalo were trying to cross the lake and the ice started to give way. He watched and waited for the worst to happen. It was then he saw the most frightening sight. There appeared before him a giant white buffalo, as white as the snow. The herd saw him too. They stopped in their tracks, and for some reason, they turned around and went back. Then the white buffalo, Running Ghost, turned and Cloud Dancing said his eyes were like two burning coals in a fire. That ghost buffalo looked right at him and Cloud Dancing said it was like the buffalo could see right into his spirit. Then the white buffalo turned and ran toward the trees and disappeared." The next day, Sully was walking on his own, with Matthew observing, as he took his tomahawk, and with a yell, threw it into the barn wall. The look on his face said he was determined to have revenge. After Mike met Rankin in town and let him know Sully was still alive, Sully felt he had to leave the homestead over Mike's objections. Sully said there was one way to end the situation, and Mike cautioned him that he was in no condition to take on Rankin. But Sully reasoned that if Rankin left, the army keeping the Cheyenne on the reservation would leave and there would be no war. Mike countered that the railroad would just send more hunters, and after a moment Sully simply thanked Mike for taking care of him. Mike pleaded with Sully and said that if he killed Rankin she never wanted to see him again. After a moment and a glance at Matthew, Sully rode off in his determination. The next day, Mike asked Cloud Dancing and Black Kettle for help in finding Sully, and when they could not, they did say they would help in the way they could, but that she should find him because she was the only person he would listen to. Sully found the two buffalo hunters and knocked them out even as he was unsteady on his feet. He heard the gunshots and followed the sound to find Ranking. Sully rode towards Rankin with a Cheyenne yell and Rankin raised his rifle to aim at Sully, but saw the vision of the white buffalo. Sully was able to ride up to Rankin and leap off his horse onto the hunter. They fought, and when Sully gained the advantage, he raised his tomahawk and brought it down to slice Rankin's ear. Sully then backed off, telling Rankin to be gone by morning and to take nothing with him. Sully, in pain, mounted his horse and rode away. Rankin rose and was going to shoot Sully when the white buffalo appeared and gored Rankin to death. Sully turned and saw Rankin's death and knew. Riding toward the homestead, Sully saw Mike in the distance but was so weak he fell from his horse. Mike rushed to his side, wanting to know if he had killed Rankin. As he rolled into her lap, he said he had not. Mike held him as she sighed in relief.

Note: Again, Cloud Dancing and Black Kettle both use Sully's name and not a Cheyenne name. Sully rides "paint" from BW. In the fight with Rankin, Sully split his buckskins in the rear and in the knees. We assume that he later told Mike how Running Ghost killed Rankin.

Happy Birthday /111 (HB)

Sully was sharpening his knife at Robert E's when the kids approached, and Brian let slip that Mike' birthday was approaching. When Brian told him he should marry their mother and become their pa, he bristled and insisted he was their friend. On Sunday after church, Sully offered to watch the children while Mike took a buggy ride with the Reverend. But the next day, he could not help himself when he asked with an edge if she enjoyed the ride and they share an awkward moment. Just then, Myra came up saying Jake was not answering his door. Sully helped break in the barbershop and carry Jake to the clinic. As Sully waited on the clinic porch, Matthew approached and tried to tell Sully that if he waited too long, Mike might find another friend. Sully helped Mike and Loren handle Jake during his delirium tremors, and witnessed Jake confess to Mike that he loved her. Later, when Mike refused to let Jake out, in a statement that was also about himself, Sully told her she could not make a person do something they did not want to do, and she relented. Sully and Cloud Dancing were racing their ponies and Cloud Dancing asked Sully what he was running from. When he denied it, Cloud Dancing told him that it was woman troubles. Cloud Dancing said that it had been many seasons since he had loved, and since love was strong like the elk, if Sully would look deep in his heart, he would find love again. Sully stopped to ponder that. As Mike was admiring the sign the townsfolk gave her for her birthday, Sully appeared. He was shaved and dressed in a suit for the party, and gave her saddlebags he made for her. When Mike kissed him on the check as a thank you, he kissed her. Sully turned, smiled, and offered his hand and escorted her to the party

Rite of Passage /112 (ROP)

When Mike found Matthew in the barn with Ingrid, she asked Sully to talk to Matthew in a conversation that revealed a great deal of personal nervousness on Mike's part. The request made Sully very nervous and he was relieved when Matthew said he knew everything and did not need to talk. When asked by Colleen, Sully said Abagail was 18 when she and Sully married. Later, Sully told Matthew of the Cheyenne rite of manhood: the vision quest, a practice he had gone on several times. Sully said he did it to become a better man. He took Matthew to Cloud Dancing who gave Matthew his tasks to begin the vision quest, and was there when Matthew gave up the quest. Sully and Brian found Matthew in the woods after he moved out of the homestead, and Sully encouraged Matthew to continue the vision quest, saying it was a matter of finishing what you start. Matthew decided to do so, and Sully was with Cloud Dancing when Matthew repeated the first task: he brought a perfect egg of a red-tailed hawk. Cloud Dancing conducted a sweat lodge for Matthew then prepared Matthew for the vision quest. Sully said that Matthew wouldn't be much of a man if he does not have choices. Sully stayed with Cloud Dancing as they waited for the vision quest to be over and struggled with himself about leaving Matthew alone. After Cloud Dancing said Matthew had seen what he needed to see, Mike arrived and demanded to know where Matthew was. Sully refused to tell her, reminding her that she made choices when she was young to which her parents objected, but she remained adamant. At supper at the homestead, Matthew recounted his experience and the people he saw, including Sully, Mike, Colleen, Brian and Ingrid, and watched as Mike gave Matthew her engagement ring to give to Ingrid.

Notes: If Abagail was 18 when she married in 1861, she was born in 1843, however her grave marker says 1839.

Heros/113 (H)

Sully and Mike were preparing to go to the reservation when a team of horses bolted and head straight toward Colleen. Sully ran and pulled her out of the way, but they were both all right. Because one of the cowhands was injured in the accident, Mike had to stay in town so Colleen went with Sully to the reservation to tend to Snow Bird. There, she learned the Cheyenne customs of courting, including "talking under a blanket" and thought that Sully was courting her when he covered her with his serape in the cold wind. As her infatuation grew, she wrote a letter, modeled after a story she had read, saying she has been kidnapped and hidden in a mine. Sully never received the letter, and when Colleen did not come home for dinner, Mike and Sully searched for her during a stormy night on the mountain. He found her hiding in a mine entrance and she had suffered frostbite on her hands. Sully carried her back to town and was confused when Colleen asked him to leave the recovery room. While the family was waiting to know if Colleen would recover from the frostbite, the letter for Sully arrived and Mike inadvertently read the letter. She told Sully of the letter and how Colleen might feel that way, also talking about herself. As they attended Colleen, she asked Sully if he could love a woman who was not perfect, and he said he could if it were someone as wonderful as she was, and this broke the hearts of both Mike and Sully. Colleen did recover and when Mike objected to her desire to see Sully, Colleen talked of her feelings, sure that Sully felt the same way. But Sully overheard and confronted it as gently but firmly as he could, saying that he did not feel that way. She ran away and he followed, and he tried to help her understand as gently as he could, and said he wanted to be her friend, not her hero.

The Operation/114 (TO)

While with Sully on a nature walk, Sully and Brian talked of the new school that was planned, and Sully said he was short on book learning. Sully began to tell Brian about the Cheyenne belief that eagles bring wisdom, and of a Cheyenne boy who became so wise he became an eagle. Brian climbed a tree and told Sully he was going to fly, and jumped. He hit his head and Sully ran back to town carrying Brian. After Mike judged Brian to be fine, Sully left and could not be found when Brian collapsed. Upon his return, Mike accused him of staying away and he said he went to pray and to ask forgiveness because Brian could have been hurt. In her worry, she yelled at Sully, who followed her into the clinic hallway when she started to cry. They settled their harsh words and he encouraged her to do the operation to save Brian's life. During the operation, Sully and Robert E agreed to help Matthew build the schoolhouse even though the Indian and Negro children will not be allowed to attend. Sully slept in the recovery room with Mike and the family, and when Brian woke up, followed Mike into the street to find him. He stayed behind until Brian saw him, and then embraced both Mike and Brian with a sense of relief.

The Secret/116 (TS)

Mike and Sully were driving to the reservation and had a discussion about styles of driving wagons and the first time they saw each other. They stopped at the house of a recluse neighbor and found her dead and a young boy in the closet that they did not know. After the woman's funeral, and while Mike was trying to take care of Zack in town, Sully, Brian and Matthew cleaned out the cabin. Sully told Brian that he, in fact, did cry when his wife died, but that people react differently to things. Later, Sully realized that Brian did not draw the pictures Mike and others were raving about, and in father-son talk, let Brian acknowledge that is was wrong to take credit for the drawings, but told him that he did have other talents. Zack ran away and Sully took Brian to the old cabin where they found him. Sully was clearly moved when Brian told Zack it was all right to cry. When the young boy is found to be Hank's son, Sully helps Hank defend the boy when ruffians try to torment the boy. Sully was there when the town said goodbye to Zack as Hank took to him an art school in Denver.

Portraits/115 (P)

While escorting an eastern photographer, Daniel Watkins, Sully helped him photograph some dog soldiers, and took him to Mike when he was injured. Sully was concerned when Mike and Watkins spent too much time together. As Watkins' sight became blurry, he asked Sully to look through the camera and tell him if the scene was clear. During a portrait sitting for Mike and the children, Sully refused to be in the photograph, telling Brian he was not part of the family. After Emily's wedding, Sully was in the distance, always watching Mike, and saw her catch the bouquet. Sully increasingly helped Watkins, and while out to photograph the wilderness, Sully objected to his photographs, thinking it will draw others to the west. He talked of the greed for gold and silver that convinced him to give up mining. Sully asked Watkins why he needed Sully's help so much to check the view, and Watkins confessed he had diabetes and was losing his site. Sully offered his continued help, to which Watkins agreed if he were to get the photograph of the town. Watkins saw through Sully's reticence about Mike and told him that if a woman like Mike ever looked at him the way she looked at Sully, he would fall down on his knees and promise himself to her forever. In setting up for the town photo, Sully told Mike that he meant her birthday kiss, but that he was not ready for a commitment because the two of them were so different, but their conversation was interrupted by Watkins. Sully was in the wagon getting supplies when the horses bolted because of the fight between townsfolk over who could be in the photograph. The wagon crashed and burned, but Sully was able to save the camera lens. Sully helped to convince Watkins to let Robert E rebuild the camera box. In setting up for the town photo again, Sully helped Watkins focus the camera but then climbed down from the tower and stood next to Mike with his arm around her for the photograph.