Undressed Under Duress, Season Two, Part Two Going It Alone...
In
the 1974 Doty-Dayton produced movie, Seven Alone, the Sager family
commenced crossing 2,000 miles of the Great Plains from St. Joseph,
Missouri. Their dream was in hopes of reaching the Oregon Territory out west. My young pal, Josh of
Vermont, and his pop are familiar with this film. In his earlier email to me,
he requested this true life adventure be reviewed in a posting wherein this pioneer family faces one
hazardous problem after another. This movie features fourteen year old
John Sager played by Stewart Peterson. He's an ornery kid who continually
finds trouble including running off several head of wagon train cattle. His daddy, Henry Sager (Dewey Martin),
finally has had enough of John's egregious behavior. He angrily tells the boy he is "disrespectful and disobedient, and has pulled too many pranks." And, now it's "time for a licken" ... follow me outside and "take down your britches!"John's daddy gives him a whipping he won't soon forget. The boy is so
humiliated, hurt and angry he decides to run away. Grabbing a knap sack and his rifle he heads out for parts unknown. Not getting very
far the first night, he stretches out for a night's rest, using his
shirt and coat as a pillow.
Before long, he is suddenly awakened by a single Indian who quickly accosts John with the ill intent of stripping him of his possessions. Sparing his life, he jerks the boy up by his suspenders. And for the second time, John has his britches pulled down. This time they are take right off of him. He's skinned right down to his underwear.
The Indian steals not only John's clothes but his rifle, blanket, boots and knap sack too, leaving the young boy stranded in the wilderness, wearing nothing but his socks and union suit.
As the Indian leaves, John pulls himself off the ground. He angrily throws a rock at the departing thief on horseback...
...and so the boy has no choice but to begin gingerly hoofing it across the barren land of cactus and rocks in his underwear.
Before
long. he hears hoof beats coming towards him. Thinking the Indian is
returning to do even more harm,
John ducks behind a bush.
It's not the Indian returning but a white man on horseback who hearing a sound whirls around, pointing his pistol at the startled
boy who ducks back behind the bush. Upon seeing the nervous youngster
clad only in his union suit, the stranger laughs, re-holsters his gun
and asks, “What are you doing way out here without your
clothes?” John tells him an Indian stripped him of all his possessions. And,
he admits he ran away from his family because his daddy whipped him.The
horseman, who turn out to be the famous Kit Carson (Dean Smith),
tells the boy if he were his he would whip him too. But Kit takes
pity on the kid and tells him to mount up behind him and he'll take
him back to his family.
As
Kit approaches the Sager covered wagon with John riding behind, several Indians are noticed on the horizon. Kit has the boy hastily dismount to take cover in the wagon! John's distraught daddy is overjoyed to see his boy being safetly returned and turns to Kit to see what can be done about the new threat.
As John's daddy grabs his rifle, the boy quickly scurries into the safety of the wagon where a friend of his parents is ready to drive the horsedrawn wagon to safety.
Still clad in his union suit and socks, John learns that his mama has just given birth to her seventh child
and is lying in the back of the wagon. He turns to join her....
It's another boy....
Kit, in the meantime, rides out to parlay with the Indians. Their talk goes nowhere so, Kit realizing an attack is imminent, rushes back to the wagon shoutig for the travelers to load up and ride like thunder. What's to become of John, Kit, the baby boy and the rest of the family?! Will they survive or be slain? Will John spend the rest of the movie in his union suit? Stay tuned for, as the say, the exciting conclusion of the next installment of Seven Alone!
