TEXT: ( ON SCREEN "Washington, D.C. 1865 The war is over, Lincoln is dead. The nation is an open wound." ) [SCENE_BREAK] [ EXT. Street in Washington, D.C. ] ( A UNION SOLDIER walks down the street. Church bells RING. He looks up at the church and enters the building ) [SCENE_BREAK] [ CUT TO: INT. Church confessional box ] ( The soldier is confessing to a PRIEST, who is off-screen. ) Priest: ( slight Irish accent ) Unburden yourself, my son Soldier: I was with General Sherman on his march south. What we did...evil, unspeakable things. Priest: You were a soldier. You were following orders. Soldier: No. No, not just orders. We opened a dark door and the Devil stepped in. Priest: The only way to cast out the Devil is to confess to God. Soldier: No. No, I can't, Father. Priest: ( Southern accent ) Tell me about Meridian. Soldier: How do you know about Meridian? ( The priest, who is actually CULLEN BOHANNON, slides open the screen and aims a revolver at the soldier. Bohannon shoots the soldier in the face. He slumps over and falls out of the confessional. People in the church scream. Bohannon exits the confessional and aims his revolver at the soldier, ensuring he is dead. He looks up a huge crucifix and then walks out of the church. A bell TOLLS. ) [SCENE_BREAK] [ INT. Fancy parlor - Day ] ( A sign reads "The Union Pacific Railroad. Investment Offering. Join us as we construct this glorious road from sea to shining sea." ) ( THOMAS DURANT, a middle-aged, well-dressed man, is making a speech to potential investors for the Union Pacific Railroad. ) Durant: A nation, which nearly destroyed itself by civil war between North and South, can only be healed by the binding together of East and West. Mark my words, gentlemen, it will be built. The only question that remains
SUMMARY:
In 1865, former Confederate soldier Cullen Bohannon ( Anson Mount ) journeys to the Union Pacific Railroad 's westward construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad to seek work and vengeance on the Union soldiers who killed his wife. Thomas "Doc" Durant ( Colm Meaney ) begins his "mad, noble quest" to expand his railroad westward. Lily Bell ( Dominique McElligott ), accompanies her ailing husband Robert ( Robert Moloney ) as he surveys the landscape for the Union Pacific. Their camp is attacked by Cheyenne braves and all are killed except Lily, who flees into the wilderness with maps that are essential to Durant's success. Reverend Nathaniel Cole ( Tom Noonan ) baptizes Joseph Black Moon ( Eddie Spears ), a Cheyenne, in the Missouri River. The two later arrive at Hell on Wheels, the name for the mobile camp that follows the railroad westward.