How the West Was Won (TV Series)

The Innocent (1979)

Charles Tyner: Eli Kelsay

Quotes 

• Eli Kelsay : The only place a smart-mouth like you is goin' is back the way he come. You got gall, comin' in here and spoutin' off like you were knowin' everything there is to know about what is! But what you don't know is that long before you was anything but unworked clay in the hands of God, I was settin' myself against the raw elements of his creation. A buildin' that there ferry, so as I could make a decent livin' for my family. I worked like a Chinaman clearin' this land and fought like an injun to keep it, to make it work. Even lost my wife to it... I've done everything but give birth to this river.

• Eli Kelsay : I ain't lettin' this pass, woman. When one of my boys drags himself home like Esau, more in the arms of the grim reaper than in mine, that's when I draw a hard line. Most men would up and hang a boy like Willie, for doin' what he done. Right on the spot! But you can count yourself lucky that I ain't gonna do that. But I am seein' to it that he pays hard for what he's done.