Hell On Wheels
performed by The Clarks

Vincent will you teach me how to paint (Vincent Van Gogh) Teresa will I ever be a saint (Mother Teresa) John I really think your songs are great (John Lennon) I was born too late William will you teach me how to write (William Shakespeare) Cassius will you show me how to fight (Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali) Thomas A. I think I see the light (Thomas Edison) I was born tonight I've had a hard time leaving this town I've been losing everything that I've found I'm gonna search the sky, kiss the ground Build it up and tear it back down I've had a hard time leaving this place I've been counting all the lines on my face I'm gonna curse the sky, hit the ground What goes up comes tumbling down Jimi show me how you play that thing (Jimi Hendrix) Elvis will I ever be a king (Elvis Presley) and Jerry all the joy and love you bring (Jerry Garcia) I was born to sing Martin Luther King show me the way Jesus, Buddha teach me how to pray Christopher I think I see the bay (Christopher Columbus) I was born today

In 1865, a former Confederate soldier, Cullen Bohannon journeys to the Union Pacific Railroad's westward construction of the first transcontinental railroad to seek work and vengeance on the Union soldiers that have killed his wife. Cullen gets hired by the railroad and supervises an all-black "cut crew," one of which is Elam, to prepare the terrain for track laying. Through conversation, Cullen learns more about his wife's death from railroad foreman Daniel Johnson, who knows the name of her murderer. But tragedy strikes before this name is given. Thomas "Doc" Durant begins his "mad, noble quest" to expand his Union Pacific Railroad westward in order complete the transcontinental railroad. Lily Bell, accompanies her ailing husband Robert as he surveys the landscape for the Union Pacific. Reverend Nathaniel Cole baptizes Joseph Black Moon, a Cheyenne, then takes him under his tutelage.