Django in 1860
Django Freeman (13 September 1833- 19 December 1889) was an African-American freedman and bounty hunter who was active during the Antebellum and Wild West eras. In 1858, he was freed from slavery by the German bounty hunter King Schultz, who enlisted his help in finding Freeman's former overseers, the Brittle brothers. After doing so, Schultz persuaded Freeman to partner with him as a bounty hunter, and Django trained to be a quick-drawing gunslinger. In the spring of 1859, with Schultz's help, Freeman tracked down and rescued his wife Broomhilda von Shaft from the sadistic plantation owner Calvin J. Candie, and, after destroying the Candyland plantation, he rode off to freedom with his wife.
Biography[]
Django in slavery
Django was born into slavery in the American South in 1833, and he was taken from his parents when he was young and was enslaved at Curtis Carrucan's plantation in Greenville, Mississippi. While there, he met Broomhilda von Shaft, a house slave raised by a German family, and they fell in love and married. Carrucan disapproved of their marriage, leading to Django and Broomhilda attempting to escape. They were recaptured by the overseers "Big" John Brittle, Roger "Little Raj" Brittle, and Ellis Brittle, and they were both branded on the face with the letter "R" to punish them as "runaways". Carrucan then sold both of his slaves, selling Broomhilda to the Candyland plantation in Mississippi and Freeman to a plantation in Texas.
In 1858, however, the bounty hunter King Schultz located Django as he and several other slaves were escorted through rural Texas by Ace Speck and Dicky Speck. Schultz asked the slavers if one of their slaves was from the Carrucan plantation, and, when Django said that he was, Schultz asked him if he knew the Brittle brothers and could identify them. Freeman concurred, but Ace grew hostile and told Schultz that there would be no sale; he then threateningly leveled a shotgun at Schultz. Schultz responded by dropping his lantern and shooting Ace in the head, proceeding to shoot Dicky's horse to trap him under his horse. Schultz proceeded to buy Django from Dicky, before freeing the other slaves Soloman B. Cormack, Earley Y. Friedman, Kasper O. Stowers, and Pratt T. Bullington and letting them kill Dicky as he rode off with Django, whom he had steal Ace's winter coat and boots and leave with him.
Schultz and Django riding into Daughtrey, Texas
Schultz and Django rode to Daughtrey, Texas, where the white locals were scared at the sight of a Black man riding a horse. They chased out the innkeeper Alvy G. York, who was frightened by Django, and Schultz poured pints of beer for himself and Django and explained that he was an ex-dentist and bounty hunter who had been hired to kill or capture the Brittle brothers. Just then, Sheriff Bill Sharp entered the saloon and had the two men leave, before asking why they had decided to play a prank on the town. Schultz surprised the townsfolk and Django by shooting Sharp in the street and killing him, and he had the innkeeper call the US Marshal Gill Tatum. Django then informed Tatum that Sharp was, in reality, an outlaw named Willard Peck, and that he had received a warrant for Peck's apprehension from a circuit court judge; he then told Tatum that the Marshal owed him $200 for Peck's bounty.
Freeman camping out with Schultz
Afterwards, Django camped out with Schultz, and Schultz asked Django about his background; he was surprised to hear that Django was married to a woman with a German name, and he agreed to free Django if Django would help him kill the Brittles. He and Django promptly rode north from Texas to Tennessee, where they visited every plantation in Gatlinburg to see if the Brittles were employed there. At Spencer Bennett's plantation, Freeman located and killed John and Roger, while King shot Ellis. Schultz then explained to Bennett that a circuit court judge had authorized warrants for the deaths or captures of the Brittles, and Bennett reluctantly agreed to let Schultz and Django leave. That night, Bennett assembled a vigilante group, "The Regulators", and attempted to ambush Schultz and Django as they left Tennessee in Schultz's dentist's wagon. Schultz and Django became aware of their pursuers and hid on a nearby hill after hiding explosives in the dentist's wagon; when the Regulators rode up to inspect the wagon, Schultz shot the tooth on top of the wagon, causing a massive explosion. He then handed his rifle to Django, who picked off "Big Daddy" Bennett before he could escape.
Django and Schultz as bounty hunters
With the Brittles dead, Schultz freed Django, who wished to find his wife. Schultz persuaded Django not to embark on a suicidal mission alone, and he instead offered to help him locate Broomhilda if Django would partner with him and help him engage in bounty hunting throughout the winter of 1858-1860, giving Django a third of all of the bounties. Django agreed, and he and Schultz returned to Texas and the Rockies and collected several bounties, while Django learned to quick-draw and become a gunslinger. Django also collected his first bounty, Smitty Bacall, after sniping him on his farm. When spring of 1860 came, Schultz and Freeman rode to Greenville, Mississippi to access the slave sale records, and they discovered that Broomhilda had been sold to Calvin J. Candie of the Candyland plantation.
Django wearing sunglasses
Django and Schultz proceeded to approach Candie at his gentleman's club, posing as buyers of "Mandingo fighters"; they intrigued Candie with their offer of $12,000 for his best fighter (secretly planning to buy Broomhilda for a nominal sum). Candie took Django and Schultz back to his plantation for negotiations, and, along the way, Schultz was disturbed when Candie had a group of slave trackers send their dogs to maul one of his former fighters to death for attempting to run away. At Candyland, Schultz arranged for Django and Broomhilda to reunite before dinner, but had them pretend not to know each other until the negotiations were over. At dinner, the head slave Stephen Warren realized that Django and Broomhilda seemed to know each other, as Django appeared upset when Candie asked Schultz if he had seen Broomhilda's scarred back. Warren privately told Candie that the two visitors secretly intended to buy Broomhilda, as Schultz had offered to pay Candie for the fighter "Eskimo Joe" once he returned with a lawyer in five days' time, but was negotiating the immediate purchase of Broomhilda. Candie had his guards hold the two visitors at gunpoint and forced Schultz to buy Broomhilda for the total price of $12,000 rather than the $300 she was worth. At dessert time, Candie signed over Broomhilda to Schultz, but he infuriated Schultz when he demanded that Schultz shake his hand to seal the deal before Schultz and Freeman left. Schultz responded by shooting Candie at point-blank range, and Candie's bodyguard Butch Pooch shot Schultz dead after Schultz apologized to Django for his lack of control. Django proceeded to steal his gun back from Pooch and shoot Pooch, Candie's lawyer Leonide Moguy, and over a dozen of the plantation's guards before Stephen held Broomhilda at gunpoint and forced Freeman to surrender.
Django being captured
The next morning, plantation guard Billy Crash had Freeman hung upside-down and prepared to castrate him, before Warren dismissed Crash and informed Django that Candie's sister Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly intended to sell him to the LeQuint Dickey Mining Company so that he would spend the rest of his life using a sledgehammer to break big rocks into little rocks. Django was delivered to the miners, two of whom were Australians, and he cleverly persuaded them that he was a bounty hunter by showing them his first handbill; he also convinced the miners that the four members of Smitty Bacall's gang, worth a total of $11,500, were back at the plantation. The miners found out from the other slaves that they had seen Freeman and Schultz arrive at the plantation a day before, and that they were bounty hunters, confirming Django's story. Django then had the leader of the miners remove the dynamite from the horse he was given, and he also had the miners give him a gun and ammunition. As soon as he had the gun, Django shot the two miners in front of him and shot the dynamite being held by the leader, blowing him up. Django proceeded to free the slaves in the slave cart, and, equipped with dynamite and guns, he returned to Candyland to seek vengeance.
Django and Broomhilda riding off
That night, he ambushed Lara, Billy Crash, Stephen, and the remaining white guards as they returned from Candie's funeral. He shot the guards, including shooting Crash in the pelvis to avenge Crash's attempted castration of him. He then had the female slaves bid farewell to Lara before shooting her dead, and, last of all, he shot Stephen in the kneecaps and berated him for his years of loyalty to Candie. Freeman proceeded to light the fuse attached to the dynamite with which he had rigged Candyland, and a wailing Stephen warned Freeman that he would not get away, and that he would be tracked down by bounty hunters. However, Freeman simply walked out to see his freed wife waiting for him on a horse, and, after Candyland exploded and Stephen was killed, Django rode to freedom with his wife.
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