"Range War" is the third episode of the third season of the American television drama series Hell on Wheels, which aired on August 17, 2013 on AMC.
The twenty-third episode of the series is co-written by Mark Richard and Reed Steiner and directed by Dennie Gordon.
In the episode, when his railroad crew is attacked, Cullen Bohannon (Anson Mount) first suspects the natives but learns Thomas Durant (Colm Meaney) might be behind it.
Declan Toole (Damian O'Hare) arrives in town to claim Eva (Robin McLeavy) and her baby to honor his brother's memory and Irish custom.
Back in town, the scalped cattle wrangler repeats the events to anyone who pays a nickel for his tale.
Mickey McGinnes (Phil Burke) tells Eva that his whorehouse is not a hospital, but a place of business.
Cullen and Elam find a horse that's been painted — not dyed — and realize that their cattle were not stolen by Indians, but white men.
She offers him a good deal for her cattle, foreseeing a future range war that Cullen's railroad is about to breach.
The Swede (Christopher Heyerdahl), now calling himself "Mr. Anderson," repairs a family's wagon axle.
In town, Cullen orders Sean McGinnes (Ben Esler) to send railroad stock to Maggie as payment for the cattle.
Major Bendix and his troops ride into town carrying poles with piked Indian heads.
[1] TV Fanatic's Sean McKenna gave the episode a 4.4 out of 5 stars, stating "where 'Big Bad Wolf/Eminent Domain' was the slow start of setting everyone back on the track of building the railroad, the third episode provided the beginnings of some real conflict and story direction for the characters, all with some cool action, slow-mo shots and a little much needed humor.