There is no dialog for the first 10-1/2 minutes of the film.
Though no specific year or date is stated in the movie, at least part of it takes place during the New Mexico Campaign of 1862. This is confirmed when both the hotel-keeper and Tuco mentions the retreating Confederate General Sibley (the historical Henry H. Sibley) and the advancing Union Colonel Canby (another historical person, Edward Canby). This is consistent with the campaign that took place between Feb-April 1862 in New Mexico and what was then Confederate Arizona.
Tuco tells his brother Father Pablo Ramirez (played by Luigi Pistilli) "Where we came from, if one did not want to die of poverty, one became a priest or a bandit!". Ironically, in Per qualche dollaro in piĆ¹, Pistilli played a bandit, so in a sense, he's been both a priest and a bandit at the same time.
Sergio Leone:
[close-up]
Sergio Leone:
[theme]
The Blonde, Sentenza, and Tuco.