"(MOOING)" "I'm gonna have to carry ya, huh?" "Come on." "Oh, boy." "All right." "Drop your gun belt, mister." "What's this all about?" "The captain said to drop the gun belt." "Now!" "They're wearing the Johanson brand, all right, Captain Wilson." "Whose else would they be?" "Where'd you get those cattle, mister?" "Just where that brand says." "WILSON:" "Got them from Johanson, aye?" "That's right." "And you've got a bill of sale to prove it?" "RENO:" "Now, hold, hold it!" "That's right." "I thought maybe you'd like to look at the bill of sale." "We'll look at it." "You say you got this from Johanson?" "Yeah." "Mr Maddow." "Mr Maddow, is that Johanson's mark?" "Johanson didn't have to make his mark." "He could write as good as you can." "Hang him." "(GRUNTS)" "(GROANS)" "Damn it!" "I'm an ex-lawman." "COOPER:" "You can check with the sheriff, Dave Ramsay in Saint Louis." "Get Johanson!" "Let him tell me face to face." "For God's sake, check it out!" "Are we gonna hang him or beat him to death?" "Enough!" " Put him on his horse." " Wait a minute, the saddle!" "You've no claim to that, Reno." "We got back Johanson's cattle, Captain, and we got the man that took them." "Now, I like to see justice done, but I'm taking the saddle." "Anybody want to argue?" "If he's a rustler, he ain't got nothing I'd want." "MILLER:" "Well, he's got something that I want." "I want his wallet." "You all don't want it, I'm gonna take it!" "Excepting if he's a rustler, how come he didn't make a run for it when he had a chance?" "Wait a minute, Loomis." "(PANTING)" "Now, tell me." "You bought some cattle from Johanson." "You saw the bill of sale." "With the mark where Johanson was supposed to write his name!" "Yeah." "What did Johanson look like?" "He's about 30." "Dark hair, dark eyes, heavy-set." "Pockmarked face, regular features." "You have an eye for detail, haven't you?" "I told you, I was a lawman." "That was my job." "Heavy-set, pockmarked, about 30." "Liar." "Johanson was 60." "Well, maybe it was his foreman, or something, I don't know." "But we can go back there and find out." "It's only a day's ride." "COOPER:" "We can check it out." "Mr Maddow." "WILSON:" "Tell him." "I just came from the Johanson place." "His herd was gone." "I found Johanson and his wife on the kitchen floor, gunned down." "Dead." "No." "Hang him." "You're making a mistake!" "No." "COOPER:" "No!" "(GUN FIRES)" "(GASPS)" "(COUGHS)" "Some people calls this hell, but you're still in Oklahoma territory." "(CHOKING)" "Save your breath." "I don't know who hung you or why, but if you're innocent, the judge will set you free." "And if you ain't, they'll have to take the trouble of hanging you again." "So come on, get on your feet." "Water your mules and fill up a bucket of water for the men." "Marshal Dave Bliss." "I hear you got a prisoner for me." "That's right, Marshal." "Feed and grain store right across the street." "Here's the key." "You'll be needing it." "Marshal." "Watch out for him." "He's plumb loco." "(MAN MOANS)" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God." "Oh, my God." "Oh, God." "(MOANS)" "Oh, God." "You've come to kill The Prophet." "Take it easy, will ya?" "Oh, God!" "You've come to kill The Prophet!" "Can you walk?" "They're against me!" "They spy on me." "Oh, God." "They're scared of the wrath of God!" "Get on your feet." "No!" "Come on!" "Even the prison wagon's better than this." "You've come to kill The Prophet!" "Hold it!" "Oh, no!" "Oh, God!" "Oh, God!" "You've come to kill The Prophet!" "Damn you, hold it!" "Stop or I'll kill ya!" "Oh, God!" "Well, what are you waiting for, Marshal?" "Shoot him!" "Kill him!" "What's wrong, Marshal?" "MAN 1:" "Scared of cheating a hanging judge?" "MAN 2:" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "CONVICT:" "We'll look out for ya, Marshal!" "We'll tell him you done your best to bring him in alive!" "MAN 3:" "Kill him, Marshal!" "MAN 4:" "Kill him, Marshal!" "MAN 5:" "Yeah, kill him!" "MAN 6:" "Kill him!" "MAN 7:" "Come on, kill him!" "(ALL SHOUTING)" "Hold it, damn you." "MAN 8:" "Kill him, Marshal!" "It's too damn crowded in here anyway!" "MAN 9:" "Kill him, kill him." "MAN 10:" "Kill him, Marshal." "(SCREAMS)" "God!" "You chained him." "Now you bury him." "That ain't gonna make the judge happy." "What was I supposed to do, let him escape?" "I ain't saying you was wrong." "I'm just saying it ain't gonna make the judge happy." "Now that you've said it, Williams, move them out." "Girls!" "Girls!" "The tumbleweed wagon's here!" "Come on!" "Save us the live ones, Marshal, huh?" "Marshal, you're not gonna hang them all!" "MAN:" "Here she is!" "Here comes that tumbleweed wagon!" "(MAN WHOOPING)" "And you'll send the drapery material over?" "As soon as it comes in." "And I'll be needing more perfume." "A dozen bottles?" "The cheapest, as long as it smells good." "It's not for my girls." "It's for the Saturday night cowhands." "They come off the range smelling like..." "MAN:" "Here come the tumbleweed wagon!" "Hey, isn't that Billy the Kid?" "Take a closer look." "Maybe you'll find your old man!" "Hold it!" "MAN:" "We're going outside of town, do some target practice on them!" "All right, move them out." "WILLIAMS:" "Giddap." "Come on." "You eats twice a day, 8:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the afternoon." "Unless you makes trouble and get yourself short-changed, you get an hour a day recreation in the prison yard." "Better find yourself a spot." "Expecting another wagon in this afternoon." "You'll get used to the smell." "If you don't, they got a sure cure for it." "They hang ya!" "(THUDDING)" "Sounds like Schmidt's fixing to have a little party this morning." "A party?" "A hanging party." "(THUDDING)" "PRISONER 1:" "Them's 200-pound sacks he's dropping." "Gotta make sure them ropes hold up." "PRISONER 2:" "Always uses top-grade hemp, Schmidt does." "Oils it so it slides real good, snaps your neck like a dried-out twig." "Fine artist at his trade, our Mr Schmidt!" "(THUDDING)" "That bastard!" "(THUDDING)" "PRISONER:" "No!" "What kind of justice hangs a man before he's heard about his appeal?" "PRISONER:" "No!" "(KNOCKING AT DOOR)" "Come in." "Leave him." "Without shackles." "Yes, sir." "All right, guard." "Your story checks out, Cooper." "You're free to go." "$11?" "And 40 cents." "That's all McCleod had on him when we picked him up." "McCleod?" "McCleod was running from the law, holed up at Johanson's place, killed that old man and his wife, and then you blundered in." "A stranger looking to buy some cattle, so McCleod sold you a few head." "He must've got a pretty good laugh out of that." "You wanna see what he looks like?" "Come on." "Now, come on." "McCleod took the money he swindled from you and came into town, looking for a good time." "The row, that's where we found him." "(PEOPLE EXCLAIMING)" "May God have mercy on his soul." "You're free to go, Cooper." "With my $11.40?" "And the satisfaction of seeing the man that got you into this mess hung." "What about the nine just men who hung me?" "Just give their description to one of the deputies downstairs." "They'll try to pick them up." "Well, that's not good enough." "Cooper, you take the law into your own hands, and I promise you you'll swing from one of those ropes out there." "I know a little bit about the law, Your Honor!" "That's right." "You do." "Sit down, Cooper." "Please." "You were a lawman in Saint Louis, a damn good one." "I can use a good man, Cooper." "Pay, 250 a month." "That's 230 more than you'd make as a cowhand, 232 more than as an army sergeant." "Here." "That hanging rope didn't kill ya." "Maybe my coffee will." "How much did you make in Saint Louis?" "It's 200 more than I made in Saint Louis." "250, plus expenses." "I warn you, the pay is a little slow in coming." "There. $200." "Plus 50 President Harrison owes you." "You'll get it when I get it." "Seems like you're a man trying to give away money and don't have too many takers." "You sound like a man who is protesting the pay is too high." "Don't." "You sign on, you'll earn every cent of it." "There you are." "The Oklahoma and Indian Territory, year of our Lord, 1889." "Nineteen marshals." "I was authorized 60 when I came here." "Told the president even that was not half enough." "Nineteen marshals and one court to cover near 70,000 square miles." "A happy hunting ground filled with bushwhackers, horse thieves, whiskey peddlers, counterfeiters, hide peelers, marauders that'll kill you for a hat band!" "Now that's why there's a badge in my desk, Cooper, itching to sit on somebody's chest and no takers." "Your marshals do cover a lot of territory." "You'll ride circuit over an area half again the size of Rhode Island, if and when it's Marshal Cooper." "Pick up the badge, Mr. Cooper." "Pick up the badge, or leave justice to me and my men." "Those nine men, if you find them, they're to be brought before me alive." "That old horse should hold you for a spell." "All right." "Good luck, Marshal." "Thank you." "You're Cooper?" "Judge sent a wire you was coming." "Wasn't there nobody outside?" "There's two men with shotguns." "I haven't had me a night's sleep since we picked up the Swede." "How many men did you bring with you?" "Can you have him ready to go in a half hour?" "Just the two of you?" "Yeah." "The hotel here in town, does it serve a good steak?" "I better have something to eat before we leave." "If you're crazy enough to try to take the Swede in alone, you got a right to try it on a full stomach!" "You're under arrest, Reno." "You talking to me, Marshal?" "Your name's Reno, isn't it?" "Look, Marshal, I don't know what kind of town you're running here..." "This isn't my town." "Well, I wouldn't know." "See, I just rode in." "Now, I'm gonna wash down some trail dust, and..." "All right, Marshal, what do you say I done?" "You don't remember me, do ya?" "No." "When you hang a man, you better look at him." "Don't go for that gun, Reno." "I need you alive." "Do you know him?" "No." "Anybody here know him?" "Goes by the name of Reno." "Come up here and take a look at him." "He must've just rode in." "That's what he said." "How much to bury him?" "Elwood?" "Well, I... $15 ought to do a fair job, Marshal." "All right." "There's $7 there, and I'll give you $8 more." "And mark it down there." "Don't anybody leave!" "I want everybody to write down in this book exactly what they saw." "I didn't see nothing, Marshal." "Fine, then you say that in writing." "Nobody's gonna fault ya, Marshal." "You gave him every chance." "COOPER:" "Then say it in writing." "Marshal, I can't write." "Well, the sheriff here will write it down, then you can put your mark on it." "Sheriff, there's a saddle out there belongs to me." "I'll be taking that." "If any of his friends or relatives show up and want his horse or his belongings, you let me know." "COOPER:" "You can wire me in Fort Grant." "You gonna pick up the Swede now?" "No, no." "I'm gonna have that steak now." "Marshal." "The Swede!" "That's the one the Marshal just brought in." "Swede!" "What was that all about?" "That's Judge Fenton's orders." "Nobody comes in or out that lady don't look at." "Marshal!" "Judge wants to see you right away." "Thank you." "Good work, Cooper." "See?" "FENTON:" "The good Lord takes care of those that do his work." "He just waltzed in here and gave himself up." "I never wanted to hang you, mister." "I asked them to give you a chance." "Maybe you remember that." "I remember that." "I was here in Fort Grant looking to pick up a grubstake when I heard a marshal with a hanging scar had killed Reno." "I knew then we..." "We'd hung an innocent man." "So I turned myself in." "The others?" "He gave me their names." "I've already made out the warrants for their arrest." "Where?" "Red Creek." "Good." "I'll be on my way." "All right, Cooper, you do it your way." "You round them up and bring them back." "I don't know why you had to kill Reno." "It's in my report." "I wanted him alive." "I needed these names." "You got your names." "Mister, you make sure the rest of those men get back here alive." "Jenkins?" "Sit down, please." "You're under arrest." "Move!" "COOPER:" "I have seven warrants here." "Matt Stone, M. Loomis," "Maddow, Charlie Blackfoot, Captain..." "Captain Wilson?" "Say, what the hell is this all about?" "A lynching." "Now, I understand four of these men I'm after are out at the Big W." "Maddow and Miller I'm not sure about." "Maddow, he owns a spread around here." "Miller, he..." "Miller's a drifter." "Look, Marshal, these men you're looking for, they're all leading citizens." "They're friends of mine." "Well, these friends of yours are wanted for conspiracy to commit murder." "Now, if you'll put this man in jail, Sheriff, you and I can ride out to the Big W." "MAN:" "Sheriff!" "Sheriff Calhoun!" "Sheriff!" "Rustlers!" "They took our herd!" "They killed my pa and Danny." "Killed both of them." "I rode in and found them there." "Pa and Danny, bushwhacked!" "And the herd gone." "I won't be much good to you from here on out." "My back is giving me trouble." "You're in good hands, however." "This man here is a federal marshal." "Don't give me that bad-back stuff." "You got your job." "I've got mine out at the Big W." "His father and his brother's been murdered." "You a lawman or ain't ya?" "(SIGHS)" "MAN:" "No more than five, six hours ahead now." "Now they must slow down." "Yeah, well, we won't." "(COWS MOOING)" "MAN 1:" "On your feet!" "Get up!" "MAN 2:" "Get up!" "Get up!" "Cattle won't live another day without water." "Mick!" "Willie!" "Head them home!" "Rafe, go with them!" "(GROANS)" "You've got one minute to pray." "There'll be no hanging here." "These men killed my father and brother." "They're gonna get what's coming to them." "They'll get what the law says is coming to them." "If you can't stomach hanging, why don't you ride out?" "We'll do what needs doing here." "I'll say it one more time!" "There's gonna be no hanging." "We're not turning three murderers loose." "That's right." "You're turning them over to me, the law." "COOPER:" "I'll make sure they get to Fort Grant." "Fort Grant's better than three days' ride from here." "MAN 1:" "You'll never make it alone, Marshal." "I didn't plan on making it alone." "Now, you men got a $10 posse fee coming, and I can't guarantee the government's gonna pay any more, but every man who sticks with me will get an extra 10, if I have to pay for it myself." "Uh-uh." "I'll take my 10 now." "I've got your name." "They'll send it to you." "We'll put in for the money ourselves, Marshal." "Yeah." "The men these rustlers killed, they were my friends." "MAN 2:" "These three, they are for hanging!" "Leave us, Marshal." "For just 10 minutes." "Five minutes!" "On your feet." "Thank you, Marshal." "I just want you to know, Marshal, we had nothing to do with the killing." "Shut up." "We rustled the herd all right, we did that, but me and Ben..." "Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth, boy?" "My brother's telling the truth, Marshal." "He done it." "All right, Marshal, all right." "All right, saddle up those horses, and nothing foolish." "You're very kind, Marshal." "Would you be my friend, too?" "Forget about it." "Say, I..." "I seen you when you drug that old Stone into jail." "I thought that was really something." "I just about died right then and there." "I picked up my two amigos here and rustled this fat herd, and we headed lickety-split for south of the border." "You know something," "Mr Deputy Marshal?" "You know, when I woked up and seen that gun pointing right at my mouth and you standing at the other end of it," "I said to myself, "Miller, you move one inch and you're a dead man." ""This man's about to blow your head off."" "I mean, what them boys said was right." "We're guilty as hell." "You know, when we get to Fort Grant, all they're gonna do is hang us." "I tell you what." "Why don't you be real smart and use your head, you know?" "And let us go." "Just let us go." "We outnumber you three to one." "You can tell them that we jumped ya." "And the boys and I, you know, we ain't gonna be around to call you a liar." "Get aboard, Miller." "I can't get aboard, 'cause my hands are tied." "You're gonna have to help me." "I said, get aboard." "You ain't never gonna get me alive to Fort Grant, boy." "Then I'll get you there dead, boy." "Get down." "The horses need rest." "Start walking." "(EXHALES)" "(SIGHS)" "Get aboard, Miller." "(GRUNTS)" "Kill me." "Kill me!" "Please." "Please." "I didn't set out to touch her." "I was drunk!" "Full of rotgut whiskey." "I didn't know what I was doing." "Please, my family!" "Take him away." "What?" "No!" "Please!" "My family!" "I didn't know what I was doing!" "Please!" "Samuel Dodd." "Charge, whiskey peddling." "Here, Your Honor." "Marshal Cooper's coming down the street with three prisoners." "Court's adjourned." "8:00 tomorrow morning." "All rise until His Honor has left the courtroom." "Sheriff in Red Creek wired you were bringing three killers in alone." "That was over two days ago." "I nearly gave you up for dead." "You're a damn fool, Cooper." "A bloody damn fool, and the best there is!" "You hear that?" "Wake up, you godforsaken people, you!" "FENTON:" "The best there is, this man here that works for ya!" "MAN:" "What's going on?" "FENTON:" "Your government, our country, the best country there is because of men like Marshal Jed Cooper!" "I'm proud of you, boy." "They're gonna hear about this, not just in the territories, but in Washington!" "Across the length and breadth of this nation, they're gonna know that name, Jed Cooper!" "Well, what you do got to say about that, boy?" "(LIVELY PIANO MUSIC PLAYING)" "(WOMAN LAUGHING)" "MAN:" "Yahoo!" "Anything else I could do for you, Marshal?" "Good Lord!" "You bring back half of these, you'll have a wagon load!" "Well, you know me, Judge." "I like a lot of company." "How long you figure it'll take?" "Six, seven weeks, give or take a month." "(KNOCK AT DOOR)" "Come in!" "Well, well, well!" "Morning." "Morning." "The prodigal returneth from a fate worse than death!" "Was that your idea?" "You fell right in my arms, boy, and it's just the row happened to be the closest haven, and since you didn't appear to need a doctor's services..." "Well, I'll be on my way." "See ya, Jed." "All right, Hayes." "Aside from the girl who served me breakfast," "I didn't see anybody else that I remembered." "Do I owe them a bill, or..." "Of course!" "Just put it on your expense account." "Under what?" "You're gonna make me one hell of a lawman, Jed." "One hell of a lawman!" "Judge, about those three that I brought in..." "All taken care of." "I don't think they spent as pleasant an evening as you did." "No, but, I wanted to talk to you about the two boys, Ben and Billy-Joe." "Later, later, later." "Write it down when you got time." "I just wanted to say, as long as I'm here, that only Miller is to be charged with murder." "See, if it wasn't for those two boys, I might not have made it." "Miller tried to kill me." "If one or both of them had pitched in and given him a hand..." "They pitch in to help you subdue Miller?" "Well, no, but..." "All right." "Write it in your report." "MAN:" "Hey, Marshal!" "If you catch a whiskey peddler, let him go and bring the whiskey back this time!" "(PEOPLE LAUGHING)" "MAN:" "Hey, Ace!" "Mind if I call on that senorita of yours?" "I hear they got some wicked women in Los Gatos!" "Catch us a few!" "So long, Ace!" "Good hunting!" "Bliss is dead." "Bliss?" "What happened?" "He went to pick up one of the Walker boys out of the Elmwood jail." "The Walker clan, all seven of them, were waiting." "They shot him down, right there, in the middle of the main street." "Not a soul in Elmwood lifted a hand to help him." "Yeah, I owed my life to Bliss." "FENTON:" "He was a man with a backbone, a lawman." "It won't be easy to fill his shoes." "No, it won't." "Well, I'd better get on back to Red Creek." "Red Creek?" "Yeah, when the local sheriff wired you, I don't suppose he told you that I arrested one of the men who tried to lynch me." "I was going after the rest of them when this business came up." "The man you arrested?" "Name's Stone." "He's in the Red Creek jail." "Good." "That ought to hold him till you're finished here." "Finished here?" "Testifying." "Testifying?" "When?" "Boy, I got a backlog of cases built up from here to Sunday!" "Well, I happen to have a prisoner over there in that cardboard jail, and the sheriff who's guarding him got a bad back, and if I don't get back over there..." "You'll get back, Cooper!" "You'll get back when I tell you you're free to go." "Cooper." "You can be the best I've ever had, the best there is, if you remember this." "You work for the government!" "You work for justice!" "(KNOCK AT DOOR)" "Come in." "Rachel?" "Excuse me, Judge." "I heard there were three new prisoners." "Yes." "Marshal, why don't you take Miss Warren down to the cell block?" "Two of them are just boys." "Old enough to rustle cattle." "You want them to hang?" "I just want them to get a fair trial." "Who do you want to hang?" "We all have our ghosts, Marshal." "You hunt your way," "I hunt mine." "All right, you claim you didn't pull the trigger." "Let's forget about the killings." "Rustling is a hanging offense, and they are all guilty, all three of them!" "No matter whose idea it was, they're all guilty." "That's the law." "Object!" "Sustained." "You, sir." "You will elicit facts from the witness." "I will tell the jury what's the law." "Yes, sir." "No further questions, Your Honor." "The jury will disregard all of the prosecution's remarks concerning the law." "All right, son." "You may step down now." "Call your next witness." "Marshal Jedediah Cooper!" "Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but, so help you God?" "I do." "Marshal, at the time of their apprehension, did any of these three defendants deny their guilt?" "Well, no, but on the trail back here..." "Marshal, we're not interested in the trip back to Fort Grant." "It was a heroic journey." "The whole court, the whole territory, is grateful." "Your Honor, I think something that happened on the trail back here has a bearing on the case." "Something happen that leads you to believe that one or all three of these defendants are innocent?" "Well, of murder, yes." "You see, both Ben and Billy-Joe told me..." "Marshal, this court is not concerned with hearsay evidence." "This court requires facts." "The defendants, all three, are charged with murder and rustling." "Facts, the only matter that concerns this court." "I thought this court was concerned with justice." "Justice is my province, Marshal!" "Mine, and mine alone!" "Now, you'll confine yourself to giving direct answers to direct questions or find yourself in contempt of court!" "Proceed." "One of those boys is 18, the other's only 16." "That'll cost you $10." "Neither one of them's been in trouble... $20. ...with the law." "If it wasn't for them... $30!" "One more word, you'll spend 30 days in the hole." "FENTON:" "Do you have any further questions for this witness?" "PROSECUTOR:" "No more questions, Your Honor." "Then you may step down, Marshal." "(WHOOPING)" "(KNOCKING AT DOOR)" "Yeah?" "Sheriff Ray Calhoun, Red Creek." "I recognize you." "I wanna congratulate you on the job you did bringing in those rustlers." "You mean, you rode all the way over here from Red Creek, bad back and all, just to tell me that?" "No." "Stone's dead." "What happened, Calhoun?" "It didn't make no sense, him sitting in that cell going crazy in a town without no blacksmith." "He promised that if I'd turn him loose every day for a couple of hours to work at his trade that he'd come back to his cell each night." "And he did, came back every night but one." "I rode out to his home, a home where I had many a dinner, the home of a friend." "I had to bring him back and put him in his cell at gunpoint." "He made a break for it." "I tried to shoot low, but I'm not very good at that." "I heard you paid 800 to the skunk who murdered the Johansons and sold you their herd." "That's right." "How much did you get back when they were caught?" "$11.40." "There's 800 in this envelope." "It's yours." "Or you can keep the 100 head." "Prime, every one of them." "I don't have much use for cattle these days." "Here's 10." "Keep it." "Hold it!" "Here's $11.40 for the aggravation they caused me." "Now, you take that bad back of yours right over to Red Creek and tell your friends we're even, money-wise." "So, it's no deal." "He figures you still owe him for a lynching." "And I told you, you never should've offered him the money." "All right." "Now that makes three mistakes we made:" "The money, we hung an innocent man, and we didn't finish the job." "We can't undo the first two, but we can still finish the job." "I didn't hear that, Captain Wilson." "I didn't hear none of it." "I'm riding back to Red Creek." "Are you coming with me?" "Charlie!" "You've been with me better than five years." "Good years, Captain." "Maybe if it was my land I was fighting to hold..." "No, Captain." "If that marshal wants Charlie Blackfoot, he's gonna have to find him." "Sorry, Captain Wilson." "Maddow, you're damn near my age." "You wouldn't last six months in that jail!" "I don't intend to try to." "I can still ride pretty good." "You can shoot even better!" "I'm sorry, Captain." "Maddow, he'll come after you." "He'll keep coming." "You'll be nothing but an animal, an animal running scared!" "Sorry, Captain." "How about you two?" "You sure?" "Tommy?" "It was wrong to hang that man." "We all know it now." "I was hoping we could square it with him." "My wife, she was kinda hoping it, too." "Loomis?" "I'm 37, 38." "I don't rightly know for sure." "I started drifting when I was just a kid." "These last few years working for you," "it's the first home I ever knew." "I've saved a few dollars, thinking of finding myself a woman, staking out a few acres of my own, when this come up." "You mean, when I brought it up." "You didn't force me to ride with you, Captain." "I thought we was doing the right thing." "We was." "Hanging the wrong man don't change that." "Five years, even 10, you two can survive it and still come out to live some kind of life." "What kind, Captain?" "I been a free man." "It's the only kind of life I know." "TOMMY:" "My wife Thelma, she's a young woman." "She wants kids and a family." "Even if I asked her to wait for me, even if she said she would," "I couldn't be sure." "Let's ride, gentlemen." "(PEOPLE CLAMORING)" "Hey, mister, where's the hotel?" "Down the street." "But keep going, it's full up." "The whole town's full up with this hanging." "I hear they got tents set up out in the boondocks." "Well, thank you kindly." "Giddap!" "(BANGING AT DOOR)" "Who is it?" "COOPER:" "Open up." "I just came here, Your Honor, to tell you about the biggest thing that happened in this territory, bigger than statehood!" "People showing up by the wagon full, men, women and children, all just to see your lousy hanging." "That's enough, Cooper." "To see your circus, a six-man hanging." "I said, that's enough!" "You stink of whiskey, son." "Just go back to your room." "Lie down." "Sleep it off." "You're lynching those boys." "Why?" "Why?" "Yeah." "Because of you, Cooper." "Because of that beautiful, that magnificent journey you took to bring three killers to justice." "Because if the law didn't hang them, the next posse that goes out would say," ""Hang them, and hang them high!" "There's no justice in Fort Grant."" "And if there's no justice in Fort Grant, Cooper, there'll be no statehood for this territory." "Well, I don't care how you slice it." "Whether it's nine men out on a plain with a dirty rope or a judge with his robes on in front of the American flag, those boys are gonna be just as dead as if they'd been lynched." "That's right, Cooper, just as dead." "But they won't have been lynched." "They will have been judged." "And if you can't see the difference, you better take off that star, and right now!" "Not just yet, Your Honor." "ALL: (SINGING) Yes, we'll gather at the river" "The beautiful, the beautiful river" "Gather with the saints at the river" "That flows by the throne of God" "Shall we gather at the river" "Where bright..." "Get your cold beer here!" "Sarsaparilla for all the kiddies!" "Pretzels!" "Licorice sticks!" "Get your cold beer!" "Cold beer!" "(ALL CHATTERING)" "Rachel, last chance, drapes can wait." "Sure you won't change your mind?" "Sophie, I told you before." "There's only one hanging I'm interested in." "Soon our pilgrimage will cease" "Soon our happy hearts will quiver" "With the melody of peace" "Dad, please!" "No!" "I said no!" "...at the river" "The beautiful, the beautiful river" "Gather with the saints at the river" "That flows by the throne of God" "MAN:" "Cold beer!" "Sarsaparilla for all the kiddies!" "Hey!" "Hey!" "MAN:" "Pretzels!" "Licorice sticks!" "Get your cold beer!" "Get your cold beer here!" "Sarsaparilla for all the kiddies!" "Pretzels, licorice sticks." "Get your cold beer!" "Cold beer!" "Right here." "Cold beer!" "Right here." "Sarsaparilla for the kiddies!" "Cold beer!" "Here's your change." "Here's your change." "Cold beer!" "Here's 5, here's 10." "Cold beer!" "Sarsaparilla for the kiddies." "Licorice sticks." "Cold beer!" "Sarsaparilla for all the kiddies." "There you are, young thing." "Hey, what are you doing?" "Can't you please see me tomorrow?" "I don't want to miss the hanging!" "PREACHER: "And the Lord said, 'Acknowledge thy sins unto me," ""'confess thy iniquities and transgressions unto the Lord," ""'and he will forgive thee thy sins. "'" "Now, Preacher?" "Patience, patience." ""Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly," ""nor standeth in the way of sinners," ""nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." ""But his delight is in the law of the Lord," ""and in his law doth he meditate day and night." ""And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water" ""that bringeth forth his fruit in his season." ""His leaf shall not wither," ""and whatever he doeth shall prosper."" "Amen." "We will now sing Rock of Ages." "Get your cold beer and your sarsaparilla for all the kids, right here!" "ALL: (SINGING) Rock of ages" "Cleft for me" "Let me hide myself in thee" "Let the water and the blood" "From thy wounded" "Side which flowed" "Be of sin the double cure" "Save from wrath and make me pure" "While I draw this fleeting breath" "When mine eyes shall close in death" "When I rise to worlds unknown" "And behold thee on thy throne" "Rock of ages" "Cleft for me" "Let me hide myself in thee" "Do you have last requests?" "Do you have last requests?" "I'd sure like me a chaw of tobacco." "What's the matter, hangman?" "You afraid I'll choke and cheat you out of your hanging fee?" "Mmm." "Put it in my pocket." "Mmm!" "Mmm!" "Now, Preacher?" "You may say your piece now, Duffy." "You are now looking for the last time at the mortal body of Francis Elroy Duffy, born to John and Edna Duffy..." "Do you have last requests?" "...good, God-fearing folk, who raised me up to be a good man..." "Ben?" "..." "a good Christian..." "Bye, Ben." "Bye." "DUFFY:" "A good husband to my beloved wife, a good father to my children, whom I leave behind, hoping that they and all you will learn..." "Do you have last requests?" "...this here lesson which I leave you with." "When you take the devil into your mouths, you are doomed!" "For he is lying there in wait for you inside that bottle of whiskey, waiting for you to take him into your mouth..." "Do you have last requests?" "...waiting to get down into your guts..." "Tell him to shut up and let's get it over with." "...where he can do his devil's work." "Liquor is the most foul, evil thing in this here world!" "It destroyed good men like myself." "DUFFY:" "It'll destroy you, too." "Do you have last requests?" "DUFFY:" "And beer is not much better." "It's slower and cheaper." "No!" "(GROANS)" "So take these words of advice." "And remember, you heard them from a poor sinner got no more cause to lie, 'cause he's going to meet his Maker." "And now he's ready." "Well, that's all I've got to say." "Will you all bow your heads in one final prayer?" "May God have mercy on their poor souls, as he has upon all the faithful departed." "Amen." "Amen." "Amen." "(PEOPLE SCREAMING)" "Dear God!" "(KNOCKING AT DOOR)" "All right, all right, I'm coming!" "Judge Fenton." "I come to praise Sophie, not to close her down." "I thought maybe you came to..." "Now, Sophie." "Now, now, now." "Well, now at least I know what it takes to get you in here." "How is he this morning?" "I've never seen a man who has more right to be dead." "I gotta see him right now, Sophie." "Can't wait any longer." "Check with Rachel." "She's still in charge." "She stayed all night?" "You heard, Doc." "If Rachel hadn't stopped the bleeding..." "As it was, somebody had to stay with him." "A couple of my girls volunteered." "Rachel wouldn't have it." "Same room." "Honeymoon suite, at the head of the stairs." "Thanks, Sophie." "Good morning, Judge." "Good morning, dear." "Anything I can do for you?" "No, no." "No, no." "Thank you, dear." "(KNOCKING AT DOOR)" "It's all right, Judge." "I'm just about finishing up." "I heard about what you did, Rachel." "I'm grateful." "Why don't you sit down?" "Can I get you something?" "No, no, thank you." "I shouldn't have done this." "I may never get up again!" "Who did it, Jed?" "Much as you want them, Jed, I want them more." "I need them!" "It's bad enough when a deputy gets bushwhacked on some lonely trail, but here, in Fort Grant, broad daylight?" "We can't let them get away with that." "Now, who did it?" "I'll go after them myself." "For the love of God, son!" "God's got nothing to do with it." "I'll take care of them." "(KNOCK AT DOOR)" "Want me to take over?" "RACHEL:" "No." "Thank you." "You could use a good night's sleep." "All right, honey, but one of these days he's gonna get better, and you're gonna have a man on your hands." "You're perspiring." "Don't drink your milk so fast." "You look tired." "Are you all right?" "You know you're a nag?" "A very pretty one, but a nag." "What was that for?" "Just thanks." "You're welcome." "I'll get some salt for the eggs." "Forget the salt." "Please." "Please don't." "Yeah, well, I guess..." "I guess my life isn't worth two kisses, huh?" "Please." "I'm sorry." "What's the matter?" "I was married, back in Denver." "His name was Paul." "He was a doctor and a very fine man." "He used to say this was his place, this was where doctors were needed." "One night, after we'd camped, we sat around the fire, talking, husband and wife talk about how many children we were going to have," "and what a wonderful life we were going to have together." "And then they came." "Two men on horseback." "Just some food." "Just to share our food, that's all they wanted." "And one of them put his hand on me." "And there was a shot." "And Paul was dead." "And they just left him there lying beside me on the ground, dead." "And they took me." "And took me." "And took me!" "The tumbleweed wagon?" "The jail?" "You're looking for those men?" "And what happens when you find them?" "Or if you don't find them?" "Ever?" "(THUNDER RUMBLING)" "We'd better hurry!" "It's gonna storm!" "Miss Rachel, where do you want to put these blankets?" "What is it, Marvin?" "Where do you want these blankets?" "Just put them in the back someplace." "Yes, ma'am." "MAN:" "Hi, Marshal!" "You asked me once whether I could ever stop looking." "I think now I can." "Can you?" "Well, Rachel, there's a difference." "You see, I'm not..." "I'm not looking for ghosts." "The end of my trail's in Red Creek." "Maybe not." "What then?" "I don't know." "(GROWLING)" "Think we got him?" "I don't know." "The dog or the shot, either one." "Why ain't that dog yapping?" "If that marshal was alive that dog would be yapping, wouldn't he?" "I told you I didn't know!" "LOOMIS:" "But I aim to find out." "No!" "Let him come to us." "No, Captain." "I've waited on him long enough." "Why don't he move?" "(SHUSHING)" "Tommy!" "COOPER:" "Drop it." "(SPIKES CLINKING)" "(JENKINS COUGHING)" "Dead." "Captain Wilson, Tommy," "Loomis, all of them, dead." "All except Maddow, Blackfoot, and you, Jenkins." "Count me dead, too." "I just want to say that I don't hold you to blame, for what that's worth." "It's worth something." "(JAIL DOOR CLOSING)" "So that's how it is?" "That Rachel lit a fire in you with that rich body of hers." "You lit a fire in each other." "Now you're going to get married and raise cattle and kids." "Devil take the rest of the world." "Maybe." "You used the law and a badge to heal that scar on your neck." "Well, how many men are you going to have to hang to heal your scar?" "Go to hell, Cooper." "I've already been there, Judge," "And old man Jenkins is gonna die there." "Is he sick?" "He's dying." "I'll get a doctor down there for him." "Let him go!" "So he can go on and look for another innocent man to lynch?" "He's an old man." "Well!" "And that was an old rope he helped put around your neck, but it came damn near to killing you, didn't it?" "What's the matter with you, Cooper?" "You got Jenkins on your conscience?" "Think I judged him too harshly, used him like a piece of kindling for my fire of justice?" "Well, maybe that's inevitable when there's only one man, one court with the power of final justice over a territory five times the size of most states!" "Mistakes?" "I've made them, Cooper, don't you doubt it." "Don't you doubt either there are times sitting up there in that judgment seat" "I've wished, I have prayed that there was someone standing between me and God almighty, someone with the power to say," ""You're wrong, Fenton." "You made a mistake in law." ""This man here deserves another trial," ""this man here a reprieve, and this man is innocent!"" "But until this territory becomes a state, with a governor and a state court of appeals," "I'm the law here, all the law." "And if you don't like that, you can cuss me till hell freezes over." "Or you can join me, Cooper." "Even fight me!" "Help me turn this godforsaken territory into a state where no one man calls himself the law." "I want that old man pardoned." "You pick up your badge." "Tonight." "Right now." "You take this down." "Give it to one of the guards down there." "If there are any questions, you tell them to see me." "There'll be no questions." "Cooper?" "Charlie Blackfoot was seen in the town of Ridgeway." "I got two unfilled warrants here." "Blackfoot and Maddow." "The law still wants them."