"I'm gonna have to carry you, huh?" "There." "There you go, boy." "Drop the gun belt, mister." "What's this all about?" "The captain said to drop the gun belt!" "Now!" "They're wearin' the Johanson brand, all right, Captain Wilson." "Whose else would they be?" "Where did you get those cattle, mister?" "Where that brand says." " Got 'em from Johanson, eh?" " That's right." "And you've got a bill of sale to prove it." "Hold it!" "That's right." "Thought maybe you'd like to look at the bill of sale." "We'll look at it." "You say you got this from Johanson?" "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!" "I'm an ex-lawman." "You can check with the sheriff Dave Ramsey, in St. 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?" "Put him on his horse." "Wait a minute." "The saddle." "You've no claim to that, Reno!" "We got back Johanson's cattle." "And we got the man who took 'em." "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 nothin' I'd want." "He's got something that I want." "I want his wallet." "I want it, and I'm gonna take it." "Captain, if he is a rustler how come he didn't make a run for it when he had a chance?" "Wait a minute, Loomis." "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." "What did Johanson look like?" "He's about 30, dark hair, dark eyes, heavyset pock-marked face regular features." "You have an eye for detail, haven't you?" "I told you I was a lawman." "It was my job." "Heavyset, pock-marked about 30..." "Liar!" "Johanson was 60." "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." "We could check it out." "Mr. Maddow tell him." "I just came from the Johanson place." "His herd was gone." "Found Johanson and his wife on the kitchen floor, gunned down dead!" " Hang him!" " You're makin' a mistake!" "Some people call this hell, but you're still in Oklahoma Territory." "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 we'll have to take the trouble of hanging you again." "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." "Watch out for him." "He's plumb loco." "Oh, God!" "You've come to kill the prophet." "Take it easy, will ya?" "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." "Come on, even the prison wagon is better than this." "You've come to kill the prophet!" "Hold it!" "You've come to kill the prophet!" "Stop, or I'll kill you!" "What are you waiting for, Marshal?" "Shoot him!" "Kill him!" "What's wrong, Marshal?" "Scared of cheating the hanging judge?" "Kill him!" "We'll testify for you, Marshal." "We'll tell 'em you did your best to bring him in alive." "Hold it, damn you!" "Kill him, Marshal!" "It's too damn crowded in here, anyway!" "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 sayin' it was wrong." "I'm just sayin' it ain't gonna make the judge happy." "Now that you've said it, William, move 'em out." "Girls, girls, the tumbleweed wagon's here." "Save us the live ones, Marshal, huh?" "Don't hang them all!" "Here comes the tumbleweed wagon." "Some collection, Dave!" "And you'll send the drapery material over." "As soon as it comes in." " 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..." "Here comes the tumbleweed wagon!" "Isn't that Billy the Kid?" "Take a closer look." "Maybe you'll find your old man!" "Hold it!" "Let them step down, so we can target practice on 'em." "All right, move 'em out." "Come on." "Feed's twice a day." "Eight in the morning, four in the afternoon." "Unless you make trouble and get yourselves short-chained you get an hour a day recreation in the prison yard." "Better find yourself a spot." "We're 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 you!" "Sounds like Schmidt's fixin' to have a little party this morning." "A party?" "A hanging party." "Them's 200-pound sacks he's droppin'." "Gotta make sure them ropes hold up." "Always uses top-grade hemp, Schmidt does." "Oils it, so it slides real good." "Snaps your neck like a dried-out twig." "A fine artist at his trade, our Mr. Schmidt." "The bastard!" "What kind of justice, to hang a man before he's heard about his appeal?" "Come in." "Leave him, without shackles." "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 lookin' to buy some cattle." "So McCleod sold you a few head." "He must have got a pretty good laugh out of that." "You want to see what he looks like?" "Come on." "Come on." "McCleod took the money he swindled from you and came into town, lookin' for a good time." "The Row, that's where we found him." "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 'em up." " Well, that's not good enough!" "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 St. 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 an army sergeant." "Here." "If that hanging rope didn't kill you, maybe my coffee will." "How much did you make in St. Louis?" "It's $200 more than I made in St. 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." "You sound like you're a man trying to give away money and don't have too many takers." "You sound like you're a man protesting the pay's too high." "Don't." "If you sign on, you'll earn every cent of it." "There you are." "The Oklahoma and Indian Territory year of our Lord, 1889." "19 marshals." "I was authorized 60 when I came here." "I told the president even that wasn't 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 hatband." "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." " Good luck, Marshal." " Thank you." "You're Cooper?" "Judge sent a wire you was coming." "Wasn't there nobody outside?" "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?" "The hotel here in town, does it serve a good steak?" "I better have somethin' 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're talking to me, Marshal?" "Your name's Reno, isn't it?" "I don't know what kind of town you're running..." " This isn't my town." " Well, I wouldn't know." "See, I just rode in." "I want to wash down some trail dust, and..." "All right, Marshal, what do you say I done?" "You don't remember me, do you?" "When you hang a man, you better look at him!" "Don't go for that gun, Reno." "I need you alive." " 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?" "$15 ought to do a fair job, Marshal." "There's $7 there." "I'll give you $8 more." "And mark it down, there." "Don't anybody leave!" "I want everybody to write down exactly what they saw." "I didn't see nothing, Marshal." "Fine." "Then you say that in writing." "Nobody's gonna fault you, Marshal." "You give him every chance." "Say it in writing." "Marshal, I can't write." "The sheriff here will write it down, then you can put your mark on it." "There's a saddle out there that belongs to me." "I'll be takin' that." "Any of his friends or relatives show up, want his horse or his belongings you let me know, huh?" "You can wire me at Fort Grant." "You gonna pick up the Swede now?" "I'm going to have that steak now." "Oh, 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, the judge wants to see you, right away." "Good work, Cooper." "See?" "The good Lord takes care of those that do His work." "He just waltzed in, 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 for a grubstake when I heard a marshal with a hanging scar had killed Reno." "I knew then we'd..." "we'd hung an innocent man so I turned myself in." "The others?" "He gave me their names." "I've made out the warrants for their arrests." " Where?" " Red Creek." "Good." "I'll be on my way." "All right." "You do it your way." "You round 'em up and bring 'em 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!" "I have seven warrants here." "Matt Stone, Loomis, Maddow Charley 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." "And Miller Miller's a drifter." "These men you're looking for, they're all leading citizens." "They're friends of mine." "These friends of yours are wanted for conspiracy to commit murder." "If you'll put this man in jail, Sheriff you and I can ride out to the Big W." "Sheriff!" "Sheriff Calhoun!" "Rustlers, they took our herd." "They killed my pa and Danny." "Killed both of 'em!" "I rode in and found 'em 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've got your job, I've got mine out at the Big W." "His father and his brother were murdered." "You a lawman or ain't you?" "Not more than five, six hours ahead." "Now they must slow down." "Well, we won't." "On your feet!" "Get up!" "The cattle won't live another day without water." "Mick, Willy, get 'em home." "Rafe, go with 'em!" "You've got one minute to pray." "There'll be no hanging' here." "They killed my father and brother." "They're gonna get what's comin' to 'em." "They'll get what the law says is comin' to 'em." "If you can't stomach hanging, why don't you ride out?" "We'll do what needs doin' 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." "I'll make sure they get to Fort Grant." "Fort Grant's better than a three day's ride from here." "You'll never make it alone." "I didn't plan on makin' it alone." "You men got a $10 posse fee comin'." "I can't guarantee the government's gonna pay any more." "Every man who sticks with me will get an extra $10 if I have to pay for it myself." "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." "The men these rustlers killed, they were my friends." "These three, they are for hanging!" "Leave us, Marshal for just ten minutes." "Five minutes!" "On your feet!" "Thank you, Marshal." "I just want you to know, we had nothing to do with the killing." "Shut up." "We rustled the herd all right." "But me and Ben, we..." "Didn't I tell you to shut your mouth?" "!" "My brother's telling the truth." "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 seen you when you drug that ol' 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 headed lickety-split for south of the border." "You know something?" "Mister..." "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 guilty as hell." "You know, when we get to Fort Grant all they 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 'em that we jumped you." "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 gonna have to help me." "I said get aboard!" "You are 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." "Get aboard, Miller." "Kill me!" "Kill me!" "Kill..." "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." "Please, my family." "I didn't know what I was doing." "Samuel Dodd." "Charge: whiskey peddling." "Here, Your Honor." "Court's adjourned." "Eight o'clock tomorrow morning." "All rise until His Honor has left the courtroom." "The sheriff in Red Creek wired you were bringing three killers in alone." "That was over two days ago." "I near gave you up for dead." "You're a damn fool, Cooper." "A bloody damn fool, and the best there is." "Hear that?" "Wake up, you godforsaken people, you!" "The best there is, this man here that works for you!" "For your government." "Our country!" "The best country on the earth, because of men like Marshal Jed Cooper!" "I'm proud of you!" "They'll 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!" "Now, what have you got to say about that, boy?" "!" "Anything else I can do for you, Marshal?" "Good Lord, you bring back half of these, you'll have a wagonload." "Well, you know me, Judge." "I like a lot of company." "How long you figure to take?" "Six, seven weeks, give or take a month." "Come in." "Well, well, well." "The prodigal returneth from a fate worse than death." "Was that your idea?" "You fell right in my arms and since The Row happened to be the closest haven and since you didn't appear to need the doctor's services..." "Well, I'll be on my way." "See you, Jed." "Aside from the girl who served me breakfast I didn't see anybody else, that I remember." "Do I owe them a bill?" "Of course." "Just put it on your expense account." "Under what?" "You're going to make me one hell of a lawman, you are, Jed." "Judge about those three I brought in..." "All taken care of." "I don't think they spent as pleasant an evening as you did." "I wanted to talk to you about the two boys, Ben and Billy-Joe." "Later, later." "Write it down, when you've got time." "I just wanted to say, as long as I'm here that only Miller is to be charged with murder." "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..." "Did they pitch in to help you subdue Miller?" " Oh, no." " Write it in your report." "Hey, Marshal, if you catch a whiskey peddler let him go and bring the whiskey back this time!" "Hey, Ace, mind if I call on that señorita of yours?" "I hear they got some wicked women in Los Gatos." "Snatch us a few!" "So long, Ace." "Good hunting!" "Bliss is dead." "Bliss?" "What happened?" "He went to pick up one of the Walker boys at 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." "I owed my life to Bliss." "He was a man with a backbone, a lawman..." "Won't be easy to fill his shoes." "No, it won't." "Well, I'd better get on back to Red Creek." "When the local sheriff wired you I don't suppose he told you I arrested one of the men who tried to lynch me." "I was goin' 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?" "I've got a backlog of cases built up from here to Sunday." "I happen to have a prisoner over there in that cardboard jail." "The sheriff who's guarding him has 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!" "Excuse me, Judge." "I heard there were three new prisoners." "Marshal, why don't you take Miss Warren down to the cellblock?" "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 the prosecution's remarks concerning the law." "All right, son you may step down." "Call your next witness." "Marshal Jedediah Cooper." "Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?" "Marshal, at the time of their apprehension did any of these three defendants deny their guilt?" "No, but on the trail back here..." "We are not interested in the trip back to Fort Grant." "It was a heroic journey." "The whole court, the whole territory is grateful." "I think something that happened on the trail back here has a bearing on the case." "Did something happen that leads you to believe that one, or all three of these defendants are innocent?" "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." "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." "They've never been in trouble with the law..." " $20!" " Lf it wasn't for them, I wouldn't... $30!" "One more word and you'll spend 30 days in the hole!" "Do you have any further questions for this witness?" "No more questions, Your Honor." "Then you may step down, Marshal." "Sheriff Ray Calhoun." "Red Creek." "I recognize you." "I want to 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 sittin' in that cell going crazy the town without no blacksmith." "He promised that if I turned 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." "He 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 and 40 cents." "There's $800 in this envelope." "It's yours or you can keep the 100 head, prime, every one of 'em." "Don't have much use for cattle these days." "Here's $10." "Keep it." "$11 and 40 cents 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." "It's no deal." "He figures you still owe him for a lynching." "I told you, you never should have 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?" "Charley, 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 Charley 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." "Sorry, Captain." "Maddow, he'll come after you." "He'll keep comin'." "You'll be nothin' 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 kind of 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 was the first home I ever knew." "Saved a few dollars, thinking of finding' myself a woman staking off 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." "We thought we was doing the right thing." "We was." "Hanging the wrong man don't change that." "Five years, even ten..." "You two can survive it and still come out to live some kind of life." "What kind, Captain?" "I been a free man." "That's the only kind of life I know." "My wife, Thelma, she's a young woman." "She wants kids, 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." "Hey, mister, where's the hotel?" "Down the street, but keep goin', it's full up." "The whole town's full up for this hanging." "I hear they got tents set up, off the boondocks." "Thank you kindly." " Who is it?" " Open up." "I came here to tell you about the biggest thing that happened in this territory." "Bigger than statehood." "People showing' up by the wagonful, men, women, and children all just to see your lousy hanging." " That's enough." " To see your circus, a six-man hanging." " I said that's enough!" "You stink of whiskey." "Just go back to your room." "Lie down, and sleep it off!" "You're lynching those boys, why?" "Why?" "Because of you, Cooper." "Because of that beautiful, that magnificent journey you took to bring three killers to justice." "If the law didn't hang them, the next posse that goes out would say "Hang 'em, and hang 'em high!" "There's no justice in Fort Grant."" "And if there's no justice in Fort Grant there'll be no statehood for this territory." "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'll have been judged." "If you can't see the difference you'd better take off that star, and right now!" "Not just yet, Your Honor." "Yes, we'll gather at the river." "The beautiful river." "Gather with the saints at the river." "That flows by the throne of God." "Cold beer and sarsparilla for the kiddies pretzels, candy bars, cold beer." "Last chance." "The drapes can wait." "Sure you won't change your mind?" "Sophie, I told you before, there's only one hanging I'm interested in." "Let me go!" "No!" "I said no!" "Get your cold beer, sarsaparilla." "Hey, what are you doing?" "Can't you make it tomorrow?" "I don't want to miss the hanging." ""Confess thy iniquities and transgressions unto the Lord..." ""...and he will forgive thee thy sins."" " Now, Preacher?" " 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 pretzels!" "Rock of ages" "Cleft for me" "Let me hide myself in thee" "Like the water" "And the blood" "From thy wounded..." "You have last requests?" " Do you have last requests?" " I'd sure like me a chew of tobacco." "What's the matter, hangman?" "You afraid I'll choke and cheat you out of your hangin' fee?" "Put it in my pocket." "Now, Preacher?" "You may say your piece now." "You are now looking for the last time at the mortal body of Francis Elroy Duffy born to John and Edna Duffy..." "You have last requests?" "...good God-fearing folks who raised me up to be a good man and a good Christian." "Bye, Ben." "Bye." "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..." "You have a last request?" "...this here lesson which I leave you with." "When you take the devil into your mouth 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." "You have a last request?" "Tell him to shut up, and let's get it over with." "Liquor is the most foul and evil thing in this here world." "It has destroyed good men like myself." "You have a last request?" "So take these words of advice, and remember you heard them from a poor sinner, who's got no more cause to lie 'cause he's going to meet his Maker and now he's ready." "That's all I've got to say." "Will you all bow your heads for one final prayer." "May God have mercy on their poor souls as He has upon all the faithful departed." "Amen." "Dear God!" "All right, all right, I'm coming." "Judge Fenton..." "I come to praise, Sophie, not to close you down." " I thought maybe you came to..." " Now, Sophie." "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, now." "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..." "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, thank you, dear." "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, 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, in 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." "Want me to take over?" "No." "Thank you." "You could use a good night's sleep." "All right, honey." "But one of these days he's going to 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." "Well, I guess I guess my life isn't worth two kisses." "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." "Then 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?" "Well, what happens when you find them?" "Or if you don't find them?" "Ever?" "We'd better hurry." "It's going to storm." "Miss Rachel, where do you want to put these blankets?" " What is it, Marv?" " Where do you want these blankets?" " Oh, just put them in the back someplace." " Yes, ma'am." "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." "I 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 yappin', wouldn't it?" "I told you I didn't know." "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?" "Tommy." "Drop it!" "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 somethin'." "So that's how it is, huh?" "That Rachel lit a fire in you with that rich body of hers." "You lit a fire in each other." "And now you're going to get married raise cattle and kids, devil take the rest of the world." "Maybe." "Used the law and a badge to heal the scar on your neck." "How many men are you gonna have to hang to heal your scars?" "Go to hell, Cooper!" "I've already been there, Judge, in your wagon and in that hole you call a jail." "And old man Jenkins is gonna die there." " Is he sick?" " He's dyin'." " I'll get a doctor down there for him." " Let him go." "He can go out and look for another innocent man to lynch?" "He's an old man." "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?" "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." "Oh, I've made them, Cooper." "Don't you doubt it." "Don't you doubt either, there are times sittin' up there in that judgment seat, I've wished, I have prayed that there was someone standing between me and God Almighty!" "Someone with power to say, "You're wrong, Fenton." ""You've made a mistake in law, and 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!" "Take this down, give it to one of the guards down there." "If there are any questions, let him see me." "There'll be no questions." "Cooper." "Charley Blackfoot was seen in the town of Ridgeway." "I got two unfilled warrants here Blackfoot and Maddow, the law still wants them."