Hang 'Em High (1968) - full transcript
A band of vigilantes catch Jed Cooper and, incorrectly believing him guilty of cattle rustling and murder, hang him and leave him for dead. But he doesn't die. He returns to his former profession of lawman to hunt down his lynchers and bring them to justice.
I'm gonna have to carry ya?
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.
Got them from Johanson?
That's right.
And you've got a bill
of sale to prove it?
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.
Damn it.
Look, I'm an ex-lawman.
You can check with the sheriff,
Dave Ramsay of 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.
Well, he's got
something that I want.
I want his wallet. I want
it, and 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.
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.
We could check it out.
Mr Maddow.
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.
No.
Some people calls 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,
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.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
Oh, my God.
Oh, God.
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?
Scared of cheating
a hanging judge?
Kill him.
Kill him. Kill him.
Kill him. Kill him.
We'll look out for ya, Marshal.
We'll tell him you done your
best to bring him in alive.
Kill him, Marshal.
- Kill him, Marshal.
- Yeah, kill him.
- Kill him.
- Come on, kill him.
Hold it, damn you.
Kill him, Marshal.
It's too damn crowded
in here anyway.
- Kill him, kill him.
- Kill him, Marshal.
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?
Marshal, you're not
gonna hang them all.
Here she is. Here comes
that tumbleweed waggon.
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...
Here come the tumbleweed waggon.
Hey, isn't that Billy the Kid?
Take a closer look. Maybe
you'll find your old man.
Hold it.
We're going outside of town, do
some target practise on them.
- All right, move them out.
- Giddap.
Come on.
You eats twice a day, 8:00 in the
morning 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 waggon
in this afternoon.
You'll get used to the smell.
If you don't, they got
a sure cure for it.
They hang ya.
Sounds like Schmidt's fixing to
have a little party this morning.
A party?
A hanging party.
Them's 200-pound
sacks he's dropping.
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.
Fine artist at his
trade, our Mr Schmidt.
That bastard.
No.
What kind of justice hangs a man
before he's heard
about his appeal?
No.
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.
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 Honour.
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
authorised 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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
No more than five,
six hours ahead now.
Now they must slow down.
Yeah, well, we won't.
- On your feet. Get up.
- Get up. Get up.
Cattle won't live another
day without water.
Mick. Willie. Head them home.
Rafe, go with them.
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.
I'll make sure they
get to Fort Grant.
Fort Grant's better than
three days' ride from here.
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.
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.
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 friends 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 woke 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, because
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.
Get aboard, Miller.
Kill me.
Kill me.
Please. Please. I didn't set
out to touch her. I was drunk.
Full of rot gut 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 Honour.
Marshal Cooper's coming down the
street with three prisoners.
00 tomorrow morning.
All rise until His Honour
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.
The best there is, this man
here that works for ya.
What's going on? 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?
Yahoo.
Anything else I could
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 it'll take?
Six, seven weeks,
give or take a month.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
offence, 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 Honour.
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 Honour, 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.
Do you have any further
questions for this witness?
No more questions, Your Honour.
Then you may step down, Marshal.
Yeah?
Sheriff Ray Calhoun, Red Creek.
I recognise 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.
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.
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.
- Who is it?
- Open up.
I just came here, Your
Honour, to tell you
about the biggest
thing that happened
in this territory,
bigger than statehood.
People showing up by the waggon
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 Honour.
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. Liquorice sticks.
Get your cold beer. Cold beer.
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.
Cold beer. Sarsaparilla
for all the kiddies.
Hey. Hey. Pretzels.
Liquorice sticks.
Get your cold beer.
Get your cold beer
here. Sarsaparilla
for all the kiddies.
Pretzels, liquorice
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.
Liquorice 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.
"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.
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?
Put it in my pocket.
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.
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.
It'll destroy you, too.
Do you have last requests?
And beer is not much better.
- It's slower and cheaper.
- No.
So take these words of advice.
And remember, you heard
them from a poor sinner
got no more cause to lie,
because 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.
Dear God.
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.
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.
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 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?
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 waggon?
The jail? You're
looking for those men?
And what happens
when you find them?
Or if you don't find them?
Ever?
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 some place.
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.
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.
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 something.
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,
in your waggon and in that
hole you call a jail.
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 judgement 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.
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.
Got them from Johanson?
That's right.
And you've got a bill
of sale to prove it?
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.
Damn it.
Look, I'm an ex-lawman.
You can check with the sheriff,
Dave Ramsay of 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.
Well, he's got
something that I want.
I want his wallet. I want
it, and 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.
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.
We could check it out.
Mr Maddow.
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.
No.
Some people calls 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,
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.
Oh, God. Oh, God.
Oh, my God.
Oh, God.
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?
Scared of cheating
a hanging judge?
Kill him.
Kill him. Kill him.
Kill him. Kill him.
We'll look out for ya, Marshal.
We'll tell him you done your
best to bring him in alive.
Kill him, Marshal.
- Kill him, Marshal.
- Yeah, kill him.
- Kill him.
- Come on, kill him.
Hold it, damn you.
Kill him, Marshal.
It's too damn crowded
in here anyway.
- Kill him, kill him.
- Kill him, Marshal.
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?
Marshal, you're not
gonna hang them all.
Here she is. Here comes
that tumbleweed waggon.
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...
Here come the tumbleweed waggon.
Hey, isn't that Billy the Kid?
Take a closer look. Maybe
you'll find your old man.
Hold it.
We're going outside of town, do
some target practise on them.
- All right, move them out.
- Giddap.
Come on.
You eats twice a day, 8:00 in the
morning 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 waggon
in this afternoon.
You'll get used to the smell.
If you don't, they got
a sure cure for it.
They hang ya.
Sounds like Schmidt's fixing to
have a little party this morning.
A party?
A hanging party.
Them's 200-pound
sacks he's dropping.
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.
Fine artist at his
trade, our Mr Schmidt.
That bastard.
No.
What kind of justice hangs a man
before he's heard
about his appeal?
No.
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.
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 Honour.
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
authorised 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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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?
No more than five,
six hours ahead now.
Now they must slow down.
Yeah, well, we won't.
- On your feet. Get up.
- Get up. Get up.
Cattle won't live another
day without water.
Mick. Willie. Head them home.
Rafe, go with them.
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.
I'll make sure they
get to Fort Grant.
Fort Grant's better than
three days' ride from here.
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.
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.
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 friends 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 woke 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, because
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.
Get aboard, Miller.
Kill me.
Kill me.
Please. Please. I didn't set
out to touch her. I was drunk.
Full of rot gut 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 Honour.
Marshal Cooper's coming down the
street with three prisoners.
00 tomorrow morning.
All rise until His Honour
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.
The best there is, this man
here that works for ya.
What's going on? 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?
Yahoo.
Anything else I could
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 it'll take?
Six, seven weeks,
give or take a month.
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.
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 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.
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.
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
offence, 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 Honour.
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 Honour, 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.
Do you have any further
questions for this witness?
No more questions, Your Honour.
Then you may step down, Marshal.
Yeah?
Sheriff Ray Calhoun, Red Creek.
I recognise 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.
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.
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.
- Who is it?
- Open up.
I just came here, Your
Honour, to tell you
about the biggest
thing that happened
in this territory,
bigger than statehood.
People showing up by the waggon
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 Honour.
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. Liquorice sticks.
Get your cold beer. Cold beer.
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.
Cold beer. Sarsaparilla
for all the kiddies.
Hey. Hey. Pretzels.
Liquorice sticks.
Get your cold beer.
Get your cold beer
here. Sarsaparilla
for all the kiddies.
Pretzels, liquorice
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.
Liquorice 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.
"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.
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?
Put it in my pocket.
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.
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.
It'll destroy you, too.
Do you have last requests?
And beer is not much better.
- It's slower and cheaper.
- No.
So take these words of advice.
And remember, you heard
them from a poor sinner
got no more cause to lie,
because 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.
Dear God.
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.
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.
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 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?
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 waggon?
The jail? You're
looking for those men?
And what happens
when you find them?
Or if you don't find them?
Ever?
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 some place.
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.
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.
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 something.
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,
in your waggon and in that
hole you call a jail.
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 judgement 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.