Have Gun - Will Travel (1957–1963): Season 1, Episode 14 - The Yuma Treasure - full transcript
Summoned to a frontier fort, Paladin learns from a Major Wilson that the nearby Maricopas -- on whose land sits a legendary goldmine -- have recently turned hostile. Paladine agrees to escort the Major to meet Gerada, the Maricopa chief, but Wilson proves to be more interested in stealing gold than resolving differences.
The Maricopas are probably
watching us right now.
I can do this or I can kill you.
Either one, the
Indians will understand.
Yavapai Apaches, sir.
Never saw them riding
with a white man before.
You can bring your
Indian friends on in, mister.
I'd like to see Major Wilson.
And I want to see them
trouble-making Yavapais.
Oh?
Hyah!
Get 'em! That's an order!
Get a patrol after them!
Stay where you are, Sergeant.
Why you dirty...
Put that gun down.
You're telling me to put this...
I'm telling you to act
like a cavalry officer.
You from the Inspector General?
Lieutenant, unless the Army
has changed considerably,
War Department Order
7-104 is still on the books.
And I've asked to see
your commanding officer.
I usually take care of his
business for him, mister.
Well, Lieutenant, you
just met the exception.
Give Major Wilson that card.
Sergeant,
where's the stable area?
Right in here, sir.
Now do my people have to
shoot their way onto this post
to see me?
He was riding with a
stinking pair of Yavapais.
That's his way.
I understand he can get
an escort from any tribe.
Yavapais, Curacaos, any of them.
He's even ridden
with Cochise himself.
They like him.
All right. He's a
cholla bean eater.
Now it's just that attitude
that's created trouble.
It's no wonder our formations
are being attacked.
Maybe you'd like to start
taking the patrols out again?
I've got to do something.
I'm getting complaints
from headquarters.
They can't afford
another Indian war.
This man's from West Point, too.
By Godfrey, he's
not going to think
I'm one of those officers
who has forgotten
what he learned there.
I suppose you want me
to talk to the men again.
You'll do more
then talk, Harvey.
You'll straighten them out.
And that goes for you, too.
That uniform of yours
smells like a horse blanket.
And do it quick.
I don't want this
man kept waiting.
Hi, I'm Wilson. Class of '54.
Glad you got my letter.
I had to pass this way anyway.
You're a West Pointer, too.
Good. We'll get along.
Lieutenant Harvey,
my second in command.
We've met.
Yes, of course.
I'm sorry about that
little mix-up at the gate.
Paladin.
Funny, I can't seem
to place that name.
Major, shall we get
down to business?
Yes.
That is funny.
I usually remember all the
officers from around my time.
I've got to make
up a duty roster.
Well, Major, what's the problem?
Sit down.
Thank you.
I heard of you through
Scott in the Seventh Cavalry.
You entertained
him in San Francisco.
( laughing): Yeah.
You should have heard
him talk about that.
Champagne,
good food, beautiful women.
You can imagine what that
sounded like to me out here.
Scott says you sometimes
get as much as $1,000 a job.
Major, let me set
the record straight.
I did not come here
for old school gossip,
to sing class songs, or
to discuss personal affairs,
past or present.
If you have a problem,
please detail it and
I'll name a price.
You must be joking.
In the letter I said this
concerned innocent lives.
You tell me the details, Major.
I'll decide the rest for myself.
$1,000, huh.
You know what
I risk my life for?
$62 a month.
Does that make
you better than I am?
Does that make
your life worth more?
Do you know that
I've spent seven years
in this hole eating dust?
Seven years. Look here.
This is what seven
years represents to me.
A stinking $200.
That's not enough
for you, is it?
It might be.
There are some things
about the Maricopa country
that interest me.
You know the Maricopa tribe?
No, but I've lived with the
Yumas. They're related.
This post was set up
to keep an eye on them.
I've tried to be friendly.
They just won't have it.
Last month, two of my troopers
disappeared while hunting meat.
Since then my patrols
have been hit every time
they enter Maricopa country.
That doesn't leave
me much choice.
Well, I'll tell you this
about them, Major,
if you retaliate, you'll
provoke open warfare.
And if I don't, they'll
think I'm weak.
Either way it'll involve
innocent settlers,
women and children.
There's a third way.
You could parley
with Gerada their chief,
find out what's troubling them.
Yes, but I can't go
in there with troops.
Now, from what I understand,
you could take me there,
just the two of us.
Major, have you ever heard
of the Maricopa treasure?
The tribal gold mine?
This country is thick
with stories like that.
This is a huge
vein of white quartz
so heavily loaded with free
gold you can dig it out with a knife.
Well, I happen to be interested
in other things... human lives.
And?
All right.
And my own career.
I'll be honest
with you, Paladin.
I'm in trouble.
I've had bad luck on
my last assignments.
If I fail on this one...
This is my last chance.
All right, Major.
We'll leave first
thing in the morning.
Thank you.
Oh, um, there's a full
dress retreat this afternoon.
Major, I've had a
look at this post.
A half-hour ceremony
won't impress me.
Whoa.
Whoa. Whoa.
Hold it.
There's no mistaking that.
( snake rattles)
( loud rattling)
( rattling softly)
( speaking Apache)
I do not have a split
tongue and I talk straight.
I will talk straight.
Our brother
suffers from the sun.
He has spoken to us.
I did not have a third
hand for a weapon.
You know our ways,
but so do many enemies.
It has been given into
the hearts of the Yumas
to believe the words
of one called Paladin.
And the Pimas
and the Opatas.
PALADIN: The whites
do not want your land.
Gerada said he
would speak straight.
The chief soldier here
has had his men killed.
Before you led your
men here yourself.
There was no trouble then.
But now the little
chief leads them here
with his eyes looking
to other things.
Lieutenant Harvey.
Harvey's been taking the burden
of patrols off my shoulders.
Perfectly within regulations.
The soldier you call Harvey
saw our gold in
the trading store.
It was a mistake for
us to bring it there,
but it was a mistake for
the soldier called Harvey
to send two others to
trail us to our white blanket.
White blanket?
The white quartz...
The Maricopa treasure.
The two soldiers you
say followed your men
were hunting meat.
Do meat hunters kill Maricopas?
Do they load gold in
leather sacks and mark trails?
Is this the way
soldiers hunt meat?
I'm for arresting
Lieutenant Harvey
and apologizing to Gerada.
But I can't go to headquarters
with some story
about a lost mine.
They won't believe it.
If the chief of the soldiers
here sees it, will they believe?
Of course they'd believe me.
Then you will come only to
count our fires as in the past?
I am only interested
in doing my job.
My friend can tell you that.
Two of my braves
will lead you.
You will wear a
cloth on your eyes
so you cannot
return to the spot.
Is this the wisdom
of Gerada speaking?
You have said the
soldier is to be trusted.
Did you speak straight?
I spoke straight.
( speaking Apache)
( flames crackling)
( owl hooting)
( horse neighing)
( groaning)
( groaning)
( groaning softly)
( horse neighing)
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on. Easy, now.
Easy.
Come on.
Come on.
Easy.
Easy. Come on.
Whoa, now.
Now back.
Back!
Back!
Back!
Back!
Back.
Whoa, now! Whoa!
Easy.
( gunshot)
Paladin, is that you?
I thought you were an Apache.
Come on out.
It's all right.
This is Major Wilson.
Paladin, it was a mistake!
I put my gun away.
I'd call that a lie.
I'll take the carbine.
Sure.
I certainly don't need
it against a friend.
You left me there
to die, Wilson.
I didn't want to.
It was a trap.
I was attacked by
those two Indians.
I was riding to
Gila Bend for help.
You don't think I'd
desert you, do you?
You've got a couple
of pretty heavy
buckskin bags on that horse.
Look, Paladin.
We rode for three
hours, mostly upgrade.
I could tell they were circling,
doubling back on their trail.
All total, we probably didn't
go more than five miles.
Then they took the bandages off.
We were in a box canyon,
up high, almost
to the timberline.
Have you ever seen gold?
Not an ore, but natural,
as pure and as
yellow as in a coin...
Bits of it, flakes, nuggets,
all sizes and shapes.
Those bags were
filled by the two troopers
just before they were killed.
I got the Maricopas to
show me just what happened.
And, when they
turned their backs, I...
You told me the
Maricopas attacked you.
Paladin, can't you
understand what I'm saying?
We're rich! You're my partner.
This isn't West Point, Paladin.
Did you have this in
mind from the start?
Well, what are we arguing about?
There's a fortune in those bags,
and I know the
way back for more.
Gold, Paladin.
Isn't that word enough for you?
If the Maricopas find us,
I hope they'll believe
it was your idea
to kill those guides.
But the sight of
it, just lying there,
a year's salary
in every handful.
Paladin...
You can't afford to kill me.
I know the location
to the treasure.
You're right in the
Maricopa's backyard, Wilson.
They're probably
watching us right now.
Look, Paladin, what good
is gold to a dead man?
Paladin, will you...?
Look, just let me
ride out of here.
What are you doing, man?
This is an advance
payment to get us out of here.
Wilson, gold is only
worth one thing to me,
and that's to buy
what I need most...
In this case, it's my life.
Paladin, listen...
Wilson, I can kill
you or I can do this.
Either one, the
Maricopas will understand.
Look, Paladin,
you don't under...
I risked my life for that stuff!
You risked my life for it!
No. That's mine!
Paladin, that's mine!
That's mine! That's...
Wilson...
Wilson, listen. It's mine!
Let the gold go,
Wilson! It's mine!
No! It's mine!
It's heavy! I can't hold you!
Let it go!
It's my gold!
No, I won't let it go.
It's my gold!
I can't hold you,
Wilson! It's my gold!
It's my gold!
Let it go!
( screaming)
( wind whistling)
The one who is called Paladin
has no use for the yellow metal?
All white men have great
need for gold, Gerada,
but I have returned
this to the mountain.
I was not mine to take.
You speak straight
when you say this?
I speak straight.
The dead soldier... He
did not tell you where
to find the white blanket
of the Maricopas?
He told me it was
in a box canyon
above the timberline. No more.
I have no wish to kill a friend
of the Yumas, the
Pimas and the Opatas,
but the brother of my wife
is dead already from one lie.
The others with me
fear that gold will
split even the tongue
of the man called Paladin.
I have spoken true.
( speaking Apache)
( speaking Apache)
( shouting)
My report to the
inspector general
will state that Wilson
was accidentally killed
while negotiating
with the Maricopas.
That, in my opinion, no action
is warranted against this tribe.
Well, that about covers
the situation, Colonel.
Lieutenant Harvey has
some story about a gold mine
being at the bottom of
all the trouble around here.
Well, these territories
are full of stories
about lost gold mines, Colonel.
Do you think any
of them are true?
It'll be at least 20 years
before Harvey has
a chance to find out.
We have a dozen
complaints against him,
including theft of post funds.
Thank heavens Major Wilson
was at least honest,
if nothing else.
We'll hope to see you
in our territory again.
I may get back here
again one day.
If the Indians are
ever relocated,
I'd like very much
to do some hunting
in these mountains.
Sergeant. Colonel.
watching us right now.
I can do this or I can kill you.
Either one, the
Indians will understand.
Yavapai Apaches, sir.
Never saw them riding
with a white man before.
You can bring your
Indian friends on in, mister.
I'd like to see Major Wilson.
And I want to see them
trouble-making Yavapais.
Oh?
Hyah!
Get 'em! That's an order!
Get a patrol after them!
Stay where you are, Sergeant.
Why you dirty...
Put that gun down.
You're telling me to put this...
I'm telling you to act
like a cavalry officer.
You from the Inspector General?
Lieutenant, unless the Army
has changed considerably,
War Department Order
7-104 is still on the books.
And I've asked to see
your commanding officer.
I usually take care of his
business for him, mister.
Well, Lieutenant, you
just met the exception.
Give Major Wilson that card.
Sergeant,
where's the stable area?
Right in here, sir.
Now do my people have to
shoot their way onto this post
to see me?
He was riding with a
stinking pair of Yavapais.
That's his way.
I understand he can get
an escort from any tribe.
Yavapais, Curacaos, any of them.
He's even ridden
with Cochise himself.
They like him.
All right. He's a
cholla bean eater.
Now it's just that attitude
that's created trouble.
It's no wonder our formations
are being attacked.
Maybe you'd like to start
taking the patrols out again?
I've got to do something.
I'm getting complaints
from headquarters.
They can't afford
another Indian war.
This man's from West Point, too.
By Godfrey, he's
not going to think
I'm one of those officers
who has forgotten
what he learned there.
I suppose you want me
to talk to the men again.
You'll do more
then talk, Harvey.
You'll straighten them out.
And that goes for you, too.
That uniform of yours
smells like a horse blanket.
And do it quick.
I don't want this
man kept waiting.
Hi, I'm Wilson. Class of '54.
Glad you got my letter.
I had to pass this way anyway.
You're a West Pointer, too.
Good. We'll get along.
Lieutenant Harvey,
my second in command.
We've met.
Yes, of course.
I'm sorry about that
little mix-up at the gate.
Paladin.
Funny, I can't seem
to place that name.
Major, shall we get
down to business?
Yes.
That is funny.
I usually remember all the
officers from around my time.
I've got to make
up a duty roster.
Well, Major, what's the problem?
Sit down.
Thank you.
I heard of you through
Scott in the Seventh Cavalry.
You entertained
him in San Francisco.
( laughing): Yeah.
You should have heard
him talk about that.
Champagne,
good food, beautiful women.
You can imagine what that
sounded like to me out here.
Scott says you sometimes
get as much as $1,000 a job.
Major, let me set
the record straight.
I did not come here
for old school gossip,
to sing class songs, or
to discuss personal affairs,
past or present.
If you have a problem,
please detail it and
I'll name a price.
You must be joking.
In the letter I said this
concerned innocent lives.
You tell me the details, Major.
I'll decide the rest for myself.
$1,000, huh.
You know what
I risk my life for?
$62 a month.
Does that make
you better than I am?
Does that make
your life worth more?
Do you know that
I've spent seven years
in this hole eating dust?
Seven years. Look here.
This is what seven
years represents to me.
A stinking $200.
That's not enough
for you, is it?
It might be.
There are some things
about the Maricopa country
that interest me.
You know the Maricopa tribe?
No, but I've lived with the
Yumas. They're related.
This post was set up
to keep an eye on them.
I've tried to be friendly.
They just won't have it.
Last month, two of my troopers
disappeared while hunting meat.
Since then my patrols
have been hit every time
they enter Maricopa country.
That doesn't leave
me much choice.
Well, I'll tell you this
about them, Major,
if you retaliate, you'll
provoke open warfare.
And if I don't, they'll
think I'm weak.
Either way it'll involve
innocent settlers,
women and children.
There's a third way.
You could parley
with Gerada their chief,
find out what's troubling them.
Yes, but I can't go
in there with troops.
Now, from what I understand,
you could take me there,
just the two of us.
Major, have you ever heard
of the Maricopa treasure?
The tribal gold mine?
This country is thick
with stories like that.
This is a huge
vein of white quartz
so heavily loaded with free
gold you can dig it out with a knife.
Well, I happen to be interested
in other things... human lives.
And?
All right.
And my own career.
I'll be honest
with you, Paladin.
I'm in trouble.
I've had bad luck on
my last assignments.
If I fail on this one...
This is my last chance.
All right, Major.
We'll leave first
thing in the morning.
Thank you.
Oh, um, there's a full
dress retreat this afternoon.
Major, I've had a
look at this post.
A half-hour ceremony
won't impress me.
Whoa.
Whoa. Whoa.
Hold it.
There's no mistaking that.
( snake rattles)
( loud rattling)
( rattling softly)
( speaking Apache)
I do not have a split
tongue and I talk straight.
I will talk straight.
Our brother
suffers from the sun.
He has spoken to us.
I did not have a third
hand for a weapon.
You know our ways,
but so do many enemies.
It has been given into
the hearts of the Yumas
to believe the words
of one called Paladin.
And the Pimas
and the Opatas.
PALADIN: The whites
do not want your land.
Gerada said he
would speak straight.
The chief soldier here
has had his men killed.
Before you led your
men here yourself.
There was no trouble then.
But now the little
chief leads them here
with his eyes looking
to other things.
Lieutenant Harvey.
Harvey's been taking the burden
of patrols off my shoulders.
Perfectly within regulations.
The soldier you call Harvey
saw our gold in
the trading store.
It was a mistake for
us to bring it there,
but it was a mistake for
the soldier called Harvey
to send two others to
trail us to our white blanket.
White blanket?
The white quartz...
The Maricopa treasure.
The two soldiers you
say followed your men
were hunting meat.
Do meat hunters kill Maricopas?
Do they load gold in
leather sacks and mark trails?
Is this the way
soldiers hunt meat?
I'm for arresting
Lieutenant Harvey
and apologizing to Gerada.
But I can't go to headquarters
with some story
about a lost mine.
They won't believe it.
If the chief of the soldiers
here sees it, will they believe?
Of course they'd believe me.
Then you will come only to
count our fires as in the past?
I am only interested
in doing my job.
My friend can tell you that.
Two of my braves
will lead you.
You will wear a
cloth on your eyes
so you cannot
return to the spot.
Is this the wisdom
of Gerada speaking?
You have said the
soldier is to be trusted.
Did you speak straight?
I spoke straight.
( speaking Apache)
( flames crackling)
( owl hooting)
( horse neighing)
( groaning)
( groaning)
( groaning softly)
( horse neighing)
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on.
Come on. Easy, now.
Easy.
Come on.
Come on.
Easy.
Easy. Come on.
Whoa, now.
Now back.
Back!
Back!
Back!
Back!
Back.
Whoa, now! Whoa!
Easy.
( gunshot)
Paladin, is that you?
I thought you were an Apache.
Come on out.
It's all right.
This is Major Wilson.
Paladin, it was a mistake!
I put my gun away.
I'd call that a lie.
I'll take the carbine.
Sure.
I certainly don't need
it against a friend.
You left me there
to die, Wilson.
I didn't want to.
It was a trap.
I was attacked by
those two Indians.
I was riding to
Gila Bend for help.
You don't think I'd
desert you, do you?
You've got a couple
of pretty heavy
buckskin bags on that horse.
Look, Paladin.
We rode for three
hours, mostly upgrade.
I could tell they were circling,
doubling back on their trail.
All total, we probably didn't
go more than five miles.
Then they took the bandages off.
We were in a box canyon,
up high, almost
to the timberline.
Have you ever seen gold?
Not an ore, but natural,
as pure and as
yellow as in a coin...
Bits of it, flakes, nuggets,
all sizes and shapes.
Those bags were
filled by the two troopers
just before they were killed.
I got the Maricopas to
show me just what happened.
And, when they
turned their backs, I...
You told me the
Maricopas attacked you.
Paladin, can't you
understand what I'm saying?
We're rich! You're my partner.
This isn't West Point, Paladin.
Did you have this in
mind from the start?
Well, what are we arguing about?
There's a fortune in those bags,
and I know the
way back for more.
Gold, Paladin.
Isn't that word enough for you?
If the Maricopas find us,
I hope they'll believe
it was your idea
to kill those guides.
But the sight of
it, just lying there,
a year's salary
in every handful.
Paladin...
You can't afford to kill me.
I know the location
to the treasure.
You're right in the
Maricopa's backyard, Wilson.
They're probably
watching us right now.
Look, Paladin, what good
is gold to a dead man?
Paladin, will you...?
Look, just let me
ride out of here.
What are you doing, man?
This is an advance
payment to get us out of here.
Wilson, gold is only
worth one thing to me,
and that's to buy
what I need most...
In this case, it's my life.
Paladin, listen...
Wilson, I can kill
you or I can do this.
Either one, the
Maricopas will understand.
Look, Paladin,
you don't under...
I risked my life for that stuff!
You risked my life for it!
No. That's mine!
Paladin, that's mine!
That's mine! That's...
Wilson...
Wilson, listen. It's mine!
Let the gold go,
Wilson! It's mine!
No! It's mine!
It's heavy! I can't hold you!
Let it go!
It's my gold!
No, I won't let it go.
It's my gold!
I can't hold you,
Wilson! It's my gold!
It's my gold!
Let it go!
( screaming)
( wind whistling)
The one who is called Paladin
has no use for the yellow metal?
All white men have great
need for gold, Gerada,
but I have returned
this to the mountain.
I was not mine to take.
You speak straight
when you say this?
I speak straight.
The dead soldier... He
did not tell you where
to find the white blanket
of the Maricopas?
He told me it was
in a box canyon
above the timberline. No more.
I have no wish to kill a friend
of the Yumas, the
Pimas and the Opatas,
but the brother of my wife
is dead already from one lie.
The others with me
fear that gold will
split even the tongue
of the man called Paladin.
I have spoken true.
( speaking Apache)
( speaking Apache)
( shouting)
My report to the
inspector general
will state that Wilson
was accidentally killed
while negotiating
with the Maricopas.
That, in my opinion, no action
is warranted against this tribe.
Well, that about covers
the situation, Colonel.
Lieutenant Harvey has
some story about a gold mine
being at the bottom of
all the trouble around here.
Well, these territories
are full of stories
about lost gold mines, Colonel.
Do you think any
of them are true?
It'll be at least 20 years
before Harvey has
a chance to find out.
We have a dozen
complaints against him,
including theft of post funds.
Thank heavens Major Wilson
was at least honest,
if nothing else.
We'll hope to see you
in our territory again.
I may get back here
again one day.
If the Indians are
ever relocated,
I'd like very much
to do some hunting
in these mountains.
Sergeant. Colonel.