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Whoa.

Now, Amy, I want you to remember one thing.

Oh, now, the way you act, you'd think I was...

I was gettin' old.

Now, Amy, remember one thing.

Judge Maclntyre is a young man.

Now, he... he doesn't know what it was like when we came to Nevada,

and he doesn't think the older settlers have any special privileges.

He's a Johnny-come-yesterday, still wet behind the ears.

He is the judge.

He's a firm man, and he's an honest man,

so when you get in there, try to... try to look a little contrite.

Got nothin' to be contrite about.

Like always, I asked Cy,

and like always, he said you gotta do what's right, Amy,

and that's what I done.

Good to see you, Ben.

Maybe with you here, Mrs. Wilder'll be a little more reasonable this time.

It ain't me who's unreasonable, Judge. It's... It's Roberts there.

Amy, please sit down. Right here.

Just whose fence do you think you've been pulling up time and again?

And whose land do you think it's on? Yours? No, mine.

Oh, it don't matter whose land it is.

The deer been runnin' along that land down to my creek

for longer than any of us have been breathin'.

They got prior rights.

Mrs. Wilder, this is the fourth time you've been before me

brought on charges by Mr. Roberts of malicious destruction.

- It simply can't go on. - Oh, yes, it can go on.

And it will too, as long as that robber keeps dirtyin' everything he touches.

You cut down every single tree you ever owned.

You lay the land stark naked.

- You poison every drop of water. - Amy...

Do you know what that means for all of God's critters?

Starvation, that's what.

Fish turnin' belly-up.

Nothin' to eat for the birds, nor the deer, nor... nor the coon,

nor the coyote, nor even the poor old cougar.

The poor old cougar?

Oh, course it's your fence.

But you just put that fence up to keepin' the deer out of my creek

just so as to plague me,

just so as to blackmail me into sellin' you that land

and the water rights I own down Carson way,

land you want so you can build a dirty old stamp mill

and poison another stream.

Amy, would you please sit down?

She's worried about a few fish

and I'm trying to help the mine owners and the economy of Virginia City.

Well, I'm not to be blackmailed!

Not by nobody, not for nothin'.

Not till... till Satan's home ranch freezes solid.

Now, I paid my fine afore, and I'll pay it again,

and I'll pay it any time that that robber there

builds a fence to stop them deer.

Mrs. Wilder, next time it may not be that simple.

We'll worry about next time next time.

I'll be in the wagon, Ben. I just can't stand the smell around here.

Everybody in town's talking about it, Ben. She's senile.

It would be so much easier, so much kinder all around,

if she'd just agree to commit herself.

Maybe you can talk to her.

Ever since Cy died, you're the only one she'll listen to.

And it's for her own good.

For whose good? Hers?

Well, I...

No. No, sirree.

Amy may be eccentric, but she's sure not senile.

Can we stop by the hardware store, Ben?

I ordered me 500 pounds of bird seed.

Maybe it's come in.

500 pounds?

Oh, sure, Amy. Let's go by the hardware store and pick it up.

After the long winter, them birds'll be needing all of that seed.

Giddy-up, now!

There.

- Miss Wilder? - Mr. Cartwright?

Yes. How do you do? Sorry I'm late.

Oh, it gave me a chance to see things.

It's so different from Atlanta.

Yes, it... it must be. Uh, this your bag?

- Yes. - Well, we might as well get started.

- You got it? - Oh, thank you.

You know, they tried to get Amy to have a doctor's examination.

She'd have none of that.

Well, this fella Roberts, he's a lumber man, stamp mills.

Well, he and the so-called finer ladies in town,

they're trying to make out that Amy's senile.

Wanna have her committed to an institution.

Can they do that? Browbeat a helpless old lady like that?

Not if you stop 'em. You're next of kin.

Uh, just the same, I wish you'd talk to Amy

and see if you can get her to act a little more... circumspectly.

She's not exactly helpless.

She has her own way of thinking and doing things, always has.

Well, let me say that she keeps peculiar company.

Oh, you mean all those stray animals she takes in?

My brother's letters were always full of them.

- The deer and whatnot. - Yeah, among others.

You're nice, Mr. Cartwright. You can't bring yourself to say it.

Amy's an eccentric, isn't that it?

But aren't we all, in one way or another?

Whoa.

It's hardly what I expected.

I thought Cyrus left her well-off.

Oh, he did. But Amy doesn't care much about how things look.

Well, you know how Amy is.

No, I don't, not really.

- Here, let me help you. - Thank you.

I haven't known Amy for years, except through letters,

and he hasn't written many of those lately.

Ben Cartwright. Who's that you got there with you?

It's me, Amy. Margaret.

Margaret!

Oh!

Oh, my! Don't you look as fine as a spring sunrise!

But you always was a purty thing.

Oh, Amy.

Why didn't you tell me she was coming?

- I did. Two weeks ago. - Two weeks ago?

Oh, 20 years back, I could remember everybody and everything,

but last week and the week before gets clean away from me.

I brought the load of salt you ordered.

Oh, deer'll be glad to hear that. Put it in the barn for me, would you?

Hope this ain't all you brought along with you.

My trunks'll be here in a few days.

- Let me carry that. - No.

Amy, what about Ben?

Oh, Ben has all that unloadin' to do.

Besides, he don't wanna hear a couple of old hens gossipin'. Do ya?

Now, you... you can sleep in the spare room upstairs.

Course, I gotta get fresh sheets an' all.

But first I better fix us some supper.

Oh, you must be starved to death.

Come on, boys. You'll get fed too.

You know, the food they serve you in them way stations

ought better be buried in the backyard.

Just sit down and make yourself to home.

Come on.

- Oh! - What's the matter?

Oh! That's just Harriet.

Nothing to worry about. You probably scared her worse than she did you.

You knew she was here?

Well, no, but the door's always open.

Harriet, she just comes and goes.

That little fella there on the table, he's... he's named Squirrel.

Ain't got around to namin' him yet.

And this old fella here, this crow...

What's the matter there?

You see, he hurt his leg. You notice he got it bandaged.

It's gonna be all right, though.

I call him Mr. Poe.

Yes, after the writer fella.

Poe, the poet.

That was a raven, wasn't it?

Well, it was.

But I ain't got a raven, just a crow.

Now, you get down here.

Looks fine, don't he?

It's been so many years, Amy.

We'll have to get acquainted all over again.

Well, we got lots of time.

Amy, about this talk in town.

Oh! Gonna mend that, just as soon as I get time.

- Well... - You know, Ben worries too much.

I told him so when he... Come on, now, move over.

When he asked me if he could write to you.

There, you see? It all come back to me.

Anyway, they're just talkin' foolishness in town.

I'm sure they are.

But I'm here to stay, Amy, and take care of you.

Heaven knows, I owe it to you.

Oh, you don't owe me nothin', Margaret, nor Cy neither.

But it's right kindly of you to come, and you're welcome.

I'm pretty handy, though, you know, at takin' care of myself.

But it'll be good to have you.

If you can stand my housekeepin'.

You know, I... I get busy and I just let things go.

Oh, not so. Everything looks just fine.

Well, either you're blind or I am.

No, the... the floor needs moppin', and the curtains need washin'.

- Well, I can be a help. - House needs paintin' too.

Been meanin' to get to that,

but, you know, I can't decide what color it should be.

White'd be nice, but then it'd take two coats to cover.

- White would look nice. - Barn red'd be cheaper.

I'll have to ask Cy.

He'll tell me what to do, won't he, huh?

Ask him?

But... But, Amy, Cyrus is dead.

Well, that don't mean that I still can't ask him.

Why, I wouldn't do nothin' without first talkin' it over with Cyrus.

We can look at curtain material, can't we?

Oh, we can look at it, but I ain't much of a hand at makin' 'em.

I don't know, I cut 'em straight,

but they always hang like they was goin' uphill.

I'll make the curtains.

Hup!

Joe, Hoss.

- Hi, Amy. - Nice of you to drop by.

- Ah. - But you're too late for coffee.

Well, we had our coffee long ago.

While you... Pardon me, ma'am. While you ladies were still asleep.

Asleep?

Why, I had the animals fed and watered

and the eggs gathered and breakfast on the stove

before it was light enough to blow out the lantern.

That's what I said, I got up late. Come here. I wanna show you something.

We picked this little baby up on the road when we were coming in.

Aw.

What happened here?

Looks like he took a shot in the leg.

Someone must have mistaken him for a deer.

Must have been blind.

Who put that splint on?

I did. It was a clean break. There wasn't a splinter nowhere.

Well, you done a good job.

You brought him to the right place too.

Oh, Miss Amy, we wouldn't put you out none.

We... We could take care of him at the Ponderosa, couldn't we?

Well, sure, but how'd you like to ride all the way out there with a broke leg?

Put him in the barn.

Had a feeling you might say that.

Here we go, babe.

You shouldn't have bought them for me, Amy.

I've never worn trousers in my life.

Well, it's time you did.

Besides, you'd look pretty funny pitchin' hay

in one of them tea-party dresses.

Well... Well, I... I hadn't thought of that.

How about a drink?

- A what? - Lemonade.

- Not here. - Sure, here.

Oh, you can't be serious.

You're right, I didn't mean lemonade. Come on.

Amy Wilder, decent women don't go into saloons, much less drink in them.

Oh, this is Virginia City, not Atlanta.

Besides, there's plenty of women inside. Come and see for yourself.

Hi, Miss Amy.

Miss Amy, where have you been? We've missed you.

I got more to do than lollygag around a saloon, you know.

This here is my sister-in-law, Margaret.

She comes from Atlanta, Georgia.

Oh!

She's... She's real genteel, like, now, so you behave yourselves, you hear?

Sure, Miss Amy.

Margaret, this here is Sally, and that's Mary Ann.

How do you do, Miss Wilder?

Oh, ain't they sweet?

I just love to be around young people, you know.

- So full of life. - Come on in.

- We're gonna have us a real party... - Come on.

What's the matter with you?

What kind of manners is that? Atlanta kind?

I will not associate with that kind of woman,

and neither should you.

You just do what you want, and I'll do what I want, like always.

You wanna stay out here and die of thirst, it's up to you.

Hi there, Miss Amy. Can I buy you a drink?

No. The drinks is on me, like always.

Set 'em up for the house!

You're... You're Margaret Wilder, aren't you?

I've been wanting to meet you. I'm Barton Roberts.

You may have heard of me.

Yes, I've heard the name.

Yes, I'm sure Amy's mentioned me.

But, really, I'm not the black-hearted villain that she thinks I am.

Truly, Miss Wilder, I am concerned only for her own good.

- Amy may be a little eccentric, but... - Please.

Sidestepping the truth is only going to hurt her.

"Senile" is a much better word.

Miss Wilder, I have offered her a fine price for a piece of worthless land,

and all she'll say is that I'm trying to steal from God's creatures.

I... I don't understand.

All right. Amy owns a piece of land on a creek up near Carson.

Now, I have offered her far more than it's worth.

She says the fish in that stream would suffer.

- Really? - I swear it.

Fish. Oh, and the birds.

Now, is that rational? Hmm?

Yes, it... it seems strange.

Miss Wilder, I think it would be wise

if you drew up the papers and had her committed.

No. Amy may need looking after,

but she is harmless.

♪ Oh, my darling, oh, my darling

♪ Oh, my darling Clementine

♪ You were lost and gone forever

♪ Dreadful sorry, Clementine

♪ Oh, my darling, oh, my darling

♪ Oh, my darling Clementine

♪ In a cavern, in a canyon

♪ Excavating for a mine

♪ Well, the miner, forty-niner

♪ And his daughter Clementine

♪ Oh, my darling, oh, my darling

♪ Oh, my darling Clementine

♪ You were lost and gone forever

♪ Dreadful sorry, Clementine

♪ Oh, my darling, oh, my darling

♪ Oh, my darling, Clementine

♪ Well, the miner...

Hurry, look.

Oh, I knew it. She's back again.

That was an easy guess.

If it's a woman disturbing the peace and giving the town a bad name,

it's got to be Amy Wilder.

Old enough to know better too.

Look over there. Ever see anything so pretty in your life?

They are beautiful.

A joy and a delight.

Yes.

Are you fond of fish, Amy?

To eat? Hate 'em.

Never tasted but one in my life and I didn't like that.

Yah.

What are you doing here?

Passin' by, hot and dusty and helped myself to a drink of your water.

I've no objection to that.

Buildin' fence is hot work. Sweats it right out of a man.

Fence? Where?

I've got 'em here, boss. Better look out. She's got a rifle.

Told you, but you had to do it again.

One deer hung up on the wire last time and a hundred others dying of thirst.

Get out of the way, Margaret!

Yah!

Well, Miss Wilder...

She tried to kill me.

Be sure to get this straight.

Amy tore down this fence after she was warned by Judge Maclntyre,

and this time she tried to kill me.

She was very excited.

Excited enough to try and commit murder?

That woman's dangerous.

- I'll talk to her. - You'll do more than that.

You'll sign papers to see that she's put away where she can be taken care of.

Please, I can't do that.

All right, then she'll stand trial for attempted murder,

and you'll have to testify against her as an eyewitness,

and she'll go to jail for a long time, probably for the rest of her life.

Will you all stand and raise your right hand?

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth, so help you God?

I do.

Please be seated.

The purpose of this inquiry

is to determine the mental competence of one Amy Wilder.

Pertinent to that, this document signed by Barton Roberts

asks that she be remanded to the grand jury

to face a charge of attempted murder,

or, alternatively, that she be committed to an institution

as mentally incompetent and totally dangerous.

Anybody ought to be locked up, it's him.

Sit down, Amy.

Well, it's true.

Mrs. Wilder, you will be given ample opportunity

to speak in your own defense.

Until that time, I earnestly suggest that you be quiet.

This document, signed by Margaret Wilder,

asks that she be made the legal guardian of Amy Wilder.

Many of the facts are already a matter of court record.

Before inquiring into the latest destruction of Mr. Roberts' fence,

the court has some questions as to the ability of Amy Wilder

to manage her financial affairs.

- Mr. Eads? - Yes, sir.

Mr. Eads, it mentions here eccentric behavior and wasted funds.

Well, it's my money, ain't it?

Would you tell us something about this, Mr. Eads?

Yes, well, I have all the bank records here.

Cy left Amy well provided for, but his investments have seen some reverses.

Now, there was nothing I could do.

These were Cy's investments, and Amy didn't wanna make any changes.

I have tried to get her to economize...

Well, I have, Arnold Eads, and you know it.

Well, it's true.

House needs paintin'. The curtains are fallin' apart.

I haven't had me a new pair of pants since... since the fall of Babylon.

Will you please go on, Mr. Eads?

She's been piling up a lot of bills for stuff she doesn't need.

Salt blocks for wild game.

And bird seed. Not just two or three pounds.

- Sacks of it. - Well, the birds eat it.

Hay and grain, and then her saloon bills.

- I don't owe nobody even a cent. - And all of these fines.

And yet she refuses an excellent offer from Barton Roberts

for a tract of brushland that she says she'll never use.

Well, the deer use it.

And then she refuses to cut her monthly check for Margaret Wilder.

Amy, why didn't you tell me?

No need.

Now, there's mention here of the strange way

Mrs. Wilder speaks of her deceased husband,

or, rather, speaks to him.

I'd like to have that clarified.

Ain't nothin' strange about it, young fella.

You've been married to a man 40 years,

he ain't never dead for you,

not even if you've seen him laying there in the coffin.

Judge Maclntyre, may I?

When someone you love dies,

afterward...

even long afterward,

you can still... see 'em,

hear his voice,

the sound of the laughter...

feel them in the room with you.

Yes, even know what they'd think.

It's a normal thing.

You were one of those I asked to speak today, Ben.

I'd like to hear what else you have to say.

Well...

Oh, about those enormous expenses Mr. Eads was talking about.

Well, Amy... Amy loves and cares for her wildlife.

That's all it amounts to.

Are you saying that her extreme behavior is rational, Ben?

I think we're all apt to act eccentrically,

if we care enough about something.

Even to using a gun?

Well, the full story of that hasn't been told yet.

It will be, Mr. Cartwright.

Your Honor, it wasn't enough

that she pulled out my fences time and time again

in the face of a court order.

But this time she brought a rifle with her.

She put a bullet within inches of my head,

and if I hadn't been moving, I'd have been killed.

Inches? It was closer than that.

If I'd have wanted to hit ya, I'd have hit ya,

whether you was movin' or sittin',

and maybe the next time I will too.

That... That will do, thank you.

We have used up this day.

Mrs. Wilder, I don't want to put you in jail,

but I will have to unless you can promise to behave.

No fighting, no firearms of any sort.

I promise.

Today is Friday.

This hearing is adjourned until Monday morning at ten o'clock,

at which time the court will give its decision.

Wrong, wasn't it?

A bad thing to say.

Well, it wasn't the best, maybe.

Oh, no maybe about it. I saw the judge's face.

I know what he thought.

Well, you can't blame him.

Nothing for it. He's gotta send Amy Wilder to the loony bin.

Oh, don't fret, my dear. You tried to help.

Come on, Amy, we'll take you home.

No, I'd rather you didn't.

I can find my way. I been doing it for years.

Say, you can do me one favor, though.

Take Margaret home with you.

Let her see how... how pretty the Ponderosa is.

I'd be happy to.

You won't be lonely, Amy?

Never was.

Cy'll be with me, and all my friends.

All right, boys, come on.

Come on, boys, you're gonna all have something to eat.

Yes, now, don't crowd around like that. You're all gonna get yours.

Now, don't you be such a pig.

You're gonna get yours as soon as I put it down.

All right.

Come on, now, everybody eat.

That's right.

Gotta get some for Harriet too, don't we, huh?

No. Now, this is for Harriet.

You go on out in the kitchen.

Here you are, Harriet.

Go on, go on, out in the kitchen.

Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Here, chick, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Poor old fella.

Yes.

Locked up for your own good, wasn't you, huh?

That's what they're gonna do to me, you know.

Come on. Come on out.

There you are.

See? I let Mr. Poe go.

Yep, yep.

No, he's all gone now.

It was all right, Cy.

Most of the folks, they was all right.

Just talkin' loud and fast,

the way people do when they don't know what they're sayin'.

But... it was all right, my dear.

Judge wanted to know how come I could talk to you.

Ben Cartwright spoke up for us.

He told him.

- Morning. - Is it? Hadn't noticed.

I hardly expected to see you back here this morning after yesterday's session.

Did you drop in in the hope of influencing my decision?

- I'd like to. - Well, that's honest, at least.

- But I know better. - Of course you do. So?

It's a lovely day out.

Much too nice a day to be inside here reading all these musty law books.

I thought you might like to go for a ride.

Any special reason?

Well, whenever I have a tough decision to make,

I like to... have as much information as possible.

I thought maybe a ride would help you out too.

But you're not trying to influence my decision?

I am, but only by showing you things I think you ought to see.

Field research.

I was thinking of that myself.

But no speeches. If there are any questions, I'll ask them.

That's just the way I'd like it, Your Honor.

Is this where Roberts built all these fences?

That's right.

That raises a question: why build a fence here?

Now, that, Your Honor, is a very good question.

Giddy-up!

Whoa.

- Miss Wilder? - I'll wait here.

I've given Amy trouble enough.

All right.

- It's quite a place. - Yes, it is.

Usually a bunch of dogs around here.

Amy?

Amy, it's Ben Cartwright!

Amy?

Oh.

That's Harriet.

- She won't bother you. - Oh.

I don't know where she can be. Amy?

Enough feed pans for an army.

Well, she has an army... of dogs.

That's funny. There was a crow in this cage yesterday.

It's addressed to me.

Last will and testament?

Amy?

Amy? Amy!

Amy?

Amy, it's Ben Cartwright.

Now, Amy, I know you're in there.

Amy?

Amy, what's the matter?

Nothin'.

You not feeling well?

Are you feeling poorly?

I've never seen you take a nap in the daytime in your life.

Can if I want to.

I found your will.

You was meant to. Your name was on it.

- Now, Amy... - What's the matter?

You think I... I'm too sick in the head to write one?

- You know better than that. - I can write one if I want to.

They ain't said I... I'm loony yet.

Not official.

I can stay here if I want to too.

I'm my own boss...

till Monday.

Of course you are.

- Is there anything I can do for you? - Yep.

You can...

You can get out of here and leave me alone.

Is she all right?

She's in bed.

She says she's fine, but she's gonna stay in bed.

This is quite a will.

She leaves all her property at Carson to the State of Nevada

to be used for a park and game refuge, all wildlife to be protected.

One half of her money to be given to Margaret Wilder,

the other half to be used for winter feed, salt, birdseed,

hay for animals in this area.

Pretty generous.

I suppose some people would call that pretty extravagant.

I'm sure some people will.

After all, that's no ordinary thing, buying hay for deer.

Might be described as...

Strange? Loony? Not right in the head?

Is that what you think, just because I buy hay for deer?

Well, you wouldn't call a rancher feeble in the mind, would you,

just because he... he buys winter feed for his stock, or... or lays out salt,

or worries about how well they are, would you?

Now, let me tell you, and you're gonna listen to me,

because this is my house and you can't shut me up here.

They're wild things.

They're God's critters.

But they're my livestock.

Just as Ben's cattle is his livestock.

Oh, I don't drive 'em to market or sell 'em,

but they're my livestock,

and I can take care of 'em any way I want to.

And the will is legal too.

It was wrote before you decided to lock me up.

I haven't decided anything yet.

And another thing.

They're a whole lot prettier alive

than they are when they're hung up on wire or... or dyin' of thirst.

They're just plain beautiful,

and you'd know it too,

if you just opened your eyes and looked around a little.

I have.

Mrs. Wilder, sit down, please.

You know, already today, I've met several friendly witnesses.

Hmm?

Squirrel. Never got around to namin' him, poor little fella.

You know, first he was scared,

but sometimes now he... he brings his kin along with him.

Mrs. Wilder, that fence... Have you found many deer hurt with that wire?

Told you.

Tryin' to get to water, the wire strung up in the shadows.

Deer didn't see it.

Got cut up somethin' awful.

You know, Mrs. Wilder, the law is a two-edged sword. Cuts both ways.

It is against the law to shoot at someone with intent to hurt or to kill.

It's also against the law to provoke someone into shooting.

Ben?

I'm going to speak to the prosecutor.

Mr. Roberts must learn not to try to use the law for his own profit.

Good.

Did you hear that, Cy?

I'm sure he did, Amy. I'm sure he did.

Amy, you haven't eaten all day.

Why don't you just sit here with the judge and have a little... nice talk,

and I'll get some soup ready for you, hmm?

Why, the very idea.

This is my house, and it's my kitchen,

and anybody gonna do any cookin' around here, it's me.

No, sir.

We're gonna... we're gonna have us some steak and... and potat-ees

and canned corn and green beans,

and... and peaches for dessert.

Was he sayin' what I thought he was sayin', Ben?

Mrs. Wilder, I like it here.

I hope you invite me back very often.

You mean I'm going to be here?

Oh, glory.

Glory.

There.

Amy...

Margaret's outside waiting.

Margaret, supper'll be ready before you've washed your face.

Now, get on in here and set the table.