Original subtitles

Heeyah! Heeyah!

[ music playing ]

NARRATOR: Tales of Wells Fargo.

[ train chugging ]

JIM: A Wells Fargo man covers a lot of territory

in the course of a year,

and he meet some strange people.

Me, I see them all,

good people and bad.

Mostly the bad ones.

My name is Jim Hardie,

special agent for Wells Fargo.

My job has got a lot of routine work to it

but some of it you wouldn't exactly call routine--

chasing down stagecoach bandits,

train robbers--

some pretty unsavory people as a rule.

One of the bandits I ran into, though,

was anything but unpleasant.

Can I help you, ma'am?

Oh, thank you.

Thank you.

Heeyah.

Oh, I'm afraid I'm not used to traveling.

My grandmother in Saint Louis is ill

and Mama thought I should pay her a visit

just in case.

Your Mama's right, ma'am-- Miss.

Oh, Missus. Mrs. Reed,

I'm a widow.

Oh, I'm sorry.

My name is Hardie, James Hardie.

That's all right, it happened some time ago.

Let me get you some magazines

or some fruit.

Well, no, thank you,

I'm quite all right.

[ train whistle blows ]

[ bell dinging ]

[ gunshots ]

I wouldn't, Mr. Hardie.

I'll be doggone! You're one of 'em.

I'm afraid so.

I'm just a poor widow woman

and I've got a living to make.

Don't nobody move. This is a hold-up.

[ banging on door ]

Okay. Let's have it.

Get on down over there with the others.

I'm sorry, mister.

Now, Mr. Blue Duck is gonna come among you

and take up a collection.

Please give freely and generously.

And don't anybody hold out.

All right.

Thank you.

Very nice.

Thank you.

Shell out, mister.

I'm traveling light.

Dig again.

That's better.

Thank you.

Thank you, one and all.

Now, don't nobody try anything.

All right, Mr. Blue Duck.

Heeyah!Heeyah! Giddy-up! Heeyah!

[ gunshots ]

[ indistinct chatter ]

Is that her stuff?

Yeah.

Well, we ought to save that

for the U.S. Marshal.

Marshal?

Well, this is Indian territory.

I don't think you ought to do that.

I work for Wells Fargo and I'm looking

for some clue to her identity.

Identity? Ha!

How many women outlaws is there?

It was Belle Starr.

Maybe.

Bon-Ton Shop, Fort Smith, Arkansas.

That's Belle Starr, all right.

She lives near Fort Smith.

How do you know?

Well, everybody knows

where Belle Starr lives.

Sam Starr, her used-to-be husband,

has a farm near Briartown.

Cherokee land.

Is she living there now?

More or less.

The trouble ain't finding out

where Belle Starr lives,

it's taking her after you find her.

The Starrs is a big crowd

and they look after their own people,

even if Belle is only related by marriage.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[ music playing ]

JIM: Belle Starr's boys had taken a Wells Fargo shipment

in the train hold-up,

and that was reason enough for me to go after her.

I did some checking up on Belle Starr,

and the one thing that everybody mentioned

was her love for horses.

She like 'em fast-- the faster the better.

The price of a good horse never bothered her.

When she found one she liked,

she stole it.

Good looking hunk of horse.

JIM: Yep.

Are you from around here?

No.

Look like it can run a little.

Yep.

In fact, you might say he's never been outrun.

This is horse country, mister.

We got two or three horses around here

that can run.

I expect.

But I ain't looking for trouble.

Trouble?

Yeah, you're making horse talk.

First thing you know you're gonna wanna match a race,

all your friends are gonna bet

the money on it and I'm gonna win.

Then there's gonna be trouble.

You talk big with your mouth.

Well, like I say, old Lightning there

ain't never been outrun.

He's run against some of the best, too.

We got a horse around here that can beat anything

in four states and two territories,

and we got money to back that up.

I can see you're asking for it.

Stick around, I'll be right back.

[ music playing ]

Here's the Jasper with the racehorse.

This is a pleasure I hadn't counted on, ma'am.

Nor I.

I've seen you somewhere.

You didn't waste much time in getting here.

The train. He was at the station.

That's right.

And you owe me $82 in cash

and a $20 pistol.

Well, you may get some of the pistol back.

The bullets.

He's a railroad detective, Belle.

Sure, I am.

I knew that train was gonna be held up,

that's why I had everybody there to stop you.

All right, so you're not a detective.

Then what are you doing here?

I could lie about it, ma'am, and say it's because of you.

The truth is I'm just riding through

hoping to pick up a little money as I go.

How?

Well, my business is racing horses.

I tried to tell your friend there

I had an unbeatable horse, but he wouldn't listen.

Said he seems to think there's a couple around

that could outrun me.

And as you know,

that's what makes horse racing.

Belle's riding a horse that can beat anything around.

No.

No, not that little feller.

Couldn't even warm old Lightning up.

Are you sure of that?

Well, he hasn't got the legs,

hasn't got the chest or the muscle in the legs.

I rather doubt that he could outrun

a good long-legged burro.

Put your money where your mouth is, mister.

Yeah, put up or shut up.

No, wouldn't it be fair.

I could take my pack horse

and outrun that little feller.

You're going just a little bit too far, mister.

Put your gun away, Blue Duck.

Now, you said your pack horse

could beat my horse.

Put up your money and get ready.

How much?

Every dollar you've got--

and your horse,

both of them.

And you'll cover it?

Of course.

[ music playing ]

Now, those rocks down there

will be the starting line

and, uh,

and the first tree down there

will be the finish.

All right.

I got $400 here

and a bill of sale for my two horses.

We don't usually bother

with such things around here.

Yeah. So I've heard.

Nevertheless, if I win

I'd like to get a bill of sale.

I might have to go back through some country

where they got a sheriff or a marshal.

And you may be walking.

All right, Blue Duck, get down to the finish line.

Whoa, whoa, just a minute.

Not Blue Duck.

I trust you, ma'am,

but he's working for you.

How about you going down to the finish line?

Hurry up.

Now, would you-- would you trust us

to start the race?

I've got no alternative.

All right, Jimjala.

All of you folks come on down

to the finish line with me.

BOY: Who you gonna bet on?

[ indistinct chatter ]

Are you ready?

I'm ready.

Let 'er go.

[ gunshot ]Heeyah!

BELLE: Heeyah! Heeyah!

[ cheering ]

[ excited chatter ]

[ chatter continues ]

JIM: A good race.

He ran me off the road.

Around here we don't stand for womenfolk losing.

Well, you're a poor loser, I'll say that.

Well, you won because you ran me off the road.

I won on a foul.

Now don't you dare.

Well, Miss Starr, I can't rightly, uh...

Speak up. The folks can't hear you.

Who won?

Well, I-I guess you did.

You're an honest man, Mr. Haskell.

You call 'em as you see 'em.

I've seen thieves in my day

but you beat anything I've ever seen.

You wanna back that up?

No. No, I know when I'm whipped.

Next time that'll teach you to ride a fair race.

Fair? Well...

Uh, don't say it.

Climb down from that horse.

You lost him.

You go back and tell your folks

how we treat slickers down here.

Do you approve of this?

You better start walking

while you got a chance to walk.

Everybody back to town,

Ms. Belle is setting them up.

Sarsaparilla or...

or whatever you want.

[ all laugh ]

I could kill you for that.

Maybe you would at that, if you had a gun.

I wonder what's keeping her.

That horse of hers was acting up.

But no, she insisted she could handle him.

Maybe we better go back and help her.

You stay here with the other horse.

[ music playing ]

Now, Miss Belle, there's two ways of doing things,

an easy way and a hard way.

We've got a ride to take, and how we take it

will be up to you.

Well, I'm taking neither way

because I'm not going with you.

Yes, you are.

[ music playing ]

[ music playing ]

I'll untie your hands.

[exclaims ]

[ music playing ]

Thanks for nothing.

[ music playing ]

Thanks again-- for nothing.

You never give up, do you?

I fell in.

Yeah, I'll bet you did.

How much--

how much more of this do I have to put up with?

I don't know. How far is it to Fort Smith?

Forth Smith?

That's where we're going.

So you're a detective after all.

Wells Fargo.

Well, you're never gonna get me

to Fort Smith.

You wanna bet on it?

Oh, I forgot,

you're a poor loser.

We can camp here for tonight.

[ music playing ]

Still a little damp, but I believe

it's gonna be all right.

You don't look much like Belle Starr

the Bandit Queen right now.

Bandit Queen my eye.

That's what they called you in all the stories

I ever read about you.

Yeah, I read some of that trash.

Makes me out a real

female Jesse James.

I was at the station, remember?

That was the first train job I ever pulled.

Needed the money.

Well, a lot of people need money.

They don't go around holding up a train to get it.

How would you ever know about such things?

When I was 12, the Yankee soldiers came in

and burned our house right down to the ground

when we lived in Missouri.

We lived in a hole in the ground

on raw corn and whatever kind of roots

and herbs we could find.

Don't talk to me

about good and bad,

I've had bad with the good

and I've had good with the bad.

I've been on my own since I was 15.

I was married to Sam Starr before I was 16.

He was a no-account horse thief

but when he died he left me his farm

and probably the only real bunch of friends

I ever had in my life.

Members of Cherokee Indian tribe.

A lot of good Cherokees, all right.

Of course, they got their bad ones,

but there's a lot of bad white folks too.

Well, I guess we'll be riding soon.

Hmm?

Well, not before morning.

Well, the sooner we get back, the sooner I'll hang.

Hang?

Well, now don't tell me you don't know

who the judge is in Fort Smith.

I've never been there.

All I know is they've got a United States Marshal there.

Well, they got a judge there too.

His name is Judge Isaac Parker.

The Hangin' Judge?

You've heard of him.

Who hasn't?

He's hung 80-some-odd men

since he opened up his court.

But no women.

I think he'd like to hang a woman

just to break the monotony.

Holding up a train's not a hanging offense.

There was no one killed, no one even got hurt.

Two years ago he hung a man

just for stealing a horse.

[ chuckles ]

Now, you just imagine what he'd do

if he got hold of Belle Starr.

What's your name?

Like I told you at the station,

it's Hardie.

Jim Hardie.

That's a nice name.

Hardie.

Jim Hardie.

You're not gonna let him hang me, are you?

No.

You never give up, do you?

[ laughing ]

They're coming.

Clear, Eddie.

Well, what happened to you, Mr. Hardie?

I guess I underestimated you, ma'am.

Well, that happens all the time.

He bother you, Belle?

Did you bother me

when we camped together last night?

Possum got your tongue, Mr. Hardie?

You're calling the tune now.

You were gonna take me to Judge Parker's court

even after I told you

he was called the Hangin' Judge.

It's my job.

Job?

Seems our horseracing friend here

is a detective after all.

Wells Fargo.

We ain't never robbed Wells Fargo.

Oh, yes, we have.

Seems they run the railroad express cars.

Well, that settles it.

He gets what we give any other detective.

Now, wait a minute. So far we haven't had to kill anybody.

Think that would make any difference to Ike Parker?

Why, he's hung men for murder

and he's hung 'em for stealing two dollars.

That's right, Belle, he's gonna take you

to Judge Parker's court.

Now, I've gone a long ways with you fellas,

but murder, I can't stand it, I mean...

Now, wait a minute, Belle,

you ain't talking for yourself alone.

Me and the boys was with you

on that train job.

This monkey can identify us.

Judge Parker gets us in that court,

we hang for sure.

He may let off a woman, but not us.

We got no choice, Belle.

It's him or us.

That's the size of it Belle, that's it.

So?

You can go or you can stay and watch.

Now wait a minute.

Nobody's asking you.

Jim.

[ gunshots ]

Tie him up.

And her too.

But you can't! I just saved your life!

I've got to.

What kind of a man are you anyway?

One minute I save your life

and the next minute you take me

in to be hanged.

Oh, I hate you.

I'm sorry, ma'am.

This is one of those times when I hate this job.

[ music playing ]

JIM: Belle was wrong about Judge Isaac Parker.

He was easy on her.

She returned the money taken in the train hold-up

and I've put in a special plea for her.

Told how she'd saved my life.

Judge Parker gave her 18 months

in Detroit Federal Penitentiary.

The best thing that ever happened to her.

Gave her time to think.

And when she got out she went straight.

The most beautiful prisoner I ever had.

[ music playing ]