Original subtitles

Heeyah! Heeyah!

NARRATOR: Tales of Wells Fargo.

This is Deadwood, South Dakota,

the toughest town in all of the West.

Life was cheap here

and the gunslingers came

13 to the dozen.

If I had stabled my horse 10 minutes earlier...

Or 10 minutes later...

This story would certainly have been different.

But I didn't, and I found myself

in an almost unbelievable situation

trying to prove that Billy Reno,

who had more notches in his gun

than he had fingers and toes,

was innocent of murder.

Good looking black you got.

Yeah.

Looks like somebody gave him his head.

That's river clay.

Somebody rode him through a ford, most likely.

You got a right sharp eye, mister.

Excuse me, sir. What's the date?

June 18th.

Is Annabelle Sutton still here?

No, she left last night

right after the show.

Did you see the show?

I sure did.

You know, she is the most beautiful woman

I think I ever saw.

Thank you, sir.

Uh-huh.

Thank you very much.

Why, Jim!

You old son-of-a...

What are you doing in Deadwood?

Oh, just dropped by.

Give me a beer.

You never dropped by any place in your life.

We've got an unscheduled stagecoach coming through here.

It's carrying the payroll of the Real Marble mines,

I'm gonna ride shotgun with it through the Badlands.

Much on board?

$51,485.

Who's your friend, Stevie?

Bess, you snuck up on us like an Indian.

I guess you better shake hands with Jim Hardie here.

He's from our San Francisco office.

Jim, this is Bess Hollister.

She owns this whole shootin' match in here,

and just about half the rest of Deadwood.

Don't go overboard, Stevie.

I've heard a lot about you, Mr. Hardie.

Mostly good, I hope.

It depends on who told me.

You planning to be with us long?

No, I just stopped by to check the office.

Nothing wrong, I hope.

I bank with Wells Fargo.

No. We're solid as a rock.

Just trying to keep it that way.

Those are our horses.

They know their way back.

Excuse me, Ms. Bess.

Excuse me, miss.

Whoa, whoa.

Easy, there, easy.

Back it up.

Easy.

There's from one of your stages, all right, Mr. Stevens.

Yeah. Thanks, Mac.

You bet.

When is your next scheduled run?

I don't have anything in here until

at 5:00 tomorrow.

What time does that stage of yours

from Cheyenne coming through?

Supposed to meet him here at 8:00 this morning.

Looks like somebody got there first.

$50,000.

Jed Copeland and Lem Placer

were on that stage.

Jed Copeland was the man that broke me in

when I first came to the Wells Fargo.

Where's the Sheriff?

Come on.

Their last stop was Red Rock.

They were trying to push on through.

I've known Jed and Lem for years.

Both good men.

Any known outlaws in this area?

Not since Sam Bass got his. Heeyah!

Heeyah! Heeyah!

These men were both shot in the back.

They never knew who killed them.

Scatter out and see if you can find anything

Well...

they got the payroll, Jim.

Nothing around here, no signs.

Whoever did it must have

hid behind those oak trees

and ambushed them as they came through here

and then took off through the water.

There's gotta be something.

Both those men got their hat, Mr. Hardie?

Yes, why? Well, I thought this might

belong to the killer.

It's a Stetson Buckeye model.

You recognize it, Sheriff?

Don't reckon I do.

No hat size, or initials, or nothing.

It could have been laying there for weeks.

Not a good Buckeye.

It cost of month's wages.

Somebody'd have spotted it by now.

When we get back to Deadwood,

any man that's not wearing a hat

is gonna have a lot of explaining to do.

Let's start loading them up.

Don't worry Jim, I'll take care of everything.

Thank you, Sheriff.

Someday these shootings and holdups will stop.

Deadwood will be a better town for it.

I hope you're right.

In the meantime, there's a lot of work to be done.

Would a reward make it any easier?

Some men think better if there's a dollar in it.

Then I'll offer a thousand dollars

for the arrest and...

conviction of the killers.

Thank you.

That's very kind.

Mr. Hardie?

What are you doing with Billy's hat?

I beg your pardon?

That's Billy Reno's hat.

I gave it to him Christmas.

Billy Reno?

I didn't know he was in this part of the country.

He's working a claim at Angel Hill.

He's been going straight and...

Where did you find this hat?

The same place we found the stagecoach.

No. No, it couldn't be Billy.

Why couldn't it?

If I got him in trouble, he'll never forgive me.

If he's innocent,

he's got nothing to worry about.

Knowing Billy Reno like I do,

he'd better have a good excuse when I do find him.

Please, Mr. Hardie, give him a chance.

He's been on the level ever since we met,

almost a year now.

Why are you so interested in him?

We were going to...

Oh, why did I have to say anything?

Morning, Sheriff.

Billy.

You know Jim Hardie?

Yeah, I sure do.

Howdy, Jim.

What's going on?

Where were you last night?

Right here.

Where's your gun?

Well, it's hanging over there.

Mac.

It's been fired lately.

When did you use it last?

Yesterday.

Been fired twice, Jim, adds up.

What did you shoot at, Billy?

A rattler.

Any law against shooting snakes?

No. No, there's no law against hanging them, either.

And what do you mean by that?

You own a Stetson Buckeye?

Yeah. Let's see it.

Well I, uh...

I lost it.

You sure did. About a week ago

when I went to town for supplies.

Would you mind telling me

what I'm supposed to have done?

Last night a Wells Fargo stagecoach was held up.

Two men were killed and $51,000 was taken.

We found your hat beside that stagecoach.

Nah, you're treeing the wrong cat, Jim.

If things keep going like they have,

there's all the money I'll ever need right here in this mine.

I struck it big. Check with the assay office,

they'll tell you.

Those two men were shot in the back.

Look, Jim.

You've known me for a long time,

so I won't try to make out

like I've always been on the level.

But there's one thing you know for sure about me:

I never gunned a man in the back.

I never had to.

There's always a first time.

Saddle up, Billy.

I'm taking you back to Deadwood.

All right, Sheriff.

I won't make no trouble.

JIM: What Billy Reno said was true.

He'd never shoot a man in the back.

And suddenly I felt uneasy.

Things were too pat.

And out of nowhere I got a hunch

that someone was trying to pin the murder

on an innocent man.

And then it hit me... The hot horse

at the livery stable last night.

It had been ridden into the ground.

And the clay that the man picked out of the hoof...

That was river clay.

And the clay on my stirrup,

it could only have come from the stream

where the holdup took place.

I guess you feel real proud of yourselves bringing Billy in.

Where is he? Well, now,

take it easy, Bess. You wanna see him?

I sure didn't come to pay a social call on you.

Billy!

Bess!

I knew you'd come, honey.

Don't you worry none, honey.

I've got the best lawyer in the territory.

He'll get you out of this.

Thanks, Bess.

You see, Sheriff?

She believes in me.

That's all that matters.

I do, honey.

Oh, it's good to see you.

Say, I hear you brought Billy Reno in.

With the help of the sheriff

and a few other people.

Mighty tough boy, that Billy.

If you don't make it stick,

he'll come gunning after you for sure.

That could be.

Yesterday when I came in here,

you were rubbing a black horse.

I wonder if you could tell me who it belongs to.

A black horse?

I've got a couple of them, Mr. Hardie.

I remarked at the time

that someone had run him pretty hard.

Gosh, I sure would like to help you,

you bein' with Wells Fargo and all,

but we rent so doggone many horses

and folks misuse them so,

it's just hard to rightly remember.

You wouldn't forget a horse like this.

Maybe you wouldn't believe it,

but keeping track of this stable

is just about the most confusing job there is.

You were picking river clay out of his hoof.

Billy Reno didn't rent no horse yesterday.

I didn't say he did.

All I wanna know is who rode the black.

I'll bet you think I'm real dumb, Mr. Hardie.

Not being able to remember a little thing like this.

No.

No, I don't think you're dumb at all.

Bess Hollister offered a thousand dollars

to any man who could give information

leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.

With that $1,000 and the money that I'll see

that Wells Fargo adds to it,

that ought to jar your memory loose a little bit.

It might, if I knew.

I sure could use that kind of money, Mr. Hardie.

I tell you what,

let me set on this for a while.

It might just come back to me.

Yes, sir, it just might.

I'll bet it does.

Good afternoon. What can I do for you?

My name is Jim Hardie. I'm with Wells Fargo.

Oh, yes.

I may be a little out of line,

but I'm looking for some information

about Billy Reno.

He's been working a claim up

near Angel Hill.

That's right.

I know you can't give me the exact amount,

so I won't ask,

and it isn't important,

but I must know whether he's struck gold or not.

He sure has.

That's why I can't understand his holding up the stage.

Here's a sample of his ore.

Of course, with his past,

he may figure 50,000 in the hand

is worth half a million in the ground

once he gets his mining equipment.

But a man like Billy Reno

sometimes doesn't think straight.

He's a pleasant enough cuss, though,

I'd hate to see him hang.

So would I, if he's innocent.

Could you tell me who grub-staked him?

Why, sure. Bess Hollister did.

She's helped half the men around here.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Who's there?

Sam Craig, Miss Bess.

Come in.

What's on your mind, Sam?

That fellow Mr. Hardie with Wells Fargo

has been asking some questions.

That's part of his job.

I know, but I didn't think

you'd want me to answer him.

You tell Mr. Hardie whatever he wants to know.

Yes, ma'am, if you say so.

Sam.

What sort of questions was he asking?

Well, he wanted to know

who rode that big black yesterday,

the one I had such a hard time cooling out.

Almost an hour it took me.

And what did you tell him?

Nothing. I didn't think you'd want me to.

Was I right?

Just as I figured.

If he knew he might make some sharp guesses,

and that wouldn't be too good,

would it, Ms. Bess?

Go on.

Looks like you're doing right well,

with that payroll and all.

What do you want, Sam?

That's what I always liked about you.

No female playing around.

You come right to the point, so I will, too.

Give me 10,000 of the loot

and I'll be out of Deadwood tonight.

Just like that.

Ten thousand?

He noticed that river clay just like I did.

I'll tell you, this Hardie don't miss a thing.

I'd sure hate to have him agin' me, Miss Bess.

I'd say that would be certain death.

I'm not being greedy.

If I was, I'd ask for half.

But I'm a reasonable man.

You give me $10,000,

not a dime more or less.

All right, Sam,

10,000 it is.

And that's the end of it.

I'm no blackmailer, Miss Bess.

When I give you my word, that's it.

I'm sure it came from in here.

Sam!

Sam.

Who did it, huh?

Shot right in the back.

Like Jed and Lem.

But why kill Sam?

To shut him up.

He knew who the killer was.

I think he was gonna tell me.

But I guess he'd figured he could make

a better deal somewhere else.

This is what he got.

Billy couldn't have done it.

He's in jail.

Now, do you believe me when I tell you

he might be innocent?

Well...

But doggone it, Jim,

we found his hat there.

He said he lost it a week ago.

I don't believe he did.

I think it was stolen from him.

Then they left it at the stagecoach.

Try to pin the whole thing on him.

Oh, I don't know.

You're the boss here, and I'm not trying

to tell you how to run your job.

Not much you aren't.

But if I were sheriff, I think I'd turn

Billy Reno loose.

You'd what?!

You're not gonna get a conviction anyway.

Not on the evidence that you have.

Maybe not.

But don't you care anything at all

about the $50,000 that Wells Fargo lost?

Of course, I do. That's why I want him to turned loose.

Maybe he can lead us to the money

or to the killer.

All right. But if he don't,

you ain't never gonna hear the last of this.

That's the story.

You're free to go and work your mine whenever you want.

Thanks.

No hard feelings.

Forget it, sheriff.

Billy,

did you ever try to figure out

why you were framed?

No, it just don't make sense.

It has to be one or two reasons.

Either somebody wants you out of the way or...

someone would stand to profit by your death.

Can you think of anyone who would profit

if you were to be hung?

Someone told me that

Bess Hollister grub-staked you to your claim.

You better watch what you're saying.

The usual deal in a grubstake

is a partnership.

Is there anything about your deal

with Bess Hollister that's different?

Well, we were gonna be married

and we signed a paper.

The mine belongs to the survivor

if either of us cashes in.

And who's idea was that paper?

Hers.

It all seems to fit, Billy.

You're having trouble working your mine by hand,

but it'd be different with equipment.

If Bess Hollister could pin this whole thing on you,

then you'd be out of the way.

She'd be the sole owner

and she could work it with the $50,000.

She's no better than a...

I thought she was different than all the women

I used to know in the old days.

But why would she do it?

It doesn't make sense.

She owns the saloon, the general store,

what more could she want?

A love of money is a disease that...

I sure wish you hadn't told me.

I'd rather stay here and rot,

or even hang, than think that she'd...

All right. All right.

What do you want me to do about her?

You're a free man.

We can't ask you to do anything,

any more than I can prove

what I just told you.

Uh-hmm.

All right, I'll be seeing you.

Kind of tough on him.

Yep.

Sometimes you have to light a backfire

in order to fight a fire.

Let's go see where the fire starts.

Billy!

Surprised to see me, Bess?

Billy you didn't break out?

The lawyer is on his way from Red Rock,

it'll make your case look bad.

Where's the money, Bess? What money?

The money you took from Wells Fargo.

Oh, what makes you think I... Get it!

It was for us, Billy.

For our mine.

I knew they'd never hang you,

not with only a hat for evidence.

Yeah.

With my back trail that was all they needed.

Oh, you got me wrong, Billy.

Have I?

The money, Bess.

All right, Billy.

Billy.

This is the end of the line, Bess.

He tried to hold me up.

For the Wells Fargo money?

I don't think so.

You can kill me,

but you can't kill the whole town.

There's got to be an end sometime.

There usually is.

Billy's a good boy.

I believe he was trying to do the right thing.

It's a shame you didn't appreciate it.

Well, that was it.

Wells Fargo got the money back

and Billy Reno found a new partner.

And Bess Hollister,

I'm glad I wasn't the one to pass judgment,

for she was the first woman in the territory

that I knew of

to pay the supreme penalty.