Original subtitles

♪ [ trumpet ]

Of the three principle people involved in this story, two were famous.

General Lew Wallace-- at that time, governor of the territory of New Mexico;

and Dr. Henry Hoyt-- then a frontier doctor,

but later a famous army surgeon

who won a Presidential Citation and a Silver Star.

But the hero of the story-- a man you probably never heard of--

was a prospector named Jesse Martin.

It was Jesse, in 1878,

in the tiny town of Las Placitas, New Mexico,

who discovered the...

♪♪ [ gentle tune ]

Jess Martin, you take that Juliet and go back to the hills where you belong.

Ah, now, Danita, is that any way to greet your lover or your future husband?

I don't want a lover or a future husband I see once every three months.

Now go away.How about a lover who's rich?

I just found this gold mine.

Let's see the gold.

Ah, now, Danita, you don't love me just because I'm rich, do ya?

This is me, Jesse.Let's see the gold.

I'd be glad to show ya.

Except I figure it ain't safe carrying all that gold.

But I found it, Danita. I did. And you know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna buy you a beautiful silver comb for your hair, and a...

What else do you want? I'll tell you what.

I'll come in and sit down on the couch, and we'll talk about it.

When was the last time you took a bath?

A what?Yes. You and Juliet

better go down the river before you come in here.

I'll go get you some soap. [ hoofbeats approaching ]

We found a gold mine, did we?

We're your new partners, Jesse.

[ shutters close ]

You gonna talk now or afterwards?

There is no gold mine.

Afterwards, huh?

Careful with that. I've had it for a long time.

Sure, you have, huh, boy?

[ grunts ]

[ yells ]

[ grunts ]

Dr. Hoyt, please!

Three men are trying to kill Jesse.

Where?In front of my house.

Well, get the sheriff, Danita. Hurry!

Go! Go!

[ grunting ]

When you had enough, just talk!

[ gasping ]He'll be all right, Danita.

He took a bad beating, though.

My poor darling.

They rode off as I came up.

They didn't find out a thing. Nothing.

Did you know 'em, Jesse?

I'll know 'em next time.

Could be too late. They'll find you by your mine and kill you for it.

A little talk of gold, and bad hombres come in.

Mm.They won't take my mine.

Not a chance.

Wait till I show you where it's gonna be.

I'll show you where the gold is.

You can't go now, Jesse. You're hurt. Let's go in the house.

Let me show you where the mine is.

How far is it?Not far.

Not far at all.

In the center of Main Street?

Gold is where you find it, Sheriff.

I searched all them hills, and I found gold right here in Las Placitas.

Now, Jesse, you took a pretty good beating about the head.

How could you possibly know that there's gold here?

Because of the signs, Doc.

Signs I should've seen a long time ago.

You see that red streak?

You see it? The red earth. You see?

Now, that's a sure sign of gold. I learned that in Colorado.

You just dig straight down, and you hit pay dirt.

That red streak's always been there.

So has the gold.

Sheriff, I'm a partner of the governor.

Would General Wallace trust me if I didn't know about gold?

General Lew Wallace?

Just read that. You tell him, Dr. Hoyt.

I wouldn't know anything about that, Jesse.

You read this, Dr. Hoyt.

Yes, sir. I walked in to see the governor,

and right off he knew I was the prospector he wanted,

so he talked me into taking his money.

It's a grubstake agreement, all right, with General Lew Wallace.

He'd own part of the mine.So would you, Doc.

For helping me, you get a third.

When you make your regular rounds in town next month, you'll get your first gold.

Yeah, but sink a mine in the center of Main Street?

Why not, Sheriff? Why, think of what it would do.

The whole town would work at the mine.

You'd be foreman. A dollar cash every day.

A dollar cash?Sure.

I got some of the grubstake left.

This didn't help the tone much, but nobody seemed to notice.

Man, that sure was a safe place.

There you are, Sheriff. Your first day's salary in advance.

Well, like you say, why not?

Why can't we have a mine in the center of Main Street?

We're not using it for anything else. Hmm?

Got another wagonload of ore ready to go, Mr. Martin.

Thanks, Manuel. I'll run it in tomorrow.

Oh, uh, put a couple of extra men on guard tonight, will ya?

Now, don't you worry about that, Mr. Martin.

I'll take care of the guarding.

You know, for a man with such a rich mine,

you sure don't spend much time here.

Well, that's what I've got you for, Manuel.

Anyway, us rich folks like to spend our time hunting.

You like that game I bring in, don't ya?Oh, sure.

Don't get the wrong idea, Mr. Martin. I'm not objecting to anything.

I never saw so many happy folks in this town.

You know, Mr. Martin, at first, these folks didn't know much about mining,

but they sure caught on fast, didn't they?

Yeah.

Yeah, they sure did.

Well, now, I was wondering when you'd be coming around here.

Ain't that the same genuine silver comb I seen you wearing yesterday?

Yes, it is. And please don't buy me any more.

De nada!Oh, your guitar.

Oh, that looks good. Thank you.

Like to hear a number?Not especially.

Well, uh, maybe after we get married, you'll learn to like music.

I could learn to like music. [ laughing ]

JESSE: Don't get snippy with me, young lady.

When are we gonna set a date for the wedding?

I already have.

You have? When?

Two weeks from tomorrow.

It's a lucky day.

Eh, tremendo,Danita!

You're beautiful.

Uh, don't let me interrupt anything.

Nothing interrupts this.Oh...

[ chuckles ]

Doc, I've got something for you.

Uh, by the way, congratulations. I overheard.

Oh, thanks. Isn't that great?

Wait till you see this.

Here it is, Doc. First dividend for the mine.

Not much there yet, but there's a lot more where that came from.

What do you know!

Then it's really true, isn't it?Of course it's true.

Well, I'll have to get General Wallace here to see this.

[ laughs ]

Oh, how would you like the general here for your wedding?

Oh, we'd love it.We sure would, Doc.

Okay.

[ hoofbeats approaching ]

Whoa!

The mine and Mr. Martin are that way, friends.

Hello, Henry.Welcome to gold rush country, General Wallace.

Thank you. You know, in all the grubstaking I've done,

this is the first one that's ever paid off, if it does.

Oh, there's no question about it. Come and see for yourself.

Good.Willie!

Take the general's bags over to the hotel.

[ clacking, whirring ]

Yes, sir. It was this German scientist in Colorado

who first told me about this modern way of mining.

Mighty smart fella.Any more red dirt around here?

Nope.

And I'd just like to let you know

I got mining rights for the whole town. [ footsteps approaching ]

Uh-oh. Gotta break this up now, boys.

Here come my partners. Come on. Let's move along now.

General Wallace, I'm from the Santa Fe Journal. I'd like to talk to you.

As he says, a little later, please.

Move along, boys. We'll see you later.

How do you do, General? It's good to see you here.

Welcome to, uh, our gold mine.

[ laughs ] I'm mighty happy to be here, Jesse.

Here. Sit down.Thank you.

And congratulations.Thank you.

Henry tells me you're already producing good ore.

Sure am. Got your share right here.

Thank you.

When you first asked me for that grubstake,

I had a hunch you were gonna be lucky.

It's not luck, General, it's science.

Let me tell you something, this is just the beginning.

[ footsteps approaching ]

General Wallace,

I'm E.J. Bainbridge.

This is my partner Ben Rydell.How do you do?

GENERAL: How do you do?We've been waiting for you to arrive, General.

Yesterday, we made an offer for this mine

to Mr. Martin and Dr. Hoyt.

And I told ya it's not for sale.

Now, you're interrupting a business meeting.

Now, wait a minute, Jesse. I think the general ought to hear this.

These gentlemen offered $100,000, General Wallace.

The mine is not for sale. Anyway, that's chicken feed.

Chicken feed? What kind of chickens are you feeding, now, Jesse?

But we're making plenty of money, General. Why should we sell?

You tell him why, Ben.

Because that was yesterday's offer.

My partner and I have talked it over,

and today we're offering $200,000.

And I say no. Capital N-O. DR. HOYT: Now, Jesse--

That's quite a bit of money, Jesse.

I think we should at least talk it over.

Look, you two gentlemen own two-thirds of this mine.

You don't even have to listen to Mr. Martin.

General, you wouldn't do anything like that, would ya?

No, Jesse, we wouldn't. JESSE: Thank you.

Mr. Bainbridge, while we are indeed partners,

Dr. Hoyt and I feel that the mine rightfully belongs to Jesse.

So we wouldn't make any deal without his full approval.

See, I don't approve.

Not for 200,000, not for 300,000.

300,000? JESSE: That's right.

What have you got against selling, Jesse? We're in this for the money.

And it's gonna take quite an investment to bring in machinery

to run this mine properly.Then we'll buy what we need!

Look! Will you look at these?

Look at these assay reports. Look at 'em, General.

GENERAL: All right, Jesse. Don't get excited. You see 'em?

We'll do whatever you want.[ sighs ]

Gentlemen, let us talk it over, and we'll get back to you.

Meantime, it occurs to me that if I were going to invest

the kind of money that you're offering, I would--

Not that there's any question of honesty, of course.

But if I were you, I'd run an assay report of my own.

You don't mind, Jesse?

No. Why should I?

Yes. That's a good idea.

I could take some samples into Santa Fe and be back by tomorrow.

That way, you can tell what you want to offer,

whether or not you want to go 300,000.

300,000? Why, we never made that offer.

Well, I didn't say I'd accept it.

The fact is, I won't accept anything tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm getting married.

So, Mr. Rydell, you take some samples and run your own assay.

All right, Jesse?I don't care what he does.

Good. In the meantime,

there'll be no more talk of selling until after the wedding.

All right.

[ chattering ]

[ laughter ]

Hey!

[ guests exclaiming ]

[ chattering ]

Out of the way! Hold it!

The mine's a fake! There's no trace of gold at all.

That ore's nothing but plain rock.[ murmuring ]

There's not a trace of gold in any of that rock.

300,000.

I had a feeling there was something wrong.

Jesse, I think we all deserve an explanation, don't you?

Going on my honeymoon. I got no time to talk.

This won't take long, Jesse.

Just tell us, what is the truth?

You with me, Danita?

I'll always be with you, Jesse.

All right, General. Let's have that talk.

JESSE: So, uh, well, what more is there to say?

Rydell picked the wrong samples, and that's all.

I'm afraid we can't accept that, Jesse.

JESSE: Why not? You got paid, didn't ya?

Why, everybody who works here at the mine got paid.

Manuelo, you've been getting paid ever since you started work, right?

That's right. We got paid.

But how, Jesse?From the gold! How else?

By golly, I'm running a gold mine, and I'm paying off.

You got paid, and everybody who works here got paid.

You want to argue about it. You saw those assay reports.

I couldn't fake those. Why would I?

You know what's in this box?

A bar of pure gold I ain't even cashed yet.

Let's see it, Jesse.

All right. I'll show it to ya.

No. Why should I?

I don't have to prove any more to you. I paid ya.

Now, you don't have to trust me. That's up to you.

But there is gold in that box?

I'm telling you there's a bar of pure gold in that box, and I'm asking you to believe me.

We're trying, Jesse. Believe me, we're trying.

All right, all right. I'll tell you what I'll do.

Since you're not satisfied with the partnership, I'll buy you both out.

I'll give ya $100 each for your shares.

$100? That's right.

Yesterday, we turned down 200,000,

and today you're offering us $100 apiece.

That's my offer. Take it or leave it.

I'll tell you what else I'll do.

You don't want to sell to me, I'll sell to you.

$100. For $50 apiece, you can have the whole mine.

Does that include the bar of pure gold in that box?

That includes everything-- the ore, the mine, and all the gold in that box.

$50 apiece?

That's right.

I don't know about you, Henry, but I think I've had enough

of the mining business for a while.

Besides, I have a territory to run.

Jesse, I'll accept your offer for my share of the mine.

And I have a medical practice to take care of.

I accept your offer, too, Jesse.

All right. You're selling a valuable mine.

[ bills rustling ]

60, 70, 80, 90, 100 for you.

60, 70, 80, 90, 100. 100 for you.

That won't make you short on your honeymoon?

I don't need money on my honeymoon.

Well, I guess we don't have to sign papers. Just a gentlemen's agreement.

That should do it.Of course.

Maybe we should shake on it. That is, if you want to shake with me.

[ chuckles ] I insist on it. Sure.

It's been a memorable experience, Jesse.

Doctor.A once-in-a-lifetime experience, I might say.

Now, uh, if you'll excuse me.

Uh, just one thing, Jesse.

Because I'm a very curious man, would you do me just one favor?

Anything.Show me the bar of pure gold in that box.

Well, uh, now that our business is finished, I don't see why not.

[ box opens ]

Well, what do you know about that? Well, I'll be!

[ murmuring ]

You see,

there is gold here, just like I said all along.

And you still have your jobs, and you'll all get paid.

And what's more, from now on,

this mine belongs to me and the town,

and nobody on the outside has any part of it.

Manuel, I'll be away for a few days,

but I'll be back on Monday, so you have a load of ore ready to go.

MANUEL: Yes, sir, Mr. Martin.

Gentlemen, maybe I didn't pay you quite enough for your shares,

because I was a little made at ya.

Well, uh, I'm not mad at anyone now,

so, uh-- so here.

You and Dr. Hoyt divide that between ya.

Uh, there's a lot more where that came from.

Now to something important.

Gentlemen.

Ahh!

MAN: Yay!

Hyah!

Henry, don't wait for me to talk. I got nothing to say.

All I know, General, is I've got to find out what's going on.

When that honeymoon is over Monday,

I'm gonna be back here too.

What's the matter, Manuelo? You didn't think I'd be back today?

I'm thinking what can happen on the road.

Better take me along with you. Nah.

You couldn't stand the music.

I'll be back in a couple of days.

Hyah!

♪♪ [ gentle tune ]

Hyah. Hyah.

Hyah.

[ clicks ]

[ clicks ]

[ gunshot ]

[ whinnies ]Hyah!

[ hoofbeats departing ]

Hi, Doc. Glad you happened to stop by.

Oh, I didn't just happen to stop by, Jesse. I've been following you.

Looks like everybody was. I was leading a parade.

Oh, I don't figure them to come back.

But I'd like to point out that I maybe saved your life, Jesse.

Don't you think we ought to have a little talk?

About what?

About what's really going on.

I think you're about ready to tell me now, aren't ya?

Well, I reckon so, Doc.

Get in the wagon.[ chuckles ]

So after the sheriff and his men finish mining the ore in town,

I bring it out here and dump it.

Seems like an awful lot of waste, Jesse.

Well, I suppose it is, but, uh, it's worth it.

You see, some fellas may take a few shots at me,

but nobody's gonna try to steal my mine

when they think it's right in the center of Main Street.

Where is the real mine, Jesse?

[ sighs ] Uh, not here.

This is just a transfer point.

Doc, uh, I've gone to a lot of trouble to keep it a secret.

I don't want nothing changed.

Kind of like that mining town, huh?

I do now.

You know, Doc,

a man gets tired of being lonely,

being nothing.

In that town now, I'm a bigger man than you and the general

and all them Eastern millionaires put together.

I'm the biggest man in town.

I got the prettiest girl for my bride, and...

[ chuckles ] I'm gonna keep on running that mine no matter what it costs.

I don't know that I blame you, Jesse.

I will admit that maybe you and the general raid some more of that gold.

Oh, no. We've had enough.

Any more easy money, and we're liable to forget what our real work is.

Well--So I guess your town

and your secret are safe with us.

Thanks, Doc.Adios, Jesse.

Adios, Doc.

♪♪ [ gentle tune ]

Henry Hoyt went on to become chief surgeon

in the armies of Generals U.S. Grant and Arthur MacArthur.

Lew Wallace became U.S. Ambassador to Turkey

and wrote one of the great novels of the time,

Ben-Hur.

As for Jesse Martin, he operated the gold mine on Main Street

for many years and prospered.

Where was his real mine?

No one ever knew.