Original subtitles

[ horses approaching ]

What are you up to, mister?

You're on Sherman Ranch property.

I couldn't let you stop me.

Not now...

not after I found it.

Found what?

Sixty thousand in gold.

We're sittin' on it.

At least I can die a rich man.

Golly, it sure didn't miss you by much.

I won't need a haircut for another month.

Jess, are you sure you're all right?

Oh, I'm fine, Daisy.

All I need is another hat.

You find out who it was?

No more than I found some papers with his name on it.

Ned Billings.

Nobody seemed to know him.

Ned Billings.

Never heard of him.

I wonder what he was up to.

Beats me.

Funny thing though.

Before he died he said something

about sitting on 60,000 in gold.

All I found was some pieces of a wagon,

an old wagon at that.

What's the rest of it?

There's not much more to tell.

Found a hub from a busted wheel,

some pieces of wood.

One of them had some faded printing on them,

I couldn't make it out.

Looked to me like army markings.

Where is it?

Well, I left it with Mort.

I figured he'd want to use it.

Slim.

You mind telling me what's eating you?

I have to get into town.

If it's because of anything I did,

I want to know, Slim.

I have to stop Mort from talking to anyone

about what you found.

Now do you mind?

You're too late.

What do you mean?

Lot of people saw me bring the body into the sheriff's office.

Al Frazier even came over

from the paper to get a story on it.

Nobody could figure out what the markings on the wood was,

but Mort's gonna try and find out.

How?

Mort's sending a telegram to Fort Sanders and--

Slim, what's wrong with you?

Why didn't you tell me first, Jess?

Now just plain mind your own business.

Now wait a minute.

Jess, I've never seen Slim like this before.

Do you know what it's all about?

No, I don't, Daisy.

But I'm gonna find out.

I guess it'll have to wait.

His mother and father, they must be part of this.

Slim's the only one that can tell us that, Daisy.

[ clattering ]

I'm not waiting any longer, Daisy. Oh, Jess.

He's been up there for over an hour. No supper, not a word to anyone.

I've had enough.

No, dear, go back to your school work.

Well?

I'm looking for somethin'.

Like what?

A hole to crawl in?

I wish it was that easy.

You still say I put you in it?

You had no way of knowing, Jess.

If I knew, I likely wouldn't do it again.

I didn't tell you about it

because I was trying to forget it myself.

I thought it was over, done with.

Your mother.

Yeah.

It all happened when I was in the army.

So I didn't hear about it from her till I got back.

It was a start of a bad winter in the middle of the war.

Pa had gone to the upper rays to bring the stock down before the heavy snows hit.

So ma had to take care of things the best she could.

About the same time some Confederate raiders

stole a convoy of union wagons from the Cheyenne army.

Those wagons were never seen or heard from again.

But a week or so later Pa came home,

shot up, half frozen, out on his feet.

He never had a chance to tell her what had happened.

She wrote me about it but I couldn't get home until after the war.

I knew my mother was troubled

and not just because Pa had died.

When I found out what was bothering her,

I was ready to take on a pack of wildcats.

And Pa was one of the few men

in these parts to know the mountain passes,

and some no-good just started talk

that he had taken pay to guide the Rebs

with the union gold out of the territory.

Well, I knew it was a lie but couldn't prove it.

Just shut the dirty mouths that were saying it.

And it wasn't long after that that Ma died.

Well, the doc gave me some medical reasons,

but I figured it was a broken heart.

And what I did was, just like plowing across their graves.

You didn't know, Jess.

But I'm gonna have to face it.

Would you go out there with me tomorrow?

You know I will.

Daisy wouldn't let Mike and me

finish up all the fried chicken.

She saved you some.

I'll be down directly.

How come Slim's not up yet?

Oh, I heard him tossing and turning all night, tiger.

Daisy and me figured we'd let him sleep some.

He sure was actin' funny.

It's kind of hard to explain, tiger.

Slim needs all the friends he has right now to back him,

with no questions asked.

I'm with him 900%.

I figured you would be.[ horses approaching ]

You better go inside, Mike.

You want me to get Slim? No, not yet.

I got him into this, maybe I can get him out of it.

Go on now.

Morning, Jess.

Hello, Mort.This is Major John Ellis.

Major.

Jess Harper.He the one?

He is.

It seems what you came across yesterday,

stirred up a few things, Jess.

Major has been sent to investigate for the army.

What I found was on private property.

Belonging to one Slim Sherman, yes?That's right.

And he's not much interested in digging up the past.

No, I didn't think he would be.

But his feelings about the matter

aren't too important to me or to the army.

You plan on finding it all by yourself?

No, you're gonna lead us to it.

Big country out there, major.

I might not be able to find it again.Easy, Jess.

You're planning to defy the United States Army?

Just how many troops do you figure

it'll take to make a man remember somethin'?

A company maybe, a battalion?

Harper, you're facing arrest.

Do you realize that?

You can't arrest a civilian.

Possibly not.

But Sheriff Corey didn't come out here

just for the ride.

Sheriff, arrest this man right now.

Now before there's any real trouble, Jess,

let me have your gun.

Now wait a minute, Mort.

Hold it.

Nobody's arresting Jess.

Not if I can help it.

Since when can the army ride in and start mistreating civilians?

We were about to explain that to your short-tempered friend

when you came out waving that scattergun.Well, you better keep talkin'.

And I'm warning you, my temper doesn't measure out much longer than his.

I'm afraid the major's within his rights, Slim.

He has authorization from the US Marshall's Office

and the Territorial Government

to make his investigation for the army.

I'm ordered to see that he gets full cooperation.

I've got no reason to doubt you, Mort.

Well, I guess we better accommodate these gentlemen.

You don't have to on my account.

You've already had to take

on a big share of this trouble, Jess.

It rightly all belongs to me.

We'll be riding out there this morning,

as soon as we saddle up and get our gear.

Good.

We're prepared to ride.

Sherman, I know what this means to you

and I warn you we're here to dig out the truth,

not cover it up.

Don't you worry, major,

that's something I've been after for a long time.

I'm not afraid of it.

Mort, do you have the same feeling

I have about that army man?

Don't blame the army, Daisy.

I wouldn't like him any better out of uniform than in.

He practically ordered you to go back to town.Sure.

He's just used to calling all the shots.

Nobody in the office, so I got to go back anyway.

I wish you were going with Slim and Jess.

No, now there's not much those two couldn't handle short of a cyclone.

Now don't worry.[ laughs ]

So long, Mike.

MIKE: Bye.

Come on.

Major.

Spotted two strangers following us, sir.

You know who they are?No, sir.

Might be others that heard about

that gold dust and the convoy. It's no secret.

I want no bloodshed unless it's absolutely necessary.

You're just gonna let them tag along

without knowing who they are? Certainly not.

There's lots of cover around here.

We'll let them ride into a trap,

that way we'll find out who they are.

Take positions behind these boulders.

Hold it right there.It's a trap, Pa.

[ commanding horse ]

Get his gun, Jess.

He ain't packing one.

Well, then he'd better start acting like it. Over there.

All right, dismount, mister.

Keep him covered, sergeant.

Ellis.

John Ellis.

Well, I might have been expecting

the likes of you, Courtland.

Friends of yours, major?

Not exactly.

His name's James Courtland and I suppose that's his son.

That's right, John. His name is Will.

I should have known you'd be involved in this.

Well, since I was in it from the beginning it made sense.

What sense? What do you mean by that?

I was junior officer in the Cheyenne armory

at the time the rebels took over that convoy.

Well, maybe you know more about this

than you're letting on.

Maybe.

As I said I was only junior officer.

Now Courtland here was senior officer.

In fact he was CEO of the entire armory.

Well, you came out here looking for $60,000

in gold dust right?

That's wrong.

When that convoy couldn't be found

I was court-marshaled,

dismissed from the service for negligence.

You had your trial.

It's not fair, John, and you know it.

If you're not looking for the gold dust,

what are you doing out here?

I'm not quite sure.

Since the war, Will and I've been farming up in the mountains.

It's a hard life.

Killed his mother,

that and what the army did to me.

The only way I could keep going was because I knew I was not guilty as charged.

I suppose you'll say you're here to find proof of your innocence.

That's what I hope to find, yes.

I'd about given up finding way to clear myself,

then Will was in town for supplies

and heard the news about the wagon being found,

that meant there was hope and I had to come.

Are you asking permission to go along

and dig up the rest of that wagon?

We have been following you to ask if we could go along.

Maybe ask is the wrong word, I'm begging.

You don't have to beg anyone, Pa.

Quiet, Will.

It's out of the question.

Well, now wait.

I'm Slim Sherman.

Did you know my father?

Yes, I did.

You think he helped that rebel outfit get away?

When those wagons couldn't be found,

I hated anybody who had anything to do with them.

If I had time to think the past few years,

I know now I can't judge any man until I have all the facts.

I'd be as anxious to clear your father's name as my own.

But right now I can't say whether

he was mixed up with it or not.

Courtland has as much right to go as any of us.

That's fool's talk, Sherman.

I've said he can't and that's the way it stands.

Suit yourself, major. But you're still on Sherman property.

And it's just possible that Jess won't be able to find that rockslide again.

MAJOR: I've told you, I've got the authority

to investigate this case.

Now if I have to I'll get a court order

and bring Sheriff Corey out here to enforce it.

Better start riding then.

All right, Sherman. He can go.

A trip to town now would be just a useless waste of time.

But I warn you, if anyone tries to interfere

with the official business of this expedition,

I'll personally see that you pay for it.

Thanks.

This means a lot to me.

I hope we both find what we're looking for, Mr. Courtland.

Mount up.

Well, that's their tracks, all right.

But we'd better get close or we're liable to lose 'em.

Oh, don't worry. As soon as they camp, we'll move in, see what's going on.

Now they got to find that gold before

it's gonna do us any good.

Well, from what we found,

looks like the slide hit only one of the wagons.

And I doubt if that was carrying any of the gold.

The bags of dust were all in strong boxes.

Yes, Courtland?

I locked every one of them myself.

There's still lot of digging to do.

That slide carried anything this way right with it.

You, you're not getting tired, are you, Sherman?

I've just started, major.

You're only lookin' for gold.

I'm lookin' for something much more important.

That so?

You're not a bit interested in the dust either.

Are you now, Courtland?

We used to be pretty good friends, John.

What turned you against me?

For a good officer, duty comes first.

I had no choice, friend or no.I'm glad to hear that.

I thought maybe it was because I was promoted ahead of you.

I only told the truth.

You had your trial, what more do you want?

Not much.

The right to walk among men with my head up,

chance to be the kind of father my son can be proud of.

That's all.

That partner of yours doesn't know when to quit.

Even Courtland got an idea

the slide washed that wreckage further down

from where we've been looking.

No, no, no.

I don' think they'll find much by a torchlight.

If there's anything out there, they'll find it.

How come a strong young fellow like you

is stuck off in the backwoods someplace?

I guess because I want it that way.Oh.

Hmm, you want it that way or your old man does?

Did you ever consider joining up, Will?

Good pay, lots of travel.

Get a little excitement now and then for those who want it.

Don't waste your time trying to recruit a Courtland, sergeant.

They don't take too well the army way.

Pa was a better man than you ever will be.

SLIM: Jess.

Keep your gun ready and your eye

on all of them, sergeant.

There's no gold there.

It's gone, they took it out.

How could they? It was still locked.

Well, they evidently had a set of keys.

Now Mr. Courtland here couldn't produce his keys at the trial.

There was only one other set at the Federal Treasury.

My keys were stolen, I swear.

Looks like their commanding officer

used this for his own belongings.

Hey, wait.

Looks to be some kind of a map.

Mmm. Bet it's a map.

I'd say it's their escape route.

See, from the Cheyenne Armory,

they pass close to the Sherman Ranch up into the foothills

through this canyon where we are now,

and then Summit Pass.

Do you know where that is, Slim?Yeah.

I used to go hunting there long time ago.

With your father, I suppose.

SLIM: Yes, it was.

It'd be suicide to take wagons through there

especially during the winter. There's good chance they wouldn't make it.

Nevertheless this is a possible route for them

to take out of the territory, yes?

It's possible. Yeah.

Then we're making for Summit Pass.

If they got through, we won't find a trace of them.

If they didn't, what's left of the convoy should be somewhere

between where we are and the Summit, you agree?

I guess that's the only way you can figure.

But it's gonna be rough going. That's you can count on.

I think this map will tell us what we need to know.

Wait a minute, Slim.

Some writing on the back.

Looks like that Rebs officer kept some notes, like a diary.

There's a date,

"Sank strongboxes in lake to save weight.

Gold dust still in sacks."

That means we won't be looking for boxes anymore.

Well, there's something else.

Another date.

"Heavy rains may cause slide.

According to..."

I can't make out the rest.

MAJOR: Give that to me.

"According to our guide Matt Sherman."

Can't sleep?

Looks like I did it again, part.

Ellis would've never seen those notes

if I had not weighted in and pointing them out to him. I'm sorry.

He'd have find them sooner or later.

It still doesn't prove anything.

I wish I could be that sure.

See, before I joined up,

I had some pretty hot arguments with Pa about it.

He didn't want me to go.

Thought your folks would naturally be

on the side of the north.

Yeah.

Old Pa fought his way west,

took on renegade Indians, outlaws.

Anyone who got in his way,

but he just felt that the war between the States

was just purely senseless.

So did a lot of people, for good reason.

Yeah, he had his.

And younger brother's had lot of.

Uncle Ben moved down south,

Pa just couldn't stand to think of.

I mean, fighting him, Uncle Ben trying to kill me.

You can't blame him for that.

No, I guess not.

But I didn't see Pa for a couple of years.

I hate to say it, but the time that convoy was stolen,

I just don't know how he felt.

JAMES: Slim?

Yeah.

I couldn't help but overhear what you were saying.

For what it's worth, I think your father was a fine man.

No matter what he did, I'd bet he had a good reason for it.

Thanks, Mr. Courtland.

But the trouble is, that man can have the best of reasons

and still be wrong.

That could happen to most anybody.

Yeah.

It's just hard to get used to the fact

that your father could be like most anybody.

Maybe human's a better word.

When a man can realize that about his father and mother

and still love and respect them, he's just about grown up.

Well, goodnight.

Goodnight.

You better get some sleep.

It'd suit me just fine.

Short from a blow in the head, I don't think I'm gonna make it.

I'll be glad to oblige you.

You just might have to.

NOLAN: Who goes there?

Who goes there? Show yourself or I'll shoot.

Take it easy, sergeant.

I heard someone or something coming up on the camps.

Do you think you hit them?

I hardly saw them.

How bad? Can't take care of him here.

We've got to get him to a doc. There were two of them, Slim.

They got to the horses before I even got close.

Well, he's got to get in to town.

Oh, Mr. Harper will take the sergeant

and you and I are heading for Summit Pass.

Whoever was out there is likely to come back.

Well, we'll be ready for them.

They're probably just drifters who've heard about the gold.

Anyway there's four of us and only two of them.

I say we go back.

Get Mort and a posse.

Now you get this straight right now.

I'm in command and I say we continue.

We're only a day's ride from the pass.

You start at sun up with the sergeant.

He's not exactly right, Jess.

The rest of us have a lot more to gain or lose

by this trip than you do.

I'd do what he says.

Get the sergeant to the doc.

Are you trying to get rid of me?

Slim's right.

We're much too close to turn back now.

There's too much at stake.

Somebody else is close too.

You'd be doing us a favor.

All right. I just hope that favor doesn't get you all

a bullet in the back.

Slim, are you sure this is what you want me to do?

I'm sure, Jess.

There's too much push me to stop now.

Just don't push too hard.

Mike and Daisy are gonna worry about you.

You're just afraid you're gonna have to do all the work.

Don't worry, I'll save you some.

Good luck.

Look at these.

Looks like they must've camped here

band and a wagon or two.

There's only one way to find out,

make a search of the entire area.

Courtland, you and your boys start up the far end.

Sherman, you take this position, I'll cover that end.

With everything you find, near those boulders

we'll make our camp there.

Now hurry it up.

It'll be dark before long.

You better get some rest.

Rest?

No, Slim, I've been waiting much too long for this.

Hey, Will, tie up the horses.

Get back undercover. What do you think you're doing?

Take it easy, Ellis, they can't see us.

Nolan saw you last night and you nearly wrecked the plan.

Oh, I don't know about that.

If I hadn't had slipped on that loose gravel,

that big sergeant and that Harper fellow,

they'd still be with you.

That's just two less to deal with.

Right.

Find anything?

I'm not sure yet.

Oh, we're sick of this job, Ellis.

You know, helping you cheat on supplies

to the Arapahoes steal an army payroll.

That's a lot cleaner work, you know.

And we are tired of waiting.

Sixty thousand in gold dust ought to be worth a wait.

Anyway, you keep quiet.

Don't shoot anymore till I tell you.

And when will that be?

When Sherman and the Courtlands have located the gold for me,

then I'll give you the signal.

After that, you'll have enough killing to last for a long time.

From the number of kingpins we've found

I'd say the rest of the wagons are right here in this clearing.

But almost no wooden parts. Now why?

Major, I told you,

with the heavy snow this pass

is almost impossible to get through.

I don't think they did anyhow.

A little wood because they probably had to burn it

to keep warm.

Horses died with them or had to be killed for food.

And that means that this is as far as they got.

They must have buried the gold somewhere in this area.

You plan to use that to find the gold?

If I can find anything that's buried with this,

it'll save us a lot of digging.

You may have time to waste, but I don't.

Pa, I've got to say it,

say it before you kill yourself in trying to do too much.

What?

Mr. Sherman and me had a chance to talk

some on the trail this morning.

I guess, men aren't supposed to talk about feelings much

but I've got to tell you that no matter

what happened to those wagons,

you don't have to prove anything to me.

Thanks, boy.

I appreciate what you're saying.

Officially now it looks like to me, this whole trip for nothing.

Maybe not.

Mr. Sherman and me help Ellis dig up

that gold dust and take it back.

Maybe that'd square things some.

I wouldn't count on that, Will.

It's pretty rough to dig in frozen ground

to bury that gold.

And snow drips in here pretty deep.

[ birds chirping ]Something wrong, Mr. Sherman?

No, nothing's wrong, Will.

I just think I'll look around some more myself.

See your pa get some rest and douse the fire.

Yes, sir.

What's going on down there, Ellis?

Just about what we hoped.

It's pretty clear from what we found

that the convoy ended up here. The gold dust?

Well, they must have buried it in the clearing.

All we got to do is find it.

Yeah. Find it, dig it up, you mean.

A lot of ground to cover down there.

Hold up on Sherman and the Courtlands.

We'll let them do most of the work.

He's found something, up in the tree.

Give me that.

Back me up but stay out of the sight.

I'll find out what's going on.

Where's Ellis? He's still looking for the gold as far as we know.

I knew they couldn't bury anything in this ground.

I found this in a metal box

wedged in the branches of a tree.

Everything we want to know, right in here.

All written by a Rebs officer in charge.

About your father?

He was forced to lead them.

They threatened to burn the ranch and kill Ma.

That's why Pa led 'em up here,

knowing they wouldn't get through.

And when he realized what he had done,

he tried to escape and that's how he got wounded.

Your father didn't get any medals

but I'd say he served his country as well as any man.

Mr. Sherman, is there anything else in there?You bet, Will.

Not only what happened to the gold

but the whole story of how the wagons were stolen

from the Cheyenne armory.

Now according to this, Lieutenant John Ellis

was given a good sum of money

by the Rebs to arrange the whole thing.

He's the traitor, not you. Ellis?

He set up the attacks so the wagons could be stolen,

gave them your keys.

He was afraid something like this might be found,

and that's why he's here.

Major Ellis has an appointment with the court marshal,

I'm gonna see that he meets it.

Sherman found a journal written by the Reb officer.

It tells what they did with the gold dust.

Let's go get it.

Ellis.

We want to talk to you.

Hey, Ellis is running out on us.

Keep shooting. We can handle him.

You take right. I'll take--

You drop that gun, mister.

You and Will all right?

He's guarding the major's friends,

they admitted to trying to kill us last night.

Ellis promised them part of the gold.

They went to a lot of trouble for nothing.

According to what I read in this journal,

couldn't bury it so they hung the sacks of gold up on a tree.

Well, they must have rotted out by now.

There were few o' thongs left but that's all.

That wind really comes whipping through this pass.

That gold dust would probably scatter

from one end of the valley to the other.

Back to the earth.

It's a good place for it.

Well, Mr. Courtland, the war's over now.

I love that picture of your mother, Slim.

I'm so glad you found it.

What did they say at Fort Sanders

when you brought Ellis in, Slim?

They said he'd get what's coming to him.

He's been using his army right to cheat people for a long time.

And what about that nice Mr. Courtland?

Well, the colonel feels that the war department will restore his army rank

and make a public apology for the treatment he got.

And there just might be a special accommodation

for a man named Matt Sherman.

Maybe even a medal.

Oh, that's wonderful.

Aren't you proud?

[ clattering ]

What on earth are you doing?

What are you up to, tiger?

Planning on going on a chivalry or something?

Heck, no. Slim said he'd take me

hunting up to that summer camp sometime.

Well, you aren't gonna take all my pots and pans, are you?

Not all of them, just this one.

I'll leave the hunting to Slim.

I'll be panning for gold dust, $60,000 worth.

Oh, you will, huh?

Ah!

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