Rawhide (1959) s01e12 Episode Script
Incident of the Chubasco
Hyah! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Keep movin', movin', movin'? Though they're disapprovin'? Keep them dogies movin'? Rawhide? Don't try to understand 'em? Just rope 'em, throw, and brand 'em? Soon we'll be livin' high and wide? My heart's calculatin'? My true love will be waitin'? Be waitin' at the end of my ride? Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em on? Move 'em on, head 'em up, rawhide? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, ride 'em in, let 'em out? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in? Rawhide? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Hyah! Hyah! Rawhide!? Hyah! On a drive the days and nights get mighty big.
There's a lot of danger a man can understand and a lot he can't.
That's the kind I hate- the kind I can't understand.
I'm Gil Favor- trail boss.
That's it.
It's just a high place.
The way Joe's been talking, you'd think that Nolan Plateau had two heads and was spitting fire.
Rowdy, sometimes I think you're so ignorant you couldn't drive nails in a snowbank.
Maybe it's just that I don't spook every time we look at something hard to do.
How'd it go? There's only a few men willing to sign on.
They're afraid of that place up there like it had monsters on it.
Soon as the herd's watered, better find some good bed ground.
They'll need all the rest they can get before we hit that plateau tomorrow.
And we'll need all the extra riders and supply wagons we can get.
It's not much of a town.
I don't think you're going to be too happy with the hands I rounded up for you.
From what I hear we may run into up there, I'd say we don't have much choice.
I say that is one beautiful senorita.
I'm telling you, you wouldn't know a beautiful senorita if you saw one.
Arkansas, you've been around cows so long that if a beautiful woman even moos at you you're going to try to put her back in a herd.
Look, look, Riggs, how could you ever think that any muchacha but one from my own people could have such beautiful legs as that, huh? You want to know what I think? Mmm? I think you're so drunk, boy, that you couldn't hit the ground with that great, big beautiful hat of yours if you had two tries.
Well, maybe you're just trying to play the curly wolf with me, huh, amigo? I don't like no curly wolves.
I don't care what you My name's Favor.
I came here to hire trail hands.
I'm paying a bonus 'cause our next stretch is going to be rough, and I need men bad.
But it looks like I came to the wrong place.
Next.
What's your name? Jess Riggs.
Experience? Well, now, you're not going to have to hold my hand.
$30 wages plus $50 bonus once we've got the cattle over the high ground.
Well, that's cheap enough, pushing cattle over the plateau this time of year.
Maybe it's too cheap.
Well, I guess it's better to die up on that rock then in some stinking hole like this, huh? Yeah.
I go.
Mind if I ask you something? It's a free country.
What do they call you Arkansas for? Because of this, my young friend.
Some of the outfits I've worked for, they call one of these the Arkansas toothpick.
Break it off.
Caught a fella outside of camp snooping around.
Said he wanted to join up.
He one of the men you talked to today? I never saw him before, and he's no cowhand.
He's one of them fancy talking fellas that spouts words eight to the pound.
One thing is he's got a good sturdy-looking wagon.
Said he wanted to talk to you.
Mr.
Favor? My name is Tom Bryan.
I heard you were looking for men.
I'm looking for cowmen.
I'll do any job you assign me.
I see.
Mr.
Bryan, suppose I asked you to relieve the swing rider, or help trim up the herd? Well I'll do any job within my limited ability.
Sorry.
Mr.
Favor aren't you forgetting something more valuable than my services? My wagon.
With additional men, you'll need some kind of conveyance for the added supplies.
You sound like an educated man, Mr.
Bryan, not a trail drover.
What makes you want to go along? You can't eat an education.
Have you heard what we're liable to run into up there on the plateau? Mr.
Favor, the fact remains I'm a man, educated or not.
I heard you needed them.
Well, we could use your wagon, all right.
And I suppose somewhere we can use you.
$30 pay, plus $50 once we're over the high stretch.
Thank you, Mr.
Favor.
Thank you very much.
Come on in camp.
I'll have the cook give you some grub.
I'm not hungry.
if you'll just tell me where you want the wagon.
We'll make this a bed wagon.
You'll carry bed rolls, war bags, things to lighten up the horses.
Put it down by the remuda.
A remuda is where we keep the horses, Mr.
Bryan.
I suppose you will know a horse when you see one? Uh, yes, of course I will.
Good.
Riders coming, Boss.
How many? Four.
They don't seem interested in the cattle, though.
They're riding right past that bit of ground.
Well It's Old Bull himself who rides tonight.
You know him, Arkansas? Only to see him.
His name is Jefferson Devereaux.
He's big man around here.
Own land as far as eagle can fly.
Looks like an old man to me.
He may be a little long on years, but no one has ever sawn his horns off yet.
What do you reckon he wants here now? Whatever it is, senor, he take it.
I'm Jefferson Devereaux.
And I'm Mister, I'd know you standing a mile away with the skin burned off your face.
You're a born and bred cowman.
You can be proud of that.
My name's Favor.
Climbing over the plateau a little late, aren't you? That's right.
Heard about the winds that come up there this time of the year? I've heard.
Well, Texas beef's not used to that sort of thing.
Most likely run right off the mountain top if you find a strong chubasco.
Uh, that's what we call the dust storms when the wind comes up wholesale.
I hope to get the herd through before that happens.
Well, then you've got your work cut out for you, so I won't keep you.
I, uh I'm looking for a man and a woman who are traveling together.
Can't describe the man to you, never met him.
But it doesn't matter, wherever the man is, the woman will be.
There's no woman in this camp.
Then as soon as I look around your camp and talk to your men, I'll leave.
Mr.
Devereaux, you and your men are welcome to coffee, but you're not going to look around my camp, and you're not going to talk to my men.
Now, if you don't want the coffee, you're going to leave.
With a herd that size, I'd say you signed on 20, maybe 25 drovers.
Not that many.
Well, my outriders have gone back to bring 40 men.
Oh? Of course, it depends what they find out when they start asking around where the woman is.
But if she's within five miles of your camp, I'll be back.
you don't have the right to ride into my camp.
Mister the woman I spoke of, she gives me the right.
She's my wife.
Wishbone? Yeah, boss? You spot the North Star last night? I pointed that wagon tongue right at it.
Good.
Mr.
Favor, this camp's nervous.
I heard men shuffling around all night.
And it ain't just that rock up there.
Devereaux's looking for a woman.
Now, you seen any running around this camp lately? Mr.
Favor, it seems like I ain't seen a woman anywhere in ten years.
Well, then this camp's got no reason to be scared of Devereaux.
Pete, pass the word we follow the tongue straight north.
It'll be an uphill climb all day, so double the riders on swing and flank.
Signing on to push cattle's one thing, getting poisoned's another altogether.
And this coffee of yours, you got to chew it before you can swallow it.
And as for your stew What's the matter with it? Is it got a little too much bite to it? Mushy! Ain't I told you greenhorns don't like red ants for breakfast? Oh, you're smart, aren't youWhy, you Riggs! Maybe you better take up your station.
You ain't give me one yet.
Well, I'll give you one now.
You ride drag.
Maybe if you eat enough dust, you'll get fond of Wishbone's cooking.
Sally, please keep out of sight.
Someone will see you.
We can't do this to these people.
He'll follow.
Thank you.
Let's butt those saddles.
You hear meOff and on! Riggs? Senor Favor, I think already your men are starting to get a little edgy, huh? You going to find that most men who run into Devereaux get a little edgy.
All right, let's head 'em up! Ride the drag! They're dropping behind! Riggs, you let this happen again, you'll be riding drag to the other side of the plateau, you hear me?! Yes, Mr.
Favor.
You got all the bedrolls and war bags? All in the back, Mr.
Favor.
Bryan, better tie down the back flap.
Don't want any more dust on that gear than can be helped.
Yes, sir.
Stream ahead.
Chances are it's the last we'll hit till we get off the plateau.
How's it look? Well, there's a real narrow hogback that runs along there with cut banks that drop off plum to China.
Cattle ever spook, we got trouble.
And there's something else up there, too, besides the hogback.
Yeah, yeah, I've seen him.
Boy, I call that a morning's work.
We must have herded those cows about five miles since Break it up! Rowdy, come on! That's enough! Enough! They didn't make a sound.
Just started trying to kill each other.
What's going on between you two? Look, as long as I have you for company, I'll walk up to the devil himself, but there's no room for you in this.
There's no room at all.
What you think of the plateau now, Senor Favor? I think it's high and it's windy.
Yeah.
I think your cows are already beginning to get a little scared.
We'll make it.
You're coming into the worst part now.
This land goes for maybe Then at the north end is the only way to get off.
One little path.
That's the only way.
Are the drop-offs on the cut banks as bad as they are here? No part of it gets any better till you get through that north pass.
The winds? The wind? Huh, at this time of year, you wait till the big winds start.
Rowdy, you're on first night guard with the herd, aren't you? Yeah.
This winds making the herd edgy.
See that none of the new hands do anything to spook 'em.
Oh, Mr.
Favor, that visit Jefferson Devereaux paid us and that woman he was looking for, you know, said it was his wife? Yeah? Well, I bet a man like Devereaux would buy his wife a pretty white veil like this.
Where'd this come from? I just found it in this bush.
My guess is it came from one of those wagons.
I unloaded the bedrolls and the war bags, Mr.
Favor.
Anything else in the wagon? No, just my things.
This one of your things, Bryan? Open the wagon.
Tom.
What do you plan to do? She your wife? No.
She Devereaux's wife? Yes.
Suppose she was your wife.
What would you expect me to do? If you'll let me explain, Mr.
Favor.
Mr.
Devereaux said he'd be back.
Try to explain it to him.
I came to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did.
But it was our only chance of getting away from him.
When I first started trailing cattle, I worked for an old trail boss who'd always warn his new men, "There are only two things to watch out for: being left afoot and a decent woman.
" You sure prove him out.
I told you I was sorry.
I gave your husband reason to come shooting his way into my camp.
Maybe some of my men will be killed.
But it'll be all right, because you're sorry.
Mr.
Favor marriage is just a word.
It means different things to different people.
You're just making it easier by the minute for me to do what I have to do.
I never spent one night in Jefferson Devereaux's home.
That's what I wanted to explain to you.
It's no concern of mine, Mrs.
Devereaux.
That isn't the reason you won't listen to the truth, Mr.
Favor.
Don't be ashamed that you're frightened of Jefferson Devereaux.
Most men are.
Up until two week ago, I was living in St.
Louis with my foster parents.
That's where I met Tom.
We'd planned to be married as soon as I reached legal age.
But my guardians met Jefferson Devereaux on one of his trips east.
He made them a profitable offer for my hand in marriage.
There was nothing I could do.
But you are married to Devereaux? The wedding was yesterday.
It was during the party, after the ceremony, that Tom got to town, and we'd planned to run away long Well, you know the rest.
As I said, Mr.
Favor, marriage means different things to different people.
What does it mean to you? Don't move! Be very still.
All right, now turn around but don't, at no time, raise your voice.
I don't know why I'm surprised, Arkansas, but I am.
No, no, a man such as you is never surprised at anything or anybody.
You saw the woman? I saw.
You running out on the drive? You should have that figured out by now.
You got $30 coming for signing on.
You don't get the bonus.
You didn't see us over the plateau.
The $50 bonus? You didn't earn it.
I'll give you your pay now and you can get out without the other men seeing you.
I'm not interested in your pay or even the bonus.
You want to see me turn the man and the woman over to Devereaux.
Devereaux, he's going to take 'em whenever he's ready.
Then what do you want? Todo.
Everything.
What? Look, I know about you trail bosses.
I know the money you carry in your saddlebags.
Enough to buy cattle to replace the ones you lose, hire new trail hands, to pay your way through the land of people who don't want you to go through.
I bet you, you got maybe That's what I want.
All of it.
It's on the other side of the fire.
Those are my men there.
I know.
That's why you're going to be real careful not to wake none of them up.
The first barrel here is for you.
The second barrel is for whichever one you wake up, even accidental-like.
Now move.
Take the money out of the saddlebag and put it on the wagon wheel.
Come on, come on, hurry up.
You know, things are going to get pretty rough around here when Devereaux comes for that man and woman.
That's why I need the money.
I got to have it to make a start someplace else.
You leave it right where it is, Arkansas.
Rowdy, you keep your voice down.
Even if that bullet goes right through my head, I still got time to put both barrels in Senor Favor.
Rowdy, when I tell you, I want you to kill Arkansas.
Now maybe a dead man can pull a trigger, maybe he can't.
If he can, you can find the trail log, map, list of owners, list of buyers in my saddlebags.
You'll be in charge of the herd.
Get them off this plateau before the Chubasco hits and Mr.
Devereaux comes in.
Senor Favor, you talk like a man from the grave.
You understand me, Rowdy? Yeah.
I believe you would let me shoot you.
Now you know it wouldn't stop your trail herd from getting through.
Senor Favor, I've listened to many men, but I believe you.
Saw the light quick enough, you Let him go, Rowdy.
He could have shot.
He didn't.
You have no more trouble with me.
Senor Favor, if you permit, I'd like to stay with you.
I got a feeling I can take your word on that.
Even when Mr.
Devereaux comes in? Senor.
Favor, I'm coming in.
Alone.
Found her? Last night.
I didn't know she was in my camp.
It doesn't matter.
Is the man and the woman ready to travel? They don't want to travel with you.
They don't have any choice.
Don't feel sorry for them, Mr.
Favor.
You don't have time to feel sorry.
About those men I told you I was sending for- they're going to arrive at dawn, What are you going to do with your wife and Bryan, if I turn them over to you? You meanwhen you turn them over.
As for my wife, my plans haven't changed.
I want children.
And the man? I've never met him, so my interest in him is limited.
All I want to do is hang him.
I see.
So I should turn them both over to you right now, hmm? Well, you'd be doing everybody a favor around here if you did.
If I don't? As I said, Mr.
Favor, my men arrive at dawn.
Why don't I just pull you off that horse and tie you up? Your 40 men wouldn't come riding in here if they knew it meant a bullet in your head, would they? The reason you won't do that, Mr.
Favor, is because you know what I'm asking for is mine.
Rightfully and lawfully.
What your wife decides is something you'll have to settle between the two of you, but I'm not going to turn any man over to you to be hanged.
You understand? I do.
But I don't think you do.
Mr.
Favor, maybe you don't care about being killed, but we do.
We're quitting your outfit.
Arkansas? Not me.
I like it where I am.
Get back to camp.
That crazy Rowdy.
I don't know what's come over him.
First it's clawing in the dirt, and now it's with guns.
Where is he? Over at Tom's wagon.
All right, yellow-belly.
Briggs have given you a chance to pick it up.
Go ahead, I said pick it up.
I'll blow your head off.
Hold it! Let her be.
Mr.
Favor, I told you this is no matter of yours.
Anything that happens on this drive is my matter and nobody's going to forget it.
Now what's between you and Bryan? You let him tell you.
All right, I'll tell you.
I don't wonder he'd run off with another man's wife.
I don't wonder at nothing he'd do.
It was when my platoon was captured by the Federals.
We were sent to a compound down in Arizona.
He was supposed to be a prisoner, too, only he decided it was better to get along- that for him, the war was over.
He gave him his parole, he wouldn't try to escape.
While we were rotting in caves he was up on top.
We saw the sun maybe once a month and he saw it every day.
He got all the food and water he wanted.
And some of what he got could have saved some lives down where we were.
Well, I'll tell you.
Everybody in that prison made a pact.
First man to set his eyes on Tom Bryan was to stomp his life out.
There'll be no stomping the life out of any man on this drive.
Our business is getting this herd over that plateau.
Let's get some sleep so we can do it.
Briggs, this throw down your idea? You know, Mr.
Favor, it seemed like a good idea to me.
We let Rowdy kill this high-talking yellow-belly, woman would have left camp and you wouldn't have had to step in.
Now, do you want to walk back to your blanket or do you want to be knocked back? Your husband was here earlier.
He's coming back for you.
For both of you.
Well, what do you think I can do? I've got 3,000 head of cattle on top of a mountain that's known for storms that can blow us all over the edge if we don't get through in time.
I've only got half enough men.
Only six of them I can trust.
After what Rowdy said, think I can count on any help from the others? It's all right, Mr.
Favor, we understand.
Your responsibility is to the people who hired you, to get their cattle through safely.
We have no right to stand in your way.
We'll be ready when Mr.
Devereaux comes.
It's about time you started pulling your weight in this drive.
Go get a horse and relieve Butler on night herd.
If you can't ride the horse lead him, just stay out there until you're spelled.
Yes, sir.
Mr.
Favor.
It doesn't matter about me anymore, but there's something I want you to know about Tom.
He wasn't like Rowdy and the others in that prison.
He felt the same way, but he wasn't like them.
Well, some men are strong.
Others are not so strong.
Tom couldn't stay down there with the others or go through what they did.
Oh, he tried, but he just couldn't bear up, so he gave in.
Well, he's paid for it, Mr.
Favor, trying to live it down inside himself ever since.
But some things you can never pay for or live down and one of them is being the way you are.
Oh! All right, fall out, you brush poppers, and see if it's there! Fall out! Mr.
Favor.
I guess we tie on our own bedrolls and war bags this morning, seeing as how we're losing Bryan's wagon.
You can get your grub.
Mr.
Favor.
He's here.
Ten miles down from the north pass is Johnstown.
I'll release Bryan there.
You want to see him punished, you can take it up with the sheriff.
I see.
And my wife? She's free to go with you anytime she chooses.
We'll go back to the wagon and ask her.
I thought I made it clear it doesn't make any difference what she decides.
It does to me.
To trail boss a herd like that means you're pretty good that you specialize in getting your cattle through, not playing God.
I'll get my cattle through.
And I'll get my wife.
Hold your fire! I meant to kill you.
If you come any closer, you'll have to kill me, unless you want to die yourself.
I only came to demand what is my own.
In front of these people and in front of my own men, you've shamed me.
I could raise my hand and there'd be killing, and you'd come to me or you'd be dead.
I won't do that.
The only way I can rub out my shame is for you to come to me on your own.
Begging! Crawling! And before you leave the plateau, that will happen.
If she's got one ounce of decency, when she sees what's going to happen to all of you, she'll come to me on her knees, screaming for me to take her back.
All right, rack up your gear.
Wishbone, tear them down.
Let's go, we got to get this herd on the move.
Let's get off this rock before we're blown off it.
What's everybody finding so interesting up in the hills? It's what we don't find that makes the interest.
What do you think happened to Devereaux and that army of his? I wouldn't know.
You got that feeling, Mr.
Favor? What feeling? He isn't far away.
There's not a lot around that next bend.
We're keeping company, too.
According to the signs Devereaux went by not long ago.
Wind's getting stronger.
How far is it to that north pass, Pete? With a little luck, we ought to be down by noon tomorrow.
Maybe we'd better not count on any luck.
Rowdy, squeeze down the herd.
Keep the driving as close as you can.
Right.
Cattle are going down as fast as we can tail them up.
I don't think they can take it anymore.
Then we just keep tailing them up every time they go down.
I told Rowdy what Mrs.
Devereaux said.
Didn't seem to make much difference.
I want to thank you for what you did for us with Devereaux.
It must have been a difficult decision for you.
How would you know? It's true, I'm I'm a schoolteacher, and I know nothing whatever about the cattle business.
What a man does is not so important as how much he believes in it.
You've built something for yourself in the cattle business because you believe in it, and in protecting two strangers, you may have destroyed everything you've made of your life.
It was my decision to make.
Yes and I I wish I could say it was the right decision, but I can't because I just don't know.
Boss, did you change your mind about Bryan and the lady? What do you mean, change my mind? Well, I mean about cutting their wagon out like Devereaux said.
They go with us all the way to Johnstown.
Well, I I guess Riggs has got ideas of his own.
He just pulled them out.
What do you think you're trying to do, Riggs? Well, I'll tell you, Mr.
Favor.
I don't like the sight of blood, especially when it's my own.
We were figuring on giving Mr.
Devereaux his prize package and hanging on to our necks.
Anytime you think you're ready to run this drive, you let me know.
Hold on, Mr.
Favor.
You take a look over there, will you? That hide is off a fresh-killed steer.
It's got your herd's road brand on it.
Where'd this come from? We found it just outside of camp this morning with that hanging rope on it.
I'd say Devereaux's painting a pretty clear picture.
You either get him the yellow-belly to use that rope on, or the rest of your herd's going to end up dead just like this one, and us right along with it.
Well, listen, Riggs, there's only going to be one trail boss with this outfit.
What's the matter with you, Mr.
Favor, you bounced a saddle so long you forgot how to count? Devereaux's got twice as many men as you have.
Riggs Hey, boss! North pass is just over the next rise.
All right! Squeeze down the herd! Let's move off this rock! All right, Riggs, let's move out.
Mr.
Favor, now I know what Devereaux's had in mind for us all along.
He's waiting for us up at the pass.
You seen him? Not exactly.
I didn't get that from no bow and arrow.
There's the north pass.
Over there is where the shot came from.
All right, Pete, you hold here.
They might not stop with just a shot through your sleeve, you know.
Mr.
Favor, you got 3,000 head to get through that pass, only there may notbea pass.
It's set with enough dynamite up there to close it forever.
If they light those fuses, your only chance to get off the plateau alive is gone.
You can stop playing God, Mr.
Favor.
Mrs.
Devereaux is coming to me, just as I said she would.
Devereaux was right.
I'm going up there to him.
I'll crawl up there to him.
No, you won't.
It's Tom, Mr.
Favor.
He's gone to Jefferson Devereaux.
He's going to let them kill him.
He hopes then Devereaux will let the rest of us through.
What do you think of the yellow-bellynow? You stay here.
Mr.
Favor- she's right.
Let her go.
She stays.
No, she doesn't! Throw down your gun! Senor.
Arkansas! Like I like I say to you back in that stinking town, is better to die here on the rock.
Is honor to die with you amigo.
Hold it! Hold your fire! Devereaux, I'm coming out.
I'm putting up my gun, Devereaux.
I'm coming out.
Hold it! Go back, Mr.
Favor! There's nothing you can do! Go back! Can you hear me, Devereaux? Say what you've got to say, but say it quick.
I didn't send Bryan up here.
He came up on his own.
He was willing to be hanged if you'd leave Sally alone.
There's one thing you haven't thought of, Devereaux.
He didn't steal that girl from you.
She was his in the first place.
It was you that stole her from him.
You want to live like that, knowing you stole her? You want to face people the rest of your life wondering what they're thinking about Jefferson Devereaux, who wasn't man enough to earn a wife.
Had to steal her.
All right, Mr.
Devereaux, here I am.
If you want me to crawl, I'll crawl.
I'm begging you, as you said I would.
Don't kill Tom.
Let him go with the others.
I'm begging you.
What's it going to be, Devereaux? I'm having the marriage rubbed off the books.
Pete, Rowdy take Tom and the young lady to the wagon.
I have a hunch a man like you might even beat old Chubasco through that pass.
Good luck.
Head 'em up, move 'em out! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'? Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'? Though the streams are swollen? Keep them dogies rollin'? Rawhide? Through rain and wind and weather? Hell-bent for leather? Wishin' my gal was by my side? All the things I'm missin'? Good vittles, love and kissin'? Are waiting at the end of my ride? Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em on? Move 'em on, head 'em up, rawhide? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, ride 'em in, let 'em out? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in? Rawhide? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Hyah! Hyah! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'? Hyah! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Captioned by access.
wgbh.
org
There's a lot of danger a man can understand and a lot he can't.
That's the kind I hate- the kind I can't understand.
I'm Gil Favor- trail boss.
That's it.
It's just a high place.
The way Joe's been talking, you'd think that Nolan Plateau had two heads and was spitting fire.
Rowdy, sometimes I think you're so ignorant you couldn't drive nails in a snowbank.
Maybe it's just that I don't spook every time we look at something hard to do.
How'd it go? There's only a few men willing to sign on.
They're afraid of that place up there like it had monsters on it.
Soon as the herd's watered, better find some good bed ground.
They'll need all the rest they can get before we hit that plateau tomorrow.
And we'll need all the extra riders and supply wagons we can get.
It's not much of a town.
I don't think you're going to be too happy with the hands I rounded up for you.
From what I hear we may run into up there, I'd say we don't have much choice.
I say that is one beautiful senorita.
I'm telling you, you wouldn't know a beautiful senorita if you saw one.
Arkansas, you've been around cows so long that if a beautiful woman even moos at you you're going to try to put her back in a herd.
Look, look, Riggs, how could you ever think that any muchacha but one from my own people could have such beautiful legs as that, huh? You want to know what I think? Mmm? I think you're so drunk, boy, that you couldn't hit the ground with that great, big beautiful hat of yours if you had two tries.
Well, maybe you're just trying to play the curly wolf with me, huh, amigo? I don't like no curly wolves.
I don't care what you My name's Favor.
I came here to hire trail hands.
I'm paying a bonus 'cause our next stretch is going to be rough, and I need men bad.
But it looks like I came to the wrong place.
Next.
What's your name? Jess Riggs.
Experience? Well, now, you're not going to have to hold my hand.
$30 wages plus $50 bonus once we've got the cattle over the high ground.
Well, that's cheap enough, pushing cattle over the plateau this time of year.
Maybe it's too cheap.
Well, I guess it's better to die up on that rock then in some stinking hole like this, huh? Yeah.
I go.
Mind if I ask you something? It's a free country.
What do they call you Arkansas for? Because of this, my young friend.
Some of the outfits I've worked for, they call one of these the Arkansas toothpick.
Break it off.
Caught a fella outside of camp snooping around.
Said he wanted to join up.
He one of the men you talked to today? I never saw him before, and he's no cowhand.
He's one of them fancy talking fellas that spouts words eight to the pound.
One thing is he's got a good sturdy-looking wagon.
Said he wanted to talk to you.
Mr.
Favor? My name is Tom Bryan.
I heard you were looking for men.
I'm looking for cowmen.
I'll do any job you assign me.
I see.
Mr.
Bryan, suppose I asked you to relieve the swing rider, or help trim up the herd? Well I'll do any job within my limited ability.
Sorry.
Mr.
Favor aren't you forgetting something more valuable than my services? My wagon.
With additional men, you'll need some kind of conveyance for the added supplies.
You sound like an educated man, Mr.
Bryan, not a trail drover.
What makes you want to go along? You can't eat an education.
Have you heard what we're liable to run into up there on the plateau? Mr.
Favor, the fact remains I'm a man, educated or not.
I heard you needed them.
Well, we could use your wagon, all right.
And I suppose somewhere we can use you.
$30 pay, plus $50 once we're over the high stretch.
Thank you, Mr.
Favor.
Thank you very much.
Come on in camp.
I'll have the cook give you some grub.
I'm not hungry.
if you'll just tell me where you want the wagon.
We'll make this a bed wagon.
You'll carry bed rolls, war bags, things to lighten up the horses.
Put it down by the remuda.
A remuda is where we keep the horses, Mr.
Bryan.
I suppose you will know a horse when you see one? Uh, yes, of course I will.
Good.
Riders coming, Boss.
How many? Four.
They don't seem interested in the cattle, though.
They're riding right past that bit of ground.
Well It's Old Bull himself who rides tonight.
You know him, Arkansas? Only to see him.
His name is Jefferson Devereaux.
He's big man around here.
Own land as far as eagle can fly.
Looks like an old man to me.
He may be a little long on years, but no one has ever sawn his horns off yet.
What do you reckon he wants here now? Whatever it is, senor, he take it.
I'm Jefferson Devereaux.
And I'm Mister, I'd know you standing a mile away with the skin burned off your face.
You're a born and bred cowman.
You can be proud of that.
My name's Favor.
Climbing over the plateau a little late, aren't you? That's right.
Heard about the winds that come up there this time of the year? I've heard.
Well, Texas beef's not used to that sort of thing.
Most likely run right off the mountain top if you find a strong chubasco.
Uh, that's what we call the dust storms when the wind comes up wholesale.
I hope to get the herd through before that happens.
Well, then you've got your work cut out for you, so I won't keep you.
I, uh I'm looking for a man and a woman who are traveling together.
Can't describe the man to you, never met him.
But it doesn't matter, wherever the man is, the woman will be.
There's no woman in this camp.
Then as soon as I look around your camp and talk to your men, I'll leave.
Mr.
Devereaux, you and your men are welcome to coffee, but you're not going to look around my camp, and you're not going to talk to my men.
Now, if you don't want the coffee, you're going to leave.
With a herd that size, I'd say you signed on 20, maybe 25 drovers.
Not that many.
Well, my outriders have gone back to bring 40 men.
Oh? Of course, it depends what they find out when they start asking around where the woman is.
But if she's within five miles of your camp, I'll be back.
you don't have the right to ride into my camp.
Mister the woman I spoke of, she gives me the right.
She's my wife.
Wishbone? Yeah, boss? You spot the North Star last night? I pointed that wagon tongue right at it.
Good.
Mr.
Favor, this camp's nervous.
I heard men shuffling around all night.
And it ain't just that rock up there.
Devereaux's looking for a woman.
Now, you seen any running around this camp lately? Mr.
Favor, it seems like I ain't seen a woman anywhere in ten years.
Well, then this camp's got no reason to be scared of Devereaux.
Pete, pass the word we follow the tongue straight north.
It'll be an uphill climb all day, so double the riders on swing and flank.
Signing on to push cattle's one thing, getting poisoned's another altogether.
And this coffee of yours, you got to chew it before you can swallow it.
And as for your stew What's the matter with it? Is it got a little too much bite to it? Mushy! Ain't I told you greenhorns don't like red ants for breakfast? Oh, you're smart, aren't youWhy, you Riggs! Maybe you better take up your station.
You ain't give me one yet.
Well, I'll give you one now.
You ride drag.
Maybe if you eat enough dust, you'll get fond of Wishbone's cooking.
Sally, please keep out of sight.
Someone will see you.
We can't do this to these people.
He'll follow.
Thank you.
Let's butt those saddles.
You hear meOff and on! Riggs? Senor Favor, I think already your men are starting to get a little edgy, huh? You going to find that most men who run into Devereaux get a little edgy.
All right, let's head 'em up! Ride the drag! They're dropping behind! Riggs, you let this happen again, you'll be riding drag to the other side of the plateau, you hear me?! Yes, Mr.
Favor.
You got all the bedrolls and war bags? All in the back, Mr.
Favor.
Bryan, better tie down the back flap.
Don't want any more dust on that gear than can be helped.
Yes, sir.
Stream ahead.
Chances are it's the last we'll hit till we get off the plateau.
How's it look? Well, there's a real narrow hogback that runs along there with cut banks that drop off plum to China.
Cattle ever spook, we got trouble.
And there's something else up there, too, besides the hogback.
Yeah, yeah, I've seen him.
Boy, I call that a morning's work.
We must have herded those cows about five miles since Break it up! Rowdy, come on! That's enough! Enough! They didn't make a sound.
Just started trying to kill each other.
What's going on between you two? Look, as long as I have you for company, I'll walk up to the devil himself, but there's no room for you in this.
There's no room at all.
What you think of the plateau now, Senor Favor? I think it's high and it's windy.
Yeah.
I think your cows are already beginning to get a little scared.
We'll make it.
You're coming into the worst part now.
This land goes for maybe Then at the north end is the only way to get off.
One little path.
That's the only way.
Are the drop-offs on the cut banks as bad as they are here? No part of it gets any better till you get through that north pass.
The winds? The wind? Huh, at this time of year, you wait till the big winds start.
Rowdy, you're on first night guard with the herd, aren't you? Yeah.
This winds making the herd edgy.
See that none of the new hands do anything to spook 'em.
Oh, Mr.
Favor, that visit Jefferson Devereaux paid us and that woman he was looking for, you know, said it was his wife? Yeah? Well, I bet a man like Devereaux would buy his wife a pretty white veil like this.
Where'd this come from? I just found it in this bush.
My guess is it came from one of those wagons.
I unloaded the bedrolls and the war bags, Mr.
Favor.
Anything else in the wagon? No, just my things.
This one of your things, Bryan? Open the wagon.
Tom.
What do you plan to do? She your wife? No.
She Devereaux's wife? Yes.
Suppose she was your wife.
What would you expect me to do? If you'll let me explain, Mr.
Favor.
Mr.
Devereaux said he'd be back.
Try to explain it to him.
I came to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did.
But it was our only chance of getting away from him.
When I first started trailing cattle, I worked for an old trail boss who'd always warn his new men, "There are only two things to watch out for: being left afoot and a decent woman.
" You sure prove him out.
I told you I was sorry.
I gave your husband reason to come shooting his way into my camp.
Maybe some of my men will be killed.
But it'll be all right, because you're sorry.
Mr.
Favor marriage is just a word.
It means different things to different people.
You're just making it easier by the minute for me to do what I have to do.
I never spent one night in Jefferson Devereaux's home.
That's what I wanted to explain to you.
It's no concern of mine, Mrs.
Devereaux.
That isn't the reason you won't listen to the truth, Mr.
Favor.
Don't be ashamed that you're frightened of Jefferson Devereaux.
Most men are.
Up until two week ago, I was living in St.
Louis with my foster parents.
That's where I met Tom.
We'd planned to be married as soon as I reached legal age.
But my guardians met Jefferson Devereaux on one of his trips east.
He made them a profitable offer for my hand in marriage.
There was nothing I could do.
But you are married to Devereaux? The wedding was yesterday.
It was during the party, after the ceremony, that Tom got to town, and we'd planned to run away long Well, you know the rest.
As I said, Mr.
Favor, marriage means different things to different people.
What does it mean to you? Don't move! Be very still.
All right, now turn around but don't, at no time, raise your voice.
I don't know why I'm surprised, Arkansas, but I am.
No, no, a man such as you is never surprised at anything or anybody.
You saw the woman? I saw.
You running out on the drive? You should have that figured out by now.
You got $30 coming for signing on.
You don't get the bonus.
You didn't see us over the plateau.
The $50 bonus? You didn't earn it.
I'll give you your pay now and you can get out without the other men seeing you.
I'm not interested in your pay or even the bonus.
You want to see me turn the man and the woman over to Devereaux.
Devereaux, he's going to take 'em whenever he's ready.
Then what do you want? Todo.
Everything.
What? Look, I know about you trail bosses.
I know the money you carry in your saddlebags.
Enough to buy cattle to replace the ones you lose, hire new trail hands, to pay your way through the land of people who don't want you to go through.
I bet you, you got maybe That's what I want.
All of it.
It's on the other side of the fire.
Those are my men there.
I know.
That's why you're going to be real careful not to wake none of them up.
The first barrel here is for you.
The second barrel is for whichever one you wake up, even accidental-like.
Now move.
Take the money out of the saddlebag and put it on the wagon wheel.
Come on, come on, hurry up.
You know, things are going to get pretty rough around here when Devereaux comes for that man and woman.
That's why I need the money.
I got to have it to make a start someplace else.
You leave it right where it is, Arkansas.
Rowdy, you keep your voice down.
Even if that bullet goes right through my head, I still got time to put both barrels in Senor Favor.
Rowdy, when I tell you, I want you to kill Arkansas.
Now maybe a dead man can pull a trigger, maybe he can't.
If he can, you can find the trail log, map, list of owners, list of buyers in my saddlebags.
You'll be in charge of the herd.
Get them off this plateau before the Chubasco hits and Mr.
Devereaux comes in.
Senor Favor, you talk like a man from the grave.
You understand me, Rowdy? Yeah.
I believe you would let me shoot you.
Now you know it wouldn't stop your trail herd from getting through.
Senor Favor, I've listened to many men, but I believe you.
Saw the light quick enough, you Let him go, Rowdy.
He could have shot.
He didn't.
You have no more trouble with me.
Senor Favor, if you permit, I'd like to stay with you.
I got a feeling I can take your word on that.
Even when Mr.
Devereaux comes in? Senor.
Favor, I'm coming in.
Alone.
Found her? Last night.
I didn't know she was in my camp.
It doesn't matter.
Is the man and the woman ready to travel? They don't want to travel with you.
They don't have any choice.
Don't feel sorry for them, Mr.
Favor.
You don't have time to feel sorry.
About those men I told you I was sending for- they're going to arrive at dawn, What are you going to do with your wife and Bryan, if I turn them over to you? You meanwhen you turn them over.
As for my wife, my plans haven't changed.
I want children.
And the man? I've never met him, so my interest in him is limited.
All I want to do is hang him.
I see.
So I should turn them both over to you right now, hmm? Well, you'd be doing everybody a favor around here if you did.
If I don't? As I said, Mr.
Favor, my men arrive at dawn.
Why don't I just pull you off that horse and tie you up? Your 40 men wouldn't come riding in here if they knew it meant a bullet in your head, would they? The reason you won't do that, Mr.
Favor, is because you know what I'm asking for is mine.
Rightfully and lawfully.
What your wife decides is something you'll have to settle between the two of you, but I'm not going to turn any man over to you to be hanged.
You understand? I do.
But I don't think you do.
Mr.
Favor, maybe you don't care about being killed, but we do.
We're quitting your outfit.
Arkansas? Not me.
I like it where I am.
Get back to camp.
That crazy Rowdy.
I don't know what's come over him.
First it's clawing in the dirt, and now it's with guns.
Where is he? Over at Tom's wagon.
All right, yellow-belly.
Briggs have given you a chance to pick it up.
Go ahead, I said pick it up.
I'll blow your head off.
Hold it! Let her be.
Mr.
Favor, I told you this is no matter of yours.
Anything that happens on this drive is my matter and nobody's going to forget it.
Now what's between you and Bryan? You let him tell you.
All right, I'll tell you.
I don't wonder he'd run off with another man's wife.
I don't wonder at nothing he'd do.
It was when my platoon was captured by the Federals.
We were sent to a compound down in Arizona.
He was supposed to be a prisoner, too, only he decided it was better to get along- that for him, the war was over.
He gave him his parole, he wouldn't try to escape.
While we were rotting in caves he was up on top.
We saw the sun maybe once a month and he saw it every day.
He got all the food and water he wanted.
And some of what he got could have saved some lives down where we were.
Well, I'll tell you.
Everybody in that prison made a pact.
First man to set his eyes on Tom Bryan was to stomp his life out.
There'll be no stomping the life out of any man on this drive.
Our business is getting this herd over that plateau.
Let's get some sleep so we can do it.
Briggs, this throw down your idea? You know, Mr.
Favor, it seemed like a good idea to me.
We let Rowdy kill this high-talking yellow-belly, woman would have left camp and you wouldn't have had to step in.
Now, do you want to walk back to your blanket or do you want to be knocked back? Your husband was here earlier.
He's coming back for you.
For both of you.
Well, what do you think I can do? I've got 3,000 head of cattle on top of a mountain that's known for storms that can blow us all over the edge if we don't get through in time.
I've only got half enough men.
Only six of them I can trust.
After what Rowdy said, think I can count on any help from the others? It's all right, Mr.
Favor, we understand.
Your responsibility is to the people who hired you, to get their cattle through safely.
We have no right to stand in your way.
We'll be ready when Mr.
Devereaux comes.
It's about time you started pulling your weight in this drive.
Go get a horse and relieve Butler on night herd.
If you can't ride the horse lead him, just stay out there until you're spelled.
Yes, sir.
Mr.
Favor.
It doesn't matter about me anymore, but there's something I want you to know about Tom.
He wasn't like Rowdy and the others in that prison.
He felt the same way, but he wasn't like them.
Well, some men are strong.
Others are not so strong.
Tom couldn't stay down there with the others or go through what they did.
Oh, he tried, but he just couldn't bear up, so he gave in.
Well, he's paid for it, Mr.
Favor, trying to live it down inside himself ever since.
But some things you can never pay for or live down and one of them is being the way you are.
Oh! All right, fall out, you brush poppers, and see if it's there! Fall out! Mr.
Favor.
I guess we tie on our own bedrolls and war bags this morning, seeing as how we're losing Bryan's wagon.
You can get your grub.
Mr.
Favor.
He's here.
Ten miles down from the north pass is Johnstown.
I'll release Bryan there.
You want to see him punished, you can take it up with the sheriff.
I see.
And my wife? She's free to go with you anytime she chooses.
We'll go back to the wagon and ask her.
I thought I made it clear it doesn't make any difference what she decides.
It does to me.
To trail boss a herd like that means you're pretty good that you specialize in getting your cattle through, not playing God.
I'll get my cattle through.
And I'll get my wife.
Hold your fire! I meant to kill you.
If you come any closer, you'll have to kill me, unless you want to die yourself.
I only came to demand what is my own.
In front of these people and in front of my own men, you've shamed me.
I could raise my hand and there'd be killing, and you'd come to me or you'd be dead.
I won't do that.
The only way I can rub out my shame is for you to come to me on your own.
Begging! Crawling! And before you leave the plateau, that will happen.
If she's got one ounce of decency, when she sees what's going to happen to all of you, she'll come to me on her knees, screaming for me to take her back.
All right, rack up your gear.
Wishbone, tear them down.
Let's go, we got to get this herd on the move.
Let's get off this rock before we're blown off it.
What's everybody finding so interesting up in the hills? It's what we don't find that makes the interest.
What do you think happened to Devereaux and that army of his? I wouldn't know.
You got that feeling, Mr.
Favor? What feeling? He isn't far away.
There's not a lot around that next bend.
We're keeping company, too.
According to the signs Devereaux went by not long ago.
Wind's getting stronger.
How far is it to that north pass, Pete? With a little luck, we ought to be down by noon tomorrow.
Maybe we'd better not count on any luck.
Rowdy, squeeze down the herd.
Keep the driving as close as you can.
Right.
Cattle are going down as fast as we can tail them up.
I don't think they can take it anymore.
Then we just keep tailing them up every time they go down.
I told Rowdy what Mrs.
Devereaux said.
Didn't seem to make much difference.
I want to thank you for what you did for us with Devereaux.
It must have been a difficult decision for you.
How would you know? It's true, I'm I'm a schoolteacher, and I know nothing whatever about the cattle business.
What a man does is not so important as how much he believes in it.
You've built something for yourself in the cattle business because you believe in it, and in protecting two strangers, you may have destroyed everything you've made of your life.
It was my decision to make.
Yes and I I wish I could say it was the right decision, but I can't because I just don't know.
Boss, did you change your mind about Bryan and the lady? What do you mean, change my mind? Well, I mean about cutting their wagon out like Devereaux said.
They go with us all the way to Johnstown.
Well, I I guess Riggs has got ideas of his own.
He just pulled them out.
What do you think you're trying to do, Riggs? Well, I'll tell you, Mr.
Favor.
I don't like the sight of blood, especially when it's my own.
We were figuring on giving Mr.
Devereaux his prize package and hanging on to our necks.
Anytime you think you're ready to run this drive, you let me know.
Hold on, Mr.
Favor.
You take a look over there, will you? That hide is off a fresh-killed steer.
It's got your herd's road brand on it.
Where'd this come from? We found it just outside of camp this morning with that hanging rope on it.
I'd say Devereaux's painting a pretty clear picture.
You either get him the yellow-belly to use that rope on, or the rest of your herd's going to end up dead just like this one, and us right along with it.
Well, listen, Riggs, there's only going to be one trail boss with this outfit.
What's the matter with you, Mr.
Favor, you bounced a saddle so long you forgot how to count? Devereaux's got twice as many men as you have.
Riggs Hey, boss! North pass is just over the next rise.
All right! Squeeze down the herd! Let's move off this rock! All right, Riggs, let's move out.
Mr.
Favor, now I know what Devereaux's had in mind for us all along.
He's waiting for us up at the pass.
You seen him? Not exactly.
I didn't get that from no bow and arrow.
There's the north pass.
Over there is where the shot came from.
All right, Pete, you hold here.
They might not stop with just a shot through your sleeve, you know.
Mr.
Favor, you got 3,000 head to get through that pass, only there may notbea pass.
It's set with enough dynamite up there to close it forever.
If they light those fuses, your only chance to get off the plateau alive is gone.
You can stop playing God, Mr.
Favor.
Mrs.
Devereaux is coming to me, just as I said she would.
Devereaux was right.
I'm going up there to him.
I'll crawl up there to him.
No, you won't.
It's Tom, Mr.
Favor.
He's gone to Jefferson Devereaux.
He's going to let them kill him.
He hopes then Devereaux will let the rest of us through.
What do you think of the yellow-bellynow? You stay here.
Mr.
Favor- she's right.
Let her go.
She stays.
No, she doesn't! Throw down your gun! Senor.
Arkansas! Like I like I say to you back in that stinking town, is better to die here on the rock.
Is honor to die with you amigo.
Hold it! Hold your fire! Devereaux, I'm coming out.
I'm putting up my gun, Devereaux.
I'm coming out.
Hold it! Go back, Mr.
Favor! There's nothing you can do! Go back! Can you hear me, Devereaux? Say what you've got to say, but say it quick.
I didn't send Bryan up here.
He came up on his own.
He was willing to be hanged if you'd leave Sally alone.
There's one thing you haven't thought of, Devereaux.
He didn't steal that girl from you.
She was his in the first place.
It was you that stole her from him.
You want to live like that, knowing you stole her? You want to face people the rest of your life wondering what they're thinking about Jefferson Devereaux, who wasn't man enough to earn a wife.
Had to steal her.
All right, Mr.
Devereaux, here I am.
If you want me to crawl, I'll crawl.
I'm begging you, as you said I would.
Don't kill Tom.
Let him go with the others.
I'm begging you.
What's it going to be, Devereaux? I'm having the marriage rubbed off the books.
Pete, Rowdy take Tom and the young lady to the wagon.
I have a hunch a man like you might even beat old Chubasco through that pass.
Good luck.
Head 'em up, move 'em out! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'? Keep rollin', rollin', rollin'? Though the streams are swollen? Keep them dogies rollin'? Rawhide? Through rain and wind and weather? Hell-bent for leather? Wishin' my gal was by my side? All the things I'm missin'? Good vittles, love and kissin'? Are waiting at the end of my ride? Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em on? Move 'em on, head 'em up, rawhide? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in, ride 'em in, let 'em out? Cut 'em out, ride 'em in? Rawhide? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Hyah! Hyah! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin', rollin'? Hyah! ?Rollin', rollin', rollin'? Captioned by access.
wgbh.
org