TV-14 | 30min | Western, TV Series | Episode aired 8 April 1957
The office in Alder Gulch, Montana has reported a series of stage coach robberies and Jim Hardie is sent to investigate.
Director: Allen H. Miner
Writers: Frank Gruber, Allen H. Miner
Stars: Dale Robertson, Lee Van Cleef, John Doucette
The office in Alder Gulch, Montana has reported a series of stage coach robberies and Jim Hardie is sent to investigate.
Director: Allen H. Miner
Writers: Frank Gruber, Allen H. Miner
Stars: Dale Robertson, Lee Van Cleef, John Doucette
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00♪♪
00:26The hard-earned prestige of Wells Fargo dropped to an all-time low during the gold strikes in western Montana.
00:33Stagecoaches were held up so frequently and the Wells Fargo strongbox robbed so often
00:38that the company was compelled to take desperate measures against the Montana road agents.
00:43Banks were held up and looted in broad daylight by murderous bands of outlaws.
00:49Farmhouses and miners' cabins were burned to cover up crimes.
00:53Trains were robbed, express cars held up, and strongboxes looted.
00:59Conditions in Montana were in a state of anarchy.
01:02I was in Arizona on a routine job of running down a two-bit stagecoach robber.
01:08I got the man and was about to leave when I received an urgent message
01:12ordering me to report to the San Francisco office.
01:15John Carter, the general manager in charge of operations, was as upset as I had ever seen him.
01:22Wells Fargo has come to mean more than an express company, a stage line, a bank.
01:27The Wells Fargo strongbox has become a symbol of security throughout the West.
01:31I don't care how you do it. Work with the law if you can.
01:35If there isn't any law in Alder Gulch, make your own law.
01:39Teach those road agents a lesson they'll never forget.
01:45I'll do the best I can.
01:46I'll do the best I can.
02:17I traveled to Ogden, Utah, in the Union Pacific, and then headed north by stagecoach.
02:23It was a long trip and a rough one, but nothing happened until we were on the last stretch,
02:28just a few miles from Alder Gulch.
02:40Let's go to work.
02:41Let's hope this one's loaded.
03:11Ready, ma'am.
03:16Bandits! Robbers!
03:18They warned me about road agents. I only hope they don't kill us.
03:22They'll take my money. That's all I've got in the world.
03:42Get out of there!
03:44All right, get out!
03:47All right, Clem, tie it off and hurry it up.
03:49Come on, get down there, I'll blow you out of the seat.
03:51Keep your eyes off the rifle.
03:53You can make it snappy, I'll blow a hole in you.
03:56Get down!
04:02All right, line up. Hurry up and get out of there. All of you.
04:05Make it snappy.
04:06What's he got on him?
04:11Sixteen, seventeen.
04:14Seventeen dollars and ten cents.
04:17Oh, mister, you've got a crust. Traveling with seventeen dollars.
04:23Going to the diggings.
04:25Not coming.
04:28Tend to make my steak, I'm afraid.
04:31I'm going to the diggings.
04:33I'm going to the diggings.
04:34Tend to make my steak and all their goats.
04:39Let's see your color, mister. That better be good.
04:42I ain't got no money, honest. I ain't.
04:45What's that?
04:47Oh, you cheap dude. No good.
04:50Don't hit me again, mister.
04:52I'll tell you anything you want to know, but please don't kill me.
04:56What do you got to tell us?
04:58Well, I'll tell if you don't kill me.
05:00You holding out on us?
05:02No, I'm not holding out on you.
05:04It's him.
05:05Him.
05:07All right, out with it.
05:08I haven't got any money, mister, honest. Just some small change.
05:11Don't give me that. You look like a banker. Come on, fork over or else.
05:14Where you hiding it?
05:17In the coach behind the cushion.
05:25Nice packet.
05:26That's all the money I've got in the world, mister, honest.
05:28Trying to hold out on us, huh?
05:30You get this straight.
05:31You tell the people in Aldegolze better not try holding out on us, understand?
05:34You tell them that.
05:37You've got our money.
05:38What more do you want?
05:40You've got a nerve.
05:42For a guy who carries nothing but chicken feed in his pocket.
05:46Maybe next time I'll have more.
05:50Or a gun.
05:52We go while we're after. Come on.
06:01Come on.
06:22You had no call to tell them.
06:24What did you want me to do? Get killed?
06:26Just to save your rotten money?
06:27You were wearing a gun all the time.
06:28So were they.
06:29And there were three of them.
06:31I didn't see you make any move.
06:33I didn't?
06:35He's right.
06:36When a man's got the drop on you, you don't usually go for your gun.
06:54Same crowd?
06:55They used to stop only the stages leaving town.
06:58Now they're robbing the ones coming in.
07:00They're as big as cannons.
07:02Are you the sheriff here?
07:03That's right.
07:04You lose much?
07:05Three thousand dollars.
07:06That's all the cash I had with me.
07:08You still have some money.
07:09Wells Fargo draft.
07:10I was going to open a business here, but now...
07:12That's too bad, mister.
07:14We've had a few hold-ups here.
07:15Few?
07:20I can't police the whole territory of Montana with two deputies.
07:24You were on the stage?
07:26Yep.
07:28You lose much?
07:31Chicken feet.
07:54Give me a short one.
07:56Just get in?
07:58Yep.
08:04That'll be 25 cents, mister.
08:0625 cents for a short beer?
08:08Mister, that beer comes 2,000 miles.
08:13Almost as far as I come.
08:16Well, I'll take it.
08:18I'll take it.
08:20I'll take it.
08:21Almost as far as I come.
08:24Something the road agents missed.
08:27Give my friends one.
08:28They look like they've been riding hard all day.
08:33We've been here all morning.
08:38Have we?
08:40Yeah, that's right.
08:41Right here.
08:52Well, a man can do just so much.
08:55So much what?
08:56Drinking, gambling, hanging around the saloon?
08:58Look, Parker.
09:00I've been hearing a lot of talk about you.
09:01You, Sanders, and that butcher beadler.
09:04You've been stirring up the people of this town, and I don't like it.
09:08I don't like it one bit.
09:10But people don't like what's happening in Alder Goats.
09:12Like it or not, that's the way it's going to be.
09:15There'll be no vigilantes in this town.
09:17Not as long as I'm sheriff.
09:19Well, that might not be as long as you think.
09:23Hello there, young fella.
09:25Howdy.
09:26Just come to pick up my bag.
09:28Help yourself.
09:36I'm Jim Hardy, special agent.
09:38Hardy!
09:39Well, I'm mighty glad to see you.
09:41You've had quite a trip.
09:43Yeah.
09:44Smooth operation, all right.
09:45They know what they're doing.
09:46Well, they should.
09:47They get enough practice.
09:49Three out of every five stages that leave here get held up.
09:52Why not every one?
09:54Because they know which ones to hold up, that's for sure.
09:57I send out the strong box full of rocks.
09:58They never touch it.
10:00Only a stage carrying a gold shipment.
10:02Or like today, when there's a passenger coming into town with a fat wallet.
10:06We stopped at a relay station last night, run by a fellow named Bunton.
10:09What do you know about him?
10:11I don't know.
10:12He's one of them, I'm sure.
10:14Why not change station agents?
10:17Any man you'd give it to most likely would be one of them.
10:20Oh, Hardy, I've been a Wells Fargo agent for 20 years.
10:24Started with the company down in Tulum.
10:27I've had offices in Arizona, California, Washington Territory, over in Idaho.
10:33Mighty rough camps, but nothing like this Virginia City.
10:37You know how many murders we've had.
10:39No.
10:40102.
10:42102 that we know about, and maybe twice that many we don't know about.
10:47Miners have been shot, knifed in the back, drug into the brush, thrown into holes.
10:53We've had 48 stagecoach holdups.
10:56And the good Lord only knows how many freighters and travelers have been robbed.
11:01I sometimes think half of the people in Montana make a living out of this.
11:04These road agents are a big crowd. I've learned that.
11:07But how well organized are they?
11:09That's something I don't know.
11:11But you can be sure they're a big, powerful outfit with a smart, clever leader.
11:15And they've got spies everywhere.
11:17I have stages come in here with chalk marks on them.
11:21I've tried every trick I know, nothing seems to work.
11:24You can't hire a man to ride guard up there.
11:27You can't hire a man to be a cop.
11:29You can't hire a man to be a cop.
11:31You can't hire a man to be a cop.
11:32You can't hire a man to ride guard up there.
11:34They shoot them off faster than I can put them on.
11:38Weren't you talking with the sheriff when I walked in?
11:41He's a friend of every ruffian in this gulch.
11:44He's a smart one, all right.
11:46But I happen to know he was a professional gambler before he came here.
11:50Killed a man over in Idaho.
11:52A lot of respectable people have been gamblers.
11:55Still are.
11:56Plumber looks respectable, talks respectable.
11:59Just wait till we get the vigilantes organized.
12:01Vigilantes?
12:04Oh, we've got a judge here.
12:06Judge in name only.
12:08We've had some jury trials, even convicted a man once.
12:11Then we found two of the jury members murdered.
12:13That was the end of that.
12:15There hasn't even been a man arrested in this town in over three months.
12:18Except old Bill Fairweather, the town drunk.
12:21He don't count.
12:26I'd better go.
12:27I'll leave this here with you.
12:29Take a room in the hotel for tonight, and I'll come up and we'll have a talk.
12:42Sandy McKenzie.
12:44He had a claim next to me.
12:45You kill him?
12:46Who, me?
12:48We were the best of friends, Sandy and me.
12:51He hadn't been around for two days, so I went out looking for him.
12:54And I found him like this with a knife on his back.
12:56In the brush, about a hundred feet from his claim.
12:58All right, all right.
13:00Take him over to Doc Withers.
13:02I'll have a death certificate made out.
13:04You give your deposition to Judge Cates.
13:11I'll need a gun belt and holster too.
13:14Well now, these are real good leather.
13:17Cut from the best shoulder stock.
13:20No, I had one like this before.
13:23Never quite seemed to hang right.
13:25Don't you got one of those fancy ones with the stars on it?
13:30Yeah.
13:32Make it left-handed.
13:55Flip your devil or nothing for all of it.
13:57Wait a minute, that's my money you're getting so free with.
13:59Give me that.
14:00Make me.
14:03Fellas, there's a man asking for a fight.
14:06You name it.
14:07Wait a minute.
14:08I ain't had me a fight all day and he's asking for it.
14:11Boom.
14:13So what?
14:14He's still asking for it.
14:16You know what they say about all muscle, no brain, no brain, no brain, no brain.
14:20He's still asking for it.
14:22You know what they say about all muscle, no brains.
14:44That's enough, hold it.
14:46That's enough I said, let me go over.
14:47That's enough I said.
14:50I ain't finished with you yet.
14:53Let's go.
14:55Come on.
15:04You got a funny way of introducing yourself.
15:06That was Boone Helm you were fighting.
15:08Nosey.
15:10A man that would cut your throat and have a supper right afterwards.
15:13Come on man, the boss wants us.
15:16What's up?
15:17Meeting?
15:20Yeah.
15:37Hi boys.
15:39You too?
15:41That guy's got to make a living, hasn't he?
15:43Hey you.
15:45You and me got some unfinished business.
15:47Anytime.
15:50Alright, now get this.
15:52I'm not afraid of Sanders, Beigler or the whole kit and caboodle of them.
15:55You've come through some tough spots before and will come through this.
15:58Just remember.
16:00We've already got an organization.
16:02They're just starting one.
16:05They don't know us but we know them.
16:09They still think I'm one of their bunch.
16:14I keep hollering about hanging road agents just as loud as any of them.
16:18Hanging?
16:20I figured I'd hang us.
16:24Fat Jack.
16:26The rope isn't in Montana yet that's going to hang me.
16:31They're nothing but a bunch of greenhorns.
16:35What we're going to do is put the fear of the devil in them.
16:38We're going to take their leaders.
16:40Parker, Beigler, Sanders.
16:44We're going to shoot them down out in the street.
16:47Then let the rest of them see what dead men look like.
16:52Twelve o'clock noon tomorrow, that's when we hit.
16:55Billings.
16:57You and Moppet ride over to Bannock.
16:59Tell Gallagher and his boys to get over here fast.
17:01You, Locke.
17:03Get a fast horse right over to Deer Lodge.
17:05Tell Fessler and his crowd to be here at eleven o'clock tomorrow.
17:09Bob.
17:10You take a couple of boys, ride over to Bunton's.
17:13Get those horses he's been keeping.
17:14Right.
17:15Come on, lad.
17:17You too.
17:27Where are you from?
17:29I got in a little trouble working over at Bunton's.
17:32He sent me over here to cool off.
17:34I only want to give you a bit of advice, mister.
17:37Over here you do what you're told exactly.
17:40Else we'll cool you off good and proper.
17:42Okay, boss.
17:50Bunton's is eighteen miles.
17:52Isn't that kind of a brisk walk?
17:54Who said anything about walking?
17:56I haven't got a horse that came in on the stage, remember?
17:58Don't worry about walking.
18:00Help yourself.
18:01Horses are something we got plenty of.
18:03We don't bother much who owns which.
18:13Pull up, you.
18:15Come on, it'll be dark in a half an hour.
18:20What's the matter?
18:22Got a loose shoe, I think.
18:25I must have a hammer in here.
18:27No, he's got a bruised foot.
18:29You and Red go on.
18:30I'll come along later.
18:31You don't know this country.
18:32You'd never find Bunton's in the dark.
18:36Come on.
18:38Come on.
18:40Come on.
18:42Come on.
19:12Come on.
19:28Who is it?
19:29Kim Hardy.
19:40Come in.
19:41Take me to Colonel Sanders and Mr. Biedler.
19:43Sanders and Biedler?
19:45What do you know about them?
19:47I know the three of you are forming a vigilante committee.
19:49You'll be dead at noon tomorrow unless I talk to you tonight.
19:53I'll be right with you.
20:11I'll be right with you.
20:42What's the matter with you, fella?
20:43Can't you tell time?
20:45I said 12 o'clock noon.
20:4711 o'clock now.
20:49You won't be alive by noon.
20:51What?
20:52You know Mr. Parker, Colonel Sanders, Mr. Biedler?
20:56Well, gentlemen.
20:59You look like you might be going hunting.
21:01I'm not going hunting.
21:03I'm not going hunting.
21:05I'm not going hunting.
21:07I'm not going hunting.
21:09I'm not going hunting.
21:11Yes, we are.
21:13You're the game, plumber.
21:15Just a minute, Biedler.
21:17We won't bend your word. You're under arrest.
21:19You're carrying this too far, Sanders.
21:22You'll pay for this, the lot of you.
21:24Watch him.
21:42That butcher shop sure gives off some foul smells.
21:46Hey, bartender, why don't you get people like this out of here?
21:50You're under arrest, Helm.
21:52You take over Henry Plumber's badge.
21:55Henry Plumber's already arrested.
21:59Don't make any more trouble.
22:01You're under arrest.
22:03You take over Henry Plumber's badge.
22:05Henry Plumber's already arrested.
22:08Don't make any more trouble.
22:10Don't make any mistakes.
22:12You're all through.
22:14I didn't like you when I first set eyes on you.
22:17That would be when you held up the stagecoach.
22:20I said...
22:24I said we had some unfinished business.
22:33All right, now!
22:40You, you.
22:42You're both under arrest.
22:44You're all right.
22:47Come on.
23:10You're not scaring anybody with that rope.
23:20Well, well, well.
23:22They got you too, huh?
23:24You keep your mouth shut.
23:26Too late for that.
23:28We know you're their leader.
23:30You can't prove that.
23:32Take me before your court and I'll make fools out of the lot of you.
23:34Court?
23:36We get right for a trial.
23:37Come on, we're wasting time.
23:39No.
23:41No, you got to give us time.
23:43Till 12 o'clock?
23:45An hour.
23:47Give me an hour.
23:49We'll give you as much time as you and your killers gave the 102 men you killed in Aldergoch in the last three months.
24:01We'll proceed.
24:03Men!
24:07Men!
24:23Nobody approved of vigilantes.
24:25In Virginia City, they did what they had to do because the law broke down.
24:30It was the only thing they could do.
24:32Men like Colonel Sanders,
24:34who became Montana's first United States Senator,
24:37and Biedler,
24:39whose memory is still cherished in Montana.
24:41These men loved the law
24:43and fought to uphold it.