Original subtitles

BAT (VO): There's a reason they called it the Wild West.

LEANDER: They're robbing my store-

[GUNSHOT]

VASQUEZ: Why did you run? ROWLAND: You want to follow me around while I hunt

for a bandit that helps you sell newspapers.

- I'm here to report the facts,

not to glorify an outlaw.

[GUNSHOT] - Vamanos! Vamanos!

ROWLAND: Shoot! Shoot, Beers! SHOOT!

[TRAIN WHISTLE]

BAT (VO): I was just a young man when I first headed West.

In the years that followed, I became a cowboy, a gunslinger,

and even served as sheriff of Dodge City,

one of the most lawless towns in the country.

My name is Bat Masterson.

Now I'm a reporter. And I've come West again to chronicle

the world that I know best.

These are the incredible true tales of the Wild West.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

BAT: Mr. Beers, Thank you for

taking the time for my interview,

I look forward to making your acquaintance.

Bat Masterson.

George Beers?

BEERS: Bat Masterson.

♪ ♪

Welcome to my home.

- Thanks for having me. - Yeah.

Please, have a seat.

- Beautiful California afternoon.

- Well it's not much but

can't beat the view.

- I'm an admirer of your stories in the San Francisco paper.

- Your proposal of an afternoon swapping war stories

with a fellow journalist was

too good to pass up.

- I find the best accounts come from reporters

who have smelled gun smoke.

It's what brings me here.

I'd like to know how you got involved

in the capture of Tiburcio Vasquez.

- Simple, really.

I came across the bandito while

writing a story on William Rowland.

First Mexican sheriff in Los Angeles County.

- The sheriff who finally caught the legend, Vasquez.

From what I understand, you had a

large part in that arrest.

You know I, uh, put down the gun to pick up a pen.

Couldn't wait to meet the man that put down a pen

to pick up a gun.

- I suppose I did commit the cardinal sin of reporting.

I became part of the story.

- How'd it happen?

- Vasquez was no ordinary criminal.

A Casanova of sorts.

When he wasn't breaking hearts, he was

picking pockets. And some days...

much worse.

KATIE: Thank you.

LEIVA: Empty your pockets, gringos!

VASQUEZ: Stay calm, everyone.

We mean you no harm.

All we want

are your most expensive valuables.

Do not think of this

as a robbery.

It's a...

property tax.

For the land you gringos have stolen from us.

Stop!

- Please.

- No killing!

AL: Don't- - Shh...

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

That is a

lovely necklace,

Miss-

Katie.

This is all I have worth taking.

- I could not deprive this necklace

from such a beautiful perch.

♪ ♪

[RUNNING FOOTSTEPS]

Stop! LEANDER: They're robbing my store-

[GUNSHOT]

VASQUEZ: Why did you run?

[SOBBING]

- You killed him! [SOBBING]

- We didn't mean to shoot anyone. - LEIVA: Tiburcio.

Vamonos! Vamonos!

♪ ♪

BAT: Tres Piños robbery.

When you heard the story, did you think it was

Vasquez or Leiva that pulled the trigger?

- Didn't matter what I thought,

that was a matter for the courts.

I was just there to write a piece on L.A.'s new sheriff.

♪ ♪

[KNOCKING]

- Sheriff Rowland?

I'm George- - Beers.

You're the one writing the profile.

- You don't seem pleased about the publicity.

ROWLAND: We both know why you're really here.

You want to follow me around while I hunt for a bandit

that helps you sell newspapers.

- I gather you've read the paper's coverage of Vasquez.

Sheriff, I intend to present an unbiased account,

no matter how flattering- - Nothing flattering about Tiburcio Vasquez.

He's no Robin Hood.

He's kept every dollar he's stolen.

The sooner

reporters like you stop swaying the opinions

of honest Mexicans in my community, the better.

- I'm here to report the facts,

not to glorify an outlaw.

♪ ♪

- You can ride along.

Observe, stay out of the way.

- Sheriff Rowland was in a tough spot.

California may have been a new state,

but Los Angeles was still mostly Mexican.

Many of them supported Vasquez

poking the establishment in the eye.

- And the sheriff would rather uphold the law than

curry favor with Mexican voters.

- Exactly.

He even used his own money to fund the manhunt.

BAT: Getting back to my first question.

Is it true

Vasquez wouldn't have been captured without your help...

without a reporter?

♪ ♪

LEIVA: Billy Rowland?

ROWLAND: William.

Yes? LEIVA: My name is Abdon Leiva.

I want to turn myself in for crimes

committed alongside Tiburcio Vasquez.

- Do you know his whereabouts?

ROWLAND: Observe.

Why turn on your compadre now?

Change of heart?

LEIVA: Not mine.

My wife's.

Vasquez stole my Rosario away from me.

I want him to pay.

- Will you take us to him?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

VASQUEZ: Joaquin,

Luis,

Ignacio.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

LEIVA: We must go on foot from here.

Come.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ROWLAND: There you are.

- What about Leiva's wife?

She gets his share for doing nothing?

ROSARIO: I don't need money.

I have everything I want right here.

♪ ♪

ROWLAND: Tiburcio Vasquez's career ends today.

♪ ♪

- I thought I was just observing.

ROWLAND: Let's move.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[GUNSHOTS]

VASQUEZ: We're under attack! LUIS: Vamanos!

[GUNFIRE]

[GUNFIRE]

[GUNFIRE]

[GUNFIRE]

♪ ♪

[GUNSHOT]

♪ ♪

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNSHOT]

♪ ♪

[GUNSHOT]

♪ ♪

[GUNFIRE]

♪ ♪

[GUNFIRE]

♪ ♪

VASQUEZ: Sorry amigo.

[GUNFIRE]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ROWLAND: Shoot! Shoot, Beers! SHOOT!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- But you had the shot?

Sorry.

Sometimes I have to remind myself

I was a lawman first.

BEERS: Nah.

No, you're absolutely right.

Up til that point, all I'd done in my career was observe.

- I wouldn't be so hard on yourself.

- I didn't have to be.

I had Sheriff Rowland for that.

ROWLAND: We had him right in our hands.

And you could not muster up the courage to take the shot!

- I was there to observe-

ROWLAND: Vasquez is bad, Beers.

You saw what they did to that poor woman.

To a man like Vasquez, every life is disposable.

- Even an ace shot could have missed at that distance.

And if I missed...

I was afraid that

he would turn back and shoot me.

ROWLAND: Why wouldn't you be?

You're just a reporter.

I just hope we can get to him before he kills again.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

BEERS: Vasquez had no shortage of hideouts.

After the shootout in the rocks,

he decided to check in on one of his many sweethearts.

- He did have a way with women.

- He had a way of making them think they were the only ones.

Which ultimately was his downfall.

All the law and all the money in California

could not do what a scorned lover could.

[KNOCKING]

♪ ♪

- Greek George! [LAUGHTER]

It's been too long, mi amigo!

- What brings you here?

Hiding from the law? Or from a lover?

I'm here to see your beautiful sister-in-law.

And there she is. - MODESTA: Tiburcio.

You make me wait longer and longer between visits.

VASQUEZ: Modesta, mi amor!

It is just business.

MODESTA: You promised to leave that life

so we could start one of our own.

VASQUEZ: Despise it as you may,

but I am a hero to all Californios

who remember a life before the gringos took over.

- Stay, my love.

VASQUEZ: We will make up for lost time soon.

But now, por favor,

let the men talk.

GREEK GEORGE: (hushed tone) I don't know how you keep all your senoritas happy, my friend.

VASQUEZ: It can be a challenge.

I met the most beautiful woman at a store in Tres Pinos.

Her name was...

Katie!

She is coming here tomorrow to meet me.

GREEK GEORGE: Here?

Perhaps her place is better.

VASQUEZ: No. Her husband will be there.

GREEK GEORGE: And my sister-in-law? You think she won't find out?

VASQUEZ: She won't. Because you're going to take her into town to go shopping tomorrow.

Buy her something nice.

Now...

drinks.

♪ ♪

MODESTA: I'm telling you.

Tonight.

- So you're sure?

MODESTA: Yes,

Tiburcio Vasquez will be there.

You have my word.

ROWLAND: Gracias.

- Thank you, Sheriff.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ROWLAND: You two guard the doors on both sides.

I'll signal if he goes through the back.

BEERS: What about me? I can take the back-

ROWLAND: I won't put you in that position again.

- You don't have to.

If I need to,

I'll do more than observe.

♪ ♪

- Okay,

let's move.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

[INSECTS CHIRPING]

[TWIG CRACKS]

ROWLAND: Hands up.

- Sheriff...

Billy.

- It's William.

Don't move Vasquez.

[MODESTA YELLS]

[STRUGGLING]

[MODESTA FALLING]

[GUNSHOT] [WINDOW BREAKS]

[BOTTLE BREAKS]

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Oh,

I recognize you, amigo!

Gracias for the fresh horse.

BEERS: Don't move.

- Where am I gonna go?

You have me dead to rights.

Your hand says you're a little unsteady there, friend.

BEERS: Be quiet.

VASQUEZ: Relax,

you have me

right where you want me.

Or do you still lack the courage

to pull the trigger?

♪ ♪

[GUNSHOT] [YELL]

Oh.

Oh.

♪ ♪

ROWLAND: Seems the sword,

or at least a gun

can be mightier than a pen.

[VASQUEZ GROANING]

Pretty good shot,

for a reporter.

BAT: All those escapes and near misses,

and there you are.

Holding Vasquez's fate squarely in your hands.

BEERS: And bravely.

Make sure you write "bravely".

[LAUGHTER]

And of the countless bullets the bandito took in his lifetime...

yours was the last.

BEERS: You know,

the reporter in me still questions

if I should have fired that shot.

But the citizen in me-

BAT: It did end a deadly chapter

in your state's history.

- Like it or not,

that's how I became a part of his story.

BAT: Thank you for that, Mr. Beers.

I won't take up any more of your time.

BEERS: Oh not so fast, Masterson.

It's your turn.

I want to hear all about Dodge City.

BAT: How much time you got?

After joining the manhunt for Vasquez,

George Beers became the former bandito's biographer.

Disenfranchised Mexicans found a hero in Tiburcio Vasquez,

but it didn't save him from being hanged for murder.

He was thirty-nine.

BEERS: Sheriff? ROWLAND: Hmm,

add 'em to the bunch.

♪ ♪

BEERS: There's a line of women admirers

outside down the street.

They all want to look at him.

VASQUEZ: Hey Billy,

what do you say?

We charge twenty-five cents to see

the world famous Tiburcio Vasquez, huh?

- I don't think so, Vasquez.

VASQUEZ: We, we could split the-

- No one will say you didn't lead an exciting life.

- I want people to know.

That Tiburcio Vasquez

was innocent.

The women, the people,

they love him.

Gringos, Mexicanos, everyone!

And that he loved life.

♪ ♪