Original subtitles

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

DIXON: John, look out!

[GUNSHOT]

TOWNSPERSON: Hardin just killed the Sheriff!

GENERAL STEELE: You'll be partnering with the best

in the state. - I work better alone.

- It's not a suggestion, Armstrong.

ARMSTRONG: We need to bust some heads and get some answers.

DUNCAN: We need more than brute force on this.

ARMSTRONG: There he is.

HARDIN: Texas Ranger!

[SCREAM]

[GUNSHOT]

[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: Delicious.

Thanks again for your hospitality, John.

Cannot remember the last time I went hunting.

ARMSTRONG: You can thank me when

we've bagged you a proper Texas sized buck.

- That's a handsome pipe, JB.

That a meerschaum?

- You know your pipes.

BAT: I like to know a little about a lot of things.

I know a certain killer was smoking one of those on a

Pensacola train back in '77.

- John Wesley Hardin.

- You were the Ranger in charge of the hunt for the most

notorious killer Texas ever produced.

You ever going to tell me about hunting Hardin?

A good campfire deserves a good story.

- I'll tell you the true story of what happened

on one condition;

You help me set the record straight.

- Set the record straight?

ARMSTRONG: No, It's not wrong;

just not complete.

Hardin was the most formidable foe I ever faced,

I couldn't have done it alone.

No man could.

Despite being a known murderer

and having the largest bounty ever recorded,

Hardin wasn't hiding.

♪ ♪

BUD DIXON: John. John!

HARDIN: Howdy, Sheriff.

You here to arrest me?

WEBB: I don't know who you are, sir.

- Name's John Wesley Hardin.

Now,

are you here to arrest me?

- Now I know your name, but

I still ain't here to arrest you.

- Well then,

let me buy you a drink!

We just won 3,000 dollars betting on the horses

and we're celebrating.

BUD DIXON: John, look out!

[GUNSHOT]

[GUNSHOT]

John, we gotta go.

C'mon man we gotta go. C'mon.

TOWNSPERSON: Hardin just killed a Sheriff!

Someone get a rope!

ARMSTRONG: Webb was Sheriff of a nearby county.

He'd come over to collect the $4,000 bounty on Hardin's head.

He figured killing Hardin would be as easy as pie.

He was wrong.

BAT: $4,000 bounty.

Billy the Kid only had a $500 bounty on his head.

- That shows you the measure of Texas resolve:

For anyone willing to risk their life,

the chance at an early retirement.

- An early retirement in more ways than one.

- Money makes men do stupid things.

- Yeah it was not very smart.

ARMSTRONG: After that,

he disappeared.

The trail ran cold. But

wasn't too long before

I was called in.

[KNOCKING]

STEELE: Come in!

Sir.

You sent for me?

I did Armstrong.

Come in.

I'm putting you in charge of the search for John Wesley Hardin.

Honored, sir.

I won't let you down.

STEELE: Well good,

good. You'll be partnering with

the best in the state.

Detective Jack Duncan from the Dallas P.D.

- Sir...

Duncan's a good man.

I've worked with him before but...

I work better alone. - It's not a suggestion, Armstrong;

it's an order.

Direct from the Governor.

[KNOCKING]

Jack! Come in.

DUNCAN: General. STEELE: Thanks for joining us.

I believe you know John Barclay Armstrong.

DUNCAN: Very well. John.

ARMSTRONG: Jack.

DUNCAN: Still carrying that Ranger issued "Cannon", I see.

ARMSTRONG: You know I'm not a big talker.

STEELE: Gentlemen.

For three years our undercover detectives

have scoured the whole of Texas

looking for our man, and have learned nothing.

Hardin's vanished,

like a ghost.

- Sir. Give me ten minutes with any one

of Hardin's clan, and I'll beat the information out of them.

DUNCAN: Uh sir, with all due respect,

if Hardin's family was going to talk,

they would have done it already.

Now I say we start with the family of Hardin's wife, Jane.

We watch them closely enough, they will give her whereabouts.

Simply put, if we find Jane; we will find John Wesley Hardin.

ARMSTRONG: No offense, Jack, but

we don't have time for that.

Sir, it's just a matter of time before Hardin murders again.

We need to bust some heads and get some answers.

STEELE: Armstrong,

"frontier tactics" aren't gonna catch

a calculating killer.

This is a modern age, and it requires a modern approach.

Follow up on that lead.

And I probably don't need to remind you,

but as officers of the law, you are eligible to receive

that four thousand dollar reward for his capture.

Now Godspeed with your hunt, gentlemen,

all of Texas is counting on you.

ARMSTRONG: I still think it's a waste of time focusing on Hardin's wife.

- Well,

considering her father wants to sell his store,

could be our first opportunity to get close to a relative.

Now,

do I look like a man who can afford a General Store?

ARMSTRONG: You look like you drink milk.

DUNCAN: You know what?

As long as it looks like I got deep pockets,

I can stall long enough to get some clues

into Hardin's location, all right?

Now if I find something or if I get into any trouble,

I'll give you the signal to come, uh,

"arrest me."

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

DUNCAN: Oh, excuse me.

- Howdy.

Can I help you stranger?

DUNCAN: Name's Williams. From over in Bandera County.

Heard someone in Gonzalez might be-

might be looking to sell a General store.

- Sure as shootin' is! Name's Bowen.

Why don't you have a look around, see what you think.

- Thank you kindly. OLD MAN BOWEN: I'll look for the ledgers

so you can take stock.

Must be around here somewhere.

I thought it was over here.

I think I must have left it somewhere else. I'll be right back.

Make yourself comfortable. DUNCAN: Thank you sir.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Mr. Bowen.

♪ ♪

"All my love, Jane."

♪ ♪

I got you, you son of a gun. I got you.

♪ ♪

Armstrong!

Armstrong! Armstrong!!

OLD MAN BOWEN: I found them, they were-

What are you doing?

- What're you doin?

DUNCAN: Get out of here! Dang bird.

Mister, a uh,

big old bird flew in here and I was trying to shush him out.

- That window was closed before.

DUNCAN: Sir, I've taken too much of your time.

I'm just gonna be on my way.

♪ ♪

ARMSTRONG: Are you

Harold R. Williams of Bandera County?

- I'm Williams.

Who are you? - Sheriff Hays

of Bear County.

I have a warrant here for your arrest.

♪ ♪

Horse-thieving!

- That's a dang lie!

- Get your hands up, you're coming with me.

♪ ♪

Sorry for the trouble.

- I think you took that a little too far.

Stop, hey, don't- - Keep moving.

- The letter said Hardin's hiding in Alabama.

DUNCAN: Uh huh. That's what the postmark said.

Apparently he and Jane are hiding under the alias,

Mr. & Mrs. J.H. Swain.

ARMSTRONG: Well, there's one way to be sure.

I think I need to pay a visit to Old Man Bowen

and "squeeze" a little more information out of him.

DUNCAN: No, no. If you go back there,

Hardin will get word we're on to him

and he'll make a run for it.

We need more than brute force on this.

Gotta outsmart him.

John,

I know you got your own way of doing things,

trust me.

ARMSTRONG: OK,

alright.

We'll do it your way,

but you better be right about this.

- It's a good thing for both of us,

I'm never wrong.

ARMSTRONG: General Steele got us warrants

when we headed east to Pollard, Alabama.

Pollard's this small town just

50 miles north of Pensacola, Florida.

BAT: So you followed Duncan's lead,

despite having your own reservations?

- Oh you know how it was back then, Bat.

I was used to bending the law when it was needed.

But it was the first solid lead in three years.

I also figured if Duncan's plan was wrong,

I had to be there to rub it in.

[LAUGHTER]

[TRAIN WHISTLE]

[TRAIN CHUGGING]

♪ ♪

ARMSTRONG: Something on your mind?

- No.

ARMSTRONG: Look,

if we're gonna do this your way,

you better tell me if you're having any second thoughts.

DUNCAN: I ain't having second thoughts.

It's just uh-

what are you gonna do with your share of the reward?

ARMSTRONG: It's not about the money.

Now,

are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?

Or are you trying to shake this train off its tracks?

DUNCAN: I dunno...

I, uh,

I came from nothing...

I've always had nothin'.

I'm just trying to build a life I can be proud of.

My

American dream,

I guess.

Takes money to do it, though.

So if it ain't about the money for you, Armstrong,

what is it?

ARMSTRONG: Nothing as noble as all that.

DUNCAN: Lieutenant, I told you what was on my mind.

Why are you doing all this?

ARMSTRONG: My granddaddy was a U.S. Congressman.

Old school.

Real nail driver.

He always said

I'd never amount to much.

I guess

I'm just trying to prove him wrong.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

ARMSTRONG (VO): We started asking around about Swain.

Most people didn't know anything about him.

Then, after a few days of spinning our wheels,

we found out

the manager of the local railroad line

regularly played poker with a fella named Swain.

DUNCAN: So you said you-

you know Swain?

SHIPLEY: Yeah, I know him.

Played poker a few times.

DUNCAN: When was the last time you played?

SHIPLEY: Heck, I don't know.

Last week?

What's all this about?

DUNCAN: Would you say you and he are

on good terms?

SHIPLEY: I knew it.

That yellow-bellied sap-sucker!

Is this about that fight?

I didn't start it, I just finished it.

Swain was three sheets to the wind,

and when he started to lose, he just

blew up. Said he was some

famous killer, and that he was gonna

come back and kill all of us for cheating him at cards.

DUNCAN: Did he, uh,

happen to say who he was?

SHIPLEY: John Wesley Hardin,

can you believe that?

In Pollard, Alabama!

[LAUGHTER]

DUNCAN: Did, uh,

did he mention where he lived?

SHIPLEY: Yes. But he's not there. Uh,

he said something the night of the fight that

he'd be in Pensacola for the week-

a gambling spree.

DUNCAN: If he is in Pensacola, this could work to our favor.

If we try to capture him here, we'll be outnumbered by his whole family.

ARMSTRONG: But if we capture him down there,

he'd be out of his element.

Isolated.

DUNCAN: Mr. Shipley,

could you find out if Swain purchased a return ticket to Pollard?

SHIPLEY: Sure. I can wire the Pensacola station.

Wait,

is Swain John Wesley Hardin?

ARMSTRONG: We believe so.

Will you help us?

- How big is that reward?

BAT: So, Shipley tried to bilk you for half the reward money?

$2,000 for some information?

ARMSTRONG: I talked him out of the notion.

- Back to the Armstrong method?

ARMSTRONG: Ya know,

I wouldn't have admitted it,

but Duncan's way of doing things

was rubbing off on me.

I talked Shipley into

$300 and my new silver watch.

- They say you catch more flies with honey, than you do with vinegar.

ARMSTRONG: Shipley ended up wiring the Pensacola station

and found out that Hardin purchased return tickets

for the following afternoon.

He also got us a special overnight train to Pensacola,

connected us with local law enforcement,

and even found out which boarding house Hardin was staying at.

- Sounds like he earned his $300.

[TRAIN WHISTLE]

♪ ♪

ARMSTRONG: Sheriff.

Gentlemen,

thank you for agreeing to assist us.

HUTCHINSON: We wouldn't miss a chance to apprehend a killer

like John Wesley Hardin.

I've played cards with that scoundrel many times,

and I was shocked when Shipley told me his true identity.

Now I know you Texas boys got a plan,

but I say we take Hardin head-on in the open street.

ARMSTRONG: Now I understand that notion,

believe me. But it's too dangerous.

DUNCAN: Our only chance to catch him off guard

and capture him alive,

is to take him in a location we control.

♪ ♪

We located Hardin at a hotel a couple of blocks away.

I've got a man watching him who's gonna notify us

when he's on his way here.

ARMSTRONG: Sheriff Hutchinson, I need your men to cover

the train from the station windows.

If he's able to get off the train,

Hardin does not leave here alive.

DUNCAN: Now, Sheriff...

"Swain" knows you as a friend,

so you'll be able to board without arousing much suspicion.

Once you're in position behind him to cut off his escape route,

that is when Armstrong and myself will board

and we make the arrest.

ARMSTRONG: Once we've got him, I'll give the signal

to the conductor to start moving.

With any luck, we should be half-way back to Texas.

DEPUTY: They're comin'. DUNCAN: You heard the man, they're comin'.

Let's go. Let's go. HUTCHINSON: Boys let's go. Let's go.

ARMSTRONG: You ready?

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

HUTCHINSON: Well howdy, Swain!

I didn't know you boys were in town.

Shoulda stopped by for a game!

HARDIN: Sorry Sheriff, we're just here for the one night.

♪ ♪

- There he is.

End booth.

Left side.

Aisle seat.

- We need to let these people clear

before we try to take him.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

- Texas Ranger!

[SCUFFLING]

- Clear the train! Clear the train!

[GUNSHOT]

HARDIN: You carpet-baggin filth! You'll never take me alive!

DUNCAN: Stay down!

[FIGHTING]

HARDIN: I'd rather die than get arrested!

♪ ♪

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

[BREATHING HEAVILY]

ARMSTRONG: Your plan worked, Jack.

DUNCAN: Our plan worked.

♪ ♪

BAT (VO): John Wesley Hardin served 17 years in prison

for the killing of Sheriff Charlie Webb.

Less than a year after his release,

he was ambushed and killed

while gambling in El Paso.

The epitaph oh John Riley "Jack" Duncan's

tombstone says it all:

"Dallas Detective and Texas Ranger.

Got Wes Hardin, August 1877."

That was a heck of a good story, JB.

ARMSTRONG: Makes me think of the

young ranger I used to be.

Impulsive.

Headstrong.

I needed someone to

teach me to take my time.

To think.

Jack made me a better lawman.

And, if I'm being generous...

he made me a better man.

- Good friends tend to do that.

ARMSTRONG: I would have never even gotten close

to catching Hardin

if it hadn't been for Jack Duncan.

- Sometimes you gotta let the fire die down

in order to see the stars.

And boy oh boy, look at them Texas stars.