Original subtitles

[ theme music playing ]

Mr. Keogh?

Your son Dick.

He tried to shoot me in Lander.

I shot him.

He didn't give me any choice.

You say you killed him.

You can help me bury him.

Out yonder.

THE VIRGINIAN'S VOICE: You're not gonna go very far with that hole in you.

DICK'S VOICE: Hurry up!

I don't take kindly to someone stealing my horse.

God...

They say you made the world round.

You can't prove it by me.

From where I stand,

it's as wrinkled as a bed blanket.

But I believe the world is round.

It's just that I can't see that far to get the shape of it.

And it's got to be that way about this.

You take three children

and you send back one, dead.

There's got to be some shape that I just ain't yet caught.

Forgive his soul.

And forgive mine.

Amen.

Amen.

Be dark soon.

Stay for supper?

I wouldn't know just how to feel about that.

I understand your feeling.

It's all right.

Well, you guessed right-- about Dick.

I mean he's sure enough killed.

Some kind of trouble in town.

Ranch foreman killed him.

What ranch?

The man was just passing through.

But he didn't just shoot him.

Carried off his body.

Which way?

Along the Kelso road.

It don't make no difference. I mean, he's dead.

Dick never had no quarrel with Pa.

He didn't have to follow after me. But he did.

I was his big brother, you see.

Sure, I see.

But I don't see any sensible reason--

Well, you go any sensible way you want.

I'm gonna find the man that killed my little brother.

I used to run cattle down there along the river.

Past few years I tried raising a few cows

up here around the house.

They took sick.

Something in the soil.

It's nice-looking land, all right.

If it was worked.

I had a foolish idea that one day

the youngster would break away from Dobie and come back

and make it his.

Well...

that's all over.

There's no need for you to put me up. I can sleep in the wagon.

Maybe all my life I never did share enough.

My woman, my children...

I don't know.

Now I got nobody to share with.

I'd appreciate you accept a room.

You know, Mr. Keogh...

in a way you could say you shared this whole country--

with the settlers that came after you.

Men like you opened it up for 'em.

Never looked at it that way.

I just always wanted to be alone.

Be careful what you wish for young, they say.

You may get it--old.

Aah!

Mr. Keogh!

Mr. Keogh?

I'm glad he's feeling better.

He wanted to get up. I told him to stay down, I'd do his chores.

He paying you? Not many people

go that far out of their way for old Asa.Well, I've got a reason.

Going out there with me?I'll follow along later.

I thought I'd stay in town and buy supplies.

By the way, is there an assay office in town?

There's a chemist's store. He does some mineral work.

Thanks. I'll see you at the farm.

Oh, yes, sir.

I'm told you do some mineral analysis.

Some, some, yes. What have you got?

Where'd you get this?Something I found lying beside the road

a couple miles west of Lander--looked like telluride to me.

Well, most likely not that.

Sure you want me to test her? 50 cent fee.

Well, you may have to wait a little while. I have a lot of other work.

That's all right. I'll be around for a day or two.

I'll do the best I can for you. Good day, sir.

Thank you.

How is he?

I may as well tell you.

There's no one else to tell.

He's a dying man.

I mean, he'll get up

in a day or so and putter along,

and then all of a sudden, quick,

he'll collapse again and lie helpless.

He needs someone here.Couldn't you arrange for someone from town,

some woman to come out and stay here?

He doesn't like people in town.

And they never took too much to him.

He seems to like you.

I've got the ranch to get back to.

I'm just saying facts. He hasn't got much longer.

He just now asked me what the devil it was all for.

Do you have an answer for that?

Well, you decide what you think best.

Well...

Doctor tells me you'll be up and around again in a day or two.

I know what the doctor likely told you.

I don't mind that.

I'm tired.

What bothers me is I gotta lie here and think about it.

I didn't set out to lead a useless life.

But that's what it's come to.Ohh.

Don't say polite things.

That's what it's come to.

A man does his best, Mr. Keogh.

Beyond that, it's how things turn out--chance.

One son who's an outlaw.

Second one dead.

That leaves just the girl.

Hmm?

My firstborn.

My daughter.

Talk about chance.

She's the only chance I can think of.

She was stolen when she was ten.

I spent eight years hunting for her.

And when I found her,

she had turned Indian.

Turned squaw.

I gave her a choice to come back with me.

She stayed with them.

Well, that was her choice.

But that's a long time ago now, too.

It occurred to me...

if she had a chance to make that choice again...

if she knew she could have this place,

and I'd be dead and no bother to her...

It occurred to me...

Well, I know where she is.

Up in Wind River country.

It's not far.

You're the only one I've got to ask.

I'll get some food here handy for you. I'll leave this afternoon.

All right, there.

There what, doc? I'm a lawyer, not a prospector.

Silver.

Not very blasted much of it.

I refined it out of not very blasted much ore.

Like the crook of your finger.

That much out of this ore.

Where'd you get it?

Saddle tramp brought it in.

Said he found it around Lander. Blazes he did.

Picked it up off of old Keogh's place.

He's the one been staying out there,

the one that killed Dick Keogh.

I understand old man Keogh's dying.

Yeah, he sure is.

On a hundred acres of land and nobody to leave it to.

That's why he's sticking around, that saddle tramp--

suspicious of what could be there.

Maybe, Dow, you can, uh,

suspicion him off of it.

I'm sure gonna try.

I come to speak with a white woman who lives with you.

I have a message from her father.

I am alone.

Nice country you've got here.

Do you winter here?

What do you want?

You're...

Sarah Keogh?

You call me that.

I have a message for you--

from your father.

From Asa Keogh.

I was told.

Your father is dying.

He owns land. You know the land.

He has no one but you he wants to leave it to.

If you want it.

He realizes you may not care.

He told me about the time before,

when he wanted you to come back.

When he ask...

I was married.

Did he want I leave my man?

Did I want to go

to a white man's town

and be shoved around for a squaw?

I am Shoshone.

Are you still married?

My man is dead.

Your father doesn't have much time.

You could bring him a few days of comfort.

That's all.

Think of it as a favor to a stranger, if you like.

There's nothing to keep you from that.

This...my son.

What does he want,

that old man, from me?

To hold his hand

like a white woman

and cry tears?

"Here I am.

Your child. I come back."

No, I don't think he'd want that.

But you're his blood.

He'd be very pleased to see you.

And what about to see him?

His blood, too?

Half his blood.

I can't answer for that.

And what about to take him there?

"Half-breed," they will call him.

"Half-breed."

"Squaw woman."

How kind your white towns.

How...

generous with names.

You have a claim on that land if you want it.

One of your brothers is an outlaw.

The other one is dead.

And your son has a claim on that life, if he wants it.

And he has a right to see it,

to see if he wants it.

An old man wants to give you his land.

The old man.

He is no one to me.

All right.

This is the last thing I have to say.

There may be minerals there.

Precious metals.

Do you understand?

It's just possible that land might make you rich.

You and your son.

I've got an errand at the chemist--

the thing I spoke about.

Wait here.

As soon as I get back, we'll ride on out.

[ people murmuring ]

[ speaks Shoshone ]

Sarah?

Sarah Keogh.

It is you, ain't it?

Sure it is.

I'm Rena. Don't you remember me?

We were kids together, played together.

Rena Cameron. You remember.

[ sighs ] Well, I...

Was a long time ago, I guess.

I just wanted to be friendly, Sarah.

She don't even know how to talk it no more.

Excuse me.

Pardon me.

Let's go.

What's the matter?

They...

looked at me.

Well, I, uh, got a little bit looked at

back there where I found you.

There's something I better tell you now, I guess.

I left a sample of rock from your father's farm

to be analyzed.

That means looked at closely.

The man told me it was nothing, of no value

So if you want,

you can turn back here.

I'll just...

tell your father I couldn't locate you.

No. We go on.

Dow?

Dow.

Well, Page, I told him just like we planned, and he went for it.

He'll just-- just mosey along.

I reckon you didn't see who he was moseying with.

A white woman and a half-Indian boy.

Keogh's daughter.

I never even reckoned that.

Wait, she can't-- she can't inherit land. She's Indian.

She's white, and his daughter.

But she chose Indian.

Now you can have the law on her, Page, you know, you can have the law on her.

Maybe, but the court would wanna know why.

They would wanna know what interest we've got in that land.

No, Dow, it's gotta be handled more careful.

It's gotta be handled some way.

There's treasure out there, and I ain't gonna be put off it.

You stay here with me, son.

[ crying ]

Your grandfather's got about a hundred acres here.

The best of it's down there along the river.

The house ought to be down there.

I suppose he built it up here, up high,

to defend himself against...

visitors.

Say, I've been talking along here

and I just realized-- you get any part of it?

Yes.

Your mother teach you?Yes.

Well, that's good soil down there by the river, good soil for crops.

Did you ever farm corn?

Oh, I see.

Your way of thinking, that's woman's work.

Well, we--that is, your grandfather's people--

we've got a different way of looking at it.

You see, if you were forced onto a reservation, you'd have to farm--

on land a lot worse than this.

It's a hard choice, and different people make different--

[ horses galloping ]

They have looked.

Been watching the house, you mean?

Well, they're probably just townspeople passing by, just curious.

Well, it's about suppertime. You wanna come on inside?

My mother's clothes.

I think he would like.

Well, I'm sure he'll appreciate seeing you like that.

Think you and the boy will be staying for a while?

I do not know.

Soon now, in a day or two anyway,

I'll have to be going back to Medicine Bow.

Yes.

Um, I'll just get my bedroll and move outside.

I'll sleep in the wagon or the shed.

Well, there's gonna be some talk anyhow,

my being here.

I mean, you can understand that.

Wait.

It is right?

What? Oh, for your father?

Yes, it's...

It's all right.

I'll be moving along in a few days.

If you're willing, there's a few things around here

I ought to show you about.

My father is dead.

I'd like to offer some words of comfort.

I think maybe later.

This must be a difficult time for her.

She don't show much feelings.

She has 'em.

Is she going back to the others, her tribe?

I don't think she's decided.

I am thinking maybe I stay on this land for a while.

Maybe.

That's good.

My son will go to school.

Yes, that's the law if you stay.

Have you told him?

Yes.

I don't suppose he, uh, admires the idea,

but he can learn some useful things.

Do you have a woman?

What?

Well, no, not specifically.

Am I ugly?

No.

I have seen white people kiss.

It is strange.

They nibble at each other.

Look, Sarah, you're not ugly, believe me.

But I've got a place to go.

A job, and I-- I can't let myself--

You own half of this.

I beg your pardon?

This.

Half is yours.

My father left this writing.

I read it.

I can read.

He give half to you

and half to me.

Together.

[ knock on door ]

[ knocking continues ]

Miss Keogh, I'm Arnold Page.

I did your father's legal work.

Uh, the law.

Uh, the courts.

Yes.

Now there's something you might be glad to hear.

I know a buyer for this land.

A man will give you money.

To you, for this land.

Well, your father was intending to sell anyway.

You won't want to stay here, I'm sure.

You'll be going back with the other--

You'll be going back with the Shoshone.

I do not know.

Well, when do you think you might know?

Two days.

Three days.

Maybe.

Well, then suppose I, uh, check back with you.

Oh, meantime, Miss Keogh,

anything I can do?

Did your father leave behind a, uh, a paper

with many marks?

Yeah, well, I just don't know how to put this.

A will?

Yes.

Yes.

Well, I'll just take that back with me to be filed in probate.

For the courts to examine. Do you understand?

A matter of--of law.

Thank you.

Remember, I was your father's friend.

I hope to be yours.

Thank you.

[ kid yelling ]

I spoke to the teacher yesterday. She's expecting you.

Look, I don't know what's in store for you in there.

It's probably not all pleasant.

But knowing your mother, I'd say you'll manage all right.

I don't like this any better than you do.

The whole jam-up-- being caught here and everything...

We'll just have to go along with it and see what happens.

Whoa, whoa.

Morning.Morning.

"Shiloh Ranch, Medicine Bow.

Altered circumstances, obliged to remain."

You staying out there?

That's right.

With the squaw?

No offense. I mean, that's just what people call her, you know?

No, I didn't know.

I guess once they get the Indian habit, they don't change.

Ain't that right?

Must be him.

Wagon says "Lander Freight."

Fetch the horses.

Oh, Dobie. Dobie Keogh.

Dobie, remember me-- Jim Dow?

I was friends to your family.

Uh, yes, Jimmy, I remember you.

Well, it's nice to see you again, Dobie, back here.

Uh, sorry to hear about your pa dying,

but, uh, well, those things, uh...

Oh, say, I'd like to have you meet somebody.

Listen, Jimmy, I'd sure like to stand around and talk over old times,

but if you'll excuse me, I gotta go kill a man.

Yeah, well, I know. I know that, Dobie.

But, uh, see, we wanna tell you why not.

So if you wanna step inside a minute.

[ door opens and closes ]

Sarah.

You know me, I reckon.

Dobie?

Well, the old man's dead.

Been a long time, ain't it?

This sure ain't changed much.

He kept it just like this.

Like stepping back in.

You are outlaw now, Dobie.

Well, he made me that.

You was lucky, Sarah.

He never give you the flat of his hand that much.

It ain't too hard.

People keep off from me.

Takes me back, Sarah.

The same for you?

It takes you back?

Yes.

Give me my share?

I mean, it's right, ain't it?

I put in some years work here, child to man,

after they stole you away.

Before he throwed me off.

I mean, it's right to say--I got more time in here than you.

It's only fair that I get something of it.

That's right, that's fair.

You and me, Sarah, we're his kin.

And it's right we have it together.

But listen, not him.

You know who I mean.

Yes.

A tramp, a cow buster.

Found a poor, sick old man dying

and fooled and swindled him.No.

No?! Well, I reckon yes!

He found a good thing laying loose.

He treats me good.

Well, was I him, so would I.

Ain't no sweat on him.

He got a hundred acres and a woman.

I reckon he's just happy.

But how can you suffer it?

I own half.

Do you want half of mine?

No. No, I want him shook clear loose.

Now you and me, we can get that done in court.

All you gotta do is testify--No.

My...

Our father said how he wanted.

He wrote it.

I asked how you can suffer it.

Our pa, our land, our own brother.

Sarah, they didn't tell you?

Dick? They didn't tell you?

Yes, he is dead.

Dead, yes.

No one told you how? He killed him, Sarah.

He shot him dead in Lander.

He killed him and drug his body back here and took his place.

There's two graves out there, Sarah, fresh dug.

A little boy we used to swing between us...

lays there covered with dirt,

crying out to our hearts.

Killed!

I...

will ask him.

Ask him, Sarah?

Take a gun and shoot him!

Oh, come with me now. Right now, in town.

We'll break that old man's will, Sarah. I got a lawyer.

Right now, Sarah. We'll have him in court tomorrow,

and the day after tomorrow we--No.

First...

I will ask him...

why.

You ain't no dumb Indian.

Why act like one?!

[ wagon approaching ]

All right, then, you ask him.

Then you come in town, Sarah.

You come to the chemist's.

You know that?

You're my sister, Sarah,

and he was our brother.

And his murderer is coming out there.

And God's mercy I don't kill him walking in.

[ door slams ]

He got in a fight at school. He used his knife.

I did not kill them.

One kid all scratched up, the others scared half to death.

Between then and now I've had quite a session with the school board.

Maybe it's not as bad as I made it sound.

I calmed the parents down. He can go back to school.

It's too bad, though.

I think folks around here are prepared to be friendly,

given time, but a thing like this--You killed my brother.

Yes, I did.

Who told you?

Why not you tell me?

Cowardice.

I didn't want to tell you up there where I first saw you.

And after that, just...

cowardice.

Tell me why.

We were strangers to each other.

He came into a stable and tried to steal my horse.

He shot at me, I shot back.

Your father accepted that.

He was an old man.

Yes.

Not a soft-headed old man.

And so for gratefulness,

for killing his son,

he give you half his land.

Did I act pleased?

Then we sell it.

I have a man to offer to buy.

Who told you I killed your brother?

Was it Dobie? Has he followed me here?

We sell the land

and you go away from me

and me from you.

Was he here just now when I was coming back?

Your brother, I'm talking about.

Why didn't he wait for me?

Did he tell you to sell the land?

He told me to go to him,

to town.

And we go to law.

Court.

Against you.

And after, he will kill you.

Does he have any men with him, do you know?

Sell the land if you never wanted

and go and stay alive,

and my son and I will go back.

Before, I was going to give you my half

when you and the boy were settled.

Now I'm not prepared to sell.

I go to town

and make you nothing.

And my brother make you dead.

I'm sure he'll try. He's good at that.

Then sell, or you are nothing and dead.

If he held off from a fair chance to murder me,

he had something else to gain,

something more--the land.

You--you want as much as him

if you stay.

Then I guess you've got a choice to make.

[ bangs gavel ]

"Hearing in probate

"in re Asa Keogh, deceased.

Claim is introduced by--"

Get that window open wider, will you? Get it up there.

"By Dobie Keogh, represented by attorney Arnold Page,

and in contest with Sarah Keogh and--"

Say, you two have a counsel?

No, Your Honor.

You want a recess of hearing to get one?

Well, Your Honor, the thing seems--

All right, all right, you don't, that's all.

Uh, all right, Page, proceed.

Thank you, Your Honor.

Now, Asa Keogh died in his 74th year,

leaving only two legal heirs--

Dobie Keogh and this woman here.

Now not only was Asa Keogh old, he was reclusive.

He was infirm of body,

infirm of mind.

In the last dim days of his life,

he was seized upon, exploited, betrayed

by another, a younger man--

this stranger.

Adopted by murder, we might say,

in the course of days

observed that a house and farmland

might be his almost for the taking.

Page, it's a hot day. Get on with it.

And furthermore, Your Honor,

Sarah Keogh, to all intents and purposes,

is a Indian, a ward of the state.

She has resided among the Indians since childhood--

first by capture, then by her own choice.

She has a half-breed son.

She has never exercised any of the rights

and responsibilities of white citizenship.

She has established no domicile.

She has never paid taxes. She has never voted.

[ crying sounds ]She has never in this--

Wait, wait.

Is she all right? What is it?

[ laughing ]She's laughing.

Your Honor, that just shows that she doesn't understand--

I said wait, Page, wait.

Miss, do you understand any of this?

Yes. It is so.

I have never voted.

[ laughing ]

Continue.

Your Honor.

Despite the parentage of this woman,

we have no reason to suppose that she is any better equipped

to own or to administer property than any other Indian.

It's going fine, Dobie.

Yeah, he sure is a smart lawyer.

He's got them all ringed in already.

Judge is a little stubby old man.

[ both sigh ]

Well, I was looking to please you.

I made a mistake of things.

I come here to kill a man and I let it be turned to money.

I wouldn't call that no mistake.

I should've killed him that day on the street.

Or let him come in that house and see me and killed him.

No, no, Dobie. This way we got a chance at thousands of--

Cheap!

I had a most pure hate for that man,

and I let you and that lawyer cheap it up.

You always been sensible, Dobie.

Now look, as soon as this is all over,

he's gonna be out there alone.

You and me can take him any time we want.No.

I'm gonna do it myself.

More than that.

I want him to know about it--

that he killed my brother and I've come for him.

I want him to have the taste of it,

like a brass spoon in his mouth--

that he's gonna see me and die.

And so, Your Honor, the sum and substance of things

leaves me to move that the estate of Asa Keogh, deceased,

be ruled into trusteeship,

that it be disposed of by sale,

and that the proceeds be administered equally

for the benefit of Dobie Keogh and Sarah Keogh,

sole legatees.

Oh, that's all?

That's all, Your Honor.

[ grunting ]

Sticks. Everything sticks in this kind of weather.

All right now, we'll hear from you.

The substance of the thing, the main facts of the thing.

Now, you took the boy's body to his father, Asa Keogh.

He took you in. You got his confidence. Correct?

Sir, the way Page makes it sound--

Never mind how he makes it sound. The substance.

Correct.

All right.

I'm ready to rule on the motions.

Inasmuch as the deceased died intestate,

without devising any instrument of--

Sir, did you say he died intestate?

Intestate. He left no will.

But he did leave a will.

My friend, the whole basis of this proceeding

is that fact that he did not.

He made a will, she found it, she gave it to him.

Page?

Your Honor, there-- there's some confusion here.

There was a will!No, Your Honor--

Judge! Wanna recognize me as a friend of the court?

Oh, all right, doctor, you're recognized. What is it?

Asa talked to me about a will before he died.

I think he could've made one.

Did you see it?

No, but you know Asa just as good as I did.

Perfectly clear in mind, clear as a whistle.

And everything he told me--

But we still have no will or anyone that's witnessed it

or even claims to have seen it but them.

Now I will say.

No, Your Honor!Wait a minute, wait a minute.

She wants to say and I'm gonna let her. Go ahead.

I will say it, Your Honor.

I read very slow.

I have been Indian.

But I read very clear.

My father's will.

"My name is Asa James Keogh.

"I reside in Stoub Township, Wyoming.

"This is my last and only testament.

"I wish to leave my house, my land,

"and everything on my land

"and everything else I own

"to my daughter Sarah

"and to the man known to me

"as The Virginian.

"To them alone.

"I have my reasons.

"They are no one else business.

"I leave these things in their entirety,

"undivided,

"to be shared in partnership.

If, at some later time..."

[ door opens ]

It didn't go. We lost it all.

What happened about that stubby old judge?

I could get disbarred out of this.Now wait.

It ain't finished.It is finished.

No, no, wait, listen.

They got it now, but that don't mean they'll keep it.

If something happened to frighten her off the land,

and then if... well, then I mean...

Well, if you still wanted to kill that man, uh,

we wouldn't have to stop you.You wouldn't?

You remind me a little of a pig squealing around a trough.

Oh, I'm gonna kill the man.

But not to pleasure you.

What about your, uh, sister?

No, she had a chance to be my sister.

She's just Indian now.

Squaw.

Now--now listen, boys. It can still work out.

Now we--we get that land and we can split it with you.

Hey, look at this. I got so big a grab,

I can't get my hand out.

What do we do now, Page?

I'm pulling out before that judge sends the marshal after me.

You do what you want.

I've got another telegram to send.

Wait here, and then we'll go get the boy and go on back out.

Ma'am, I hate to bother you. Maybe you can help me.

I mean, I've got a question in my mind as to which is friendlier--

a white woman or a squaw.

Now you help me settle that, huh?

[ laughing ]

[ laughing continues ]

Send it.

[ people murmuring ]

Get in the wagon. Get in the wagon!

Hate to see a man put down like that.

Friend of mine, too.

Tell you what--try me.

Well, I'll do you with my hands. There!

Come on down. I ain't fought out.

Come on down off that wagon!

Come on, I'm waiting for you!

Are you a scared man?

You're yellow-striped scared?!

Whoa.

Whoa.

He won't fight you, Dobie.

He'll fight.

Get my horse.

[ screaming ]

Somebody set this up in here full of coal oil.

Polluted.

Well, it wasn't very good anyway.

There's water at the river and barrels behind the barn. We'll fetch some.

Go with him.

You ran from a man in town.

He wanted to fight. You went away.

I thought it was advisable.

You bring the water.

He is a coward.

No.

He turns away in fear.

He brought this to your father's house.

No.

It was Dobie.

It is right for him to seek vengeance

on the man who killed his brother, your brother.

He is an evil man.

Your brother.

A stranger.

Son, I'd like to talk to your mother alone.

[ door opens and closes ]

You will leave now?

Things I'd like to say to you first.

Sit down.

I telegraphed a man I know,

a friend of mine named Kelsey.

He'll be here very soon, any day now.

He's a mining engineer. See, uh...

When I first got here, I noticed the taste of the water.

Something wrong with it.

And your father mentioned that, uh,

it sickened the cattle.

That could mean lead,

and that could lead to gold or silver.

The man...

told you...

The chemist.

I didn't believe him then and I don't believe him now.

But Kelsey can judge and tell you for sure.

He's an honest man.

He can tell you.

No.

I have to take care of the other part of it.

Dobie?

Here's, uh, another writing for you.

It's a conveyance of my share in this place.

Please.

I don't like it either.

But it's gotta be done.

Where is he going?

To my brother.

Whoa.

He said you'd fight.

He's waiting for you now in town.

He wants you to sweat about it

all the way in.

I'll ride on ahead, tell him you're coming.

I'll say this-- he's got a nice day for it.

[ dog barking in distance ]

[ dog barking in distance ]

Chee! He's loose somewhere!

[ knock on door ]

I'd like to thank you for what you did in town.

Why are you going?

I told you before, I'm a coward.

Some people are afraid of rattlesnakes,

big dogs, mean horses,

bandits, cold baths.

I'm afraid of all those things and being committed besides.

I think your father knew that.

He just wanted a way to keep me here until I wasn't needed.

When will that be?

Now, if you stay.

We will stay.

And if I'm wrong about the land?

We will stay.

THE VIRGINIAN: I'll be back this way.

[ theme music playing ]