Original subtitles

Here it is.

The outlaws believed there were no survivors,

but the bullet had merely grazed

the girl's forehead.

Lincoln County, New Mexico,

was the scene of the greatest cattle war

in American history.

It started with a couple of storekeepers,

Murphy and Dolan,

getting into a fight with Tunstall, a rancher,

and McQueen, a rival storekeeper.

Murder followed murder.

And within a year all of Eastern New Mexico

became involved.

Tunstall the rancher

and McQueen the storekeeper were killed

but the feud continued,

with a boy becoming the leader

of the faction opposing Murphy and Dolan.

William Bonney,

known as Billy the Kid.

By this time, he was said to have killed over 15 men

and was the most feared man

in the territory.

What happened?

Indians.

We were attacked by Indians.

I was shot and...

How far is it to Lincoln?

Lincoln?

That's where I'm going.

My brother lives there.

It's quite a ways.

Sixty miles, maybe a little bit more.

Sixty miles?

Why, I can't walk that far.

It's a far piece.

Stage only runs once a week.

But what will I do?

Will you take me?

No, ma'am, not me.

I'm riding away from Lincoln.

But you can turn back.

I'll pay you. That's is... my brother will.

No, your brother hasn't got enough money to pay me, ma'am.

Oh, but my brother is a very important man in Lincoln.

He just got elected county attorney.

He wrote the... Your brother is John Forrester?

Oh, you know him?

I know him

and I repeat what I just said.

Your brother hasn't got enough money

to make me ride back to Lincoln.

Why? What have you got against my brother?

I've got nothing against him.

My name Bill Bonney.

Billy the Kid.

I'm Nell Forrester.

You've never heard of me?

Should I have?

I don't know. You said, your brother is John Forrester.

Well then, take me to him, please.

No. No, I haven't,

Are you sure you've never heard of me, ma'am?

But what difference does it make?

I'm alone out here

and surrounded by Indians and...

Indians?

It wasn't Indians that held up the stage, ma'am.

It was white men disguised as Indians.

They robbed the Wells Fargo box.

Indians wouldn't take money.

Besides, there are some white men around here

that are worse than Indians.

They knew you were still alive

and you could identify them...

All right. Don't cry ma'am.

I'll take you to your brother.

Here we are, that's your brother's house.

Your brother.

Forrester,

John Forrester.

John?

John, it's me your sister, Nell.

John. Nell?

Good Lord.

Here, let me at look you.

How in the world did you get here?

Billy brought me.

The stage was attacked two days ago, John.

It was horrible,

but then Billy came along.

Billy? Billy Bonney.

Billy?

He's gone.

You say Billy Bonney brought you?

Billy the Kid? That's right.

He said, his nickname was Billy the Kid.

Oh, so he's come back.

Come inside.

JIM: And now, Wells Fargo became involved

in the Lincoln County War.

Stagecoach employees killed

and strongbox robbed.

Wells Fargo had moved the bodies and horses,

but left everything else just as it was.

That meant I was on my way to investigate.

Jim Hardie,

the man from Wells Fargo,

that's me.

JIM: The Lincoln County War had engulfed

a sizable chunk of New Mexico.

Virtually all of the population of Eastern New Mexico

had lined up on one or the other

of the two armed sides.

The repercussions from it became national.

And now riding into it

is one of the most famous names

in American history,

General Lew Wallace.

General Wallace

was the outstanding figure

in the early days of the civil war,

and had won battle after battle

when all other Union commanders were losing them.

And then, at the Battle of Shiloh,

had been relieved of command

by General Grant.

Although better known as a soldier,

General Wallace at this time

was already the author of a successful novel.

In another year, he is to be hailed

as the greatest American author of all time

because of his extraordinary novel, Ben-Hur,

on which he was actually working when he was appointed

territorial governor of New Mexico

by his friend, President Rutherford B. Hayes.

JIM: Howdy. LEW: Howdy do, sir.

I'm General Lew Wallace,

territorial governor.

I'm Jim Hardie,

sent down here by Wells Fargo

to investigate this holdup.

Well, I had intended to come to Lincoln County anyhow,

and this was the last straw.

Conditions here have become intolerable,

and I intend to do something about it.

You know what's been going on in this territory?

I've heard a great deal about it.

A range war I understand.

It may have started as a range war

but it's gone way beyond that.

To all intents and purposes,

a state of anarchy exists here.

Now, I have specific orders

from the President of the United States

to put a stop to it, and I intend to do just that.

You intend to declare martial law?

I don't want to,

but I will if I have to.

The report I received on this

was that it was done by white men.

And I believe you're right.

White men dressed up as Indians,

but they left clear evidence

that it was white men.

Now, why would they do that?

I don't know.

Unless they're trying to throw the blame on somebody else.

Billy the Kid?

Well, he's the only official outlaw

I've heard of in Lincoln County.

The man is a cold-blooded killer.

Man, should have said boy...

He's only 19 or 20.

And killed a man for every year of his life, I understand.

One of the first things I intend to do

is to eliminate Billy the Kid.

Good day, sir. Good day.

Billy

Billy

Billy

Excuse me.

What for?

Well, I'd like to get through.

What for?

Or what?

You like going around beating up people?

He was asking for it.

Mr. Wells Fargo,

you got no authority here.

You seem to have some.

Clint Bullinger is one of my deputies,

he's got a right to go around

asking questions of strangers.

Stranger? I'm no stranger.

Everybody in town knows who I am and what I'm here for.

Well, that was me who sent the report to your company.

What's the matter with you?

You've been here two days and you ain't caught the Kid yet.

The Kid?

Well, that's who you're looking for, ain't it?

I'm looking for the people who held up the stage

and killed two of our employees.

It's the same thing.

The Kid and a couple of his boys.

I don't want any trouble,

I came down here to introduce myself

and I ask a few questions, that's all.

Just put it away Clint. Come on, put it away.

Some Mexican stuck a...

note in his saddle.

He found it just before he started over here.

Well, let's see it.

I don't know what's he's talking about.

Clint. I seen him.

One of the Kid's Mexican friends.

Before I could get a chance to take a look at it,

he came out and started over here.

Mister, you didn't waste much time

getting things lined up.

Friend of the Kid's, eh?

Well, you've got no business in here.

I never saw him in my life.

Oh, let's quit horsing around.

Let us have the note.

It's in his pocket.

Get over there. Now, I'm going out at that door

and any man that follows me within 30 seconds after I leave,

I'll see to it he doesn't walk back in.

Get over here.

All right, Wells Fargo, nobody's gonna do it.

You picked the wrong side.

It's all right corporal.

I was just about to send for you, come up.

I've been making a few inquiries, sir.

I know you have.

Come sit down.

Well, what do you think prosecutor?

Now, I've here too long, Governor,

it's possible that I've become biased without realizing it.

My sister gives me an entirely different picture

of Billy the Kid,

of his character.

And you, Hardie,

have you come to any conclusions?

No, not exactly.

But I did meet Murphy and his crowd,

and your Sheriff Drecker.

Acting sheriff.

I've had a talk with your acting sheriff, prosecutor,

and he's the main reason I think,

I should have a talk with Billy the Kid

before I take any drastic steps.

Perhaps the guilt is not all on one side.

A week ago, I would have protested your remarks General.

You're not so sure now?

Well, I'm willing to re-examine my position.

General,

if I brought Billy the Kid in here,

would you talk with him?

I'd talk to the devil himself

if I thought it would do any good.

Would you promise him safe conduct?

Why do you think people would say

if they heard that a general of the army,

the governor of a territory

was willing to make a deal

with a prescribed outlaw, a killer?

I imagine the newspapers would give you

a pretty bad time of it, sir.

Prosecutor?

I can't answer you, sir.

A week ago, uh...

I know.

Your sister.

Well, Hardie, you've gone this far.

How do I go about

getting a message to this outlaw?

I'll take it to him.

And try to get him to come in.

You know where he is? I think I can find him.

Mr. Hardie, if you have some information, it's my duty...

You're not gonna get it out of me.

Murphy and his crowd tried that a little while ago.

Let's not have any wrangling gentlemen.

Very well, Hardie,

you find this man and bring him in.

I guarantee safe passage.

He's not gonna take your verbal guarantee, General.

Very well. I'll put it in writing.

Looking for someone?

I got your message.

Message?

I sent no message.

Whether you did or you didn't.

I thought you might like to ask a few questions

about Nell Forrester?

Keep talking.

General Lew Wallace, the territorial governor,

would like to talk to you, Billy.

Don't give me that.

I'm gonna reach inside my pocket

and pull out a letter.

It don't mean a thing.

I think it does.

General Wallace was a civil war hero,

a personal friend with the president.

He'd like to clear up this trouble

in Lincoln County.

Has he arrested Murphy or Dolan

or thrown in Drecker or Bullinger

or Evans into jail?

No, he hasn't. Oh, when he does that,

I'll come in by myself

without any promise of amnesty.

You sent for me, Billy. Why?

I ain't saying I didn't.

You're an outsider, maybe I thought

you wouldn't be prejudiced.

Maybe I had another idea.

Like, Nell Forrester?

I don't know any Nell Forrester.

She's pulling for you, Billy.

She's defending you.

So much so that she has her brother

softened up to listen to the general

asking you to come in.

Well, it's too late now by two or three years.

It's been too much fightin' and too much blood.

Try it, Billy.

I believe the governor is an honest man.

Can he bring back Tunstall,

the only man whoever befriended me?

Or McQueen, or some of the ones we killed?

No, he can't. Nobody can.

But you're still alive.

You came back to Lincoln County after you'd left.

Nell Forrester told me that.

How is she?

Fine.

Mr. Bonney.

Billy.

General Wallace.

I read your book The Fair God.

What?

I can read.

I just didn't dig that up to flatter you.

I like the Mexicans, their history.

Oh, yes. I heard that.

I'm writing a new novel,

the story of Christ.

Ben-Hur, I'm calling it.

I didn't bring you here to discuss my literary efforts.

Sit down.

I will not begin with recriminations.

What's done is done.

I want peace in Lincoln County.

You can have it sir by getting rid of...

Let me finish.

No recriminations, no accusations.

Now, here is my proposition,

surrender yourself.

No.

Surrender and stand trial.

Let us say for the murder of Sheriff Peppin.

I guarantee you a fair trial,

an honest trial.

There were extenuating circumstances, Billy.

You didn't so before.

Well, I re-examined the evidence.

Will you let me finish?

I guarantee you a fair trial.

In the unlikely event that you are convicted,

I promise you here and now

a fair and honest trial.

Can I do better than that?

I have to be in jail until the trial?

Of course.

Drecker runs the jail.

He wouldn't dare do anything.

All right. All right.

We'll transfer you

to Las Vegas, Las Cruces.

Murphy's got men in all of those places.

I'd never even get to court.

I have given you my promise, Bonney!

What more do you want, a military guard?

All right. All right.

You may have that too.

Billy?

Miss Nell.

I told them what you did for me.

How you risked your life by coming back here.

It's all right.

Do it, Billy.

Do what the governor asks.

John promised it would be all right.

Wells Fargo?

All we want are the men that held up the stage.

It wasn't me.

Then you've got nothing to fear from us.

I'll think about it Governor.

If you don't accept,

the alternative is your destruction.

I'll let you know.

Oh, Billy.

Good-bye Ms. Nell.

Forty-eight hours, Bonney,

that's what I'll give you,

not one minute more.

I can find my own way.

You made a mistake, Hardie.

The best thing you can do now is go back,

keep on traveling, get out of Lincoln County,

out of New Mexico.

Believe me, I know what I'm talking about.

I can't quit, Billy.

I've got a job to do here

and I've got to stay till I finish it.

I told you that stage business

wasn't any of my doing.

They tried to put it on me, I give you my word.

You don't have to.

I know who it was.

Drecker and a few of his friends

dressed up like Indians.

They made one little mistake though.

They forgot to check their horses' hoofs.

One of the horses' shoes

had a chunk out of it.

Left a very distinct print on the ground.

I found that same hoof print

in front of Murphy's store.

Well,

from here on, I ride alone.

I know what you're thinking,

they're waiting for me.

Fools, they ought to know better

that I never return to the same place.

That's La Rue's over there.

Only I ain't going there.

I'll be all right.

All right, Billy.

Good luck to you.

JIM: Drecker. Wells Fargo.

Don't shoot, Billy.

I'm dying.

You tried to get me often enough.

Hold it, Billy.

It was you that held up the stage, wasn't it?

What difference...

What difference does it make now

Wells Fargo?

Well, Billy?

Doesn't mean a thing.

Murphy will put in another sheriff.

He's done it before.

Satisfied?

About you?

Yup.

You guessed I'd be coming here, didn't you?

I didn't guess, if you wanna know.

I had a score to settle with him too,

and I knew I'd find him here.

Now, get out of this country, Hardie.

Maybe I will.

Now.

Good-bye, Billy.

I'm not the man to judge Billy the Kid...

History has judged him.

Time and history.

That he was a killer, there's no question.

Yet Tunstall, McQueen

and others respected and trusted him.

The Mexicans in the area idolized him.

He had as many friends as detractors,

and after his death,

a woman of unimpeachable reputation

worshipped and mourned his memory.

It could have been a woman

like Nell Forrester.