Original subtitles

( light rock action theme playing)

Well, here we are.

The Texas Ranger Museum and Hall of Fame.

It was built in 1974

to commemorate excellence in law enforcement

for the last 150 years.

How many Texas Rangers have there been?

Oh, there's been hundreds, Mike,

but only 26 are honored

in the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame.

Did you know any of them?

Yeah, I know one. Right over here.

C.D. Parker, a good friend.

Who's the most famous?

Well, that's hard to say, Charles.

They were all great men.

How'd they get to be Texas Rangers?

Well, they came from all around: war veterans,

army scouts, bounty hunters.

In fact, some were even outlaws.

Really?

Mm-hm.

Yeah, back in those days,

to be a Texas Ranger, you had to...

Ride like the wind, track like a Comanche,

shoot like a Kentuckian and fight like the devil.

(laughs)

That's right, Mike.

Well, could you tell us a story about one of them?

Okay.

How about Hayes Cooper?

He left a journal before he died.

Let's see what he has to say.

Why don't you all sit down?

Okay.

The west was booming,

the railroad was coming.

Towns like Buckhorn, Texas, stood right in the path.

There were fortunes to be made,

and the future was full of bright promise.

But with the fortune and promise

came the outlaws, the lawmen,

and those who walked and lived in the world between them.

Cooper wasn't always a Texas Ranger.

Long before he got his badge,

he was a bounty hunter.

MIKE: Was he a famous gunfighter?

CHARLES: Was he fast?

WALKER: He was fast,

and people had heard of him,

but he wasn't famous yet.

He didn't know it when he rode into Buckhorn,

but Hayes Cooper was only a short time away

from becoming a Texas Ranger.

Who the hell's that?

Guy in buckskins?

(horse whinnies)

Whiskey.

What's it gonna be, Hawkins, dead or alive?

I knew it had to happen.

This is a real sorry time for me.

My mother died, my horse went lame,

and I had to gut-shoot the last man

that stuck one of these under my nose.

Sorry to hear that.

Don't matter.

Never did like my mother.

Horse was slow,

just like that damn bounty hunter.

Well, now that I've heard your whole life story,

answer my question.

( dramatic theme playing)

I'll answer your question.

(groans)

Why didn't you just kill me?

Well, if I'd have killed you,

I'd have to carry you to the sheriff's office.

Let's go.

(groans)

It was just another bounty to Hayes Cooper,

one of an endless stream.

But he didn't know his life was about to change forever.

( light rock action theme playing)

♪ In the eyes of a Ranger ♪

♪ The unsuspecting stranger ♪

♪ Had better know the truth Of wrong from right ♪

♪ 'Cause the eyes Of the Ranger ♪

♪ Are upon you ♪

♪ Any wrong you do He's gonna see ♪

♪ When you're in Texas Look behind you ♪

♪ 'Cause that's where The Ranger's gonna be ♪

( dramatic theme playing)

Whoa. whoa, whoa.

Howdy, Miss Rose.

Good morning, Miss Rose.

Hey, Jeb.

Did my seed come in?

Sure did, Tom.

Four sacks of Kentucky bluegrass.

The, uh, only thing is

I couldn't pay for that today.

Could you give me another week?

Well, Tom, I already told you you could take a month.

I don't need a month, Sarah.

Just one more week till I get my stock

down from the high mesa.

All right, Tom, a week it is.

Seed's just inside. Need some help?

No, ma'am. I can load it myself.

Uh, son, keep an eye on the team.

Mary, just got some fresh yardage in from St. Louis.

Thank you, Sarah. But I still haven't paid you

for the last yardage you gave me.

I'll be in to visit

after I deliver my sewing

to the millinery shop.

All right.

What's the status of his mortgage?

Oh, he's about three months past due.

You haven't foreclosed?

Every once in a while

I like to make it look like I'm not riding around

in your watch pocket.

Wilson promised to bring the account current

after he sells 100 head of cattle next week.

And what if he can't sell them?

Well, then I'll foreclose,

and you'll buy it from me.

And the Wilsons will leave a trail of tears

just like everybody else who's stood in your way.

This is different. I need his land.

The railroad's coming.

I paid handsomely

for an advance look at the route.

Wilson's land is dead in the path.

It's worth a fortune,

but he doesn't know it.

He's a determined man.

He just might bring those cows down in time to sell.

Not alone.

And nobody's going to work for him

after what my boys did to his last hired hand.

(horse whinnies)

Want me to help, Pa?

Uh, no, son. Thanks.

These are still a little heavy for you yet.

Nick, Pete, Manuel.

Give my regards to, uh, Mr. Wilson.

You got it, boss.

Pa.

Hope that ain't blighted seed

you're fixin' to plant, Wilson.

Could ruin our range, you know.

Kentucky bluegrass. Certified.

Says you.

I'll have to see for myself.

That looks to be okay.

But you never know about the rest.

Well, that appears to be okay too.

Now, those others, they look real...

Okay, that's enough.

I'll tell you when it's enough.

Don't you hurt my pa!

No!

No!

Stand back, Jeb!

Get back!

Got a little sand in him.

(grunts)

Time I knocked it out of him.

I'll tell you what I'm gonna do to you, farmer.

(grunts)

(groans)

You look up at him!

(grunts)

Mister, watch out!

(grunts)

Tom, are you all right?

Yes, Mary. I'm fine.

(groans)

What's going on here?

What's going on, sheriff,

is that you're still letting Sy Bedoe's men

run roughshod over the good citizens of Buckhorn.

Easy, Sarah.

Wilson.

It's nothing, sheriff.

Just another misunderstanding.

But if one of Mr. Bedoe's men

ever touches my son again, I'll kill him.

There'll be no killing, Tom.

Not in this town.

There's no broken bones.

I suggest we just call it square,

go on our way.

Yeah.

All right.

Word of friendly advice.

You did what you came to do.

You got your money.

Now just ride on out.

Around here,

well, it just don't pay to upset Sy Bedoe.

I didn't plan on staying, sheriff.

Fair enough.

Thanks for the warning.

You're welcome.

Bounty hunters don't usually come

with such a charitable side to their souls.

I wouldn't know about that, ma'am.

Mister, you're hurt.

It's nothing, ma'am.

We'd be honored to

put you up for the night.

I could tend to that wound.

It's the least we could do. Please?

Just outside of town.

TOM: Not much of a place, really.

We'd be proud to put you up.

Well, that's kind of a hard offer to turn down.

Thanks.

Want to thank you, stranger.

My name's Tom Wilson.

This here's my wife Mary.

Ma'am.

That there's my son.

Hi. I'm Jeb.

Hi, Jeb.

I'm Hayes Cooper.

Follow us on back to the ranch.

Let's go.

If you'd just ride out and keep on going,

I won't take it personal,

what you did to my men.

I'll tell you what, Bedoe,

take it personal.

( dramatic theme playing)

( dramatic theme playing)

JEB: Doesn't that hurt, Mr. Cooper?

Not really, Jeb.

Your mom's doing a great job.

Nice place you have here.

Tom built it. Mostly all by himself.

Where you folks from?

Ohio.

We came west after the war.

Looks like you saw your share of battle.

Yeah, reckon I did.

Is that what happened to your leg?

Yes.

Happened at Shiloh.

You fight in the war, Mr. Cooper?

Yeah, I did.

What side were you on, Mr. Cooper?

Son.

Questions like that ain't respectful.

My father took out 50 rebs.

MARY: Jeb, that's enough.

Now, I'll sew that shirt up for you, Mr. Cooper.

Thank you, ma'am.

If you don't mind my asking,

what was that all about in town?

Silas Bedoe...

trying to scare me off my land.

We've managed to hold on so far,

but we might not be able to much longer.

We're not going to lose our land, Mary.

I got a hundred head of cattle,

but only 40 of them are in my holding pasture right now.

I'm going up tomorrow morning to get the rest down.

Pretty big job for one man.

Fella who usually helps me...

Someone beat him, nearly to death.

Son.

He let out on us.

I ain't seen him again.

Hard to get help ever since.

I got three days left

to snake them out and sell them.

If I don't...

Well, the bank's gonna take my place.

You're not gonna let that happen,

are you, pa?

No, son. I'm not.

Here you go, Mr. Cooper.

Thank you, ma'am.

(coyotes yelping)

(Tom shouting)

(Tom shouting indistinctly)

(horse whinnies)

(shouting continues)

JEB: Ma?

MARY: Shush, Jeb.

He's just having another one of his war dreams.

JEB: Are they ever gonna end?

MARY: I don't know, son.

Now, go back to bed.

(bleating)

(rooster caws)

Mind if I give you a hand?

(gun cocks)

But you don't owe me, Mr. Cooper.

For nothing.

I know.

TOM: But I'd be much obliged.

( dramatic theme playing)

TOM: Get up! Come on!

(mooing)

(mooing)

(whistles)

Step up, now.

That's it.

That's it.

TOM: Son, get the gate, will you?

There you go.

Got them all, Mary, every last one.

That's wonderful.

Look at you two.

You're going to have to take those clothes off, Mr. Cooper.

Ma'am?

You're filthy.

I'll clean them up for you.

You can wear some of Tom's.

I think you're about the same size.

Thank you, ma'am.

When I make that mortgage payment,

I wanna see the look on the face

of Mr. Sly Bedoe.

He'll probably choke.

Jeb, that's enough.

I can't tell you how grateful we are.

It's been my pleasure.

What are you plans now, Mr. Cooper?

Well, if your husband doesn't mind,

I'll hang around long enough

to help him get his cattle to market.

That's mighty neighborly, Mr. Cooper.

I couldn't afford to pay you.

That's quite all right, Mr. Wilson.

Your wife's cooking's good enough for me.

(laughs)

Please, call me Tom.

Folks call me Cooper.

Will you teach me how to shoot?

Well, Jeb, there's more important things to learn

than how to shoot.

Like what?

Reading and writing and arithmetic.

I can do all that.

Ma taught me. Go ahead.

Ask me how to spell a word.

Okay. How about dog?

D-O-G.

Now give me a hard word.

All right.

Horse.

H-O-R-S-E.

Don't you know any hard words, Mr. Cooper?

Well, I know some hard words, Jeb,

but I don't know how to spell them.

(giggles)

( ominous theme playing)

Hey, Jeb.

Hi, Miss Rose.

This is Hayes Cooper.

He's helping pa out on the farm.

We've sort of met.

Hi. I'm Sarah Rose, Mr. Cooper.

My pleasure, ma'am.

Her husband is dead.

I'm gonna go find Aaron and Billy.

Um, sorry about your husband.

Oh, it's been five years.

He died of pneumonia.

You don't look much like a hired man.

(laughs)

Well, I guess looks can be deceiving, huh?

Yeah.

How's your knife wound?

Oh, uh, Mrs. Wilson sewed me up.

Oh, well, then you're a lucky man.

Mary's one of the best seamstresses in the valley.

BEDOE: Bounty hunter.

I couldn't help but notice

you drove Wilson's wagon into town.

That's right.

I work for him now.

I didn't know he had enough money to hire anyone.

Let's just say he can afford me.

Well, I also know you helped him

bring his herd down from the high mesa.

You brought them down?

Yes, ma'am, we did.

And when is Wilson planning

to bring his herd to market?

Well, if it's any of your business,

tomorrow.

You know, you're new around here.

You don't know the situation.

What situation's that?

That Wilson is going under.

Now, he may sell his cattle,

which will bring his mortgage current,

but then there's next month,

the month after that.

It's inevitable.

He's going to lose that farm.

Tell me something, Bedoe.

Why do you want the Wilson spread?

The way I hear it

you own just about everything around here.

Because I want it.

Well, don't hold your breath.

Ma'am, uh, I need, uh,

three spools of number four wire,

a sack of flour,

and five gallons of kerosene.

I want to thank you for helping out the Wilsons.

They're good folks.

Yes, ma'am, they sure are.

(cattle mooing)

(gunshots)

It's coming from the holding pasture.

Son, stay with your mother.

(gunshots continue)

(horses whinny)

Oh, no.

Oh, my God!

(horse whinnies)

(cow groans)

(gun cocks)

(gunshot)

Dead, Cooper.

All my cattle are dead.

They're all dead.

He shot them all.

It's over now.

It's all over.

( dramatic theme playing)

( dramatic theme playing)

How much does Tom Wilson owe on his ranch?

$700 in arrears.

I didn't ask you that.

I asked you how much he owed.

$4,500.

Okay, put out your hand.

I'm sorry, Mary.

I'm sorry I failed you.

Never should have brought you out here.

I just...

I just thought we had a chance.

Don't talk like that.

We did have a chance, a good chance.

Main thing is we still have each other.

(crying)

Mary.

Easy.

Tom.

Silas Bedoe.

Coming to gloat.

No. Don't get yourself killed, Tom.

No patch of dirt is worth that.

You'll get yours, Bedoe.

Well, it won't be from you, Wilson.

You should have sold it to me

when you had the chance.

This is still my property, Bedoe.

And I want you off of it.

BEDOE: That's right.

It is your property...

for a few more hours.

COOPER: Don't be too sure, Bedoe.

Here, Tom.

This is yours.

Mary.

This is the deed to our land.

I think Mr. Wilson said

for you to get off his land.

Now.

Let's go.

Well, folks, let's start unpacking.

Come on, Jeb. Let's get this back in the house.

(laughs)

I'm putting an end to this once and for all.

You hear?

I'll put an end to it once and for all.

I want to send a telegram to Rudd Kilgore.

(bell ringing)

Why don't you come over around 4:00?

I'll make a special pot roast.

I got to give you credit, Mr. Cooper.

You ain't much of a singer, but you sure are loud.

Jeb.

That's all right, Tom.

He's just being honest.

Cooper.

For all you've done for us,

I'd like you to be my partner.

50-50. Half the ranch.

There's a great section of land

off to the west over there by the river.

Perfect place for a home.

Private out there too.

Good growing soil.

Best sweet water spring in these parts out there.

Be a fine place for a man to raise a family.

Come on in, you two.

Dinner's almost ready.

You be thinking on what I said, all right?

I will.

Mmm. Smells good, Mary.

Are we expecting company?

As a matter of fact, we are.

Whoa.

And there she is now.

Mr. Cooper, you remember SarahRose.

Yeah. Yeah, we've met.

For your bountiful gifts

and infinite wisdom, we thank you, lord.

And for sending to us Hayes Cooper

who has proven to be a good friend

in our family's time of need.

Amen.

ALL: Amen.

Son, napkin on your lap.

Oh. Excuse me, ma'am.

Gee, Mr. Cooper, I've never seen you so nervous before.

MARY: Jeb.

JEB: It's 'cause of you, Mrs. Rose.

On the way home from town,

Mr. Cooper talked about you the whole time.

MARY: Jeb, that's enough.

JEB: But, ma, he did.

Um, Tom, would you

pass the potatoes, please?

Of course.

Excuse me.

Here, let me help you.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Sure is beautiful here.

Sure is.

That was a fine thing you did, Mr. Cooper.

Well, when a man puts his heart and soul into something,

it's kind of hard to sit back

and watch him lose it all.

And where do you put

your heart and soul, Mr. Cooper?

I haven't given it much thought.

Tom's offered me half the ranch.

Are you considering it?

Yeah.

I am considering it.

( romantic theme playing)

Sarah, this is the best chicken I've ever eaten.

Thank you.

Oh, would you care for some more?

Well, I was kind of hinting at that.

(laughs)

SARAH: And where do you put

your heart and soul, Mr. Cooper?

So...

looks like we've found ourselves a partner.

You won't find yourself

a finer woman than Sarah Rose.

Yes, ma'am, I know that.

She's not doing too bad for herself either.

Thank you, ma'am.

(snoring)

(horse whinnies)

(men talking indistinctly)

MAN: That's him, ain't it?

That's Kilgore.

Come on, boys, mount up!

Got us a little job over at Buckhorn.

KILGORE: Put it away, let's go!

MAN: Come on, let's go!

Come on!

MAN 2: Hyah!

Let's ride!

Yeehaw! Come on!

Whoo-hoo!

Hyah!

(horses whinny)

( dramatic theme playing)

( soft theme playing)

That's a swell likeness of ma.

Thank you, Jeb.

Have you drawn any of Miss Rose yet?

Not yet.

Are you gonna marry her and stay in Buckhorn?

(chuckles)

(both giggle)

Well, I been thinking about it.

WALKER: Hayes Cooper would later write

that he'd never been happier

than he was that day,

sitting on the Wilsons' porch

with the first real friends

he had known in a long time.

Settling down was very much on his mind.

Whoa. Whoa.

I dreamt about you last night.

I hope it was a good dream.

It was a great dream.

(both laugh)

Sarah.

I, uh... need to ask you something.

What is it?

I don't know exactly how to, um... say it.

Say what?

I've decided to settle down here.

And you'd make me the happiest man in the world if...

you'd settle down with me.

Hayes Cooper,

are you asking me to marry you?

Yes, ma'am.

KILGORE: Hayes Cooper!

You know who I am?

Yeah.

Rudd Kilgore.

Vigilante, scalp hunter,

just an all-around egg-sucking dog.

(laughing)

That's you.

KILGORE: Egg-sucking dog, huh?

Well, you talk pretty big for a man didn't come heeled.

I'm not looking for trouble, Kilgore.

What you want don't figure into it.

Cuadroza, give him your piece.

It pulls slightly to the left, señor.

Cooper.

Stay back, Sarah.

Anytime you're ready.

(all laugh)

What do you know, boys.

A yellow-bellied bounty hunter.

(Kilgore laughs)

Hell, you ain't even worth killin'.

Let's go, boys.

Yes.

What?

Yes, I will marry you, Hayes Cooper.

I figured we'd put the living room right here,

with a porch overlooking the valley

and... our bedroom right over here.

Then maybe put, uh, your garden out there.

What do you think?

I love you, Hayes Cooper.

And I love you too, Sarah Rose.

(laughing)

WALKER: In all his years

of searching, Hayes Cooper had never found

a moment where he could say,

"life doesn't get any better than this."

That day, he found that moment.

MAN 1: Whoo!

MAN 2: Hyah! Hyah!

I'll ask Mary to be my maid of honor.

I'm gonna ask Tom to be my best man.

MAN: Ya-hah!

( dramatic theme playing)

(whooping)

Pa! Pa!

MAN 1: I got him! I got him.

MAN 2: Not yet, boys!

Run, Jeb!

(gun cocks)

Jeb!

(cries)

Jeb!

(screams)

(groans)

(gasps)

Hah!

(whooping)

Come on! Let's get out of here!

KILGORE: Move it out!

(groans)

Hyah!

Go on!

(all shouting)

MAN: We showed them!

( dramatic theme playing)

Mary! No!

Mary!

No, no, no!

(crying)

Oh, God!

WALKER: Cooper would later write

that he died that day.

And God help the men

he took to hell with him.

( ominous theme playing)

( light rock action theme playing)

♪ 'Cause the eyes Of the Ranger are upon you ♪

♪ Any wrong you do He's gonna see ♪

♪ When you're in Texas Look behind you ♪

♪ 'Cause that's where The Ranger's gonna be ♪