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Paper files of the early West record many stories of famous and notorious characters of that period.

Among them Johnny Ringo, gunfighter and smuggler.

He was a lone wolf with a cultured past.

His sense of fatalism that made him the most dangerous killer in old Arizona.

This is part of a payroll of 10,000 new silver dollars

that had been stolen from the railroad between Hale-a-Bend and Yuma, Arizona.

In the fight the robbers had dropped some of the money.

My name's Matt Clark. I'm a railroad detective.

It was my business to examine the scene of the holdup.

Hey Matt.

The local authorities had previously been here but I figured they might have overlooked something.

They had.

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A perfumed envelope from a Helen Ringo in Texas to a John B. Ringo in Galeyville, Arizona.

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Keep looking around, see if you can find the letter.

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I had a detective go talk to Helen Ringo in San Jose, Texas.

She was a good looking respectable woman of about 30.

Miss Ringo admitted she had an older brother John.

Said he was a cattle broker doing well in Arizona.

Frankie Adams, another railroad operative was planted in the Excelsior Hotel in Galeyville.

She uncovered information that sent me on my way.

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A train took me to Tucson.

A stagecoach to Tombstone where I bought some work clothes and a pony.

I went on to Galeyville 40 miles east of Tombstone.

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I've got a one track mind sir, you'll have to wait until I've finished.

Real independent aren't you?

We can afford to be.

We're the only hotel in town with a window in every room.

Now what can I...

Matt!

Hi Frankie.

You startled me, I wasn't expecting you for another day or two.

How about a quick run down on our suspect?

Down here he's known as Johnny Ringo.

R-I-N-G-O.

He's a gunfighter with a bad temper.

Has he been here long?

Round about a year.

You mean he's out of that last hold up?

I said he'd been around a year.

In and out.

Out at the time of the robbery.

Does he seem to have any money?

Plenty from the way he spends it on whiskey and cards.

Where is he now?

He's out of the hotel.

He spends most of his time at Clancy's Saloon.

Have you checked his room?

Haven't had a chance to yet.

Do that right away will you?

Alright.

I think I'll take a stroll down the main drag.

Matt.

Yeah?

Don't try to outdraw him.

And stay away from the gambling tables.

Yes mother.

And don't come back into me establishment again.

Until you learn how to behave like a gentleman.

What's going on here?

Eh, this young squirt tried to pick an argument with Ringo.

Which of course, is like committing suicide.

So Ringo's that good, eh?

Eh, he's got a wicked manner of fighting all his own.

Calls it a handkerchief duel.

Now be gone will ya?

Alright gentlemen, enjoy yourselves.

There'll be no gunplay today.

You're quite right Mr. Clancy.

I'm sick and tired of these young high rollers

trying to gneed for a fast reputation.

Keep them out of my way.

You!

Ringo!

Big reputation.

Let's see how fast you are.

Turn around.

I'll give you one last chance to apologize

and get out of town, cowboy.

You've insulted me in front of all these men

and I demand a showdown.

You either turn around and fight, or I say you're a coward.

You've been begging for it long and hard, punk.

I guess I'll have to oblige.

If you're as brave as you think you are,

step up and grab the end of this handkerchief.

That way the one who fires first can't possibly miss.

You agree?

I ask you a question.

Either put up and fight or get out of town.

Which is it?

I'm as game as you are, Ringo.

Your way.

I've seen gunfights before in my time, but this was different.

This was cruel, deliberate, violent.

Ready?

Everybody stop.

I think I could use a drink.

I walked a man I prayed I would never have to fight, his way, my way or any other way.

I was only cleaning your room.

Dirty little snake thief.

Just a minute.

Reading my mail too, huh?

That wouldn't do you any good.

Just for my sister.

I should have torn it up anyway.

Yeah?

Who is it?

It's Bill, Johnny.

Got a letter for you.

Got to talk to you right away.

Come on in.

Who's the girl?

I'll be with you in a minute.

You got a special way of dealing with petty thieves, Frankie.

You wait in here.

I'll talk to you later.

Keep your voices down since you can't hear.

Now what do you want?

Well, we've got that train scheduled for you.

Good.

Well, beg pardon, sir.

Yes, ma'am.

Could you tell me if there's anyone living here by the name of John Ringgold?

Well, there's one way of finding out.

We'll just take a look at the register.

Yeah, there it is.

John Ringgold, room 111.

Ringgold?

I guess that's him.

Be careful.

It's quite all right.

I'm his sister.

I know this country very well.

There's a town right here.

There's the railroad tracks.

There's the road.

Comes along down here.

Crosses the tracks right here at the water tower.

Now you bring the wagon along the west side of the dragoons here

till the place where it crosses the tracks.

It's about 20 miles east of town.

As you said, she stops there about 445 to take on water

before continuing on to Wilcox.

I'll be sure you're on time.

Hello, John.

Oh, aren't you going to invite me in?

That's all, gentlemen.

Talk to you in about 10 minutes.

You don't seem very happy to see me, John.

I'm not.

Why'd you come here?

I was worried.

So was Father.

The police have been to the house asking questions about you.

Did they say what?

Yes.

Something about a train robbery here in Arizona.

I'm afraid they're going to have to take you to the police.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

I'm afraid so.

That's not quite the answer how you should have been.

Yeah, I don't think that's where we came from.

I think more so, and I'm afraid so.

Think more so, then?

You better laugh before he brother-in-law.

Never have I ever cried because your little cornbag

was making a blunt about it.

How do you know I was really being honest with you?

You didn't have to.

You should have hidden it for the hell of it.

Well, I didn't sometimes.

When did you, then?

You better keep this one secret.

It doesn't look like a place that a prosperous cattle buyer would live in doesn't it?

Those two men

Are they prosperous cattle owners, too?

Get out

Go home forget you ever had a brother forget you ever saw me. Oh come back start over again Johnny

You're young yet. You're young enough to start over. Oh, come on home with me Johnny

Get out

All right, Johnny I'll go

But remember this I'll do everything possible to stop you

Miss Ringo, please open it up Johnny get out of your mind you're on business

I

I

Come on, let's go.

Ringo's sister Helen told me Johnny had left four years ago.

That he had kept up a front of respectability in his letters.

I'll do anything in the world for you.

Anything.

I'm sure you will, Miss Ringo.

There's nothing here but a couple of hundred dollars, Matt.

You won't come back for that.

When you came up to the door, you

said Ringo was telling those men something about a train.

That's right.

A train was making a 10 minute stop for water at 445.

What do you make of it, Matt?

I don't know.

One of those statements hanging all by itself in midair.

I don't make anything of it, do you?

Well, I don't know.

Ringo's the kind of a man that wouldn't

be talking about a train unless he was going to catch one.

Or rob one, would he?

Nah, it's a slim lead if I ever heard one.

How many trains stop for water at 445?

Yeah.

And if there was such a train, it'd be kind of interesting

to know what it's carrying, wouldn't it?

I don't know what I'd do without you.

If the home office wants me, I'll be at Wilcox checking train

schedules.

Wait here till you hear from me.

I'm sorry about all this, Miss Ringo.

Bye, Frankie.

Bye.

In the railroad dispatcher's office in Wilcox,

I found out that an eastbound freight made a daily water

stop at 445, this side of the Dragoon Mountains.

That in itself meant nothing.

But when I learned that Wednesday's freight was

bringing a quarter of a million in silver bullion

from the Arizona mines, it was too big

a hunch to be overlooked.

The Wilcox sheriff thought enough of my story

to get up a posse.

They're all here, Matt.

Let's ride A train ride was part of the trap.

We were ready.

Ringo wasn't going to disappear in the sagebrush.

The water stop was but a few minutes off.

It was Wednesday, July the 5th, 1882.

The water stop's only a few minutes down the line.

Hey, Matt, look.

Get out of where you are.

It's a trap.

It's a trap.

Whoa.

We're going to have to swim for it.

Take her out.

Yeah!

We can get to the bottom this way.

Let's go.

Ringo took a desperate dive.

He was going to get us out of here, but he didn't.

Oh!

Ringo took a desperate way out and made it.

It delayed me, but didn't throw me off.

I made my way down to the lake.

Ringo and his men were gone, but the trail was hot.

They had to go win it.

We'll never make it by now. It's too hot, too dry.

Let's get off here.

How much water you got, Sheriff?

Not very much, but you better take it, Matt.

We'll head on back and get some, then we'll follow you.

Well, good luck, Matt.

Thank you, Lee.

I'll need it.

I'm sure I won't告訴你.

Ringo's horse was fresh, mine was not. In less than an hour I was tracking him again. He

was heading for the border across the desert. I could tell by the sign Ringo's horse was

giving out. He was walking his horse to spare him, like I was doing with mine. Who are you

mister? What are you dogging me for? Murder and robbery Ringo. You'll never take me alive.

It looked like Ringo was going to make a stand there at the edge of the desert instead of

going across. We exchanged shots to let one another know we were both there. The sun went

behind the horizon, the night came on. I waited. Throughout the night I listened for the clatter

of horses' hoofs telling me Ringo was making his break. I heard nothing, nothing but the

howls of coyotes and insects.

Ringo didn't answer my morning revelry of gunfire. Suspicious, I started moving on his position.

I picked up the hoof tracks and followed them. Ringo's horse wasn't dead, but not far from

it. Johnny had a good start on me. I had no canteen. It was a question of water in a few

hours or death. There was no use to turn back. There was no water that way.

Ringo headed along the desert route known to the old Spaniards as Ornada de la Muerte,

the march of death.

Quiet.

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I couldn't go any further.

My only consolation was that the desert would claim Ringo too.

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No, it couldn't be.

It couldn't be Frankie coming to help me.

No, it was a mirage, a dream.

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When you're Ringo couldn't be far away,

but he might still be alive.

We move cautiously.

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Hey, Matt.

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There he was, lying beside a spring too far gone

to dig for the precious water that lay beneath the sand.

If he had only looked up and seen the lake,

he would have beat us and the desert.

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Thank you very much, Mr. Clark.

The watch is the only thing I want to remember Johnny by.

I could take the rest, destroy it.

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Let's go, Frankie.

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