Original subtitles

Folks forget hardship fast,

and I guess the good Lord meant it that way.

Everybody was so glad to get out of the desert country,

they'd forgotten about the mountains that we still had to cross.

The dried out spokes and running gear, the rotten harness,

just can't be ignored,

and horses can be pushed just so far.

Then you've got to do something about it.

With as much of our equipment worn out as it was,

I didn't have any choice.

It had to be in top-notch shape for the big climb ahead.

We were already behind schedule,

but I couldn't take any chances.

We'd have to make camp for a week

and hope that the snows didn't come early in the passes.

♪

This late in the year, a week was a long time to hole up,

but it was little enough time to get the train ready.

We'd need every minute of those seven days

and the seven nights ahead of us.

I sent McCullough up ahead to see if he could find a pass

that would let us make up some time,

and I assigned a job to every man, woman and child in the train.

How's this stuff, Bill? Pretty rotten.

Didn't I tell you our luck'd change?

It had to change. It couldn't get worse.

Everything's going fine.

The major's being downright cooperative,

stopping the wagon train for repairs.

That'll give us the time to do the job comfortable.

You know me. I don't like to be rushed.

Time? What do you want time for?

This is like taking candy from a baby.

Tricking, taking candy from a baby

is getting away before the baby cries.

We're gonna take that money from that wagon dainty-like.

There's no use in gambling.

I only hope that man weren't lyin'

there was more than $1,000 cash in Garner's wagon.

A thousand dollars

in good, hard Yankee cash.

It'll do a lot of things to my body

and my soul.

You know, that Garner boy has it real nice.

Pretty little wife.

He wouldn't miss the money.

I bet he'd sure miss that pretty little wife.

Don't you go getting any ideas about that gal.

You just concentrate on the money.

Yeah, I can't say when

I've seen a more pretty little girl.

Here I am, sending little kids out to cut firewood,

and there sits two full-grown men doing nothing.

Well, they wouldn't volunteer for anything. They're not the type.

They don't know it, but they're just about to be conscripted.

Haven't you two got jobs to do?

No. We're not looking for none neither.

Listen, I told the both of you when you joined up for this outfit

that you'd have the same responsibility to this train as anybody else.

Well, you see, Ted Garner's paying us,

so we figure it's only right to do what he tells us to.

Ted Garner's not running this train, I am.

Kinda chesty, ain't ya?

Listen, let me tell you a couple of things, mister.

Oh, now, Major, I didn't know you were so short-handed.

Why, I'll give you my word that Burke here'll do anything you want him to do.

Oh, he will, will he? Sure will.

All right, Burke, you go find Darryl Simpson

and get up in them hills and cut some firewood.

Seems to me you're mighty generous

with your partner's services, but I'm in no mood for jokes tonight.

I'm gonna walk away from here.

When I look back, I want to see you over there at that forge,

pumping. Yes, sir, Major.

I'm glad to volunteer. Happy to be part of your work.

What are you trying to do, get us kicked out of here

before we get our hands on that money?

I don't like the way he gives orders.

Anybody's think he was the only one who was in the army.

He didn't desert.

If you were aiming to pump that forge, you're going the wrong way.

I know which way I'm going.

I'm just gonna wander by the Garner wagon

and check on the little new bride.

I need a little inspiration before I go to work.

I'll come with you.

If there's any money around, I'll smell it.

That's the only inspiration I want. Uh-uh.

Three's a crowd.

Get 'em straightened out?

Oh, I don't know.

Just seems like a doggone shame,

pair of nice kids like them saddling with two birds like those.

Well, they needed a driver real quick.

You know, and that's another thing.

The very next morning, after Garner's regular driver

got hisself killed in that saloon brawl,

those two showed up looking for the job.

If that sounds like I got a suspicious mind,

well, I got one.

Oh! You startled me.

Well, I'm sorry. I'm sure sorry, Mrs. Garner.

Uh, is your husband around?

He's helping Mr. Clegg. Oh. Uh-huh.

Mm. That coffee I smell?

Would you like a cup? I sure would. I sure would.

I don't imagine the major will mind if I rest a spell.

Oh, you men have been working so hard, I'm sure he won't mind.

I've found that a man can do just so much work.

Hey.

This is mighty fine coffee, miss. Missus.

This is mighty fine coffee for a young bride, missus.

You know, that husband of yours is a lucky man.

A pretty wife who can cook

and two wagon loads of enough merchandise to make him

the most successful businessman in the whole west.

Yes, sir. He is sure lucky.

He's brave, too,

to risk everything on a trip like this.

We hadn't thought of it as a risk.

No.

No, you wouldn't, at your age.

'Cause you got your whole life full ahead of you.

Everything's all fine.

You know, Mr. Garner sort of

reminds me of myself when I was his age.

A real leader amongst men for such a young chap.

I've wondered about you.

Hmm? Do you mind?

Oh, no, no. There's nothing much to wonder about.

I came west when I was about your husband's age.

I was in the first gold rush.

I made a little, lost a lot.

And then pretty soon I wasn't so young anymore.

There were a lot like me. I wasn't alone.

My father was in the first gold rush. He was killed out here.

Oh, now, that's too bad.

Well, it was a rough country and rough times.

Not so bad now. A lot safer.

More peaceful. All you need's a bit of courage.

'Course, uh, don't hurt none

if you've got some silver in your sock.

Yes, sir, Mr. Garner's gonna do all right.

Pretty wife,

money in his sock...

Even if he hasn't got money, he'll still do all right.

Well, thanks for the coffee.

What's he hanging around you for?

He just needed a rest, so I gave him a cup of coffee.

I wish you wouldn't encourage him. You're too trusting.

I like him. I think he's nice.

Men are always nice to girls when they want something.

You admit men find me alluring?

Now, what do you know about men?

Raised by a doting mother and an old maid aunt.

What could they tell you about men?

I think I know about you.

I guess you do.

Ma'am, like this. Fold it over here

and then fold it towards one another.

How's it look to you back there, Bill?

Well, not so good. That McCaskell wagon's in real bad shape.

All the spokes in every wheel are loose.

They are, huh? Just soak 'em in the creek. That's all we can do.

You think we can make it out in a week? We've got to.

A few days this time of year makes a difference

between life and death to this whole outfit

once we get up in that high country.

Keep 'em going, will you? Right.

I'll help you with that.

Whitey. You could've got yourself killed!

Shut up. We're getting out of here. What are you talking about?

You heard me. I said we're getting out of here right now.

Have you gone loco? You think I'd walk out on a deal like this?

I tell you, something's come up.

And don't forget, I'm still giving the orders.

You're giving orders, and all we've got is a half a bottle of whiskey.

We'll do all right. I'll think of something.

Well, I like this one. I don't want anything else.

There's a whole heap of dough stashed in that there wagon.

Where will we find another stake like that?

We'll find it someplace else. That's final.

You're either taut or you're tight.

We'll talk about this in the morning.

Good night.

What's the matter, Malloy? Keep pumping.

You want those shoes to get cold?

Pump it yourself.

Hey, that's a real old Bible you got there.

It's been in my family for a long time.

Oh, it's your family Bible, hmm? Mm-hmm.

You know,

you told me your father was killed

in the first gold rush.

How'd he die?

You look tired, Major.

Don't you think you ought to get some sleep?

Your concern for my health, Mr. Wooster, is really touching.

I wasn't thinking about your health, but I know how grumpy you get.

Malloy, you know gol' darn well we're fightin' time.

Why don't you stick to your job, will ya?

Yes, sir. Gol' darn it.

That fellow bothering you?

No, he just wanted to talk.

It was the strangest thing. I was reading my Bible,

and he came in and started asking me questions about it.

About your Bible?

It's a nice, old one.

And then all of a sudden he started asking me questions about my father,

what I knew about him and where he was killed.

George Clampett, huh?

That was my father. Oh?

He was a pretty famous man in California.

He was head of the vigilantes and town marshal.

I thought you told me that you never knew your father.

No, he left for the gold fields a short time before I was born.

He was gonna send for Mother and me.

He never did, huh?

No, he was shot by a drunk.

That's all we know from the letter we got.

Oh, that's too bad. I'm sorry to hear that.

I only hope that the man that killed him got what he deserved.

I hope he did too.

Excuse me.

Bill, how about that Clegg wagon?

It's got a split tongue and it could use some spare double trees.

I think I saw some ash saplings down by the creek.

You might cut a few. They looked straight.

After you get through breakfast, get Bill Dye to work on them.

That broken leg of his won't keep him from using a draw knife.

All right.

Hey, Bill, does the name George Clampett

mean anything to you?

Hmm-mm. No.

Major, we had a Roy Clampett in the outfit with us.

Oh, that was Roy Crawford, you knot head!

I guess it was.

MAN: Gold!

Gold!

What in the blue bla...

Gold!

Gold!

Come on.

Gold! Gold!

What the devil's the matter with you, man?

Down there! It's gold! Whitey Burke found gold!

Give me a shovel. Hey, that's my shovel!

Get back! I'll split your skull, you... Gold!

What do you want to do, start a stampede?

Looks like he already has, Major.

You couldn't keep your big mouth shut, could you? I didn't think...

That's the trouble where gold is concerned! Nobody thinks!

Come on, stay back! There's no use going down there!

Hold it!

Tim, what are you doing?

There's gold, honey! We're rich, soon as we find it.

We're rich!

Back to your wagons!

Come back here, you galoots!

Listen to me, you numbskulls!

Just look at those birds down there.

Not a one of 'em know what they're doin'.

Scratchin' around like a bunch of chickens.

I'd like to have me some of that yellow stuff.

Why don't you go on down there with 'em?

Stay there till the snow gets up to that turkey neck of yours?

Hey, Hawks, do you suppose a man

could haul a load of that gravel to Sacramento

and wash it out while sitting by the fire?

No, I guess he couldn't.

Not a dad-blasted bit of work done on those wagons in the last three hours.

The only man in camp is Bill Dye.

The only reason he's in camp is he's got a busted leg.

How you gonna get 'em back to work?

How the devil do I know?

I'm tired of yelling at them, that's all.

Let 'em cool off, and we can talk some sense into 'em.

It would have to be a man like Burke, wouldn't it?

All the decent, deserving people in this train,

and that Burke has to be the one that finds gold.

Ah, there's just no way.

Look what I got!

A dollar a drink, boys! A dollar a drink!

I just opened up a saloon! Ha, ha, ha!

Hey.

That one's on the house.

Come on, Radford, aren't you gonna stake a claim?

No, you dig it and I'll win it. Whoo-hoo!

Ted? Ted!

Later, honey. But Ted...

I'm gonna dig you up a gold-plated coach and six white horses.

What do you think, Darryl? How about a little blackjack?

If you only had some dancing girls. Come on, Darryl, old boy.

It's just like old times, ain't it, Whitey?

Hey, Whitey, remember Rush Creek that winter?

You'd have died if it hadn't been for me.

Remember, Whitey?

I saved your life that time. It wasn't the only time either.

Whitey, let me see it again, will ya?

Huh? Come on.

Let me see it.

Oh, look at it! Look at it!

You know it's got a smell to it.

Just look at that!

Liquor and women and Frisco and all the food a man can eat!

You'd do anything for gold.

Wouldn't you, Malloy?

Still think we ought to pull out of here?

Pull out of here? What are you talking about? We got gold!

You mean I've got gold,

don't you?

Oh, Whitey!

We're partners. Always have been.

It's share and share alike.

Look, besides, Whitey,

we can make a claim for two with me in it.

Aw, stop crawling. I'll cut you in.

That's a good boy, Whitey.

Now, go and stake your own claim.

Sure. Sure.

What's he think he's doing?

What are you up to, Malloy?

That's my claim you're staking out.

I don't see any stakes around here that ain't mine.

I've been marking here for a half hour. You're 15, 20 feet into my claim.

Listen. Montgomery, you get off this claim,

or I'll kill you legally.

This is my claim, and I staked it out.

I was here first.

The law doesn't care who was here first.

The law wants to know who staked out first.

Malloy, you're a crook. Get off my claim.

You put that down! What are you doing on our claim?!

Didn't you see that mark?

Oh, oh, Natalie, Mrs. Garner, please.

I didn't know it was you, please. I wouldn't have yelled at you.

I just had to make the mark... Please, Natalie.

I didn't know...

What kind of Injun sign she got on you?

She's none of your business, Burke.

She's a good-looking girl, but she's not your type.

Shut up, Burke.

When we get all that gold, you'll be able to buy them by the dozen.

Or maybe there's something else.

No, that's right.

I just like her looks.

Then I'll be doing you a favor when I get rid of her husband.

You can't do that! I mean, look...

I mean, look, Whitey, we don't need the thousand dollars anymore.

'Course not. Just like we don't need

those wagons of his anymore either.

We'll sit here all winter and eat gravel.

Garner ain't important anymore.

We've found gold. It's lying right here in the ground waiting for us to pick it up.

That's right.

Just to pick it up.

And I'm gonna make quite sure

we get the chance.

Gol' darn day gone. Not a bit of work done.

Lord knows how many more days till they come to their senses.

Well, don't just sit there! Get up and work on that harness!

In case you've forgotten, Major, I'm supposed to be the cook.

Why don't you change your occupation? Might break the monotony.

Since when does work break the monotony of work?

What?

Nothing. I didn't say nothin'. Just mumblin'.

You never do say anything.

They're still at it, I suppose. Yep.

And most of 'em are down there trying to figure out

how they're gonna spend the money that they think they're gonna make.

Some of 'em have already staked out claims and started digging.

You know a funny thing, Bill?

There's only two of 'em know what they're doing... Malloy and Burke.

The rest wouldn't know gold if they fell in it.

Twelve hours ago, all those fine people... just farmers.

All they wanted to do was stick a plowshare in the ground. Now look at 'em.

You know, Major, it's just like they all took sick.

Yeah. Gold sick.

Some get over it, some don't.

What do you figure to do?

What do I figure to do?

I'm gonna take this train on to California.

Let 'em stay down there in those rocks for a couple of nights.

When they get cold enough and blistered enough on their hands...

Yeah, and you won't be able to pry some of 'em loose.

Then we'll leave 'em stay here, by golly. We go on to California.

And those that stay, they'll never make it through the winter.

'Course they won't.

They'll freeze or they'll starve

or... what's worse,

the gol' darn fools will start fighting among themselves

and killing each other off.

And I'll have to remember the rest of my life

I left 'em here.

You know, Bill, they couldn't give me the major's job.

Yeah, me neither, Charlie.

It's a lot like the army. How?

Well, if you're gonna sacrifice a platoon to save a regiment,

well, you just do it.

Come on. Let's go to work. Maybe you're right.

Hey, what's this? You quitting mining?

No, I'm gonna leave that up to Ted.

The way he's digging away, I know he's gonna be hungry as a bear,

so I came over to fix him supper.

That's good.

Ted says he just knows he's gonna find gold.

He just wants things for me, Major.

That's all it is.

Do you know what he said to me?

He said that he was gonna dig me up

a solid gold coach and six white horses.

That's what he said, Major.

Now, now. Here, here.

Everything's gonna be all right.

It was like he didn't even see me, like he didn't want me around.

You know, a man's first sight of gold

is sort of like snow blindness, I guess.

And then he told me to leave him alone.

Mr. Malloy came at me like an animal.

He was screaming at me.

Don't you worry about that.

You just go ahead and get your husband's supper.

You're a much more precious nugget than he'll ever find around here,

and I'm sure he knows that.

Here.

I'm sorry, Major Adams.

Don't you worry. I'm going down there and talk to him.

You won't tell him that I cried.

Nope. I won't tell him.

Find anything, boy?

No, but I will.

I've seen richer dirt than that under a gambler's fingernails.

How do you figure to get water up here? What do I need water for?

You ever hear of a sluice box or a rocker?

You're never gonna get enough gold out of here to amount to anything without water.

Let me worry about that.

Your wife says your supper's ready.

I want to talk to you two.

You got a tongue; we got ears.

I got a wagon train full of people that are gonna be

in bad trouble if I don't get 'em across them mountains by the time the snow flies.

Well, then, why don't you just go on?

I want you and Burke to help me get them people back to work and on their wagons.

What's gonna be in it for us?

I just kind of thought that maybe...

helping prevent another Donner party

might be enough reward for you.

Not for me, it won't.

Listen, I know enough about mining gold

to know that there's no gold here

outside of the bottom of that dry stream bed.

Those folks up there are just wasting their time,

and you know it as well as I do.

That's their privilege.

There's only room enough here for two claims,

and you already got them staked out. And we mean to keep 'em.

Nobody's trying to take them away from you.

You got your markers down here.

Go on in to Sacramento and file on them

and come back next spring and work 'em.

Maybe if I can get you and Burke to leave,

the rest of these folks will leave with us.

Maybe we don't want 'em to leave.

Maybe we got sort of fond of their company.

Maybe you've gotten sort of...

fond of their supplies too.

Oh, Major.

Come a month or six weeks, there'll be 20 feet of snow in here.

If all these people stay here with you,

it'll just be a miracle if any of you get out alive.

I'll make it.

You wouldn't if I was around.

Oh? You know, Burke and me

have got an awful lot of friends around here right now.

You see, we know all about mining gold, and these good folks

are counting on us to teach them how.

You want to try and take on the whole

wagon train yourself, Major?

Maybe.

Maybe I might.

He's got all the answers, ain't he?

Yeah, except how to get his wandering sheep

back in the wagon train.

How many do you think will stay?

Oh, four or five wagons, when you come right down to it.

Some of them are walking out already.

With four or five wagons, we can make it through the winter fine...

if we had the right wagon.

And if it was just you and me eatin' them supplies.

We'll have to pick and choose.

Take old Darryl. There ain't enough supplies

in his wagon to feed a starving crow.

He's no good. Naw.

Radford's a gambler. He'll take a chance. Clegg, maybe.

I was thinking of Ted Garner.

Oh, forget about him.

Why worry about a thousand dollars when you're sitting on a gulch full of gold?

For a smart guy, you sure act stupid.

I was thinking of them two wagons.

A whole grocery store.

For the last time, the plans we had for Garner are through!

I'm getting tired of your telling me!

Who found the gold? You want to argue with me?

It ain't worth fighting about.

Sure.

It ain't worth fighting about.

Ah, at least we're better off than we were yesterday.

Six more of them came back last night.

Yeah, the sorriest six in the whole gol' darned train.

What we need is men like Montgomery and Clegg and Radford.

Men that can do something.

I just don't know how you figure who's gonna stick with you and who ain't.

I'd have just bet my life that Clegg would be with us.

Ted Garner was the most anxious one on the train to get to California.

Ah, that one.

All he's interested in is showing his wife how much money he can make for her.

He stands a good chance getting himself killed out there looking for gold.

Yeah, he sure does.

But you know, Bill, kids these days,

they don't seem to figure that death's anywheres near 'em.

Hmm. Guess I was that way once too.

Well, you keep these people working the best you can.

Come on, Charlie. I need you.

Watch that meat. Yeah.

Good morning, Mrs. Garner. How's the young bride today?

Fixing a little grub for the groom?

If he insists on staying down there, I suppose he has to be fed.

You oughtn't to talk like that. He's found himself a good, rich claim.

He'll be riding on to Californee

in a wagon full of nuggets. When, Mr. Burke?

Mm, takes time.

You can't pick gold off trees, you know.

Maybe a month or so. Mr. Malloy doesn't think it'll be that easy.

Oh? What'd he say? When?

Last night he said that Ted's claim wasn't much.

There'd be some gold there, but not near enough.

Malloy doesn't know mining like I do.

I've seen a lot worse claims than your husband's make a fortune.

Malloy's a funny guy.

What do you know about Mr. Malloy?

Oh, just about everything there is to know. Why?

Well, I kind of thought that he might know something about my father.

Oh, he might have. He knew a lot of people.

What was your father's name? George Clampett.

George Cl...

I-I couldn't say.

Did you want me to help you with that?

No, I can manage, thank you.

George Clampett.

George Clampett.

♪

Look at them greenhorns.

Digging in more gold than they'll ever find.

That's rough. Well, we'll dig it up again

after we...

after they ain't around any longer, huh?

Listen to me.

Listen to me!

Hey, take a look at this!

Ha, ha, ha, ha! Take a look at that! Let's see.

Oh, big as a house. And some of you were saying there wasn't much gold!

Take a look at that! Ha, ha!

Now, you listen to me!

What's the matter with all of you? Have you gone crazy?

We know what you're gonna say, Major. Save your breath.

If you knew what I was gonna say,

you'd be back there working on your outfit right this minute.

I took a calculated risk

holing up here for over a week.

I know that there's snow country up in those mountains ahead,

and I know how quickly those passes can fill up.

You people all know what kind of shape your gear is in,

and you know what it's gonna take to fix it so we can go on.

Who wants to go on?

Anybody does with any sense.

Anybody does that wants to live.

Anybody does that knows the difference

between a calculated risk and plain suicide!

I guess you people don't know

what these mountains are like in the wintertime.

Well, I do!

I've wintered out here before.

Anyone who makes his mind up to it can stick it out.

I think Burke's right. We stick together, we'll make out.

You'll make out, all right.

Just like the Donner party.

Well, sometime when you're thinking about it,

you better start thinking about what you're gonna eat

after you've eaten your horses and your harness!

What's a little cold weather to a field full of gold?

I know there's a field full of gold there,

and it'll still be there next spring.

And those that want to come and dig it up

are gonna have to move your cold bones

out of the way before they can dig!

Now, let me tell you something,

and I'm gonna tell you for the last time.

I'm taking these wagons on to California,

whether there's one of them or all of them.

It doesn't make any difference to me.

If you want to come along,

now's the time to come and get your outfits fixed.

You're asking us to walk away from a fortune!

It's not like "maybe there's gold here."

There is gold here. We've all found it.

It'll still be there next spring.

Don't you understand?

I've got no ax to grind.

I didn't even stake a claim.

I just hate to see people like you

freeze to death and starve to death

when it's not necessary.

I'm going,

and any of you that want to come along

make up your minds right now!

Let 'em go.

It'll leave that much more for the rest of us.

Mighty poor pickin's, though.

Burke here's got the prime claim.

You've gotta work fast.

There's enough gold around here for everybody.

You stick around, and we'll show you how to dig it out.

You make it sound easy.

Why shouldn't he?

He's got the best claim, him and Malloy.

Most of it's mine, by rights.

Now and then everybody gets high-carded.

Maybe, but everybody minds a stacked deck.

It's not gonna leap out of the gravel into our pockets.

That's all right. There's no hard feelings.

You go on and work on your outfit.

Well, I'm glad to see you folks made up your minds.

Ted Garner's staying.

Yeah, I figured he would.

I won't let him. He's got to leave.

You ain't gonna do a thing to stop him.

If I have to drive him out of here at gunpoint, he's leaving.

I say he's not. Yes, he is. You won't stop me.

Get that shovel...

What'll you suppose young Garner's bride will do

if I told her I know what really happened to George Clampett?

You didn't think I'd find out, did you?

Well, I have found out, it gives me the whip end.

From now on, you'll take orders from me, Mr. Malloy,

or else me and that girl

will have a little talk.

Now, look, Whitey...

You offer Garner whatever whatever it is you have to leave,

and I'll offer him gold to stay,

and I'll still have that little talk up my sleeve.

You so much as breathe the name of George Clampett to that girl,

I'll kill you before you draw another stinkin' breath.

There is gold here. Look at it.

Eight, 10, 20 dollars' worth, maybe.

All I had to do was pick it up.

You dug all day for this?

Oh, I'll get better.

Burke'll teach me. Just give me a month.

A month?

You don't believe Major Adams.

In a month, it's gonna be too late.

I want you to go on with the wagon train.

Without you?

It'll only be for a month or so.

You and I have got a lifetime together.

Just give me a month to get all the gold I can.

You know, what Major Adams says makes good sense.

If I were you two, I'd go with the wagons.

Why don't you go on, then?

Me? I got no wife.

I got no wagons. Only myself to worry about.

The more people you can talk out of leaving, the more gold

you'll have for yourself.

Listen, you asked your wife for one month.

We won't be out of here in a month.

We have to dig a well.

We have to flume for water.

It'll be spring before we can wash gravel,

even if we work day and night before the ground's frozen.

Boy,

what can you get out of gold that's more important than what you've got right now.

Save your breath.

I just want to tell you how it is!

Is it, Malloy?

Or are you just an old man who missed his chance?

Now, you listen to me, Ted.

You think that gold is the beginning.

You think that once you got it, you got everything.

Well, you're wrong. Gold ain't the beginning. It's the end.

Gold is... it's something different.

You... You asked for one month, just one little month.

And then maybe just one more try

over the next hill or in the next gulch.

One vein runs out, so maybe there's another one just a little further away.

A man'll give up his wife, everything.

Or then maybe you do make a strike,

and so you try to double it with cards,

and you lose... you gotta start all over again.

You're talking about yourself, aren't you?

Myself and thousands of others.

I've seen men get sick on gold.

I've seen 'em steal and kill.

Once it gets a hold of you, you're finished.

Don't let that happen to you. You've got too much to lose.

You knew my father, didn't you?

I knew George Clampett.

Where? Tell me about him. Where'd you meet him?

In Platte Junction.

That was when he first came west.

I read the letters he wrote to Mother.

He had a good name in Platte Junction.

He was young and ambitious. A lot like you, Ted.

He was always talking about his wife, how he was gonna send for her.

He would've, if he hadn't been killed.

Yeah, sure, he would've. But there's a lot of "would've."

I've seen that gold get inside a man,

rot their souls until there's nothing left.

It could happen to you.

But don't let it kill you.

Go ahead with the wagons.

I'll think about it.

You do that, boy.

You think about it.

What you got there, Jack?

A vein. It's raw gold.

Let's dig her.

It goes on...

Hey, I thought I told you to keep off my claim.

Your claim? It's my claim, Malloy.

You stole it the same way you stole this shovel.

It's my claim. It's all marked nice and legal. I aim to protect it.

Legal, is it?

You stay out of this, Adams.

Every man here saw him try to jump my claim.

He got greedy.

There's no call to jump claims.

Every man's claim is rich enough.

ADAMS: If a couple of you knot heads are not too busy.

Come over and give me a hand with this fellow before he bleeds to death.

I want to get him back to his wagon.

Malloy, if that fellow dies,

I'm gonna see you hanged for it.

Ain't a jury in the country that'll convict me.

You seem mighty sure of that.

I've never been so sure of anything in my life.

You're never gonna live to see a jury,

and I was never more sure of anything in my whole life.

Well, I'm glad to see you back, Darryl.

They drove me out. I had a right to stay.

You can just consider yourself lucky, mister.

You haven't seen Mrs. Garner today, have you?

She went on down to the strike. She what?

Dad blast it.

Are you gonna try again, Major?

I'm not gonna ride away and leave those two kids here

with people like Malloy and Burke, I'll guarantee you that.

Certainly I'm gonna try again.

Sure, Burke and me can teach you

all you need to know about mining gold.

Now, look. You bring your wagons right down in here.

The four of us will share and share alike.

That's the way it's gonna be.

It don't seem just right, cuttin' old Darryl out the way we did.

Why? What'd he have to offer? Nothing.

What do you care? You're getting your share, ain't you?

Yeah, I'm getting mine.

Fine. It's a deal.

Radford, how about you?

Oh, I take the hand that's dealt me and I play it out.

That's the way to talk. Shake.

All right. Let's get at it, huh?

Hey, Whitey,

we're gonna do all right.

Maybe we didn't get as many supplies

as we wanted, but we'll do all right.

We'll get plenty. That's what I say.

And as soon as we get rid of Radford and Clegg,

we open up their wagon, find out what we got.

Now, if we ration careful right from the start...

With Garner's two wagons, we'll do all right.

Garner's going. Is he?

I had a talk with him.

He must've changed his mind.

Burke, it's a deal.

We ought to draw up some papers, though. It's just better business.

That's right. We want it legal too. It's like Malloy said:

we appreciated your giving us a job when we needed it.

He said that if we were gonna bring in a full-blooded partner

into our good gravel, he'd rather it be you than anyone.

I said what?

Don't look so upset. I'm a pretty good cook.

Ted promised that he'd build us a cabin.

You're leaving.

You said it was Malloy's idea to form the partnership.

Sure it was. I don't care what I said.

You're getting out of here, the both of you.

Malloy... Listen, you're not gonna cut us out of our deal!

MALLOY: You won't have any share if you're dead.

Now, will you get her out of here, Garner?

Mr. Malloy, what are you talking about? What are you saying?

You gotta go! Can't you understand me?

I talked to you and talked to you before. Don't you understand?

Drop it, Burke!

What's the matter with you?

What's this all about?

Major,

you've got to take that girl away.

They can't stay here with us. This don't make sense.

I thought you wanted them to stay.

Shut up, Malloy!

You shut up, Burke! Go ahead, Malloy.

How come the change? How come you don't want them to stay now?

'Cause... Hush up, Malloy!

Because if she stays here, we'll kill 'em!

Why? Why?

I'm George Clampett.

You're the girl's father?

Yeah. Major, don't ever let her know.

She thinks he was a fine man.

She believed in him.

Don't ever destroy that belief.

That's the only...

That's the only thing I can give her.

Oh, boy.

Just what the devil do you think you're doing here?

This is gonna be hard for you to believe, Major,

but believe it or not, I'm looking for my watch.

You lost your watch last year at Salt Lake City.

So I did. Yes, you did!

Go on, get out of here!

I suppose someday

people on other wagon trains will stumble onto

this gold field again,

and seeing these graves will wonder,

never knowing unless they're told the story

of Hunter Malloy.

No one will ever know for sure

because a promise was given to a dying man.

Hunter Malloy's gone and will be forgotten.

That's the way he wanted it... A gift to a daughter

from a father that she never knew.

As we proceed westward,

we will face the problems of today.

With God's help, we will meet those

and the problems of tomorrow.