The Stranger Wore a Gun

While the Civil War raged between the North and South...

there swept across the border from Missouri...

into the free state of Kansas...

a renowned force of guerrilla troops...

led by a Confederate officer

Unbeknownst to the men who blindly followed him...

this leader was no longer considered a legitimate soldier..

by either the South or the North.

He was William Clarke Quantrill...

jayhawker, border ruffian, freebooter.

His destination:

Lawrence! On to Lawrence!

That's Quantrill! Get out of sight, Mr. Travis.

Come on!

What have you got, Lieutenant?

Fifty fresh horses in a pasture quarter of a mile south.

Guns and ammunition are in the basement of a store...

being held for a new company of recruits.

Dead men can't use them. What about the lists?

Here they are. The men you wanted, and where they live.

Todd!

Run down every man on this list and kill him.

With pleasure. Come on.

- You're not taking any prisoners? - No.

- Any money in there? - $10,000 in gold.

Break it in.

Break it down.

That's Martin. He runs this line.

- Mr. Travis. - Open the safe.

You came here as a friend.

- Heaven help your treacherous soul. - Jim, don't.

You ride with this madman, this guerrilla, to rob, burn...

torture and murder defenseless people.

- I'm a soldier. It's war. - War!

The Confederates don't recognize Quantrill as part of the Southern Army.

And the North will hang him on sight as an outlaw!

Shut up and open that safe!

Do it, Jim.

- No, I won't. It won't save me. - You must.

Enough.

Break it open.

You've eaten at my table, spy.

It wasn't part of the plan to murder civilians.

Civilians? Yankee Free-Soilers.

You've done well, Lieutenant. You'll share in the glory.

Take whatever you want from this town.

Mrs. Martin, please go.

There's no help.

Remember this day, Travis. Remember it well.

Tell Quantrill to get himself another spy.

Now turn those horses loose that Lt. Travis found. Hurry.

Since the Yankees won this war...

this rabble has been overrunning these riverboats.

That'll cost you another $200.

Not for me.

- $200, and $300 better. - Jeff. Quit bluffing. I'm calling you.

- Can you beat two big sevens? - Easily, with two little nines.

- I threw away three tens! - I had a low straight. The pot was mine.

Need some money? Some help?

In a game with you, anyone'll need help. How about dealing me a good hand?

Not a chance. I'm out to break you.

That's a dirty trick to do to an old friend.

In a card game, I don't have any friends.

And neither do you.

- You're playing like a rube. - A man is only as good as his cards.

You always played a much better hand when you were holding nothing.

- What's on your mind tonight? - Nothing.

I open.

Thinking of Lawrence again, huh?

It's all over, Jeff. Forget it.

All right, it's forgotten. Just like that.

Lawrence, Kansas.

It was Quantrill's biggest day.

I'll never forget it. Nobody'll forget.

That is, nobody who is still alive. They looted and burned the town.

Quantrill and his men slaughtered 150. Women and children, too.

And all because of the work of one spy.

Ever met a Quantrill man, lady?

Look, friend, why don't you take your talk somewhere else?

Quantrill's dead along with everything that went with him.

- The war is over. - This wasn't war.

They were thieves, cutthroats and murderers.

What do you say, mister?

I'd like to run into the man that set up that massacre.

Think you'd know him if you saw him again?

Sure, I'd know him.

What difference does it make now?

He was only a soldier doing what he had to do.

I was in the room with him when Quantrill murdered my best friend.

I could never forget him. He's sitting there now, the spy.

Let's go outside. They won't dare follow us.

Dirty, filthy spy.

Jeff, get over the side now.

Go to Jules Mourret, Prescott, Arizona territory.

- Get back inside. - Please, Jeff. Go!

I can't leave. Somebody'll have to answer questions.

Questions! You're a Quantrill Raider who killed two men.

- But I... - There'll be a Yankee judge...

and a Yankee jury. What chance have you got?

- Please, Jeff, go. I'll catch up with you later. - Don't follow me, Josie.

Did you see him? Where is he?

Who?

- Where are those Army wagons going? - Prescott ain't the capital no more.

They're moving all the territorial papers to Phoenix.

This town got too rough for them.

Hasta la vista, bluejackets!

- Take your good government to Tucson! - Come back when you get your furlough!

We're wide open now!

Mr. Conroy, another holdup.

- Good work, Jake. You got through anyway. - That ain't good.

- I should of bagged one of them bandits. - I'm glad they didn't hurt you.

Thanks.

- This town is a disgrace to everyone in it. - We all know, but it takes time, Shelby.

- Things will change some day. - But when? All we do is talk.

Nobody has the courage to do anything.

We're controlled by riffraff and it's getting worse.

Don't worry about it, honey. We've held our own so far.

But how long can we keep on doing it?

- The stage was just robbed. - That's the second time this week.

You wouldn't get me to ride on that stage.

Funny thing, they don't touch the people on that stage.

I'm sorry they made me throw off the strongbox, Mr. Conroy.

- Nothing in it but rocks. - Get me that carpetbag, will you?

Mr. Conroy.

Mr. Conroy. You got rocks in there, too?

No. This is full of newly-minted coins.

Ain't that mighty careless carrying around a fortune in an old bag?

No, it's safer. That's why we never tell you where we hide the gold every trip.

- And we fooled them again. - Yes, sir.

Never tell me where you put the gold.

What I don't know, nobody can squeeze it out of me.

Mister. I feel bad about spooking your horse.

Maybe I could buy you a drink or something to fix it?

- Not just now, thanks. - You're a stranger around here.

- My name is Jake. Jake Hooper. - Is it?

How do like this town?

- Kind of wild. - No. This is tame. Only one killing last week.

Not too bad.

That ain't good. They moved the state capital out today.

- Ain't no place for an honest man now. - Then why do you stay here?

It's comforting to know you live in a town that can't get no worse.

- Gonna put up at the Juniper? - Yup.

That's the best place in town, Mr... I didn't get your name.

That's right.

Gabby sort of a feller.

Can I interest you in a game of chance, stranger?

No, thanks, I...

Where does a fellow go to get a room around here?

Over there, the man in the fancy vest.

- I'd like to have a room. - The $1.50 or the up?

- The $1.50. - You'll have Room 230.

You can get your key off the peg in the lobby.

Mr. John Smith.

You've certainly got a lot of relatives around here.

I come from a big family. You know Jules Mourret?

He owns this place and a piece of most everything else around here.

- How do people feel about him? - Some like him and some don't.

- Where do you stand? - He owns this place.

- I'm looking for him. - Try his room. 201.

201.

Pay for the first day, please.

He's the thirteenth John Smith in this house now.

I hope he ain't superstitious.

- Mr. Mourret? - No.

- I was told to see him here. - You can wait. He'll be along.

- You ride a careless horse, mister. - The way you ride, you'd better walk.

Don't ever do that to me again.

Hold it.

Such lack of hospitality. Let him go.

I must apologize for my men.

But we both know that civilization ends with the Mason-Dixon Line.

- We were getting acquainted. - You can't get away with that.

Neither will you.

I sent you for gold, Slager. You brought me back rocks.

Come in, Lt. Travis.

Take a chair.

Too bad Josie isn't here.

Old friend of mine, you know.

On the boat. You threw the knife.

Could I stand by and let an old comrade-at-arms be slaughtered?

You don't remember how we routed them at Lawrence?

We fought under the same flag.

And under the greatest leader, William Clarke Quantrill.

There are two schools of thought on that.

So, in a way, I owe my life to the Raiders.

No. You owe it to me.

And I know a good gambler always pays his debts.

- There's a payoff, huh? - There's always a payoff.

- That depends. - I have a job for you.

A job for which you have unusual talent.

Here's to it.

- Jules. Degas is coming up. - Jules, old friend.

What make you so nervous?

You jump so...

Your manners, Degas.

- Don't you ever knock? - No.

I'm always surprise. I just sneak in.

Now we talk.

This is Shorty, my partner.

Listen, he don't talk good English like me.