The Texas Rangers

Under the infamous nine-year rule of the carpetbaggers

that followed the Civil War,

thieves, murderers, and other fugitive criminals

from every part of the country found sanctuary in the state of Texas.

In 1874, the Union Army of Occupation was withdrawn,

leaving Texas at the mercy of a horde of ruthless bandits

operating in open defiance of all existing law enforcement.

Among them were some of the most dangerous men in American criminal history.

Such men as that legendary outlaw,

the terror of every Texas railroad.

Fares, please.

I'm the new conductor on the train.

Sam Bass is the name.

Shell out, folks, shell out all you got.

Travelin' comes high in Texas

when Sam Bass is running the train.

Right in the bag, ma'am.

Thank you, miss.

Lovely day, isn't it, ma'am?

Duke Fisher, a two-gun stop sign on any highway.

John Wesley Hardin, gentleman by birth,

lawyer by training,

killer by instinct.

Travis County has law and order now, Hardin.

What's the charge, Marshal?

Murder, mayhem, and highway robbery.

Unbuckle his belt, Joe.

David Rudabaugh, king of the cattle rustlers.

I'll only call you, Dave,

but I have the high hand, three aces.

You got the low hand now, partner.

And the Sundance Kid, at double-dealing gent

who only had one real friend,

the Sundance Kid.

Buff Smith, a good boy and bad company.

Hold them, Johnny, till I get mounted.

John Carver, the fastest gun in Texas.

Come on, Johnny.

Oh, Dad!

Dad!

Dad!

All right, folks.

All right. All right.

We'll take charge of them. They killed George Fenton.

Is that true, Miss Helen? Yes.

These men started shooting and my father fell right beside me.

Sorry, ma'am.

He stopped the last one the Sundance Kid threw at me.

You're just as much to blame.

You were in this together, thieves and murderers.

I'll see you hang for it.

Let's string them up right now!

Wait a minute. Let's do this according to law and order.

All right, boys, take him away.

To combat this lawlessness,

the state once again called into being the Texas Rangers,

demobilized since the beginning of the Civil War.

Major John B. Jones, a gallant officer of the Confederacy,

was placed in command.

And no finer body of fighting men was ever known.

Within two years,

Major Jones and his Rangers had brought law and order

to the far-flung borders of Texas.

It was then that Sam Bass called together

the remaining bandit leaders at one of his hideouts

in the Lampasas River region.

All right, gentlemen.

Now that we're all here, let's get down to cases.

I reckon you know that I didn't ask you way down here

just to have a sociable drink and smoke.

Now let's get to it, Sam.

I ain't aiming to spend the night in this swamp.

Hold your horses, Arkansas. I'm the dealer.

Boys, the way Major Jones and his Rangers are goin',

we're gonna be holed up in a worse place than this

if we don't do something about it, pronto.

Well, there's no argument there, Sam. What's your plan?

Organize, Wes.

Put everything we have into one pot.

Work some big jobs together.

Share and share alike.

Nah, I've always worked alone.

So have I, Arkansas.

We all like to play a lone hand.

But where is it getting us?

How's cattle rustling, Dave?

I haven't moved a steer in two months.

You ain't been doing so good either lately, have you, Sundance?

You, Duke?

Not you either, Butch.

And, uh, John,

they tell me the Rangers blew up that last bank job of yours.

Right my face.

I was lucky to get away.

There you are, boys.

I tell you, there's only one way to beat this Major Jones.

Working together, we can lick any Ranger outfit they send against us.

They've been busted up before, and we can do it again.

Before we're through,

we'll just about own this part of Texas.

Stock, lock, and barrel.

That's mighty big talk, Sam Bass.

Seems to me the kind of outfit you're proposing

has got to have a boss, ain't it?

That's right.

I reckon you figure on being it, ain't you, Sam?

Why you more than me?

I've pulled more and bigger jobs than you ever thought of.

You've taken on a big one now, Arkansas.

Let's see you pull it.

Boys,

here's to the Long Riders Self-Protective Association.

Sam Bass, President.

Major Jones, I'm not detracting

from the splendid services you and your Rangers

have rendered over the past two years.

But this Sam Bass

is making Texas the laughingstock of the nation.

Governor, Sam Bass has organized

the strongest band of outlaws on record.

Confound it, Major, he's operating practically within the shadow of the capital.

And what, may I ask, have you done about it?

We've tried to run him to cover, sir.

I've lost 30 good men within the last month.

Sam Bass strikes in one county today,

and reappears in another two days later.

The scoundrel is becoming a legend.

They're even signing ballads about him.

Look at my desk, sir.

Piled high with letters of complaint

and newspaper attacks on my administration.

Major, we've got to put Sam Bass out of business

before the legislature reconvenes.

That's a tall order, Governor.

It gives me less than a month.

But if you don't care of what methods I use...

Do it any way you can.

Only be on time, or there won't be any appropriation.

And that means the end of the Texas Rangers.

Carver and Smith in the soup again. What is it this time?

They slugged Keeper Hansen and tried to go over the wall.

Well, pump Carver out

and dry him off 'cause he's wanted at the warden's office.

Hello, Johnny.

Major Jones.

Excuse me, sir, I...

The warden's boys sort of got me

sun-blinded and waterlogged.

Here, here, sit down.

Thanks, sir.

It's good to see you.

It's always good to see an old friend.

Even in a place like this.

Looks like your luck kind of run out on you, Johnny.

Yeah, it's run out for good, I reckon.

What happened after the war?

You used to be one of the best platoon sergeants I had.

What went wrong?

Got home to find nothing but a stone chimney and a heap of charcoal

from a Yankee guerilla raid.

My ma and pa killed, kid brother wounded.

I got him taken care of, then I...

Then I joined up with the border raiders.

One thing led to another.

I reckon you know the rest.

It's too bad.

You'd have made a fine Ranger.

Not me.

I'd never help send a man to rot in a hole like this.

Twenty-three more years to go.

They might as well have made it life.

They did.

Nobody's ever lasted more than 10 years in here.

Sergeant, there's a new war on.

It's not like the one we fought together.

No flags waving, no bugle calls.

It's a war of extermination between my Rangers and the Sam Bass outfit.

I need your help.

What for?

You know all the outlaw trails and hideouts along the Lampasas River.

You used to be proud you were a Texan.

Here's a chance for you to strike a blow for your state.

I'm more interested in striking a blow for Johnny Carver.

What's in it for me?

A parole in my custody as a probationary Ranger.

The promise of a full pardon if you do a good job.

Who's all in this Sam Bass outfit you're talking about?

John Wesley Hardin,

David Rudabaugh,

Duke Fisher,

Butch Cassidy.

And the Sundance Kid?

That's right.

Could you get my pal Buff Smith out on this same kind of deal?

That was part of my understanding with the Governor.

Major, you've got yourself a couple of new Rangers.

Well, what do you know? How do you call that turn, Bob?

Beats me. Some haul the boss made.

Buff Smith and Johnny Carver, the fastest gun in Texas.

Yeah. Bonner.