Riders of the Rio Grande

[first lines]

[reading the plaque on a statue]

Older Boy:
"Timothy Owens, Founder of Owensville"

Younger Boy:
What does it mean "founded it"? Was it losted?

Pop Owens:
When we rode you out of town, Skelly, it was on a one-way ticket and that still holds.

Sam Skelly:
Mr. Owens, it just happened that I have business to attend to here.

Pop Owens:
I doubt that. We don't do business with gamblers and gunmen. We leave that to Canyon City.

Sam Skelly:
Well, at least Canyon City has life it in. They bury their dead instead of letting them roam the streets.

[the Three Mesquiteers enter a rough-looking saloon]

Stony Brooke:
Three sarsaparillas.

[One of the Cherokee Boys breaks the Mesquiteers' three bottles of pop]

Sarsaparilla, 1st 'Cherokee Boy':
Had enough Sarsaparilla?

Stony Brooke:
Just enough!

[a barroom brawl ensues and the Three Mesquiteers knock out the bad guys]

Barfly:
That Sarsaparilla is powerful stuff!

[Owens mistakes the Three Mesquiteers for the villainous Cherokee Boys]

Stony Brooke:
Let's get this straight. You want somebody killed and you're willing to pay a $1000 for the job?

Pop Owens:
That's it, and I hired you killers to ensure against any bungling. The man must be killed expertly and painlessly and not later than tomorrow.

Tucson Smith:
Who's the man?

Lullaby Joslin:
Yeah, we gotta warn him.

Pop Owens:
Warn him?

Tucson Smith:
Uh, sure! We always give 'em a sportin' chance. We like to do things the hard way.

Pop Owens:
This time I don't want the man warned.

Stony Brooke:
Who is he?

Pop Owens:
The man I want killed is... me.

[the Cherokee Boys try to ambush the Three Mesquiteers]

Tucson Smith:
It's those guys hauntin' us again!

Lullaby Joslin:
We'll show 'em what happens when the Cherokees meet their ghosts!

[when Tom Owens mistakes the Mesquiteers for the Cherokee Gang, the Sheriff arrests them]

Stony Brooke:
Why he's crazy. The guys we plugged back on the road are the real Cherokees!

The Sheriff:
I'll settle for the Cherokees we got. Head 'em for jail!

Lullaby Joslin:
Your tombstones are gonna read, "Here lie the Cherokee Boys" and mine will read, "I Told You So!"

Sarsaparilla, 1st 'Cherokee Boy':
Me and Thumber and Butch are the original and only Cherokees. These hombres are impersonatin' us and you know, Sheriff, that ain't legal!

Janet Owens:
You're right, it ain't!

[Janet slaps Skelly]

Janet Owens:
And that's for impersonating a gentleman.

[last lines]

Pop Owens:
Thank you, boys, for this Owens family reunion. You know, I don't think I made such a bad mistake in hiring you after all!