Trackdown

Narrator:
Alpine was like a hundred other towns in Texas. The only thing it had that most others didn't was a railroad spur that connected it to the main line in the southern Pacific. There is nothing unusual about this day in Alpine except that Hoby Gilman, a Texas Ranger, rode in.

Narrator:
Alpine is a prosperous town again, but now there's a fine air of security about it. It's a nice town to live in, because they discovered as Hoby said they would, that when it got off it's knees, it cast a much bigger shadow than it thought it did. The people of Alpine feel a lot different about a lot of things now, especially Texas Rangers.

Hoby Gilman:
I've been bottle clubbed and drawn on, and you figure my life worth three dollars?

Lute Borden:
Cut you a high card at five dollars.

Hoby Gilman:
What for? If you won, you wouldn't have any place to spend it.

Lute Borden:
Well, I bet you this time tomorrow I'll be at a bar with a pretty girl on each arm.

Hoby Gilman:
You are, and I'll buy the drinks.

Rafe Borden:
You know Hoby, there's only one difference between you and me. All the men you've killed, you've hidden behind the lawman's badge. I ain't that particular.

Wong:
I do not understand this respect for a man who is skilled with a gun, a man capable of killing. I have seen your people respect such a man, Mr. Gilman, but I do not understand why.

Hoby Gilman:
I think the people of this town oughta take a look at the law book. Maybe even glance at the Constitution. I don't remember anything in there about special rules to take care of certain people just because they happen to be different. Says everybody's equal. I believe that was made up by a group of men in 1776, and at that time you could have called any of them foreigners.

Henrietta Porter:
You just gave me a sub-heading though: 'Misguided Texas ranger protects the wrong man."

Stan Elliott:
Pushing his luck didn't bury him. He was trying to push the rangers. They push back.

Narrator:
Hoby Gillman had a vaction coming. He'd had it coming for over three years. But each time he'd gotten into the packing stage, there'd been an interruption. This day was no different. At three minutes after eight on June 16, he'd gotten a message from Sheriff Joe French in Houston, TX. Hoby didn't bother to unpack. He left for town.

Hoby Gilman:
It's been a long trail, Sam.

Hoby Gilman:
What happened to the money you got from the train robbery?

Sam Bass:
Gone too... all but this... twenty dollars.

Hoby Gilman:
Don't seem hardly worth it.

Sam Bass:
Just can't figure it... Several robberies we commit... Several... And I wind up with a twenty dollar gold piece and a .44 in the stomach. That's pretty bad pay. Don't figure... Sure don't figure...

Hoby Gilman:
Joker, where are you going?

Joker Wells:
Someplace where there are a lot of people.

Hoby Gilman:
People mean trouble.

Joker Wells:
Well, it sure beats being alone. See, I don't like what I stand for better than anybody else.

Hoby Gilman:
Bobby Carlyle, huh? I don't suppose anybody calls you Robert?

Narrator:
...A town so quiet just didn't seem natural to Hoby. He was on his way to San Saba. He thought it would be a good idea to stop by and say hello to Judge Tolliver, real stickler for letter of the law; though not a bad sort. Then there was ol' Doc Rivers... kindly ol' gent. Doc sure knew his way around a bullet hole; fixed up Hoby's shoulder once, good as new.

Narrator:
The law was a new thing then and Hoby Gilman was all for it. But sometimes the law came pretty high. That day in Lampasas, the law cost him a friend. Hoby would have sworn along with all the others that ol' Doc Rivers couldn't hurt a fly.

Lance Connors:
It doesn't make no difference, just as long as we got a hanging by sundown. The right man this time.

Hoby Gilman:
Is that all you got in your head is hanging? Is that all this town thinks about is hanging?

Lance Connors:
We're sure we got the right man this time.

Hoby Gilman:
You are, huh? Just like before.

Narrator:
The trail had been a long one. For three months, Ranger Hoby Gillman had tracked Blane Sand through the wastelands of Eastern Texas. Six weeks before his capture, Sand had picked up his son, Jeremy. From then on, the two had ridden together. The man and boy were taken to El Paso where Sand was to stand trial for robbery and murder.

Narrator:
Tomorrow it might change. The boy might be right back where he was. But Hoby knew one thing for sure: Jeremy got another look at life. That's all that was really needed.

Narrator:
Stony Buckram got exactly what he deserved. He was tried, found guilty, executed, and forgotten.

Narrator:
In a way the irony of the whole thing came full circle. In the end, it wasn't the boy who gave his father away - it was the man himself.

Banker Jeb Stevens:
Gillman, what's going on here?

Hoby Gilman:
Well, I didn't think you wanted your vault broken into.

Henrietta Porter:
You were talking about the Bible.

Hoby Gilman:
Huh? Oh well, uh...

Bart McCallin:
It's simple, Mrs. Porter. I didn't want to play Cain to my Brother's Able. Then I thought I had to. Only Mr. Gilman here decided I had another way out. I had to play my Brother's Keeper.

Hoby Gilman:
I'll have to take her word for her wedding like I take your word for yours.

Ralph:
You know, it's none of my business, but you oughta try to live like everybody else in Porter.

Hoby Gilman:
How's that?

Ralph:
You know, it's none of my business, but you oughta try to live like everybody else in Porter.

Doc Jay Calhoun:
You know Hoby, maybe Ralph's correct. We've been living too fast.

Hoby Gilman:
Well, you're the doctor. I'm ready to slow down... right now. Good night.

Ralph:
Night?

Hoby Gilman:
I'll wait... for the killer who's coming after me.

Henrietta Porter:
How will you know him?

Hoby Gilman:
By the gun he's shooting at me with.

Hoby Gilman:
Ralph, you're a lucky man. If your horse didn't know his way home, you'd be half way to California by now.

Henrietta Porter:
You do that Hoby Gilman and I'll never speak to you again - or mention you kindly in print.

: You couldn't blame the folks for laughing. A Texas Ranger riding into town with a baby in his arms wasn't what you would call an everyday site. Especially a town like Sweetwater. But even in Sweetwater, folks have babies, even if there are lots of better towns to raise a kid in. And this is the first time a ranger ever delivered one, all wrapped up in a nice neat package - it sure looked peculiar.

Tenner Smith:
I figure there are two things that cause a man to worry: those he can do something about, and those he can't.

Hoby Gilman:
Oh, well that's pretty profound.

Tenner Smith:
Well, the things he can help, he should go to work on. The others he can't do anything about, so why force it?

Hoby Gilman:
You're going to jail

Tenner Smith:
On what charge?

Hoby Gilman:
Making the worse coffee in Texas.

Hoby Gilman:
You stay here in town, sooner or later I'm gonna have to come after you.

Tenner Smith:
Maybe. But I've got one thing going for me. I'll know you're coming.

Doc Calhoun:
Death lies at the bottom of the cup, and everyone who lives must drink it up.

Doc Calhoun:
There's a critical percentage in every epidemic. Once you reach that limit, there's no stopping it.

Narrator:
There's no more unwelcome duty then waiting in a room for a man to die, especially when that room is full of hate and greet and suspicion. Then the waiting becomes a tight thing - like a noose around the throat.

Narrator:
Big Bend, Texas wasn't much of a town - a wide spot on a road where cattlemen and ranchers met and lived. The wealth that ran underground hadn't been discovered yet and most people still believed that the only way to live good was to work hard. One man who didn't go along with this thought was Josh Randall. Josh had ridden a long road. He'd came half way across Texas, but he had a special reason to be in Big Bend.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
We both got the same kind of job. Sure, we're both on the same side of the fence. The only difference is you bring 'em in for the law and I do it for the reward.

Hoby Gilman:
There's one other difference.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
What's that?

Hoby Gilman:
I don't enjoy it.

Narrator:
Sometimes he ran into people like that. They had the wrong idea, but it didn't pay to try and put them straight. Bounty hunting wasn't too bad a way to live. You got to see a lot of the country. You met a lot of people and it was better than digging in the dirt or standing on his feet all day back of a bank counter. It was a living and now and then a good one. His income came from finding lost brothers and runaway husbands. Josh liked the life and it seemed to like him.

Sheriff:
[after Josh tears down the wanted poster] That poster was put up there for people to see.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
I saw it.

Sheriff:
I don't have another copy.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
I do. [Pats shirt pocket] There's no reason for anybody else to see that. Nate Phillips belongs to me.

Sheriff:
You know where he is?

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
Not to pin point, but I'll find him.

Sheriff:
The world's a large place.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
Not that large. If there's a place a man can lay down his feet... I'll find him.

Sheriff:
What'll happen to him when you do find him?

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
Maybe we should talk about that, Sheriff.

Sheriff:
Why?

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
If I told ya, you'd run me right out of town!

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
After all, we both got the same kind of job.

Hoby Gilman:
Oh?

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
Sure. We're both on the same side of the fence. The only difference is you bring them in for the law, and I do it for the reward.

Hoby Gilman:
Well, there's only one difference.

Josh Randall - Bounty Hunter:
How's that?

Hoby Gilman:
I don't enjoy it.

Hoby Gilman:
Who are you to decide what's important? There's a woman beat down in the dirt and I'm supposed to bring in a murderer. I don't know where he is or who. All I got is a name Joel and nobody in this town seems to know him Except every time his name is brought up in front of you, your sister or the doc, I get a lot of funny looks. Now, I'm tired and sleepy. I want some talk that doesn't begin with 'I don't know.' Now, who is this Joel, and where do I find him?

Hoby Gilman:
If you're going to worry about your teeth another minute, I'm gonna hand them to ya.

Hoby Gilman:
You're under arrest for aiding and abetting a prisoner to escape.

The Sheriff:
Under what authority?

Hoby Gilman:
[Throws badge on the bar without taking his eyes off the sheriff] Under the State of Texas. And I have papers if you want to see them.

Dingo Noble:
I'm looking for... nevermind, I got the answer.

Hoby Gilman:
I didn't get the question.

Dingo Noble:
Are you Hoby Gilman?

Dingo Noble:
My, my he makes a lot of noise for a skinny one, don't he?

Hoby Gilman:
So does a buffalo gun, but it does the job.

Judge Clement:
When we were kids, we were afraid of the dark. And when we grew up we weren't afraid anymore, but it's funny how a big lie can make us all kids again.

Hoby Gilman:
Where were you last night?

Adam Madson:
Do you mean it?

Hoby Gilman:
I wouldn't have asked if I didn't.

Hoby Gilman:
Well Doc, I'm afraid there's only one way hypnotism is going to do me any good.

Doc:
What's that?

Hoby Gilman:
To make somebody believe this all really happened.

Sheriff Eden Lake:
Is he dead?

Hoby Gilman:
It doesn't make much difference, does it? He's gonna end up the same way.

Norval Franklin:
I don't know if I can live without her. I don't know if I want to even try.

Hoby Gilman:
It's alright, Franklin, you won't have to.

Hoby Gilman:
If anything happens to Smith, I'll peel the skin right off your back, braid it into a rope, and hang you with it, you hear?

Tenner Smith:
He was dead by the time he hit the floor.

Hoby Gilman:
He was dead by the time he hit town.

Dan Loring:
Mr. Gilman, I'm sure sorry!

Hoby Gilman:
I thought you was supposed to be a prized shot.

Dan Loring:
Well, what I should've mentioned is I might be a might off on the first one.

Hoby Gilman:
I'm glad.

Henrietta Porter:
Oh, they've got a new Marshal up at Dodge. It's about time. That town's a real sin trap. No fit place to live.

Hoby Gilman:
Sometimes I wonder who carried the dirt in this town before I came.

Coroner Petrie:
It is the verdict of this inquiry that the death of Gerald York was incurred as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted while he was trying to resist arrest. There will be no further business at this hearing, and I so declare this hearing to be closed. Your free to go, Mr. Gilman. Legally, you're within your rights as a law enforcement officer. There's one thing that should be determined by the court, however, and that's the actual guilt or innocence of Gerald York. I have no part in that. And you can be thankful that it's out of my jurisdiction. In the mean time, I intend to recommend to Austin that you be removed from your post here as soon as possible. I see no reason to condone an individual that wears the badge of a lawman over the heart of a gunman.

Narrator:
Ranger Hoby Gilman had been trailing the Marple Brothers for three weeks. They were wanted for robbery and murder in Tahoka. Ranger Gilman and his partner, Sam Talbot had tracked them from La Mesa, the Big Spring, to Sterling City. In a showdown at Sterling City, Ranger Talbot is fatally wounded, and one of the Marple Brothers is critically hurt. With one of the brothers wounded, it was logical to assume the Marple Brothers would head for Stockton, the only town where they could hope to find a doctor.

Lucy Franklin:
Maybe it isn't Jed's fault that he turned out this way. Maybe he HAD to shoot.

Hoby Gilman:
Seven times?

Narrator:
An odd sight: a man with a gun and a man with the soil side by side. But perhaps not so odd. Never has it been truer than in the American West where progress made strange bed fellows.

Narrator:
When Hoby Gilman regained consciousness, he had a man sized headache and very little else. His gun was gone along with his horse and the stranger he had befriended. A bitter reward for an act of compassion.

Narrator:
Hoby Gillman had been on these assignments before, guarding prison wagons on their way to the penitentiary. None of them were good. This one was worse than most.

Dutchy Hoffman:
As long as Travis hasn't shown, I'm satisfied.

Hoby Gilman:
That's the one thing that worries me.

Dutchy Hoffman:
You go to your church, I'll go to mine... on second thought, I think I guess I'll go to yours but I won't like it. Take a look.

Narrator:
Jim Martin bought himself a gun. That would be comical under ordinary circumstances because Jim Martin didn't know which end of the gun the bullets came out of. It was Hoby's job to see that the comedy didn't become a tragedy.

Tenner Smith:
Men like you, Mr. Gilman, make living out here possible. Men like the teacher make life worth living.

Hoby Gilman:
That's a rotten thing for him to do after her going through all that trouble.

Aaron Adams:
Well, he told her he's sick.

Hoby Gilman:
Well, if he's not, he's sure gonna be!

Rex Carlson:
Are you gonna tell me what this is all about?

Hoby Gilman:
If you don't know about it, you won't have to worry.

Rex Carlson:
And if I do?

Hoby Gilman:
Mister, I'm gonna take those pretty teeth of yours and feed them to you one at a time.

Hoby Gilman:
A woman alone is hard enough to figure out, let alone a woman in love.

Hoby Gilman:
Mind if I ask why?

Sheriff:
Nope.

Hoby Gilman:
[after a long pause] WHY?

Hoby Gilman:
It sure was inconsiderate for Luke to get himself murdered, wasn't it?

Rose:
My life's finished without him! Why didn't you finish the job? Why didn't you shoot me too? What'll I do? Where do I go?

Hoby Gilman:
Probably to jail. But I wouldn't worry about it, you'll probably get off easy. You might even get a reward for him.

Rose:
Reward? That's right! I killed a wanted man. He's wanted in Oklahoma, New Mexico, as well as in Texas. There's a lot of rewards. And I'll get them, all of them.

Hoby Gilman:
You might.

Rose:
I will. And don't think you can cheat me out of them. I'm gonna get everything that's coming to me.

Hoby Gilman:
Anyway, let's hope so.

Clint Serle:
[holding gun on Hoby] It's payday and it's your turn at the window.

Mrs. Doby:
You treat your wife like an animal. Go sleep in the barn. You won't know the difference!

Ed:
Ever since those two came to town, my wife did me a favor by fixing me breakfast.

Tenner Smith:
You know the men in this town sure don't know much about women.

Hoby Gilman:
Oh, and you do, huh?

Tenner Smith:
I know enough not to make things important in front of them. Now, you take this vote business for instance. Do you think the women in this town are raising all this trouble because they want to vote? No. It's because we tell them they can't vote. If you give them the right to vote as if they deserve it, they'll throw it right back at ya. Because they'll feel it's so unimportant they don't want any part of it. But they'll win out anyway...

Henrietta Porter:
Women should have the right to vote. Women should be in politics. They can't do any worse than you men!

Hoby Gilman:
Being a woman, Mrs. Howard, if Mr. Townsend promised to marry and then through you over, what would you do?

Mary Howard:
I'd kill him. Does that answer your question?

Hoby Gilman:
Yeah, I guess it does.

Hoby Gilman:
...Sit tight.

Red Bolton:
Sit tight? In a town where YOU'RE the only law?...

Hoby Gilman:
If you call a man a friend, I think you owe him a four day ride.