Todd McCarron.
I wonder what he's up to now.
Well, there's only one way to find out.
Let's ask him.
Let's go.
Why the surveying, Todd?
Any law against surveying my own property line?
Never any doubt in our mind about its location.
Well, maybe there will be in the mind of the new owner.
You mean your father's selling out?
Not my father, me. To lend Keith.
Lend Keith?
I thought he only bought mining property.
That's what he thinks this could be.
Todd, we have a water rights agreement with your father on the use of this stream.
If Keith uses it for mining, it'll poison out some of our best bottom land.
Seems that's your worry, Ben, not mine.
Now, just a minute. Let go.
You Cartwrights have shoved us around for the last 20 years.
You're a liar.
Wait a minute.
There are ways to settle this.
As I see it, it's already been settled.
Hey, where you two been?
Old Hop's saying he had a real good meal fixed for me.
You decide not to let it go to waste and ate it all, huh?
How'd you know that?
What are you doing reading a book?
I care in training of dogs.
A little stray pup wandered in here and I've been trying to figure out how to take care of it.
I thought you were an expert on things like that.
Oh, Paul, there's a dang many new scientific ideas that natural know-how just ain't no good no more.
Well, as far as I'm concerned, you can say that about Todd McCarron, too.
I thought I knew him pretty well.
Why? What's the matter, Todd?
I don't know. Growing pains, likely.
Where's that Pontchart Virginia tobacco I got?
Don't look at me. I didn't smoke it.
I thought you were saving us tobacco for Andy McCarron's birthday.
I was, but no reason a man can't have a birthday a few days early.
I gotta ride over to Andy and have a talk with him about Todd.
Paul, wish Mr. McCarron a happy birthday for me, too, will you?
I will.
Who is it?
It's Ben, Andy.
Oh, come on in, Ben. The door's not locked.
Doggone, it's good to see you.
Doggone, good to see you, too, Andy.
Been a long time.
It has been. How are you feeling?
Oh, I'm practically stuck to this chair, but what's the difference?
Good to see you. I brought you some of that good southern tobacco.
Take the bite out of your pipe.
Thanks, Ben.
Hey, smells good.
This fire of yours feels good.
Ran into Todd today?
Yeah.
I turned the running of things over to him.
I had to face up to it.
I'm just not up to handling things anymore.
Todd was saying you're thinking some of selling out.
You know how kids are.
Always trying to get ahead fast, but I figure when it comes to selling,
he'll want to stay on this land as much as I do.
Well, I hope you're right, Andy.
I guess I got a little upset when he told me he was thinking of selling out to Len Keith.
Well, I'd be surprised if he mentioned any other name.
He's so sweet on Len Keith's daughter that, well, he doesn't know his own name half the time.
She's a fine girl.
Todd seemed pretty determined to sell.
That he is.
Ben, you have boys your own.
A man's got to let his son grow up, even if he doesn't always agree with him.
You're right there.
I was just thinking that if Keith ever did start mining operations on your property,
it would pile up the water in that stream to where it would poison half the cattle in my range.
Oh, it won't come to that, Ben.
I've got cattle of my own using that stream.
Well, we're getting older, Andy.
You are, that.
I remember when you brought your family here.
I figured that plan to share the water in that stream would outlast both our lifetimes.
It's the truth. So did I.
Well, I see you didn't waste any time, Mr. Cartwright.
Todd! Is that a way to behave?
I don't want people talking behind my back.
Ben came here to talk, not fight.
It won't hurt you to listen.
What for?
I know what he's going to say.
We're just one big happy family as long as he's the boss and we do what we're told.
You've been listening to that all of your life, Pa.
Todd, I've never known your father to back away from me or any other man, long as I've known him.
What's he doing?
Talking over old times so that you won't forget the little things you might owe him,
so you'll feel ashamed to let me sell out?
Todd!
He's been doing that to some of the others around here,
only they haven't had the belly to stand up to him.
That's enough!
Ben Cartwright's the best friend we ever had and you know it.
He's no friend of ours.
You apologize!
Andy, never mind.
No, Ben.
This is still my house and I won't have it shamed.
Your house, your land.
This wonderful land that killed Ma before her time and crippled you so you can hardly walk.
All right, keep it! Love it!
Rot on it for all I care!
Andy.
I'm afraid I'll have to apologize to you myself, Ben.
I figured that if I come by, I might help.
I guess it hurt more.
Andy.
We don't have too much ready cash in the Ponderosa this time of year,
what with it being tied up in the herd and all,
but if it's selling out that Todd is so concerned about...
Ben, you know how Todd would feel about any offer coming from you.
I suppose he'd just think I'd been waiting for the opportunity to buy you out.
Pretty sad thing when two old friends can't discuss business without their motives being questioned.
It's much deeper than that, Ben.
Len Keith has no intention of using this land for ranching.
He's offered Todd a partnership.
He's got the boy all fired up with ideas of becoming another silver baron.
Andy, do you believe deep down in your heart that there's any chance of silver on this land?
No, Ben, no more than you do.
No.
But Len Keith is a mining man, and he thinks there may be silver,
and he's got the boy thinking it too.
Doesn't Todd realize that Keith is just speculating?
That's what he always does, buys up as much land as he can possibly get a hold of
in the hopes that some of it will pay off.
Ruins the land.
He's ruined much more than land, Ben.
He's ruined many men with him on his way up.
And this time, it could be my son.
Wouldn't want that to happen, Andy, any more than you do.
Thank you, Ben.
Todd, I didn't expect you till this evening.
I have to see you, Father.
Is something wrong?
Yes.
Hello, Todd.
How's my future son-in-law?
Disgusted if you want to know the truth.
Oh, well, come on in and tell me about it.
Maybe I can help you.
What is it?
Mr. Keith, I can't sell out to you.
Why not?
Does your father feel that I didn't offer you enough of the property?
Oh, it's not that.
He made a water rights agreement with Ben Cartwright 20 years ago.
I see, the Cartwrights, eh?
What's the matter with them? I feel that we're going to muddy up their pretty little stream.
It's getting to be you can't make a move in this country without Ben Cartwright's permission.
Well, I suppose you can't blame a man for looking out after his own interests.
What about my interests?
Mine and Virginia's.
Where are we going to get the money to get married?
Todd, you know money isn't important to me as long as we're together.
My mother felt that way.
She died when she was 26 years old, helping my father try to make something of this land.
Todd, I can always find a job for you in one of my mining companies.
A man has to make it on his own, Mr. Keith. You ought to know that.
It's what you did, isn't it?
I certainly did.
That's the way I like to hear you talk.
Now, don't worry about it. I'm sure we can get your father to see it our way.
Not if Ben Cartwright's doing his thinking for him, we won't.
But the Cartwrights have always seemed like reasonable people to me.
You just know them in a social way, Virginia.
You've never dealt with them on a business level.
Don't worry. I'm not going to let Ben Cartwright stand in the way of the happiness of my two children.
Come here, Shorty. Come on, boy.
Come here, Shorty. Come on, boy.
Come on, puppy. Come on, Shorty.
Come on, Shorty, you pup.
Come on, Shorty. Come on, boy.
Come on, boy.
Nice puppy.
Come on, puppy.
Come on, puppy.
Come on here, Shorty. I'm going to give you a bath.
Get over there in that tub.
Come on, Shorty. Come on.
You're going to get a bath whether you want it or not.
Come on here, pup.
Come here to me.
Come here, pup.
Come on. Nice puppy.
Nice puppy. Come on, Shorty.
Come here, Shorty.
If you ain't the beefiest dang dog I ever seen all morning,
I've been trying to catch you just to put you in that bucket.
Pull that old outfit. Don't you know this is for your own good?
You load it down with them dang kicks, and I'm just trying to get them off of you.
That's all.
Poor little outfit, you.
Hi, brother.
Are you still playing nursemaid to that little dog you found?
Well, I can't hardly help it, none can I, if this poor little critter hangs around.
You smell something?
Oh, it's me.
Yeah, I was setting some traps for the wolves that were bothering the cattle.
Caught a skunk in one of them.
You sure did.
Look here, when I get through with old Shorty here, why don't you jump in?
That's gonna take a lot more than soap and water to get me clean.
Well, this here ain't ordinary soap.
This here soap's got sulfur in it.
I was over at Baker's flat the other day talking to that storekeeper,
telling him about old Shorty's wood ticks,
and he told me that stuff would take anything off.
Yeah?
Yeah.
It'll probably take my skin off, too.
Yeah.
Hi, Pa. You talk to Andy?
Yeah. Oh, Andy is going to want to that water agreement we had with him,
just as I thought he would.
I just can't figure out what got into Todd.
I can't either. Seems like he just doesn't want to get along with anybody.
Yeah.
But you two know what's wrong with Todd.
He's in love.
Well, I wish it were that simple.
Anybody smell skunk?
Oh, that's me, Pa.
I caught a skunk in one of the wolf traps.
Well, if you're gonna go to that social with us tonight,
I think you better start getting cleaned up now.
Yeah.
What, you think somebody will mind?
Yeah.
Listen, Adam, if Todd is at that social, I think he will be.
I'd rather talk with him, you know, as a friend.
Shorty, I know you ain't gonna never believe this,
but this here is real good for you.
Hey, now.
Once I have anything to do with it, we sure gonna have us a time tonight, ain't we?
Yeah, but you just remember what I told you.
You stand on your own feet, not the ladies.
Oh, you're a good one to be giving advice about the ladies.
What with, uh, Jenny Key for three years, and now old Todd's marrying her.
Well, I guess I just never got around to asking her.
Think you're a slow worker, ain't he, Paul?
Three years.
You deal with that, Brush?
You expecting somebody?
No.
Oh, hi.
Boss.
Hello, Ben.
Hi, Len.
Not interrupting anything, am I?
No, no, not at all. Just getting ready to go to the dance.
Ah, I'm taking Virginia in later myself.
Well, um, wonder if I could have a private little talk with you.
Yeah, let's go get the horses ready.
Well, sit down, Len.
Thanks.
So, what's on your mind?
Well, Todd McCarron came to see me, and he's all upset about what happened between him and his father.
Well, I was a little upset myself.
I'm very fond of Todd.
He's got a lot of character.
He's extremely ambitious.
Len, sometimes ambition can drive a young man in the wrong direction.
But I don't think that's true in Todd's case.
I consider him practically a member of the family.
I'd be pretty careful of whatever opportunities I put in his way.
Matter of fact, I wanted you to help me.
In spite of what's happened, Todd's got a great deal of respect for your opinion.
Well, perhaps that used to be so.
Well, of course he's a little high-strung, but you and I can understand that.
We were young once, too.
We saw what we wanted in life, and we went out and we took it.
Now, nowadays, a young fellow needs help to get started.
I'm doing what I can for Todd.
I thought you'd want to help, too.
That was a very nice speech, Keith.
Now, what did you really come to see me about?
Well, I don't want anything for myself.
I'm only here to help Todd.
But old Andy McCarron does pretty much what you ask him to, now, doesn't he?
Now, hold on.
Andy McCarron has a mind of his own, and he's very capable of using it.
Yes, but you've got to make him understand something.
By holding on to that land, he's jeopardizing his son's future.
Now, your interest and concern with Todd's future is most commendable.
I've watched you over a period of years, Len.
Making quite a lot of money, and ruin quite a bit of land, and quite a few people in the process.
I'm not going to help you ruin Todd McCarron.
I always try reasoning first, Ben.
If that doesn't work, I guess I can find some other way.
Boy.
Little Joe, you sure do smell better than you did this afternoon.
Well, thanks a lot.
A few gentlemen will excuse me.
Will you?
Of course.
Hey, boy, I'm going to see if I can't rustle me up on them little fillies.
Have you had a chance to talk to Todd yet?
No.
He's danced every dance with Virginia.
Excuse me, Adam, I think I've just found my filly.
Oh, Todd, you've danced my feet off.
Well, I wouldn't want to do that.
I can't spare any of you.
How about some more punch?
I'd love it.
Adam, you're not dancing.
I'm having too much fun watching you two.
You look very beautiful tonight, Virginia.
But thank you.
I'm glad you approve of my future wife.
You're lucky you proposed to her when you did.
When are you two getting married?
When your father decides to let me run my own business.
Todd, that was a rather unpleasant thing to say.
No, you didn't mean anything by it.
Didn't I?
Todd, let's dance.
Yes, I think that's a good idea.
Don't turn your back on me, Cartwright.
Look, if you're set on starting a fight, this isn't the place for it.
Oh, I think it is.
Todd!
Dad, Mr. Cartwright's dancing.
They're waiting.
All right, you two.
That's enough.
Todd, we don't want to fight you, boy.
And stay away from me.
All of you.
Dad, take me home.
All right, Virginia.
Come on, forget it, Adam.
Let's have a little music.
Dad, I shouldn't have walked out on Todd like that.
I ought to go back.
Well, this isn't the time, Virginia.
My advice is to just let him calm down a little.
Dad, sometimes I wonder if your advice for Todd and me is really any good.
Virginia, what have I ever told you that hasn't worked out for you?
I'm not talking about something you can put your finger on.
I'm talking about the way Todd has changed.
The way he looks at me, the way he acts.
Well, of course he's changed.
And all for the good.
He's turning into the kind of a man I'd be proud to have as a son-in-law.
But would I be proud to have him for a husband?
Virginia, if I've done anything at all to hurt you, believe me.
I'm glad you're still here.
I'd like to apologize.
It wasn't your fault, Adam.
Well, I'm glad you feel that way.
I don't think there's anything to be gained by discussing it any further.
Let's go on home.
Dad, I'd like to talk to Adam.
Not tonight, honey.
Excuse me, Mr. Keith.
I've got to talk to you.
Can't I wait till morning?
No, sir, I can't.
Well, go on in, honey. I'll be right in.
What is it, Tucker?
It's about the cattle you just bought.
The sun's come up. You better handle it.
That's enough, Roy.
After what he done, he could have poisoned half the men in your mind with them diseased cocks.
Where's the beef now?
I put them up in the North Corral.
I figure tomorrow I'll have them killed and buried.
Him along with them, if I had my way.
Take him outside, Roy.
And, Roy, not a word about this to anybody.
I suppose he claimed he didn't know the cattle were sick.
What do you think? He probably rustled them 20 head to begin with.
All of them diseased, huh?
Well, you can't have one cow with Texas fever without them all getting it.
They're crawling with ticks.
In other words, you put those sick cattle in with a healthy herd...
It spreads like wildfire.
I see.
Tucker, I want you to ride that man out of town tonight and make sure that he never comes back.
Make sure?
Well, Mr. Keith, there's only one way I know of to make sure.
I'll leave that up to you.
Tucker, don't kill off any of those sick cattle until I tell you to.
Well, what can you do with sick cattle?
I thought I might get big hearted and make a present of a couple of them to Ben Cartwright.
Well, you know what Cartwright would do if he ever caught us at it.
Don't let him catch you.
There's big stakes, Mr. Keith.
The biggest.
Cartwright's always had everything his way.
Let's see how he acts when he finds cattle being added to his herd instead of rustled away.
I know he took the first swing at you, but I don't know if that's the way to handle Todd.
I've watched both of you grow up and I have just as much confidence in him as I have in you.
No, you have, but I don't have Len Keith telling me what to do.
Virginia is Keith's only daughter.
I suppose you can't blame him for looking after her interests.
Look, Len Keith never made a move in his life that didn't benefit Len Keith first.
And I'll tell you something else, it isn't just a little piece of land he's after.
He's an ambitious man, there's no question about that.
The way he's extending his mining interests, it looks as if he wants to take over the whole Carson Valley.
Including the Ponderosa.
Adam, you and I both know that the Ponderosa is one piece of land he'll never get.
Dead bull. Looks like Texas fever.
Texas fever?
Yes, sir.
We bought Texas cattle before, they've always been clean.
You check the other stock?
A few more heads showed signs of sickness.
We cut them out of the herd.
Probably have to destroy them.
There's no probably about it, that tick fever plague could kill every head.
Not only in our range, it could kill every herd in the territory.
Poor critters, they don't even want to eat them.
Get, get, get out of here, get.
Get, get out of here.
Dang fool dog will have them ticks all over him.
Hoss, you remember that sulfur soap you used to wash down that dog?
Yes, sir.
Well, I'm thinking that, if that sulfur soap could wash the ticks off a dog, why not off cattle?
We can't scrub down every steer.
No, but we can, we can dig a pit between the two corrals.
Put in some water and a lot of sulfur, like a bath.
Run the herd through one at a time.
Oh, that'd take a powerful lot of sulfur.
Well.
I reckon I ought to have it up at Baker's flat. You want me to ride up there and see?
Yeah, you take the buck board and haul as much as you can carry.
Joe, you better get back to the herd, have the men cut out every head that even looks sick.
Right, Pa.
Adam, you and me better get started digging those pits.
They're up to something.
Nothing they can do but start killing cows.
Well, maybe.
We better stick with them and make sure.
Virginia, you shouldn't be in here.
Neither should you.
Todd, I looked all over town for you.
Everybody's staring at you.
Come on.
Todd, what's happened to us?
Jess doesn't like you, that fight with Adam.
What are you doing?
Taking sides with the Cartwrights like everybody else in this country?
Sides?
What sides, Todd?
Don't you see what they're doing to us?
Your father made me a good offer on that land.
Three times as much as it was worth.
Well, if I knew it was going to mean this much trouble, I'm sorry he did.
That's easy to say, but it's not so easy to live with.
Virginia, I want to amount to something.
I want you to be proud of me, the way you are of your father.
Todd, I'm proud of the man I fell in love with.
A ranching man trying to build something for the future.
He isn't mine.
Now, if he starts hitting people and getting drunk the first time things don't go his way, what...
I'll still love him because I can't help myself.
But I won't be proud of him for it.
I've had enough speeches, Virginia.
Please go on, honey.
I'll see you after a while.
It's wonderful to see you, Virginia.
Now that you're practically a part of the family, I never get to see you anymore.
Well, I've been meaning to get out to see you for a long time.
Oh, I know how it is, planning the wedding and everything.
You know...
It means a lot to me, having you for a daughter.
Virginia, are you and Todd having trouble?
Yes, we are, Mr. McCarron, and I just don't know how to handle it.
Now you know that all lovers have their little quarrels.
That's just the trouble. It isn't just a lover's quarrel.
It's something that involves you and my father and a lot of things I just don't understand.
Oh, so that's it.
It's about Todd selling this place, isn't it?
Why shouldn't he sell it?
Why should such a simple little business transaction stir up so much trouble?
It isn't a simple thing, Virginia.
It involves two different ways of looking at life.
It involves the cartwrights too, doesn't it?
Well, that's not the point I want to make.
I'm talking about the land and a man's attitude towards it.
Now, is this something to be torn up and cast aside?
Or is it a place with a future?
I mean a home for you and Todd and the children.
I told Todd that's all I wanted.
I wish my father could see it the way you do.
But he never will.
It's Todd that we must both be concerned about.
Now we must have faith in him and believe that he will do the right thing.
You're right. And I do have faith in Todd.
He's coming.
Did he see you?
I circled around.
He's got that buckboard loaded down with bags of sulfur powder.
What for?
I don't know. I asked the storekeeper at Baker Flat.
He said that cartwright fellow talked about washing his cows down with sulfur water.
I don't know what good that'd do.
But we better see to it that it don't happen anyway.
You stay here. Get your rifle and keep down out of sight.
Get on your gun and crawl out of there.
Come on.
Boss, you all right?
Yeah.
I'm right here now. Thanks for you coming along.
Hey, come on up. Give me a hand.
I was rounding up some strays and I heard the shots.
Figured I'd better check on it.
Looks to me like I've seen that fellow before. Have you?
Yeah, I think he works for one of the mining camps.
We better get that sulfur in. There's two more cows flopped over dead.
They're not from the Ponderosa.
Them sick cows ain't ours?
No, looks like it's not.
There's got to be a lot of sick ones from our place, though.
Let's get him in.
I'll get his horse.
I tell you, Roy's dead.
Did they see you?
Yeah, but they couldn't recognize me.
I can't take any chances.
You saddle up my horse and get back to the bunkhouse and stay there.
Keep out of sight.
Dad, your supper's getting cold.
I'm sorry, honey. Something's come up.
I've got to go into town.
But, Dad, do you have to go right now?
I've got to. It's important.
I just heard that a plague of Texas fevers hit the cattle around here.
I've got to warn Todd and the other ranchers.
I'll be right back.
Come on, let's go over here.
All right.
Are you drunk?
Virginia sent you to...
No, she didn't, but something pretty important came up.
I thought you ought to know about it.
You want a drink?
Now listen to me, will you?
I just heard that the plagues infected every head of beef on the Ponderosa.
Plague?
Texas fever.
Cartwrights are working right now to try to save every head they can before anybody finds out about it.
Texas fever?
How did it get started?
Well, who's the only outfit around here who trails in Texas cattle?
The Cartwrights.
That's just what I figured.
Something like this could be pretty dangerous, couldn't it?
It could kill every head of cattle in Carson Valley.
Is there any way of stopping it?
One way.
Kill the sick stock.
There's no other way of protecting ourselves?
None that I know of.
Unless we kill off all the Cartwrights' cattle.
They'd never stand still for that.
No, I guess not.
They showed that pretty plain.
What do you mean?
Well, a couple of my boys went up there yesterday.
They went up there to see how bad it was and try to help them out.
And the Cartwrights shot one of them down.
Shot him?
Why?
Well, that's pretty obvious, isn't it?
They're trying to keep word of the plague from spreading.
Does the sheriff know about the shooting?
The sheriff?
What good would that do?
He's afraid of the Cartwrights just like everybody else around here is.
Yeah.
Well, not me.
I'm not going to stand by and watch my cattle die like flies.
Don't do anything foolish.
You can't stand up to the Cartwrights all alone.
I won't have to.
Not this time.
No cattleman's going to stand by and watch his herds die off.
Cartwright or no Cartwright.
What if enough of the other ranchers went in with you to stand up again?
They'll go in.
I'll see to that.
I've been waiting for you.
I've been wanting to talk to you.
Well, I'm in a hurry.
I'm sorry I hit you.
There was no call for it.
It doesn't make any difference.
But it does make a difference.
I want to talk to you.
Well, later.
What are you doing?
We got trouble.
What kind of trouble?
I can handle it.
Don't turn your back on me.
Tell me about it.
I haven't got time.
I've got work to do.
Does it involve the Cartwrights?
Doesn't everything in this country involve the Cartwrights one way or another?
I have a right to know what it's all about.
There's tick fever on the Ponderosa.
I've got to get to the other ranches and warn them so we can stop it from spreading to our stock.
Tick fever?
How did it get started?
It must have come in on one of the herds the Cartwrights brought up from Texas.
Did you talk to Ben Cartwright?
One of Len Keith's men tried to.
They shot him down.
I don't believe it.
I didn't expect you to.
Todd, you're declaring war.
Ben Cartwright did that when he brought in that sick herd.
I'm not going to let you do it.
Pa, I've got to.
I'm going to let you do it.
This is that bushwhacker's horse we brought back.
Take a close look at him.
There's ticks all over him.
This horse was with tick-infested beef before it got here.
Then that dead man could have told us how this plague got here.
Did you find out who he was?
Well, he had a...
had a letter on him addressed to a Roy Wilkins.
I forget there was another man with him.
Adam, maybe you'd better get to Virginia City.
See if you can track this other man down.
If you can, bring him out here.
Toss.
Cleaned him up, huh?
Come on, let's get back.
All right, Frank.
Let him through again.
That's time to work.
Let him through again. That's time to work.
Hello, Adam.
Give me a whiskey, Cosmo.
Yes.
You owe me, uh, a light.
I'll give you a chance to get even later.
Something on your mind?
You know a man named Roy Wilkins?
Roy Wilkins?
Sure, I've seen him in here.
Who does he work for?
I don't know.
Hasn't been around here very long.
As a matter of fact, the only times I've ever seen him,
he's always been with a fellow named Tucker.
Works for Len Keith.
Len Keith.
Thanks.
Come on.
Adam, I thought it was my father.
Evening, Jenny. Isn't he here?
Well, no, he's in town.
You know a man named Roy Wilkins?
Wilkins? There's a man named Roy I know.
He's a friend of Tucker's.
Who's Tucker?
Well, he's Pa's foreman.
He lives in that shack on the other side of the storeroom.
Adam, what is it?
Well, there's Roy Wilkins and one other man.
Maybe Tucker, I'm not sure.
Tried to kill my brother this afternoon.
That's impossible. Those men work for my father.
Excuse me.
Hello, Tucker.
You're one of them Cartwrights, ain't you?
That's right.
You know a man named Roy Wilkins?
What do you want here, Cartwright?
I want the man who was with Wilkins when they tried to ambush my brother.
I don't know anything about it.
And you wouldn't mind coming back to town with me and telling that to the sheriff, huh?
No. I wouldn't mind.
I thought you missed him.
Dad! Adam, is he...
Yeah, he's dead.
I wanted him alive. I was hoping he could tell me something.
Tell you what, Adam?
You think fast, Mr. Keith.
I think I shot fast a while ago.
But when this plague trouble is settled, we're gonna have a talk.
I wish you hadn't seen this, Virginia.
I'm sorry I had to see as much as I did.
I had to protect Adam. Tucker would have killed him.
Tucker had already dropped his gun. You killed him deliberately.
Oh, you're all upset. Now go on in to the house.
You can't send me away like a little girl, Dad.
Don't try to understand it, you hear me?
Now go on back in to the house.
Now I'm right and you all know it.
If it was one of us had a sick herd on the range, the Cartwrights would be the first to yell, burn him out.
That ain't so.
The Cartwrights should have killed off his whole herd without us having to meet and talk about doing it for him.
You can't expect him to kill off healthy beef.
Who's to say what's healthy and what's not?
Now the Ponderosa's rich. It's got timber and enough money to restock its range.
Most of us live on the beef we raise each year.
Now if we lose our herds, where's the money coming from to pay off the bank loans, to feed our families, to even get started again?
You really aim to ride against the Ponderosa?
If I didn't fight for my land and what's on it, I wouldn't hold myself much of a man.
Anyone else feels the same way is welcome to ride with me.
We're with him, ankle man.
Not me.
All right. We'll meet at the north end of town, just after sunup.
Every man bring a rifle and be ready to use it.
That's it then.
Tart, what are they going to do?
Well, the Cartwright cattle are diseased. They're a danger to the whole range.
So we're heading out to the Ponderosa in the morning to settle it one way or another.
You mean to fight the Cartwrights?
It looks that way.
Do you know how this plague got started?
It doesn't matter how it got started.
We just can't risk a plague spreading from one place to another.
I'm sure you know.
I'm sure you know.
I'm sure you know.
I'm sure you know.
It doesn't matter how it got started. We just can't risk a plague spreading throughout the whole territory.
Todd, I think my father brought that plague to the Cartwright herd deliberately.
Did he tell you that?
Adam thinks so too, only he can't prove it.
I already told you it doesn't matter who started the plague.
Todd, it does matter. The Cartwrights aren't at fault.
They've been your friends for years and what they need now is help, not threats.
Virginia, we have to look after our own interests.
That's what my father tells me.
For years that's what he told me. Every time he was doing something, he was ashamed of.
You're beginning to sound just like him.
I know what I have to do.
Yes, you do.
But don't pretend it's to help those poor ranchers.
It's just a fast way to make Todd McCarron a big man.
Virginia, I don't like what you're saying.
Then stop this before it goes any further.
It's too late now.
The End
Paul, is the dipping doing any good?
Funny, I was just thinking about that.
I certainly hope so.
You know what our cash situation is?
We would lose any of our herds right now if it couldn't wipe us out.
Ride on out and see how the boys are doing with that herd in the north quarter.
We'll give Hawson and little Joe a hand with the other herd.
Hey, bring him up!
Come on in!
Well, we got more trouble than plague, Paul.
What now?
Todd McCarron and Len Keith have got everybody around here stirred up.
There's a bunch of them riding this way and they're all armed.
Don't they realize we're doing everything we can?
Paul, it's a mob. They're not going to stop and think.
They claim they're going to kill every head of cattle on our range.
Then we'd better make them stop and think.
Ride over to the house and get our rifles.
Who is it?
Virginia.
Oh, come in, Virginia.
Well, what are you doing away out here, lass?
Mr. McCarron, you've got to do something. Todd...
What's he up to?
He didn't come home last night.
They're riding on the Ponderosa, Mr. McCarron.
Todd is leading them. You've got to stop him.
Stop him? How can I?
He's a grown man. He's got to make his own decisions.
Mr. McCarron, I have no place else to turn. I love Todd.
I thought you loved him, too.
Unless you do something, we're both going to lose him.
An old man like me.
How can I help him now?
Now is the time that counts, Mr. McCarron.
Now is when he needs your help more than any other time in his life.
Good. Keep moving.
Get your guns.
Order man!
Get your guns!
Remember, boys, no shooting unless I say so.
How do we know they want to talk?
We want to talk.
Morning, Todd.
You suddenly become a rancher, Mr. Keith?
I don't owe you any explanations, Cartwright.
You're the one to do the explaining, Ben. You brought the Texas cattle in.
They're no ticks on the ones we dipped.
You want to ride in peaceful and see, you're welcome.
A lot of wet cows don't mean they won't all fall over tomorrow.
No, it doesn't.
But if any of them come down with a fever, I'll kill every head that gets it.
That may be too late, even if you do what you say.
You doubting my Paul's word, mister?
Easy, Hoss.
I'm not going to try to take over my herd. You know there's going to be fighting.
Men on both sides.
Men we've known a long time.
Could get hurt. Maybe even get killed.
That'll be on your head, Cartwright.
Now get out of the way.
Todd, you know better than trying to bluff me down.
This is no bluff.
Don't anybody else move.
Shoot him down, Todd. We'll back you up.
Todd, stop it.
You stay out of this, McCarron.
Keep away, Pa. This is between Adam and me.
If you're going to make me do it, I'll do it.
I'm not going to let you do it.
I'm going to make you do it.
Keep away, Pa. This is between Adam and me.
If you're going to make a killer of yourself, you better start with me.
Your son picked his side, McCarron.
You've got no right to be here.
Pa, don't you know everything we've got is at stake?
I know that better than any other man here.
Jameson, I passed by your spread coming here.
Your stock's down with fever.
Some of the others are also.
Son, you better go home and take care of our herd.
They're coming down a little bit fast.
I told you what would happen.
And you can blame the Cartwrights for it.
That's what we come here for.
Wait a minute.
You can kill off every head in the Ponderosa, but what good will that do you?
I tell you, that sulfur dip's working.
It's saving our beef. It can do the same for yours.
It's the only chance any of you have. You better take it.
You still handing out orders, Cartwright?
Don't back down from them.
Make up your mind, Todd. Whose side are you on? Ours or the Cartwrights?
You don't have a side, Dad, except your own.
He doesn't care about your cattle.
He's only trying to destroy you so he can take your land.
We're not talking about land. We're talking about plague.
So am I, Todd. My father started it.
Virginia, you don't know what you're talking about.
She knows what she's talking about, all right.
Her father killed Jim Tucker just to keep him quiet.
Adam!
Dad?
Virginia, I...
Dad?
That offer still goes.
Bring your healthy cattle over here and we'll run them through that sulfur dip.
Does that go for the McCarran family too, then?
Of course it does.
If it's all right with you, Todd.
Yeah, get that one turned around.
That's it.
Well, that's the last of the McCarran steers, Todd.
Well, I'd kind of like to stay and help with the rest.
Hey, what do you say we take a break for some coffee?
Good idea.
Hey, Hoss, come on, coffee.
You two are going to make mighty fine neighbors.
Thanks, Ben.
Thanks, Ben.