Alias Smith & Jones: The Story of Two Pretty Good Bad Men

by Sandra K. Sagala

  Indeed, when Heyes and Curry (and the viewers) first meet Tom McGuffin, his story seems so straightforward and credible that any diversion from it appears to be a non-truth. It turns out that his version is false and Kate’s and the three treasury agents’ stories are true. If one has not been playing close attention, by the end of the program, it’s possible to be as confused as Curry. One line in the first draft highlights this confusion. Having been sent to Kate’s home by McGuffin, Heyes and Curry wait outside, watching for her return. Curry is trying to get the players straight, averring that he’s glad they never went in for “this kind of work. At least with banks and railroads, you knew who was who…the banks were the bad guys and we were the good guys. Or, uh, — vice versa…” [57]

  Several changes were made from the first draft of the script to the finished version. When the boys decide they have fallen into a nest of thieves but are only innocent bystanders, they have to telegraph Lom Trevors. The telegram includes the information that they’ve got jobs in Oak Flat. Between sending the message and receiving one back, they really do get jobs — peeling potatoes for a café. In the early script, instead of Kate concealing the plates mid-stream under a pile of rocks, she’s hidden them under a “huge, helter-skelter pile of battered bricks” among some adobe ruins. When Curry helps Heyes move them, it provides him the opportunity to mumble about “a woman with muscles.” The boys and Kate have it easier in the aired version as far as catching the departing steamboat. Originally, the boat had already left and they had to ride another twenty miles downriver to board the boat when it came ashore at Whitman’s Landing. [58]

  Once again, even this late in the series, it’s shades of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. When Heyes and Curry see Kate jump over the rail into the water, they know they have to follow. Curry asks his partner if he can swim and before Heyes can answer, Curry has jumped into the water. The problem is that, just like Sundance, Heyes can’t swim. However, when he sees the Treasury agents bearing down on him, he climbs over the rail and follows Curry into the water. “Did you say ‘no’?” Curry asks as he treads water near where Heyes jumped in, “Then what are you doin’ here?” Heyes’s reply — “Learning how to swim.” [59]

  Witness to a Lynching

  “So what do we do now? Get out of Wyoming and write Lom we’re sorry we lost his witnesses?”

  Kid Curry

  STORY: JOHN THOMAS JAMES

  TELEPLAY: NICHOLAS E. BAEHR

  DIRECTOR: RICHARD BENNETT

  SHOOTING DATES: OCTOBER 26, 27, 30, 31, NOVEMBER 1, 2, 1972

  ORIGINAL US AIR DATE: DECEMBER 16, 1972

  ORIGINAL UK AIR DATE: DECEMBER 31, 1973

  Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry ride into town and make their first stop the telegraph office. Barely able to scrape up the eighty-five cent fee, they wire Lom for an update on their amnesty. To their dismay, Lom responds with an urgent summons to Nolan’s Rising Sun Ranch in southern Wyoming, an area they try to avoid.

  Traveling as if a posse were chasing them, the boys head for Wyoming. Lom meets them at the ranch, complains they took their own sweet time, then stalks into the cabin. Puzzled by his manner, the boys follow. Heyes and Curry’s arrival is noted by two men with binoculars.

  Lom introduces the boys as Joshua Smith and Thaddeus Jones, two of the most competent men he knows, to Doctor Amos Snively and his daughter Cybele. Doc Snively is delighted they’ll be with them night and day.

  Outside, Lom explains he’s got the Snivelys in protective custody and someone is sure to try to get them away from the ranch or even kill them. He figures the boys have the guts and know-how to protect them. If they fail him, they can forget about their amnesty. Then Lom softens and offers them $100 apiece to do the job before continuing the story. Doc and Cybele witnessed a rancher named Rosswell lynch a homesteader for legally settling on a nice piece of range Rosswell claims as his own. He lynched a man before and that time the witnesses suddenly disappeared. Lom doesn’t want that to happen to the Snivelys so he’s putting them in Heyes and Curry’s hands. Rosswell has already tried breaking them out of jail and bribing them. With one last warning that the Snivelys had better be there when he returns to get them for the trial, Lom leaves.

  The boys sit down with Doc and wonder how he came to see the lynching. Doc explains they were just passing by in his medicine wagon. Seeing their confusion, Doc wonders if Lom explained he was the famous Doctor Snively. To his disappointment, the boys have never heard of him, so he goes into his pitch.

  The group is still being watched.

  Over dinner, Doc explains Cybele is responsible for their being there. He was ready to accept Rosswell’s lawyer’s offer of $5,000 in exchange for leaving Wyoming and never returning, but Cybele wouldn’t hear of it. She feels justice should be done for poor Mr. Harvey, the lynching victim. Doc brings out one of his elixirs to toast justice. It’s called Cure-Al, he tells them, and is guaranteed to cure alcoholism if taken as directed, which is one full bottle every other day. The boys sniff it dubiously, then Curry asks what’s in it. “Fifty-five percent health producing herbs and the juice of a few flowers,” Doc says, “and forty-five percent alcohol.” The boys raise their cups to justice.

  Some time and several bottles later, Heyes announces Cure-Al to be the greatest medicine he’s ever taken and Curry admits he’d never take another drink as long as he had the elixir. Doc Snively tells them of the time he sold one hundred seventy-nine bottles in one hour in a town with only forty-six people in it. In four days the alcohol problem was gone — and so was the town! They all dissolve in drunken giggles. Heyes asks what Cybele does. She’s the show, Doc proudly explains, drawing a crowd with her dance. Cybele dons her skimpy costume and demonstrates her belly dance for the mesmerized outlaws.

  The next morning Heyes and Curry are miserable. Does Doc have anything for a hangover? With great good cheer, Doc pulls another elixir from his bag — Doc Snively’s Morning Metamorphosis. But before he can open it, gunshots send them scrambling for cover.

  Heyes and Curry take positions at the window. A voice demands they send out Doc and Cybele. Heyes refuses and the men outside resume firing. It’s time to leave. Doc and Cybele will hitch up the wagon while Heyes and Curry keep the gunmen at bay. Doc panics, wanting to stay where they are. Heyes insists, knowing the gunmen will take chances at night they won’t take in the daylight, so they have to leave now.

  Heyes drives the wagon while Curry keeps up a barrage against the men on their tail. Cybele and her father lie on the floor of the wagon, reloading guns for him as fast as they can. Things get too dangerous for the pursuers and they give up the chase.

  That night around the campfire, Doc Snively worries that they’re not safe. He isn’t convinced by Heyes’s assurances that the paid gunmen, not interested in being killed themselves, are long gone or by Curry’s assertion that they’ll see to it that nothing else happens.

  In the morning, Cybele pours coffee. Doc is curious about their next move. Heyes tells him they’ll ride into town, telegraph Sheriff Trevors and do what he tells them. Heyes trails off, a strange look on his face. As Curry and Cybele watch with concern, Heyes passes out. Curry heads toward him, but collapses on the way. Cybele is first alarmed, then dismayed, as she realizes her father drugged their coffee. Doc says he was wrong not to take the money Rosswell offered. The sheriff can’t protect them and neither can these boys. Their only hope is to cooperate with Rosswell.

  Heyes is the first to come to. He crawls over to check on Curry who wakes with a groan. Surveying their situation, the still somewhat fuzzy-headed Heyes declares they need horses. Curry agrees, but wants to know how, where and with what they’ll get them. “We’re deputies, aren’t we?” Heyes reminds him. “We’ll requisition them.”

  The boys, scared to tell Lom they’ve lost his witnesses, decide to track down Doc and Cybele. They figure the two have gone to Rosswell’s lawyer, B.F. Simpson.

  In Douglas, Heyes and Curry knock on Simpson’s door. At the
boys’ claim of having important information for her husband, his wife informs them he’s gone to Lost Spring to catch the train to Nebraska. Heyes takes this as proof Simpson has Doc and Cybele with him because otherwise he would catch the train here in Douglas. Curry points out they can’t catch the train in Douglas, either, since Lom’s office is only two blocks from the station and they can’t afford to be seen.

  The boys intercept the train at a water tower. By the time it pulls into Lost Spring, Heyes and Curry are relaxing in the passenger car, faces buried in newspapers. Simpson, the Snivelys, and a gunman enter. Doc stops in consternation at seeing the boys but the group finds seats at the opposite end of the car.

  Doc asks Simpson to clarify their arrangement. Simpson explains when they reach Chadron, Nebraska, he’ll be paid $5,000 and is free to go anywhere he wishes — except Wyoming. The gunman has come along to protect them. Doc considers this information for a moment, then starts to point out Heyes and Curry, but Cybele interrupts before he can. With a frown, Doc asks for a moment alone with his daughter.

  Heyes and Curry keep an eye on the Snivelys from behind their newspapers. As the lawyer and the gunman leave the car the boys wonder if Doc gave them away, but decide not to do anything unless Simpson starts something.

  Doc and Cybele argue until finally she agrees to go along with accepting the bribe, providing he doesn’t tell Simpson about Joshua and Thaddeus.

  Heyes and Curry decide to force Simpson’s hand. At the next town, they’ll telegraph Sheriff Owen Kimball in Chadron and have him remove the Snivelys from the train.

  The train reaches Chadron. When Sheriff Kimball enters the train, Heyes points out the Snivelys and watches with satisfaction as they are placed under arrest.

  In the sheriff ’s office, Simpson loudly protests Kimball’s actions. He has no jurisdiction in the matter! Kimball is unmoved. He’s familiar with the Rosswell case and intends to keep the Snivelys in custody until he hears from Sheriff Trevors.

  Simpson and his gunman return with a writ of habeas corpus and Marshal Guthrie to enforce it. Sheriff Kimball refuses to turn the witnesses over, but Doc overhears the conversation and shouts out that he doesn’t want to be in protective custody. Simpson is delighted to leave the matter up to the Snivelys. Doc eagerly acknowledges the writ, but Cybele refuses to leave the cell. Simpson is clear on that point. “If your daughter doesn’t leave, you don’t leave.”

  After the frustrated lawyer has gone, Heyes and Curry spell it out for the Snivelys. Simpson promised money but Doc will never see it. Instead he’ll be dead. The gunman isn’t there to protect Doc and Cybele; his task is to protect Rosswell by killing them. Doc resists their argument until Heyes bluntly challenges him. “Are you willing to bet her life that you’re right and we’re wrong?”

  Simpson returns to the sheriff’s office, this time with an arrest warrant for Doc and Cybele. Kimball demands to know the charge. “A federal charge,” Simpson announces smugly. “Selling whiskey to Indians.” Kimball knows what Simpson is up to, but there’s nothing he can do. While he berates the lawyer for his shady actions on behalf of the Stockgrowers Association, Heyes and Curry quietly slip away.

  Heyes picks the lock on the cell and the boys hustle Doc and Cybele out the back door.

  Kimball reluctantly admits he must respect the warrant and leads Simpson to the cell, only to find it empty. Simpson is incensed, but Kimball just shrugs, hiding a smile.

  Heyes, Curry, Doc and Cybele ride hard and reach an abandoned line shack. Doc is exhausted and in no shape to continue. Only one witness is needed, so Doc urges them to go on without him. Heyes won’t hear of it.

  Simpson and Marshal Guthrie lead a posse in pursuit of them.

  Heyes and Curry confer in a corner of the cabin. The posse is certain to find them, so the best thing is for Heyes to go for help while Curry stays to protect the Snivelys.

  He gets ready for battle as the posse surrounds the cabin. Guthrie calls out, promising there will be no bloodshed if the Snivelys come out. Curry refuses to let them. Guthrie gives him one minute to reconsider; then they’ll start shooting. Cybele and Doc take cover and, true to his word, Guthrie and his men begin shooting.

  Curry returns fire. Doc apologizes to his daughter for putting her in such danger, but Cybele understands. He was just doing what he thought was best for her. Before a second barrage can begin, Lom and his men arrive.

  Simpson questions Lom’s presence since he has no jurisdiction in Nebraska. Lom explains he’s here to offer the Snivelys safe conduct to Wyoming, if they want it. Simpson produces his federal warrant, but Lom wonders if Simpson, who practices law in Lom’s county, really wants to stake his career on that warrant. Giving it some thought, Simpson decides not to interfere. Lom asks the Snivelys to come out of the cabin and walk to whomever they want to leave with.

  Inside, Cybele asks her father what he wants to do. They could go to Simpson and get the money because he wouldn’t dare do anything to them now. He considers, tempted once more by the $5,000.

  Arm in arm, Doc and Cybele leave the cabin. They hesitate as both groups wait anxiously, but finally Doc leads the way toward Lom. Simpson accepts his defeat.

  Doc and Cybele travel in their medicine wagon, looking around for some sign of Joshua and Thaddeus. Just as Doc decides they must not be coming, the boys ride up. Doc tells them Rosswell was convicted, but the judge only gave him twenty years. Cybele is curious about why the boys didn’t attend the trial. They exchange a glance, then Curry admits it’s because he’s Kid Curry and Joshua is Hannibal Heyes. Cybele laughs in disbelief. “So you’re just not going to tell us, are you?” With fond farewells, the boys ride off.

  Leaving Wyoming, Heyes ponders why no one believes them when they say they’re Heyes and Curry, and yet also don’t believe them when they say their names are Smith and Jones. Curry thinks it’s because Heyes has a dishonest face. Heyes insists it would make more sense to say they don’t believe him because he’s got an honest face. It must be Curry’s dishonest face that’s the problem. Heyes cuts off his friend’s attempt at an explanation by announcing there is no answer to the question. “What was the question?” Curry wonders.

  GUEST CAST

  JOHN MCGIVER — AMOS SNIVELY

  BRENDA SCOTT — CYBELE SNIVELY

  JOHN RUSSELL — SHERIFF LOM TREVORS

  G.D. SPRADLIN — SIMPSON

  KENNETH TOBEY — SHERIFF KIMBALL

  BARRY CAHILL — MARSHAL GUTHRIE

  ANN DORAN — MRS. SIMPSON

  DICK WHITTINGTON — TELEGRAPHER

  PAUL SCHOTT — CONDUCTOR

  Wyoming in the 1880s was a dangerous place unless you were a rich cattleman in good standing with the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association. This era was a shameful example of greed and corruption in the West, but it did provide Roy Huggins with many stories for the series. “Witness to a Lynching” is one of five third season episodes in which Huggins inserted Heyes and Curry into real events in Wyoming history. He based this tale on the lynching of Ellen Watson and Jim Averell, recognizing the dramatic possibilities of following the story of the witnesses. “There were four people who witnessed the real lynching, and all four of them died, mysteriously.” [60]

  In 1889, the richest cattleman in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, was Albert J. Bothwell. He considered all the land in the Sweetwater Valley his own, despite having no legal claim to it, and when homesteaders began to move in, he was outraged. No homesteaders outraged him more than Jim Averell and Ellen Watson. These two had the temerity to homestead parcels of land that Bothwell considered his best pasture. He decided to get rid of them.

  When Bothwell’s attempts to buy them out failed, he turned to less savory methods. A stock detective named George Henderson rode through Ellen’s pasture and saw cattle with fresh brands. He suggested to Bothwell that could mean Ellen was illegally branding mavericks. Bothwell took the hint. Declaring her to be a rustler, Bothwell and five cohorts abducted her, then went to Jim’s homestead and
grabbed him, too. Two boys, eleven-year-old Gene Crowder and fourteen-year-old John DeCorey, witnessed the abductions and raced to tell neighbor Frank Buchanan. Buchanan, along with Jim’s nephew Ralph Coe, followed the cattleman and arrived in time to see the lynching. Buchanan alerted authorities and murder warrants were issued for the six cattlemen.

  Before the trial, however, the witnesses began to disappear. Gene Crowder vanished, although rumor had it that his father took him away to protect him. John DeCorey was said to have moved to Steamboat Springs, Colorado, but he too was never seen again. Frank Buchanan was last seen in protective custody in Cheyenne and Ralph Coe mysteriously died on the day of the scheduled hearing, very likely from poisoning. With no witnesses to testify against Bothwell and the other cattlemen, the charges were dropped. No attempt was ever made to investigate the disappearances of Crowder, DeCorey and Buchanan or the death of Coe. [61]

  Huggins created his story from the point of view of the witnesses, putting Doc and Cybele Snively in the wrong place at the wrong time and making Doc just shady enough to be tempted by the bribe Rosswell’s lawyer offers. Like Frank Buchanan, the Snivelys find themselves in protective custody and, no matter how desperately Doc wants to deny it, faced with the very real danger of being killed by the ruthless rancher. With another nod to history, the writers use the fate of the witnesses to the real lynching as Curry’s argument to convince Doc to testify. Doc and Cybele would disappear and everyone would think they had simply gone to another state, Curry tells him, but in reality they would be dead. Bothwell got away with his lynchings, but such an outcome was unacceptable to Huggins and to the network. “It’s contrary to history that the guy would ever go to jail at all. No Judge would ever send Rosswell to jail. But in our story we have to.” [62]