Hang 'Em High - Plot

Plot

The story is set in Oklahoma Territory in 1889. It describes the efforts of Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) to bring the men who tried to lynch him to justice. The men are Capt. Wilson (Ed Begley), Reno (Joseph Sirola), Miller (Bruce Dern), Jenkins (Bob Steele), Stone (Alan Hale Jr.), Charlie Blackfoot (Ned Romero), Maddow (Russell Thorson), Tommy (Jonathan Lippe), and Loomis (L.Q. Jones).

Cooper drives a small herd of cattle across a stream. When the men in a posse surround him, he shows them a receipt for the cattle, but the man he bought them from was a rustler who killed the herd's owner. Cooper explains that he knew nothing about the murder, but only Jenkins expresses doubts about his guilt. After Reno takes Cooper's saddle and Miller takes his wallet, the men hang him from a tree and ride away, leaving him for dead.

Federal Marshal Dave Bliss (Ben Johnson) sees Cooper and cuts him down while he is still alive, then takes him to Fort Grant, where the territorial judge, Adam Fenton (Pat Hingle), determines that Cooper is innocent, sets him free, and warns him not to become a vigilante. As an alternative, Fenton offers Cooper a job as a marshal. Cooper accepts, and Fenton warns him not to kill the men who lynched him.

One day, Cooper sees his saddle on a horse in front of a small-town saloon. He finds Reno inside and tries to arrest him, but Reno reaches for his gun, forcing Cooper to shoot him dead. When word of this becomes public, Jenkins turns himself in and provides the names of the rest of the posse. Cooper finds Stone in another town, arrests him, and has the local sheriff, Ray Calhoun (Charles McGraw), put him in jail. Most of the men Cooper seeks are respected members of the community, but Calhoun honors Cooper's warrants for their arrest.

On their way to arresting the men, Cooper and Calhoun encounter the survivors of a new rustling/murder. Cooper and a posse catch the rustlers, who turn out to be Miller and two teenage brothers, Ben (Richard Gates) and Billy Joe (Bruce Scott). Cooper takes them to Fort Grant single-handedly after refusing to let the posse lynch them. On the way, Ben and Billy Joe insist that Miller was the murderer. Miller catches Cooper off guard and attacks him, but Cooper overpowers and subdues him while the brothers watch.

Fenton sentences all three rustlers to be hanged, despite Cooper's defense of the teenagers. Fenton insists that the public will resort to lynching if they see rustlers going unpunished, threatening Oklahoma's bid for statehood. Some time later, Calhoun arrives at Fort Grant and pays Cooper for his cattle. He is trying to bribe Cooper into leaving the rest of the men who lynched him alone. Cooper accepts the money but makes it clear that he still intends to arrest the men. With the bribe rejected, Blackfoot and Maddow flee, while Tommy and Loomis remain loyal to Wilson, who has decided to kill Cooper.

At Fort Grant, Wilson, Loomis, and Tommy shoot Cooper up while most of the town watches the hanging of Miller, Ben, Billy Joe, and three other men. Cooper survives and is slowly nursed back to health by Rachel Warren (Inger Stevens). At Wilson's ranch, he kills Tommy and Loomis, and Wilson hangs himself. At Fort Grant again, Cooper threatens to quit unless Fenton releases Jenkins, who is both contrite and seriously ill. Fenton again insists that justice must be served, but he agrees to pardon Jenkins. Cooper agrees to continue as a marshal, and Fenton gives him warrants for Blackfoot and Maddow.