Synopsis
Ben Mockridge (Gary Grimes) is a young man proud of his $4 handgun and enamored of “cowboyin”. He asks Frank Culpepper (Billy Green Bush) if he can join his cattle drive to Fort Lewis, Colorado. Culpepper (a reformed gunslinger) reluctantly agrees and sends Ben to the cook (Raymond Guth) to be his “little Mary”.
Ben quickly discovers that the adults have little interest in young’ns, and no interest in “showing him the ropes”. Culpepper nevertheless assigns Ben tasks the greenhorn handles poorly — or simply fails at — repeatedly causing serious trouble.
After rustlers stampede the herd, Culpepper tracks them to a box canyon. When the rustlers’ leader (Royal Dano) demands 50 cents a head for having rounded up and taken care of the cattle, Culpepper will have none of it. He and his hands kill the rustlers, not hesitating to gun down disarmed men, or repeatedly shoot anyone still moving. They lose four of their own in the fight.
Culpepper directs Ben to a cantina a day’s ride off, to find Russ Caldwell. Before he can reach the cantina, Ben is accosted by trappers who take his horse and gun. Once Ben finds Caldwell (Geoffrey Lewis), he and three of his buddies agree to join the drive. When they cross the trappers’ path, there’s no parlaying — they immediately kill the trappers and take their possessions.
When Ben stands night watch, he's unprepared for a one-eyed man (Gregory Sierra) trying to steal the horses. Instead of immediately shooting him, Ben lets the man distract him with his talk, and is overcome by another thief. Culpepper is outraged at Ben's stupidity.
The horse theft “tears it”, and Culpepper decides to toss Ben on a stage, regardless of where it's headed. When Culpepper & Co. enter a town where they hope to buy horses and send off the greenhorn, they stop at a saloon, where Ben recognizes one of the patrons as the one-eyed horse thief. Another shoot-out ensues, with Ben "redeeming" himself by killing the bartender as the latter reaches for his shotgun. As before, Culpepper’s adversaries wind up dead, an unlikely survivor directing Culpepper to the horses.
When Ben handles Caldwell’s gun without his permission, the touchy Caldwell goes into a snit, and knocks Ben to the ground. When one of the hands calls Caldwell an SOB for striking Ben, Caldwell demands a gun fight to reclaim his “honor". The hand decides it isn’t worth the trouble and leaves the drive. “You cost me a good man, boy.”
When they reach an area with grass and water, Culpepper leaves the cattle to graze, looking for the landowner to pay him. The owner, Thornton Pierce (John McLiam), tells Culpepper he should have asked first, and demands $200 as down-payment simply for having trespassed. This time, Culpepper & Co. are outgunned, and forced to surrender their sidearms, which they view as a symbolic castration.
Moving out the cattle, Culpepper & Co. encounter a group of religious “pilgrims”, led by Nathaniel Green (Anthony James), who invites them to stay and water their cattle. He says God has led his party here, and they intend to settle.
Not surprisingly, Pierce and his thugs show up, claiming “this land is mine”, and gives everyone — Green and his people included — an hour to get off. Green is convinced Culpepper was sent by God to help. Culpepper responds that Green need only leave to be safe, which is what he intends to do, as it’s less than two weeks to Fort Lewis, and selling his cattle is all he cares about.
Ben decides to stay, feeling he can help in some unspecified manner. As Culpepper & Co. ride off, their consciences (and lust for revenge) get the better of them, and they return to defend Green & party from Pierce. In the ensuing shootout, everyone in the Culpepper and Pierce parties — except Ben — is killed.
Revealing his hypocrisy and ingratitude, Green tells Ben that they aren’t going to stay after all, as the ground has been stained with blood. "God never intended us to stay — he was only testin us." An angry Ben forces them to bury the bodies, then discards his gun and rides off, to parts unknown.
Read more about this topic: The Culpepper Cattle Co.