Tom Clay

Fort Osage (1952)

Actors: Hal Baylor (actor), Lane Bradford (actor), Roy Bucko (actor), Rod Cameron (actor), Iron Eyes Cody (actor), Russ Conway (actor), Franklyn Farnum (actor), Fred Graham (actor), Herman Hack (actor), Myron Healey (actor), Carol Henry (actor), I. Stanford Jolley (actor), Ray Jones (actor), Douglas Kennedy (actor), Morris Ankrum (actor),

Plot: A greedy businessman is charging outrageous prices to homesteaders who wish to join a wagon train he's organizing to travel from Missouri to California. Meanwhile, he has broken the treaty his predecessor made with the Osage Indians to provide trade goods in return for passage across the Native Americans' land. When the wagonmaster hired for the trip learns of the businessman's duplicity and tries to set things right before the Indians go on the warpath, the businessman's henchmen are ordered to kill him.

Keywords: ambush, arrow-in-the-back, barn-dance, bound-and-gagged, crooked-businessman, death-of-father, father-daughter-relationship, frontier-scout, gambling-house, guide
Genres: Western,

Quotes:

Opening crawl: Fort Osage, Missouri, was the gateway to the gold fields of California - and the dream of riches. It was located on the eastern edge of the Osage Indian territory, beyond which lay the Great Plains, the Rockies - and finally, California. Day after day, wagons from all over America rolled into Fort Osage to assemble and prepare for the last lap of the great overland trek to the west coast. The incoming emigrants brought out the worst in booming Fort Osage, and Fort Osage brought out the worst in the emigrants.

Arthur Pickett: Now wait a minute! You're the only guide in this part of the country that knows the Osage country. Our expenses have gone up. We've had to charge higher rates. You're going to get a raise, too.::Tom Clay: I couldn't use it! There's not enough money minted to pay for that. I've seen the Osages on the warpath.::George Keane: All right. All right, Clay. No hard feelings. But before you go, let me give you a little friendly advice...::Tom Clay: Don't need any today. Thanks anyway.

[Tom has just shot the unknown assailant who tried to bushwhack him]::Bartender: Tom, it looks like you had an enemy.::Tom Clay: Yeah. I wonder where I got him.

Ann Pickett: You're a very good dancer, Mr. Clay.::Tom Clay: Not really - just inspired.

Rawlins: Hey, wait a minute! Take a look at those hills. They're painted for war!::George Keane: Looks like they found out about our visit to their little camp. Well, they don't want us. If they did, they'd be after us by now. I bet they're on the way to Fort Osage.::Rawlins: Fort Osage? There's not enough of them there to get past the saloon!::George Keane: Yeah, it's probably a suicide raid. They don't care if they get killed or not. Well, it's Clay's problem now, not ours.

[last lines]::[Ann is driving a covered wagon out of town]::Tom Clay: Mind if I ride with you?::Ann Pickett: It's a free country.::Tom Clay: It certainly is.