Bordertown Season 1, Episode 5: The Man They Couldn't Hang

1

Civilization

A barroom fight between an American rancher's son and a Canadian farm boy result in the shooting death of the American. Jack and Clive attempt to take the prisoner to Ft McCloud, but the dead boy's father wants revenge.

2

Runners

A Mountie mail wagon is ambushed and robbed, and the crime is made to look like an Indian attack. Jack and Clive are suspicious, and soon determine that the thieves were Mountie deserters. Meanwhile, Marie's nephew comes to town to visit.

3

Medicine Woman

Howling Dog, a young Blackfood, accidentally causes a fire in Marie's store while attempting to steal food. After the Indian is released when Marie refuses to press charges, he is murdered by Erskine, the Canadian Indian Agent. Marie discovers that Erskine has been selling Indian rations to the townspeople for profit.

4

Blindside

Two friends from Jack's Texas Rangers days come to Bordertown on their way to Canada to sell their merchandise. Marie disappears when her patient is murdered, and the evidence points to Jack's friends.

5

The Man They Couldn't Hang

Jack reluctantly hangs a prisoner, but the prisoner survives the hanging. When Jack refuses to hang him again, the judge sends in a government appointed hangman. Barry Joe's only chance for clemency is if he names his accomplices. The problem is, his throat is so badly damaged that he can't speak.

6

A Model Citizen

A Chinese immigrant overhears a plot to rob a gold shipment. Determined to be a good citizen, he informs the law the plot, but is fearful for the life of his fiancee, who is arriving on the stagecoach.

7

Over the Line

While investigating the presence of a band of Cree Indians camped near the town, Jack and Clive discover that a white boy is living among them. The boy's uncle is determined to get him back, even if it means endangering the town by starting a war with the Indians.

8

Blood Fury

Charles Ashley intends to bring a railroad to Bordertown, but Jack is incensed when the railroader turns out to be a former Confederate Captain from the Civil War who abandoned his wounded men -- including Jack -- to the enemy. When the two men exchange shots, Ashley gets rid of his gun, and claims that he was ambushed by Jack.

9

The Reaper

The lawmen are troubled when an aging gunfighter comes to Bordertown, followed by glory-seekers who are out to kill him, and a novelist, who wants to write a story about him.

10

The Killing

Liam becomes infatuated with a blind gypsy fortune teller who is being forced by her employer to convince men that their future includes earning a fortune in a new business venture, so he can sell them stock in a non-existent silver mine.

11

The Gunfighter

A young easterner challenges his employer to a gunfight after he is cheated out of part of his wages. Jack attempts to teach the young man to shoot.

12

Trapped

Two outlaw brothers, believed to be dead, come to Bordertown to rob the bank. Before they can carry out their plan, they are recognized by Hiram. When he speaks up, he is fatally struck by one of them. The brothers leave an accomplice behind so that they can escape, and when he tries to rejoin them, they shoot him. Knowing that the brothers will return, Clive and Jack set a trap to capture them.

13

Slave

Severely traumatized when her former ""master"" comes to Bordertown, Diane Denny tries to shoot him to avenge the beating death of her father, killed years earlier while attempting to escape.

14

One of the Boys

A young woman, posing as a male ranchhand in an effort to find her husband's murderer, is shot on the streets of Bordertown.

15

When Dreams Die

Two escaped convicts come to Bordertown looking for the only man who can identify them. Claiming to be friends of Sally Duffield's imprisoned husband, they swindle her out of her jewelry by insisting that he can be paroled if she pays them a thousand dollars.

16

The Lady and the Corpse

When Dom's friend dies, he leaves instructions that half his gold goes to Dom, but it is stolen before it can be recovered. Jack believes Clive's new lady friend is involved, but the mountie refuses to believe it.

17

The Fur Trader

A local trapper is found murdered and his furs stolen. The only clue left at the scene is a sliver of bone from the handle of a knife, and the only suspect is a French entrepeneur, a friend of Marie's, who is found holding the murder weapon after a dispute with an employee. Jack and Clive formulate a plan to flush out the real killer.

18

Ties That Bind

Willie's father comes to Bordertown with the intention of taking the boy back to France with him. Meanwhile, an escaped criminal is seeking revenge on Clive.

19

The Bounty Hunter

When a Mexican bounty hunter shows up in Bordertown, Jack is instantly suspicious, suspecting that the Mexican has actually come for him. When he and Marie are jailed by the bounty hunter, Jack confesses his secret past to Marie, revealing that his wife and daughter had been murdered by Don Carlos, a wealthy Mexican landowner who had been trying to drive Jack and his family from their land. In the ensuing fight, Jack had killed the Mexican's son. Seeking revenge, Don Carlos wants Jack delivered to him alive, but his bounty hunter has no problem with using Marie as a pawn to control him.

20

Pretty Shadows [aka Legacy]

A band of teenaged outlaws ride into Bordertown intending to rob the bank. Marie reports to Clive when she sees the young outlaws go into the bank with their guns drawn. Clive is shot attempting to prevent the hold-up, and is dragged into the store by the robbers. Jack, in the marshal's office, and the outlaws in Marie's store exchange shots. Meanwhile, Clive, who knows one of the boys, tries to convince him that he is headed down the wrong path.

21

Bad Memories

A visiting German is knocked unconscious while being chased by bank robbers who want the map he carries that will lead them to the money. He awakens with amnesia. Meanwhile, Clive's supervisor comes for inspection.

22

Craddock vs. Bennett

While giving Jack an eye exam during a physical, Marie discovers that he cannot read. Worried that many others in the area cannot read, either, she decides to order some primers. In spite of Marie's objections, Moberley proposes a boxing match between the marshal and the mountie to raise money for the books, but during the fight, his plans are to rob the town.

23

Nahanni

Clive's training officer arrives in Bordertown with his pregnant Indian wife, Nahanni. Driscoll had been shot in a skirmish with the U.S. Cavalry, who had apprehended Chief Sitting Bull from a reservation in Canada. Driscoll, determined to free Sitting Bull, had killed two of the soldiers, who follow him to Bordertown, seeking revenge.

24

Vigilante

A teenaged boy is hired by a group of horse thieves to deliver six horses stolen from a local ranch. When he realizes the horses have been stolen, Johnny intends to return the horses to their rightful owner, but when he is caught with them, the rancher decides to hang him as a horse thief.

25

Gold and Lead

While escorting a large amount of gold to Bordertown, Wendell is robbed and wounded, and the armed guard is killed by a couple of thieves. Then the killer turns the gun on his accomplice. Jack and Clive have trouble identifying the dead outlaw, but the killer turns out to be the estranged father of Bruno's girlfriend. Holding his family at gunpoint, he orders Bruno to bring him a horse and supplies.

26

Keenan's Raiders

Three members of outlaw gang Keenan's Raiders plan to meet in Bordertown to recover stolen gold they had buried years earlier. One dies of a heart attack on the stage, a second is found shot to death outside town. The third member has been wounded, and seeks medical attention from Marie. Jack and Clive discover that the two dead men are wearing identical belt buckles with a secret compartment, which conceals pieces of a map. Meanwhile, Marie has been taken hostage by the wounded man as he tries to dig up the buried gold.