All the Gold in Nevada

In 1867, handsome Civil War vet LONNIE PUTNAM, 23, leaves his parents’ humble farm in East Texas to head for the gold-mining camps in Nevada. In West Texas he comes to Destiny Ranch, where he meets lovely RUTHANN BRADDOCK, 18, the high-spirited younger daughter of hard-drinking, fast-drawing ranch owner LYNWOOD BRADDOCK, 47. Lynwood’s sister WILMA helped the widower raise his two girls. Lonnie falls for Ruthann and she takes a shine to Lonnie. So does her more reserved sister ESTHER, 22, at whose suggestion Lonnie is hired to raise some crops and cook for the hands while the regular cook is off on a cattle drive. Lonnie is glad to stay, at least temporarily, as he dreams of somehow marrying Ruthann, “worth more than all the gold in Nevada.” One day Lonnie and Ruthann smooch in woods by a river and go too far in their passion. (Sex is implied, not shown.) Upset afterwards, Ruthann begins avoiding Lonnie at the ranch although she loves him. When Esther is left at the altar on her wedding day by the local banker’s son—he skips town with a saloon girl the night before—Lynwood, to avoid humiliation, tells Esther to pick a last-minute substitute (to be “the man she really loves”). She tells him she would like to have Lonnie. Lynwood gets Lonnie drunk, telling him that he can never have Ruthann but with Esther the ranch will someday be his. Lonnie wakes up the next morning with a hangover and married to Esther, although he doesn’t remember the wedding. Forlorn Ruthann soon informs Aunt Wilma that she carries Lonnie’s child. Together the women, knowing that Lonnie would be killed when Lynwood finds out, decide that Lonnie and Ruthann must run away, with Esther then divorcing him for desertion. Though Lonnie hates the idea of running, he and Ruthann flee for the sake of their love and their unborn child. But Lynwood with some hired guns hunts them down. He doesn’t shoot Lonnie, as much as he wants to, for Esther’s sake. He takes Ruthann home and sends Esther to Lonnie. Intent on making the best of their marriage, Lonnie takes Esther to New Orleans where he goes to work on the docks. Lynwood has pregnant Ruthann marry trail boss KYLE BRODY. But when Kyle physically abuses Ruthann after the birth of her child, Lynwood kills him in a gunfight. Lynwood becomes depressed over his children, but with religious sister Wilma’s encouragement he finds salvation and gives up the liquor, though he's still about as ornery as ever. Meanwhile Esther, who feels she was forced upon Lonnie, leaves him for a New Orleans gambler. Filing for divorce, Lonnie, who by now feels guilty about leaving his poor kinfolk in East Texas for the dream of Nevada gold, decides to go back home. But first he returns to Destiny Ranch, intent on seeing his true love Ruthann and their child, even though Lynwood told him he would kill him if he ever comes back. Risking his life, Lonnie wears a gun for the first time, and his return will be a test of Lynwood’s new-found faith. In a tense confrontation, Lynwood and Lonnie square off for a duel, with Ruthann and Wilma protesting in vain. Lonnie bravely insists that Lynwood draw first, as Lonnie bears no malice toward him. Lynwood easily wins the duel, but only shoots Lonnie’s hat off (for a little “target practice”). Citing the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” along with the Golden Rule, Lynwood after some soul-searching accepts Lonnie into the family as Ruthann’s husband-to-be and the father of her child. He offers to hire Lonnie’s poor folks to come cook and raise crops for the cowhands, while Lonnie learns about running a ranch.