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Water Rustlers [VHS]

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Water Rustlers, 1939 film

The movie begins with the herding of white-faced cattle. Somebody has stopped the flow of water in the creek. Robert Weylan ordered it. Cattle are rounded up for branding. There will be trouble for Weylan if he stops the flow of water. [Riparian rights go back at least to the Middle Ages.] Can the cattle be saved? Weylan is using the water for hydraulic mining, the water drains away to another valley. Can they drive their cattle to water? A stranger rides in looking for work. Weylan plans to dry up the ranches so he can buy them at his low price. Is the foreman in cahoots with Weylan? There is a song about greener pastures for dogies. Men with rifles guard the gates to water, shots are fired. They will try to use the law in court to avoid shooting. The early pioneers settled this land. Now their cattle are dying from a lack of water. Miss Martin learns her fences are being pulled down by a truck. Can Weylan stop the court case by preventing witnesses from testifying? They'll try by fire and gunshots.

The plaintiffs are not in court to testify, the case is dismissed. Can the small ranchers unite in opposition to Weylan? Miss Martin talks to Weylan, then has to pull her pistol. Back at the ranch Miss Martin sings again. The ranchers meet; if they can get the cattle close to water they will stampede against anything. But a biplane appears to disperse the herd! [Big money in operation.] Can they find a solution besides warfare? "We'll try." Weylan's lawyer offers a low price for the Martin ranch. No sale. A trip around the Martin ranch shows the effects of Weylan's mining. It takes water from one valley to the valley owned by a big meat-packing syndicate. Miss Martin thinks of a new plan: blowing up a hill will divert the stream back to the original valley. And its legal. Weylan will do anything to stop it, even using an obscure law against using dynamite without a permit. The explosion releases a flood of water. Bob is trapped in the stream, Miss Martin throws him a rope. The valley is green and beautiful again. There is a happy ending.

The classic Western movies of the 1930s often used economic conflicts for the story. A big landowner wanted to take over the property of the small ranchers. The small ranchers were successful after they united to work together. The small movie studios that made these films were threatened by the major studios, so these stories had meaning for them. [But we know what happened in the real world.] Dorothy Page had a prominent role in this movie, riding, roping, and shooting for equal rights. David O'Brien played in some of the "Renfrew of the Mounties" movies. Hydraulic mining was banned by states because it created mud that clogged streams. After it builds up a heavy rain can break through the mud and create a disastrous flood. This also happened when mine tailings were dumped into streams.