In New Mexico, Elena Grande stops to make camp. Bart rides along and sees Elena undressing, and she notices him. She curses at Bart and her servant Raoul comments on Bart's horse. Bart explains that he broke a wheel on his supply wagon and is riding the horse back to Riverhead, a gold camp. Elena invites them to join them and he cheerfully accepts.
The trio arrives at Riverhead, and Gentleman Jack Derby is auctioneering off goods. The miners perk up when they see Elena, and she says that she's come to dance for them. Elena gives a performance on the street, Jack complains that Bart didn't return with the supplies, and admires Elena's dancing. The miners cheer and clap, and Bart reminds Jack that he saw Elena first.
Once Elena finishes, she says that there will be more dancing later and she'll be there as long as they want her. Bart figures that Elena doesn't like them because they're gringos, and she wants them for something. The saloon owner, John Wilson, comes out and tries to pull her in saying that they need to discuss her business arrangements. John tells her that she'll need a roof over her head at night and takes her in.
That night, Elena performs in the saloon. Once she finishes, John encourages the miners to spend their gold dust. Bart and Jack move in on Elena as she goes back to her room. John stops a drunken miner Red from going after Elena. John tells Red that the back room is private because Elena wants it that way. When Red doesn't back off, John knocks him to the ground. Bart and Jack quickly retreat for cigars.
John goes into Elena's room and says that she needs someone to take care of herself in a town with no law. Raoul comes in with food, and Raoul suggests that he go out for free drinks. Once Raoul leaves, John tells Elena that Elena will eventually claim her. She says that she'll go onto the next camp, and John says that if he tells the miners she's his girl, no one will bother him. Elena gives him his half of the ghost and dismisses him. John says that he'll put out the word that she's his even if she isn't, but Elena says that they'll wait until someone does try to claim her before they make their own arrangement.
Bart comes in and says that he's there to see an old friend. Elena seizes on the opportunity to leave with him. As they leave, Jack approaches the couple and introduces himself to Elena. He tries to warn her about Bart, and insists on escorting Elena to her camp. Elena goes into her tent and Bart tells Jack to stay with her. Jack warns that he has an unreasoning passion for Latin woman, and they leave.
The next morning, Bart is auctioning off goods. Afterward, John offers $5,000 for the lot. However, they have to take their next wagonload up river. Bart isn't interested, and finally admits that he and Jack have both fallen in love with Elena. They realize John is interested in Elena as well, and John quickly leaves. Bart and Jack figure they'd better start playing poker to make their profits.
That night, Elena is dancing at the saloon. John invites Bart and Jack to play poker and offers to sit in himself. The two gamblers claim poker isn't their game, but Bart is soon winning. John changes the house limit to bid $1,400, and Bart raises him $600. The owner offers his mine as $5,000 against Bart's wagon, and says that he takes more ore out of another mine but the mine he's offering is worth $5,000. The miners confirm that it is, and Bart tells Jack that if he calls Jack is in for half. Jack agrees and John calls with a full house. Bart reveals a full house and John concedes that he's lost and goes to make out the deed. He asks if they like trout and the miners laugh.
The next day, Bart and Jack arrive to collect their mine. John, Elena, and many of the miners are there. John reveals that the mine is flooded, and John says that he'll refund the $5,000 if they can prove the ore isn't there. He tells them that if they put up $5,000, they can sell the mine... for $5,000.
That night, Elena invites Bart on a walk and says that it would be simple to get back at John and make a profit at the same time. She offers Bart a partnership in a cantina she wants to build, and Bart kisses her. Elena doesn't flinch and Bart figures that she wanted to. Bart asks why she hates the gringos, and doesn't believe her denial. Elena finally explains that her real name is Elena de Galindez. The Americans took her ranch away, and Elena swore to take money from the gringos and take back the land. Bart warns her that it will take time to buy the land back, and figures that she'll end up an old harridan by the time she kicks her way through camps. He refuses to help her, and Elena slaps him. Bart advises her to remove all the mirrors from the walls because she won't like what she looks off, and Elena walks off.
Back in her dressing room, John tells her that he's decided all the money will be hers and kisses her. He goes out to announce her to the house, and Elena looks at herself in her mirror and winces. John introduces her as a hooch dancer, and Elena goes out and dances. Bart is in the audience, and Elena glares at him as she dances. Jack is watching from the bar and smiles, and both Bart and John notice. Elena finishes her dance and the miners cheer.
Later out in the street, Bart and Jack fight over Elena. Elena comes out as Jack draws a knife on Bart, and she says that she told her that she didn't want to see Bart again. After pinning Bart down, Jack tells him to get out of Riverhead with half of the goods. As Bart goes, he looks at Elena briefly.
At the flooded mine, a man slips in, dumps something into a mine, and leaves.
The next day, Bart is auctioning off goods. Red comes over and asks where Jack is, and says that he disappeared. They point out that Jack told Bart to leave town but now Jack is the one missing. Later at the bar, the miners wonders why Jack left. Harry comes in and says that he heard Elena tells Raoul that she was walking by the mine and saw Bart dump a body in.
John and the others find Elena and ask what she saw. She denies saying anything, and Raoul steps out with a shotgun. They disarm him, drag him over, and beat him until Elena asks what they'll do to Bart. When they say that they'll put him on trial, Raoul says that Elena said she saw Bart dump a body in the mine.
Later, the miners hold a trail. Elena testifies that she isn't sure of what she saw. The judge, Jed, calls Bart up. Bart takes the stand and says that he didn't kill Jack. Jed suggests that it might have been an accident, but Jack insists that he didn't kill Jack. Another miner says that first they have to find a body. Jed agrees and the miners come up with a way to drag the mine. John says that it won't work and they should hang Bart. Bart says that Jack disappeared just to set him up, and Jed sends everyone out except the jury.
When everyone comes back in, the jury foreman says that without a body, they can't hang Bart. John insists that Bart is guilty, and asks them to hold Bart for five days while he proves Jack's body is in the mine. He says that he'll pay for Bart's pay and upkeep since they don't have a jail.
Later, Bart relaxes at the saloon while John and his men drain the mine. Bart suggests that John put the body there himself, but his guards don't believe it.
Soon, Jed and the others come out of the mine. Jed comes out and says that all they found was a bag with rocks and a sign on it saying, "This mine drained by the courtesy of John Wilson". Elena and Raoul are watching, and everyone realizes that Bart played John. John comes out and punches Bart, and then the miners hold John back. The miners untie Bart's hands and he fights back, and Jack returns from a hunting trip. Bart drops John, and the miners tell Jack that they thought he was dead. When Jack suggests that they auction off the elk he found, Bart says that it's time to give up auctioneering and Elena owns John's saloon now that he spent all of his money to train the whine. He calls for barbecued elk and free whiskey, and the miners cheer.
As everyone dances, they hear an explosion. They go to the mine, and John tells them that he blew up the nearby dam to reflood the mine. A miner finds a vein of quartz revealed by the explosion, and Jack thanks John and says that they're having a blowout party. Bart tells Elena that it's quartz gold and she can sell her claim to buy back her ranch. He kisses her and figures that she didn't want to flinch this time.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 27, 2019