Draft:The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (short story)

• Comment: Needs critical reviews to warrant a standalone article. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:43, 1 November 2022 (UTC)

• Comment: Lacks references/sources that relate specifically to the short story not the film or the author - needs significant coverage not mentions in passing. Dan arndt (talk) 23:48, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

• Comment: Could be notable but needs more sources - Also could link to the other adaptations: the file The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (stage play) and (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance song KylieTastic (talk) 13:16, 14 August 2022 (UTC)

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The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance is a short story written by American author Dorothy M. Johnson in 1949. It was made into a 1962 American Western film, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, directed by John Ford, a song (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, released by Gene Pitney also in 1962, and a 2014 stage play by Jethro Compton.

The film gave rise to the commonly misquoted phrase: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend".

Plot

The story opens at the funeral of Bert Barricune, "who had been nobody." A young reporter, attending in hopes of a story, notes the entry of two notable mourners, Senator Ransome Foster and his wife.

The story goes back in time to tell the tale of "Ranse" Foster, a young drifter from the East who is set upon by a gang of three men, who rob and beat him. Near death, he begs for water from Bert, a cowboy who happens by.

Bert puts Ranse on his horse, walks him 5 miles to the closest river, brings him a reviving hat full of water and sets him up a camp to help him recover.

Three days later they meet again at the local jail in Twotrees, a nearby town. Bert is being released from a night in the cell, and Ranse has come to report the gang who beat him and left him for dead. The Marshall recognises the description of the gang leader as Liberty Valance and tells Ranse there's a reward on Liberty's head.

Ranse begins hatching a plan to trap Liberty. He goes to the local Elite Cafe and begs a meal in return for splitting wood. Hallie, a waitress there, tells him there's work as a swamper (handyman) at the Prairie Belle, a local saloon.

He works at the Prairie Bell, gaining a reputation as a "vain and haughty, condescending, cringing sort of man". He buys a Colt 45 and plots his revenge, practicing target shooting obsessively before eventually being fired from the saloon for oversleeping too often. Jobless, he returns to Elite Cafe where Hallie the waitress takes pity on him and feeds him from the back door.

Bert, a cafe regular, warns him against becoming too friendly with "my girl" Hallie and tells Ranse that people are talking about him in Dunbar, the next town over where Liberty Valance resides. He suggests Ranse applies for a job as a clerk at the general store in an attempt to stop him begging food from Hallie.

Ranse is taken on at the store and continues to practice shooting. At Hallie's suggestion, he starts Twotrees' first school. Hallie longs to learn to read and write and, realizing it would cause trouble if he were to teach her alone, he starts the school so Hallie can learn alongside the town's children.

One day, while Ranse is out practising shooting, Bert appears and tells him that Liberty has come to town, showing off his own shooting prowess before departing.

Ranse rides into town and goes looking for Liberty Valance. As he passes the Prairie Bell he's told by Joe's right hand man that the Marshall has left town, and he motions up the street to where Liberty is advancing.

They approach each other, Liberty draws and they both fire. Ranse is shot in the shoulder, hearing two shots to his one before he passes out. When he wakes Bert, kneeling over him, tells him that Liberty Valance is dead.

Ranse is charged with disturbing the peace and fined ten dollars. He suggests to Bert that the reward for Liberty should cover the fine and Bert tells him not to collect as he (Bert) was the one who fired the shot that killed Liberty.

When Ranse asks why Bert has helped him, Bert replies that he will only ever be Hallie's friend while Ranse is around. Ranse responds: "Then I shot Liberty Valance", and decides to leave town.

Hallie visits Ranse and, upset at hearing his plans, convinces him to stay. Despite owing Bert his life twice over, he stays and marries Hallie and they have four children. He becomes a lawyer, defending Bert over the years on charges from drunkenness to stealing cattle - keeping a promise to himself to protect Bert and keep him out of trouble. Eventually, he runs and is elected judge of Twotrees.

Over the years, Bert bates Ranse into running for powerful offices (judge, state legislature - which he loses when the opposition uses the unlawful killing of Liberty Valance to slander him - and finally governor). He tells Ranse it's because he knows Hallie wants to see Ranse succeed in life and what Hallie wants, Bert is going to try to see she gets. Ranse, who had never wanted to run for office, replies grimly: "So am I."

Ranse does eventually become a Senator and the story concludes with Ranse and Hallie heading home after Bert's funeral.

Characters

Ransome (Ranse) Foster - a drifter from the East looking for revenge on Liberty Valance after Valance's gang beats and leaves him for dead. Rescued by Bert Barricune, he falls for Hallie as he waits, working in the local town to make ends meet until he can kill Liberty.

Bert Barricune - crack-shot cowboy, rescues Ranse Foster several times. In love with Hallie.

Hallie - a waitress at the Elite Cafe and friend of Bert Barricune who helps Ranse get a job. She falls for Ranse when he begins teaching her to read and write.

Liberty Valance - a big man with two gold teeth, our antagonist first appears when he nearly kills Ranse for no other reason than that he is a "tenderfoot". Later in the story, he travels to Twotrees for a showdown after hearing Ranse is looking for him.

Joe Mosten - owner of the Prairie Bell who employs Ranse for a time.

Jake Dowitt - owner of the general store, who gives Ranse a job as a clerk.

Literary and cultural significance

Dorothy Marie Johnson wrote many western stories that would stand the test of time in a world where the genre was dominated by male writers. She published under the name Dorothy M. Johnson because she felt the name Marie was too "frilly".

Three of her most celebrated works - The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, The Hanging Tree and A Man Called Horse - were made into notable films which are still widely celebrated today. Dorothy had a significant writing career, being inducted in 2013 to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center with the Legacy Award for her "notable contributions to the history and culture of Montana".

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance was made into a 1962 American Western film of the same name, directed by John Ford,[1] a song (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, released by Gene Pitney also in 1962, and a 2014 stage play by Jethro Compton.[2]

The film gave rise to a commonly misquoted phrase, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend". This has sometimes been remembered as "When the truth becomes legend, print the legend." And simply: "Print the legend" to reference poetic license, freedom of expression and of the press to publish fiction based on its entertainment value.

See also

• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 1962 film
• (The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance - 1962 song
• The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - 2014 stage play

References

Oxford Reference, Dorothy Johnson. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780191843730.001.0001/q-oro-ed5-00005935

PBS Special, Gravel In Her Gut and Spit In Her Eye. https://www.pbs.org/video/montanapbs-presents-gravel-in-her-gut-and-spit-in-her-eye/

Montana Historical Society, Dorothy M Johnson. https://mhs.mt.gov/education/Montanans/DJohnson.pdf

Women's History Matters, A “Witty, Gritty Little Bobcat of a Woman”: The Western Writings of Dorothy M. Johnson. https://montanawomenshistory.org/a-witty-gritty-little-bobcat-of-a-woman-the-western-writings-of-dorothy-m-johnson/

Illinois State Bar Association Law-Related Education, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance by Dorothy M Johnson: https://www.isba.org/sites/default/files/teachers/Liberty%20Valance%20-%20Civic%20Education%20Lesson%20Plan.pdf

Southern Illinois University Carbondale, "Have You Written a Ford, Lately?": Gender, Genre,and the Film Adaptations of Dorothy Johnson's Western Literature. https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=cp_articles

Distinctly Montana, Witty, Gritty Taleteller: A Life of Dorothy M Johnson. https://www.distinctlymontana.com/witty-gritty-taleteller-life-dorothy-m-johnson

JSTOR, Dorothy M. Johnson's Short Fiction: The Pastoral and the Uses of History. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43018699

Flathead Beacon, Dorothy Johnson Overcame the Odds by Bob Brown. https://flatheadbeacon.com/2017/11/12/dorothy-johnson-overcame-odds/

Daily Inter Lake, Dorothy Johnson: A true Montana character. https://dailyinterlake.com/news/2017/nov/26/dorothy-johnson-a-true-montana-character-6/

The South Dakota Standard, Legendary western writer Dorothy Marie Johnson created classic stories, telling both the legends and the facts. https://www.sdstandardnow.com/home/legendary-western-writer-dorothy-marie-johnson-created-classic-stories-telling-both-the-legends-and-the-facts

External links

• Dorothy M. Johnson at IMDb
• Dorothy M. Johnson NYT Obituary