Blowing Wild

El Gavilan and his men blow up the oil rig, destroying the wildcatters' livelihood. Jeff Dawson and Dutch Peterson are forced to head back to town in search of work, wary and shaken by the violence. The explosion sets a perilous tone for the days ahead.

Sal Donnelly tries to use her charm to persuade Jeff to buy her a ticket home. Jeff offers his oil lease as payment, but the ticket taker reveals he already owns a raft of leases he can't trade.

Jeff accepts a dangerous assignment delivering unstable nitroglycerin the next day for 800 dollars. Dutch protests, warning about the peril, but Jeff is determined to take the job. The risky task signals how desperate their situation has become.

That night Dutch tries to mug a man for money to buy a meal. The target turns out to be Paco Conway, Jeff's old partner and a new rich man. Paco offers them work, but Jeff declines because of Marina, Paco's wife.

Paco offers them work, but Jeff declines because of Marina, his former lover who is now Paco's wife. The tension underscores the complicated loyalties in town.

The next day Jeff and Dutch, carrying the nitroglycerin, are ambushed by El Gavilan. They manage to escape, but Dutch is shot in the leg.

Jeff goes to collect their pay, but Jackson claims not enough funds. Sal tells him that Jackson actually has 2,500 dollars. After a brawl, Jeff takes his money and gives Sal 200 for her ticket; a policeman confiscates Jeff's 600. Jackson, facing other creditors, leaves Sal her money.

With Dutch in the hospital, Jeff reluctantly goes to work for Paco, drilling a new oil well. The assignment deepens Jeff's entanglement in a dangerous, mutually dependent circle.

Marina makes romantic overtures to Jeff, who avoids her and reminds her that he once loved her but could not trust her. She admits she loved him too after he left.

Sal takes a job as a blackjack dealer and sticks around town, and Jeff begins going into town to see her. The growing bond adds another layer of tension to Jeff's life.

El Gavilan threatens to blow up Paco's oil wells unless Paco pays 50,000 dollars. Paco considers paying, much to Jeff's disgust.

Marina sides with Jeff, calling her husband a coward. Paco laments publicly that his wife loves another man, and he realizes that the other man is Jeff.

When Paco tells Marina that he loves her regardless, she pushes him into a well, where the machinery kills him. Marina later claims the death was an accident.

During the bandit attack, Marina is drawn to the fatal oil well and dies when it is blown up. Jeff kills El Gavilan and then leaves with Dutch and Sal.

Jeff, Dutch, and Sal depart the scene, hoping for safer days ahead. The grim town fades behind them as they set out toward an uncertain future.