Three-Ten to Yuma: Full Plot Summary

Paul Scallen arrives in the desert town of Contention, Arizona, in the early morning hours, escorting the prisoner Jim Kidd on horseback. Scallen has picked up Kidd from the lockup at Fort Huachuca the night before and is escorting him to the jail at Yuma to serve his sentence. The train to Yuma will not be departing until that afternoon, so the men will have to wait out the next several hours somewhere in town.

The two men arrive at the Republic Hotel rather than the local jail, to Kidd’s surprise. Scallen’s explanation is that he wants Kidd to be comfortable. They are met at the hotel door by Mr. Timpey, the manager for the Wells Fargo line to Tucson. Scallen asks about the room that has been reserved for them and asks if anyone has been seen loitering near the hotel. Timpey says, with some pride, that he has gotten them a room facing the street. But Scallen is not pleased about this and says that it would have been better if Timpey had gotten a back room with no windows. Inside, the hotel lobby is empty except for the desk clerk and a man who appears to be sleeping in an armchair near the door, with his hat down over his eyes.

Timpey is confused as to why there needs to be a lot of subterfuge about Kidd’s arrival in Contention, given that Kidd has already been convicted and sentenced to a prison term. In response, Scallen says that Kidd is not officially in jail until he’s delivered to Yuma, and Scallen is the only person who’s keeping an eye on Kidd until that time. In response, Timpey says he’s not the law, and that’s Scallen’s job. Kidd is amused by all this, and by Scallen’s concern that he is going to be ambushed before reaching Yuma. Kidd reveals that the night before, the Bisbee marshal and some deputies boarded a train in Benson, with an army prisoner disguised as Kidd.

Timpey wants to know if Kidd is the one who shot Dick Moons, a driver on Timpey’s line. Scallen says that Kidd was not the one who killed Moons, based on eyewitness testimony. But Timpey says that Dick Moons has a brother living in Contention, and that the brother reacted very badly to Moons’ death.
Scallen reveals that with the marshal and deputies now a long distance away, he’s the only law enforcement official for a long way around. By comparison, Kidd has a lot of friends and accomplices in the area who are trying to get him out. Scallen asks Timpey to show him and Kidd upstairs to Room 207, to keep an eye on Scallen’s Winchester and the two horses, and not to mention to anyone that Scallen and Kidd are at the hotel. As they are heading upstairs, Scallen glances over at the sleeping man in the armchair by the door.

In the room, Scallen tells Kidd to sit down on the bed, as the two of them settle down to wait for the arrival of the train to Yuma. Scallen sits down in a chair near the window, with his shotgun trained on Kidd. In the ensuing silence, Kidd makes a casual remark about the weather. Scallen then tells Kidd that he doesn’t have anything against him personally, and that this is just a job he is doing for the money, but he will shoot Kidd if he tries to run or attack him. Kidd says he’s cold and asks if he can close the window, and Scallen says he can only if he can reach it from the bed, which Kidd cannot do. Scallen gets up and closes the window himself. As he does, Kidd makes an attempt to get up and move from the bed. Instead of shooting, Scallen quickly knees Kidd in the face, knocking him back on the bed. Kidd, as he is recovering, reveals that he wanted to test Scallen and see if he would actually shoot him. Scallen warns that he will shoot Kidd if he tries that again.

Kidd asks Scallen how much money he makes as a lawman. Scallen eventually admits he makes one hundred and fifty dollars a month, not counting the money he earns per arrest. To Kidd, one hundred and fifty dollars a month seems a low salary for a man with a wife and children to support. Kidd, meanwhile, claims he’s made enough money to buy anything he wants, and Scallen wants to know what he’ll want to buy while he’s in prison for the next five years. Kidd reiterates that he’s not going to jail, and Scallen replies that he certainly is.

Scallen admits he became a marshal for the money but feels somewhat ashamed of saying so. He remembers being one of several men recruited by the Pima County marshal during a period of unrest, and then being hired as a deputy. Kidd remarks that Scallen may eventually get up to making two hundred dollars as a marshal, but also may end up getting shot one night by a drunk cowhand he’s never seen before.

As the hours go by, Scallen goes to the window and looks out onto the street. He sees a man standing across the street. The man looks familiar, Scallen thinks, but he can’t quite place him. A second man speaks to the first before departing on horseback, and then the first adjusts his hat on his head. Scallen realizes that the man standing on the street is the same man who was sleeping in the armchair in the hotel lobby. With that knowledge, Scallen realizes that he is in grave danger, and his thoughts turn to the last time he saw his wife and children before setting out. He orders Kidd to come to the window and tell him if the man is someone familiar. Kidd identifies the man as Charlie Prince, one of the other posse members. Sometime later, six men on horseback arrive and position themselves in a line outside the hotel. Prince looks up at the window and calls out Kidd’s name.

Kidd tells Prince that he is all right, and to go buy the other riders a drink. Prince tells him to warn Scallen what will happen if the riders hear gunshots from the hotel, and Kidd assures him that Scallen already knows. Kidd implies to Scallen that he will pay him to let him go. That way he can go safely home to his wife and children in Bisbee, and no one will blame Scallen, given the odds against him. Before Scallen can give a yes or no answer, there is a knock on the door. It is Timpey, with a pot of coffee. But when Scallen unlocks the door, the door slams open, throwing him off balance and onto the floor. He then sees that Timpey has someone with him. It is Bob Moons, the brother of Dick Moons, and he is armed. Timpey tells Scallen that he had to bring Moons up to the room, or else Moons would have killed him. Scallen demands to know how Moons knew that Kidd was there, and Timpey reveals that he told Moons in an attempt to cheer the other man up, to Scallen’s disgust.

Scallen warns Moons off, saying that he’ll hang for murder if he kills Kidd. He tells Moons to hand him the gun, or else he’ll disarm him by force. When he sees Moons’ eyes glance from him to Kidd, he quickly swings his own gun up and hits Moons in the head with it, knocking him to the ground. Scallen remarks to Kidd, who is still sitting on the bed, that Kidd might have made a successful getaway during that time, but Kidd says that he never would have made it off the bed. Kidd also expresses admiration for the way Scallen managed to knock Moons out.

The next several minutes pass with the four men in the room, with Scallen in his chair, Kidd on the bed, Timpey sitting on a chair in front of the door, and Moons sitting on the floor up against the wall. Scallen knows that in a short time, he and Kidd will have to leave for the train station. They only have to travel three blocks, but Scallen is wary of what could happen once he and Kidd are on the street. He sees Charlie Prince and another man still outside, but there is no sign of anyone else. Kidd asks Scallen if he is still serious about taking him to prison. When Scallen says yes, Kidd says he doesn’t understand why Scallen would risk his safety to save Kidd’s life, only to risk his safety again to take him to Yuma.

Just before three o’clock, Scallen and Kidd get ready to leave. Scallen orders Moons to sit on the bed and to stay there. He warns that if he sees Moons anywhere on the street before the train leaves, he’ll have Moons charged with attempted murder. Scallen and Kidd leave the hotel and step out into the street. The area is deserted, with no one else in sight, and aside from the occasional gust of wind and the banging of a screen door, it is completely quiet. They turn the corner and head for the train station. As they are nearing the station platform, Kidd suddenly tells Scallen to run away while he still can.

Scallen demands that Kidd tell him where the other posse members are, and to tell them to come out. Kidd tells Scallen to tell them himself, and Scallen responds that he’ll shoot Kidd unless he complies. Kidd realizes Scallen is serious and calls out Charlie Prince’s name, but there is no reply. Seeing no one on the station platform, Scallen and Kidd head for the mail car near the end of the train. Someone approaches from behind and yells at them to stay where they are. It is Charlie Prince, armed with two pistols. Six more men appear in the shadows of the platform. Prince orders Scallen to throw down his guns, and Kidd urges Scallen to comply. Scallen keeps his gun on Kidd’s back. Kidd urges Prince to wait a minute. Prince shouts out a command to drop to the ground, and after a moment in which no one moves, Kidd quickly drops to the platform. Scallen fires off several rounds, hitting Prince, and fires at some of the others as they are taking cover. He grabs Kidd and they jump into the mail car of the moving train as the posse members fire shots.

As the train pulls out of the station, Kidd remarks to Scallen that he really earns his salary of one hundred and fifty dollars. Scallen admits to himself, smiling at Kidd in the process, that he is thinking the same thing at that moment.