Editing True Grit (1969 film) (section)

==Plot==
In 1880, Frank Ross, of [[Yell County, Arkansas]], is murdered and robbed by his hired hand, Tom Chaney. Ross's young daughter, Mattie, travels to [[Fort Smith, Arkansas|Fort Smith]] and hires aging U.S. Marshal [[Rooster Cogburn (character)|Reuben "Rooster" J. Cogburn]] to apprehend Chaney. Mattie earns enough to pay his fee by horse trading. Meanwhile, Chaney has taken up with outlaw "Lucky" Ned Pepper in [[Indian Territory]].{{efn|Modern-day [[Oklahoma]].}}

Young [[Texas Ranger Division|Texas Ranger]] La Boeuf is also pursuing Chaney and joins forces with Cogburn, despite Mattie's protest. The two try, unsuccessfully, to ditch Mattie.

Days later, the three discover horse thieves Emmett Quincy and Moon, who are waiting for Pepper at a remote dugout cabin. Cogburn captures and interrogates the two men. Moon is shot in the leg during the capture, and Cogburn uses the injury as leverage for information about Pepper. Quincy slams a knife down on Moon's hand to shut him up, severing four of his fingers, then kills him. Cogburn shoots Quincy dead. Before dying, Moon reveals Pepper and his gang are due at the cabin that night for fresh mounts.

Rooster and La Boeuf lay a trap. Upon arriving, Pepper is suspicious and draws La Boeuf's fire, which blows cover of the planned ambush with a premature shot, inadvertently killing Pepper's horse. A firefight ensues, during which Cogburn and La Boeuf kill two gang members, but Pepper and the rest of his men escape unharmed. Cogburn, La Boeuf, and Mattie go to [[J. J. McAlester#Legacy|McAlester's store]] with the dead bodies. Cogburn tries, unsuccessfully, to persuade Mattie to stay at McAlester's.

The two lawmen and Mattie resume their pursuit. Fetching water one morning, Mattie finds herself face-to-face with Chaney. She shoots Chaney with her father's gun, injuring him, and then calling out to her partners. Chaney takes Mattie hostage when her gun misfires. Pepper and his gang arrive, Pepper takes charge of Mattie and threatens to kill her if Cogburn and La Boeuf do not ride away. Pepper leaves Mattie with Chaney, instructing him not to harm her.

Cogburn and La Boeuf double back. La Boeuf finds and takes charge of Mattie, and they watch from a high bluff as Cogburn confronts Pepper and his gang of three. Cogburn gives Pepper a choice between being killed now, or surrendering and being hanged in Fort Smith. Pepper starts mocking Cogburn.

Enraged, Cogburn charges the outlaws, guns blazing, and manages to hit Ned in the chest. Cogburn eventually kills the Parmalee brothers, with "Dirty Bob" fleeing. Severely wounded, Ned has enough strength to shoot Rooster's horse, trapping Rooster's leg under him as Bo goes down. Pepper prepares to kill Rooster, but La Boeuf makes a long shot with his rifle, killing Ned.

As La Boeuf and Mattie return to Pepper's camp, Chaney comes out from behind a tree and strikes La Boeuf with a rock, knocking him unconscious. Mattie shoots Chaney again, but the gun's [[recoil]] knocks her back into a snake pit. Her arm is broken in the fall and she is caught in a hole, drawing the attention of a rattlesnake. Cogburn appears and shoots Chaney, who falls into the pit, dead. Cogburn lowers himself down into the pit to retrieve Mattie, who is bitten by the snake before he shoots and kills it. La Boeuf helps them out of the pit before dying.

Cogburn is forced to leave La Boeuf behind as he and Mattie race to get help on Mattie's pony, which drops from exhaustion, forcing Cogburn to commandeer a wagon to get Mattie to a doctor in the territory. Later, Mattie's [[Lawyer|attorney]], J. Noble Daggett, meets Cogburn in Fort Smith. On Mattie's behalf, Daggett pays Cogburn the remainder of his fee in Chaney's capture, plus a $200 bonus for saving her life. Cogburn offers to wager the money on a bet that Mattie will recover just fine, a bet Daggett declines.

Mattie, her arm in a sling, is back at home recovering from her injuries. She promises Cogburn he will be buried next to her in the Ross family plot after his death. Cogburn accepts her offer and leaves, jumping over a fence on his new horse to disprove her good-natured jab that he was too old and fat to clear a four-rail fence.