The ending

Overall this was a mediocre Western. I liked Dana Andrews in it, but then again, I like him in everything he's in. But I didn't like the ending. It actually wasn't a happy ending. Dana Andrews comes back after years of being away, to clear his name and find out once and for all who framed him. Of course our hero finds the real killer, whose motive was very silly, and clears himself. That's all well and good, but here's the problem. This did not end happily. In the end, Dana Andrews has to leave town knowing he was cheated out of everything. He was cheated out of his wife, he was cheated out of his son, he lost all of his friends, and had to leave his home. His wife had already moved on after he left. She remarried and raised his son with another man. His so-called friends, who turned their backs on him long ago and even tried to lynch him, wanted him to stay. But there was no staying there anymore with him always remembering what happened. I feel like there really is no payoff in the end. The hero lost everything. All for no reason. He leaves and you don't know where he's going or what he's going to do. Yes, he gets the bad guy and proves his innocence, but then the next thing you wonder is, "Okay, now what?" The hero won, but he still lost. The ending was a real bummer.