After Lewis puts the arrow through the 1st Hillbilly the 2nd one runs off and Drew says "You better run". They made no attempt to go after him. What if they had caught him and taken him back to civilization and to the authorities? I recently viewed this film for about the 10th time and this thought just occurred to me.
shareI felt they covered that in their discussion after the first killing in their realization what a trial would have been like with a jury of the dead man's peers.
I think a better question is why they didn't discuss catching and killing him before he could get back and report the killing (though that is later dealt with and with the encounter unplanned).
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"I think a better question is why they didn't discuss catching and killing him before he could get back and report the killing (though that is later dealt with and with the encounter unplanned)."
I think what you are alluding to is Lewis response to the threat of the one-that-got-away reporting the murder of his cohort to the sheriff when he said "what's he going to tell them Drew -- what he did to Bobby?"
So they knew the other guy wasn't going to say anything so why should they?
I think they didn't discuss pursing the other culprit for this simple reason: a quick escape seemed possible and the best way out -- jump in the boat and scoot down the river and get out of there. Remember, they had taken the weapon from the other guy, so it would have taken him time to get home and grab another firearm and during that time they could have escaped.
Except they wasted valuable escape time having the debate over what to do, then burying the one "hillbilly."
Going after the other one was problematic for several reasons: he might have gotten recruits to assist him, he knew the terrain and they did not, etc.
I think jumping on the boat was the better choice between those two options . . . they just waited too long to do it.
I agree that their best thought solution was to get the heck out of there and never come back - didn't they also discuss that? To get down the river and get the hell out of there? (I've seen the movie several times and also have read the book and I can't recall if parts in the book are adding more to what I recall from the movie).
But I also think that they knew if the guy got back and reported the killing that it again would be an issue of who was going to be believed - and the outsiders knew that the mountain man's peers would believe him over the four of them and he would have just denied the sexual assault.
Also, didn't the second mountain man have a firearm up on the ridge? I seem to recall he had one.
" . . . didn't they also discuss that? To get down the river and get the hell out of there?"
Yes, that was literally what Lewis said to Drew when asked about "the plan."
"But I also think that they knew if the guy got back and reported the killing that it again would be an issue of who was going to be believed . . . "
That is what they (well, Lewis) said would happen if THEY reported the mountain men to the authorities. But as far as the other mountain man being the one to report the incident, Lewis insisted that the other mountain man would not report the killing of his friend, because then it would be revealed as to what his friend did to Bobby. That was the essence of the conversation when Drew posed to Lewis the question "what's to keep him (the other mountain man) from going to the sheriff?" Lewis response: "what's he going to tell them Drew -- what he did to Bobby?"
We are not given anything to go on as far as if it had gone to trial and the other mountain man denied having committed the assault if he would be believed or not.
" . . . . and the outsiders knew that the mountain man's peers would believe him over the four of them and he would have just denied the sexual assault."
Again, that was Lewis concern if the incident was revealed to the authorities and ended up in court. But Lewis was sure that the other mountain man would not go to the authorities. If he felt like the other mountain man WOULD have gone to the authorities then -- to your point -- he might have opted for the four of them to go after the other guy and stop him
"Also, didn't the second mountain man have a firearm up on the ridge?"
He did. But remember when Lewis and Drew caught up with their friends during the assault, Drew momentarily wrestled with the surviving mountain man and took his gun away (they later buried the gun with the deceased rapist). So the one that escaped must have ran back home and grabbed another gun.