How did the posse of bad men know how to follow Lane & his crew? They were about a day behind but followed exactly in Lane's footsteps the whole way. Nobody was supposed to know where the gold was except Mrs Lowe and it didn't appear they were tracking Lane because they were riding too fast.
Lane & his group were meandering along and the bad guys were riding all out but yet they couldn't catch up. How was all this possible?
Frankly I thought the meandering was VERY unrealistic. Even AFTER they knew the gang of 20+ was on their tails, this group rode for the most part at a jog trot at best. In fact, during this entire two-hour movie there were only TWO scenes of them traveling at a lope/canter or gallop, and even those were long-distance shots, probably done with stuntmen. RIDICULOUS! I really believe it was because these actors (probably Ann Margret) didn't know how to ride.
shareActually, you've got it backwards. The gang had a ridiculous pace. Remember where they are? The desert! Wayne kept his outfit 'meandering' as you call it to conserve their animals' strength. The gang's mounts, realistically, would have dropped dead after a couple of days tops. Maybe Ann Margret didn't know how to ride but that had no impact on the story. You're opinion is all fine and dandy but ultimately you're wrong.
shareI'm with JJ II even the Pony Express could only gallop for 10 miles maximum see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Express#Operation
share"How did the posse of bad men know how to follow Lane & his crew?"
This is one John Wayne western where you don't want to ponder the story line too much because you're guaranteed to end up with more questions than answers.
For a start I think we find out in the end "the posse of bad men" aren't technically bad men. One can only assume they are hired by the Pinkerton Detective Agency to recover the gold. Pity the the Pinkerton Man didn't actually try to talk to Lane's group earlier instead of shooting at them, as it may have saved a lot of lives. But a western has to have gun fights doesn't it?
I have no idea how they knew "how to follow Lane's group"; may be they had unseen trackers.
I agree with the above facts about conserving the horses' and mules' strength and also the fact that the chasing horses would probably have dropped dead during the first day. Maybe they stole more in that village, but this movie isn't supposed to be the most accurate, so I just watch it for the fun it is.
One other thing, though, I was pretty sure those 20 men were not Pinkerton men, just the original gang plus other less than honest gunfighters they knew who wanted to make a quick buck. I always thought the Pinkerton man was tracking both groups, not aligned with either. I figure he somehow knew that Lane and his men were about to turn back and that's why he fired near (not at) "Mrs. Lowe", to keep them headed towards wherever the gold was. Just a thought....
Courage is being scared to death- and saddling up anyway
GeorgiaDixie has it exactly right about the Pinkerton Man. Several members of the original gang were pallbearers at Matt Lowe's funeral, and recruited every tinhorn gunfighter they could find. The Pinkerton Man naturally wants to recover the gold, which is probably what he's doing on the train at the end.
shareThey followed their tracks.
That a standard in almost every western film; you can somebody by the tracks by they leave behind.
"How did the posse of bad men know how to follow Lane & his crew? They were about a day behind but followed exactly in Lane's footsteps the whole way."
You have answered your own question--footsteps (prints).