#1. Quick Mike from the Bar-T was the one that did the cutting. He was not one of Little Bill's boys.
#2. No they weren't poor but they weren't well off either. Eastwood did mention that he needed the money, so I think it was to supplement his current income.
#3. If you are referring to a cabin, Quick Mike was hiding out there with some body guards. The Scofield Kid shot him three times while in the outhouse.
It got a bit muddled for me. Until the end, then I realized that Gene Hackman basically "owned" the town.
I think that's a bit unfair. Hackman's character in The Quick And The Dead did pretty much own the town, but Little Bill Dagget was just a sheriff in this film.
#2 - Eastwood was poor. The kid mentions, "You don't look so prosperous" when he tells Eastwood the offer. And his comment is consistent with the run-down appearance of the Eastwood's cabin, farm, and clothing etc. The way Eastwood was falling down when trying to move the pigs suggests that he's having trouble working the farm too.
Also - Eastwood wouldn't go through with killing more people after he just went 11 years without it, specifically because of his wife. Just chasing the bounty shows that he really, badly needed that money.
As for whether Morgan / Ned is poor --- it's unclear. He didn't look so poor as Eastwood was, so he may have gone out of friendship to Eastwood. Remember that Ned is the one who left early, renouncing his share of the money. That would hint that Ned wasn't so poor.
Totally agree. Will is clearly struggling on the pig farm, and the *only* reason he would do something that Claudia wouldn't like, such as kill two men for hire, was desperation.
It's The Wizard of Oz. Our party of players embark on the Yellow Brick Road looking for what they lack. The killer who lost his nerve, the gunslinger who needs better vision, the lion who needs courage, etc.
Other than the last 10 minutes, I don't value this movie much.