Nevada history buffs can view ‘The Ox-bow Incident’

RENO, Nevada – “The Ox-bow Incident,” a 1943 motion picture adapted from an iconic novel by the same name by one of Nevada’s most famous authors, will be shown at April’s High Noon Shootout with Neal Cobb at the Nevada Historical Society.

The film will be shown on April 19 at noon at the Historical Society, 1650 N. Virginia St., in Reno. Admission is $5, free for members and children 17 and younger.

The movie stars Henry Fonda as Gil Carter and Harry Morgan as Art Croft, two cowboys who wander into a small Nevada town plagued by cattle thieves. Initially suspected of being the rustlers themselves, Carter and Croft eventually join a posse out to get the criminals, who also may be involved in a recent murder. When the posse closes in on a group that could be the fugitives, they must decide on a course of action, with numerous lives hanging in the balance.

Director William Wellman’s study of mob mentality is universally acclaimed as one of the classics of the western genre.

At the conclusion of the film, Cobb will have a question-and-answer period.

Walter Van Tilburg Clark is considered one of Nevada’s great writers of the 20th century. The Oxbow Incident was his first novel and drew critical acclaim. He taught at institutions across the country, including the University of Nevada where his father served as university president.

He died at home in Virginia City in 1971.