Asa "Long Hair" Watts



Asa "Long Hair" Watts is the main antagonist of the 1972 western film The Cowboys. He is portrayed by Bruce Dern.

Long Hair first appears in the film when he approaches rancher Wil Andersen, who has just enlisted the help of some schoolboys to participate in a 400 mile long cattle drive. He and his gang have just been released from jail and are searching for work. Long Hair lies to Andersen and, in order to get work, claims that he's worked for several dozen ranchers. Andersen catches Long Hair in the lie when he reveals that he was the pallbearer at the funeral of one of the ranchers that Watts mentiones, and refuses to hire him. Furious, Long Hair rides off, and swears vengeance by resolving to take Andersen's herd by force. He and his gang begin discreetly following Andersen and his herd.

Mid way through the drive, Long Hair encounters one of Andersen's adolescent ranchers, Slim Honeycutt, while he is getting water at a river. He and his gang abuse Slim, and Watts tells Slim that if he tells Andersen that they were following the herd, he would kill him. Whilst they were setting up camp one night, Long Hair and his gang encounter Andersen and his cowhands. The confrontation becomes heated and soon becomes a violent fistfight between Andersen and Long Hair. When Long Hair gains the upper hand, Andersen attempts to walk off, but Watts isn't through; he picks up a rifle and shoots Andersen several times, then takes off with the herd and almost all their supplies. Andersen ultimately dies from the wounds.

Andersen's cowhands reslove to take the herd back. As part of a plan, Andersen's cook, the african-american Jedediah Nightlinger, wanders into Long Hair's camp and allows himself supposedly be executed by hanging. This provides enough of a distraction for the cowhands to ambush the camp. With the element of surprise, the boys kill every member of Long Hair's gang. Eventually, Watts is the only one left, and has broken his leg after falling off his horse, which had gotten tangled in the reigns. Watts desperately pleads with the boys to spare him, and at first they appear to when part of the reigns tangling his leg are cut loose...but only the part connecting the reign to the saddle, which Long Hair doesn't realize until it is too late. Moments later, Slim shoots a gun blast into the air, which startles Long Hair's idle horse, sending it galloping off into the desert, dragging Long Hair by his broken leg and presumably killing him.