There are a number of indications that this film is set no later than the late 1890s or early 1900s - for example, the date of Elsa's mother death on her tombstone and the open automobile (characteristic of early twentieth century models). The heavily-worn dime that Judd (Joel McCrea) bets in the booth run by Westrum (Randolph Scott) in the opening scenes, however, is a "Mercury" (Winged Liberty) dime, first coined in 1916. The dime shown, moreover, could not have become so worn without several more years in circulation.