What is the significance of the gold that Jane uses to pay both Judkins and Blake? Where did she get it? Why is she paying these men in gold? Does this say anything about her father?

The significance of the gold that Jane uses to pay both Judkins and Blake is that it is her father's gold. She is paying these men in gold because she realizes that gold can travel and be used anywhere and she feels that these men, after helping her so much, may have to flee Utah. She knows that gold can be used to bribe their way out of the state. Jane's father was obviously a rich man, and kept gold. He traded for it, as he was a rancher and not a gold miner, so it is evidence of trade with others, maybe rustlers.