Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there is just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved west with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it.
I'm that man, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancey job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Looks like the Marshal's closed up the stable and gone home for the night, Mr. Jones.
Well, Andy Wehman must be around, though. He always is.
Don't see no sign of him.
Well, I'll open the door and we can get the horses inside, at least. Yeah. All right, Joseph.
I declare I'm so tired I could lay right down in the stall and sleep with my horse.
The way you roll around the horse, it's got a worse kick than you would.
Now, the only time I toss much is when I've at something that don't sit right with me, and it ain't too often I do that.
Sure isn't.
Say, we gonna have to bed these horses down ourselves, Mr. Jones?
No, Andy will do it. He's probably in the back room. Come on, let's go see.
I declare I just couldn't have rode another mile tonight.
Ah, it was either ride to Dodge or to camp out. Listen, sounds like Andy's got somebody with him.
Talking to himself more than likely, just keep awake.
Well, a livery stable doesn't need much of a night watchman anyway, I guess.
Well, I'm not saying I don't believe it, Andrew, but I'm sure we can do something about it.
Why, that's old Miles McTag with him.
Well, the two biggest liars in Dodge are at it again. All they need now is a dock.
Black Hills, Andy never even seen the Black Hills.
I had a dog on a little wire. He got that story out of Ned Buntline, one of the boys we had in jail one time later.
In five minutes them two trees were so full of arrows they looked like porcupines. And when the fight was over, there was 14 Indians laying dead all around me.
Those two got away while I was reloading.
Well, that's only 16. You said there was a dozen and a half.
Well, that's only a matter of speaking. 16 is the same as a dozen and a half.
A half? No, it is not. At last, too. 18 is a dozen and a half.
Now let's go on and say hello to Chester.
Thank you.
Oh, dang it, Miles. I told you to...oh, oh, oh, oh, Marshall.
Evening, Andy. Miles.
Good evening, Matthew.
Chester.
Oh, Mr. McTag.
What's the matter, Andy?
Well, opening the door that way, sudden like it. Oh, dang it, Marshall, you ought to knock first.
Why, my land, an old Indian fighter like you had in order to get spooked over and nothing had happened.
Andy, you shut up, Chester. I know what I know.
Yeah, too bad there ain't nobody else does.
One of them boys will come through here someday. You believe me, don't you, Marshall?
Well, Andy, all that was a long time ago.
Oh, you doubt my word, is that it?
I didn't say I doubted your word, Andy.
Oh, and it's all right, Marshall. Maybe it's best just to forget it.
No, now, I was just funnin', yeah, and it's sure, Chester, I know.
Well, I better get your horses unsettled and bedded down.
Andy, why don't you let them cool some before you water them, huh?
Yes, sir.
Oh, that's a pity, Matthew. He's a fine-hearted old man. It's a shame he's so prone to prevaricate.
Well, he's like a lot of us, Miles. He tells about the things he wishes he'd done, wishes he had the courage to do.
Marshall?
Yeah, what is it, Andy?
There's somebody here. It's, uh...
Evenin', Marshall? Chester?
What? Hard Logan.
I didn't know you were out, huh?
You've been paroled?
A week ago, Marshall. Two years, seven months.
Paroled? Don't ever go to prison, Marshall. It's no good.
Yeah, so I hear. You travelin' with the Beckett brothers again?
Now, Marshall, the warden told me to stay away from evil companions.
Uh-huh.
Of course, the Beckett boys ain't evil officially. They didn't go to prison. Andy here didn't identify them like he done me.
Well, I only told the truth, Hod.
Sure you did, Andy. Stood right up there in court and told them you seen me run out of the bank.
Told them I was wearing a mask, but it slipped and you seen my face.
I did.
I was right brave of you, Andy. Downright brave. And now I'm back.
You better leave me alone, Hod. You better not bother me.
What are your plans, Hod?
Oh, I reckon I'll hang around Dodge a while, Marshall.
Look up my old friends, drop in and pass the time with Andy here once in a while.
No, no. You stay away from me.
No, that ain't being very kind to a man who's paid his debt, Andy.
It's only paid up till now, Hod. Don't go open up a new account.
Now, it's a funny thing, Marshall. A man can't always plan too far ahead.
He don't always know just how things are going to work out.
Music
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Music
Mr. Dillon? Yeah, Chester.
There's the Long Branch, right there ahead of us.
Yeah, it's always been there as far as I remember, Chester.
Well, yes sir, I know, but Longs were passionate anyhow to interact with me.
Might as well look in for a minute.
Oh, what for?
Well, my way to say hello to whoever's in there.
Like Sam Nodin, for instance?
Well, yes, Sam, anybody else too, of course.
What's the matter with you? You've got a dime that's burning a hole in your pocket.
I could do with a glass of beer as far as that's concerned.
All right, Chester, but I'm not going to stay long. I want to go see Doc.
Well, maybe he's in there.
No, no, the light's burning in his office.
Well, look what's here. Hello, Matt.
Hey there, Kitty.
Come on in out of the weather, whatever they use for weather this time of year.
You like a drink?
Well, I think Chester's got a beer in mind, yeah.
Well, see, the truth is I thought as long as I was here I'd get me a glass of rye or a little dab of sugar in it.
For that matter, I think I'll just go get it while I've got the chance.
Sam?
That place looks real quiet tonight.
Too quiet, Matt. That's good for you, I guess, not for me.
Business will pick up. The rains are about over now.
Trail herds will be rolling in before long.
Well, something better happen or Sam and I'll have to start taking in each other's wash to make a living.
I can't quite see you taking in wash, Kitty.
You know something, Matt? Neither can I.
Come on, have one on me this time.
I won't help the business, honey.
Well, it looks like business anyway.
Hey, wait a minute, Kitty.
What is it, Matt?
What's he doing over there?
Wendy?
He's supposed to be holding on the night watchman's job over at the livery stable.
Oh, I don't know. He's been here for about an hour.
He's wearing a gun, too.
Look, Kitty, I'll take you up on that offer a little later.
Sure, Matt. Anytime. I'll be around.
Hello, Andy.
Oh, hello, Michael.
Now you've got a snuck up on me there.
Ah? The, uh, stable running itself tonight?
No, no, I'm just going over. I'm just fixing to leave.
I see.
I, uh, Marshall.
Yeah?
Marshall, Hodd Logan's aiming to kill me.
Did he say so, Andy?
He don't say nothing. At least, mostly don't.
He's just there, though. Four or five times a night. Every night this week.
At the stable?
Yeah.
Oh, why?
Well, looking in on his horse, he says. He's keeping it there.
But that ain't why he hangs around, Marshall.
He's fixing to kill me. That's what he's doing.
Well, you know, Andy. You just told me that he never said anything.
Well, he don't have to. It's the way he looks. Just a grinning. Not saying nothing.
Last night, kind of late it was, I went out the back door toward the corral.
And there he was, leaning against the post, just a grinning at me.
Is that why you took to wearing a gun?
Well, I got to him, Marshall. He's aiming to kill me.
Now, if he is, the gun won't stop him. He wouldn't have a chance against Hodd Logan.
Well, then, what, what am I going to do, Marshall?
You're going to use things to stop letting him get your goat.
Well, I can't help it. I ain't no gunfighter.
All them tall stories that I've been telling, I, I never done nothing like that.
Well, then, don't start anything now, not with Hodd.
That's what he wants you to do, so he'll have an excuse.
Excuse for what?
Well, you've already said it, Andy. An excuse to kill you.
Well, let's see how this is coming along, Matt.
Ah, yes, we got to get those stitches out.
Can you roll that sleeve up a little higher?
Well, if I do, I'll choke myself, but I'll try.
How's that?
Fine, fine, fine. Yes, that seems to be healing all right.
That's a sign of good blood.
Oh, your blood's all right, I reckon. What you got left of it?
What you got left of it?
These bullet wounds, nothing but bullet wounds since I came out here with this blasted frontier.
You know, Matt, it'd be a downright pleasure to treat a plain, oh, say, a belly ache, a nice case of the gout.
You wouldn't know what to do with a civilized practice, Doc. You know it.
Yeah, it'd be kind of nice to find out, though.
Now, you want to brace yourself kind of here, man. I've got to get those stitches out.
Well, go ahead.
I've got a hold of them now, sir. I just wanted to...
What did you do? Sew them through the bone?
Well, you're lucky you've got a bone there. An inch to the right and you wouldn't have.
So why don't you steer clear of some of these gunmen, Matt?
I will if they'll stay clear of Doug.
That's two of them out.
Yeah.
Oh, see, I understand Hod Logan is back.
Yeah, he's been hanging around town for about a week. I thought maybe he'd head on west and try to find the Beckett brothers.
Yeah, that was Beckett brother. They were pretty thick, weren't they, for a while, before Hod went to prison.
They ought to have gone, too, but we didn't have enough case against them.
Ahem. Hurts, doesn't it?
Doug, if you were up around my mouth, I'd swear you were pulling teeth instead of stitches.
Why, you didn't bell her when I sewed you up.
Yeah, but you gave me a half a bottle of whiskey that time.
Mr. Dillon? Hello, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
It's them Becketts, Mr. Dillon. They're back in town. Somebody seen them about an hour ago.
Uh, Doug, the rest of these will have to wait. I want to go talk to them before they meet too many old friends.
Another visit with Joe and Daphne Forsythe.
Joe? Joe? Joe!
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm up. I'm up. I forget breakfast. I'll shave at work.
Joe, it's not time to go to work.
Then why'd you wake me up?
You were snoring.
How about that?
You were snoring loud.
Oh, really?
I just wanted to quiet you.
I thought I was quiet.
You sounded like a buzzsaw going through a pine nut.
Pretty good, pretty good. I wish I could be with you at 2.30 in the morning.
You can go back to sleep now.
Oh, gee, thanks.
You can get a good night's sleep too. Our savings bonds will protect us.
Huh?
They protect us. The money we invest is used to protect our country and its freedoms.
Why, all around us we can see the safeguards that our bonds have paid for.
How about that?
So you see, when you buy that savings bond with every paycheck, you're really investing in a secure night's sleep.
Not in this house, I'm not.
What?
Good night, Daphne.
Good night, Joe.
Where do you fear they could be, Mr. Jones?
I don't know, Justin.
Hod Logan took his horse out of the stable two hours ago, and he checked out of the Dodge house.
Maybe they've all hit the trail together.
No, they're still in town somewhere.
Well, there's no reason to expect them to try something the minute they get together, are they?
Why not? That's what Hod's been waiting around for.
I couldn't figure him wasting a week like that just to get even with Andy Wimmer.
Wait a minute.
What's the matter?
I was just thinking.
Now, Hod's been hanging around the stable there at odd hours of the night.
I figured that he was just trying to prod Andy into drawing on him, but...
Yeah, that might be something else.
Chester, let's take a walk down between the stable and the general store, huh?
All right.
If the dog get all Andy, I'll clean up some of this junk.
If the dog don't find it, it'll be quiet, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Careful. Watch it.
What is it?
Broken glass. Don't step on it, it'll make a noise.
Hey, look. Somebody busted open the window inside the store there. They tore all the boards off.
Yeah.
So that's why Hod was hanging around the stable.
People get used to seeing him and not think nothing of it.
That's what you're manning, don't you, John?
They're inside the store.
Yeah. Probably after Jonas is safe, you could bust it open with a crowbar.
They're going to be mighty surprised when they find us waiting for them here.
We're not going to be waiting for them.
Why not?
I'm not sure that all three of them are in there. One of them might be out back of the stable with their horses.
Now, look. You go back out to the street and go across to the long branch and get Sam Luna to help you, and you wait there.
And if Hod and the Beckets come out that way, you stop them.
Well, now, they ain't coming out the front way. Do you know it?
You do as I tell you. I'm going to be back at the stable.
Yes, sir.
Would you be careful, Mr. Allen?
It's a trap, a bear trap buried in a straw.
It's a trap.
A bear trap buried in a straw.
And it's chained to a post.
Hey, caught you by the galley. I reckon that'll earn you hard.
It's not hard, you crazy fool.
Marshal!
Keep your voice down.
Oh, first I'm mighty sorry. I put them traps there for hard logan so he couldn't sneak into the back of the stable.
Well, get a trap setter and open this thing, will you?
Yes, sir. Right away. I got one here to prepare for that water barrel.
Hey, that's hard logan.
Let's get through the horses and ride out of here.
He's up there between the stable and the store.
Be quiet.
Let me roll over and get my gun clear.
When you load this on board first, you'll have to take time to finish what I have to weed.
Stand where you are, hard.
What?
You're under arrest. Get your hands up.
Get back to the building.
You haven't got a chance, hard. Now come on out.
Come and get us, marshal.
We've got to get undercover, marshal. We're right out here in plain sight.
Then get that setter and open this trap. I can hold him in back of the building.
They can't get a shot at me without stepping out into the open.
He's caught in one of them bear traps, boys.
Stepped on one of them traps we've seen Andy set in this afternoon.
You take one step from behind that building, hard, and it'll be your last one.
Don't have to take a step, marshal. Just toss a match, is all.
Toss a match? Hey, he's going to set fire to the store.
Oh, you'll burn to death, marshal. I'll try and find something to force that trap open.
No, there's no time for that.
Look at that barrel of water there. Run out and tip it over, will you?
That's right by the corner of the building. I can't go out there. There ain't much cover.
Here, take my gun and go out shooting. It'll keep them off balance.
Now hurry, that fire's going to get close.
I can't, marshal. They'll kill me.
Look, Andy, they aim to kill you before they leave anyway. Hard wants to get even with you. Now go on.
I can't. I just can't go out there, marshal. I can't.
All right, Andy. Just get clear then. Oh, you'll see you'll burn in two.
Oh, no. I... Oh, it's no use, marshal. I can't do that neither. I can't leave you here.
Here, give me your gun, marshal.
Here. Good luck.
Keep standing. Get him, boys.
You dirty cowards!
Andy, dump that barrel over!
I got it, marshal.
I got it, marshal. I got it. I got it just like you told me.
Now, I think maybe I got hard in one other. The third man got away.
Oh, we'll get him all right. Now go get that trap setter.
I got it. I brought it back with me. I stood right up to him, gun to gun, didn't I, marshal?
Yeah, you sure did, Andy. Hurry it up, will you?
Well, Andy, you can forget about that Indian story now.
I think this one's better. And I'll sure be around to back you up.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon,
U.S. Marshal. Featured in the cast were Parley Bear as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc,
and Georgia Ellis as Kitty. George Walsh speaking.
Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story on gunsmoke.
This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Thank you.
Thank you.