Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers
and the spoilers and that's with a US Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun smoke starring William Conrad, the story of the violin 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.
Chester and I were 30 miles from Dodge when we ran into the Buffalo Hunters' camp.
We'd been holed up for two days in a deserted sod hut taken cover from one of the worst
blizzards in years.
It was over now and a warm dry canuck blew out of the west down off the Rockies and across
the prairie in the Kansas.
It was Chester who first saw the camp, the pile of buffalo hides half covered with snow
and the skeleton of a wagon that's canvas torn and shredded to the blizzard.
The camp was silent as we rode up and got down.
And there was so little here, Mr. Dillon.
They got caught out on the prairie when the blizzard hit, Chester.
Yeah, it sure does look that way.
I don't know how that theme is still alive with nothing but that wagon for protection.
Yeah, but they don't look none too lively.
You can't blame them.
Put your hands up.
Over there.
Better do what the old man says, Chester.
We can hide in that wagon.
Come over here.
Closer.
That's your camp, mister?
Of course it's my camp.
Now you two drop them guns.
Well, they got our hands up, isn't that enough?
You do what I say.
I ain't taking no chances.
I ain't going to get left here again.
Fine.
You're going to hit that, that team.
You're going to take me in the dog.
You ain't running off like dead learners.
Who does that mean?
You ain't running off like dead learners.
Who does that mean?
You ain't running off like dead learners.
Who does that mean?
You ain't running off like dead learners.
Who does that mean?
You ain't running off like dead learners.
Why did he leave you?
Yeah, he seen that blizzard coming.
He didn't want to take any chances, so he rode off.
He's probably been in the dodge all the time, warm and cold.
Why didn't you go with him?
Man, I twisted my leg, my foot so I can't ride a horse, that's why.
You are no physics driving away, you'll be too slow.
You mean he left you here to freeze?
I'll kill him when I find him, and I'll kill you if you don't drive me to the
dodge.
He's a good-ass Marshal, mister.
He ain't going to leave you here.
Marshal?
Now why don't you put that rifle down and come up through here.
All right.
My name is Ira Puckett, Marshal.
I'm usually up north following the Republican herd, but I come south this year.
I'm getting old, and I thought it'd be warmer down here.
You sure made a mistake about that, didn't you?
You'll get me in the dodge, won't you?
Yeah, sure, of course we will.
That foot I twisted, I don't feel nothing in it.
It must be frozen.
It could be.
I'll kill Jed Varner for this.
You forgot about that, Puckett.
I'm not taking you back to dodge just so you can hang.
I'll forget it till I hang him.
Well, how is he, Todd?
Oh, well, he'll be all right, Matt.
In time.
That foot wasn't so bad after all, huh?
He didn't have much foot left when I got through him.
Well.
You'll be able to walk there with a cane by the end of the night.
Does he know that?
I told him.
I owe Puckett to Todd Moen, Matt.
How little is too far.
Oh, what do you mean, Todd?
Well, what do you think, Puckett?
Well, what he hated most about this Jed Varner leaving on the prairie wasn't the fact that
he might have died, but that he was helpless.
Now, a man like Puckett can't stand being helpless.
I see.
And now, all crippled up, he's a bit of a minimap.
Well, he'll get over it, Doctor.
You know, Matt, I got used to most anything in time.
No, no, no, I got my doubts about Puckett.
He's in the bathroom right now.
Yeah, all right.
I'll come with you.
Hello, Puckett.
Hello, sir.
Now, how you feeling?
Did God tell you what he did to me?
Yeah.
He ruined my foot.
I saved your life, Puckett.
Now, he's sure I'm grateful, Doc.
You're going to be all right, Puckett.
You'll be able to get around.
Yeah, like old woman.
What am I going to do for a living?
I ain't one of you city people.
I live off country.
I always have.
I'm a man, not a dude.
You'll get used to town life.
And, uh, you'll find men here, too.
What kind of men?
Walking around all flickered up,
parting the hair in the middle, and bowing to the ladies.
Ain't one of them could do half the things I've done.
Well, I was living with Comanches when most of them were snibbing in their mother's apron.
I know.
I'll still find something to do.
I'll help you.
You will, huh?
Sure.
Then help me find Jed Larner.
Bring him in here so that I can kill him with my bare hands.
What does he look like, Puckett?
You know, he's tall, black hair.
Got a big scar running across one eye and halfway down his right cheek.
Very good.
I'll try to find him.
And if I do, I'll run him out of town before you get to him.
Eh?
I can't even trust you, Taylor.
Not when you want to murder a man.
I told you I didn't bring you in so that you could hang.
The next few weeks, I kept a sharp eye out for Jed Larner, but he must have headed for
some other part of the country anyway.
He never showed up in Dodge.
And as time passed, an eye out of Puckett was able to get around a little bit.
First with a help of clutches and then finally with a cane.
But it was obvious that his hunting days were over, and not alone the thing that came in.
And then one night his pride really got a blow.
I was at the Long Branch having a beer with Kitty that happened.
Well, this is a great way to start the New Year, Matt.
Well, what do you mean, Kitty?
Well, last year I was hoping maybe I'd be in San Francisco by now.
San Francisco?
You never told me.
Well, we'd get down about it.
On nothing, I guess.
But why San Francisco?
No blizzard, no ducks, no cowboys.
Yeah, but they got fog.
And all those sailors and miners aren't any more gentle than these cowboys, you know.
Oh, I know.
Imagine going to dinner in a carriage, not a tablecloth, dancing on a hardwood floor.
You know, I think you're spoiled, Kitty.
How could I get spoiled?
We're in dark city.
You know, I always...
What's the matter, Matt?
That man at the bar there, he just turned around.
Who? Which man?
One with a scar on his cheek.
Excuse me, Kitty, I'll be back.
Kitty, I'll be back.
Oh, evening, Michael.
Evening.
Before you stare at me, Michael.
Your name's Deadliner?
What a pity.
How long you been in town?
About an hour.
Michael, something wrong?
You remember the big blizzard we had?
Who don't?
We all do, I guess.
Especially Ira Bucket.
What?
He didn't die, Lennard.
Well, that's fine.
I went back looking for him.
I wondered where he'd got to.
Yeah, sure you did.
Well, it's true.
Bucket's here in Dodge, Lennard.
He is?
And if he finds you, he'll kill you.
But he isn't gonna find you because you're leaving right now.
And don't you ever show up around here again.
Well, now, just wait, Marshall.
I can't arrest you and I can't put you in jail, but I'll tell you what I can do.
What?
Suppose I just let everybody here know that you're the man who ran off and left Ira Bucket to die.
No, Michael.
You know they'd tear you apart, Lennard.
Don't say nothing, Marshall.
They'd set you on fire.
Don't tell them.
I'll leave, Marshall. I'm leaving right now.
What?
You got rid of him, didn't you, Harry?
Yeah.
I just saved him from being shot.
And Ira Bucket's been hanging for it, silly.
Oh, that was a set line.
Uh-huh.
He's the one that ought to hang.
Ah, he didn't mean to kill the old man, silly.
What's the difference?
Well, legally, it is time, I guess.
Enough to give Ira his foot back?
It's hard to argue with.
Why? Because I think so?
Why don't we talk about San Francisco some more?
I changed my mind. I think I'll go to New York.
Marshall, you in?
I've got a pocket man.
Yeah.
He looks awful mad.
He's been here a long time.
You can always find a gun, can't you?
You done it. You done it, Marshall.
It was you, wasn't it?
Ah, you saw Dead Lerner.
Yes, I saw him.
Saw him jump on his horse.
He rode out of town before I could stop him.
And I had to stand there and watch.
I didn't even have a rock to throw at him.
Why'd you do it, Marshall?
I told you why I did it. I wanted to save you from hanging.
I'd rather hang and live this way.
I wasn't born to become a helpless old man.
At least you could have done.
You'd let me fight my own battles like I always did on the plane.
You took my manhood away from me, Marshall.
You're living in a town now. I run among people.
Why don't you try to get used to it?
All right.
All right, I will.
I'll start living like you town people.
You gonna get a job?
I'm going to? I sure am.
And it's gonna pay me a lot of money, too.
What do you mean?
Find out, Marshall, when it's too late.
Thanks, Marshall.
Hey, Mike.
You've had a good morning.
Yeah.
Thanks to that wind we had last night.
It kept me awake.
All night?
No.
I went to bed all night.
Hey, let's go over there by the bank.
That's the first time he's had his team in Waggonaut.
How do you suppose he's going?
Right now he's going into the bank.
What's he carrying that shotgun for?
He can't go hunting in the bank.
Oh yes he can, Chester. Come on.
Where?
He didn't even say where his pocket was going to pull that bank up.
Well he said last night he was going to start living like Tom, people.
Get a job and make himself a lot of money.
This could be his idea of how to do it.
He sure couldn't have no other idea than to carry that shotgun in there.
Here, you going in after Mr. Dillon?
Yeah.
But he's got a shotgun.
Chester, look. You take his wagon and take him off somewhere.
Lead him out around the back of the bank, out of sight.
And then we can handle this without a shooting. Go on.
All right.
Go on. Hurry, Chester. He's coming out.
Well come on out, bucket.
Marshall.
I'm not stopping you.
You better not try it.
I can shoot with one hand, Marshall.
Sure.
You don't, you try to follow me.
Hey, hey, wait a minute. Where's my wagon? Where's my key?
You're in a bad fix, aren't you?
Somebody stole them. I can't get away without my key, you know.
No, you can't, bucket.
So you might as well give up.
You done it. You're behind this, Marshall.
You going to shoot me?
Why shouldn't I?
Because you're in enough trouble already and shooting me won't help a bit.
You're trapped in the back of the bank.
Now why don't you use your head, Arlen?
All right. Here.
There's the money.
Now you bring my outfit back. I ain't going to go to jail, Marshall.
Like I said, shooting me isn't going to help you.
And I'm not going to do a thing about your outfit.
You think you've outsmarted me, don't you?
Give it up, Arlen. You're licked.
Yeah, I...
Hey, you're going to get shot.
I...
No, I can't shoot you, Marshall.
Here, take my gun.
Like a helpless old fool.
And you can rob a bank proper.
I'm not sure that you really wanted to, Arlen.
What?
All you wanted was to prove something about that manhood you think has been taken away from you.
But you sure picked a foolish way to do it.
Yeah, I guess I did.
I really thought I thought he wouldn't never give up, Mr. Young.
He didn't have much choice, Mr. Young.
Only taking on old to jail.
Oh, no, no, no, no. I...
I can't stand jail. Please, Marshall.
Yeah, lock him up, Justin. I'll return this money. I'll have a talk with Mr. Botkin.
I'll be over later.
I thought I told you to lock him up, Justin.
Well, I started, you know, but I just couldn't stand the look on his face when I locked him in that cell.
You know, Ira, it means to me that everybody treats you pretty well.
Yeah, everybody but Jed Larner.
That's true, but Chester and I brought you in. Doc saved your life.
I kept you from hanging, and if I hadn't outsmarted you at the bank, you'd probably be lying dead somewhere right now.
And it seems to me everybody's gone to an awful lot of trouble for an old man full of a lot of foolish pride.
What do you think?
I've been thinking, Marshall, stepping here thinking.
You know what? You're right. It's too late now.
No, it isn't.
What? I explained everything to Mr. Botkin at the bank, and he's willing to drop any charges against you, but on one condition.
What's that?
Well, to be honest with you, it was my idea that Mr. Botkin agreed.
You got a job here, and you quit being the doggone ornery, huh? Otherwise, you'll go to jail.
What can I do with this crippled foot?
Well, seeing that you're so handy with a shotgun, I think that Jim Buck might hire you to ride messenger on the stage for him.
You think so?
Well, he told me he would.
You went and saw him?
Well, it doesn't take any walking, I would.
How about it?
I never had a job like that. But a man's got to make a change once in a while, don't he?
And it'll sure be a good way to start the new year.
Music
The story was first written for Don Smoke by John Mastin.
Featured in the cast were Ralph Moody and Lawrence Dobkin.
Harley Bair is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Join us again next week for another story on Don Smoke.