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, the 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.
Coffee?
Yeah.
How long do you figure it will take us to drive this shirt into Dodge after we cross the Cimmeron?
Depends on how hard you want to push them, Grant.
How far is it to Dodge?
Oh, fifty miles, maybe.
Five easy days, then.
I don't want to bring them steers in too poor.
Well, it's the men that's got the poorest hit.
Not the steers.
There's a lot of juice left in the rim.
Look at them.
Oh, that old engine they rode in a while ago.
They're just having a little fun with them.
Well, they better take it easy.
No telling how many warriors he's got waiting somewhere.
Hey, Cotton.
Yeah, Grant?
Tell that engine to come over here. I want to talk to him.
He just wants some steerer out of the herd.
Well, I'm tired of giving good beef away.
That's the boss.
You, boss? My name's Tobiel.
Tobiel, huh? What do you want, Tobian?
I got cattle on trail to Dodge.
We don't need any guide, Chief. I know the trail.
I got letter from men in Dodge.
You read. Letter tell you how good guide is, Tobiel.
Let's see your letter.
Old time guide. Many years in Army. Big scout.
Boy, ain't you still with the Army then.
Too old now. But can guide cattle on trail to Dodge very cheap.
Why, you old liar.
I never lied.
No? Listen to this, Larson.
To whom it may concern, the name of this noble red man is Tobiel.
He's a liar, a beggar, and a thief.
What he wouldn't steal, a hound pup couldn't pull out of a tannoy.
Give him some cold grub or a three-cent drink if you have any about you, and then run him out of camp.
Signed R. Nerman J.C. White.
Is that a letter?
No, no, no. A letter can't say that.
They'd be my friends. They write letters. I have an amiga job.
What'd you try to steal off of?
Tobiel never steal.
No, well, I'll take the word of a white man any day.
Larson, have the boys run them off.
No, wait, wait. They let her lie. They, they fooled me.
Tobiel, a man with much honor among white men in army.
This ain't the army. Run them off, I said.
Come on, Chief.
No, no, I, I, I leave alone.
You leave, all right. Get going.
Yeah, but those men die for this.
If anybody dies, it'll be you.
All right, here he is, boys. Let's send him down the trail.
It's going to be a nice evening, ain't it?
For you, maybe.
Anything wrong, Kitty?
Since that trail heard across the river,
God will soon be full of drunken cowboys all looking for trouble.
Oh, you'll hammer me, Kitty. Don't you worry.
Or at least, Miss Billing, a little.
Well, shooting them's easy. I got to talk to them.
Yeah, you can always quit, Kitty.
Sure. And do what? Keep Sunday school?
You might.
You talk like a Texan yourself, man.
You know what one of them told me once?
What?
Said I reminded him of his mother.
He could be really sick of it.
Well, that sounds nice, Miss Kitty.
I thought so, too, Chester.
They got real drunk and told me his mother was the first woman to be hung south of San Antonio.
She was?
Who hung her?
Probably he did.
Oh, now, Miss Kitty, no man wouldn't hang his own mama while he's...
Ed Marshall!
Yeah?
We come to warn you.
Oh, warn me about what, mister?
My name ain't Mr. Earthwiser.
My partner's name here is...
I'll tell him my own name.
It's Durbin.
Oh, shut up.
Marshall that Indian's gonna get himself hurt.
What are you talking about?
That engine across the street there.
Oh?
Now, that's Tabil.
He keeps following us around.
Said he was gonna kill us.
Tabil? That doesn't sound like him.
Well, it's true. You just asked him.
He's been haunting us for four days.
Just stands around staring at us and saying we're gonna die.
Had a shot even long ago, but I hear that's against the law around here.
Where you been from?
Wyoming territory.
Where did you know Tabil?
We only been in Dodge a couple of weeks. We seen him around here.
What's the trouble between you?
Oh, we played a little joke on him. That's all. Made him mad, I guess.
We told him he could get a job guiding trail herds into Dodge and give them a letter.
He thought the letter said how good he was, but it really said he was a thief to run him out of camp.
Oh, I see. And he tried to use your letter, is that it?
I guess so. He went away a couple of days and since he got back he keeps saying he's gonna kill us.
He's getting on my nerves, Marshall. I'll shoot him.
You shoot anybody and you'll hang for it, wiser.
Now you wait here, I'll go talk to him.
Hello Tabil.
Marshall.
Tabil, those two men over there say that you threatened to kill them. Is that true?
They die.
They told me the story, Tabil. I'm sorry it happened, but you can't kill men for that.
Tabil old, but still proud.
You know what'll happen to you if you do kill them, don't you? You'll go to jail and probably hang for it.
Tabil never in jail. Man with much honor.
Look Tabil, I got no use for wiser and derby myself. Neither one of them is much good, but the law is the law.
Tabil no kill. Tabil's medicine kill. Make very strong medicine against them.
You work all the medicine you want, but don't you do any killing yourself.
Now you stay away from them, Tabil. You're making them jumpy. Might be trouble if you don't.
Tabil not afraid.
They carry guns, Tabil, and all you've got's a knife. Do you remember that?
I remember.
All right.
You tell him, Marshal?
You men don't understand him. He's not threatening to kill you himself. He's making Indian medicine against you, that's all.
Well then why does he keep saying we're going to die? Why is he always following us around?
Well he thinks his medicine will kill you, and I guess he wants to be there when it does. There's no harm in it.
And I'm warning you again, both of you, you leave him alone. If you do anything at all to that old man, I'll throw you in jail.
Look, Marshal, that letter started all this. That was wiser's idea, not mine.
It sure was. Any idea we've ever had's been mine. I never did need you, Durbin. Is that so? Well who did your dirty work up in Cheyenne?
You did, you fool.
I sure did, and you still owe me.
Oh shut up. Marshal, you ain't going to do nothing about that Indian?
I know Tabil pretty well, and I'll personally guarantee his word. And nobody's going to do anything about him, including you.
Mr. Dome?
Yeah, Chester?
Oh, Mr. Dome, he just carried that fellow Riser up to the dock.
Huh? Oh, what happened to him, Chester?
I don't know.
Well, let's go see.
Did you see Riser just?
No sir, I never. I just seen a couple men coming downstairs, and they said I'd better get you. That's all they said.
Yeah.
Hello, Matt.
What happened to Riser, Doc?
Well, for one thing, he's been stabbed, Matt.
Bad?
Bad enough to kill him. A man had carried him up here, said they found him lying in an alley this morning. He's been dead three or four hours, I'd say.
And there's something else, Matt. Take a look here.
Why? Somebody hit him on top of the head.
No. They didn't hit him.
He's been scowled, Chester. Indian style.
Oh my goodness.
Chester, go find Durbin. I want him with us when we ride out to a rest of deal.
I told you, Marshal, I told you that Indian was going to kill somebody.
Did you see it happen, Durbin?
No. No, I'd gone to bed. That dirty redskin probably got him on his way home.
It hasn't been proved that he did it.
Well, of course he did it. Who else had scalped for me?
I don't know.
Look at that, Marshal. Just look right there. Hanging right on that check of his like he was bragging about it.
Oh, Mr. Dillon, that's a scalp.
Yeah. Drying it in the sun, that's what he's doing. That murdering devil.
You two stay here.
I'll go see if he's inside.
Tabeel, come on outside.
We got you now, Tabeel. Let's bring him up, Marshal, right here.
Shut up, Kevin.
Tabeel, did you kill Weiser last night?
Weiser? Kin?
Stabbed with a knife and scalped.
He die. Durbin there, he die too.
You see, Marshal, he really...
I told you to stay out of this, Durbin.
Now, you tell me straight, Tabeel. Did you kill him?
Tabeel no kill. Tabeel's medicine kill.
And what's Weiser's scalp doing here?
Scalp?
Right there.
Yeah? Weiser's scalp all right.
Where's your knife, Tabeel?
Here, my knife.
Look out, Marshal. Here, try to use it. Give it to me, Tabeel.
You think I killed Weiser with knife?
Did you?
Medicine kill Weiser. Tabeel no kill.
Tabeel, I'm going to have to arrest you. You're going to have to go to jail.
Jail? No. Tabeel man with too much honor for jail.
I'm sorry, Tabeel. But you will get a trial.
Let's hang him now, Marshal. He don't need no trial.
I'm the law here, Durbin, and don't you start anything like that.
Big disgrace. Tabeel in jail.
I don't know if I know it, but it can't be helped.
Chester.
Yes, sir.
Get that scalp. We're going to need it for evidence.
Ready to go to supper, Matt?
I'll be right with you, Doc.
Chester, you better stay here and watch Tabeel, huh?
I'm going.
You can go eat when I get back. I'll see you later.
Yes, sir.
I hear Tabeel's pretty unhappy about being locked up now.
Yeah, I had a long talk with him, but I'm afraid he's going to be locked up for a long time.
Why is that?
Well, no judge will hang him on circumstantial evidence, but he'll probably go to prison.
He hasn't any kind of an alibi, Doc. None at all.
Now, if I knew it was Tabeel, he would rather hang than be in prison.
Yeah, I'm afraid you're right.
What's that?
Came from the jail.
What's he doing?
What happened, Chester?
Somebody shot Tabeel from outside in the alley.
Is he dead?
Oh, he sure looks dead. Let me take a look at him.
Chester, go out the front and come up the alley.
I'll yell if you see anybody. I'll cover the back.
Go on.
Is he dead?
Yeah, I'm coming, Chester.
Yeah, what is it?
I seen Durbin. He ran out of the next alley and went into Long Branch there.
Durbin. All right, let's go get him.
Must have been him, or Johnny.
Yeah, he sure looks like him.
Here he is.
Get out of the way, Chester.
Yes, sir.
Durbin.
You're under arrest, Durbin. Unbuckle your gun belt and drop it on the floor.
What floor, Marshal?
For shooting Tabeel.
Yeah. I seen Chester standing there when I come out of the alley. Should have shot him.
Never mind the talk. Just drop your gun.
No.
You know, shooting Tabeel was a bad enough mistake, Durbin.
You're finding out I did it was.
I figured Tabeel must have seen me kill Weiser at the trial. He'd have started talking.
No, he was home alone making medicine against you. He had no alibi at all, Durbin.
And I killed him for nothing.
If you hadn't killed him, you'd have probably been convicted. And you'd have gone free.
You can't prove I killed Weiser.
No.
Well, I ain't going to hang for shooting no engine, not me.
Don't try it, Durbin.
Why not?
You hit him both times, Mr. Jones.
Yeah.
Want me to take care of him?
Nah, somebody else can do it. But you and me go get Tabeel to real find Barry and Chester.
I figure we kind of owe it to him.
Gunsmoke.
Produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston.
Featured in the cast were Vic Perrin, Ralph Moody, Barney Phillips, and Harry Bartell.
Plymouth, Chester, Howard McNear as Dot, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.