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 a 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.
Music
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Music
Here Ben, some more coffee.
Oh.
Get some more meat and potatoes.
No, no, I have plenty.
I baked a pie.
Yeah, I'll take some with me.
It'd be nice if you could sit here and eat with me just once, Ben, and talk like folks do.
You've got to get the corn in there, won't you?
Well, my land ought to have time to eat proper and at least feed each other a time or two.
Well, Mormon ain't talking.
Be in for supper.
Ben, look.
Look, down the road, there's somebody coming.
Ben, didn't you hear me? Somebody's coming. They might be coming to call.
I don't know what they are.
Well, it ain't neighborly for you to just walk out into the field.
There ain't time to be neighborly. I got work to do.
But, Ben, there ain't nobody been here in a month or so.
And we ain't wasted no time, neither.
You better not waste none.
All right, Ben, go back to your field.
But I ain't going to turn people away. I'll tell you that.
Good day to you.
Hello, ma'am.
How do.
You're welcome to come right in.
We're just passing through, ma'am. We wondered if we could trouble you for a little water.
Oh, no trouble at all. But I can do better than that.
I've got some fresh baked pie.
Well, we don't need to bother you, ma'am. Just a little water.
Oh, sure. It ain't no bother.
If I go down my good, Mr. Jones.
Why, sure it would. You just leave your horses there and come on in.
Well, all right. Just for a little while.
Come on inside.
Thank you, ma'am.
Now, you just make yourselves comfortable. I'll fetch the pie.
Oh, we're sure much obliged, ma'am.
Oh, my name is Matt Dillon. This is Chester Proudfoot.
Well, I'm that pleased to meet you.
I'm Emma Hyde.
Ms. Hyde?
Me and Ben Benfarm in this place.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm Emma Hyde. Me and Ben Benfarm in this place for three years.
I got to beg your pardon for Ben.
Oh, how's that?
Well, he don't take no time for meeting up with folks.
He's always in the field, ton up to sunset.
Here's your pie.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you, ma'am. It looks just licking good.
And here's some coffee.
Thank you.
Ah, that's fine. Thank you.
Now, that must have been your husband we saw as we rolled up.
Yes, sir. That's who it was, all right, Mr. Hyde.
I tell you the truth. I've near forgot how to talk.
It's so long between seeing folks.
Well, it's good you got a husband to talk to, though.
He would be really bad off.
Well, Ben Hyde ain't one for talking.
Just sleeping and eating and working.
There ain't many words between us.
No, prairie living is hard work.
It ain't living.
It's just getting old and drying up and losing babies.
You want some more pie?
No, thank you, ma'am.
Well, now, to tell you the truth, I could have another piece, thank you, Tom.
I'm afraid we don't have time, ma'am. We've got to be on our way.
Well, now, there ain't no sense in hurrying off right in the heat of the day.
Why don't you just sit here and rest till suppertime and go on in the cool?
Well, that's very kind of you, Miss Hyde, but we can't do that.
Oh, you got business?
We're on our way to pick up a prisoner.
Oh, I see.
Well, we've got to go, Miss Hyde. Thank you again. Come on, Chester.
Will you be coming back this way?
Well, chances are we will in a day or two, yes, ma'am.
Well, then you stop in, you hear? Maybe you can stay for a meal.
Well, I don't know, Miss Hyde. You better not count on us.
No, no, I won't.
It's been a long time since I could count on anything.
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When you're away from home this summer, put long distance to work. Most people do. Like this couple.
Mmm, smell that mountain air. I'm so glad we telephoned ahead for reservations, George, aren't you?
Oh, sure, sure, dear.
Oh, George, now you're not worrying about business.
Well, I...
Why not call the office then? Get it off your mind so you can enjoy yourself.
No doubt about it. Long distance helps you have a carefree vacation.
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Where are we going?
I got the horses, Percy.
You come along with me, didn't you, Marsha?
Far enough.
You gonna ride all the way back here with me when you let me go?
Don't you hold your breath.
I ain't just whistling, Marsha. I ain't the man you're looking for.
Sheriff thinks you're here.
Ah, Sheriff, don't lose second.
I'm nowhere near that bank.
You haven't got him convinced.
I will, though.
Let me ask you something, Percy. You always whimper this much when you're caught?
Only when I'm right. All I gotta do is wait, Marsha. My brother and his wife get the Dow hardtail, tell you.
Now, tell me what?
That I was out to their place all that day, five miles out of town.
Where are these horses, anyway?
Down the street at the livery stable.
I didn't know you were gonna be in such a hurry to get to Dodge, Percy.
I ain't no hurry about getting nowhere, Marsha. I just in a hurry to stop walking.
You ought to get along just fine in jail. You don't walk much there.
All right, Chuster, you can bring the horses out now.
Yes, sir, Mr. John.
My, Jin, I won't be sorry to get you out of this place.
All right, Percy, come on, mount up.
We got a long ride to Dodge.
The coffee'll be hot in just a minute.
I swear to goodness, Marshal Dylan, I've been afraid to look out my window
for fear I'd see you riding right on by.
Well, we wanted to see how you were getting along, ma'am.
Oh, we wouldn't have rode on by, Miss Hyde.
Now, if Chuster had a chance at another piece of your pie.
Well, he sure is welcome to it, and the rest of you, too.
Oh, well, you don't need to give an old pie to Percy, ma'am.
Yeah, no.
We'll take care of feeding him.
Well, I feed any human being that's in my house.
Thank you, ma'am.
I didn't see your husband as we came in today.
Oh, he's over to a neighbor place selling a cow.
Here's the coffee.
Oh.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I didn't think you had any neighbors.
Might as well not.
Mr. Hyde don't believe in socializing, only work.
Stay on the place and work it.
Every hour, every day.
It takes a lot to get started.
But we don't need to grub no more, Marshal Dillon.
I want to show you something.
Look in this box.
My gracious, a lot of McDillons full of money.
Yeah.
There's plenty there for us to live like folks ought to live.
There's even enough to send me back to Philadelphia.
Oh, I begged him to send me back to Philadelphia just for a little while.
Just so I could have people around me again.
Well, it's a long way off, ma'am.
There ain't a place on earth that's as far off as it is right here, Marshal Dillon.
Right here on the prairie.
It ain't near to nothing.
What's the matter? You got the shakes, Chester?
No, I ain't. What makes you ask a thing like that?
Those dishes aren't jumping around on that tray by themselves, you know.
No, of course they ain't. I guess I was just too riled up to watch them.
Prisoner causing you trouble?
Well, no, it ain't exactly trouble.
What's the matter, then?
Well, look at Dillon like this.
A body just ain't got no life of his own when we got somebody in that cell.
No, how's that?
Well, I have to fetch his food and carry it and clean up after him and keep a watch on him.
It just don't leave me no free time.
It could be worse, you know.
How do you mean?
If we never had anybody in jail, we'd be out of a job, wouldn't we?
Yes, I reckon you're right. I guess we would.
Ah, Matt!
I'm surprised to find you in your office for a change.
Chester, how are you?
Oh, Doc.
I see I couldn't find you in yours, Doc.
You couldn't have...
Oh, that's right. Now I'm running errands for the Marshal's office.
Oh, what do you mean?
I meant I was down at the telegraph office and this wire came in for you.
Oh, thanks.
All of all the...
Trouble, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, it sounds like trouble to me, Chester.
What is it, Matt?
Our prisoner, Joe Bursie.
Bursie? Well, what about him?
I gotta let him go.
Let him go? After all the care I've took of him?
Well, he can prove he wasn't in town the day of that holdup.
Well, now, Matt, you wouldn't want to hold an innocent man, would you?
No, Doc, I wouldn't.
But with Bursie's record, it won't be long till I'll have to be after him again.
All right, Chester, get the keys and let him out.
It happened at Valley in the blazing desert sun.
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Hey, did you look over that order, Kitty?
Whiskey drummer's due in here any time now.
Well, looks all right to me, Sam.
I ought to hole us through a few more cattle drives, if you think it's good whiskey.
It's plenty good enough for them fellas to get liquored up on.
Tell the truth, Kitty, we don't get much call for anything real good.
Sometimes I wonder if those wild trail hands would behave any better
if they were drinking the expensive stuff.
I doubt it.
Hello, Kitty. Sam.
Hello, Matt. Want a drink?
No, thanks, Kitty. I was on my way to Delmonico's to eat.
I thought maybe you might want to go with me.
That's as good an offer as I've had.
All right, let's go then.
All right. I'll be back in a little while, Sam.
Sure.
You'd better be careful, Matt.
What do you mean?
I'll be getting used to having you around.
This is the fourth day in a row.
Law business must be off the flow.
Yeah, Kitty, it has been lately.
You know, it's making Chester nervous. No prisoners.
You mean he misses him?
He's had that cell wall shined up waiting for somebody all week.
He's afraid we're going to go out of business.
Oh, Sam.
He must have known we were going to eat.
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
Mr. Dillon, you know that hide place where we stopped at?
Yeah, what about it?
Well, Ben hides, Ben shot.
He has? Well, has he hurt bad?
I don't know.
The fellow who rode in just said he was shot.
Get dark, Chester. We'll go out there, huh?
Yes, I will.
Well, Kitty, I'm sorry about the meal.
Oh, that's all right, Matt.
To tell the truth, after four days, I was getting kind of tired of you.
Well, we're much too late, Matt.
He's been dead for a couple of days at least.
Oh, no, he was dead.
I'm sorry, Mrs. Hyden.
Everything dies out here.
Oh, would you like me to mix your powder, Mrs. Hyden, to kind of help your nerves maybe?
I ain't got no nerves. They died too.
Mrs. Hyden, do you have any idea who might have done it?
Ben's dead. It's over.
Yeah. But if you saw anything, then...
Ben's dead. It's gone.
Mrs. Hyden, do you still have that box, the one with the money in it?
It isn't there.
The box?
The money isn't there.
Yeah. Won't do much good to question you now, Matt.
Even if she did see anything, she's not likely to remember.
The shock has her days.
Yeah. I guess you're right, Doc.
Will she come out of it?
Oh, yes. I expect she'll be all right.
The money isn't there.
Yeah. Matt Shor cinches it, don't it, Mr. Jones?
You're talking about Joe Bursie?
Well, he was here with it and seen the money, wasn't he?
He was let out of jail just in time to get out here, wasn't he?
And he could be halfway to Texas, but now ain't that right?
Yeah, it could be right.
I decline, Mr. Jones. I sure am sorry you let that fellow go.
Yeah, Chester, so am I.
Service manager.
Tell you about Guardian Maintenance?
Well, sure, I'll be glad to.
Guardian Maintenance is the kind of specialized service
your General Motors car gets at a GM dealer's like ours.
Yeah. Now, it makes good sense, doesn't it,
that our mechanics know your GM car best?
You see, they specialize in one-maker car.
And what's more, they've got the right tools and factory-approved parts, too.
Yes, sir.
That holds true for every Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC truck.
It's the best kind of service for the best kind of cars.
And all GM dealers are offering performance service specials right now.
It includes engine tune-up, tire rotation, a front-end adjustment,
a wheel check, and a complete, and I mean complete lubrication.
Makes for a worry-free vacation, I'll tell you.
Huh? Good. Good. We'll be looking for you. Bye.
Improved king-side tune-up. The tune-up in a can.
Fill it up, sir? Yeah. Regular's good.
Say, that engine of yours sounds like real tire and iron.
Thanks.
Improved king-side tune-up. The tune-up in a can.
You got a valve sticking, too.
Oh, what do you get to a gallon?
Not much.
Improved king-side tune-up. The tune-up in a can.
Want a tune job?
Haven't got time.
You don't need time.
How can a tune job not take time?
Improved king-side tune-up, mister.
One can in your gasoline and one can in your oil
will clean your motor, your carburetor, your plugs.
The works. And king-side tune-up will unstick those valves,
get you more power and smoother performance.
Quicker starting, too.
Okay. But how much?
Dollar and a quarter a can.
Results guaranteed or double your money back.
Would you start her up, please?
Still sounds lousy.
I haven't added it yet.
Improved king-side tune-up. The tune-up in a can.
Mike Dunham sent that telegraph you're owed out
on peace officers around the country
to be on the lookout for Joe Bursey.
Oh, well, thanks, trustee.
Sure do wish I had him back in that cell again.
I bet I wouldn't beat him so good this time.
I declare I sure do wish you wouldn't have let him go, Mr. Dillon.
Then there was nothing else to do, was there?
Sure does seem the same, though, after seeing what all was happening.
Chester.
Yes, sir?
I don't want to hear any more about it.
Yes, sir.
Well, anyway, it sure is nice that Miss Hyde's doing so fine, ain't it?
Who told you that?
I just seen Miss Kitty. She told me all about it.
How does Kitty know?
Well, she heard about it from that dressmaking lady, Miss Cunningham.
You know how a lady's tall.
All right, Chester, what did Kitty tell you?
Well, Miss Hyde's going back to Philadelphia.
Oh.
Well, that's what she's always wanted, I guess.
Where's she going?
Next week sometime.
She's going to wheel her clothes down, Mr. Dillon.
Miss Kitty says she ordered enough new dresses
to keep that sewing lady busy night and day.
Chester, where's Miss Hyde stopping?
Or at the Dodge house.
I guess I'll go see her.
Well, see, now, that's right, thought of you, Mr. Dillon.
Well, I hope she thinks so, Chester.
Eh, hello, Marshal Dillon.
Mrs. Dobey, is there a Miss Hyde staying here?
Emma Hyde?
Certainly is. She's got her best room, Marshal.
That one right at the top of the stairs.
Oh, is she in now?
Yes, she is. She just come in from the dressmaking.
Good, thank you.
Marshal, do you want me to ask Miss Hyde to come down to the parlor?
No, thanks, Dobey. I'll go up.
If you think it's right?
I think it's right.
Miss Hyde?
Miss Hyde?
Well, hello, Marshal Dillon.
Why, it's right nice of you to come to call.
May I come in?
Why, sure, you come right on in.
Thank you.
Sit down, Marshal. Just sit down.
If you can find a place. I got so much stuff lying around.
Oh, this is fine right here.
Uh, Chester tells me that you're going back to Philadelphia.
It's a fact, Marshal. After all these years, I'm going home.
I just can't hardly believe it.
I understand you'll be here for a few days, though.
Yes, Marshal, I'm getting myself turned out nice, real nice.
I don't want no one to know I was wearing my last dress when Ben Hyde was took.
I should think most ladies would rather buy their clothes in Philadelphia, though.
Oh, I'll buy some there, too, Marshal.
I've been waiting a long time for this. I'll buy me lots more.
But I ain't going back with no empty trunk, neither.
Yeah.
Uh, did you sell the farm?
I just walked away from it.
I don't want nothing more out of it.
It can go right back to weeds and prairie dogs and coyotes.
That's all it's fit for.
Yeah, but your husband put a lot of his life into that place, ma'am.
And my life, too.
I don't even want to think of it again.
I, uh, I was wondering about the money.
The money?
It seems like you would need the money from the place to pay for all these things.
In this room, in the train fare.
Well, now, now, I...
They told me around town that you've been paying straight cash.
Well, I, I had a bit put by.
In the black box, Miss Hyde?
I didn't bring that old box, Marshal.
The money that was in it, though, did you bring that?
Well, Joe Bursey must have took the money. Everybody said so.
Yeah, that's what they said, then. You let them say it, didn't you?
Marshal, I...
Bursey didn't come back, did he?
I, I never said I...
You know he didn't take the money, Miss Hyde.
You also know that he didn't kill your husband.
Marshal, please...
You know who did kill him, though?
Yes, Marshal. I know.
I'm sorry, ma'am.
It didn't hurt him, none.
I didn't want to hurt him, none.
I'm a good shot, Marshal.
Yeah, I saw him.
It was just a quicker killing. That's all it was.
A quicker killing?
A prairie. That was killing the both of us.
Eating away at us, a bit at a time.
Every day taking its toll.
Then he's free on it now.
Yeah.
It's just too bad that you can't be free, too.
Music
Gun Smoke, produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Marion Clark,
with editorial supervision by John Meston.
Welcome to WRNL, Richmond, Virginia, KOSY, Texarkana, Texas, KELD, El Dorado, Arkansas,
and WGPA, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, who recently joined the CBS Radio Network.
We're happy to have you with us.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week
when CBS Radio presents another story on Gun Smoke.
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Thank you.