Around Dark 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 spell of Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved West with young
America, the story of a man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.
I think it was the nastiest weather I'd ever seen.
It wasn't that there'd been a big storm or anything, it was just plain nasty.
The sun hadn't shone for three and a half weeks.
Nothing but huge banks of black clouds that filled the sky and never moved.
And when it finally broke, it was the downpour of the coldest and dreariest rain you ever
saw.
For two days, Chester and I never went out of the office.
We didn't need to.
There was nothing going on in town.
There wasn't a soul on the streets, everybody just holed up.
Chester and I kept the fire going on the stove and tried to keep it as warm as we could.
And then on the morning of the third day...
Mr. Dillon?
Wake up, Mr. Dillon.
What?
What is it, Chester?
What's the matter?
Come over here and look out the window.
Good in the state of the life.
What's the matter?
What's happened?
Just look.
It stopped raining.
The clouds are beginning to blow away.
I'm going to go get some water.
I'll bet you we'll be seeing the sun before the day is over.
I hope you're right.
We could use a little sunshine.
We sure could.
You know, Mr. Dillon, I've been so blue for the last couple of days.
Oh, I boiled some coffee for you at town's stove.
Oh, thank you, Chester.
Like I was saying, I've been just awful, though, Mr. Dillon.
It's funny how the weather affects you, isn't it?
It does almost everybody, Chester.
Ah, this coffee's good.
Oh, thank you, sir.
Chester, how'd you like to go for a little ride, huh?
Make us feel good to get out in the open after being cooped up for the last couple of days.
Why don't we write down to old man Johnson's?
I've been meaning to talk to him anyway.
Well, I'll say that's a wonderful idea, Mr. Dillon.
I'd be proud to go.
Besides, Thurlow needs a good workout.
I don't know of anything that's worse for a horse than just standing around in a car
with a deep end.
All right, all right, Chester.
We'll have some time to shave, then we'll get some breakfast and ride out.
Well, yes, sir, Mr. Dillon, yes, sir.
You were right, Mr. Dillon.
Nothing like a ride in real brisk weather to make you feel fitter than a fiddle.
I'd say it's a little more than brisk, Chester.
It's downright cold.
This wind doesn't help much.
Well, we haven't got much farther to go.
How far would you say we've come?
Oh, about 15 miles.
Well, then we should be there pretty soon.
There, look at there, Mr. Dillon, what'd it tell you?
What?
There's a patch of sunlight just come through.
Over there to the right, see?
My, isn't that pretty?
Chester, there by that hackberry tree there in the sunlight.
You see?
What is that?
Where?
Oh, yeah, I do see something, but I can't wait.
Come on, let's ride over to it.
Well, Mr. Dillon, it looks like somebody all huddled up leaning again the tree.
Why, it's an Indian.
Yeah, a woman.
Pull up here.
Oh, oh.
I don't think she's heard us.
Hello there.
Of course, she didn't even look up, Mr. Dillon.
Hello.
Is something wrong?
Well, there sure must be.
Let's walk up, Chester.
Can we help you, miss?
She won't even lift her hand.
Miss, what's wrong?
She looks sort of befogged, don't she?
Yeah.
Miss, here, look at me.
No, I'm not going to hurt you.
Chester, she's burning up with fever.
Well, what in the world is she doing way out here in the middle of nowhere anyway?
She's burning out here in all this weather, she's probably caught her death in the moon.
Yeah, you may be right, Chester.
We're going to have to get her back to Dodge fast.
She needs the doc real bad.
Get the horses, we're going to have to hurry.
Mr. Dillon.
Did you notice what a pretty little girl she was?
I declare, I don't think I've ever seen a more beautiful woman.
Yeah.
And her hair.
You know, I think Indian women have the prettiest hair in the whole world.
It seems such a shame that such a pretty little thing has to be all...
Max.
Oh, hi, you're kidding.
One of the boys at the Texas Trail told me he saw you and Chester riding up the street
here to the doc's office, and that you were carrying an Indian girl in your arms.
He said she looked like she was dead.
What happened?
Well, we found her out in the middle of the plains.
That's right, Miss Kitty.
She was just sitting under a big old hackberry tree.
Oh, what was wrong with her?
I don't know.
Exposure, I guess.
Doc don't think there's much chance for her, Miss Kitty.
Ah, that's too bad.
Uh, Max, you better come in.
Yeah.
Miss Kitty.
Hey, Doc.
How is she, Doc?
She just regained consciousness.
I'm afraid I can't see how she's still alive.
Well, you think I could talk to her?
Well, you can try.
I'm sure it won't hurt anything.
But I'd like to find out who she is so that I can notify her people with...
Well, you'd better hurry.
Yeah.
Miss?
Miss, can you hear me?
Miss, listen to me.
Go away.
Please, tell me who you are.
Please, leave me alone.
Won't you talk to me?
Now, what's your name?
I...
I want to die.
What happened?
Why were you out on the plains all by yourself?
Were you lost?
I want to die.
I...
I want to die alone.
Mad.
I know.
Miss, please.
Won't you tell me who your people are?
I want to die.
Well?
Doc, I'll be outside with Chester and Kitty.
All right.
When you come out, would you bring me her ring and that necklace she's wearing?
All right, Mad, if you want.
But what do...
Just bring them to me, will you?
Well, Mad?
Yeah.
Chester, we got a job on her hands.
Yes, Mr. Dillon?
There's something wrong about this and I'm going to find out what.
What do you mean?
She was wearing a gold wedding ring.
Yes, but Mr. Dillon, Indians don't use wedding rings.
I know.
Then you mean you think she was married to a white man, Mad?
Yeah.
Here's the necklace, Mad.
Thanks, Doc.
Have any of you heard of anybody around town marrying an Indian girl in the last year or so?
No, no, Mad.
No?
Well, there ain't but one squaw man in the whole town that I know of, Jack Benson.
And he married his squaw some eight or ten years ago.
Well, then we're going to have to start from the other end.
We've got to identify her.
We'll have to find out what tribe she's from.
She looks like an Arapaho, Mad, from her clothing.
Well, I thought that too, Doc, but which camp?
There are three Arapaho camps within 40 miles of here.
Say, Mr. Dillon, maybe Great Eagle could help you.
Yeah, he's camped on the Sandy Fork now, isn't he?
He knows you. He's about the friendliest Indian around here these days.
So, Mad, don't you think this might cause trouble if you let them know that a white man is mixed up in this?
What?
Wouldn't it be better to just bury her and...
Do you think that's the right thing, Doc?
Oh, no, no, no, I guess not.
But I was talking to Colonel Jackson out at the fort the other day,
and he said he was expecting us to have some real Indian trouble any day now.
And this might start something.
I know there's that possibility, Doc, but I also know that there was something behind this girl's death,
and I think it's my duty to find out what.
I'm sure I can talk to Great Eagle and get what information I need without stirring up anything.
I hope you're right, Mad.
Yeah, I hope I am too.
Chester.
Yes, Mr. Dillon?
Get our things ready. We'll start for Great Eagle's camp tonight.
I figured it would take us about five hours, and I was pretty close to right.
The sun had been up maybe 30 or 40 minutes when we came to the crest of a range of hills,
and there spread out below us alongside the sandy fork was Great Eagle's camp.
We were spotted a good while before we got there, and when we pulled up,
all the squaws had disappeared and we were greeted by what looked like the entire male population.
They just stood and watched us sullenly as we dismounted.
I don't think they're too happy to see us, Mr. Dillon.
You may be right, Chester.
I've come to see your leader, Great Eagle.
Tell him his friend Matt Dillon has written from Dodge City to see him.
Maybe they don't understand.
No, they understand all right.
Please tell Great Eagle it's of importance that I see him.
You are not wanted here.
Great Eagle will not see you.
Why don't you let Great Eagle decide that?
Now tell him I wish to see him.
I know, Coy.
He does.
Great Eagle is ill, but I will tell him you are here.
I thought for a minute there that we rode all this way for nothing, Mr. Dillon.
We may have, Chester.
I wouldn't say these fellows is very sociable, would you?
No.
Doc must have been right about trouble abroad.
By the last time we was out here, Great Eagle was real friendly.
I swear I don't know what we've done to Mr. Fieldfield, but...
Chester, you're talking too much.
Yes, sir.
Come.
Here, inside.
To Matt Dillon, it is good to see you once more.
And you, Great Eagle.
You wish to talk with me?
Yes, I do.
I'm in need of your help.
To be able to return your many kindnesses pleases me.
I would first like to explain to you that I am aware of the unrest between your people and mine.
It is my desire that what I tell you be as a confidence between friends.
If it were known, it might cause further trouble.
It will be as a confidence.
Thank you.
Well, yesterday we found a young girl on the plains.
She suffered from exposure.
So we took her back to Dodge City for medical attention as fast as we could, but we were too late.
She was of your people.
Well, my clothing told me that, so I came to you to help me identify her.
I can't tell you why, but I feel that there was evil behind the death of this girl.
And I must find out about it.
You see, she was wearing a gold wedding ring.
The ring of a white man.
Can you describe the girl?
Well, I can only tell you that she was of great beauty and...
Here, she wore this.
This necklace.
It's unusual in design. I thought it might help in identifying her.
Yes, it helps.
Then she was from this camp. You knew her.
Yes, I knew her.
She was my daughter.
We will return to the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment.
But first, this Monday night, hear Virginia Mayo as the beauty who became one of the great skippers on the China Run.
Remember, it's a full hour of dramatic adventure this Monday night on the Luxe Summer Theatre over most of these same CBS radio stations.
Now, the second act of Gunsmoke.
I looked at Great Eagle's face and all of a sudden Doc's warning came back to me.
I saw Chester out of the corner of my eye.
He looked exactly the way I felt, that hopeless feeling of not knowing what to do.
I guess we must have stood for maybe a minute. Nothing was said.
This man sitting before us, this man of great dignity with his bronze face showing no emotion.
Just staring into nothing, holding the necklace in his huge hands.
Great Eagle, we had no idea that...
Thank you. I understand.
I'm sorry to have to ask this now, Great Eagle, but do you know what might have happened?
I know nothing. Where is my daughter?
She's at Dr. Adams' office in Dodge City.
She will be buried here. I will come for her.
You mean come into Dodge?
I will be there before sundown of this day.
Well, Great Eagle, with this unrest between our peoples, I don't think it would be but wise to come right into town.
There are people there that might cause trouble.
Before sundown, I will come for her.
But isn't it running a chance unnecessarily? We could arrange to meet you on the other side of the river or maybe...
Before sundown of this day, with my braves, I will come into Dodge City for my daughter.
But you can't bring your braves right into...
All right, Great Eagle, I'll do what I can to see that there's no trouble.
Before sundown then.
We rode hard to get back to Dodge. There was a lot to be done.
Chester didn't say anything, but I knew he was worried and he wasn't alone.
If this thing wasn't handled properly, it might turn into the worst trouble that any of us had ever seen.
We got back into Dodge just before noon and I sent Chester off to spread the word about what was going to happen.
I figured it was better for everybody to know about it as soon as possible than if trouble did start.
Maybe I could stop it before Great Eagle arrived.
I went to the office, tried to finish some work, but I kept seeing the girl in front of me.
Her inners say, they want to die. They want to die.
Must have been three hours later when Chester came in, told me that the trouble had started.
It was Black Dawson down at the Alapragansa.
You're a company, you're a camp. I'm going to do it.
Wow, wait a minute. If it isn't the big, brave U.S. Marshal himself.
Look at him, look at him boys. The man who's supposed to protect Dodge City.
All right, Black, you've settled up.
When did you start deciding how much people can say, huh, Marshal?
I'm taking this from you, Black, because I've got enough trouble right now, but don't say any more.
Now come outside with me in Simmerdown.
Come outside in Simmerdown. Why should I listen to an Indian lover?
Yeah, a man who's going to let those dirty, stinking Indians come right into Dodge and take over.
All right, all right. Shut up. Shut up.
Now you listen to me, and this goes for all of you.
I'll not tolerate any trouble.
When Great Eagle gets here, I don't want one wrong move out of any of you.
Anything that happens here today might start a whole uprising among the Indians,
and if you're too stupid to see that, you're going to be awful sorry.
Now I'm telling you right now, if Great Eagle's here, I'll kill the first man that starts trouble.
An hour before sundown, the crowd started gathering along Front Street.
They were talking and laughing and being loud, too loud.
They were nervous and trying not to show it, but they all wanted a front seat at the big show.
They didn't want to miss anything.
Then Black Dawson and his gang came out of the Olliver cancer and stood leaning up against a hitching rail.
Finally Chester came down from Boot Hill where he'd been on lookout,
and he told me that he'd spotted Great Eagle in his braves.
They were coming. I looked around.
Everybody started to turn quiet. They knew.
I told Chester to keep an eye on Dawson, and I started down the street.
I crossed the plaza, I walked to the river.
Before the Indians started across the bridge, I stopped them.
Great Eagle, I can't let you bring all your braves in.
You may bring two, and that's all.
You see all those people over there? They're just itching for trouble, and I can't chance it.
I'm sorry, but that's the way it is.
I would bring all my braves.
I'm sorry, Great Eagle, but don't try it.
I turned and walked back into the plaza and stopped in front of Doc's office and stood waiting.
Great Eagle and his band didn't move. They just sat there on their horses looking into the plaza.
The crowd had stretched all along Front Street now, and they had turned very quiet.
Even Dawson and his gang were just standing, glowering across at the bridge.
I wasn't sure what was going to happen, and I waited.
Must have been five minutes before Great Eagle turned and said something to his men and started out with two of his braves following.
Nobody in the crowd along Front Street moved or said a word.
Where is she? In here.
She's in there. I want to talk. Come in with me.
All right.
Ann O'Dee. Her name means beautiful child. Is she not beautiful?
Yes. She is, Great Eagle.
Matt Dillon, I have done something today I have never before done.
I have always thought myself a man of honor, but today I spoke a lie to you.
To me?
Yes. I know of what happened to my daughter.
I must tell you to regain at least part of my self-respect. All of it I can never regain.
Many moons ago my daughter disappeared.
We searched for a long time, not knowing what had happened to her.
Four days ago she came back.
She told me of her marriage to a white man and how she was with a child.
Of how she had met this man on the prairie and had fallen in love with him.
Of how they had gone to Hay City with the great love they had for each other.
And she told me of the slow change that came over him when his fellow men began to laugh at him and with derision call him Squaw Man.
And of how the white man is ashamed of the Indian.
The white man has great pride.
She told me how he turned her away, told her to go back to her own people where she belonged.
Great Eagle, I'm very sorry.
At that moment I was with great anger and pride and for this I will never again be a man of honor.
I told her to go back and live with the white people in shame.
That she was no longer an Indian.
That the Indian too is a proud people.
I am responsible for her death.
I turned away from her.
You may do what punishment you like with me.
I killed my daughter.
No, Great Eagle, you didn't kill your daughter.
She died because of pride.
Yours and the white man's.
And as to your punishment, I think you're getting it right now.
Now take her and go.
As Great Eagle reached the bridge, the rest of his braves turned and joined him.
And rode slowly off across the prairie out of sight.
Along Front Street the crowd started to break up and head for the bars to get drunk and laugh and brag about how brave they'd have been if anything had happened.
Chester and I stood for a long time and the streets were almost empty.
It was sundown.
Mr. Dillon, I'd be right proud to buy a drink.
Chester, don't ever use the word proud in front of me again.
Yes, sir.
I'm sorry, Mr. Dillon.
No, Chester, I'm sorry.
Come on, I'll buy you a drink.
Gunsmoke under the direction of Norman MacDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Tonight's story was written for Gunsmoke by William Conrad with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Featured in the cast were John McIntyre's Great Eagle with Michael Ann Barrett, Lawrence Dubkin, and John Boehner.
Parley Baer is Chester, Georgia Ellis is Kitty, and Howard McNear is Doc.
Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gunsmoke.
Premier this Monday in the daytime on CBS Radio.
Hear Walter O'Keefe in The Wizard of OZ, an exciting new audience participation show that's really an odds-on favorite to win with you.
By all odds, hear The Wizard of OZ Monday through Friday on most of these same CBS radio stations.
This is Roy Rowan speaking, and remember, the comedy treat that can't be beat is Jack Benny time on the CBS Radio Network.
The Wizard of OZ.