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Around Dodge City and in the territory on West, there's just one way to handle the
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Gun smoke starring William Conrad, the transcribed 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.
They're getting off stage already, Mr. Dillon.
There's Miss Kitty.
She got down first.
That's over an hour late.
I wonder what held them up.
Oh, sometimes them drivers just won't bother to hurry.
They can be awful stubborn.
Well, anyway, it got here.
Sure hope Miss Kitty enjoyed her visit in Ellsworth.
You look fine, don't you?
Who's that she's talking to, Mr. Buck?
I didn't know he'd been out of town, Mr. Dillon.
Just one of the banks been closed, Chester.
Mr. Buck can won't trust anybody running it if he isn't around.
Hello, Miss Kitty.
Hello, Chester.
Hello, Matt.
Well, did you have a good trip, Kitty?
Well, you're here.
Hello, Mr. Buck.
Yeah, Marshal, we were held up and robbed.
What?
Held up?
Back at Rocky Fort, Matt.
Lone bandit.
He took the box and he robbed Mr. Buck in here.
Took everything I had over $300 in cash.
Anybody hurt?
Shotgun rider didn't think they were carrying enough in the treasure box to be worth fighting
for.
Guess he didn't care what happened to the passengers.
Well, how much was in the box?
Only about $500, the driver said.
Well, what about the two other passengers and you, Kitty?
Didn't he rob you?
He didn't take a thing of mine.
He singled me out, Marshal.
Must have known I'm a banker.
He made Mr. Bartken put his coat on the ground and then everybody had to throw everything
they were carrying onto it.
But all he took was what Mr. Bartken had.
I don't understand it at all, Marshal.
He bowed to me, Matt.
You should have seen him.
Real gentlemanlike.
Any idea who it was?
No.
He didn't poke it on me.
Marshal, he used his six gun to tell us what to do.
What did you ever see him before?
You couldn't see him.
He was wearing a flower sack over his head with eye holes cut in it.
And the rest of him was covered with a long linen duster.
He's real clever, that bandit.
Well, there must be something.
What kind of a horse was he riding?
I never even looked at him.
I did.
And it was a mighty poor horse, too.
It was a big gelding, Marshal, with four white stockings and a blaze.
Okay, we'll look for it as soon as I talk to the others.
There's something strange about this business, Marshal.
Why should I be the only passenger he robbed?
Well, if I can find him, I'd like to ask him that myself, Mr. Bucket.
Neither the driver, nor the shotgun messenger, nor the other two passengers, who turned out
to be a couple of homestunners, could give us any more information on the bandit.
So Chester and I saddled up and rode out to Rocky Ford.
We found nothing there.
About a half a mile further on, we spotted the big gelding, standing alone and unsaddled.
I put a rope on him, and then we got down to stretch our legs and take a closer look.
Mr. Bucket, you all right, Mr. Don?
This sure ain't much of a horse.
Yeah, he's good enough, Chester.
Good for us, you mean.
He's put that band to the foot already.
Hey, Chester.
Hmm?
Come here.
What?
Hey, look at that brand.
What?
That's old man Miller's lazy am.
It's Miller's horse, not the outlaw's.
Nobody but a fool would ride a crowbait like that to hold up a stage, and this man's no
fool.
Well, but everybody saw him on his horse.
He borrowed him, Chester, just long enough for the holdup.
That way, nobody saw his real mount.
Well, now, ain't that smart.
Hmm.
You head out that way?
Yeah.
To the river.
Hell, I'm not even gonna follow him.
You're not?
Now, once he hits the river, he'll swim downstream to a cattle crossing and his tracks will be
lost.
And he's got about a four-hour start on this anyway.
Looks like he's gonna get clean away, don't he?
Chester.
You'll be a hero of Teddy Blue Fisher.
Teddy Blue Fisher?
Yeah.
No, sir, I ain't.
Well, he's got quite a reputation.
I'm surprised you never heard of him.
Why?
What's he so famous for?
For robbing the rich and sparing the poor, and for being quite a gentleman about the
whole business.
Nobody's been able to get enough evidence to charge him with anything that would hold
up in court.
Why not?
Well, like today.
We haven't got anything on him.
So maybe it wasn't him, Mr. Dillon.
I'm only guessing, Chester, but it was Fisher or somebody who works like him.
He held up the stage, took the box, and robbed the only rich man on it.
And of course, he wouldn't take anything from a lady.
My gracious, if I went to the trouble to stop a stage, I'd take everything.
You don't sound so smart, Afro.
Now, that's part of his game, Chester.
Everybody in the country will soon hear about him, and there won't be a poor family anywhere
that won't hide him and feed him and give him anything he needs.
You've got them all standing up for him, you mean, huh?
Yeah, yeah.
That's the way it works.
You know something, Mr. Dillon?
What?
He sounds kindly like that green Indian they had over in one of them foreign lands one
time.
What?
You know, Robin Hood.
You remember him?
Robin Hood, Chester, and he wasn't an Indian.
Now, but you're right, Teddy Blue Fisher works exactly the same way.
And outside of pure luck, I don't know how I'm going to stop him.
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Hello, Matt.
Hello, Doc.
You look different.
What have you done to yourself?
I had a haircut.
Oh, that's it.
Wouldn't hurt either of you to get a haircut now, man.
I can't afford it.
Not at no 25 cents a throw.
That's all right for you, Doc.
You need it.
Nobody wants a shaggy medicine man cutting them open.
Oh, medicine.
Oh, well.
Now, what about you?
I suppose the dignity of the law served best by a couple of molting prairie chickens.
Justin.
Yes, sir?
Take out your gun and shoot him.
Yes, sir.
Hold still, Dutton.
Go ahead, shoot.
Nothing will happen to you.
Not around here, it won't.
You'll go free.
You can run around like Teddy Blue Fisher and hold up stages and everything.
No trouble at all.
Not from the law.
Wait a minute, Doc.
Who told you about Teddy Blue Fisher?
Teeter's did.
At the barbershop.
He said everybody knows about him now.
Oh, I expected that, but you've got more to tell me, Doc.
So go ahead.
I don't know why I bother, but since I'm already here, I guess I might as well.
Well.
Well, Fisher got a haircut just before I did, man.
He did?
Are you sure?
He told Teeter's who he was.
Well, he's not wasting any time.
What else did he tell Teeter's?
He said he was going to stay here and gamble for a few days.
He's over at the long branch starting now.
He's got $800 for a steak.
You can't prove where he got it, can you?
No, but there's something I can do.
What's that?
Look, Doc, his whole game's based on stealing from the rich.
If I can stop it, maybe I can show him up for what he is.
Well, you mean you think he's a fake?
Now, did you ever hear of any outlaw admit he's nothing but a common thief?
And a thief will steal from anybody, Doc, rich or poor, if he has to.
Well, how are you going to stop him, then?
Well, for one thing, I'm going to put two shotgun men on every stage that goes out of
here.
Men that'll shoot.
Oh, that's a good idea.
That's a good idea.
Oh, oh, oh.
But I hear Fisher's quite a gunman himself.
Yeah, I know, Doc.
I'd throw him in jail without evidence, but it'd only make him a martyr and people would
think more of him than ever.
Now, I...
I got to outsmart him somehow.
If you can.
Yeah.
Yeah, if I can.
Oh, man.
Hello, Matt.
Hello, Kitty.
Uh, is that Kitty?
Huh?
I heard that Teddy Blue Fisher was in here.
Oh, he just left.
Said he'd be back in a minute.
He's quite a fellow, Matt.
Yeah, he sure is.
See what he did?
No, what?
He broke the ferro bank.
Went over a thousand dollars.
Well, that won't help.
What do you mean?
With all the money he's got now, he won't have to work at his usual trade.
He can love her on for a long time.
No harm in that, is there?
Well, that makes the law look pretty foolish, Kitty.
And besides, he's got to be in action before I can stop him.
You still think he held up the stage, don't you?
Well, that's his way of doing things.
You gonna run him on a town map?
I'd sure like to.
Well, now's your chance.
Here he comes.
Buy you that drink now, Miss Kitty.
Well, there's a man here who wants to meet you first.
How do you do, sir?
I'm Teddy Blue Fischer.
I'm Matt Dillon.
Fischer's mine, sir.
That's right.
The pleasure's all yours.
Coming from anyone else, I take that real bad.
But I can understand your feeling.
Well, we know where we stand, don't we?
And it's too bad.
I would like to be friends.
You know, you're a thief, Fischer, and you're probably a murderer to boot.
That's a lie.
I never shot a man in my life unless he tried to shoot me.
To kill a man who's trying to protect his property is murder, the way I figure it.
Well, I'm not going to argue with you, Marshal.
No, I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to.
That'd be admitting what you are, wouldn't it?
People talk, make up stories.
I have never done anything wrong.
How long are you planning on staying in Dodge?
Well, Marshal, I never planned.
But I'm living pretty well in Dodge.
I kind of like it.
Yeah, so I hear.
Only trouble right now is finding somebody willing to buck me gambling.
My luck's been showing too much.
Well, I'm sure you'll find somebody, Fischer.
I thank you kindly, Marshal.
I hope to.
That reminds me, I want to talk to a man over there about it.
Miss Kitty, if you'll excuse me, I'll be right back.
Sure.
Oh, I'll buy you a drink too, Marshal.
No?
Then some other time.
Kitty.
Huh?
I want you to do something for me.
Yeah?
You know, Vent Butler?
Of course.
OK, now, when you're talking to Fischer, tell him you think maybe Vent will buck him at
Farrell.
Tell him Vent's the one man in Dodge who's got the bankroll and who's enough of a gambler
to try it.
Well, Matt, you know, since Vent went straight, he's barely made enough to live on.
Well, don't tell Fischer that.
Well, I don't understand it, but I'll do it.
Thanks, Kitty.
I'll have Vent here in about a half hour.
Marshal Dillon.
It's OK, Vent.
Now, Marshal, I ain't done a thing.
Now, don't start shaking, Vent.
No, I ain't that.
You surprise me.
Well, I think I'm going to surprise you more, but let's go inside, huh?
Sure, sure.
Come on in.
Vent, you remember what happened a year ago?
I sure do.
But, Marshal, I kept my word.
I swear I have.
I was as far as I know you have, Vent.
Good, you had me worried there.
You remember I told you that if you went straight and quit dealing crooked, I'd give you a chance?
You could have put me in jail the way things were, Marshal.
Now, you're the most accomplished man with cards I ever saw, Vent.
No, not anymore.
I'm no better than any other man now.
Tell me something.
You know how to win dealing Pharaoh?
Oh, I used to take him something fierce at Pharaoh.
It was slaughter.
How much money you got, Vent?
A couple of hundred.
Why?
Is that enough for you to take about two thousand off a man?
Two thousand?
Dealing crooked.
You been drinking or something, Marshal?
I'm asking a favor of you, Vent.
You really mean it, don't you?
Teddy Blue Fisher.
What?
Kitty's setting him up for you at the Long Branch right now.
You go down there and take him.
Then when you've done it, you come back to my office.
I'll be waiting for you.
It's near midnight, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, Vent must be rusty.
Maybe he's taking his time so as to get the full pleasure out of it.
Now, he better take his time.
Fisher catches on to him, there's going to be trouble.
You want me to go over and see what's happening?
No, we better stay out of there, Chester, both of us.
Here comes somebody.
Hey, it's Vent.
How'd you make out, Vent?
Like a bear in spring, Chester.
With Marshal, you said a couple thousand dollars, he had near twenty-five hundred on him.
There it is.
Yeah, that's a lot of money, isn't it?
Oh, I've fleeced men for more than that in my time.
I never saw a crook yet that didn't like to brag about it.
Now, Marshal, you made me a crook.
It wasn't too hard, though, was it, Vent?
But you did fine.
What are you going to do with all that money?
I'm going to see that you get some of it, Vent, when the time comes, as you've earned
it.
It's none of my business, Marshal, but I'd sure like to know what this is all about.
Now, Fisher's broke now, Vent.
His vacation's over.
He's got to go back to work.
Robbing rich people, huh?
Yeah, if he can.
I don't envy you trying to catch him, Marshal, from what I hear most everybody in the
country's on his side already.
They'll make it awful hard for you.
Sure.
But I'm a gambler, too, Vent.
Barg, gracious, if I owned a bank, I'd want it busier than this, Mr. John.
I wouldn't worry about Mr. Bodkinchester, he makes money even when it's closed.
I'll wait here, will you?
I won't be long.
Okay, sir.
Oh, hello, Marshal.
Come in, come in.
You wanted to see me, Mr. Bodkin?
Well, I couldn't get away to come tell you, Marshal.
I thought you'd like to know right away.
How know what?
Well, I rode out to Emmett Bauer's main ranch this morning, wanted an appraisal on some new
barns he's putting up.
And I took two men with me, Marshal, Clint Jones and Jeff Roberts.
Now, they're good men.
You bet they are.
That same bandit, Marshal, with the flour sack and linen duster, tried to surprise us
at Twin Grove.
Oh, what happened?
Well, he put a couple of rifle shots near us from about a quarter mile away.
Thought we'd stop and give up, I guess.
But the boys went right after him.
Did they get him?
No, no, he ran.
He's got an awful fast horse, Marshal.
They couldn't get close enough to even identify him.
Well, that's his third attempt at a holdup this week and his wildest.
Well, what are you going to do?
Well, he comes to town most every day, Mr. Bodkin.
The next time he rides out, I'm going to be following him.
I think he's through trying to rob people who are ready for him and who'll fight.
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Mid-afternoon, Teddy Blue Fisher rode into Dodge.
He stood around the plaza for a couple of hours, watched the stage pull up for Ravelean
with its two professionals riding shotgun, and then suddenly seeming to make up his mind,
he mounted his horse and rode slowly out of town.
Shortly after, Chester and I were on his trail.
About 10 miles north, he stopped at a clump of elder and waited for dusk.
Then rode on another couple of miles to the house of a homesteader called Charlie Bowen.
It was dark when he went inside, and Chester and I got down and crept up to the place on
foot.
What do you think he's doing here, Mr. Dillon?
We'll find out.
Maybe they're feeding him.
He's been to Doggone Broke all week.
Yeah, maybe.
Here, hold up a minute, Chester.
What is it?
You see where he tied his horse?
Yeah, sure.
He's over behind that wagon.
Well, we'll just make real sure of Teddy Blue Fisher.
You go over there and unsettle his horse, Chester, and then slip his bridle off.
Yes, sir.
But don't scare the horse, and don't make it a lot of noise.
Well, I'll lead him off a little before I turn him loose, Mr. Dillon.
Good.
I'll be up by the window, and there's the door there.
All right, sir.
I wish I'd known you was coming, Mr. Fisher.
My wife could have fixed a couple of chickens.
This is quite an honor meeting you.
There's a little cold pork out in the cellar, and I got a jar of spiced apples left.
How's that sound?
Why, that sounds fine, ma'am.
Just fine.
You folks doing pretty well out here, aren't you?
Well, we've got no complaint.
The Lord's been good to us.
Yeah, we've been doing better than most homesteaders.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
You did?
Oh, I've rid by here a couple of times lately, and I can see you've got yourself a nice house
and stock.
Most folks got nothing but a patch of corn or sod hut.
It's a shame, ain't it, the way people have to live.
Yeah, well, that's why we kind of stand behind a man like you, Mr. Fisher.
Now, I ain't saying nothing, but you take a big banker like old Botkin.
Why, he's got more money than he knows what to do with.
It don't hurt him none to lose a little of it now and then.
By, that's true.
Of course, bankers don't have all the money in the world.
They don't have none of ours, and they never will.
You don't believe in banks, ma'am?
No, sir, I wouldn't put a penny in them.
That's right smart of you.
Yeah, well, she's like that, Mr. Fisher.
She always said our money ought to be right where we could lay our hands on it whenever
we want.
Oh, of course.
But some of that depends on how much you've got.
Well, we've been saving all our lives.
Must have near, oh, $800 now.
What you doing, Mr. Kellett?
Talking money, Chester.
Where do you keep that $800, man?
It's hid.
Where?
It wouldn't be right to tell nobody, Mr. Fisher.
It's a secret.
You could tell me.
Oh, no, we can't tell nobody at all.
Yes, you can.
Mr. Fisher, what are you doing?
What's the gun for?
I just want to know where you keep that money.
Oh, you're not going to rob us.
Oh, we're poor.
I've robbed poor people for this.
No, no, you haven't.
Don't be fools.
Now, show me that money.
You're a fake, Mr. Fisher.
You're a liar.
Sure, but nobody will ever find it out.
I'm going to kill the both of you.
No.
But you can live a little longer.
Just show me where that money is.
Don't kill him, Charlie.
I won't.
He ain't going to rob us.
I've got to kill you anyways now.
I'm going in, Chester.
Stay back.
Yes, sir.
Now, where do you keep it?
All right, hold it, Fisher.
Don't touch that gun or I'll bust your other arm.
Marshal, he was going to shoot us.
He was going to kill us.
You mean, what's the matter with you?
I was joking.
Marshal, you had no cause to shoot me.
You're lucky I didn't kill him.
You should have, Marshal.
He's nothing but a murderer and a dirty, common thief.
I'd rather have him in jail, Bowen, than on public trial.
Look, this was a joke.
I was just fooling, I tell you.
I never harm people like you.
And you know it.
I don't hardly know it.
It's all over, Fisher.
You're finished.
Maybe some other Robin Hoods like you will be finished, too, when people hear what you're
like when you think nobody's watching.
Chester, go tie up his arm.
He's too valuable now to bleed to death.
Now our star, William Conrad.
Thank you, George.
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Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon,
U.S. Marshal.
Our story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Meston, with music composed and conducted
by Rex Corey.
Sound patterns by Tom Hanley and Ray Kemper.
Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartel, Helen Cleve, Joe Cranston, and
Frank Catey.
Harley Bear as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
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The current issue of TV Radio Mirror carries a feature story on Gunsmoke, complete with
pictures of Matt, Chester, Doc, and Kitty.
It is available at your local newsstand.
Listen to Chesterfield's two great radio shows every week, the Perry Como Show every Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday, and Dragnet, Tuesday nights on another network.
Remember listen again next week for another transcribed story of the Western Frontier
when Marshal Matt Dillon, Chester Proudfoot, Doc, and Kitty, together with all the other
hard-living citizens of Dodge, will be with you once more.
It's America growing west in the 1870s.
It's drama.
It's Gunsmoke.
Brought to you by L&M Filters.
This is the CBS Radio Network.
Thank you.