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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 French broad 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 chance a job and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Right, you sure that's Jesse Wheat's buggy coming yonder? I got eyes like an eagle box.
That's his buggy and that's Jesse driving it. Good. I wish you'd tell me what we rode
down here to meet him for. Look kid, we've been together six months, haven't we? Sure.
Another month or two we're going to be rich. Not riding for Jesse Wheat we ain't. We're
just about through riding for Jesse Wheat. Huh? Let's wait for him here. You mean you're
going to tell him we're quitting? I ain't going to tell him nothing. What we're going
to do ain't none of his business. You're sure a hard man to understand sometimes. You'll
learn. Oh look at Jesse, he's kind of mad already. What are you men doing clear down
here? We're going in to Dodge, Jesse. I know you ain't. I ain't paying you to spend time
in Dodge. You just been there. I had business there. Now you men turn around right back
to the ranch and get to work. A man that don't carry a gun, you talk mighty loud, Jesse.
I don't have to carry a gun. Don't you? Look at mine, Jesse. Point that thing the other
way. No. Now look, quit fooling. I don't like it. I ain't fooling. What you doing,
Box? You're just going to make him mad. I'm going to kill him. Now look here. I've had
enough of this. You put that gun away. Oh shut up, Jesse. You shot him. Of course I shot
him. What for? You're always asking questions. He wasn't even armed. He didn't do nothing.
That's murder. Nobody will ever know. But why'd you do it? You wanted to get rich, didn't
you? What's killing Jesse we got to do with that? You'll see. You're in trouble murdering
Jesse like that. You're really in trouble. No more than you are, kid. If they catch you,
don't you ever forget it. But I didn't know you was going to do this. That don't matter.
Now we'll get that horse started for home and by the time he and Jesse get there, we'll
have our alibi all set and dodge. Nobody will ever know where or when this happened. See
how smart. You stick with me, kid. Where are we going now, Box? We're going to set our
alibi with a man who's going to be more interested in this business than anybody in dodge. Who's
that? Scanning right up there. Oh, now wait a minute, kid. I'll do the talking. Hello,
Marshall. Hello. Well, I guess you don't remember us, Marshall. No, I don't. We only been in
dodge once before. I'm Jim Box, Marshall. My friend here is Rod Allison. Oh, how do
you do? Hello. We work for Jesse Week, Marshall. We was to meet him here and we can't find
him no place. Well, I saw Jesse last night. Maybe he's gone back to the ranch. That'd
sure be dull telling us to meet him and then forgetting all about it. Now that Jesse's
getting too old. Why, we've been looking for him the past two hours. Box. Shut up. Hey,
like I was saying, Marshall. No, no, look. Well, I'll be. That's Jesse's buggy going
into the stable there. Yeah, there's nobody driving that buggy. There sure ain't, but
it's Jesse's. Well, let's go over and take a look. What for, Marshall? Jesse ain't there.
You too. Come on. Kind of funny. Horses and buggy and nobody driving it. I sure hope nothing's
happened to Jesse, don't you Rod? It'll be awful. How long you men work for Jesse Week?
Oh, some six weeks, Marshall. He sure a good boss. We like him fine, don't we Rod? He treats
us real good. Who's stable is it? Moss Grimmick runs it, but he's not here right now. Yeah,
there's the buggy. Look there, Marshall. Why, it's Jesse. Why, he must be sick or something.
Yeah. He's dead. He's been shot. That's terrible. Now who would have done that? I can't understand
that horse coming back here. Why wouldn't he have gone on home to the ranch like any
horse would? You say you've been working for Jesse six weeks? Sure. And you ought to know
his brand. Say that ain't a XL horse. No, it isn't. It belongs to the stable here. Jesse
told me last night that his horse went lame. I never noticed the horse. It don't matter,
Rod. It's a good thing that horse brought him back here. Now the Marshall can get to
work fast and find who killed him. We'll help you, Marshall. We sure don't like old Jesse
getting shot. I'll get him to help me get him out of the buggy, but I'll handle the rest
of it. It's not your trouble.
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Mr. Dillon? Yeah, what, Chester? Jesse Wheat was a whole lot older than his wife, wasn't
he? Didn't you ever meet her? No, sir, I never did. Yeah, and now Wheat's about 22.
Jesse was in his late 40s. Yeah. Maybe she done it. What? Killed him. Maybe it was her
because he was so old and all. Chester, you remember the tracks back there just before
Jesse's buggy turned around and headed back to the Dodge? Oh, yeah, I forgot. They was
two horses stopped, it wasn't they? That's right. Then it must have been them fellas
Jim Box and Rod Allison. Maybe. Oh, look, there's Anna on the porch. You must have seen
her coming. Hey, she is young. I hope she's already heard about this. Well, let's get
down here, Chester. Yes, sir. Hello, Anna. Hello, Marshal. Anna, this is Chester Proutfoot.
How do you do? How do you miss Wheat? Did Jim Box and Rod Allison show up yet? They
told me about Jesse. He was a good man, Marshal. He treated me like a daughter. Well, did you
know anybody who might have had a reason to kill him? Well, of course not. Jesse didn't
have any enemies that I know of. How'd he get along with Jim Box and Rod Allison? You
don't think Rod had anything to do with it? Well, all right, what about Box? Any trouble
with him? He's different from Rod. I don't like him. But there hasn't been any trouble
that I know of. Where are they now, Anna? They rode off somewhere out with the cattle, I guess.
Does anybody else work for you? No, just them, Marshal. But they said they'd stay on here
on the XL as long as I want them. And right now with all the stock, I really need them.
Sure. Will you come in for some coffee? You and Chester. Well, thanks, Anna, but next
time maybe, huh? We've got to get back. Well, so long. Bye, Marshal. Goodbye, Chester.
Bye, Miss Wheat. Well, we sure didn't learn much from her, Mr. Dillon. Ah, not much. Ain't
we going to wait and tuck them two fellows again? Now, it might make them jumpy, Chester.
I want them to feel safe. They made one mistake. They'll make another. It was hard to believe
that two cowboys like Jim Box and young Rod Allison wouldn't have noticed the horse Jesse
Wheat was driving wasn't his own. But I guess when you're murdering a man, you've got other
things on your mind. It was a bad mistake, however, and from then on I was ready and
waiting to move on them. My first chance came about a month later when I heard that some
XL cattle had been driven to dodge and were being sold to a buyer named Jake Worth. So
Chester and I walked down to the loading pins to have a look.
There's Jake over yonder, Mr. Dillon, talking to some fellow. Yeah, that's Jim Box that
he's talking to, Chester. Oh, I couldn't tell he was back to us. I wonder where Rod is.
Well, we'll ask him. Hello, Jake. Well, hello, Marshal. Chester. Hello, Jake. Those XL cattle
you're buying? Only thirty head, Marshal. Uh-huh. Did Rod help you drive them in, Box?
Last night, Marshal. Now where is he now? He went back to the ranch this morning. Why?
Jake, what are you paying for these steers? I mean, you just settled on twenty dollars,
Marshal. Twenty dollars. Now, it's thirty head. That'd come to six hundred dollars,
wouldn't it? What are you trying to say, Marshal? Think there's something wrong with my selling
them steers? No. No. Not as long as Anna Wheat gets the six hundred dollars. Now, wait a
minute here. I took it for granted she knew about this sale. You've got such a smart Marshal.
Take a look at this, Jake. Eh, looks okay, Marshal, but you'd better read it, too. Here.
She's given him full authority to sell the stock and collect the money. Of course she
has. Well, you're through reading, Marshal? Yeah, yeah, I'm through reading. You want
to apologize? Jake. What? Anytime this man sells XL cattle to you, I want to know about
it. I'm going to tell every other buyer and dodge the same thing. That ain't much of an
apology, Marshal. Come on, Chester. See you later, Jake. Sure. My gracious, that box is
awful mad, Mr. Dillon. Well, he ought to be. I just ruined his game. Yeah, but couldn't
he run off with the money one of these times before you checked with Anna? No, he's too
smart to become a cow thief for a few hundred dollars, Chester. No, he wants more than that.
We can't get it now, can we? No, we couldn't. How? By killing me.
Evening, Marshal. What'll it be? Nothing for me, Sam, but I'll take a glass of beer over
there to Miss Kitty. May I have got it right, yes, sir? Okay. Yeah, it's on the house one.
All right, Sam, I'll tell her that. She's the only girl in here that don't drink whiskey
all night long. Well, she claims it makes her drunk. My whiskey would make a buffalo drunk.
I'll tell her that, too. There you are, Kitty. Compliments of the house. Why is yours? No,
tonight for me. Well, place looks kind of quiet tonight. That suits me. Well, you won't
get rich in an empty saloon, Kitty. I won't get old either. Kitty, why don't you quit
and marry some nice young fella and settle down on a ranch or something? Ha. Oh, what's
wrong with that? I've lived on a ranch. The women work harder than the men do. Well, don't
they? Everywhere? Not in New York. At least so I've heard. Well, why don't you go to New
York then? What are you trying to do, Matt? Get rid of me? No. Of course not. I just like
to see you happy, that's all. I'm happy. You're the one that's doing all the complaining.
Yeah, I guess I am. You're like a man trying to ride two horses at once, Matt. They do
that only in circuses, not practical anywhere else. No, not Kitty. You know I'm a simple
man. Tell that to somebody who doesn't know you. Like Jake Worth. Jake Worth? No. Looks
like he's come to tell you something. Oh? Evening, Miss Kitty. Marshal. Hello, Jake.
Jake. Sit down. Thanks. It's all right to talk in front of Kitty, ain't it, Marshal?
It doesn't matter, Jake. She finds out everything anyway. Now what's on your mind? Gimbox. Oh.
Remember a couple weeks ago how you told me to report any sales of Xcel cattle? Yeah,
sure. Well, he ain't sold none since then, but you're right. He's a crook. Well, how
do you know? He come in this afternoon and offered to sell me some 500 head. That's about
all the cattle Anna we don't. Well, maybe she's selling out. No. Box says I can have
them real cheap, provided I don't tell you about it. Oh. Now what did you say, Jake?
Well, I said I'd take them. He's hired a couple of men from somewhere, isn't it, driving the
herd in day after tomorrow. I told him the Santa Fe would have cattle called ready by
then. Uh huh. All right. Thanks, Jake. Them two men he's hired, they can probably ride
good enough, but they ain't real cowboys. Well, I'll go out tomorrow and have a look
at him. I'm glad I ain't got your job. Not going against them gunmen.
Hello, Marshall. Chester, come on in. Hi, Miss Weed. What brings you out here, Marshall?
Where are the men, Anna? Oh, they're out in the prairies somewhere. They'll be in for
dinner, all of them. You mean both of them? Uh, Jim Box and Rob, they're the only men
here. Of course. Why? Oh, nothing. Is there something wrong, Marshall? Yeah, plenty. And
I'd better tell you something. Rob and I are going to get married. Why? We fell in love
when he first came here. I told Jesse about it right off. He understood. Jesse was a sick
man. I guess he figured he wouldn't live very long anyway. All he asked was that we'd wait
a while. But we didn't do anything wrong, Marshall. Look, Anna, I'm here to arrest Allison
and Box. What? One of them murdered Jesse. They both had good reasons. Marshall, you
can't. Not Rob. I know him. He wouldn't do that. Take a chair by the window, Chester.
We'll wait for him.
I'm going to go get a chair. I'm going to go get a chair. I'm going to go get a chair.
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Mr. Dillon? Yeah, what Chester? You better come here and take a look. Huh? There's three
of them. Yeah, they must have left one man with a herd. And it was Rod. That's Jim Box
and two strangers out there. Rod isn't with them? No. Thank heaven. That's no use, Anna.
We're going to have to find him anyway. Not if Jim Box kills you, you won't. Chester,
take Anna out to the kitchen if she tries to warn them, stop her. Yes, sir. I'll hide
here by the door. And if they get me, you do what you can. I'm sorry, Marshal. I didn't
really mean what I said. That's OK, Anna. Come on, then. Sure. You men wait there. I
won't be long. Anna? Anna, where are you? I'm in the kitchen. Come in here. I'm busy.
You come out here. Drop it, Box. You're going to shoot me in the back, Marshal? Drop the
gun. I don't trust you. You got him, Mr. Dillon. Get out of the way, Chester. His men will
be here in a minute. Hey, they're running off. Let's go get our horses, Mr. Dillon.
No. Let them go, Chester. We can catch them easy. I got nothing on them. It's Rod I want.
Did they get away, Marshal? They won't stop until they hit the Rocky Mountains, Anna.
You killed Jim Box? Yeah, I had to. Now Rod's all alone. He's the only one left to blame
it on, isn't he? I tried to take Box alive, Anna. Anna. Anna. Rod. No, Anna, wait. No.
All right, careful now, Chester. You'll use her as a shield. Oh, I won't shoot, Mr. Dillon.
Rod, what's the matter? Now what? Don't shoot him, Marshal. It looks like he's already been
shot. Are you hurt, bad Rod? I ain't gonna die. He was lying on the floor here when I
came in, Marshal. Get his gun, Chester. Yes, sir. I ain't gonna use him a gun. I'll take
it anyway. Now who shot you, Rod? Box did. But I got away. Well, why would he shoot you?
I found out he was gonna steal Anna's cattle. Then I started an argument. He shot me, but
I got away. I was riding up from in back there when I heard the shooting. You see, Marshal,
Rod hasn't done anything. Rod, who killed Jesse? What difference does it make? You'll
never believe me anyway. Don't talk like that. Tell him. They'll hang me, Anna. I never done
it, but they'll hang me anywhere now. Marshal? Yeah. Is that true? What he says? That could
be. If I charged him with it. Well, what are you gonna do, Marshal? Tell me. I'm gonna
leave Chester here to help you take care of him till I send Doc out. And when he's well,
you bring him into Dodge. You mean to jail? Well, you might stop by. That is, if you want
me at the wedding. Now our star, William Conrad. Thank you, George. Today, there's one filter
cigarette that stands out from all the rest. L&M stands out for flavor, for effective filtration,
for highest quality tobacco. L&M's got everything. That's what makes it America's best filter
tip cigarette. Try L&M. King size or regular. I know your go for them.
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 Mestin, with music composed
and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns by Tom Handley and Ray Kemper. Featured in
the cast were Sam Edwards, Eleanor Tannen, Vic Perrin, Don Diamond, and Frank Catie.
Marley Bayer as Chester, Howard McNeer as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
Stop! Start smoking with a smile, with Chester Field. Smiling all the while, with Chester
Field. Put a smile in your smoking, just give them a try. Light up a Chester Field, they
satisfy. Put a smile in your smoking. Next time you buy cigarettes, stop. Remember this.
In the whole wide world, no cigarette satisfies like Chester Field.
Listen to Chester Field'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 gun smoke. Brought to you by L&M Filters. This is the CBS Radio Network.