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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 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. I'd seen it before but every time I'd hoped I'd never see it again.
A homestead smoldering in ruins. The stock slaughtered are run off and the family scattered
all over. A body by the corral, another in the doorway, and others buried in the ashes of the
house. All of them scalped and mutilated. Chester saw it first. We're about 50 miles north of Dodge,
up on the Pawnee and my horse had gone lame from a rough four-day chase that had led to nothing.
We'd lost the trail and had turned back and Chester was riding up ahead. He stopped and
waited. Then we rode up to the scene together and got on. This must be the father, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, he was coming out of the house to help his son over there by the corral. Well,
he got one in didn't before he died. Yeah. Cheyenne. Hey, wait a minute. This is why
there aren't any arrows around. Hey, that's a Spencer repeating rifle. It sure is. He must
have stole that somewhere, Mr. Dillon. No, no, there isn't one arrow here. The whole war party
had rifles. You mean they've been behind them? Well, that's my guess. Hey, look yonder, Mr. Dillon.
Huh? They're coming over the rise. Yeah, they're a little late. A whole troop of cavalry. Yeah,
they must be from Fort Dodge. I wonder who's in command. Can't tell yet. Look at them. They're
spreading out. Maybe they think we're Indians. Now, the last four days we've put in, no Indian
could look as bad as we do. Hey, hey, look, they're taking their rifles out. They're gonna charge.
Yeah, the captain's playing safe. That's all. Well, it may be safe for him. Just stand easy.
Oh, I ain't about to move. Sergeant, three men. Forward to the south. Now, what's he doing?
Well, he doesn't need the whole troop up here. Who is that anyway? I never seen him before. And I
heard there was a new troop at Fort Dodge. I guess this must be it. Must be. Here they come.
What are you men doing here? Well, speak up. We're looking around, captain. Same as you.
Don't be insolent. Captain. What is it, Sergeant? That rifle he's holding. One of them 44 Spencer's.
You're right, Sergeant. Disarm those men. Yes, sir. If I were you, I'd stand back, Sergeant.
Hold your rifles on them, man. Don't be a fool. There are four of us here and 80 men behind us.
You can't fight a troop of cavalry. There's your rifle, Sergeant. That enough, Captain?
I said disarm them. Completely. Yes, sir. They make a move, your troopers shoot them. Tell him who
you are, Mr. Dillon. No. Just give him your gun, Justin. All right. Here. Here's mine.
Now, are you going to tell me what you're doing here? No. Then you men are prisoners. I'm taking you to
Fort Dodge. What? Well, of all the crazies... Quiet, Justin. Yes, sir. Secure these men. Yes, sir.
And then we'll form a burial party. Shouldn't take over an hour.
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Captain Nichols reporting with the prisoners, Major. Bring him in, Captain. Come on. Up
to his desk. Are these your prisoners, Captain Nichols? Yes, sir. Oh. They were at the scene
of the raid with a Spencer rifle and you thought they might have something to do with the gun
runners, is that it? They wouldn't talk and they showed signs of resistance, sir. I thought
it best to bring them in. Why wouldn't you talk? I got curious. Curious about what? Well,
I hadn't heard about any Cheyennes being on the war path lately. That's one reason. Yeah,
what else? I found that Spencer rifle there and I figured somebody's been selling guns
to those Indians. But when the captain came up with his troop, I knew that there was more
to it than that. Why? Well, he was more interested in us than in tracking down that war party.
What's going on, Major? Be civil, you. I'll handle this, Captain. Yes, sir. You know about
the reservation east of here? Well, I heard that you're holding a couple of thousand Cheyennes
so you can move them down Oklahoma way. Yeah, that's right. Except for one thing. Oh, what's
that? Lost a few of them. About 40, but that's enough. You saw that. Yeah. Who's leading
them? Young renegade called Stone Eagle. And why didn't the captain go after him instead
of stopping to take us prisoner? The captain's orders were to catch whoever sell him those
rifles. Thought you might have something to do with it. Sure, but he still might have
been able to run down Stone Eagle's party. Well, what good did that do? Other leaders
will come up and place a Stone Eagle. As long as rifles are available, there isn't a brave
on that reservation. It won't hear about it sooner or later and slip away from us. Or
will you patrol the reservation? That's the whole point. I don't have enough men for more
than a token patrol. Oh, I see. If this gun running isn't stopped, this situation will
become more and more serious. Well, I understand now, Major. Major! No, wait, Captain. Let
me explain. You're new out here. You did right bringing in these two. About as disreputable
a-looking pair as I've seen since the border war days. Looked like they'd been living in
a badger hole. Yes, sir. That's what I thought. Yeah, I expect they've been on a ride somewhere.
Take them out, give them a bath, couple of clean shirts, and bring them back. Right,
sir. And then have a couple extra places set for them in the officer's mess. Been a long
time since Chester and Marshal Dillon have visited Fort Dodge. Marshal Dillon? Yeah,
well, it's understandable, Captain. I'd done the same if I hadn't known him as long as
I have. Now, you were acting on orders, Captain, even though your orders lack intelligence.
What's that mean, Marshal? I'm sorry. I shouldn't interfere, Major. It's not my army. I want
to know. Well, I meant intelligence in the military sense. Go on. Look, you're chasing
all around over the prairie looking for some gun runners that you probably will never find.
Why not? Well, you haven't found them yet, have you? No, but if you were a Cheyenne,
I'll bet you could. Now, that's what I mean by intelligence. I've asked our Indian scouts.
Oh, the Cheyennes hate your Indian scouts worse than they hate you. I know it. I wish I knew
what to do. Major, uh, is Chief Longrobe on that reservation. The old man? Uh-huh. Yes,
he is. Why? Well, he's a friend of mine. At least he was a long time ago. Now, go on.
Well, I might have a talk with him. Impossible. Oh, why? Indian's too restless. I wouldn't
dare send you and a guard into that camp. Well, I'll go without a guard. They'd kill
any white man walked in there alone. I'll try to reach Longrobe before they do. No,
not worth it, Marshal. Well, I'll let you know about that tomorrow, Major. You're going
tonight? Yeah. Might help get the picture of that homesteader and his family out of my
mind before I try to sleep. Throw your gun belt across your saddle, Chester.
You what? The gun won't do you any good if these Cheyennes decide they want us. All right,
sir. You wanted to come, Chester. Oh, I ain't complaining. Not yet, anyway. I'm okay. Let's
go. Gracious, I wish I had at least had me a boy. Now, what you doing? Yeah, it's late.
Most of these people are asleep. There's 2,000 Cheyennes in this camp. They ain't all asleep.
No. No, we're being watched every second. Yeah, and some young buck could get his first
coup by sparing us. You wouldn't want to stand in the way of a man becoming a brave, would
you, Chester? I am also thinking about how they treat people that ain't killed right off,
where they turn them over to the squads for torture and stuff. Oh, now you're even afraid
of women. Cheyenne women, I am. Look over there, Mr. Nellis. We're being stopped. Yeah,
I see him. Let's keep walking and don't make any quick moves.
Oh, no, no, no. Do like long robes, no, no. You should lay off here. All right, so you're.
All right, let's move, Chester, but keep an eye on him. He's still standing there. You
know, I told him I'm a friend of long robes. Luckily, he's from the same clan. Which clan's
that? White Fox. There it is. See that medicine bowl over there? With the white skin on it?
That's long robes lodge. All right, you better wait out here, Chester. Good.
Come in, my son. Woman will give you a buffalo robe to sit on.
Well, it's been a long time since we've talked long robes. A long time. I know why you come.
Yeah, Stone Eagle. Four more braves went past soldiers last night. There'll be more tomorrow
and day after long robes. The last time we talked, you told me it was hopeless to go
on fighting the white man's army. You said that you wanted peace for your people. I am
old man, my son. Stone Eagle and his braves are young. Their blood is hot. Now they have
rifles that shoot many times. I thought you'd know about the rifles soon. Every brave on
reservation will know. Then they will leave in spite of guard of soldiers. It'll lead
to war, long robe. Big war. There are many clans among Cheyenne's. I am chief only of
White Fox. What clan is Stone Eagle? Stone Eagle is of Two Moon clan. Uh-huh. But there
are White Fox braves with him. Yeah. I cannot stop them. I remember what it was like when
I was young. Now it was different than long robe. You had a chance. Now they have no chance.
They have many rifles. They have a few, yes. But the army has got thousands and thousands
of rifles. Long robe, in the end, the Cheyenne cannot win. He must live in peace or he will
be destroyed. Now you're a wise man. You know this is true. You are right. Stone Eagle's
supplier rifles have got to be stopped or many of your people will die. You want to
know where rifles come from? Just tell me where Stone Eagle meets the white men who
have been supplying him. Now do the rest. You'll be saving lives, long robe. Cheyenne
lives. For the sake of my people, I tell you, place north of here, place near Rock Mountain
mound. There is cabin there. Rock mound. All right, I'll find it. But I must warn you,
my son. What? I know the feelings of my people. They are like powder. I know. It is more than
you know. Go. Find white men with guns, but not kill any of Stone Eagle's warriors. If
you do, word will come and every brave here will rise and go on warpath, whether they
have rifles or not. If one single Cheyenne is killed by cavalry or by you, this will
happen. That's as bad as that, huh? I speak the truth. Well, thank you, long robe. When
it's over, I'll come back and we'll smoke the pipe. If you come back. Yeah. If I come
back.
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We're right on in, Marshal. He's waiting for you. Thank you, Sergeant. Come in, Marshal.
Good morning, Captain. Good morning. Where's Major Honeyman? The Major was ordered to Fort
Larned for a few days. Oh, I see. I'm in command until the Majors return. Did you find out
anything last night, Marshal? Well, I know where Stone Eagle meets the gun runners. You
do? Then our problem is solved. Not quite. All I have to do is take my troop there, wait
for Stone Eagle to come for more rifles. I can wipe out him and the gun runners at the
same time. No. No, why not? Chief Longrobe's a wise old man, Captain. He knows his people
well. So? If one brave is killed, there'll be an uprising. There's an uprising already,
Marshal. Only some 40 or 50 men. This'll be the whole Cheyenne nation. It doesn't make
sense. Maybe not to us, but it does to them. And Longrobe never lies. I'll chance it. I'll
kill every one of Stone Eagle's braves. That'll show them what cavalry's for. Now, where is
this meeting place? I'm sorry, Captain. Sorry? I can't tell you. I order you to tell me.
Very well, then. It's your duty to tell me. You're all right, Captain, but you're new
out here and you're too eager. Indians are the Army's business, so you do what you want.
I'm going back to Dodge. It was true. The Indian problem belonged to the Army. But renegade
white gunrunners. Now that was different. About a mile down the road to Dodge, Chester
and I turned north and rode hard for Rock Mound. We reached it next day. And sure enough,
a half a mile away, we found the cabin that Longrobe had told me about. We scouted it
carefully and then rode up to it. It was empty. So was the small barn out back. There was
nothing to do but put our horses up and settle down in the cabin and wait. Mr. DeWent? Yeah,
Chester. I just thought of something. Good. That walk of yours was beginning to reach
me. I'm serious. What did them Indians show up first before the gunrunners do? Work on
something else, Chester. What? I thought of that myself. Yeah, but what would we do?
I don't know. Join them, I guess. Oh, now Mr. Dillon... Wait a minute. Be quiet. Pull
them up by the cabin, Jim. Those aren't Indians. All right, take your place, Chester. Don't
shoot unless I do. Quiet now. Leave the wagon here. Let's go inside and get a drink. Welcome.
Made it just in time. It's already sundown. Hold it, you two. Shoot, Jim. Hold it. You
killed both of them, Mr. Dillon. I didn't even get a shot off. This one's still alive.
Who are you? A U.S. Marshal. I'm gonna die, Marshal. Is that wagon full of rifles? And
ammunition. I'm supplied from Wichita. But it ain't gonna do you no good to know that
now. You're gonna die, too. What? Them Indians. They're never late when they're out of ammunition.
They'll be here any minute. I wish I could stay to watch what they do to you. Oh, he must
have been lying. Why should he have lied? Well, then we'd better run for it. Now they'd catch
us. Easy. Won't be much of a fight. Two men against a half a hundred Cheyennes. But we
can kill some of them by golly. And start a war. I forgot about that. Yeah, no matter
what we do, they'll get those rifles. Unless we can destroy them. That wagon looks plumb
full, Mr. Dillon. I swear, there must be 30, 40 in there at least. Hey, we could gather
up some wood and fire that wagon. No, it's too late, Chester. What? Look, coming over
that rise there. Cheyennes. There's only two of them, though. The scouts. The war party
will come when they signal. We couldn't get the fire started. Hey, Mr. Dillon, them scouts
disappeared. That's funny. Hey, Chester. What? Out there. Well, glory be. That's what those
Cheyenne scouts were looking at. Captain Nichols, huh? Yeah. That troop ain't moving very fast.
They're still tracking us, riding slow and watching the ground. Oh, them Indians will
be halfway to Kennedy by the time he gets here. I hope so. Anyway, Stone Eagle's finished
now that he's out of ammunition. That Captain Nichols sure didn't trust you none, did he,
Mr. Dillon? Well, Chester, we better go comb our hair. All right. Comb our hair? Why? I
don't want to get taken prisoner again. We still look like we've been living in a badger
hole. And now our star, William Conrad. Thank you, George. You filter tip smokers.
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great. Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as
Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. Our story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Beston, with
music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns by Bill James and Ray Kemper.
Featured in the cast were Harry Bartel, Ralph Moody, Lawrence Dobkin, Barney Phillips, and
Vic Perra. Harley Bear is Chester. Stop. Start smoking with a smile, with Chesterfield. Smiling
all the while with Chesterfield. Put a smile in your smoking, just give them a try. Light
up a Chesterfield, they satisfy. Put a smile in your smoking. Next time you buy cigarettes,
stop. Buy Chesterfield. So smooth, so satisfying. Chesterfield. You'll also enjoy Chesterfield's
great radio shows. Perry Cromwell sings all the top tunes on CBS Radio every Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday. Jack Webb stars in Dragnet on Tuesday nights. Check your local listings.
Remember, listen again next week for another Transcribe 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.
Thank you.