Gun smoke brought to you by L and M filters. This is it. L and M is best. Stands out from
all the rest. 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 U.S. 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 chance a job and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Oh my, well, oh ain't that awful. I...
Howdy, Mr. Dillon.
Chester.
Oh, that's a sad thing. Maybe the cavalry does come bust me into town, getting drunk,
spoiling for trouble sometimes, but I don't like seeing them come in this way, sewed up
in sacks, laid out over their horses.
Hey, I know, Chester.
It makes a man feel so sad and mad, too.
There'll be plenty like that.
Oh, that's certain. Look at them, lined up all down the street, watching, like that Will
Bailey over there.
He's got more reason than some.
Yeah, I know. His brother's in one of them sacks. Imagine him standing there watching,
wondering which one. Oh, it's an awful sad thing.
Yeah, let's just hope there'll be no more brought in like this.
Oh, Matt, I was wondering where you were.
Oh, I guess I wasn't very hungry, Kitty.
Ah, and that cook made up some of that beef stew you like.
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
Well, I guess I could manage a little, then.
Well, I'll get it. You sit down.
I'll be back in a minute.
Hello, Bailey.
Oh, hello, Marshal.
How are you? I'm sorry about your brother.
Yeah, we all are. A lot of good it does.
Yeah, I know how you feel. About the cavalry will get the ones that did it.
The cavalry. It'll take them weeks to get ready. By the time they go out, those Comanches
will be nowhere near Cold Creek.
Oh, Marshal, we're going out on our own.
You better think that over, Bailey.
We thought it over. And we won't bother about which engines did it, either.
That'll do a lot of good, wouldn't it? Starting an Indian war all over again.
I ain't gonna argue with you, Marshal. But I'll tell you one thing. There's one man right
here in town who's gonna die first.
You mean Amos Cartwright?
That's right. The one who led those boys into ambush at Cold Creek.
Bailey, that's only a wild idea. Amos Cartwright's always been a good, reliable scout.
He came back, didn't he? He was the only one who got out alive, wasn't he?
He was scouting way out ahead.
And it was his job to spot the Comanches. But he didn't.
Well, there might have been reasons.
Yeah, there were reasons, all right. He's a Comanche himself. Live with them, married
one, rode on war parties with them. And he led that patrol into ambush for them.
Amos Cartwright's not gonna help your brother. And it could get you into trouble with a law.
I'll take my chances on that.
All right, Bailey. Maybe in a couple of days you'll cool down and see some reason.
There it is. Getting cold.
Oh, thanks, Kitty.
That Bailey's pretty hot, isn't he? Can't say I blame him too much.
No, I can't either. Too much.
You think what he says about Amos is true, Matt?
I think you ought to have proof before you condemn a man, Kitty.
But Amos is a queer sort.
There are a lot of others out here. Now, that's no reason to kill him.
No, of course not.
Well, how is it?
What?
How is it?
Oh, I guess I was hungrier than I thought. Oh, the cook's getting better.
I guess there's still room for improvement.
Amos Cartwright.
All right, don't touch your gun, Bailey. You don't stay like that.
Amos, you better find someplace else to eat today.
I've come to see Bailey.
All right, you've seen him. Now go on.
Mr., I don't allow nobody to say things about me.
I said them and I'll say them again. You're no better than a Comanche yourself.
You're a lion-sneaking, murdering savage with your buckskin shirt and your Comanche leggings and your braided hair.
And you're the same as Kelow's men at Cold Creek.
All right, that's enough. Shut up!
Come on, Amos.
Mr., I'll see you later.
Where are you taking me, Marshal?
Just outside here.
Amos, this will all blow over in a couple of days, but until it does, I think maybe you better stay out of sight.
Maybe out at the fort.
I can take care of him.
It's not just him. He's got half the town believing it.
You believe it, Marshal?
I don't believe anything. I don't see the proof for it.
And speaking of proof, if you've got any on your side, it would help to bring it out.
How do you prove something that nobody saw?
Nobody alive, Eddie.
Well, maybe if you ask the Colonel for a statement.
I don't ask no man's help.
All right, then. Be pigheaded.
I might ask him myself, but you take my advice, Amos.
You walk easy for a while.
No need for you to bother about me, Marshal.
I can handle this myself.
I hope so, Amos.
I hope so.
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Oh! Who is it?
Afternoon, Corporal.
Oh, howdy, Marshal.
Is the Colonel here?
Yes, sir. Right there on the playground.
Which one's in the Husqvarg this time?
Nobody at the moment, Corporal.
Well, ain't that a wonder. Fast.
Thank you.
Well, Marshal.
Afternoon, Colonel.
Who's in trouble now?
It's about Amos Cartwright, Colonel.
Oh, that.
Yeah. You know what they're saying about Amos.
I know.
Well, feelings are running pretty high in town and there could be some trouble.
That's your worry, not mine.
Well, I just want a statement from you.
What kind of statement?
Now that Amos Cartwright didn't lead that patrol into ambush at Cole Creek.
I can't give you that statement, Marshal, because I don't know if it's true.
I see. Do you have evidence against Amos?
No. This story sounds plausible.
But I've cut him off the payroll. He won't scout for us again.
Yeah, but if it weren't true, would he have come back, told the story, taken out the burial party, all that?
I don't trust a man who's lived as an Indian. I don't like having to use them.
I see.
Frankly, I don't care if they do string him up. I've got other things to worry about.
We're getting the stores ready for a major expedition.
We're going to put down those Comanches for good.
Well, thanks anyway, Colonel.
Sorry you had to come all the way out here on such a hot day for nothing, Marshal.
It can't be helped.
I'll see you later, Colonel.
Mr. Dillon? Mr. Dillon?
Yeah. What is it, Chester?
Oh, my gracious, I'm glad you're back.
Oh, what's happened?
Just what you were afraid of, Bailey and Amos.
What?
Bailey's dead.
Bailey?
We got him right up there at Doc's. That's why I called you.
All right, let's go.
Oh, he didn't give him a chance, no chance to talk.
Took him by surprise, came up behind with a knife and split his throat. Oh, my gracious.
Where was this?
Over there by the labor stable. Must have been waiting for him to come for his horse.
Got cleaned away too before anybody knew what happened.
Hello, Mac.
Doc.
In here.
Look, Matt.
Yeah.
It's an Indian trick coming up behind a man.
And that, right here.
Amos has gone all Indian, that's the fact.
I suppose he figured it was him or Bailey or it was a matter of honor or something.
He didn't have to do that, Chester.
He probably headed south for Comanche territory maybe two hours ago.
I guess there's not much to do about it now except tell the cavalry.
They'll pick him up eventually.
This isn't a military matter, Doc. It's my job.
Matt, you can't go down there now with all this Indian trouble.
I don't tell you how to set bones, Doc.
We going after Mr. Dillon?
I am. You don't have to.
I'll go get our saddle pack.
Matt, use your head.
Maybe if I'd used it before Bailey wouldn't be dead.
You think we're gaining on him at all, Mr. Dillon?
How he should be, Chester.
You can't find him none too soon for me.
Oh, we sure picked the day to come out here.
That's hot, all right.
Yes, sir.
There's somebody following Amos, Chester.
What?
Pull up, let's take a look.
You see, that's the front of an unshot Indian pony.
Well, now why would an Indian be trailing Amos?
I don't know.
And why is Amos wandering like he can't make up his mind where to go?
For a while I thought he was heading for the Ouachita.
Now he's veered west. Maybe throw us off, huh?
He's leaving too plain a trail for that.
He doesn't expect anybody to come after him down here.
Man, you think me.
Why, this is quite a view from up here, Mr. Dillon.
See for a long way.
You see Amos?
No. I don't see no Indian, neither.
Oh, hey, here's something, Mr. Dillon.
What?
That Indian pony stopped here and stood.
Probably looking up there, watching Amos.
And then turned off and went that way.
Yeah, but running. See how the prints dig in and stretch out.
What do you think that means, Mr. Dillon?
Probably means trouble, Chester. We'd better find Amos quick. Come on.
I'll be glad when the sun goes down.
Careful, Chester. Come up easy on top of this hill.
Yes, sir.
I reckon we might be getting close.
Maybe.
I don't see a thing, Mr. Dillon.
He's down there, Chester, making camp.
You see that movement in the willows there?
That'd be his horse.
He'll be over by the water.
You sure could've fooled me.
Come on, we'll stay behind the hill.
I'll go over and crosswind.
Yes, sir.
All right, Amos.
Now drop it.
Now you just stand there.
You can give me no fair draw, Marshal.
No more than you gave Bailey. I want to take you back to Dodge alive.
All right, Chester, come on. Tie the horses and the willows with Amos'.
Yes, sir.
Now you just kick that gun over here.
Throw the knife in, too.
Careful.
All right, chicken, relax now.
Figuring a ride tonight?
Later, after the horses arrested a couple of hours.
Think you can get me back to Dodge, Marshal?
I think so.
It's Comanche country, you remember?
Maybe you're banking too much on that, Amos.
Maybe.
This is quite a fix you got yourself into, Amos.
Is it?
Yeah, I'd say so.
Now, one side you got all the white men hating you.
On the other side, I shouldn't think the Comanches would be too fond of you.
Why not? Like Bailey said, I most want myself.
Yeah, but there were Comanches killed at Cole Creek, too.
Some.
I must know that you've been scouting for the Bluecoats, huh?
It don't matter. They don't hold no grudge against scouts.
As long as you scout against their enemies, the Cheyenne or the Apaches or one of the others.
But you led the cavalry against your own tribe.
I wasn't smart.
I ain't worried, Marshal. You're the one ought to be.
Maybe.
You hate me, too, don't you, Marshal?
Not exactly. Just trying to understand you.
It's a hard choice to turn against your own kind.
I'd like to know what makes a man do that.
If you knew the way it was.
I can remember the day it was like this, it was towards dusk.
I left the horses, three of my best, right out front of her father's lodge.
Never waited so anxious in all my life.
And then he'd come out and took my horses into his herd.
That meant you were accepted, married.
And we lived fine.
I had a lodge of fourteen skins.
I brought meat to her family.
I took coo.
I was respected, loved, and it was good.
It all good.
Why'd you leave these?
She died bearing a child.
Amos, that coal-crick, dead you lead the cavalry into ambush.
I didn't lead them.
But I knew.
You knew the ambush was there and you didn't warn them.
I couldn't. It had just been the other way around.
They were my friends, relatives, people I'd lived with.
Whatever I did, it had been wrong.
So you ran away and did nothing.
But a man's got to make his choice, Amos.
And by failing to act, you made yours.
Maybe.
Coming back to Dodge was a mistake.
If you'd have stayed out, you might have been taken for dead and forgotten.
And now you've gone too far.
Killing Bailey, the way you did it.
Now there's no choice now.
There's only Dodge and a noose.
You ain't got me back to Dodge yet, Marshal.
Maybe you ain't going to.
Well, huh.
Yeah, I see what you mean.
What does he mean, Mr. Miller?
Take a look, Chester, coming over the brow of that far hill there.
Glory be!
All right, come on, get on.
I'm on site.
It's a war party.
Yeah, a big one.
I say it must be fifty or more.
Amos.
Comanche is all right.
You lose, Marshal.
Maybe we all do.
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Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, Chester.
Them Comanches don't look so terrible warlike to me,
just riding easy like they're out for a breath of air.
Circling, they know we're here.
If they had to decide to rush us, we wouldn't have a chance.
Well, that's one thing we could do something about, Chester.
What?
Kill the horses, pull them up in the circle and shoot them, then slit their bellies.
My goodness gracious, what for?
Those Indian ponies will bark when they smell the blood.
That'd stop a charge.
We could use our bodies for cover.
But Mr. Dillon, out here without no horses.
Well, maybe it won't be necessary.
Hey, Miss, do you recognize any of them?
Yeah, that one out front on the piebald, that's Buffalo Tongue.
It's my brother-in-law.
They've stopped.
Yeah.
We'd better go get the horses.
Wait a minute, you might need your horses.
Yeah, sure, but I doubt we'll ever get a chance to use them.
Maybe they don't know you're here.
You keep out of sight and wait for dark, maybe just hours.
What are you thinking, Amos?
I'm thinking about that noose back in Dodge.
And I'm thinking you're wrong about them Comanches.
That's my wife's brother out there, Marshal.
I've read beside him on many a party.
Can I see?
He coming down alone.
Well, that's true, Mr. Dillon, he is.
Amos, I'm warning you.
Even if you're right, it'd be me they're looking for.
If they don't even know you're here.
No, Amos.
Marshal, three men can't stand against fifty Comanches.
All right, but...
It's like you said, a man makes a choice.
Wait, Amos, come back.
Mr. Dillon...
Keep going, just a minute.
But Mr. Dillon...
Maybe he's right.
That's all we can hope for now.
But he's our prisoner.
He was our prisoner.
Now we'll see.
His brother-in-law has stopped.
He's...
Mr. Dillon.
Look out.
No, no, no, Mr. Dillon.
No.
Chester, don't.
Stay down.
It's too late.
Our guns won't do Amos any good now.
We've got to think about ourselves now.
I know that, but...
Wait a minute.
Well, why they turning away without another look.
Mr. Dillon, they don't know about us.
They know, but they don't care.
We'd chance that Chester.
Now come on.
No.
Amos.
No.
Don't.
Marple.
Not yet.
It's got to come out, Amos.
Here, I'll cut the shaft.
No.
After.
In a minute or so.
It didn't even bother.
It didn't even bother to take cool.
It just...
Mr. Dillon.
The air went most clean through his...
They're going away.
Didn't even seem to notice us.
There wasn't a battle, Chester.
There was an execution.
It was awful having to just stand by.
Like he said, a man has to make a choice.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Dillon, what do you mean?
They didn't even bother to take cool?
The scalp is the worst possible insult.
When an Indian won't even claim his cool or touch the body.
Oh.
You reckon he knew what might happen?
Yeah, I think so, Chester.
Well, maybe it was better than the news.
Yeah.
Maybe it was.
All right, come on, Chester.
We got things to do.
This is William Conrad.
As you may know, Gunsmoke is going into its second year on radio.
During this time, many of you have written the makers of Chesterfield
and L&M filters asking them to put Gunsmoke on television, too.
Well, here's some good news for you.
Gunsmoke is going on TV starting Saturday, September 10th, 10 p.m. Eastern Time
over the CBS television network.
If you enjoy our radio shows, I know you'll go for Gunsmoke on TV.
Now TV will have an authentic adult Western, the Gunsmoke you know.
Remember, next week, Gunsmoke Radio at this time, and in three weeks,
Gunsmoke TV at 10 p.m. Eastern Time.
Both brought to you by Liggett and Myers, makers of Chesterfield and L&M filters.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad
as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The special music for Gunsmoke was composed and conducted by Rex Corey.
Sound patterns by Ray Kemper and Bill James.
Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Harry Bartel, Barney Phillips,
and Joseph Kearns.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Put a smile in your smoking.
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Transcribed for L&M Builders.