Gun smoke.
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 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.
He's right.
It is a half mile wide and a half inch deep.
What is?
That Cussetart-Kansas River is.
He was right about it, but I sure wasn't going to let on.
Who was right, Chester?
Oh, some fellow from San Antonio.
He was in there in Long Branch last night bragging about Texas.
I told him they got rivers there that's never been as bad as this one.
Did you tell him to hang around until the spring rains hit?
I did.
I sure did tell him just that, Mr. Dillon.
Hey, Matt, Chester.
Hello, Doc.
You fellas tired of walking?
Not if it means risking our lives in that broken down buggy of yours, Doc.
This will outlast the three of us, good as the day it was made.
It's the biggest eyesore in Dodge City, Doc.
Why don't you take it out on the river bottom and burn it.
We'll start a collection to help you get a new one.
Oh, no, look, here me.
Here, let's look under there to fight, Mr. Dillon, in front of the late game.
Yeah, come on.
We'll see you later, Doc.
We'll see you later, nothing.
I haven't seen a real good fight for a week or more.
Why, that's Iken Smith, Mr. Dillon.
All right, one side.
Would you let me through here?
Would you let me through?
Well, forevermore, that crag Loomer he's fighting here is.
He's beating the daylights out of the city.
All right, crag, you had enough now?
I'll show you who's had enough.
All right, hold it for me here.
I'll make a move to that gun, crag.
Some folks would call it self-defense, Marshal.
Iken Smith never carries a gun and you know it.
Get on your feet now and forget it.
All right, everybody, move along now.
Break it up.
Come on, move along now.
Out of the way.
Now, what started this?
I reckon we'd just better say it was something personal, Marshal.
I see.
Doc, I suppose you could take this pair over to your office and patch them up a little.
Yeah, I will if they come separately, but I don't want another dogfight starting right
underfoot.
Won't be long before they're all gone.
I'll see you later, Doc.
Well, Preg, come on, chicken.
Yeah.
Let's see if we can restore your normal ugliness.
You know, Chicken Smith's not ordinarily the kind of a man to start a fight, Preg.
Well, he started this one.
Maybe he figured he had a reason.
Well, I guess it rankled him some that I was talking to his wife.
She wasn't objecting none.
Well, Ellie's not one to use her head sometimes.
Is that her name?
Ellie?
That's better, Preg, and him too.
If he turned up with a bullet, then he might know where to come.
Now, there's more than one way of getting even, Marshal.
I'll see you later.
Now, there's a man that can be mean without even trying, Mr. Jones.
A Preg Wimmer?
Yeah, I guess he can.
Come on.
I swear I just wouldn't have figured Chicken Smith had it in him.
A fellow that raises hands and gathers eggs ain't usually one to rare up like that.
Oh, Marshal.
What?
Oh, hello.
How are you, Ellie?
Marshal, I just wanted to explain that what happened there was just a big misunderstanding.
I never saw that man before in my life.
No?
I took some eggs into the store, and he was standing in front.
He just passed the time of day with me, was all.
I didn't know him from Adam.
I still don't.
His name's Preg Wimmer.
He bought the Lady Gay saloon a while back.
Well, he's right handsome, you know, in a kind of a strange way.
He's a good man to stay clear of, Ellie.
Well, Marshal, I hope you don't think that...
Well, I mean, I certainly will stay clear of him.
I sure wouldn't want another misunderstanding.
Neither would I, Ellie.
The next one might be fatal.
Well, what do you think, Mr. Jones?
I'll try one more.
Here, let me study this on the fence rail.
All right.
Yeah, it's hitting where it's aiming, all right.
I guess Andy got the kink out of it.
He always does.
It takes old Andy a month or so to fix a gun, but once it's done, it's done right.
Yeah.
Well, there's no point in burning up any more ammunition.
Marshal, you out back here?
Yeah, I'll be right with you.
Sounds like chicken smith, Mr. Dillon.
First time he's been to town for over a week?
Yeah, I know.
Out shooting one of your prisoners, Marshal?
No, no, just testing a gun I had fixed.
Well, how's the chicken business?
Oh, tolerable.
A few of the hens starting to set now.
Need some more warm days to own a couple of reins.
And I guess I don't know very much about them.
Smarter than cattle any day.
How's that sound?
Why, sure.
Chickens can tell when the weather's going to change, when a storm's coming, and knowing
there's a hawk overhead.
Hens will run straight to the rooster for protection.
They'll stay there as long as there's any danger.
At least the older ones.
Some of the bullets, they stray once in a while.
Them's the ones that get killed off.
I see.
A man can learn a lot watching a flock of chickens, Marshal.
Like the way a rooster will fight to the death to protect his hens.
Here's some people never heard of that.
You mean people like Prague Wimmer?
I reckon he's heard of it now, all right?
Okay, he's heard of it.
Well, let me give you a piece of advice, chicken.
Last week you knocked Prague around some and you got away with it.
A man's got a right to fight for what's his.
Prague's not a man to take a beating easy, not while he carries a gun in his belt.
Maybe I ought to get one.
You never packed a gun in your life and you wouldn't know what to do with one if you did.
Now why don't you forget it?
It's all I'm saying.
It's over and it's done with.
Ellie's too pretty for her own good.
That's the trouble.
She's young.
Kind of strays out of the yard once in a while.
She'll learn.
I hope so, Marshal.
I sure do hope so.
My land, the gracious look yonder at that buckboard.
That's pretty reckless drive.
That's Ellie.
Dog gone it.
I told her once, I told her a thousand times.
Good morning, Marshal.
Young lady, you keep handling a team that way and you're going to roll that rig over
a cut bank one of these days.
Well, life ain't worth much without a little danger in it, Marshal.
You ready to get on back home now, chicken?
We've got to try to sell them bullets first, Ellie.
Already sold them and all we can deliver from now on.
New customer?
That's right.
You're doing a pretty good one too, chicken.
Sounds like we're finally getting that brainstorm, man.
I've been building up to it for a week now.
Well, I suppose the ranchers are happy, but sure hasn't helped business in the long branch
this evening.
Everybody left early so they wouldn't get cut off by floods in the washes.
Well, you can still count on us, Miss Kitty.
There ain't no wash between this here saloon and the jay.
You know, Chester, if there was, you'd still manage to get trapped on this side of it.
Well, if a man's going to get stormed in someplace, he could do a lot worse than the long branch.
Well, they might do better too.
Well, over the Lady Gay, you'd get free fried chicken twice a day.
I ain't been over there even once during the whole two weeks and I ain't aiming to go.
As long as Pragg Loomers is running the place.
Giving away free fried chicken at the bar twice a day, I don't know.
Well, to draw a trade, so he says.
Well, maybe that's his reason.
The boys started calling it the Chicken Smith hour.
Chicken Smith?
So Pragg Loomers, their new customer.
And I suppose Ellie has to deliver them every day or so.
That's not only that, Matt.
She's been slipping into town at night.
Real late at night.
Ah, we're ever more close to that door, Doc.
What do you matter?
All right.
Men can't come through the door without opening it, can they?
Oh, hello, Matt, Matt Kitty.
You look like a drowned rat.
Well, we're getting ourselves a raise, Don't I, Matthew, again, lady?
It's coming down in barrels.
Front street's already starting to float.
Oh, Sam, guess who I just saw on the way over here?
Ellie Smith, out in front of the Lady Gay.
Well, I think it's time I had a talk with her and Pragg Loomers.
No, Matt, there's no law.
And besides, he won't like it much.
No, I'm sure he won't like it much.
All right.
What's on your mind, Marshal?
Pragg, I want to talk to Ellie, too.
Where is she?
Ellie?
Oh, I guess you mean Ellie Smith.
Where is she?
No, what makes you think she'd be here at the saloon this time of night?
She was seen here, Pragg, tonight and other nights as well, so don't go to bother a lion.
Man's personal business ain't no concern of the law.
I don't figure it's personal when it's headin' toward a killer.
No, Marshal, it's too late to stand around spinnin' yarn.
Now, I ask you a question, Pragg.
Where is she?
I don't know.
She was here, wasn't she?
She left 20 minutes ago.
All right.
Left for where?
Home, I guess.
She was drivin' the buckboard and I saw her off.
You let her leave alone on a night like this with a flash flood runnin' another gully between
her and her farm?
She ain't no look out of mine, Marshal.
She's Chicken Smith's property.
Or at least she was.
I told you there was more than one way of gettin' even, didn't I?
You're gonna be sorry for that, Marshal.
I'm sorry.
Find anything, Chester?
Well, she didn't drive across here, Mr. Dillon.
Looks like you turned north along the bank there.
Well, there's another port up there about 100 yards.
Couldn't have been too long ago.
Wheel tracks ain't rained out yet.
Now, let's ride up that way.
Yes, sir.
It'd be a whole lot easier if we had some daylight.
A man can't always pickin' shoes.
She coulda, though, dog on her.
Crazy fool stuntin', turn around in the middle of the night, storm like this.
Now, life's not worth much according to her unless it's got some danger in it.
Well, I wish she'd find some kind of danger that don't keep me up all night ridin' around
in the storm.
Look out, Chester, that bank's all undercut along there.
Yeah.
There it is, sure is, breakin' off and fallin' into the water all along the side.
Mr. Dillon, look!
What?
Yeah, I see it.
Horses must have broke clear.
It's only the buckboard down there.
Uh-huh.
Come on.
She might be hangin' on the other side.
Now, it's been road, Chester.
It's messed up pretty bad for the current.
Well, see if we can find her.
Better where, Mr. Dillon?
I don't know.
Downstream somewhere.
There he is, Mr. Dillon, feedin' his hands.
Uh-huh.
Well, good morning, Marshall.
Morning, Chester.
How about you, Commander?
Morning.
You turned out nice after the storm.
Yeah, I did.
Come on, chick.
Come on, come get it.
Here you are, chick.
Come out pretty lucky with my poultry here.
Only three bullets lost their heads and run out into the storm,
start to drown for their trouble.
The rest of them stayed in their coops and come through safe and sound.
Look at them eat.
They're always real hungry after a rain.
Check him.
I, uh, I'm afraid I got some bad news for you.
I reckon I already know what the news is.
I went looking for her when the storm came up last night.
I found the buckboard.
Note there was no use looking any further.
You found her, huh?
Yeah, about a half mile on downstream.
Hmm.
Kind of where I figured she'd be.
She was a good wife, Marshall.
Right sorry to lose her.
She was too pretty.
She was too young.
Any trouble?
I guess the farm will get lonesome without a woman, huh?
It is.
So I looked at it, Marshall.
Ellie been slipping out at night lately, going into town.
I've been puzzling over it, not rightly knowing what to do.
Now, of course, there ain't nothing to do.
I, uh, I'm sorry about it, children.
Mighty kind of you, ride out and tell me.
You just wait till I finish feeding these hens, and I'll ride in with you, Marshall.
Save you a trip back out.
What do you mean?
After I found that buckboard last night I rode on you to town.
I want to see Bragg Loomer.
You'll find him when you get back to town.
Find him?
I took your advice, Marshall, about not knowing how to handle a pistol.
I took my shotgun, the same one I use for hawks.
It worked just as good on Bragg.
Only took one shot.
Of course, you understand I was closer to him than I ordinarily get to a hawk.
Come on, come on, Chichies, come on, get your breakfast.
Gunsmoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Featured in the cast were Parley Bear as Chester, Howard McNeer as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
George Walsh speaking.
Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story on gunsmoke.
This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
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