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 the U.S. 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.
Oh, look at him, Chester. If you put any more chili powder on those eggs, you'll go up and smoke.
Well, I like them good and hot, Doc.
Oh, for heaven's sakes, Chester.
Hey, pour me some more coffee, will you, Doc?
Oh, yes, of course, my dear. Here you are.
Thank you.
By the way, did Matt say when he'd be back?
Well, he told me the end of the week.
After all, Doc, it's a two-day ride to Tascosa, and he didn't leave here till two days ago.
I only asked a simple question, Chester. And anyway, how was I supposed to know? Nobody ever tells me anything.
Well, you don't have to, or you snoop around.
Snoop around? I...
What's Matt doing in Tascosa, Kitty?
Talking to the man that sent for him.
What?
What man, Kitty?
The Tascosa Citizens Committee. Something to do with hiring a new sheriff for the town. I guess I figured Matt would know where to find one.
Hire a sheriff? What in the world for?
Well, the man they got a sheriff now is no good. The decent citizens can't get rid of him.
Well, if he's no good, why'd they hire him in the first place?
Oh, my, I do not understand it. The whole frontier is an armed camp, shooting and killing everywhere you look.
Nothing left but the quick and the dead. Doc, would you pass the chili powder?
Oh, from here, for goodness sake. Here.
Thank you.
Kitty, I'm gonna tell you one thing. I don't know how bad the trouble is down in Tascosa, but Matt better get back here quick.
Why, Doc? What's wrong?
What's wrong? You ask that when the only vestige of the law we've got in this town is a chili-eating cherry rocker like the fool I'm sitting next to.
What's wrong?
Now, you look here, you just let me tell you something, Doc.
Now, you wait a minute. Wait a minute. You two are worse than children.
Settle back now, both of you. Have some more coffee.
Well, maybe just a little there, but that's all.
Mr. Carson, what happens to some people when they get out of implied society?
Oh.
Drink your coffee, both of you.
They are coming.
Your name Dylan?
Yeah, that's right.
The marshal from Dodge, huh?
Yeah.
I'm Clegg Rawlins, marshal. I'm the man the citizens committee wants to get rid of.
What's on your mind, Rawlins?
Now, a while back they brought me here to Tascosa to kind of clean it up some, and I did that for them.
Now, all of a sudden they want me out. I call that downright ungrateful, marshal.
Now, go on.
I suppose they give you the money at the meeting last night? Money to hire a new sheriff here?
That's right.
Yeah. Kind of forces me into talking business.
What I had in mind was, marshal don't make all the money in the world, does he?
I wondered how long it would take to get around to it.
Now, wait just a minute. You might be missing a good thing.
The only thing I'm interested in is hiring a peace officer to come down here.
You're through in Tascosa, Rawlins. I'll make up your mind, Tascosa.
A man don't always give up that easy.
You're better, Rawlins. You got as much time left as it takes for the man I hired to get back here from Dodge.
As short as that, huh?
As short as that.
Dear Len, you know there's an awful lot of prairie between here and Dodge.
I sure hate to see anything happen to you on your way back.
Get out.
Are you sure?
It always seems kind of too bad when a man dies for something that ain't even his concern.
This is Bill Goodwin. You know, someone once said, humor is the true democracy.
And that's why we Americans can smile when we tell the stories of the legendary heroes
who helped to build our country's great industries and institutions.
Such as the hero of our armed forces, Kilroy.
Since the beginning of World War II, Kilroy has popped up everywhere from Africa to Australia, from Kwajalein to Korea.
Every serviceman claims to have met him. Some say he's tall and thin. Some say he's short and fat.
He's an Air Force pilot, Army infantryman, a Navy CB.
He was on Guadalcanal and climbed Mount Casino. He walked through Berchtesgaden and stormed Heartbreak Ridge.
But more than that, he's the spirit of the courage and the valor of the American men in uniform
who accomplish the impossible and reach objectives which are unobtainable.
The men who proudly say, Kilroy was here.
Yes, it is a democracy which lets us tell the stories of such legendary heroes with a twinkle in our eyes and a chuckle in our throats.
So long as we continue to laugh together as a people, ladies and gentlemen, we'll live together as a nation.
Next morning I was in the saddle before dawn, and by the time the sun was up I'd covered a good 15 miles.
A slight breeze blew apart the dust past my horse raves and I knew it would be hard for anybody to follow me.
And for the same reason I knew that somebody could track me without being seen.
About noon I stopped in the shade of a grove of cottonwood to rest my horse.
I was ease and essential a little when I saw a rider coming up fast.
I pulled my rifle from the saddle boot and I waited.
Then I put the rifle back.
I've got to talk to you. Please.
All right, right on in.
It's a long way out on the prairie for a lone woman.
Can I have some water?
Water? Sure.
Here you are.
Thanks. Thanks a lot.
You haven't said what you're doing out here.
I followed you from Tascosa.
You followed me?
If you'd seen me sooner you'd have sent me back and I can't go back.
Just who are you, miss?
Stella, Stella Harkney. I'm one of the girls at the Overland Saloon.
You're lucky. I might have shot you riding up on me that way.
It was the only thing I could do to follow you this way.
Besides, I didn't think you'd ride out so early.
That's why I did.
I know all about you, Marshal.
And I know why they sent for you to come to Tascosa.
That's so? How?
I'm Clegg Rowland's girl.
You're Rowland's girl?
That's right.
Look, you better turn around and head back right now.
I can't. Clegg would kill me if he found out I'd tried to run away.
How do I know you're not Stella's girl, sitting in a trap or something?
All right.
Look. Look at my shoulder.
You put those marks there.
You think I'd stay with a man like that?
All I'm asking is to ride on to dodge with you, Marshal.
I've got a rifle and two rifles are better than one.
Clegg will come after you. You can be sure of that.
It seems to me you're awful anxious to help kill the man you belong to.
Oh, I belong to him right enough.
He brought me down here from Hay City.
He said he was going to marry me, but I found out differently.
He just wanted me to work in his saloon.
He already has a wife down by Willow Springs.
I didn't exactly like that and I told him so.
That's when he beat me.
Look, let me ride with you, please.
I don't know, Stella.
I'm not going back, Marshal.
All right, I guess it doesn't matter now that you've come this far.
Thanks.
You may be telling the truth,
but you'd better ride a little ahead of me anyhow.
What for?
It's just easier to keep an eye on you.
Like you said, you've got a rifle.
Okay, let's get started.
You're pretty tired, Stella.
I'll make it.
There's a nester's cabin not far from here.
If we can find it before dark, maybe he'll put us up for the night.
Sure, sure feel good to walk around.
Yeah, you a saddle-weary?
Well, dancehall girls don't do too much riding, Marshal.
Get up.
Get down!
Just lie still now, don't make a move.
Where are they?
Where did they shoot from?
It's off to the left somewhere, I think.
Yeah, probably in that clump of box elder over there.
Dirty collards.
I can't get them from here with a six gun and I can't get to the horses for a rifle.
Look, if we play dead, maybe we can draw them out.
Marshal, I'm sorry.
Just lie still and don't talk.
Yeah, here they come, two of them.
Just hold still now.
I've seen those men before.
They work for Clegg.
Stella, when I give the word, you yell as loud as you can, huh?
Scream, it'll throw them off.
You ready?
All right, now.
Are they dead?
I don't know, but the fight's sure out of them.
And if Clegg's with them, he's still in that grove.
Come on, let's get out of here fast.
I can't get up.
I'm hit.
My leg.
Yeah.
Here, I'll put you on my horse.
We'll ride double.
We'd better get out of here before whoever's in those trees gets a little braver.
Come on now.
I'll get you to that cabin.
There you are, miss.
You just lie back now.
By morning, you'll be pretty as fiddle.
Thanks, mister, but that...
that coal oil you poured on my leg like to set me on fire.
Well, that's the best way to clean a wound there is, Stella.
Less than it's whiskey, of course, but that would be pure waste, wouldn't it, now?
You two can afford to make light of it.
It's me who's got the bullets.
Well, I'm going out to feed my pigs.
Having company like this has thrilled me clean off schedule.
I'll be back, direct me.
Marshal?
Yeah?
Having me along's caused you a lot of trouble, slowed you down.
Claggett's probably going to ride in to dodge ahead of you.
He'll be waiting there.
Oh, why there?
Because he's no good with a rifle.
He needs a six-gun on a town street.
Well, maybe he won't try again, Stella.
After all, there are other towns for him to take over.
It's more than that, Marshal.
He'll have a lot more now that he knows I'm with you.
He's a jealous man.
He's crazy jealous.
And now he'll think there's something between us.
Between you and me, I mean.
Ah, let's not worry about that now.
You'd just better get some rest.
Foolish to think you might have any feelings about me, isn't it?
Not knowing me any longer than you have.
Now, Stella, I told you...
I don't suppose any man could take to a woman he'd known for only one day, could he?
Look, Stella, you got some sleep.
We've still got a long ride to dodge, huh?
Yeah.
I'm sorry, Marshal.
Good night.
The next morning, Stella's leg wasn't anywhere near well enough for her to ride,
so I borrowed a spring wagon from the nester and we started out for dodge.
It was a rough trip and a slow one.
Stella sat there, not saying much, just staring ahead.
Once or twice I saw a dust cloud on the horizon,
and I knew if it was Clague Rollins, he'd be in dodge long before I would.
It was nearly dusk by the time we drove down the plaza and stopped outside Doc's office.
And it was a half hour later before Doc had clean bandages on Stella's leg.
Then I waited with her while he went out on another call.
Marshal.
Yeah, Stella.
I had a lot of time to think today while we were driving in.
It was a rough trip for you.
Not so bad, but what I wanted to tell you was I'm not going to stay in dodge.
Oh? Where are you going?
Oh, I don't know, Abilene maybe, even St. Louis.
Soon as I'm well enough, I'm taking the Santa Fe out of here.
There's no reason for you to leave, Stella.
Yes, there is.
Clague Rollins?
No.
What is it then?
Well, it's not important. It's just easier if I go.
Easier for me, I mean.
Oh.
You can't forget somebody when you're living in the same town, Marshal.
You better go now.
Doc will be back directly and there's no reason for you to wait.
Not any longer.
Yeah.
Well, well.
Goodbye, Stella.
Goodbye, Matt.
Marshal.
Hello, Rollins.
Been waiting for you.
The last time you sent a couple of your men to do the talking.
I don't know what you're saying.
You're two writers who tried to drag-ulch me.
I hope you buried them, Rollins, because I didn't have time.
I come here to tell you, you and me can still work things out.
You didn't get me killed, so you still want to buy me off.
Any man can use money.
The government pays me.
Not as much as I could.
Rollins, so far I got nothing personal on you.
Nothing I can prove anyway.
Now, if you're smart, you'll saddle up and ride out of here and keep away from Tascosa, too.
We'll see.
Meantime, Marshal, how is Stella?
No.
I'm telling you, Rollins, you get out while you can.
Sure.
And...
Mighty fast, Marshal.
You shouldn't have tried it.
Yeah, I know that now.
I just thought maybe...
Mr. Gillen?
I seen it. I seen him back out the door.
What happened? Who was he?
Oh, yeah.
It was a man named Rollins.
What'd he do?
He didn't want me to send a new peace officer to Tascosa.
Well, that ain't much of a reason to die, is it?
He figured it was.
Look, Chester, you go tell Doc about this, huh?
I got some business over at Delmonico's.
What you gonna do?
Well, Doc told me there's a man I want to talk to down there.
Who?
An ex-Buffalo hunter. I'm gonna ask to take the job of peace officer in Tascosa.
Who is it, Mr. Gillen, Slim Trent?
No, it's somebody who just got into town a little while back.
He's a kind of a hot-headed fellow, but he can get the job done.
Well, who in the world is it, Mr. Gillen?
You don't know him, Chester. It's a fellow named Hickok, Bill Hickok.
If you want, you can come over and meet him after you get to Doc.
No, I don't care about meeting old Bill Hickok.
I was hoping Slim Trent would get the job.
Well, see you later, Mr. Don.
Yeah, sure.
Gunsmoke. Produced and directed by Norman McDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Mr. McDonald,
with editorial supervision by John Meston.
Featured in the cast were Virginia Christine, Lawrence Dobkin, and John Dana.
Harley Bear is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
Join us again next week for another story on Gunsmoke.
We pause now for station identification.