Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers
and the spoilers and that's where the US Marshal and the smell of Gunsmoke.
Gunsmoke 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 chance a job that makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Hello Kitty.
Hello Matt.
Matt is in Frank Wilkins, Emmett Wilkins son.
How are you Frank?
I've known your father for a long time.
Glad to meet you Marshal.
Frank's come back here to live Matt.
That's fine.
I know your father will be pleased.
Oh yes sir.
I can sing louder and bite harder and tell more lies than any man in this territory.
Who's that?
I heard him say his name is Bull Hogan.
Yeah it seems he's a buffalo.
He just stole a load of hides and can't wait to give it his money.
Looks like his friend there's kind of anxious to help him.
I got $50 that says Bull is right.
Hey boykidder I told you I want a bottle of the best.
This stuff ain't got the strength of pot.
Now you fetch me a drink that'll scratch going down and thump when it hits bottom.
Now hop to it.
Bokkidder when Bull says hop you hop.
Yeah.
Hey you.
You put that gun back in your holster and you leave it there.
Who are you?
And the Marshal here.
Yeah Bull look what's spoiling our party.
Oh we don't mean no harm Marshal.
Have a drink.
You're going to pay for this damage you understand.
Well sure I am.
I've been out in the prairie six months Marshal.
I aim to have some fun tonight that's all.
Alright go ahead and leave a little bit of town standing for the people who live here
will you?
Well he's going to craft my style some but I'll try.
Okay you do that.
Hey Bull the Marshal's gone.
Let's find us a couple of girls huh?
No not yet though.
I'm going to listen to the music.
Hey.
What?
That's a real looker over there at that table Bull.
Well go get her.
I sure will.
Howdy.
We're busy mister.
Why this chair ain't.
Now look here.
What's your name?
Frank Wilkins.
Oh you go on by yourself.
Not you mister you little lady.
You know you're pretty.
Beat it.
You heard her.
Mister my friend Bull wants to talk to this little honey pot here.
Why do you send a sidewinder like you?
That blow hard can talk to himself.
Blow hard.
Hey Bull come here.
Yeah another one.
Yeah what do you want?
This fella called you a blow hard.
Is that right?
Did you call me that?
Yeah I called you.
Why you.
Oh no no no don't go for that gun.
It was just a friendly fight.
I ain't mad at you.
We got a difference of opinion in this all.
Hit him again Bull.
Why sure but not here.
Like the Marshal said no need to bust up the place.
You outside unless you're yellow.
Frank don't.
It's alright Miss Kitty.
You wait here.
Come on everybody.
Me and this fella is going to kick up some dust.
Loser.
The loser buys the drink.
Come on.
Oh now.
Over here Bull.
Yeah.
Oh now stand back there.
Give him some room.
Yeah oh now.
You ready mister?
Yeah I'm ready.
Bull.
Well come on fella.
Get up.
You can't.
You whipped him good Bull.
Why that was hardly no fight at all.
Shucks.
We can't wait around for him to buy the whiskey.
I'll buy it.
Drink for everybody.
Inside.
Come on, come on here.
Jump, jump some water on that.
Sure, boy.
I'll take care of it.
Real good care of it.
Well then, call me a sidewinder, huh?
Now just listen a minute, if you will.
I've got a little story to tell you.
Well it's not so little, it's sort of a tall tale.
It's about a Navy hero.
Alfred Bullrod Stormalong was his name.
Oh, he was a legend, he was.
Where he was born doesn't matter, but he was first heard of in Boston Harbor.
That was when he signed on as a member of the crew of a ship called the Lady of the
Sea.
Now Old Stormalong stood thirty feet tall and had muscles in his arms big as powder
kegs.
And when the good captain got a look at him, he said to the rest of the crew, here's an
able-bodied seaman for you.
Then he entered Alfred Bullrod's name in the log as Stormalong, A.B.
Somebody realized that the A.B. could also stand for able-bodied.
And they sort of picked it up.
And for a long time seamen would put that A.B. after their own names, meaning able-bodied
seamen.
Yes, sir.
Well Old Stormalong was a great sailor, he was.
And it wasn't many a year before he captained his own ship.
The Corsair it was, one of the biggest to float.
Why it was so long from stem to stern, it took a man on horseback twenty-four hours
to make the trip.
The mass was thin so to let the sun and the moon get by.
It took a man a week to climb the rigging.
Yes, sir.
The Corsair was a big one.
And Stormalong's skill as a sailing man became known throughout the seven seas.
One of his greatest feats was taking the Corsair through the English Channel.
Seems the Channel was only about two inches wider than his ship at high tide.
But Old Stormalong was up to the problem you bet he was.
He bought all the soap in Holland and he and his men greased down the sides of the Corsair.
Oh well, sir.
It slipped through that old Channel as slick as a whistle.
Didn't damage it one bit.
But so much of that soap rubbed off onto the English coast that to this day the Clefts
of Dover are white.
Of course you believe me, don't you?
Say, it's nice being citizens of a country where you can laugh and talk about things
free as a breeze.
And write and read and worship too.
Yes, sir.
Maybe you don't think about it much.
But you should.
Mr. Dillon?
What?
Mr. Dillon?
Mr. Dillon, I've been looking all over for you.
Well, you found me, Chester.
What is it?
Frank Wilkins.
He's dead.
He's what?
Dead.
Well, I was sitting with him just a few minutes ago.
Yes, sir, but he's dead now.
Well, what happened?
Well, they told me he got into a fist fight with some buffalo hunter over at the Long
Branch.
Bo Hogan?
Yes, sir, that's the name.
He went outside and that man plain beat Frank to death with his fists.
Wait a minute, Chester.
You mean that all those people at the Long Branch stood and watched it and nobody stopped
it?
Well, it don't make sense, but they must have saw it.
You know how they are when there's a fight.
I'm going to have me a talk with those citizens.
Well, I already talked to some of them, Mr. Dillon.
They swear up and down it was a fair fight.
Chester and a fist fight, a man's beat long before he's beat to death.
And anybody not crazy for blood knows that.
Well, I can't understand it.
But one thing's for sure, Frank's dead.
Doc examined him and then had the body moved over to his office.
Is Bo Hogan still at the Long Branch?
No, sir, he ain't.
He's gone.
Well, he won't get far.
I'll see to that.
Delwin, is that you?
Yeah, it's me, boy.
I got your horse hid in them trees.
You better get going.
Delwin, I come into Dodge City to have me a good time.
It ain't no fun sneaking out here to the edge of town hiding in the dark.
It ain't having me no fun at all.
Well, it's better than being hung, ain't it?
You killed that man.
Well, I didn't mean to.
That don't make no difference.
He's dead.
You're stronger than you think you are.
I never seen a man hit so hard.
I can swing faster and hit harder than any other man in this territory.
Keep your voice down, Bull.
Being strong won't do you no good at the end of a rope.
It was a fair fight.
That don't matter.
They ain't to hang you, Bull.
You didn't see how they was all looking at you, cold like.
Why, if I hadn't have made you leave that saloon when I did, they'd have closed in on you then and there.
I'm the only friend you got, Bull.
Delwin, you ought to tell them that I didn't mean to do it.
That wouldn't do no good.
Not now.
The only chance is to get out of town till they cool off.
Now, come on.
Lucky, I remembered seeing that old sod hut upriver on my way in.
It's a good place to hide.
You reckon I can find him?
You go just like I told you, and you find him.
I don't want no thanks for this, Bull.
I'm risking my neck to help you, but that's what friends are for.
Stay here in town and see how the wind blows.
Tomorrow I'll ride out and let you know.
Bring some grub and a bottle, huh?
Sure, sure.
Now, get going.
I ain't never run away from nothing before in my whole life.
You ain't running away, Bull. You're being smart.
I ain't never tried that before, neither.
I hope it works.
Tester, I've talked to every man who saw that fight, and they all agree it was no match.
But while it lasted, it was fought fair.
I guess I've got to take their word for it.
Yes, you sure do.
They were all surprised that Frank died from it, huh?
Well, I'd be surprised if he hadn't.
He didn't knock down that hard.
Yeah, cracking his skull on something when he fell.
There's only one thing, Mr. Jones.
If it was such a fair fight, why did that cussed Bull Hogan light out so fast?
I don't know, Tester. I don't know.
You honor's Miss Kitty?
Yeah.
Matt, Matt, did you find Bull Hogan?
They left Tom, Kitty. I'm going to trail him in the morning.
Oh, Mr. Wilkins stopped in to see me.
Well, he don't blame you now for what happened to Miss Kitty.
Oh, no, Tester. He was just real broken up about his son.
Matt, did you know he's offered a thousand dollars reward for Bull Hogan?
Yeah. I wish he hadn't.
Well, he did. See how he feels.
Matt, Matt, that Delwin Casper's here.
Yeah.
Hey, Casper.
First I want you to tell me where Bull Hogan is,
and then I want you to get out of Dodge and don't come back.
I don't know where he is, Marshal. How would I know?
You were bragging about being his friend.
Me?
I never laid eyes on Bull Hogan until tonight. I had no friend to hear.
We left together.
But we went separate ways. Bull Hytailed it right on out of town.
Me? I just stepped out for a while because the climate here didn't seem healthy.
It hasn't changed.
Now, look, Marshal, I didn't do nothing tonight except go along with a crowd for a little fun.
You've got no cause to ride me.
You started that fight, Casper.
Well, I didn't finish it. Bull Hogan done that.
There ought to be some way to prove I'm no friend to hear.
Tell me where he went.
If I knew I would, I sure would.
I hear the father of that poor fellow Bull killed has put up a thousand dollars reward for him.
Is it true?
Yeah, it's true.
Marshal, could I clear myself if I helped you trail Bull?
You're going to be busy traveling, remember?
Now, you get out of here, and if I see you again tonight, I'll lock you up.
You'll be out of town at daybreak.
You're a hard man, Marshal. You ain't fair.
I said get up!
Well, you got rid of him, that.
Yeah, it was a pleasure getting.
Casper just ain't no good at all.
I sure would hate to be laying help with some words and have him find me.
Well, that's a good way to put it, Chester.
Music
The United States Army, a gun record of peacetime service.
Beeping
1904, commercial business is transacted by radio for the first time through the United States Army Signal Corps Station in Alaska.
Gunfire
American industrial might is based on the technique of mass production, which began with the manufacture of rifles by the United States Army in the 1820s.
Captain John Hall in 1819 designed a unique breech-loading rifle and began production of the Federal Armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
Captain Hall then designed and built machinery to mass produce the rifle with all parts interchangeable, a revolutionary advance in manufacturing technology.
The United States Army, a gun record of peacetime service.
Music
Bull, hey Bull.
Is that you, Dillwin? You got here early.
Yeah, I see you found the hut. There's nothing to it. You gave me real good directions, Dillwin. What's the news?
Don't look good for you, Bull. They got a thousand dollar reward out.
No, no, it was a fair fight. It ain't like I done murder.
They think you did. It's the same thing. Did you bring me something to eat?
No, I thought about it. I decided not to waste the money.
What do you mean, wasted?
What's that gun for?
Dillwin, Dillwin, you said you was my only friend.
I guess I was lying.
Music
Mr. Dillwin, I swear I just don't understand you today.
First off, you run that Dillwin Casper out of town, then we meet him out here heading back to Dargan. You tell him it's all right.
At least says he got Bull Hogan. He claims the reward.
Yeah, and you just look at him and nod, just say that money's all he is right now.
You think he really got Bull Hogan?
There's no doubt about it. All we gotta do now is get him. Casper killed Frank Chester.
What?
He probably clubbed him with a pistol. You know, it's something you said to me that started me thinking in that direction.
Me?
Yeah, you said that you'd sure hate to be helpless and have Casper find you.
I'm sure now that that's what happened to Frank. The problem is to prove it.
There's that Todd Huddy talking about.
Yeah.
My goodness, there's Bull, too.
Bull Hogan, you shouldn't know.
He's wearing a gun. He wasn't shot in the back.
No, but he might as well have been for all the chance he had.
Well, I'll ride down over to the site, the place and borrow his shovel.
No. No, Chester, borrow a wagon instead. We're gonna take him back to Dodge.
Here he is, Mr. Dunn.
All the way over here, I couldn't get a word out of Chester except you want to see me.
That's right, Casper.
Do I get my reward?
I think you could say that.
Then you found Bull.
Yeah, we found him. We had quite a time bringing him in, though.
Bringing him in? He's the strongest, roughest man I ever tangled with.
What are you trying to say, Marshal?
We got Bull here in jail. Doc gave him a powder to put him to sleep. He's in the first cell. Go see for yourself.
What, but he's dead. I shot him.
Yeah, you shot him all right, only you didn't kill him.
Well, I did. I hit him right in the chest.
Well, that's what saved his life, Casper.
Here, you ever seen one of these things before?
Yeah, it's one of them Indian charm bags, isn't it?
That's right, a leather pouch full of pebbles and sand and bones.
Bull's a lonely, superstitious man. He was wearing this around his neck.
That's what stopped your bullet, Casper. See?
But he fell down. He was dead. I—
Doc says that a blow over the heart like that will stun a man cold, but it only lasts for a few minutes, and then he's as good as new.
You're lying to me. You're trying to trick me out of my reward.
No, you'll get what's coming to you, Casper.
You know, Bull's got an idea that somebody clubbed Frank Wilkins with a pistol while he was knocked out.
Well, I'm going to lock you and that fellow with Bull and let the two of you talk it over.
What? Me in with him? Why, now, you can't do that.
Oh, why not? Neither one of you will have a gun. You'll just talk. What could happen to you?
We'll go wake him up now, let's go.
Yeah, Chester, go wake him up.
All right, come on, Casper. You're going in there with a—
No, no, I'm not.
Oh? Well, then maybe you'd rather tell me about it.
But I didn't do nothing. I ain't going in there.
Oh, yes you have.
Now you're going to tell that to Bull Hogan face to face, right now. Locked in.
No, no, I done it.
I clubbed Wilkins with my pistol. He was me killed him.
You hear that, Chester?
Yes, sir.
All right, take his gun.
I'm Johnny.
Now lock him up, Chester.
That old Barry Bull.
That's him.
Then he is dead.
Yeah, he's dead.
Then you're going to be right behind him, Casper.
I hope he's waiting for you.
Music
Gun Smoke, produced and directed by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns were composed by Ray Kemper and Bill James.
Featured in the cast were Parley Bayer as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
George Walsh speaking.
Join us again next week for another story of the Western frontier of America in the 1870s on Gun Smoke.
This is the United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.
Music