Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there is 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, the 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.
Here she comes, Mr. Don. Here who comes, Chester? Holly Dean. She's come down the street there. Somebody must have told her.
I left word in enough places. She sure is going to be upset about this.
I doubt it, but the only thing that upsets Holly is a man who won't pay attention to her.
I'll let her in.
Yes, sir.
Come on in, Miss Dean.
Thank you, Chester. Oh, wow, how handsome you look today.
I do.
Now that's my little nice.
Oh, Matt, mine's just been ages since I've seen you.
Sit down, Miss Dean.
Miss Dean? Wait, isn't it Holly anymore?
Here you are. Sit down.
Thank you.
You look mighty stern and official, Marshal. Have I committed some crime?
Not that I know of.
Well, then what's this all about? Three different people told me you wanted to see me.
That's right. I, uh, I thought you better know about this, Miss Dean.
About what?
Sam Brueger. He's out of prison.
Escaped?
No, not paroled.
He was supposed to be in for ten years.
One to ten. He served three, and I guess they figured that was enough.
He'll get out of the Dodge on the afternoon train.
Stop him, Matt. Don't let him come here.
Well, he's got a right to go where he wants.
I just thought you ought to know about it. You and your husband both.
Matt. Matt, you've got to protect me. It's your job to.
I will, if it's necessary.
Of course it's necessary. He'll try to kill me.
Oh, why?
Well, because he. Because I divorced him while he was in prison and married Jack.
Is that the reason? Or is it because you wouldn't back up his alibi when you testified in his trial?
I couldn't, Matt. I wasn't sure he was working in the barn all afternoon the day Tracy was shot.
Yet the barn is only fifty yards from my house.
I was asleep most of the afternoon. He could have rode off and come back, and I'd never have known it.
But I told all this at the trial. It's over and done with. You've got to keep him away from me. He's a killer.
I doubt that.
Well, the jury didn't. They convicted him, didn't they?
Yeah, but they weren't too sure or they'd have made the charge a lot stronger than manslaughter.
I just can't see Sam Brueger as a killer, even with plenty of reason.
What reason? I suppose you believe them stories too. That something was going on between Tracy and me.
Was there?
I didn't even know him hardly. Those old hens around this town start cackling if a woman even says low to a man.
What are you trying to do? Reopen the trial?
No, no. Just let you know that Sam's coming back.
All right. All right, then let him. I'm married again now. I don't want nothing more to do with him.
He starts fooling around with me and Jack will take care of him all right.
You know, Harley Trouble seems to follow you, doesn't it?
I don't do nothing to cause it.
Maybe you don't, I don't know. Maybe it's just because you're one of the prettiest women in Dodge
and maybe you just get too friendly with too many people.
What do you mean by that?
Look, you're married now to a man who's known around town as being kind of jealous and a little bit unhappy.
And you've got an ex-husband coming in on the afternoon train who's just spent three years in prison for a killing that he claims he didn't commit.
The jury said different.
For a killing the whole town thinks was over you.
Well, I don't think Sam Bruegger was a killer three years ago.
But prison can change a man.
So you watch your step.
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.
Ever hear a tale about Mike Fink?
Well, he was a hero, a legendary hero, I guess you'd call him.
The greatest keel boatman of them all, yes sir.
Why, he was a salt river rorer, a ring-tailed squealer, claimed he was half wild horse and half alligator.
They say that Mike Fink could pull the equivalent of 400 loaded railroad cars upriver on a keel boat.
That's sort of like a barge.
And they say that if the currents made pulling too tough, why, old Mike would just sit down and row for a while.
Yes sir, his strength and skill was the talk of the river.
Nothing was too tough for old Mike to handle.
He could load his boat from stem to stern in less than half an hour.
And when it was going full speed, why, he could turn it on a dime, as the man said.
He was a heap of man, was old Mike.
But then along came the steamboats.
Oh, they didn't hurt the keel boaters too much at first, but little by little they took over.
And you can be sure Mike was the very last of them to admit defeat.
Now Mike didn't just die and quit, you understand.
He raced a steamboat clean up in Ohio, and he beat it too.
But Mike was sort of the spirit of all those valiant keel boaters.
And as they quit one by one, and just sort of faded out of the picture, why, old Mike did too.
But as long as stories about him are still told and retold, the early pioneers of our waterways won't be forgotten, no sirree.
I wish I had time to tell you another little story about Mike, but I have an idea you don't believe me anyway.
Say, isn't it 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.
I ain't even sure how recognized Sam, Mr. Dillon.
He won't look too different, Chester.
You reckon he's aiming to start trouble?
I don't know.
I don't know about it, James. He's afraid enough to turn my head even if he was to put her mind to it.
You'll have to get in line, Chester. There's about a dozen ahead of you.
Oh, well, my man and I were just saying that, Mr. Dillon.
My nose hurts too well.
Yeah, sure you do.
Now come on, Sam's getting off over there.
A man would just be plumb foolish to get tied up with a woman like that.
Well, here's a man who can tell you.
I swear he ain't changed hardly at all.
Not outside, anyway.
Hello, Sam.
What? Matt Dillon.
Last man I saw when they took me away, first one I meet when I get back.
Things never change, do they?
Ah, not too much.
How are you?
Just a three-year picnic, Marshal.
You know, they've been a real good carry up there.
They even got bars all around.
They keep folks from getting in and bothering you.
Yeah, sure.
Marshal?
How is Holly?
Oh, fine. I saw her just this morning.
You did, huh?
That's more than you're going to do, Brueger.
Easy now, Dean.
Sam, you remember Jack Dean, don't you?
Oh, yeah. Yeah, the gambler.
I didn't quite get that remark of yours, Dean.
You got it all right.
You stay away from Holly. You hear me?
What are you all in the proud about?
Holly's married to him now, Sam.
I thought you knew.
No.
No, I didn't know that.
Well, you do now. And don't you forget it.
You bother her and I'll shoot you like a mad dog.
All right, that's enough of that kind of talk, Dean.
I want them to know how things stand.
Well, now, wait a minute.
I think maybe you ought to know how things stand, too, Dean.
I come back here for just one reason.
Just to find out who did kill Tracy Walters.
The way I hear it, you did.
No, Holly lied at the trial.
She knew I never left the place that day.
I aim to find out why she lied.
I told you to leave her alone.
I got no interest in her otherwise.
I feel sorry for you, Dean.
I learned about Holly. I paid for it.
You ain't yet, but you will.
No jailbird's gonna talk about my wife like that.
That's enough, Dean.
Taking up for him, are you, Marshal?
You get going.
All right, I'm going.
When the law won't protect a man's home,
I figure he's got the right to do it himself.
Thank you, Marshal.
Men on parole can't afford to get into any arguments.
Or where are gone, either, Sam.
I'm gonna have to take yours.
Play it right down the middle, don't you?
No exceptions for either side.
Now, that works out better that way in the long run.
All right.
Thanks.
I didn't kill Tracy, whether you believe it or not.
I wasn't on the jury, Sam.
Just one thing.
You better stay clear of Jack Dean.
He can make you an awful lot of trouble.
I got no reason to bother him, haven't you?
What do you mean, Holly?
No, what I told Dean is the truth.
I'm over her, Marshal.
Except, well, sometimes...
She's not an easy woman to forget.
Now, I don't imagine she is.
You know, he doesn't seem to have changed much, man.
Sam Broger, you mean?
Yeah, stopped in earlier and had a beer.
He's quieter, of course.
But it wouldn't be.
Three years is a long time to spend in the cell.
It sure is, Kitty.
Why didn't he make a fresh start somewhere else, Matt?
Why'd he have to come back to Dodge?
To queer himself, so he says.
Well, if he couldn't do it three years ago,
he's got even less chance now.
I am afraid you're right, Kitty.
And McCauley here, it's just gonna mean trouble.
The way she carries on, I mean.
Bartender down at the Crystal Slipper
along with that new trail boss out at the Circle D.
I never saw anybody like her, Matt.
Yeah, just a case of too much good looks, I guess.
And too little good sense.
Well, if Jack Dean finds out, she won't have any looks.
Why don't you tell her?
What?
She just came in.
She's coming over here.
Oh, Matt. Matt, over there, you know.
They said I'd probably find you in here.
Oh, hello, Kitty.
Hello.
What's on your mind, Misty?
Matt, Matt, you've got to arrest Sambuga.
Oh, why?
For threatening to kill me, that's why.
You tell him the truth.
Well, a little while ago down the street,
he come up to him and he said terrible things.
He said he'd come back to Dodge just for one reason, to kill me.
And he was wearing a gun, too, and he's not supposed to be.
Was he wearing a gun in here, Kitty?
No.
Well, he was just now, it's true, I swear it.
Anybody hear him threaten you?
I don't know. I don't think so.
Anybody see him talking to you?
I don't know. It was dark. I turned and ran.
And then I come looking for you.
Oh, Matt, you just got to arrest him.
All right, Miss Dane, if you'll sign a complaint, I'll go pick him up.
Of course I'll sign a complaint.
Then go on down to the jail and have Chester fill one out for you.
I'll be over in a couple of minutes.
Oh, you hurry now. I'm scared to half to death.
Sambuga's not the kind of man to do a thing like that, Matt.
I don't think so either, Kitty.
No, we could be wrong.
Matt, there are times when a man of honor, like myself,
is appalled by the low ethical standards he finds among his friends and acquaintances.
Ah, is that so, Doc?
Go ahead, Doc, it's your move.
Now, stay out of this, please, Chester. Matt,
how about you know what I'm referring to?
I just thought you were talking to keep from having to move that checker
and letting me take two more of your men.
They're ridiculous. I've as good as got the game on right now.
Then why don't you move?
Yes, I never thought you'd do it, Matt.
Do what, Doc?
Let a passing weakness for a pretty woman make you throw an innocent man into that jail cell back there.
He had to, Doc. She signed a legal complaint, didn't she?
Not talking to you, Chester.
Now, what makes you so sure that he's innocent, Doc?
Well, it's plain common sense, that's what.
Plus the fact that Holly Dean happens to be a born liar.
Yeah, maybe. But he's got no alibi.
So it's up to Judge Bent to decide it when he opens court.
Oh, Judge Bent? She'll twist him around her finger just like she did you.
Not unless she comes up with some witnesses.
Bent's 71 years old.
I don't care. What's that got to do with it?
Look, go ahead and move the checker so I can get this game over with.
It's late and I've got to get up early.
That was the wrong side of the jail. Come on.
There goes somebody on a horse.
Yes, they're getting away, Matt.
Yeah, they've already got away.
We only had a moon tonight.
What do you suppose they're trying to do, Mr. Dean?
I got a pretty good idea.
Come on, let's take a look back in the cell block.
You don't think it was somebody trying to...
Marshall, is that you?
Are you all right, Sam?
Yeah, sure. I'm all right.
Shot just come through the window there.
What's that all about?
Sam, somebody just tried to kill you.
This is Myron J. Bennett.
With a little-known item of American military history.
One of the most famous military messages ever dispatched was never put into writing,
and to this day nobody knows what it really said.
When the Cuban situation turned hot between the United States and Spain in 1898,
the government wanted military information on the Spanish from General Garcia,
commander of the Cuban insurgents.
But Garcia was up in the mountains where neither telegraph nor mail could reach him.
So Army Lieutenant Andrew Summers Rowan was chosen to make a secret mission
to the Cuban general with orders from President McKinley.
Rowan completed his cloak and dagger jaunt through pathless mountains
and fever bog jungles to bring back the information requested.
He was from the Spanish army,
to bring back the information requested.
He was promoted to captain, and the whole thing might have been forgotten
if Albert Hubbard, a businessman author, hadn't heard about it
and written an imaginative account under the title, A Message to Garcia.
It made Hubbard a fortune with over half a billion reprints
and got Rowan the Distinguished Service Cross 24 years later.
Asked long after the event what his message to Garcia was,
the now retired Lieutenant Colonel flipped back an invitation from President McKinley
to an old-fashioned New England boiled dinner at the White House.
That's it, Mr. Young.
Another light's on. One of them must be there.
Just what is it you're aiming to do, man?
A surprise or maybe a catcher off balance.
Got nothing else to go on.
Now, Sam, look, if there's trouble, you stay out of it.
Without a gun, I guess I have to.
Holly's not likely to do any shooting.
All right, come on.
Who is it?
Matt Dillon. I'd like to talk to you, Miss Dean.
All right, just a minute.
Kind of late, isn't it, to be coming around?
Sam.
How've you been, Holly?
Fine, Sam. I thought you was...
Thought I was what, Miss Dean? Dead?
No, no, of course not. I thought he was in jail.
Mind if we come in?
Oh, it's late. I was just going to...
Thanks.
Now, you told me you'd talked to Sam earlier tonight, Miss Dean.
I did. He threatened me.
That's a lie, Holly.
It's true, Matt. I did.
You didn't act like it just now.
He asked you how you'd been, you said fine.
Looked to me like that was the first time you'd seen each other.
No, that's not true.
Why did you want him jailed, Holly?
I was scared. He threatened me.
Who'd you send over to kill him?
I don't know who shot at him. I didn't have anything to do with...
Shot at him? How did you know?
I thought you...
I said kill him. I didn't say how.
You lied at that trial, didn't you, Miss Dean?
No, no, I didn't.
Who did kill Tracy Walters?
Now, come on. Who are you covering up for?
Nobody.
Oh, dead it.
He said he'd kill me if I ever told him.
Who said? Jack Dean?
Matt, he's in the other room.
Get out of the way.
All right, come on out.
You rotten little sneak.
Keep your hand away from that gun, Dean.
It's true, Matt. He found out about me.
I mean, he thought I was seeing Tracy.
He was jealous and he shot him.
I didn't know about it till after we were married.
And then he said he'd kill me if I ever told.
I've been terrified of him for three years.
You know, a jury might believe that.
And he tried to kill Sam tonight.
I didn't know he was going to.
No jury's gonna get a chance to believe it.
Hold it, Dean.
If I'm paying, Holly's paying.
Dean!
Get him!
He was a fool, Mr. Dillon.
He didn't have a chance.
Well, it's not the first time he was a fool, Chester.
Well, Sam, looks like you get that pardon.
He's dead.
Jack's dead.
I'll send Doc over to take care of things, Miss Dean.
Come on, Sam, Chester.
Sam.
Hmm?
Wait, Sam.
What?
Sam, it's all true.
I was terrified three years of it.
I wanted to tell them he'd have killed me.
Holly, you could have stood up.
It was him that made me like I was.
He was a bad influence.
I'll be different now.
We did have a lot of good things.
Yeah, we did.
Remember, Sam?
Sure, Holly, I remember.
Come in, Sam.
Well, I just...
Sam.
Matt, uh...
Matt, I just...
I just want to talk to Holly for a couple of minutes.
I'll...
I'll be long, a little later on.
Come on, Chester.
You'd think a man has been took for a fool once to be cured, wouldn't you, Mr. Jones?
Either that or it'd form a habit, Chester.
It's like you said yourself.
It is mighty pretty.
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 McNear 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.
The United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service