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 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 and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Nice day, Matt.
Yeah, the wind's gone down anyway.
Sure was blowing last night.
Where were you last night, Doc?
Out at the Caldwell place.
Mrs. Caldwell's expecting me.
Huh?
Still?
It was a false alarm last night.
Yeah, you ought to get some sleep while you can.
I know, that's right where I'm headed to.
Dr. Adams.
Oh, hello, Ruth.
I've been looking for you, Doc.
Matt, this is Ruth Tucker, Shell Tucker's son.
How about Ruth?
We ain't met before, Marshal.
No, we haven't.
How are you here far these days?
We're just like ever, but it's ma I come to get Doc for.
Your ma?
Yeah, she's been here for a while.
She's been here for a while.
She swallows a nail, Doc, and it's hurting her bad.
Swallows a nail?
How'd she do that?
Well, I told her not to, but she was fixing the chicken house anyway, and she had some
nails in her mouth.
These days it's hurting her?
It's her stomach.
She's got a terrible pain in her stomach.
Well, it's that I'll ride out with you right away, Ruth.
I ought to warn you, Doc.
You know how Paul is.
Matt, Shell doesn't like Docs.
No?
He hates him.
But he ain't there right now, Doc.
He's been out on the prairie the last couple of days.
When will he be back?
I don't know for sure, Marshal.
But Mars had to get Doc anyway.
She doesn't want to die.
Shell had caused trouble if he found Doc there, would he?
He sure would.
He'd beat him half to death.
Well, maybe I better write out with you,
Doc, just in case Shell comes home while you're there.
That's a good idea, Matt.
I think you'd better.
Roof, you know Chester, don't you?
Oh, sure.
Well, go over to the Long Branch and tell him
that I wanted to go with us.
OK, Marshal.
How are you, Mr. Dillon?
I don't know, Chester.
Doc's still working on it.
Well, I ain't no sign of Shell, anyway.
That's some help.
What's the matter with a man like that, Mr. Dillon?
Hating doctors the way he does?
I don't know, Chester.
Probably there weren't any doctors around when he was young.
And what was good enough for his father
is good enough for him.
Some fool notion like that, you know?
Shell always was a mean old cuss, except for his horses.
He's always treated horses like they're human.
Did you ever notice that?
Shell isn't really a bad man, Chester.
He's just ignorant and prejudiced because of his ignorance.
If he'd have been here, he'd have let Miss Tucker die
rather than have Doc operate on her, wouldn't he?
Yeah, probably.
Oh, that's bad.
Come here, kid.
Maybe if Doc saved him someday, he
might get over his ideas.
Doc ain't going to have a chance to help, Carol, any.
He ain't never had a sick day in his whole life, I'm sure.
Oh.
You all through, Doc?
Yeah, all through, man.
At least you got it.
She's dead.
Dead?
I guess her heart couldn't take it.
I don't know.
I had to operate, though.
She'd have died, sure, if I hadn't.
It isn't your fault, Doc.
You did all you could.
Yeah, I know.
But I always feel maybe if I'd have done it better,
things like this wouldn't have happened.
You're not to blame, Doc.
You want me to tell Roof?
I've already told him.
He's in there with her.
Huh?
How'd he take it?
He didn't say a word, man.
Yeah, Doc, you must be telling more out.
I am.
Doc?
Oh, yes, sir?
You too, Marshall.
You're going to have to help me.
Sure will help you, Roof.
What is it?
Oh, it's about Pa, huh?
I don't know what to tell him when he comes back.
Well, just tell him the truth, Roof.
Doc tried to save your mother, but he wasn't able to.
Nobody could have.
You don't know Pa very well, I guess.
He just won't stand for it.
There's nothing he can do about it now.
It's all over.
When Pa says a thing, he means it.
And he's going to have to do it.
He means it.
And he said none of us was ever to go near a doctor.
Roof, do you agree with your Pa's thinking?
No.
Neither did Ma.
But we didn't dare cross him when he was around anyway.
I'm afraid of him, Marshall.
You have to stay here and tell him.
I've got to get over to the Caldwell place.
That baby's due any time now.
But you can't go near a doctor.
I'll stay here until he comes back, Roof.
Chester, you better ride in the town in case anybody's looking for me.
All right, sir.
Funny thing, how a doctor can lose one life and maybe bring another into the world on the very same day.
Come on, Chester.
We can ride part way together.
I got another one of those Civil War centennial stamps in my album here.
And you know, I kind of like this the best of them all.
Because it's the one on Appomattox, where the blue and the gray got together and decided to quit all that shooting and killing.
Let's see here now.
Yeah.
Yes, here.
Now, this Appomattox was just a little town in Virginia, but it got into history in a big way on April the 9th, 1865.
That's when General Robert E. Lee figured the South had had it and asked General U.S. Grant to come there and talk it over.
They say the Union General showed up wearing a private uniform and kind of muddy from the ride.
But looks didn't much matter.
The thing was that Grant took to heart what President Lincoln said, like it's on the stamp.
With malice toward none.
Yeah.
And he made the terms of surrender decent enough to go along with.
To be real precise, Lee only surrendered for the Army of Virginia at Appomattox and not for the whole Confederacy.
But when the word got around about it, all the armies of the South threw away their guns and came back home again.
Well, that ought to do it, Ruth.
I want her buried good, Marshal.
How about a cross?
You want to put a cross on?
I'll let Paul decide that.
Oh my gosh, Marshal.
Here he comes now.
Huh?
Oh, yeah.
Looks like he's been riding pretty hard, doesn't he?
Paul always rides hard.
But he takes mighty good care of his horses, old thing.
He's never hurt one yet.
Yeah, I know.
Hello there, Marshal.
How are you, Chell?
Well, what are you doing out here?
Chell, your wife died.
Died?
Now, Ruth and I just finished burying her.
She died?
Yeah, just a few hours ago.
We didn't know when you'd get back, so we went ahead and buried her.
What did she die of?
Well, she was holding some nails in her mouth and she swallowed one of them.
Ruth, take this horse into the barn and dry him off.
Sure, Pa.
Rub him good now.
Yeah, I will, Pa.
And don't let him near no water yet.
Oh.
What are you doing out here, Marshal?
I came out with Doc.
Who?
Doc Adams.
He did everything he could to save her life, Chell.
He cut on her, didn't he?
Yeah, he tried to get the nail out, if that's what you mean.
She'd have died from it if he hadn't.
Cutting on her.
That's what killed her.
Look, Chell, your wife was dying and Doc tried to save her.
Now, that's what happened, no matter what you think.
I got no use for doctors.
They're all croakers.
That's what my old man called him, Croaker, and that's what killed him.
Now, well, I kind of figure that's where all this came from.
Chell, have you ever thought maybe that your old man might have been wrong?
Not about them he wasn't.
Who told Doc to come out here?
Your wife wanted it.
After all the times I've told her to stay away from Doc, Chell...
Well, I guess she didn't want to die, Chell.
I guess she wanted a chance to live.
Poor defenseless woman.
He come out here and killed her.
Well, Doc Adams is going to pay for this, Marshal.
I'm telling you right now.
You lay a hand on Doc and I'll run you out of the country, Chell.
Maybe it won't be a hand I'll use, Marshal.
Try anything like that and you'll hang for it.
I'll find you wherever you go.
He killed my wife with his bungling butchery.
He's a murderer.
There is no man in Kansas that'll believe that.
Doc's a pretty valuable citizen around here.
Not to me he ain't.
It's an eye for an eye, Marshal, like it says in the book.
You even try it and I'll throw you in jail.
I don't try nothing.
Then you'll hang.
Will I, Marshal?
I left Chell Tucker standing by his wife's grave and I rode back to Dodge.
Ordinarily Chell was peaceable enough but there was no telling what he might do now.
Doc stayed at the Caldwell place that night and the next day too.
I thought he'd be safe there so I didn't worry about him.
Until the next evening.
Kitty and I were having supper at the Dodge house.
Matt, for a town that lives in the cattle trade, you'd think we'd be able to eat decent steak.
You should have had the prairie chicken, Kitty.
You didn't have to walk all the way from Texas.
Oh, for God's sake, I got carried.
It was too old to walk.
Say, I've never eaten prairie chicken, Matt.
What's it taste like?
Well, I'll tell you, Kitty.
It's a little chicken on an awful lot of prairie.
If I didn't know you better, I'd say you'd been drinking it.
If I know you, you'll order a steak next time anyway.
Ah, don't give up easy, Matt.
Huh.
Yeah, I know.
Well, remember it, man.
Yeah, sure.
You don't know much about women, do you, Matt?
Well, I'm learning.
Yeah?
At the pace you've set, I'll be in my grave before you're out of first grade.
You know, it took me ten years to learn how to handle a six gun.
Well, that's the nicest compliment I've had all day.
Ha ha, drink your coffee. I gotta get out of here.
Yes, sir, Mr. Billin.
Oh, hello, Matt.
Hi, Doc.
Oh, Doc, when'd you get back?
Yeah, just now.
What's it in?
Oh, thank you.
How'd you get in the car, well, Doc?
She gave birth to a 12 pound boy this afternoon.
Oh, that's fine.
Yeah, that's not what I came to talk about, though.
Matt, somebody tried to shoot me on the way back from the car load place.
Huh?
Who was it?
I didn't see him.
And since I didn't have a gun, I rode straight ahead, fast.
Oh, where'd this happen?
About a mile, the other side of the grove.
Yeah, I should have come out there and ridden back with you.
And you know something about it?
Yeah.
Shell Tucker, he came back after you and Chester left, Doc.
He made some threats.
Yeah, I might have known that.
But I'm not gonna be a target for Shell every time I go on a call in the country.
I'm going out and see him, Matt.
We'll have this out, face to face.
I don't think you can change his mind, Doc, but I'll go with you.
If he admits shooting at you this afternoon, I'll bring him back to jail.
Maybe I'll bring him back anyway.
Hometowns in America have a lot in common, and yet they're each one of a kind.
Take, for example, Niagara Falls, New York.
In addition to serving as the honeymoon capital of the world, Niagara Falls finds it necessary
to consider its own 100,000 citizens, most of whom are not just married, but year-round
residents.
They work at DuPont Chemical or Union Carbide and shop at Beer Brothers.
On a clear day, they can see Toronto from the pool at the Country Club, and in the evening,
they read the Gazette and dine at the Treadway.
Meanwhile, aside from the newlywed, others take the plunge, literally.
One of these was Red Hill, a champion of the falls whose battered barrel is at the Falls
Museum.
Others of sheer grit have gone over in everything from life preservers to rubber balls.
Fortunately, most prefer the view from Prospect Point or the Cave of the Winds cap walk, where
you catch the spray in a yellow slicker.
But if your hometown is Niagara Falls, you already know this.
We only wanted to remind you, it's still here.
There's somebody in the crowd there, man.
Yeah, it looks like so.
Here's him and Ruth both.
Now let's leave them here.
They'll stand.
They got a horse tied down in there.
What's he doing?
I don't know, he's down, Chester, but he's not tied.
How about going in?
See, when you look at that.
He broke his leg, and it's too bad.
Here we are.
Doc, I'll go in first in case Shell gets excited.
Go ahead, I'll close it.
Hello, Shell.
Hello.
Did you bring that croaker out here to kill my horse for me, Marshal?
Wait a minute, Doc.
I'm sorry about your horse, Shell.
That bay is the finest animal I ever owned.
What happened?
He just popped him off when he fell, busted his leg.
It's all bling.
Oh, man, that's too bad.
Ruth, go on up the house and fetch my rifle.
Okay, Pa.
Terrible thing to lose a horse like this.
Yeah.
I'll do the shooting if you like, Shell.
No, thanks, I'll kill him myself.
It's my job.
It's a funny thing.
We always shoot a horse if it breaks a leg,
but we wouldn't think of shooting a man when he does.
You croakers got other ways of getting rid of people.
I'll overlook that, Shell, but I'll tell you something.
I don't want to hear nothing.
You like that horse, don't you?
Of course I do.
Then don't shoot him.
Don't shoot him.
Look, Shell, that horse is done for anyway,
but it won't hurt to let me try to fix his leg
the same way I would with a man.
It just might work.
You mean put a cast on him?
I do.
I never heard of putting a cast on a horse.
You're crazy.
It's up to you, Shell.
I wouldn't let you near my wife if I'd been here,
and I'm not going to let you fool with my horse.
All right, Shell, you shoot your horse,
and then I'm taking you back to Dodge.
What for?
You're going to jail for taking a shot at Doc yesterday.
Well, I didn't exactly say that.
Shut up, Doc.
I ain't going to no jail.
Yes, you are.
Unless maybe Doc changes his mind about charging you
with attempted murder,
and then I couldn't put you in jail.
That's right.
You know, Shell, I might get so busy working on this horse,
I'd plan forget about everything else,
and I might even save the animal to boot.
Now, make up your mind, Shell.
I've got to get back to Dodge.
Well, all right.
But you better make it work, Doc.
I said I'd try.
That's the best I can do, ever,
no matter who the patient is.
Okay, Doc, you try.
But you try real hard.
I always do, Shell.
Real hard.
Chester and Roof made a fast trip into Dodge for plaster of Paris
and some muzzling to go under it,
and when they got back, Doc went to work.
An hour later, he had a heavy cast on a horse's leg,
and after giving Shell some final instructions, he was finished.
He promised to come back in a couple of weeks
and put a lighter cast on him, and then we left.
Shell didn't say much, but I knew if anything went wrong with that horse,
he'd be after Doc again.
However, six weeks went by before anything happened.
Doc and I were in his office with a game of chess
that we started a few days earlier.
Goddamn rookie you are, sitting down there, man.
If I move my bishop, you'll be right under my queen.
Yes, the only move you got, Doc.
All right, lay on it.
Yeah, see what you can do with that.
Double more of those and I'll get that queen.
Doc.
Oh, hello, Shell.
Doc, I've been looking everywhere for you.
Blast you.
Why'd you put a sign on your door saying you were out?
Shell, how come you're wearing a gun?
A man be a fool not to wear a gun in this town, Marshal.
You'd be a wretchful to try to use it.
Now, don't you lie to me.
I'm in a bad enough temper already.
What's wrong, Shell?
Has something happened to your horse?
No, no, he's tied up right outside, Doc.
What?
Yeah, I took that second cast off myself and then I rode him in here.
Of course, I took it easy with him, Doc.
What do you know?
By heaven, it worked.
Well, that's fine, Shell, but what do you say heat it up a bit?
You'd be heated up too, Marshal, if you'd been carrying a bad tooth in your jaw
as long as I have.
What?
You mean you're looking for a doctor, Shell?
Well, I'm mad enough to admit it, Marshal.
Well, Marshal, you can just sit down right over there.
I'll see what I can do.
Okay, Doc.
This is the one right here.
I see.
Now, try to get it out, will you?
I'll try, Shell.
That's the best I can ever do.
Ever.
That's good enough for me, Doc.
It seems that my best source for examples of usage of political terms
is that old political character of a politician, Elijah Cuddlestone.
Let me give you an example.
I say there are too many factions.
That is, too many factions are working against each other.
What we need is harmony.
I mean, within the party, harmony is essential, that is.
Well, what Elijah said is true.
There must be order and harmony of purpose for a group to successfully reach a goal.
Too many factions struggling against each other within a group can defeat the purpose of the group without outside help.
It's peculiar, but faction meant a fighting group in the days of the Romans.
They divided the combatants in the circus into groups or classes called factions,
each class wearing their own spatial colors.
These combatants entertained as strong as pre-decor as they strove against each other.
Because of the competitiveness and spirit of these factions,
the term faction was easily applied to political partisans.
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.
This is a New York Times, New York Times, and New York Times, with John DeWalt speaking.
Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story on gunsmoke.
This has been a production of the New York Times.