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, United States Marshal, the first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancy job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
I swear, Mr. Dillon, there's days when it just don't pay to get out of bed.
Why don't you sit down, Chester?
Like today, for instance. I've been thinking back over it.
Ah, so that's what you've been doing.
I didn't hardly more than get my eyes open before I knocked over the water bucket and I could drown myself.
Chester, why don't you sit down?
And I went to put my boots on and that vinegar on stung me and my foot's been sore and aching all day.
All right, Chester, I believe you. It's been a bad day.
And then you take breakfast. The very first thing, Pete, was all out of egg, and then that was the worst galledron coffee I ever drank in my whole life.
Chester, are we going through your last eighteen hours, minute by minute?
I'm just pointing out to you what an unlucky day this is.
You've already convinced me. Now, will you sit down?
Hi.
Oh, Kitty.
Busy?
No, come on in.
Evening, Mr. Kitty.
Hello, Chester. I can't stay, Matt. I've got to get back to the Long Branch.
Uh-huh?
Could you come over?
What's the trouble?
It's old Jedro Hig.
Jedro? In the Long Branch? He doesn't stop in there more than twice a year.
I know.
He don't even come into town much more than that.
Well, he's over there now, and he's been drinking a lot, all alone. He won't talk to anybody, but he's real upset about something, Matt.
Huh?
Yeah, I thought maybe you could straighten him out.
Ah, Kitty, I'm not so sure.
Well, I am, Matt. He's got a gun stuck in his belt.
Oh. All right, Kitty, I'll be right over.
Thanks, Matt. I'll see you there.
Yeah.
There you are. It's just like I said, Mr. Dillon, this day started bad, and it's gonna end bad.
Well, just for once, Chester, you might be right.
Evening, Jedro.
Marshal.
I haven't seen you for quite a spell. How have you been?
Well, I reckon somebody told you.
Might I sit down?
Tell me what?
Nothing. I ain't got no complaint to make to the law.
You know, when a man acts against his nature, like you coming in off the ranch and sitting around here drinking all night,
wearing a gun in your belt, I know something's wrong. Now, who's the gun for, Jedro?
Well, the young'un's back, Marshal.
Raimi?
Yeah. Come home last night, like a bad penny.
It's three years now. Where's he been all that time?
Well, wherever it was, it ain't done him no good. He was just honorary before and sassy.
Now he's mean and no good. Friends he brung with him is worse.
What friends?
Oh, a couple of fellas named Carden and King. They're government, Marshal. They got the wild bunch look to them.
I never heard of them before.
Well, not only that, but there's others coming, too, Raimi says.
And they're all gonna run things from now on. So the best thing I can do is keep out of the way.
My own young'un, flesh and blood, and he talks to me like that.
How'd you get all those bruises on your face, said he?
Eh, it don't matter how.
Did Raimi and his friends throw you out?
Yeah, that's what they did, out of the house.
Said if I wanted back in or get something to eat, I'd have to chop wood for the stove and do the chores.
Raimi done it and they helped him, and he laughed at me.
Said that's what I used to make him do, cut wood, things. Things are turned around now.
He's still your son, General. You can't take a gun to him.
Eh, I've been sitting here studying what to do.
How'd you sleep on it, huh? I'll write out there with you in the morning.
I got to get them two friends of his out of there, Marshal, on account of Diane, if nothing else.
Your daughter? What do you mean?
Well, she ain't safe with them around. I seen how they looked at her. She just ain't safe.
But her brother's there. He'll look out for her.
Eh, he's changed, Marshal.
Not that much.
I ain't so sure.
Well, sir, holidays come and go, and we don't always give much mind.
But there is one that most everybody takes time for.
Of course, it brings out a little human goodness and friendliness for a spell, person to person.
That's why the post office made up this special 1966 stamp I got in my album here, honoring the spirit of Christmas.
Oh, I like this one. Yes, sir.
This stamp's from a fine painting of that first Christmas way back.
It's in the National Art Gallery in Washington, D.C.
It's the fifth one in a series marking the holiday season.
And it comes out, rightly enough, in the town of Christmas, Michigan.
Well, of course, we all enjoy the family gatherings, the gift given, and the fun that goes with it.
But the real thing is that the idea kind of spreads around all over.
Yeah, there's a Muslim festival same time of year called Eid al-Fit.
The Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah, and the Buddhists have the Festival of Lights.
And lots of Hindus make Christmas a time of goodwill.
Well, I guess it's not what you call it, but what you do about it that counts.
Sure is my pretty ranch, Mr. Dillon. Bad old dead row's getting thrown out after working so hard on it.
Yeah.
I can't figure what young Ramey wants with it anyhow. He ain't the kind to work for a living.
Maybe he's not planning to, Chester. He could make a good base for a gang of outlaws.
Outlaws?
Yeah, he brought two gunmen back with him. There's more coming to court for General.
Get to the ground!
Come from that brush up on the ridge, look like.
Yeah.
Hey, Dillon, there sure ain't much cover here.
I think he's in that rock pile there.
I think maybe you got him, Mr. Dillon.
Come on, Chester.
Sure didn't count on nothing like this, had we?
Neither did I.
He was laying there, not moving. Reckon he's dead.
Now wait a minute.
There's somebody coming.
Yeah. Here, get around the back of these boulders.
Just let them go on past. There's no use taking chances.
Yes, sir.
All right, hold it!
Now just set easy now, both of you.
Oh, Marshal, what was all the shooting about?
We were just about to ask you, Remy.
Well, we just heard he'd come to find out.
He ain't had so, Carden.
Sure is, Carden, huh?
It must have been your other partner I just killed.
The king?
Now how come you've done that, Marshal?
Because I don't like being dry-gulched.
Did he do something like that?
Big surprise to you, huh?
We ain't seen kings since late last night.
That's right, Marshal.
That's funny. I kind of got the idea he might have been keeping a lookout on the trail here.
If he was, we sure didn't know nothing about it.
Uh-huh.
It must have been drink that drove him to it.
Time and again, me and Carden warned him about his evil ways.
Where's your sister, Remy?
I am.
What do you want with her?
I want to talk to her.
About what?
That she's up at the house.
Yeah, but if you think you're going to start any trouble...
Well, right on up to the house. You got any objections?
No, of course not.
All right, let's go.
But, Marshal, I don't want to go into Dodge.
Where'd you get such an idea?
From here, Father.
He thought you might want to get away from here for a while.
Pa's getting old and soft in the head.
Diane likes it here, and she's going to stay home where she belongs, ain't you, Diane?
Yes, Remy.
You don't have to stay, Diane. I understand that.
If Remy or Carden here have threatened you, you can forget it.
I'll see that you're protected.
Threatened her?
I'm her brother, Marshal. I wouldn't hurt her. Ain't that right, Diane?
Yes. That's right, Remy.
That old general is your father, Remy, but that doesn't keep you from beating him up and throwing him out of the house.
Now, there, you see?
Pa is losing his wits. Nothing like that happened at all, did it, Carden?
Of course not.
Diane?
No. No, nothing like that. Pa just left, that's all.
Well, I'll go about my chores, Marshal, if it's all right with you.
Yeah, sure. Go ahead.
Well, that take care of your business here, Marshal?
Right now, maybe.
And Pa didn't make no charges, did he?
No.
Then I say you've got no reason to be on our land.
I'll see you, Remy. Real soon, more than likely.
Matt, why don't you just boot them out?
I don't figure they'd boot too easy, Doug.
Yeah. Matt's never stopped you before.
Ah, this is different. It's a family affair. There's a good chance they'd slip in here some night and take it out on old Jedro.
His own Pa. What the tarnations matter to that boy, Matt?
It beats me.
Well, what are you going to do? Just sit here, pound that swivel chair, and let him get away with it?
How much I can do, Doug. No law against him coming back home, and Jedro won't sign a complaint. Says it's a family affair, and he'll handle it himself.
Yeah, he'll have to sober up some before he does any handling. All he does is hang around the long branch.
I sent out some inquiries, but telegraphed. Figured there might be a chance that one of those threes wanted somewhere, and then I'd have a reason to move in on them.
Seems a darn shame when the law works to help somebody like them. You know, it might be a good idea to bypass the law on a thing like this, man.
No. Now, you do that once, Doc, and the dam goes up. It took too long to get what law we have here to turn around and lose it.
Wait a minute. What the Dickens is going on up the street?
I don't know.
Get up here.
Sounds like a fight.
Quite a crowd there, Matt.
Yeah.
Oh, hey, it's right in front of the long branch.
Yeah, it is a fight. Come on, now.
Now, let me through here.
On one side.
All right, move back now.
Let the Marshal through.
All right, hold it, Carden. Don't kick him again.
I'll kick his head.
Carden!
I told you not to kick him. He's lucky that's all I've done.
He tried to draw on me, Marshal. I could have shot him if I'd been a mind to.
But you liked it better this way, is that it? An old man half blind and half drunk.
He hadn't ought to jump me, Marshal.
And you hadn't ought to kicked him. You're under arrest.
You got no call to arrest me?
Carden, I warned most men twice, but after what you just did, I guess once is plenty.
You want to fight, Marshal? You've got one.
Good.
Have you had enough?
I'm going to kick your guts out.
You're going to have trouble.
Carden?
Carden, can you hear me?
Well, you're under arrest anyway.
When it comes to a couple of you men, bring him down to the jail, huh?
Are you all right, Matt?
Yeah, I'm all right, Doc.
What about Jadrope?
Yeah, not too bad.
May have a cracked rib where Carden kicked him once.
He came too on time to see you the finish there.
I'm going to take him up to my office.
I'll walk with you. I want to talk to him.
Can you make it to my place?
Yeah, I'm all right.
Come on, then.
You ought to have kicked him, Marshal, the same as you've done me.
An eye for an eye, Jadrope, is that it?
He don't deserve no better.
You made a mistake trying to draw on him.
I didn't. I just threatened to.
If he didn't get out of here and leave me and mine alone.
Are you ready to sign a complaint now?
Oh, you don't go along with kinfolk, Marshal.
I'll work it out myself.
You may not be so lucky the next time.
Yeah, it ain't no use, Marshal.
Well, I can't force you to.
Mr. Jones.
Yeah, what is it, Chester?
We got an answer to one of them telegraphs.
Let me see it.
Just now come in on the wire.
Oh, wow. What is it, man?
Ah.
Rami, Cardin, and King are wanted in Las Cruces for the murder of a bank guard.
They hadn't sent a bullet in here because they thought they were in California.
Murder? Oh, my boy wouldn't kill anybody, Marshal.
I'm sorry, Jadrope.
But I got to bring him in now.
Hometowns in America have a lot in common.
And yet they're each one of a kind.
Take, for example, Billings, Montana.
In the heart of the Midlands Empire,
the biggest little city in the Northwest is set in a fertile valley where the sugar beets grow.
But once Billings was cowboy and Indian country.
Many a smoke signal rose from Pompeii's pillar off U.S. 10.
Motorists can now drive along cliff-hanging black otter trail for a view of mountain and city
and the statue of the famous screen cowboy, William S. Hart.
Flying into Billings, you land on the rim rocks of Sandstone and room at the Northern Hotel.
Sixty miles southwest, on Highway 212, there's Red Lodge, which leads right into Yellowstone Park
and through the scenic curves of Cook Highway.
In town, people shop at Hart Albans and some work at Kaufman Lumber and Treating Company or Inland Supply.
But if your hometown is Billings, you already know this.
We only wanted to remind you, it's still there.
Music
Here she comes, Mr. Gill.
I didn't think we'd have to wait very long.
I couldn't see Ramey doing the milking.
He's coming right in tomorrow, all right.
He's got milk pails with him.
Well, you stay back from the door till she gets inside and don't let her yell out in the morning.
Yes, sir.
Diane.
What?
It's all right, just take it easy now.
Marshal, it's Ramey. You've come here after Ramey.
Grab her chest here. Put your hand over her.
Now, we're not going to hurt you, Diane.
But I couldn't let you warn him. It'll be easier on him if you don't.
If I can take him without a fight now, you understand me?
Now, now, now.
Now, Chester's going to take his hand away.
But if you try to yell, we'll have to stop you.
All right, Chester.
There, now, I'm awful sorry we scared you.
What are you after him for, Marshal? It's his home. He's got a right to be here.
I'm afraid it's a bit more serious than that now.
Yes, but he's still my brother.
That's why I stayed, if I could help him.
Didn't he threaten you?
Well, yes, but Ramey always did talk mean like that.
It's more than just talk, Diane.
It's not his fault, Marshal. It's them two men with him.
Wait a minute.
Ramey, come on out of that house.
Joe, Jim, go.
Yeah, just so you stay here with Diane.
I'm going out the side door of the barn, see if I can slip up there by the porch.
All right, Mr. Dunn.
Now, they want me to just stand here and hear what Diane...
You hear me, Ramey?
What are you doing back here, you old fool?
You got no call to talk that way to your pa?
I'm going back to town and stay there. There ain't no room for you here.
I got plans for this place.
No, you ain't, Ramey. You're all alone now.
King's dead, and Carter's in jail.
And the Marshal's on his way out here to take you in for murder.
Who told him about that? You?
No, I didn't know nothing about it.
If I thought it was you, I'd put a bullet through your head right now.
Hold it, Ramey.
You brought the Marshal here, you sneaking old liar.
No, no, please, Ramey, don't shoot.
Drop the gun, Ramey!
He's dead, Marshal?
I'm sorry, General.
I killed my own boy.
I just never could believe it.
My own boy.
Why, you killed him, Marshal.
You killed my brother.
I'm sorry, Diane, I had no choice. He'd have killed your father.
Oh, Ramey.
He was a killer already, and he'd have killed again and again.
But he was still my brother, Marshal.
Yeah, I know.
Oh, Pa, why can't everything be like it was when we was little?
I don't know, Diane Hennie.
I just don't know.
The End
Old Elijah Cuddlestone, in referring to a paper bill which was pending but unpassed during election time,
had this to say,
Now, I want you to know, everyone that is, that it matters not, it does not matter if I am elected or not,
this bill will be passed.
I mean, if I shouldn't be elected, I'll only be a lame duck until March 4th.
That is, I won't be a dead duck until then, and I'll still get the bill passed.
Lame duck, though I might be.
Well, what Elijah was referring to was that up until 1933,
members of Congress who failed to be re-elected in November still held office until the following March.
In sufficient strength, they could have passed or proposed legislation,
legislation embarrassing to the administration.
So, from a time predating our revolutionary days,
the woodsman maxim, never waste powder on a dead duck, has evolved to such well-known usage as,
He's a dead duck, and further to lame duck, as in lame duck amendment.
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.
Thank you.