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.
Dodge had been real quiet all that week. No new herds had come up the trail, no buffalo hunters had drifted in off the prairie, no ox trains had arrived back from the Santa Fe, and the town just sat there like a plain girl with a party waiting to dance.
But there was no dancing for Dodge, not till Friday night there wasn't. I'd gone out to see a rancher friend that afternoon, and it was near midnight when I got back, rode up front street.
Saw the small crowd that had gathered opposite the long branch. I dismounted and walked over. At the center of the crowd I found Doc and Chester crouched over a man sprawled in the dust.
A man, somebody had put a bullet in.
It's Ben Williams, Mr. Jones.
Who did it, Chester?
Nobody don't know. He rode off too fast.
Anybody see it?
Miss Kitty did. She's standing over there by the long branch now.
He's dead. There wasn't much I could do for him.
Nice fellow like Ben Williams. Never hurt nobody.
He bled to death somewhere inside.
Was he conscious at all, Doc?
There he was a few minutes ago. I'd been working on him for half an hour now. I had to leave him here in the street. I didn't dare move him.
Did he say anything about who shot him or why?
Well, do you know somebody called El Cater?
El Cater? That's a town, Doc, not a person.
Oh, I kept trying to say something about it. All I could make out was the name. I didn't want him talking anyway.
As I recall, Williams came from up around El Cater, didn't he, Chester?
Well, he had a little ranch up there one time. Ben Williams was a good man.
Yeah. Chester.
Yes, sir?
I'm going over and talk to Kitty. You find me a fresh horse and saddle one of your own. We're going to be riding out of here in a few minutes.
Yes, sir. I'll hurry, Mr. Jones.
I hope you get him, Matt.
I will. Ben didn't deserve that, not being killed that way.
He didn't deserve being killed at all, Kitty.
Oh, of course he didn't.
How'd it happen?
Well, Ben and I were having a drink inside and we heard a couple of shots in the street here and then somebody yelled for Ben to come out.
The man that killed him?
It must have been. Ben didn't want to go, but I guess he figured he had to.
I got by the window and I could see Shippen out there, Shippen on his horse.
Shippen?
Blue Shippen. That's what Ben said when he heard him yell.
Then what happened?
Well, Ben walked out in the street right up to him. Shippen must have been holding a gun in his lap.
He shot Ben twice without seeing the warden and then rode off. He murdered him, Matt.
Can you tell me what Shippen looked like, Kitty?
It's too dark. I don't even know what color his horse was.
That's not going to make it very easy to find.
But you'll find him, Matt. You'll find him.
All I had to go on was a name and a place.
The place was El Cater, a little sunburnt town a hundred miles to the north.
There was a saloon there and a restaurant and a hotel and a stable and miraculously a telegraph office.
But even so, El Cater didn't add up too much. It was still the crossroads of nothing.
It was none of the second day when we rode up the almost deserted Main Street, hot and saddle weary and hungry.
Where are we going first, Mr. Jones?
We'll put our horses in the stable, Chester, and then we'll take a look around.
I've already seen all I want to do this place, except maybe the inside of that record.
You know, I've been thinking, Chester.
Maybe we'll stop there first?
No. No. I've been thinking about loose shipping.
Yeah, I finally remembered. I've seen his name.
Yeah, of course.
He's wanted over in Wichita. The trouble is I can't remember his description.
That's easy. All you got to do now is telegraph for it.
Yeah.
Ain't there nobody here at this stable?
It doesn't look like it.
You know how to kill somebody?
Yeah.
Howdy.
Hello. So you got room for a couple of horses, mister?
I reckon.
You had a hard ride.
Hey, wait a minute.
What?
Where'd you make this hard ride? Where are you from?
Dodge.
You're the Marshal.
Yeah, that's right.
I thought Marshalls always traveled alone.
Sometimes they do.
Well, I tell you, Marshal, I got a little mixed up.
I've been asleep, you see. You woke me, and I plum-forgot.
Forgot what?
I can't keep your horses here. There ain't no room.
You just said you could.
This table's all full, and I got no corral.
I can see some empty stalls through the door there.
Oh, them spoke for it.
What is it, mister?
Everything was fine till I told you that I was a Marshal.
I can't help it if the stable's full.
Now, these horses are going in there, mister, and you're going to feed them.
No.
We're going to be back directly to see that they're all right.
You believe me, they better be.
I'm sure they don't look like much in a hotel.
They don't have much choice.
I ain't sure, but what about a sleep outdoors?
Morning, gentlemen.
Hello. We're looking for a room.
You mean two rooms.
All right, two.
Of course. One room would be cheaper.
And noisier, my friend here snores.
Oh, you always say that, but I never heard me snore.
I never thought you were lying awake snoring.
I'd ram a gun barrel down your throat.
And how now, gentlemen? Please.
Oh, you don't mean it, do you, Mr. Dillon?
Dillon? Marshal Dillon?
Yeah. Is something wrong?
No, no, no.
You've been expecting me. Is that right?
Yes. I never heard of you before.
All right, that's one line. Now, you tell me another one.
Have you ever heard of Lou Shippen?
Shippen? No. Oh, no, not around here. I never heard of him.
Sure. All right, let's see the rooms.
Well, I'm sorry, Marshal, I made a mistake.
I forgot there's a lot of people coming in tonight, and our rooms are all gone.
Our rooms are all taken.
A lot of people coming in from where?
Yeah, that's true, Marshal. I forgot all about it.
Well, you just go on forgetting about it, and I'll throw me a couple of keys before I lose my temper.
We're here, and we're staying.
I swear I'm beginning to feel like a proper dog, Mr. Dillon.
Like a what?
You know, one of them flavin' dogs that runs around biting people and making them sick.
No.
I've never been treated so bad before in my whole life.
It's Lou Shippen, Chester.
Hmm?
He's here, somewhere. My guess is he's told everybody in town that they've got to get out to move on.
Well, why would they care?
He's a killer, Chester. They know it, and they're afraid of it.
Hello.
Want something?
Yeah, I want to send a telegram.
You do? Where to?
Wichita.
Here, I, uh, wrote it out at the hotel.
Sheriff's Wichita.
Sheriff's?
Just send it, will you?
I have to read it, don't I?
Need full details.
I'll send it to you.
I have to read it, don't I? Need full description of Lou Shippen.
What's the matter?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
Send me and El Cater at once, Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
Look, mister...
It's Hinkle, Marshal. Mr. Hinkle.
All right, Mr. Hinkle. Now, you gonna send that or am I gonna have trouble with you, too?
Trouble?
Lou Shippen's got this town scared to death of him, and maybe it's about time I made some of your people scared of me.
I might as well start with you, Mr. Hinkle.
Now, Marshal, I don't want any trouble.
I'll send you a telegram. Soon as the line's free.
Come on, Chester.
Shouldn't we have waited to make sure he's gonna send it, Mr. Dillon?
He's not gonna send it, Chester, and there's no way I can make him send it.
Why not?
I don't know Morse code. He can send anything he wanted.
Mr. Dillon, this town scares me. Any man here might be Lou Shippen just waiting for an easy chance to shoot you in the back.
And I got an idea of how I can smoke him out, Chester.
I'm gonna have to tell a few wives to do it.
Now, let's get something to eat.
Now I know what's wrong with this town, Mr. Dillon.
Oh, what?
The way they eat. That restaurant puts out the mustiest smelling beef stew I ever smelled.
Oh, it's goat stew, Chester.
Goat?
I need a drink.
Here's the place to get it.
I got it.
Bartender?
Hello, Marshal Dillon.
That word gets around fast, doesn't it?
El Cato's a small town.
Small and scared.
I don't know what you mean.
You don't know Lou Shippen either, I suppose.
Lou Shippen? No? No, I don't know him.
Well, he might be one of those men sitting at that table behind me there.
You better do your drinking someplace else, Marshal.
There isn't any other place. Now, you fetch us a bottle of rye or I'm gonna come back there and do it myself. I aim to have a drink.
Well, all right.
Chester, one of those men gave him a go-ahead to sign it. Did you see who it was?
No, I was watching the bartender.
One of them blew Shippen.
Yeah, but there's six of them to fuse from.
Henry, you may have heard...
It's a telegraph operator.
Yeah. Mr. Hankel?
Yes?
Come over here.
What do you want me for?
I want to buy you a drink.
Bring a glass for Mr. Hankel, bartender.
All right.
I don't want a drink, Marshal.
That's what you came in here for, wasn't it?
I don't need a drink.
There's Shippen.
There's gonna be a fight.
Take care, Mr. Hankel.
You tell him it's all right to drink with me, Shippen.
Six of you men sitting there, and one of you is Lou Shippen.
And by ten o'clock tonight, I'm gonna know which one.
Isn't that right, Mr. Hankel?
No, I didn't send that telegram.
Now, that's the truth. I didn't send it.
You sent it. I stood there and watched it.
No, but I didn't.
I sent my telegram all right, and we're gonna have an answer by ten o'clock tonight.
You're lying. That isn't true.
I'd be wasting my time here if it wasn't true.
Now, you drink up.
Drink up, Mr. Hankel.
I'll be over about ten, Mr. Hankel.
I'm coming with you.
Now, what's the matter? You afraid of Shippen?
All right, come on.
But I'm not gonna wait around your office with you.
You gotta help me, Marshall. He'll kill me now.
All those lies you told.
All right, which one is he?
I can't tell you.
Why not?
He's a devil with a gun. He could kill you, and then where would I be?
All right, it doesn't matter. I'll find him later.
But I didn't send any telegram. There ain't gonna be an answer.
It doesn't matter, Mr. Hankel.
What are you gonna do?
For one thing, I'm gonna see you in your office tonight and let you stay there.
That's all you gotta worry about.
I'll handle the rest.
Mr. John?
Yeah, what?
Must be close to half past nine, ain't it?
Yeah, just about.
Can you see Mr. Hankel?
Yeah, he's in there, all right.
Pretty fidgety, too.
I don't blame him.
He knows Lou Shippen's gonna come after him.
But he don't know we're laying out here waiting.
No, he doesn't.
Maybe Shippen won't figure you was lying on the stairway.
No, he can't take the chance, sister. He's gotta come.
He sure are stuck. If he don't, we won't never find him, right?
What?
Look there.
He's headed for the telegraph office.
Yeah. You stay here.
Hold it, Shippen.
He was gonna shoot Mr. Hankel?
Yeah.
You think he killed him?
I don't know. Watch him.
So you're Lou Shippen, huh?
You outsmarted me, Mush.
You was lying about Hankel sending that telegram.
Yeah.
I had no way of knowing for sure.
Why did you kill Ben Williams, Shippen?
I never liked him.
You killed him because you didn't like him?
Good reason as any. He killed a man.
Then why did you stay here in Alcater? Why didn't you write on?
Here's my home, Mush.
Nobody's gonna push me out of it.
Except you. You pushed me all the way out, Mush.
I swear I never heard nothing like him, Mr. Dillon.
He must have been plumb crazy.
He's probably killed a lot of people he doesn't even know about, Chester.
Now for no better reason.
Then it's a good thing he's dead.
Yeah, I guess so.
I guess it is.
Gunsmoke.
Produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by John Mexton.
Pictured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Vic Perrin, James Westerfield, Harry Bartel, and Ben White.
Harley Bair is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Waltz inviting you to join us again next week for another story on Gunsmoke.
We'll be right back.
Thank you.