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 chancy job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
I swear to goodness, Mr. Dillon, this trip down from Hay City seems to get longer every time.
Yeah, it's sure longer when it's hot, Chester.
That's just what I was thinking.
Hey, Mr. Dillon?
Hey, yo.
You suppose the ground sort of stretches out like when the sun's burning down real strong?
That's an interesting idea, Chester, but no, I don't suppose.
Hey, Chester.
Hmm?
Look over there.
Yeah, smoke. Something on fire out there.
Yeah. Come on, let's go see what it is.
Wagon, Mr. Dillon, but there sure ain't much left of it.
That's pretty far gone already. Get down, Chester.
I don't know if anybody could be...
Maybe he's down on the other side of the wagon.
You just keep your head low, Chester.
Stay down, Chester.
Just don't seem right.
Nobody's shooting at us.
Nobody's shooting? Listen there.
Those cartridges are gone off by themselves, Chester.
What?
They're in the wagon. The fire made them explode.
Well, I guess maybe that...
I guess that could happen, all right.
Yeah.
It sounds like that was the last one.
Well, I'd just soon be sure, Mr. Dillon.
Now, I don't mind being shot at by somebody I can see, but...
Come on, Chester. Have a look around.
Well, looky here, Mr. Dillon.
What?
What? One of them new carbines.
Don't seem like it's ever been fired.
Here, let me see it.
All right.
Yeah.
That's a new Army model, Chester.
Don't look like no Army wagon over there, though.
It doesn't.
Now, let's take a closer look.
It sure is a mess, ain't it?
Stuff thrown all around it.
The gritches don't even smell, though.
You know what that is, Chester? That's whiskey.
Must have exploded. Soaked everything.
That sure is a terrible smell.
Must have been terrible whiskey.
It seems to me there ought to be somebody around here who wouldn't get the...
Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, I see it. Come on.
He was half-head.
Just his boots sticking out.
He's dead, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
Shot in the back.
Maybe one of them exploding shells guy.
No, Chester.
It looks like somebody shot him before that.
Looks like he was trying to get away, don't it?
Well, I hope the woman made it.
What woman?
The woman who belongs to the things that are strewn around here.
Oh, yes, sir.
You reckon they shot her, too?
Maybe if she was lucky, they did.
Now, let's get the horses and have a look around.
Ain't likely we'd find her now, is it, Mr. Dillon?
It don't seem to me that you could have wandered this far.
No, I guess not.
But we'll have a look along the creek before we turn back.
Ladies, I know it ain't been much good at walking very far.
I'm telling you that. Of course I ain't.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Listen, Chester.
What?
Be quiet.
Come on.
I'll get you out of the bank here.
She's there, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah.
My boy.
Ma'am.
My boy.
Ma'am, we've come to help you.
My boy.
Oh, yeah.
We know that, ma'am.
Are you hurt?
To die.
You're not going to die, ma'am.
You sure ain't making no sense.
Here, help me turn her over, Chester.
Yeah, there's a gunshot.
That's the back of her head.
Is she hurt bad?
I can't tell, Chester.
We better get her to Doc.
Look, I'll tell you what.
You go on in the Dodge and find a wagon,
and I'll stay here until you get back, huh?
Well, but what about the other, the man back there at the fire?
Well, nothing's going to help him now.
Go on, hurry, will you?
Hello, man.
Come on in.
No, thanks, Doc.
And how is she?
Well, I don't know, man.
No, what do you mean?
I've checked her over, but I'm not sure I can tell you if she'll make it or not.
Yeah.
That wound must have been worse than it looked.
It's not the wound so much.
Oh, of course, that's part of it, but it's more her mental state.
I can't get to her.
I can't even get a name out of her.
Uh-huh.
When do you think she might be able to talk, Doc?
I don't know.
These things can go either way.
She could suddenly snap out of it, or she could suddenly sink deeper.
I just don't know.
Well, you let me know if there's any change, will you, Doc?
Sure, I will, man.
Because without her help, I'm never going to know what happened out there.
It sure is hard to understand women, ain't it, Mr. Dillon?
What got you to thinking about that, Chester?
Well, that woman we picked up near that fire.
What about her?
Well, she just kept going on about her boy all the time.
And I tell you, that fellow we buried wasn't no boy.
He was 50th year to death, I'll bet you.
Now, Chester, some women just go on thinking like that.
Hey, wait a minute.
Oh, now, Mr. Dillon, ain't we going in here for a beer?
I'm as dry as can be.
You see that horse tied there?
Sure I do.
Look at the gun in the boot.
Let me declare, Mr. Dillon, it's carbine.
A brand new army carbine, just like the one we found out at that fire.
Yeah.
You know whose horse it is?
Well, I'm sure I don't.
Look here, there's initials carved here in the saddle letter.
I-R, or either L-R.
No, it's J-R.
J-R.
All right, Chester, let's go in.
Oh, hello, Matt.
Chester.
Hello, Kitty.
Kitty.
Mr. Dillon, I believe I'll just go on over to the bar.
All right, sure.
Now, of course, if you need me.
I'll holler.
Thank you.
Well, Matt, your trip took a little longer than you planned, didn't it?
Yeah, we ran into a little trouble on the prairie a few miles from town.
Bad trouble?
It was bad enough.
Kitty.
Yeah?
Anybody around here today with the initials J-R?
J-R?
Yeah.
You're not looking for Johnny Ringo, are you?
No, I hope not.
I'll have to try again.
J-R.
Yeah.
Oh, well, sure.
Joe Ramsey came in.
I don't know what he needed with a saloon.
No?
What do you mean?
He already smelled like the inside of a whiskey barrel.
He didn't?
No.
Is he still here?
Oh, no.
Yeah, yeah, way back there.
Table near the end of the bar.
You see?
You know which one he is?
I can tell.
See you later, Kitty.
All right.
Ramsey.
Yeah?
Hello, Marshall.
I, uh, I want to talk to you.
Sure.
Marshall, sit right now.
No, I think you better stand up.
Oh, I see.
Now, Marshall, you got no call to talk rough to me.
Come on.
Stand up.
I ain't done nothing.
Where did you get that Army carbine?
What carbine are you talking about?
You know what carbine I'm talking about, Ramsey.
The one outside on your saddle.
Now, where did you get it?
Well, Marshall, there ain't nothing wrong about that.
Where did you get it?
I found it.
Where did you find it?
Well, it was just laying there.
I picked it up, and that's all.
Picked it up where?
Well, just out of town away.
I don't recollect exactly.
Out Elder Creekway, maybe.
Well, yeah, Marshall, I guess it could have been out near there, some place.
You know it was, Ramsey.
Now, do you want to tell me about it?
Nothing to tell.
I just found the...
How about the burning wagon?
Marshall, I didn't have nothing to do with that.
You just let it burn, didn't you?
Well, there was no way I could stop it.
How did you get the gun?
Marshall, it was just laying there.
I come across it some ways from the wagon.
I picked it up, but there's nothing wrong with it.
How about the man lying there in the bushes?
I didn't have nothing to do with him.
You didn't try to help him.
He was dead, Marshall.
There's nothing I could do about it.
I think you shot him, Ramsey, and then I think you rummaged through the rest of the stuff in the wagon,
drank all the whiskey you could hold, and you poured the rest out and set fire to a whole mess.
No, Marshall, I swear to you...
Find out.
Are you coming with me?
No, I...
Shuster!
Mr. and Mrs. Jones?
I'm taking Ramsey to jail.
You take care of his horse and bring along that carby, will you?
Yes, sir.
All right, come on, Ramsey.
All right, let's go for a walk.
Well, what is it, Doc?
What's she doing here?
She came out of it and insisted on seeing you.
Bring her into the office.
I've got to lock this man up.
Sure.
Come along, man.
Marshall, I want to talk to the Marshall.
Why, you, you just come with us, ma'am, right in here.
You ain't taking me in!
Oh, stop, Ramsey!
Stop or I'll shoot!
Oh, shoot a man down.
You shouldn't have run.
Doc?
Yes?
Does he hurt bad?
I don't see it.
No, I don't think so.
You just wind him in the arm.
All right, come on, Ramsey, get up.
Doc can take care of you after you're in jail.
I must talk to the Marshall.
Sure, ma'am, I'll be with you in just a minute.
I've got to lock this man up.
You should be glad we caught him.
Not glad.
He was out there when your wagon was burning.
Looks like he's the one who did it.
Oh, no, Marshall.
There, there, Marshall, you see, I told you.
Shut up, Ramsey.
He didn't do it, Marshall.
But did you see who did?
Didn't have to see.
I did it.
I did it myself.
You did?
What?
For heaven's sake.
Yes, Marshall.
I killed him.
I burned the wagon.
I tried to kill myself too, but I didn't hold the gun right.
Doc, does she know what she's saying?
I'm afraid she does, ma'am.
I know what I'm saying.
And I know why I did it.
Go on.
He was selling things, Luther was.
Selling them to the Indians.
A little whiskey, a few bullets, some guns.
He told me he'd packed my mother's china in that box.
And it was guns.
Guns for the Indians.
And you killed him for it?
Guns for the Indians.
Same Indians who killed my boy.
My straight young boy fighting with the troopers at Laramie.
I see.
I killed him.
And I burned everything.
And I tried to kill myself too.
Why couldn't I do that, Marshall?
Why couldn't I put a finish to it?
Well, I'm not the one to answer that, ma'am.
Doc, take her inside, will you?
I'll be right there.
Sure, ma'am.
No finish.
No end to it.
You come along.
All right, Ramsey.
You can go on up to Doc's and wait there, I guess.
Next time maybe you won't be so quick to shoot an innocent man.
Next time you won't run maybe like a guilty one.
I took care of the horse, Mr. Jones.
Here's the car being you want me to lock this fellow up.
No, Chester, he didn't do it.
The woman did.
The woman, Nick, killed her husband, set all that fire?
Yeah, she did it all.
Well, what are we going to do with her?
I mean, what will the judge do?
I don't know, Chester.
And I do know one thing.
What's that?
Whatever happens to her now, it won't matter to her at all.
Gun smoke.
Produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Marion Clark, with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
Join us again next week for another story on Gunsmoke.