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 a U.S. Marshal and the smell of gun smoke.
Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the story of the violists 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 chancey job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Matt, over here Matt.
Hello Kitty. Where did you get the crowd?
Some trail herd just came in, Circle B I think. Come on upstairs and have a drink with me. I've got to get a clear of here for a few minutes.
All right, let's go.
You ever get fed up with it, Matt? With what? Everything. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Thank you. What's bothering you, Kitty?
Nothing special. Just the whim-wams, I guess. I'll have a drink, huh? Okay.
You know, since yours have fed up, why don't you get out of it? Go back east. And get married and settle down? Yeah. Nice, quiet bank clerk, tub of wash, cook stove. And kids.
I'd like kids. Let's have a drink, huh?
Here you are. Thanks. I'm not getting out, and neither are you. So let's live while we still have... Oh, if that's some drunken herder, can I help me? Yes?
Well, let's sit downstairs. The marshal was up there. Come in. Matt.
What's on your mind? I thought maybe you could give me some information, marshal. I'm looking for some folks named Crail. Mr. and Miss John Crail. I understand they got a place around Dodge somewhere.
Yeah, Miss Crail does. John Crail died about three years ago. No.
Are you old friends of theirs? They're my folks. My ma and pa.
What? I'm Billy Crail. Maybe they've mentioned me.
Yeah, your mother's always said that you'd come home someday. She's never given up hoping.
How is she, marshal?
She's not too good. She's got a big ranch on her hands. Been trying to run it alone since your dad died.
You think she'll recognize you?
Well, she might not at first. It's been 17 years since I run away from home. But I'll convince her, all right.
Yeah, you probably will. Where you been all these years, Billy?
Just drifting. Here, there. You know how it goes.
Yeah.
How do I get out to the place? I'm anxious to see her.
That's about five miles east of town, followed downriver. You can't miss it.
Oh, thanks a lot, Mark.
I guess we'll see each other again since I'm going to settle down here.
Oh, sure. So long.
All right. Let's have it.
What do you mean, Kitty?
Something was wrong there. What was it?
Just this, Kitty. A few years ago, Miss Crail asked me to try to trace her son.
I did it. And I didn't have the heart to tell her.
Tell her what?
I got a report back from the war office. Billy Crail had joined the Union Army at the start of the war.
He was killed in action at the Battle of Shiloh.
Dog, you know, Mr. Dillon, I went through these cussed circles like I'm blue in the face.
It's cutthroats, cattle rustlers, horse thieves, bank robbers, everything you can think of.
They ain't nary one of them fits the description of that Crail fella.
Keep looking, Chester. It might be two or three years back, but I've seen that face of his somewhere.
And it has to be in one of these circulars.
I just don't understand how he figures to get away with it. You can't fool a man's own ma.
He might in this case. She hasn't seen him since he was a boy.
She's pretty old now. Her eyesight's failing her. Her memory's not too good.
Well, apart with that ranch, all the money she's got put by, he's sure a standard to come out of.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, Chester.
Find something, Mr. Dillon?
Uh-huh. Yeah, I thought so.
Well, I ain't sure it does look like him, are you?
It is him, Chester, three years ago. Height 6'1", weight 185, sandy complexion.
Sure fits him.
Wanted in Lubbock for questioning and connection with holdup of the Lone Star Bank.
Previous arrests, Pecos Crossin, for cattle theft, acquitted for lack of evidence.
Convicted San Antonio eight years ago, armed robbery, served four years, paroled.
Known associates Nate Barker, a Paca City kid.
Reward $1,000.
Cults himself Johnny Redd.
Well, Chester?
Yes, sir?
Let's go get him.
Music
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Consoles commence at $129.95.
Blast that bird.
Music
I don't see no words around.
Good. I was hoping I could talk to Miss Creel first.
I don't know.
Who is it?
That's Marshall Dillon, ma'am.
Well, if this ain't a surprise now.
Come on in, set a spell, Marshall.
Thank you, Miss Creel.
Good to see you, Marshall.
And you too, Mr. Proudfoot, ain't you?
I'm glad to see you, Miss.
I'm glad to see you, too.
Good to see you, Marshall. And you too, Mr. Proudfoot, ain't it?
Yes, ma'am.
I wasn't too sure. My eyes ain't quite...
Come on in, gentlemen.
Land Sakes, I do like company.
Seems like nobody ever comes out this way no more.
Now set yourselves down there now.
Thank you.
Rest your feet. I'll get you a cup of coffee.
No, don't bother, Miss Creel. We don't have much time.
Time? Won't take no time.
Got it already made. Just fixing to have some myself.
Landline, if the body can't do a little something for a company,
she ain't fit to have none.
Ha.
As, ma'am, I guess it does get pretty lonesome out here.
Well, it did.
I got a big surprise to tell you about, Marshall.
You mean your son?
Shucks.
The way gossip flies around Dodge City,
the body don't have a chance to get ahead of it.
He's come home, just like I always knew he would.
Has, uh, has he changed much, Miss Creel?
Oh, good heaven, Jess.
He was just a boy when he went away.
Now he's a grown-up man. Fine, strong.
But there's no doubt in your mind that this really is Billy.
Why, that's downright silly, Marshall.
You can't fool a mother.
She can always tell her own.
Why, the second Billy walked up on that porch and said,
how are you, ma?
I knew him just like that.
I see.
You know, I've been sort of going downhill since John passed on.
Work was hard and seemed like I'd kind of lost my reason for living.
I don't think I'd have lasted, Marshall.
Well, now I...
But it's different now.
Well, I'm happier than I've been in years.
You sure seem to be.
My son has come home.
Could a mother ask for more?
No, ma'am, I guess not.
I suppose that's all that matters.
That's all?
Well...
Oh, I'm sorry, Marshall.
Here I've been talking a leg off of you
and haven't even thought to ask what brings you out this way.
Oh, nothing, Miss Creel.
As a matter of fact, we just rode out for a friendly little visit.
Well, I'm mighty glad you did, Marshall.
You'd just stop by any time.
You too, Mr. Proudfoot.
Thank you, ma'am.
Goodbye, Miss Creel.
Goodbye.
You couldn't have done nothing else, Mr. Young.
Boy, it'd have broke her heart if you'd have told her.
I guess so.
But she's gonna find out anyway sooner or later
when he steals her blind and then runs out on her.
And that's a bad deal, Chester, any way you look at it.
Marshall...
What?
Kinda sets you a problem now, don't it?
Well, I may set a few problems for you
before I'm done with you, Johnny.
And break an old lady's heart?
I don't think so, Marshall.
And the name is Billy, by the way. Billy Creel.
Not in Lubbock.
Lubbock? Where's that?
Don't worry, Johnny. When I send you back,
there'll be somebody along to show you the way.
I don't know why you keep on calling me Johnny.
Because that's your name, Johnny Red.
Bank robber, gunman, cattle thief.
You fill out the list.
Maybe you could get my mother to fill it out.
Miss Creel's an old woman.
She doesn't know that her son was killed at the Battle of Shiloh.
That report was a mistake, Marshall.
But I figured it was best to let it stand.
I deserted two weeks before Shiloh.
Yeah, sure you did.
I don't know where you got this crazy idea
I'm somebody named Johnny Red.
A man's own mother ought to know.
And before you go off half-cocked,
I'd say it might be a good idea to check with the sheriff in Lubbock.
Meanwhile, I figure it's like your old friend there was saying.
You wouldn't want to break an old woman's heart, now would you?
Afternoon, Mac.
Come on in, Doc.
How are you?
Oh, terrible, terrible, Matt.
Lost another patient this afternoon.
Oh, somebody die?
No, no, no, no. You figure on that happening.
But you don't count on them getting well on you.
And they don't, very often.
Well, who was it that pulled this mean trick on you?
Old Lady Creel.
Oh?
A month ago, I wouldn't have figured it'd live through the winter.
Even thought she might leave me something in her will, but...
Doc, I thought she was jumping around out there this morning as chipper as young Philly.
Threw away all her medicine, told me not to even bother coming out anymore.
She's a young mother now.
It's no joke, Matt. That's exactly what it is.
That boy of hers has been home three weeks now, and it's made a new woman out of her.
Yeah.
Only he's not really her boy, Doc.
He's not really? Well, what do you mean?
He's an ex-convict from Texas. I had a reward circular on him from Lubbock.
Oh, now wait a minute, Matt. Now, he might be able to fool other people, but his own mother.
I know, I know, Doc. A mother can always tell her own.
And that's right.
Well, maybe this is the exception that proves the rule.
Well, if you really think that, and if he's wanted, well then why don't you go out there and arrest him?
Because I got no charge against him.
Now, wired Lubbock, it seems that he was wanted, but he's not anymore.
They'd already picked him up, and then they turned him loose for lack of evidence.
No, no, I just can't believe that, Matt.
If he's not Billy Crale, then what's he up to? Huh?
You know how much that ranch is worth, Doc, that Miss Crale keeps ever since she's got out there at the place because she doesn't trust banks.
Now, what more reason would a man like that need?
You better come quick, Mr. Dillon.
What's wrong, Chester?
Jake just brought Zimmer on stage in. He got held up right outside of town. They shot the guard.
Let me get through here, please.
Please, will you stand aside?
Please, let Doc get in here, please.
Well, Marshal, they finally got to me.
How'd it happen, Jake?
Boldest thing I ever seen.
About three miles out of town, they throwed some cottonwood limbs across the trail so they'd have to pull up, and that's when they jumped me.
How many of them?
Just two. Couple I never seen before. Brassier sin, didn't even bother to wear masks.
And they hauled off and shot Barney there without even giving them a chance.
What did they get?
The cash box. I don't know how much was in it.
Matt?
Yeah, Doc?
There's nothing I can do for him, Matt. Two bullets right under the ribs. I doubt if he even knew what hit him.
Well, take charge of it, won't you, Doc?
Matt? Matt? Somebody said Barney got shot.
Yeah, he's dead, Kitty.
Oh.
Jake, would you recognize either of those men?
I sure would. One of them was a tall, skinny fellow. The other one was kind of a kid. Tall one called him Ponca.
Ponca?
Yeah. They were strangers, though. They ain't from around here.
That sounds like a couple of fellows I saw on the long branch today, talking to Billy Crale.
Oh?
Yeah, Billy finally left and they stayed another hour or so, talking real serious together.
Those two gunmen, Jake, where did they head for when they left you?
Well, it was a funny thing. I figured they'd make a run south. But instead, they rode east, downriver. Now, that trail don't lead nowhere.
That's right. Nowhere, except to the Crale Ranch.
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["The Last Post," theme music plays.]
Not a sign of the light, Mr. Doane. Looks real quiet.
Yeah. Too quiet, maybe.
Ain't no lights, neither.
Well, let's walk from here.
All right.
All right, now watch yourself, Justin.
Yes, sir, I will.
Now when I jerk this screen up and I'll go in fast.
I'll keep you covered, Mr. Doane.
All right, Chester, come on in.
See if you can find a lamp.
Give us one over here on the table the other day.
There it is.
All right, light it and then bring it over here.
Here you are.
Oh, oh my.
Hold the lamp down, Chester.
Mr. Doane?
Yeah, she's dead.
She's been beat bad, too.
Yeah.
Well, it's not questioning that he's wanted for now.
It's murder.
Rach, what?
What?
Oh, it's you, Marshal.
What were you expecting, Johnny, Nate Barker, and the Ponca City kid?
That's right.
They're down there digging by the river bank.
But they'll be back.
They won't find what they're looking for.
Well, who shot you?
I don't know which one of them it was.
It don't matter, though.
I'll last till they get back.
But not long enough for a murder charge, Marshal.
Now don't try for your gun, Marshal.
I'm not that much of a fool not with yours on my back.
I wouldn't want to shoot you.
I got nothing personal against you.
But your way of handling this ain't the way I aim to.
Put out that lamp.
Yeah.
They're coming back.
They're out there now.
You stay where you are and stay quiet.
I got to get to a window.
All right, Chester, let's ease out the back way.
Come on.
Yes, sir.
Over here.
Stay close to the house.
They'll walk toward the porch.
We'll have a chance to take them from the side.
Yes, sir.
I'll bet you won't, but if she's still alive,
she sure won't lie about it this time.
A hot brandon iron, Michael.
All right, hold it.
You're covered.
Over there at the quarter pocket.
Yeah, I'll get him.
Now drop that gun, Barker.
Drop it.
All right.
All right, I did.
I give up.
Don't shoot.
Keep your hands up.
That's right, Nate.
Keep them up high.
Johnny, no.
Say hello to Ponco for me.
Johnny, I had my hands up.
Now you drop your gun, Johnny.
Sure, Marshal.
I'm through with it now.
He had his hands in the air.
You had no call to shoot him.
You'd have took him alive.
He might have got out of it.
This way, it works out better.
More sure.
Johnny.
Yeah, Marshal.
I guess you know how you stand.
You don't have a chance.
It don't matter.
I lasted till it was finished.
What started it?
An argument over the split?
There was no split.
I wasn't in with him.
They followed me here from Texas.
That's right, Marshal.
I'm Johnny Redd.
I never doubted it.
They thought I was double-crossing them.
They laid for me out here at the ranch.
They thought they'd killed me.
And her.
They beat her, Marshal.
Trying to find out where she kept her money.
But she wouldn't tell.
She lied to him.
Said it was buried down by the river bank.
Where is it buried?
No place.
I took it into the bank for a last week.
You what?
I figured it wasn't safe for her to keep it here.
So you still think her mother can't tell?
Sure, Marshal.
I've been called Johnny Redd for years now.
But my real name is Billy Crale.
I wasn't lying about that.
She was, my mother.
She...
Oh, my.
Well, that's that.
He was Billy Crale, after all.
Yeah.
If he'd only just stayed away.
Hadn't come back home, she'd still be alive.
It was her own son.
You might say that caused her death.
Doc says she wouldn't have lived through the winter anyway.
And Billy made her happy for one month, at least.
I don't know, Chester.
I don't know.
Schools are only buildings, but they're much more to parents whose children attend them.
When your children and mine are in those buildings, they take on personal importance.
They influence the futures of our young people.
Schools are only buildings, but to ignore them is to ignore those precious futures.
We do the very minimum for our young when we take part in community efforts to build better schools.
If we do less, we flagrantly shortchange our own.
If your community is like many, the chances are there's a real and growing need for better schools,
better school rooms, higher teaching standards, new textbooks, and more room.
This miracle won't come about without help from all of us.
If you want to give that help but don't know how, write to Better Schools,
9 East 40th Street, New York 16, New York.
That's Better Schools, 9 East 40th Street, New York 16, New York.
Gun Smoke, produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman McDonald,
stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Les Crotchfield,
with editorial supervision by John Messon.
Featured in the cast were Sam Edwards, Helen Cleed, Nick Tarrin, and Luke Ruegland.
Harley Bair as Chester, Howard McNeer as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week,
when CBS Radio presents another story on Gun Smoke.