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.
Pretty cold morning, eh, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, I'm ready for spring, Chester. The tail end of winter always gets on my nerves.
Eh, it shouldn't have already belonged now. Worst of it's bound to be over. I sure hope so. Let's try Delmonico's here.
I'm always ready to eat.
Well, look, Kitty, we've got company.
Oh, morning, Matt. Chester. Hello, Kitty. Morning. Doug.
How about joining us? Yeah.
All right, thank you. I could eat a bear. Feet and all. In here, that's probably what you'll get.
Well, you're up early this morning, Matt. Most of the time you don't even start breathing before noon.
It's too cold to sleep, Doc. Jail stove always burns itself out around five o'clock from then on.
What is it, Matt?
Those three men sitting at that second table from the window there.
What about them?
They call themselves the Pueblo Gang, Kitty. Ran into them about four years ago out in Arizona territory.
I'd never heard of them coming this far east before, though.
Well.
You want some help?
No, sit tight, Chester. I'll be right back.
It's the Parkes brothers, isn't it? Ed and Rio and Chuck Evans.
Well, what about it?
Easy, Rio, easy. Dylan, our food's getting cold. You got something on your mind or not?
No, nothing important, Rio. I figure it's quite an honor to have the Pueblo Gang in town.
I just thought I'd drop over and tell you how I felt, that's all.
And how do you feel?
Well, that depends, Ed. You boys here on business? Our pleasure.
Does it make a difference, Mike?
Yeah, yeah, it makes a difference.
Now, I know your reputation west of here.
Half the stage holdups in the last five years from Colorado to the California border can be laid right to your door.
But as far as I know, you're clean in Dodge City. So far.
All right, you just keep it that way. But you make one move here and your time's up.
Right then, you're short. And I'll take you. All three of you.
You understand?
Sure, we understand. We'll think it over, Dylan, let you know what we decide.
Rio, you talk too much. See you around, boys.
Well, that's good.
You can put that gun away now, Chester.
Yes, sir. I was just going to be ready in case.
Matt, those men were in the long burns last night. They're bullies and they're mean.
Yeah, I know.
What are you going to do, Mr. Dylan? Want them out of town?
Not unless they give me some reason to, Chester.
Yes, sir.
The law doesn't say you can hang a man because he might steal a horse.
Let's forget it and eat, huh?
Train's about ready to pull out, it looks like.
Yeah, it's on time. It's three o'clock.
Be in St. Louis tomorrow night and Chicago the next day.
That is, if the engine holds up.
Oh, they don't break down as much anymore.
Oh, they're getting them worked out. Those are pretty dependable.
Yeah, I guess so.
Mr. Dylan, you ever get a hankering to take a trip back east?
See how things have maybe changed?
No, no, me, Chester. I've been on the frontier too long. I'd be lost back there.
I wouldn't know how to act.
Reckon a man could get his rope kinked over which fork to use or what to do.
Hello, Will. What are you doing out here? Watching your competition pull out?
Yeah, there'll be a stagecoach running for a long time to come yet.
Railroad's not bothering me any.
I'm glad to hear it.
Something else is, though.
Marshall, the stage from Buckeye is more than two hours overdue.
I'm getting a little worried.
Why, it's usually late, isn't it?
Not on this particular day of the month, Marshall.
Why the day in particular?
Goldust. This is the day those placer mines out there always ship their cleanup.
Now, Charlie's never missed getting it here at three o'clock on time for the eastbound train. Not once.
Who's riding shotgun?
Houston Jack.
He's a good man. I doubt if there's any cause to worry, Will.
That shipment runs 80 or 100 thousand dollars sometimes.
Marshall, it's never been late before.
Well, Charlie'll probably roll in any minute now.
Well, I hope you're right. See you later, Marshall.
Yeah, so long, Will.
What do you think, Mr. Dung?
Same as you do, Chester.
Let's ride out to meet that stage.
I still think I heard a horse win in, Mr. Dung.
Yeah, I thought I heard it too.
We must be an hour and a half from town the way the stage runs.
Sure is late, all right.
I hope late is all it is, Chester.
I'm sure it's late.
I hope late is all it is, Chester.
There. There it is again.
Yeah, it came from that draw over there,
somewhere around that sumac thicket. Come on.
Look, wheel tracks leading off the trail.
Yeah.
All right, Chester, there's the stage.
Don't see no sign of life.
Yeah, well, let's take a look.
Tracks all around.
Must have been three or four horses here.
Yeah, three the way I'm figuring it.
I'll lay any odds you want that this is some of them.
That's Houston Jack.
Yeah.
Shot in the back of the head.
Yeah, they didn't take any chances.
They must have written up behind the stage
and fired without any warning.
Yeah, that's probably what spooked the horses
and started the runaway.
Yeah, they shot the lead horse.
It's an old trick.
Charlie's still up there on the box, Mr. Dillon.
They got him, too.
Yeah.
Here's the strong box.
Been forced open.
It's empty.
They have to work it out west,
shoot the guard in the back,
let the team run until they're far enough off the trail,
then kill the lead horse to stop them.
You mean the Pueblo gang?
Sure. Who else, Chester?
Good thing they want any passengers.
They'd have got the same treatment.
Mr. Dillon, I think there was some passengers.
One, at least.
What?
There's a carpet bag of some kind inside the stage.
Let's have a look.
The only bodies are the guards and the dryers.
Maybe one of the gang was riding as a passenger.
Uh-oh.
What's the matter, Mr. Dillon?
There's stuff in the carpet bag.
Belongs to a woman.
But there's no woman here.
Yeah, I know.
Well, then they must have taken her.
Yeah.
All right, come on, Chester.
Let's try to pick up their trail.
It just ain't no use going any farther, Mr. Dillon.
It's too dark to tell what we're doing.
They were heading toward the river here.
Let's just take a look through these willows,
and if we don't find anything, then we can ride on back to town.
Yes, sir.
You know, Chester,
I still keep getting a faint whiff of wood smoke from somewhere.
Well, I sure do wish we could find fire getting colder than they...
Wait a minute.
Look over there.
I swear.
It's fire, all right.
Yeah.
What's left of one?
Are those still there?
I don't know.
There's nothing moving.
No signs of life.
They couldn't have left too long ago.
That fire would have burnt itself out.
Yeah.
I say we're too late, Mr. Dillon.
I think they've gone.
They're all the way, all right.
Yeah, half hour or an hour ago.
Made a fast camp, stayed long enough to warm up.
What was that?
I don't know.
Here, over here, Chester.
Help me.
Help me, please.
Chester, throw some brush on that fire, huh?
Yes, sir.
It's all right.
He'll be all right now, Miss.
Hey, I've robbed the stage.
Killed the driver and the guard.
Brought me with him.
Anything I can do, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah, I got some light over here, Chester.
Grab one of those branches of fire and bring it over here.
That's right, just a second.
Take it easy now, man.
He's going to be all right.
I pleaded with him.
I begged him to let me go.
Is helping Miss Dillon?
Yeah, hold it over here. Not closer.
Helen?
They wouldn't let me go.
Helen Ford.
When they left, they drew their guns and shot me.
Now you just take it easy, Helen.
They shot me.
Helen.
Do you know who they were?
Helen, can you hear me?
One named Rio.
One called Chuck.
They sat down on their horses.
They shot me.
And they left.
She's in awful bad shape, Mr. Dillon.
Shouldn't we get her in the dock?
I can laugh, but it didn't matter.
Not then.
Not...
I guess it's too late now.
Yeah, it's too late.
You knew her, Mr. Dillon?
Yeah.
A long time ago, Chester.
And things happen the way they do.
But later she married Bill Ford, went on out to Colorado.
It was a long time ago.
Didn't expect I'd ever see her again.
It's a bad thing.
Yeah.
But I'm gonna see them hang for it.
Over here, Chester. Let's check the livery stable.
Yes, sir.
They could have pulled out, of course, but out of lay-offs, they came straight back to town.
Well, it won't take long to find out.
Who's that? Who is it?
Matt Dillon. Is that you, Moss?
Sure is, Marshal.
Yes. Let me get a lantern lit.
There.
Just fixing to lock up the stable and go over and grab myself a bite to eat.
Got a fire going back in the office, Marshal.
Come on back and set a spell.
I'd like to, Moss, but we haven't got time. I'm looking for some horses.
Well, I got them, Marshal.
You want to buy, trade, or hire?
Yeah, just look, Moss. There are three fellows staying over at the Dodge house.
Been there about a week. Ed and Rio, Parks and Chuck Evans.
Are they keeping their horses here?
Sure are. Right back here.
And if I ever saw a ruination of good horse flesh, this is it.
Take a look there. That one belongs to the oldest Parks boy, Ed.
The one next to it is Rio's.
A-Band Road, Mr. Dillon. A-Band Road, a-plenty.
Yeah. What time do they come in, Moss?
Oh, about an hour ago, more or less.
Going since 4 noon and just came back a little while ago.
Look at that horse. Been rubbed down twice and he's still wet.
They didn't say where they'd been, did they?
Not them. They ain't the talking kind.
They just left their horses and went over to the hotel.
Wherever they was, though, they must have been riding like the devil himself was chasing them.
Maybe he was. Well, thanks, Moss.
Sure, Marshal. Good night.
Good night.
I guess there's not much doubt about it, Chester.
Oh, sure. It was him, all right.
I could have stopped it before it happened.
A man shouldn't be jailed on suspicion, I figure, just because he might do something wrong.
Everybody has to play it the way he sees it.
Yeah, only sometimes you see it a lot plainer afterwards.
What are we going to do, Mr. Dillon?
Go get him.
Where do we start looking?
Long branch.
Oh, and one thing, Chester, before we go in, leave the play on this one to me.
Just keep me covered, that's all.
Mr. Dillon, what was her name before she was married, Mr. Dillon?
Marlow, Helen Marlow.
All right, let's go.
Hello.
Real dull evening up until now.
How are you, Matt? Chester?
Home, Miss Kitty.
Kitty, I'm looking for the Pueblo gang. Have any of them been in here?
Yeah, one of them's here now, real parked. He's over there at the fair, I think.
Oh, oh yeah.
Well, what's wrong, Matt? What happened?
They held up the Buckeye stage, killed Charlie and Houston Jack and the passenger.
A woman, Helen Ford.
Oh, no.
I'll see you later.
Ah, there's 500 there. 500 says I got the card.
You going to cover me or not?
What's the matter? You all a bunch of pikers?
Maybe they haven't been out robbing stagecoaches, Rio.
What do you mean by that?
Maybe they don't make their living by killing women.
Dillon, a man can get in trouble shooting off his mouth that way.
You're already in trouble. All right, boys, Rio's checking in his hand.
The game's over. You can slide out the end of the table over there.
Rio, you're under arrest for murder.
What you talking about?
Murder. And you're going to hang for it. Now, where are the other two?
Go and find them if you want them.
I'm going to as soon as I finish with you. I said you're under arrest, Rio. Now get your hands up.
Supposing I don't?
You're not going to make any play. You don't have the guts.
Shooting a man in the back is more on your line. Or killing a woman. Now get your hands up.
That's better.
All right, Chester, get his gun.
All right, let's go. I've still got two men to find.
It's getting colder, Mr. Dillon.
As clear as a bell, though. Look at that moon.
Where do you reckon they are? We've been in there. They're a saloon on Front Street.
I don't know, Chester, but wherever they are, we'll find them.
Maybe the other two won't be took as easy as Rio was.
That's up to them. If they want to surrender, they can.
Never shot a man with his hands up.
Wait a minute, Chester.
That Ben's barber shop. That man he's shaving.
It's kind of hard to tell with all that lather.
That's Ed Parks. Come on.
There's just him and Ben in the shop. I wonder where Chuck Evans is.
Don't worry about him later.
Just help yourself to see, gentlemen. Be ready for it just soon. Over.
Evening, Marshal. Ben.
I didn't know you were in the habit of shaving outlaws.
Well, now, maybe you're mistaken, Marshal.
Now, just have a seat. No, I recognize him, all right.
It's Ed Parks.
Looks like you've got the advantage you made, Dillon.
Well, we can't have then.
Why pull out there off his face, Ben?
Yes, sir. Sure thing, Marshal. Just taking up with Parks.
There. There you are.
It's too bad you have to leave that shave half finished, Ben.
But they'll give you a free one just before they hang him.
What are you talking about, Dillon?
Now, gentlemen...
You're under arrest for murder, Ed. You got your hands up.
Your brother's waiting for you at the jail.
The rest are real?
What about your hands, Ed? Are you going to put them up?
No dirty tin hearts gonna make it.
Well, that was a pretty fast move for a barber, Ben.
Well, I knew he had a gun under the towel, Marshal.
Of course, I couldn't do anything about it, you know.
Well, thank you, Ben. And if you'll send a bill for your shaving mug to the stage company,
they'll probably take care of it.
Yes, sir, Marshal.
All right, Chester, spill some water on him.
I want him to walk to jail.
I'll bet Chuck Evans got clean away, Mr. Dillon.
The word must have gotten to him.
Well, he had to do it awful fast.
The clerk said he checked out of the hotel less than ten minutes ago.
Moss? That light must hurt his eyes. He never keeps a lantern burning.
Afraid of fire, maybe.
Moss, are you there?
Yeah? What's wrong? Who is it?
It's Matt Dillon. Strike a light, will you?
A man could fall over something on this table and break his neck.
All right, all right. Don't get excited.
I'm used to it myself. Just where everything is.
Don't see any point in wasting oil when I...
Now, what's on your mind, Marshal?
Chuck Evans. Is his horse still here?
Yes, indeed. Most certainly he is.
As a matter of fact, he's back there saddling up right now.
Good.
I told him it seemed like a fool time and I'd like to start out on a trip,
but he can't reason with anybody that treats horses the way that bunch does.
I guess not.
Moss?
Answer him.
Yeah, what is it? Give me a hand back here, will you?
I'll tell him yes.
All right, I'm coming.
What's this all about, Marshal?
Nothing to get yourself worked up about. Just stay right here and stay out of the way.
Come on, Chester.
Yes, sir.
He's got a lantern back there in the tall.
Yeah. You were right about one thing. He's trying to leave town.
Give me your hands with this, Moss. I can't seem to get...
You going somewhere, Chuck?
Now, look, Dillon, you got nothing on me. Now lay off.
The Parks boys are in jail.
I don't know anything about it, Dillon. You can't prove a thing and you can't shoot me.
I'm not even wearing a gun. Hanging there on the saddle.
Yeah, so I see.
That other boy did something. I don't know anything about it.
You're a liar, Chuck, and you're a coward.
You got no call to talk like that.
Shut up. You're under arrest.
Chester, get his gun off the saddle.
Look out, Mr. Dillon. He's got another gun.
I'll kill you, Dillon, so help me.
Well, I guess that does it, Chester. Let's go.
What was it, Marshal? What happened?
Evans is dead. The Parks boys are going to hang.
You're short three customers, Moss.
Who's going to pay the stable bill?
Well, you got their horses. Sell them.
I never thought of that. Well, it served them right.
Anybody to treat a horse the way they...
I guess it's over, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, it's over.
And it sits as well.
This country will be a lot better off with them dead than alive.
I guess so.
Even the moon looks brighter.
Yeah.
You're still thinking you should have jailed them on suspicion, ain't you?
I'd have half a dodge in jail if I started that.
Now, Chester, it's the kind of a chance a lawman has to take them.
Yes, sir.
Whether he likes it or not.
Yes, sir.
And I'm not liking it much right now.
In the morning, I'm going to talk to the preacher about holding a service for Helen.
That's all I can do for her now.
Gun Smoke, produced and directed in Hollywood by Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.
The story was specially written for Gun Smoke by Les Bratsfield, with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
Farley Bear as Chester, Howard McNear as Doc, and George Hawkins as Kitty.
This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents another story on Gun Smoke.
Ladies News follows, then Mitch Miller with tonight's guest stars on the seat.