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 chancey job, and it makes a man watchful and a little lonely.
Barkeep!
What did you have?
I was told I'd find the Marshal in this place.
Well, I don't rightly see him here now.
At his office they said he'd be here.
Well, he ain't.
A man should be able to find the Marshal.
Now listen, mister, it ain't up to me. Miss Kitty?
Yes, sir.
This man's uncommon anxious to see the Marshal. You know where he is?
Well, no, Sam, I don't. Have you tried his office, mister?
Of course I've tried his office. They told me he was headed here.
Well, he may be, but I haven't seen him until now. Hey, Matt.
Ah, hello Kitty. I'm the Marshal.
Matt, this man's waiting to see you.
Ah, is that so?
Are you the Marshal?
Yeah, I'm the Marshal, Matt Dillon.
My name is Foss Marshal Jasper Foss.
Mr. Foss, what can I do for you?
I figured you ought to know about the telegraph line.
What telegraph line?
Well, the one just strung out west of town.
What about it?
Somebody's cut it, that's what about it.
How do you know?
I was riding past, that's all I know. About a mile or a mile and a half out.
Did you see anybody?
Oh, nobody I could recognize. I seen a horse, high-tailing in the distance. I couldn't tell no more than that.
When was this?
Oh, an hour ago maybe. I figured you'd want to take a look around.
Yeah, thanks Mr. Foss. I guess I'd better.
Music
Mr. Dillon, you reckon that fellow knows what he was talking about?
Well, I don't know yet, Chester.
I swear we rode most a mile already. There ain't been no break.
I guess we can make it a little farther.
Sure, Harrell, we can make it. We can make it, all right.
But I'm just wondering if it's worth all this cracking around in the hot sun.
You know, a man's brain can get addled by too much, Harrell.
Yeah. Sometimes it doesn't take too much sun.
How's that?
Never mind, Chester.
Look up there, man.
Well, I do declare.
Looks like them Army fellows are out riding themselves.
So working on the line. All right, come on.
Morning. Can you tell me where the lieutenant is?
Oh, I see him.
Lieutenant!
There!
You having trouble with the line?
Well, it's been cut.
Mr. Dillon?
Yeah.
The county.
Yeah, I see him. You holding that man for it, Lieutenant?
He's under guard.
Yeah, I see he is. You mind if I talk to him?
Well, he's my prisoner.
I'm the U.S. Marshal from Dodge.
Oh, well, in that case, that boat wouldn't do any harm.
I guess not.
All right, Chester. You hold my horse.
Yes, sir.
Put your back to it, man.
Get on it.
Hello, Smallhawk.
Smallhawk is dishonored before his old friend.
Sorry to see you like this.
The Marshal will have them set Smallhawk free?
I don't know if I can do that.
Did you cut the wire?
It was cut by my knife.
And they have a right to hold you.
They have no right to send a wire across the land.
Oh, why not? Wire doesn't hurt you.
It is bad magic.
It carries bad sounds across the land of my people.
It can be good magic, too, Smallhawk.
A white man makes no good magic for my people.
I wouldn't be too sure.
White soldiers will shoot Smallhawk?
I don't think you need worry about that.
Yeah. Smallhawk not afraid.
No, I know that.
But just the same, I think I'll ride along when they take you to the fort.
Now this is an unusual request, Marshal Dillon.
Yes, Colonel, I know it is.
But I think it might do some good in our dealings with the Indians.
I don't know.
The Army hasn't found it wise to be too lenient.
You're not telling me that the Army believes the only good Indian is a dead Indian.
No, no, Marshal, certainly not.
But I know this man, Colonel. Smallhawk.
He's a good man.
But I know this man, Colonel. Smallhawk is not a troublemaker.
He cut the wire.
He cut it out of fear.
It's been cut several times.
Smallhawk says he cut it only once, and I believe him.
Well, what do you want me to do?
I'd like you to release Smallhawk to me, Colonel Hooper.
How can I be sure he won't go right out and cut the wire again?
Because I'll be responsible for him.
You have a lot of confidence in this Indian, Marshal.
Yeah. Well, what are you basing it on?
Taking away his fear.
How do you propose to do that?
I think I can show him that the wire isn't bad magic.
Then he'll leave it alone.
All right, Marshal Dillon. I'll release him to you.
Thank you.
But remember this. We're all in for serious trouble if he touches that wire again.
Yeah. So is Smallhawk.
It's right down at the end of the block, Smallhawk.
The Marshal is Smallhawk's friend.
Well, sure I am.
If it were not so, I would not walk with him.
I know that.
Smallhawk would no go to House of White Man's magic.
I want to show you it can be good magic, Smallhawk.
Now here we go. Let's go in.
Hank?
Howdy, Marshal.
Hank, you got a man out at the Western Station to take messages off a new line?
Yeah, Marshal. Here we have.
Any way of getting a message to the Indian encampment on the river?
Well, our man out there says there's usually a couple of brave standing around watching him.
He could tell it to them, I guess. Why?
Because my friend wants to send a telegram.
Smallhawk does not trust bad magic.
You trust me, don't you?
Yeah.
All right, then listen to me.
Now they took your horse at the fort, didn't they?
Soldiers took horse?
Yeah.
So you got a long walk home.
Smallhawk will walk with his head high.
Yeah, but it would be even higher if you were on horseback.
Now what if the wire carried word to your son to bring you a horse?
There is that magic in the wire?
Yeah, there's that magic.
Smallhawk will see if horse comes.
Oh, that's fair enough. Now you tell me your son's name.
Brown Wing.
All right, Hank, you tell your man to get a message to Brown Wing to bring a horse to the road fork just outside Dodge.
Tell him his father will be waiting.
All right, Marshal, there's just one thing.
Yeah, what's that?
Who's going to pay for it, you or the Indians?
The government ought to pay for it.
Now, Marshal, that kind of money ain't easy to collect.
I know that better than you.
All right, I'll pay for it, Hank.
Come on, Smallhawk, we better get you started out to meet your horse.
Thanks for the beer, man.
That's all right, Kitty. I think you're worth buying a beer for once in a while.
I'm surprised you have to order it like us ordinary people.
Oh, just what does that mean?
Why, from what Chester's been telling me, you've been working magic tricks with a telegraph line.
Oh, Chester thinks that's pretty funny, doesn't he?
No, it's not exactly funny, Matt. He was really pretty impressed.
Yeah. Well, I hope it worked, that's all.
I'm surprised you could talk that starchy Colonel into letting Smallhawk go.
Oh, you know the Colonel?
Oh, I met him once. I never figured him to give anybody any kind of chance, much less an Indian.
Maybe he wants to be able to say, I told you so.
He'd enjoy that. I know that much.
Oh, hello, Marshal.
How are you, Fultz?
Found I was right about that wire, didn't you?
Yeah, you were right. I've been wanting to talk to you about that.
I'll see you later.
No, there's no need for you to leave, kidding.
I want to see Sam.
All right.
Well, what's on your mind today, Mr. Fultz?
Well, I just wanted to tell you, you ought to be keeping an eye on things.
Oh, what happens to be my job?
Well, sometimes doing a good job ain't enough, Marshal.
Sometimes a man can get fooled, even so.
Is that so?
Sure. Now, I done a good job. All my life I done a good job, but it weren't enough.
You've got to remember that now. It weren't enough.
What happened to you?
Well, they let me go, Marshal Dillon. Said I wasn't good enough no more.
Said I was too old.
Put in some young greenhorn that won't even know as much as I've already forgot.
Uh-huh.
They just turned me out overnight like I was an old, broke-down horse.
I'm sorry about that, Mr. Fultz.
Well, they had no right to do a thing like that.
I'm a better man than that young fellow, Marshal Dillon.
And I'm going to show him about it, too.
Yeah, you do that, Mr. Fultz.
Well, I got to be getting back to the office.
Oh, yeah, you go tend to your job, Marshal, and watch out for that Indian.
Oh, you leave that to me, huh? Don't you worry about it?
Oh, oh, I ain't worrying about him, Marshal Dillon. No, not at all.
A seven or a three, Matt. You got to come up with a seven or a three.
Yeah, yeah. Well, let me see here, man. Um, good. You have to go to the boneyard.
Yeah.
Go ahead.
All right, I'm drawn, Doc.
Go right ahead. Take another.
Oh, I must say, Matthew, you don't play dominoes any better than you play checkers.
You're talking pretty big for a man who just won his first game this week.
Well, it's not whether I win or not, Matt. It's just that I make the moves better.
I hope you don't figure like that about your patients.
About my patients?
Well, it doesn't matter whether you cure them or not. So you make a few moves.
Oh, don't you worry about my patients. I'll take care of them.
I'll take care of them. Oh, how's your Indian getting along?
Oh, fine, I guess. I think I finally got it through his head that the telegraph wire wasn't strung up there just to work some black magic.
You were lucky.
Yeah, Doc, I guess I was. But Smallhawk is mighty pleased.
Oh, you've seen him?
No, but he had the agent out at the other end send me a message back.
Oh, is that so? What did he say?
Just one word, good.
Well, the telegraph company isn't going to make much money out of him at that rate.
Yeah, maybe not, but it'll save them money having him leave their lines alone.
Mr. Dillon?
Oh, hold on.
Yes, yes, sir.
What's the trouble?
Mr. Dillon, you know that fellow Ted Creel?
Yeah, I know him. What's he done?
Well, he ain't done nothing, Mr. Dillon. He just come in from out west of town.
I want no law against that.
Well, of course not, Mr. Dillon, but he told me he seen a troop of calvary from the fort.
Well, what about it?
They had an Indian with them, all tied up like he was a prisoner.
Oh, did Creel know who he was?
He thought he was that fellow smallhawk, Mr. Dillon.
Yeah, I was afraid he might.
All right, Chester, get the horses.
Yes, sir.
Sounds like your magic might not have worked after all, man.
Yeah, Doc, it does.
Now, this is a very regrettable, Marshal.
Yeah.
My superiors will want a full explanation.
I'd like one, too.
Well, you might.
You gave me a word you'd be responsible for that Indian.
My word still goes, Colonel.
A little late now.
You're not sure he cut your wire this time.
My men picked him up right near the break.
I'd still like to know what he has to say.
He's right in here.
Guard?
Yes, sir.
The Marshal has permission to see the prisoner.
Yes, sir.
I'll be in my office when you're finished.
Thank you, Colonel.
Well, smallhawk?
It is, as I said, bad magic.
Did you cut the wire?
The Marshal will believe.
We've never doubted each other, smallhawk.
The Marshal speaks true.
All right.
Now, how about the wire?
Smallhawk did not cut it.
Did any of your tribesmen cut it?
The braves of my tribe believe the good magic of the wire, as the Marshal taught us.
And you're telling me that no Indian had anything to do with this latest break?
That is what smallhawk says.
You believe?
Yes, I believe.
The Marshal will release me?
I can't do it this time, smallhawk.
At least not yet.
But I'll tell you something.
If there's any way of tracking down the man who did cut that wire, you'll be out of here soon.
I'll tell you something, Mr. Jones.
Yeah?
What's that, Chester?
That folks back in Dodge was wondering whether it was worth it stringing that line way out west here when it first went up, and I'm about to agree with it.
I don't know.
Of course, there's been a lot of trouble, but...
They sure have.
Now, with all this cutting going on, looks like we've got Indian trouble all over again.
Oh, maybe not.
Right over there looks like the place.
I think there sure has been a lot of horses around here.
I hope they haven't trampled all the tracks.
Looks like they tried.
Uh-huh.
You finding anything, Mr. Dawn?
I can't be sure yet.
This might be a lead.
Yeah, looks like this might be something, Chester.
I mean, must have choos from all them tracks.
Yeah, but these seem to lead out by themselves, though.
Let's follow them for a while, huh?
Them tracks don't look like they were made by no Indian pony, Mr. Dillon.
No, Chester, they don't.
All right, come on.
Mr. Dillon?
Uh-huh.
They just going across the country aimless like.
Not quite.
How's that?
And if you can see, we're a lot closer to Dodge than we were back there at the telegraph line.
Well, yes, sir, I guess you're right.
Them tracks didn't start off the Dodge, though, did they?
No.
Like somebody was laying a false trail on purpose.
Yeah, that's the way it looks to me, Chester.
Wait a minute, look.
They're heading off toward that shack over there.
Yeah.
And they don't look like much of a place to live, half fallen down that way.
Reckon anybody's here, Mr. Dillon?
I don't know, but we'll find out.
Well, there's no need for pounding, Marshal.
Hello, Mr. Fogg.
Didn't know you lived out here.
Oh, it's Chester Proudfoot.
Glad to meet you, Mr. Fogg.
Proudfoot.
What brings you out this way, Marshal?
That's that telegraph line you're so interested in.
I'm glad to see you're on the job.
Oh, nothing will do you any good.
I was always on the job myself, I remember that.
Yeah, you told me.
I see you've been out looking it over out there.
Looking what over?
The line.
What makes you say that?
Well, we followed your tracks here.
My tracks?
Now, you want to tell me how you happened to be out there?
I told you the other day.
I was riding past.
You were talking about the other break in the line that day, Mr. Fogg.
This one was a mile or so away.
Are you sure about that?
Yeah, I'm sure.
Well, I'll tell you, Marshal, it's only right that I've been keeping track of that line.
Oh, how's that?
That I was near 25 years sending messages out over lines just like them.
I've got an interest in them, you might say.
That's what your job was, sending messages?
I had a mighty nice touch on the key, a mighty nice touch.
These green horns can come close to it.
The telegraph people were the ones who took away your job then.
It was our ones, all right.
A man with a touch like mine.
I guess you would have an interest in the line, Mr. Fogg.
You might even have an interest in seeing that it didn't go through.
Well, Marshal, I don't even know what you're talking about.
I think you've been cutting that wire right regular.
I think you figured it was a way to get back at the people who cost you your job.
Now, you hold on a minute, Marshal.
What about that Indian?
He was the one that cut it. He said so.
He cut it once, Mr. Fogg, and he admitted it.
But you did it the other times, didn't you?
I said, didn't you?
You know, don't you, Marshal?
Yeah. Yeah, I know.
I figured it'd be all right.
They already had the Indian.
It wouldn't matter anymore.
It mattered to the Indian.
I guess you're right.
Will you be taking me in, Marshal?
Yeah.
A man has to do his job.
I was believed in a man doing his job.
But, Marshal, climbing around them lines and all...
Yeah, Mr. Fogg?
I showed him I wasn't so old, didn't I?
Yeah, you showed him.
All right, sum him up, Horace Chester.
Let's get back to town.
Produced and directed in Hollywood 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 Messner.
Marley Bayer is Chester, Howard McNear is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty.
This is George Waltz, inviting you to join us again next week, when CBS Radio presents another story on Gunsmoke.