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.
Mr. Dillon, I swear I've never seen the likes of it.
Now what's the matter, Chester?
Well, Boone Wilson won't leave yourself. I'll open the door and he won't budge out of there.
Did you tell him I was releasing him today?
Yes, sir, I did, but he claims he wants to stay. But he asked me what I was fixing for dinner. What were we going to do?
Now the train's in. You go on down and get the mail. I'll handle this.
I've never seen a man who wanted to stay in jail before.
All right, come on out of there, Boone. I'm turning you loose.
All right, all right, Marshal. You needn't bother.
You like it here, do you?
It's the only house I ever had.
I see.
You and Chester have been good friends to me. In particular, Chester.
Is that why you keep getting drunk? Just to get in jail?
A fellow's got to have a friend, a roof over his head, don't he, Marshal?
All right, come on, Boone, let's go.
I got my hat under this blanket here. I sure like my hat, Marshal.
Yeah.
Oh, here's that extra blanket Chester gave me. I tried to keep it from touching the floor.
Thanks, Boone. All right, let's go.
You said so.
You going back home now?
I don't rightly know where home is at.
Old Pa, he'd run me off before I was old enough to know where we was living.
Said he couldn't feed me no more.
Yeah.
Ever since then, I've been kind of like a tumbleweed going here, there.
Guess I'm from all over now.
Got your Everest, they put?
Well, I'd like to. People always run me off, just like Pa did.
Just when I think I got a friend, they tell me to go.
I'll get you packed for you.
Now you're doing it, Marshal.
Doing what?
Running me off.
Now look, Boone, I got nothing for you, nothing against you.
I put you in jail four times for getting drunk and almost breaking somebody in two with your bare hands.
Now all I want you to do is to keep yourself out of jail by staying away from those saloons.
Here, is this all your stuff?
I won't stay and dodge, Marshal.
The fellow's got to have a friend where he stays.
Look, don't take me wrong, son. It's just that there's no...
Hey, Bill, come here, quick.
What's the matter, Chester?
A hangman's come to town.
A hangman? What are you talking about?
Come take a look. He's all dressed in black and he's hauling his gallows right along with him.
Gallows?
See there? Three yoke oxen pulling him.
Ain't that an awful looking thing? A gallows built right on the back of his wagon.
Henry Maples.
You know him?
I've heard of him. He thinks he cleaned up the border country with that gallows.
What's he doing here, Mr. Dune?
Maybe he thinks Dodge is next. Come on.
Franz, Franz, if you'll just listen to me a moment, please.
I'll answer all your questions at a later time.
From what I hear of Dodge, I'll be here for quite a spell.
He's getting his feet pretty well worked up, Mr. Dune.
Yeah, let's wait here a little.
Just a moment, just a moment. There's plenty of time.
First off, I want to know how many murders you've had in this town the last six months.
Come on, speak up. Don't be afraid. How many murders?
How many of your fellow townsmen have been shot down to die like dogs in the street?
How many times has the law been obstructed?
You, madam, how many times has a man been killed right here on the streets of Dodge?
Well, I don't know exactly.
How many?
Well, six, I guess. Maybe eight, a dozen, for all I know.
There you are. The good lady doesn't even know.
Anywhere from six to a dozen killings.
And do you know the answer to this? Do you know it'll stop this bloodbath?
There it is.
Made a ward in Nails and wrote the finest rope money can buy.
Man's answer to man's misdeeds.
Let me ask you, madam, where are the men who perpetrated these foul killings?
I'm not sure. They were taken to Fort Hayes for trial, and well, I just don't know.
But are they dead, as the law says they should be?
Now, the law's not unkind, my friends. The law is just.
When I hanged Billy Street, yes, I hanged him, Billy Street.
He walked up those steps, those very steps, with a smile on his face.
And he told me he'd never owned a new suit.
Oh, I stopped the hanging. And out of my own pocket, my own pocket, I bought him a new suit.
And before I dropped him, Billy Street thanked me.
Now, the law's not unkind, my friends. The law is just.
Maples.
Who called my name?
I did. Marshall Dillon.
I want you to take your gallows out of Dodge.
What became of all those murderers, Marshall? Did they pay you to let them go?
There were six. Two of them were hanged at Fort Hayes, and four of them are in the territorial prison.
Four men who lived to kill again.
I'll give you till sundown to have the gallows out of Dodge City, or I'll burn it in the streets.
You'll learn, Marshall.
Discouragement by fear. That's the answer to your killings.
Now, would somebody give me a hand with these oxen?
I'll help you, Mr. Maples.
All right, my friend. Take the halter on the lead oxen.
Yes, sir. Say, you can just call me Boode, Mr. Maples. That's my name. Boode Wilson.
Oh, then lead on, Boode Wilson.
Yes, sir.
You know, Mr. Maples, maybe I ought to tell you something.
What is it, Chester?
Well, this town is getting awful jumpy about that gallows sitting out there on the edge of town.
Yeah, I know.
Well, yes, but it's, it's, it's kindly dividing up the people.
Yeah, I know all about it, Chester, but you let me do the worrying, huh?
Yes, sir.
Kitty's right over there at the dock.
Uh-huh, I see her.
Oh, Matt, I'm glad you're here.
Hello, Kitty.
Yeah, it's about time the real law put its foot in here.
Maples is sure stirring these people up.
Oh, how long's he been here?
About half hour.
Showing kin types of men he's hanged and the ropes he's used.
He talks about hanging people like he was proud of it.
I think maybe he is, Kitty.
That gallows of his reminds me of some vulture just waiting to devour somebody.
Have you been out there, Matt?
No.
Well, I rode by there the other day on my way to Mrs. Wiggins.
He was standing up on that gallows without even moving.
He had her ropes strung up.
For a moment I thought somebody was hanging there.
Oh, I tell you, I jumped the foot when he moved.
Yeah, I'll bet you did.
How did Maples ever get started, man?
I'll answer that question, Marshal Dillon.
Huh?
All right, go ahead, Maples.
How did I get started? It was simple.
First I had convictions. I believed in the law.
So I read the law.
When Judge Brand asked for a man to carry out his judgments, I volunteered.
By the way, Marshal, I was paid $100 per man.
I'll expect the same from Dodge City.
Dodge doesn't need you, Maples.
It will.
Hey, Admin.
I want you.
All right, Thayer, you're drunk. Put the gun away.
Maples, I've been thinking about you.
I had a brother hang once.
Jimmy was his name.
Maybe you was the one who done it.
Jimmy? Jimmy Thayer?
I told you to put the gun away, Thayer.
Stay out of this, Marshal.
Maples, move over here.
I hang no man by that name.
Then I'll kill you for the one who did.
Don't move him, Mr. Hangman.
I warned you, Thayer.
Marshal, don't make it you and me.
I've been waiting for him all evening.
Thayer.
You're making it you and me, Marshal.
Dark, take care of him.
All right, Matt.
You still think your town doesn't need my kind of law, Marshal Dillon?
Get out of here, Maples.
Somebody give me a hand.
Mr. Maples? Mr. Maples.
What is it, Poe?
I've been looking all over for you,
and I heard those shots, and I was pretty worried.
I'm all right.
You hadn't ought to go out without me looking after you.
Never mind.
I'm all right.
I'm on my way back to camp right now.
There it is, Mr. Jones.
Yeah, I see it.
I sure do get an awful feeling about a gun.
I'm sure you do.
I sure do get an awful feeling about a gallows.
Uh-huh.
I reckon it's because I seen a hangin' one time when I was just a little boy.
You did?
Yes, sir.
Papa took me because he wanted me to learn the wages of sin, as he put it,
so he told Mom it'd be a great lesson for me.
But I...
Well, was it?
No, sir, I can't rightly say it was.
Why?
Well, see, they was hangin' free men for stealin'.
And me bein' kindly a little and all, I couldn't see none too good.
I stand there in this crowd, and when the time come, all I could make out was a bunch of men
goin' around pickin' the pockets of the people watchin' up at the men bein' hangin'.
Now, that kindly learned me somethin', but it wasn't quite what Papa set out for me to learn.
No, I guess not.
Mr. Jones, look.
Just look up there.
Sweepin' that gallows with a broom, just like it was somethin' important.
Yeah, the maples, I guess it is.
There's a rope hangin' straight down through the trash. See there?
Yeah.
Well, good morning, Marshal.
Hey, Woods.
Good morning, sir.
Well, the gibbet's ready, Marshal Dillon. I'm stretchin' one of my new ropes now.
Yeah, I see.
Apology for last night isn't necessary, Marshal. I've forgotten it already.
Apology? I didn't come to apologize.
That's good. I don't like a man that crawls.
How come you'd stretch that rope, Mr. Maples?
Not one of my clients has ever come back for a second try.
No, I reckon not.
The reason is I buy the best inch and a quarter Kentucky hemp you can get,
and then I stretch it down to an inch before I use it.
What do you use to stretch it with?
A Boode Wilson's under there, he'll show you.
Get ready to untie it, Boode.
I can't untie this knot, Mr. Maples.
Chester, go down and give me my hand, huh?
Yes, sir.
You see, Marshal, I got a 200-pound bag tied on the rope.
I'm not interested in that, Maples.
Oh?
The businessmen in town told me to see that you leave Dodge City permanently.
You and your gallows.
But why, Marshal? Dodge needs me.
They don't think so. And neither do I.
But the law, what about the law? It must be upheld.
It is being upheld, Maples.
Your kind of law might have been all right a few years ago in the border country, but not in Dodge.
Murderers must be hanged, Marshal Dillon, there's no other answer.
I'll give you till tomorrow morning, Maples.
Hello, Marshal Dillon.
How are you, Boode?
You stand away from the liquor?
Yes, sir.
Good, you see that you do.
All right, come on, Chester.
Mr. Maples, I heard how he talked to you.
I wasn't friendly like.
You've been good to me.
Let me help you.
I brought the law before.
I can do it again.
Mr. Maples, I was saying I'd like to...
There must be a way.
Mr. Maples?
Huh?
Maybe I can help.
Oh, you, Boode?
Yes, sir.
Yes, maybe you can.
Boode, I want you to go to Dodge City with me tonight.
Will you do that?
Mr. Maples, I'd do anything for you.
The town is quiet tonight, Mac.
Doc, I hope it stays that way.
It's my business.
That's when I worry the most.
Mr. Dillon!
Uh-huh.
Yeah, what do you want, Chester?
Miss Kitty sent me after you.
Boode was about to kill a man at her place.
Huh?
Well, come on.
I'll kill you.
Oh, man!
Mac, stop him!
Boode's gonna break him in two!
Boode, stop it!
I'll kill you.
Stop it!
Nobody talks to my friend that way.
I said stop it!
Say, are you all right?
Oh, yeah.
I'm fine.
Yeah.
Thanks.
He'd like to break another bone in my body.
Chester, take Boode and lock him up.
Yes, sir.
Come on, Boode.
Thanks, Mac.
I thought sure there was gonna be a killing.
I told Boode to stay out of saloons.
Don't blame him.
It was Maples.
Maples?
Yeah.
What's he got to do with it?
He was trying to get him drunk.
He kept buying him drinks.
Oh?
Where is Maples?
I guess he left in all the excitement.
Matt, why would he want to get Boode so drunk?
I think I know, Kitty.
But I'd have a hard time proving it.
I'm sorry, I don't know.
I must have done get these guns so dirty.
Just look at that.
I'm gonna have to pray to King Morning.
Oh, Mr. Maples.
Is the marshal here?
I want to talk to him.
No, sir, he ain't.
He's off to the
business trip that's gonna take him all day.
Oh, then I'll just have to come back this evening.
While I'm here, I wonder if I can see my friend Boode Wilson.
Well, I don't know.
Oh, it won't be a moment.
Oh, yes, sir, I guess it's all right this one time.
Right through that door there.
Oh, yes, thank you.
Now, where'd this dog go?
Where'd this dog go?
Where'd that little thing come from?
Where is everybody?
Matt?
No, Matt.
Chester?
Chester, are you here?
Doc, go away!
Chester, you want back?
Doc, don't come in here.
Oh, Chester, what are you doing in that cell?
Boode just locked me in.
Boode Wilson, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Why?
What's that gun for?
I'm sorry.
Boode, you listen to me.
You haven't got enough sense to have a gun, so give it here.
I've got to get to Mr. Maitel's.
I'm sorry, Mr. Doc.
Doc, you all right?
Chester, I need help.
Doc, you can't die.
Doc!
Mr. Dillon!
Mr. Dillon, anybody?
Doc's been shot!
Help!
Mr. Maples?
It's me, it's Boode Wilson.
Come up here, Boode.
Well, how come you're on the gallows, Mr. Maples?
Ain't you ready to go?
Come here, Boode.
You waited, like you said, didn't you, Mr. Maples?
Did you use the gun I gave you?
We'd better hurry, they'll be after me.
I asked you if you used the gun.
I done what you told me, Mr. Maples.
Boode, listen to me.
You still have the gun.
Yes, sir.
Right here.
Give me the gun, Boode.
Sure.
Here.
It's been fired.
Did you kill anyone?
I used it, like you said.
Boode, I asked you, did you kill anyone?
That doctor man, he came in and I shot him.
You know what I have to do to you now, Boode?
You said you was my friend, you gave me the gun so I could come back to you,
so we could go away together, that's what you said.
But you've killed now, Boode.
Don't you understand you've broken the law?
Boode Wilson, I find you guilty of murder and cold blood.
And for your just punishment under the law,
I sentence you to hang by the neck until you're dead.
Mr. Donne, if Doc was to die, I don't know what I'd do for myself.
He's not going to die, Chester, but you can be awful glad I came back as soon as I did.
Yes, sir.
Mr. Donne, look, the gallows, they ain't gone yet.
No.
I don't see no way around.
Mr. Donne, that rope on the gallows, swinging like there's a body on the end of it.
Come on.
Mr. Man, he's went and hanged Boode.
Stay here, Chester, keep me covered.
Yes, sir.
Chester, come here.
What's the matter?
Why, he used to hang man himself.
Is he sure enough dead?
No, he's dead.
He said himself they never have to come back.
What?
No need to shoot, Marshal.
I ain't giving trouble.
Did you do this, Boode?
I done it.
Why?
Well, he threw it a fit.
What kind of a fit?
When I come back from Dodge, he asked did I kill a man.
I told him I had that doctor man.
And that's when he threw a fit.
What did he do?
He started hollering law on me, saying now he was going to have to hang me for that killing.
It was either me or him.
Boode, he gave you that gun just so you would kill a man, so he could have a hangin'.
Prove that Dodge needed his kind of law.
Oh, no, you're wrong, Marshal.
Somethin' just made him crazy for a little while.
Like happens to me when I drink liquor.
He was going to take me traveling with him, Marshal.
Now, you're wrong about Mr. Maples.
He was the best friend I ever had.
All right, Boode. All right.
Gunsmoke.
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 Tom Hanley, with editorial supervision by John Meskin.
Featured in the cast were Vic Perrin, Joseph Kearns, Virginia Christine, and Barney Phillips.
Harley Bair as Chester, Howard McNear 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 Gunsmoke.