 Around Dodge City and in the territory on West there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers And that's where the US Marshal and the smell of 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 Dullin the United States Marshal the first man they look for and the last thing want to meet It's a chance a job That it makes a man watchful at a little lonely Thank you Never the depot. That's quite a crowd Well, what's the curious about a wagon load of buffalo hard to wonder. I remember they got a white one Just make sure I must have something like the interaction. Yeah That's your wagon mister. Oh Gatwick I skin for what's the crowd for his curious The other skinner got hurt and we've run them into the dock. Oh, what happened? They hurt that Bad enough Gatwick didn't see no sense in bringing him into town at all Me and the cook we made them know Here comes Gatwick now Chester go up the docks and see what you can find out. All right How is it Gatwick? Dr. I'll take care of everything told me never mind that. How is he? He's dead Let's drive these hides on down to shake move just a minute. Gatwick some other time Marshall. I'm busy It's all mine, but I want to talk to you anyway You and the cook go get them hides unloaded to Bob be right along All right, what do you want more what happened to your skinner Billy you hurt yourself. That's all. He's dead, isn't he? Yeah, he's dead Look Gatwick anything. You don't want to tell me I can ask Tell Marshall he got hurt and he died that's all when did he get hurt last night? Why didn't you bring him in last night? Them other fellas the cook and told they figured he was done for anyway They didn't want to bother yet. Oh, what happened to him? How did he get hurt? I don't rightly know Marshall He was alone in camp We got there he'd gone burn to sell burn well what hot lad Marshall spilled it all over He was cooking up lad in a fry pan. That was one of his chores making my bullets Always was a Mike clumsy so Messed herself up this time. Must have been a lot of lad 50-60 pound I reckon Man your doctor truth and he says you can bury him now. Oh No, I ain't gonna pay for no burial. He's just a skinner. I hired. I don't even know his last name You're his boss aren't you you brought him in just a bum that worked for me All right, hold it Chester Okay, Catliff will take care of it caused me trouble enough. I don't want to hear no more about it Chester, what about the skinner tell me? Mr. Dylan doc says he's gonna how they lived as long as he did did they talk to doc Oh, my no poor fella. How do you suppose it happened? Well, hot lead had a whole pan full of it They told me yeah, but what man's gonna pick up 50 or 60 pounds of molten lead and spill it all over it. Well, I I didn't think of that Of course, there's another way it could have happened. How somebody could have pushed him down into it Well, I don't know Catliff or maybe a skinner told What a work told point we even the cook probably went over the long grass to drink up their wages. All right Chester, go do something about burying that Marshall Sam set out a bottle of wine another glass with him sure Buy a drink Well sure my so sure Well, it's up here to your friend You were no friend of mine, but he died a bad day. I'll drink to Tell me something up Not a Billy and Catliff get on You know this Gatlin sighs Marshall Yeah, I did He's got powder specks shot into them. They look like turkey eggs I know now you don't get on with a man like that. I've come I've never seen him in dodges before that man's greedy Marshall He's down right wicked about money Figures he can save time and make more money by selling his hides to buyers agents on the prayer Gets less out there, but he can kill and sell more that way they came in with a load of hides today Well, that's just because we made him come in with Billy down Tell me about the accident of Well Billy was melting the lead in a frying pan the way I figured it He must have tripped somehow fallen smack into it When we rode in we found him rolling around on the ground That's all I know when who wrote in well me and the cook The cook skins on days Billy's making bullies and where was Catliff? Oh He went in just ahead of us. Oh, how long I had maybe 20 minutes Then he found Billy first is that it? Yeah, I guess he did it. Now. I hadn't thought of that before Marshall So that's why you've been asking so many questions I wasn't sure to but I expect you're telling the truth cook told the same story. So that's what happened Gatler killed it. Well, he murdered him. That's what it looks like. I Haven't got enough to prove it killed Billy so she wouldn't have to pay him his wages do You see we've been out for months. He must old Billy three four hundred dollars. Yeah You're going back out on the prairie with him. I ain't afraid of him Sure be sleeping with one eye open from now I don't know if you let on your suspicious even sure try to kill you not me He can just do his killing on somebody else You'll be living in the morning. I suppose about dawn a wrecking Soon as Gatler fires a new skinner. Yeah Well, the bottle is yours to thank good luck sure do. Thank you, Marshall During the day Chuster and a couple of other men buried Billy out on the hill as Stobbs said he died a bad death It was made worse by the man who'd done it to him going scot-free Thought there was nothing I could do and I tried to forget about it They left dodge next morning and things were peaceful enough for a few hours until Word came that they'd been a night thing in a nest I can't over across the river We wrote over to see what it was above He was nice in the back man That's all I know. Yeah, nobody saw it happen. It's looks like somebody got clean away with murder We'll look here there Yorkie Marshall Chester. Oh, what are you doing over here Yorkie? I come looking for berries and I seen it No, what do you mean? I see them and get stabbed You did I heard of my unit. I think up just after he done They're all who did it Yorkie. Did you recognize him? I never saw him before. Oh, what did he look like? He was big dirty looking he had a buckskin shirt anything else He had funny eyes He had spots in What you doing there sounds like yeah How in the world could you ever sneak up close enough to see his eyes Yorkie? I lived with the Rappahorse. Oh my god. Oh, you did didn't you? You know who did it Marshall? I don't know Yorkie. I Hope you catch him. I Gotta get back so long York. I guess it was Gatlin. All right, mr. Dillon. Yeah I could danger saw the man to be running loose. Well, I got him now doc as soon as I find him I hope so Matt. I certainly do hope Since cattle up would figure that nobody had seen him it wasn't likely that he'd run And anyway, there wasn't much sense in trying to track him down in the dark So Chester and I didn't start out till the next morning Ordinarily a man could ride into the prairie and disappear But with Gadliffe it was a little different at least we knew he'd be you're on the buffalo herd somewhere It was late afternoon before we reached good hunting grounds and almost dark when we found the first hunters can't Jump over ready soon Good there's some more tongue in that stew pot. All right If you don't like buffalo tongue, you'll go mighty hungry in this camp. Thanks a lot, mr Yeah, your law man. Yeah, Matt Dillon. I'm a US Marshal. My name's Tom Mercer Pleased to meet you. That's Chester prod foot. How do you do stuff will take a little longer now? And anyway, my skinners won't be in for a while yet. How you been doing Mercer? Fair Marshall fair. I killed over a hundred today. You've been here long about a month. I'll move on a couple of weeks. I Don't know Marshall. I think it's whole southern herd is gonna be clean wiped out for a long next year I'm going to Dakota so many hunters maybe that's just it that's it exactly have you seen any in the last Day or two Mercer Just do you looking for Marshall and by the name of Gatla the big man and with speckled eyes What's he done? Well, do you know him? No, no, I don't nobody's come near us in over a week Yeah, then you're not much help except for that stew that your cooks making well you like that Hey, we're having dried apples too. Oh good. I swear. I couldn't eat a buffalo raw the entire beast You must be part engine No, sir, I've seen one of them eat a whole liver raw got propped up against the tree and ate every bit of it Then went sound asleep right there in the Sun. He was sure some site for a year we get that close to India Indians ain't always bad now But they're gonna get real hungry when you hunters finish this herd off. That's so Marshall. That's surely so that's what makes them mad Don't you think that's reason enough? Well, I'll tell me a couple of weeks ago. He run into a bunch west of here. It was looking for scouts. All right Hey, there come the skinners now we can get outside of some of that stew all of it Don't you ever feed this man Marshall only when he works Mercer? We spent the night and Tom Mercer's camp and at dawn just after breakfast we said goodbye and rode on West In the next two days, we met plenty of hunters, but we didn't find cattle About known of the third day. We cut the trail of a wagon train Figured it to be that of a hide buyer's agent who come out on the prairie to do business on the spot An hour or two later. We saw a long string of ox drawn wagons piled high with buffalo hides There was a man on horseback leading the train We rode up to him Oh, yeah, that's quite a load you got in the suit 10,000 so far What are you doing way out here more sure I'm looking for a hunter for the name of Gatler, you know I'm sure I do picked up a load from his Rick early this morning in trouble. Yeah Where is he? Great south there a couple of miles. I can't tell you exactly he moves around a lot. That's close enough for us. Thanks a lot, Mr Go Marshall. I never did like him anyway That must be it. Yeah, but he's moved his camp. Yeah, but not far if it was just this morning Oh What's that out there? All right, that looks like a man. Come on. Yes, get her here. Yeah, you got some water, will you? Hey, tobe, can you hear me? He's been shot. Hey, huh? Here's the water Tobe Don't it's Marshall Dullin Give it great here shot me Marshall. Oh, what happened there's the rest of the crew They run off They took his wagon and the horses He went kind of crazy when you found out That's why he shot me over is enough. I don't know he shot me and then He said he was going hunting He's gone local It's local. Yeah, take take it easy to take it easy. You're gonna be all right Get here and shoot me It sharks a long time Many stop Where was he which way to Off behind me. Hey, I Could hear him Chester you stay with him. I'm going after Gaddle Often the direction Tobe had indicated they lay a large isolated a hollow surrounded by low ridges When I reached it, I dismounted and called up to where I could look down into it There was no sign of Gatlin But lion on the prairie floor with the bodies of countless fresh kill Buffalo It was a strange sight The old bulls and the cows and the little calves lying there black man of prairie grass. I Got up and I stood looking at it for a long time Then suddenly out in the middle. I thought I saw a slight movement of the second later They came a familiar boom of a sharp 50 Drop behind the ridge and waited And then Chester wrote up. Yeah Cobra's dead. Is that right? Yes, sir Gatlin's down there in the middle of a hollow, but we can't get anywhere near him as long as you got that sharps rifle He's killed a small herd of buffalo in there. No, he's lying up in the center of them Must have gone crazy just like Toby said. Yeah He's shooting at now. I wish I knew Chester. He's facing them shots. Yeah That's a signal for help Chester. Come on. Look out. Maybe just a trap We'll be ready to take cover behind one of these animals. It might be you see keep your eyes open now There he is behind that big bull. Yeah, I see him What you're doing? He's all Yeah, there have been horses in here Indians Oh my goodness. Come on. That was his last effort Chester. He's dead now Mr. Dylan That's all come on. Let's get out of here. I don't know how the Indians caught Gatlin He'd gone a little mad and maybe that made it easy for him, but They finally got themselves a buffalo hunter to their unbelievably savage torture of him had gone all the hatred and Desperation of the race being slowly starved and driven from their homeland Then they put him there surrounded by his own bloody slaughter and they'd gone off with a gesture of contempt Leaving his rifle and his ammunition by his side and having seen what they did to him I'll never know how he managed to fire even one of those shots For all of his evil Gatlin died harder than Any man I'd ever seen Chester and I rode back to dodge It was never mentioned between us again Produced and directed by Norman McDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon US Marshall The story was specially written for gun smoke by John Meston Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin Vic Perron Richard Beals Harry Bartell and Jack Moyle Farley Bear is Chester and Howard McNeer is Doc join us again next week for the third of the five most popular gun smoke shows It is called word of honor. This is the CBS radio network