 Frontier Town, the saga of the Roaring West. Frontier Town, El Paso, Cheyenne, Calgary, Tombstone. Frontier Town, here is the adventurous story of the early West, the tamed and the untamed. From the Pekos to Powder River, Dodge City to Poker Flat. These are the towns they fought to live in and lived to fight for. Teaming crucibles of pioneer freedom. Frontier Town. Howdy. Would you like to spend a few minutes listening to a Frontier Town lawyer? Because that's what I am. And Chad Remington is who I am. Attorney and sort of all-around general troubleshooter for Dos Rios and our surrounding territory. When I say troubleshooter, I guess I mean it in more ways than the term is generally used. Because down our way, and with the kind of people we have, the term troubleshooter gets the emphasis on both words. Yep, there's a heap of trouble out on the Frontier and a lot of shooting too. Now let's take last winter for example. It had been an especially severe winter. Colder and usual with almost constant snows. Snows so deep and heavy that even the winter range was useless. Cattle froze, starved and died right and left. Well it was late in February up in the little mountain town of appropriately named Headstone. The principal business building in Headstone is a long narrow room operated as a café or saloon and run by a strange hard-faced woman called Bourbon Kate. A real name or the rest of it I guess no one ever knew. Well this particular night was a blustery one. Kate's saloon was empty for change and Kate stood behind the bar cleaning up and polishing glasses. And suddenly the door opened. Well Sheriff, evening. Ah, evening Kate, evening. I guess it's about the worst night of the whole winter. No surprise me none if there won't be a head of cattle left up here after this storm is over. I get you something? Yeah, yeah, I guess so. The usual. Oh, and Kate... Yeah Sheriff? Uh, make it four fingers this time. You bet. Man needs something to keep his insides from freezing. Here. Ah, listen to that. Don't know what's going to come of the cattleman now. A blade of grass for feed is worth more than a porterhouse steak. Well Kate, here's to you. Bincotti Sheriff. Ah! The worst part of it is there ain't a man among a lot of them that's got money enough to buy even a hat full of feed. Another one Sheriff? Yeah, thanks Kate, don't mind if I do. Yes sir, right where we're going up here, headstone would like to become a ghost town now. But the bank's shaky like it is, where can the ranchers get help? Wouldn't surprise me none if the bank closed its doors before the month's over. Sheriff, I tell you we ought to... Hey, looks like you got one customer Kate. Hey, what a night. Snow is clear up the treetops, some places. Yeah, bad one for sure. Kate, if you don't mind I'm going to sit down over there with a stove. Not at all, make yourself at home. Now mister, something I can do for you? You're bourbon Kate, ain't you? That's my name. I'm Ben Madigan, got a quarter section up in the Rimrock country up high. The storm just about ruined me. Well, you ain't alone Madigan, believe me. I did manage to round up some of the yearlings and herd them into the barn, but... Well, I ain't got no feed left. Not a stick of straw or a single grain. Well, you can always buy a little feed. Tell me Josh Winterstaw's got some left. Yeah, yeah, I know. I went to the bank to borrow a few dollars, but that cheap old Jasper turned me down. Cold... Well... Yeah? That's why I come to you. Me? You mean you want to make a touch? Yeah, I sure do, and I'll pay it back, believe me. Come summer, every last red cent. Well, I'm sorry Madigan. I ain't in the lending business. Well, from all I've ever heard, you're loaded. Made it all right here, too, out of the folks around Headstone. Folks like me. No sir, I got a rule about... How much you need Madigan? Oh shucks, I guess I can buy on a hundred. Yeah, a hundred would be fine. Well? You look honest. I am honest. Yeah, I said you did. Here, here's five twenty dollar gold pieces. Well, dog, go ahead. I'll tell you what I'm going to do with you. Yeah? I'll cut your high card, double or nothing. High card? You mean if I lose, I'll owe you two hundred? If you win, you won't owe me a thing. You don't have to run a bank, a hundred percent interest. You mean you won't cut high cards? Oh no, I'll cut. Okay. Well, here's the deck. You cut first. What do you know? The Red Queen. Queen of Hearts. Let's see you beat that, Kate. You sure ain't making it easy on me. I might as well not cut and just give you the money. Go on, go on, cut them. It was your idea. Okay, okay, if you say so. Oh, I'll be jiggered. And Ace. The Ace of Clubs, Madigan. Yeah. Yeah, where'd you get it? Off the bottom of the deck? Madigan, I guess you don't need the money so bad after all, making a remark like that. I just think I'll put them gold pieces back. Oh, no you don't. I always heard a man didn't stand a chance in a game with you, and now I know why. Madigan, keep your hands off that money. Yeah, well, I'm taking it, and you're not going to stop me. You understand? Why, you local brain digit? Put that gun away or I'll... Kate, look out! Well, I'm sorry, Kate. I wouldn't have done that if you hadn't pulled his gun first. Kate, what's that red on your shirt waist? Couldn't you see, I was just... trying to make him a present of that money. Why, that bombing plug, after all. Here, here, I'll... Sheriff, don't waste your time. You leave me here and go fetch the... the doctor. Ben Madigan was killed, all right. The sheriff's bullet hit its marked plumb center. But poor old Kate, she got a slug, too. Two days later, when the storm died down, I received a telegram from Kate, asking me to come up to Headstone because she wanted some legal help. It turned out it was her will that was bothering her. We didn't know that till we got there. That is, by we, I mean, my landlord and sidekick, Cherokee O'Bannon, the former medicine man who now runs a livery stable over which I have my shabby little legal office. Well, we wasted no time going to Kate's and seeing her. She looked tired, awful tired, and mighty old as she lay there, her face gray as ashes against the clean white pillowcase. Fellas, it was mighty nice of you to come, particularly in this kind of weather. Ma'am, I'd like you to know that we have weather down in our part of the country, too. But for a woman whose name is Bourbon Kate, I'd walk halfway around the world and snow up to my eyebrows. Cherokee sure talks a tough game of two-fisted drinking, doesn't he, Kate? I've known the old fraud since he peddled his genuine Cherokee Indian rattlesnake oil. And even when I was giving him drinks on the house, he'd never take more than one. Well, let's talk about you for a while, Kate. The doctor says you're going to be all right. Yeah, that's what the doctor says. He's a good man. Once saved me from a nasty snake bite without the use of the usual remedy. Well, a doctor who can do that with you, Cherokee, must be a miracle man. Well, we'll see if the doctor's right this spring. If I'm still kicking around this spring. Oh, you'll be here longer than I will. Now, what's on your mind? Chad, I ain't been no angel, you know. I danced in Rio and worked saloons in Sydney in a girly, girly chorus and shows out of New York. Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of, ma'am. Besides, you've accumulated a lot of the lovely green folding stuff. I've made money and I've spent money. But my life ain't never monitored very much. I've never done anything folks call constructive. Hey, what are you talking about? It wasn't too long ago you practically nursed a whole Indian village through an epidemic of diphtheria single-handed. Oh, anybody had done that, Chad. It happened that I was there at the time they'd come down sick, but unlike Cherokee says, I have got a little money tucked away and, well, I ain't got nobody to leave it to. Well now, if you're looking for someone to leave it to... Okay, don't I remember hearing my dad tell me that you used to be married? Sure, sure. And in 20 years, I ain't even had so much as a Christmas greeting from a kid. Married by this time, I reckon. His father was a no-good sort. Yeah. Well, about this money, Chad, when the storm was over, the ranchers are gonna need money bad, and I kind of thought I might help them out a little. Well, that's a wonderful idea, Kate, but you don't need me for that. Yeah, I do, Chad. I want you to handle it. Most folks I've ever known don't like taking money from a woman, after that Ben Madigan being shot in my place the other night. Oh, for goodness sakes, Kate. It wasn't your fault. No, but try to convince folks. Oh, come on in. Who are you? Name's Madigan. Cleave Madigan. There's no call for coming into a woman's room with a chip on your shoulder. Yeah? My father was killed in her place the other night because she tried to fleece him out of some money. Oh, young fella, that remark calls for an apology. Don't, Chad. Let him be. Now, don't go try to help me, too. I'm full able to take care of myself even though my father wasn't. Mister, you're either gonna have to stop yelling around here or get out, and fast. No, get out when I've had my say. When I'm telling you this, you old harridan, the folks around this part of the country are mighty sick of you and your kind, and if you know what's good for you, you'll move along. Get out! Now, I do want that apology, and this time I'm not gonna wait for him. Let me along. Take your hands off me. Now, look, are you gonna apologize to Kate? You're done tooting right, I'm not. You're not getting no apology out of me, but you're not getting this! Blame, brain, young idiot! Chad, you put that young pup to sleep for the rest of the winter. Chad. Chad, you shouldn't have done that. You shouldn't have done that. After the way he talked to you and about you? The boy was upset. He's upset right now after what Chad just did to him? Chad, Chad, that money I was talking about. Yeah. Because that Madigan boy's father was killed in my place. I want to see that the Madigan family gets help. Every bit of help. And with every last penny I got. You're my lawyer, Chad, and as my lawyer, I'm giving you my orders. That Madigan family is gonna get all the help money can buy. We'll return to the exciting second act of our Frontier Town adventure in just about one minute. Frontier Town. It might have been Bourbon Kate, but in my reckoning she wasn't just a hundred proof, she was 100% guilt-edged woman. With her heart truly as big as the proverbial whole outdoors. Well, being the kind of woman she is, one you don't talk back to for long, Cherokee and I started to see what we could do with the money to help the ranchers. We talked it over with the sheriff and decided to order several carloads of feed shipped up to Headstone. It was while the three of us were talking it over that we got our first bad news. The barber ran into the sheriff's office to tell us that a mob had descended on Kate Stallone and was busting a place to pieces. Well, leaving the sheriff to round up some deputies, Cherokee and I raced down the street to the scene in the battle. Come on, man! Smash this place into kindling! That's bourbon Kate's bodyguard. Don't listen to him. Go on, let's finish the job! Madigan, unless you want to go to jail, you'll stop and sighting these men to riot. Look who's talking. Come on, let's throw him out. Okay, anybody who thinks he can, step right up. I'm stepping up, mister. Oh, good. You're stepping right in. Right into this. Come to the sheriff and he's deputy. Hey, every guard done one of you. You're under arrest. If you know what's good for you, you'll come along peaceable. My men have got orders to shoot, to kill. The sheriff didn't hold anybody very long, but his prompt appearance did break up the riot. The next day, Cherokee and I rode out to the Madigan place to pay a call on young Cleave Madigan. Oh, there, boy. Well, I hope the young man's at home. That last nice little experience has calmed him down. Of course, I don't blame him for nothing. What do you want? Cleave, we rode all the way out here to talk to you. Yeah, I bet. Well, we want to find out how I enjoyed being locked up. If Kate wasn't the kind of woman she is, you'd still be locked up. You come out here to talk to me about that old witch. You're sure wasting your time. Well, nice flight, young fella, isn't he? I certainly don't like him calling Kate an old witch. Yeah, Cherokee, the sad part of it is that someday, pretty soon, he's going to swallow those words. I just hope he doesn't choke on them. Come on, the best place for us is back at the sheriff's office. I guess you'll be pleased to know that the freight car got through with the feed. Pulled in while you were gone this afternoon. They're down to the siding. That's certainly a relief. By the way, how's Kate? Have you heard, Sheriff? Well, I talked with the old saw-bones a while back. He says the wound don't amount to nothing no more, but she ain't getting no better. He says he just can't understand it. You ask me, and you may, if you wish, I think Kate lost her spirit, her fighting spirit. Well, no wonder. Well, she's been through. And say, I most forgot, the rancher's called to meet this afternoon and tried to get some help from the state. Oh, that's great. By the time the state could vote on it and send the rancher some help, I'm sure Kate's going to win it. Well, all you've got to do is go to the meeting and tell them about the feed that Kate's bought for them. Yeah, yeah, I guess that's the thing to do. With all the ranchers together, I'll just go to that meeting and tell them the good news. All right, all right, all right, folks. Quiet down now. Neighbors. Neighbors. I telegraphed a fellow I know in the state senate. He says the state will be glad to help, but they can't appropriate no money until the next regular session. May I say a word? Well, you've got a nerve coming to our meeting after what you pulled the other night. Now, look, you're in trouble, all of you. I think a mighty good slogan for this meeting might be, let bygones be bygones. Let him talk, Rod. He's so full of hot air, if he talks long enough, he may melt off all his snow and we'll get some grass around here again. Leave. That isn't a bad joke. I'm gonna accept it as a joke. And I came to this meeting to tell you that at the junction siding outside of town, there are five cars of feed. What? Are you sure there are five cars of feed? And from what I hear, the feed was bought by Bourbon Kate and brought up here. And she's gonna try to charge you $70 a ton. Now, wait a minute, wait a minute, Cleve. Are you talking like a wild man? Are you trying to tell me that Bourbon Kate doesn't own that feed? No, I'm not, but you... If she thinks she's gonna squeeze blood money out of us, she's better off dead. And for one, I'm in favor of going down to the siding and putting a torch to those cars just to show her what we think of. Hey, hey, in the morning, what's got to do you, man? Haven't you got any? Come on, man. At least we'll be warm around here for a while. Get some pitch torches and keep getting down to the railroad tracks. Ever tried a reason with a mob? I'm here to tell you it just can't be done. Neither did the sheriff nor Cherokee nor I had any influence with them. Nor would even one of them stay to hear the truth about those cars of feed. Well, as soon as the hall had cleared, the three of us decided to go down to the siding and not wanting any bloodshed to see what we could do about straightening them out. The wind had started again. Going was tough for an effort. Ha, don't go on it, Chad. This wind is just going to make it worse. At the rate you're running, I could use a little wind myself. If we can uncouple just two of the cars and save them, we'll have done some good. Hey, hey, look. Look, they've done it. The fire's already starting. Oh, what pools these morals be? We'll slope into the south and we can just unhook two cars. They'll roll down that ravine and be safe. Chad, I don't think we're going to get there in time. If we do, it'll be because someone has carried me. Great. Jumping Jupiter, Chad. Hey, he got somebody climbing on the ladder and decided that burning car? Sure is, Sheriff. Climbing up there to release the brake. Release the brake? Then once that car starts rolling, he won't be able to get down without jumping. Hey, hold it, hold it. No use running now. It's too late. Am I seeing things or did you see what I saw? We saw it, all right. That sure was a close one. You boys cut that car loose just in time. We didn't cut it loose. We didn't get here in time. Then who was it? That was Bourbon Kate who done it, Roderick. Yeah. There she goes riding that box car probably to her death. Man, look at her roll. Not a good looking that car does because it ain't never going to make that curve. Mercy for Providence. It's going over now. That's the end of her. What an awful way to end. Smashed up in the wreck of a flamin' freight car. Son, come on back to town with me. You and I are better talking to him. All the fight was gone out of Cleve Madigan. So he came along quietly and chastened it. I thought the best place to talk to him would be in the room where Bourbon Kate had lived. So the four of us headed for there. I don't mind going with you, but what's your idea taking me up to her place? Cleve, there's a letter here that I want to turn over to you. Wait, I'll open the door. See, as sick as she was, I'll never know how she managed to get out of the bed and down to... It just can't be. Are we crazy or something? I know I saw her riding on top of that freight car. We all saw Cleve, but still there she is, right in the bed. Is she... is she... well, you know, is she... Yeah, reckon she's been dead more than two hours. But... but... I don't understand it. A lot of things in this life we live in, none of us understand Cleve. A good deal of it has to do with the spirit inside of us. I'll say amen to that. You mean you think this was a miracle? I'd be a pretty poor model at judge miracles, Cleve. Maybe after you read this letter... Letter? Letter from who? That's a letter for you. It was written by your... It was written by the woman we knew as Bourbon Kate. Cherokee, I think you and Sheriff and I had better be on our way. Goodness knows we. I want to be around if there's another miracle performed tonight. For the life of me, Chad, I still can't understand it. Shouldn't even try it too, Cherokee. The important thing is that we were there to see that Kate's desires and her will were carried out. Plenty of feed for everybody now. And I imagine Cleve Madigan won't judge folks quite so harshly again. Every time I think of her, I get a lump in my throat. That might be a good thing for you, Cherokee. It may stop you from pouring things down your throat that you'd be better off not having. Look, if you don't mind now, I don't feel much like talking. Let's just rattle up these ponies and get on home. Come on. Come on there, you... Start moving! Text Chandler is a Brucells production. Supervision by Joel Murcock. Story in Direction by Paul Franklin. Music written and played by Ivan Dittmarz. Be sure to be with us again same time next week for another fine action adventure story with your favorite young western star, Text Chandler. And now this is Bill Foreman telling you that Frontier Town came to you from Hollywood.