 There's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with the U.S. 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 Dillon, the United States Marshal. The first man they look for and the last thing want to meet. It's a chance a job that makes a man watchful and a little lonely. You brought your wife this far, you brought her on into the garage for me to care for. I sure would have liked to do that, Doc, but Cassie just carried on about it something terrible. She said she just couldn't stand another turn of them wagon wheels, so I come to get you. Where are you bound? We ain't decided on where to settle, Doc. Just heading west someplace where it'd be dry for Cassie. Oh, well, you're traveling for your wife's health, aren't you? Yeah, Doc. That's the reason for it. You see, Cassie's been ailing for a year or two back home, and finally we just figured to light out Yonder and see if it'd help her some. When does she start to sick? It must be a week now, Doc. First she tried to keep on going, but it just got to be so she couldn't stand it to ride the wagon no more. So we stopped. And what are the symptoms? How's that again? What seems to be wrong with your wife? Is she in pain? Can you keep her food down? Well, I ain't much up on what ails women, Doc, but she's coughing an awful lot for one thing. She's awful weak, can't hardly move around. I'll examine it. The wagons around the next bend, Doc, down by the stream. I was beginning to think it was in the next county. Down there, Doc. Turn down there. I'll head in right here, under the stream. That's good, Doc. You go on into the wagon now. I'll unhitch my horse from behind the bucket. All right, Riley. It's kind of a hot day to be under all that canvas. This is Riley. I'm Doc Adams. Your husband brought me from Dodge. This is Riley. This is Riley. I'm going to turn you over this way. What a man. Come here, quick. What's the matter, Doc? Easy now, Riley. What's the matter, Doc? What is it? He's dead? Can't you do nothing? No, I can't do anything. She's been murdered. Because it does get on me, so it's going great with it. I'm hurting all the way and I'm going to stomp off that move before he comes in. Where's Matt? Oh, Doc. Where have you been at? We were looking for you. I haven't time yet, sir. I've got to find Matt. Where is he? Well, hold your horses. He's right back there. You're looking for me? Oh, Matt, yes. You'll have to ride out east of town right away. Oh, that's the trouble. There's a woman named Tassie Riley. Well, that's terrible. How did you know about her, Doc? Her husband came to Dodge to get me. Wanted me to go out and treat her. They were on their way west in a wagon and she got sick. When I got out there, she was dead. You say she was murdered? That's right. She'd been beaten to death. Oh, where's the husband? I bought him in with me. He's up in my office. I better have a talk with him. No, I won't do much good. I gave him a bottle of whiskey and told him to drink himself to sleep. He was in terrible shape. Well, he still might be able to tell me something. Chester. Yes, sir? Get the horses ready. I'll meet you at the stable in a few minutes. Yes, sir. Come on, Doc. I left everything out there just the way it was, Matt. I didn't move or anything. That's good. You'll have to bury him, Matt. Yeah. That's one thing I've learned how to do. All right, down there in that grove. Just don't seem right. Everybody's riding off. Have you even heard of laying alone in that wagon down there, Miss Dylan? Riley's staying. Wouldn't have done her any good, Chester. Well, he told you about some trapper being around, didn't he? I don't know if he told me or not. He was muttering about a trapper that had made a camp with him all night. Well, you're sure going to look for him, ain't you? Yeah, and I'm going to look for him. You don't think somebody stole that poor woman clean away? That's hard to tell him. Yeah, that's our answer. What? Look over there. It's a platform like up on poles. Miss Dylan? Yeah. That looks like one of them pond e-graves built up that way, don't it? Yeah, it sure does. I might be fair. I ain't never heard of Indians stopping to bury a quiet. Have you, Miss Dylan? I mean, don't look like you've been up there very long. No. All right, Chester, you hold it steady while I take a look, huh? I'm still behind you. Disturbing graves, ain't seeming. Them has passed on and got it right to rest. I mean, you asked Marshall, it's my job to find out who's up there. I can tell you that. I thought you were on rest, didn't I? But you tell me who you are first, huh? You called me Ben. Don't you have a last name? Not that I've never heard, mister. Are you a trapper? Oh, I trade some in pelts and skins. Uh-huh. Now tell me who's up there. A girl woman? Who put her there? I did, mister. Indian graves? How come you buried her Pawnee-style? The Pawnee's reared me, mister. I learned their ways. And their bury instructs me to site masses and dig in the ground. Did you kill her? No, mister. I didn't kill her. You bled it up like you could have done it. All right, mister Dylan? Doesn't look good for you, Ben. Well, I reckon maybe it don't. I'm gonna have to take you along with me till I find out about this. In the town? Mm-hmm. The Dodge City. You gonna lock me up until I find out who did this? Well, I had never been locked up, Chester. Get his gun. Yes, sir. All right, hand it over. You're slow-acting. How's that? I could have shot the pair of you a fool if I'd been a mind. That's right, Mr. Dylan. He could have done just that. Yeah, he couldn't. All right, come on. I've got time, kitty. I'm looking for a man named Riley. Do you know this woman here? Well, I'll say I have. How does he cause trouble? No, ma'am. I've not trouble. I guess the poor man's got a right to take on. I'm losing his wife that way. But I can't help thinking he's overdoing it a little bit. What do you mean? Oh, it's just he's always up the bar drinking, carrying on about his wife. I guess I just expect a man to understand things better than that. Sometimes you expect a lot of us, kitty. Sometimes I get a lot, too. I guess I better go talk to him. I mean, he's down at the end of the bar. Thanks, kitty. Riley. My name's Riley. All right? Who are you? I'm Matt Dillon, the U.S. Marshal. I came to see you the day Doc Adams brought you into town. I don't remember that. No, it doesn't matter. I am. I'm sorry about your wife, Riley. You're too late, Marshal. Could it help if you tell me what you know? I know. I know that my poor wife lies murdered. My poor wife that I was bringing west to get well. Well, she's sick. She's sick and all the way west, Marshal. I was bringing the doctor to her when we found her. Poor weekend thing. When you got there, she was dead. Beaton, Marshal. Beaton. That's a terrible thing for a man to see. Yeah. I just like to get me that trapper. What about the trapper? That trapper fellas, the one that done it. We shared fires two nights back, and he was luring at poor Tassie the whole time. Did you figure he followed you? Sure, Marshal. Couldn't have been nothing else. You didn't take out after the trapper. But no, Marshal. Tell the truth. I was just plum-sick and when the doc had to give me a powder, I sure would like to get my hands on him though, and that's a fact. You may get the chance. What do you mean? He's in jail. Come on. Tell you, Marshal, it's giving me the sickness again, just thinking to see in that trapper. You'll be all right, Riley. I was wondering if I had an order to stop by Doc's first. Let's stop in here first. For certain, sure he does, mister. He camped the same fire two nights running. He's a trapper. Made me mighty sorrowful coming on your wife that way. Didn't seem hardly like it could be, you see, in her living so strong just the night before. Riley says you did it, Ben. Why, he's a bad mistook. He said you were following him. Well, it was that, but a man shouldn't point no finger, mustn't he, certain sure he seemed sure. Riley, you're a bad mistook. Marshal, look. We were friends, Riley. Well, you ain't got no cause to suspicion me. Marshal, it sickens me to look at him. I feel the need to get outside. All right. All right, Riley, you can go. But stay in town. I'll need you to talk to the judge. Sure, Marshal, sure. Mister? Yeah, Ben. A man shouldn't tell if he can't prove out. Well, he thinks he can. Maybe it's his grievance that makes him so bad, mistook. Yeah, maybe it is. Bittles, Ben. I'll be pleased to eat. No, I'll say this much for you. You sure ain't no problem to feed. I ain't one to fuss down over eating. Yeah, you sure ain't like the usual of the people I get in here. I'm all a belly ache, and I guess you'd think I was feeding them straight out of a hog pan. As long as you fetch me free food, I won't complain, man. Well, I don't charge for it. That's one thing. I tell you the truth, Sam. I don't find it too easy to figure you out. Well, what's wrong with you? Well, you seem like a nice, decent kind of fella, and you ain't no bother tall in that cell. You ain't snarling, and mean all the while. Well, I don't hate you, Ben. And yet you could go and do a thing like killing that poor little sick lady out there, laying on what was maybe her death bed. You ain't talking about Tassie. Well, sure. Well, you know that, Ben. Riley was bringing Doc out in Sierra when he found her killed. He said she's sick and so all the way where she couldn't hardly move no more. Who told that? White Riley told it, of course. He was the one to know. He was her husband, wasn't he? Her husband. Well, I gotta get on back. I'm mindful of that, but I figured you ought to know about that loose bar. What loose bar? That loose bar up to that window. Well, my gracious, I certainly shouldn't know about it. I remember I took a look at it. Climb up on that bunk there. It sure don't make no sense to have a loose bar in a jail, Wendell. Which one is it, Ben? Yeah. I certainly do hate to do with this gesture. Listen here, Ben. Let me go now, Ben. I just got to tie you up just right. Oh, there's about it. These belts will have to do. You can't go and do a thing like this, Ben. Oh, that ought to hold. I ain't happy about this, Chester. You tell the marshal I was done with, but I used to be and kept in and now I've got to move out of here. Well, it ain't gonna do you no good. He'll find you. He'll bring you back. Yeah, I reckon he'll have to try it, Chester, at being his job and all. Bet your dog on boots, he will. We all have to move in our own way, Chester. Now you just rest these in until he comes and lets you loose. Wonder what's keeping Matt? Well, I wouldn't worry about Matt missing a meteor, kiddie. He considers eating as much of a doo-doo as his job is. We'll be here. I guess you're right. Certainly I'm right. By the way, Matt and Chester eat. They'd need a chuck wagon all their own on a cattle drive. You against eating, Doc? Oh, no, no, no, certainly not. I don't specialize in it the way those two do. One not a fixed pie? It don't matter if it do, kiddie. No, I don't. Oh, here's Matt. Oh, Matt. Man, do you like to take it on a little nourishment, do you? It ain't, Doc. You know, as a matter of fact, I do. Joe, bring me some steak and potatoes and a piece of pie, will you? Sure, Marshal. All right. That kiddie was worrying about you, man. I think I convinced her that you wouldn't miss a meteor. No. I've been talking with a judge. What do you mean about that trapper that you got locked up? It looks like he did the thing, doesn't it? Yeah, Doc, it does. I hope you have more than Riley's word for it. That man giving me the creeps, boy, he's been carrying on. He's taking it hard, all right. I'm glad I won't have to be seeing him anymore. What do you mean by that? Well, he was in the long branch this morning. He had a few even then. And he told Sammy he was taking his last drink and dodged. It was too hard for him to stay around so close to where his wife was killed. He was leaving? He told Sammy he was going to pick up his things at the dodge house and move on. Excuse me, kiddie. Doc, I'm going to try and catch him. Chester, we've got to get moving. Chester! I'm back here, Mr. Jones. Yeah. What in the... Would you... I'm tiny cleaning this stone. How in the world did you get in this mess? Well, it was that fellow band. Turn around. What happened? Well, he picked me in to climb up to look at that window. He said one of the bars had come loose. And then they jumped you, huh? Yes, sir. He sure did. He did tell me to tell you he was sorry to have to do it. Well, that helps. There you are. Thank you. Well, he was just as nice as candy. But he said he had to move on. That's too often. Riley moved on too. Let's go get our horses. Which one of them are we taking out after first, Mr. Jones? I'm hoping we'll find them together. I feel real bad about letting Ben get away, Mr. Jones. He'll be awful hard to track. Seems to use to this country, no? Don't worry about it. Better be got clean away. He's not trying to get clean away. What? Look there. Why, it's Ben. And he's got Riley. I figured they'd be together. Come on. Let him breathe. All right, Ben, let him go. Let him go. Now, what's this all about? Proved up, Marshal. Let him talk, Riley. It was him, Marshal. Killed his own woman. I know that as soon as I learned, he was spreading stories about how alien she was. But she weren't alien. Mr. She was a young, strong woman and done all this carrying and fetching. I know it was him when I learned that. And then it's come to me why he was doing it. So he could make like he was away fetching the duck. Well, how about it, Riley? There ain't no truth to it. If you'd give me leave, Mr., I could make him tell. I ain't one for hurting creatures, but it would come easy with him. Maybe that's a good idea. No, no, you keep him away, Marshal. Keep him away. You got something to say, Riley? All right, go ahead, Ben. All right, all right, I killed her. I killed her. She was making moon eyes at him, saying how nice and gentle he was. Now, a man don't have to take that from his woman. A man doesn't have to kill her, right? Just take him away. Okay. Yeah, Ben. I'm sorry for the fuss back at the jail. I couldn't come to meet her. I couldn't do nothing in them four walls. Yeah, Ben, I'm sorry about that. You was doing what you figured was the right thing. Man can't always know for certain. No, man can't always know for certain. Um... Come on, Ben, I'd like to buy you a drink. McDonnell stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. The story was specially written for Gunsmoke by Marion Clark, with editorial supervision by John Meston. Featured in the cast were Barney Phillips and Mick Perron. Barley Baer is Chester, Howard McNeer is Doc, and Georgia Ellis is Giddy. This is George Walsh inviting you to join us again next week when CBS Radio presents another story on Gunsmoke. Latest news next, and Walter Cronkite, Dave Cameron Sports, and The Mitch Miller Show on the CBS Radio Network. I love the music on CBS. I think they cover the news the best. I love the drama on CBS.