 Gun Smoke. Brought to you by L&M, the modern cigarette that lets you get full exciting flavor through the modern miracle of the pure white miracle tip. Live modern. Smoke L&M. Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, 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. Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the transcribed 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, 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. And Mr. Dillon, I think the person is going to make a funeral speech. Yeah, it looks that way, all right. I declare if I have to listen to any of that gondoglory talk, I'll just bust a gallus. Well, it can't last too long. Now, quiet down, folks. We've got to show the proper respect for this here chapter's deceased. Matt? Oh, Matt. What? Oh, Doc. This is the first time I've ever seen you at one of these boot hill parties. Well, I imagine you attend regularly, though, don't you, Doc, since you've put so many of them here. No more than you have, Matt. No more than you have. Hey, you fell it down there in the hole, and that's deep enough. We ain't going to plan him standing. All right, neighbors, huddle in close now. Let's give back any kind of send-off that's due and given to him. Oh, Reverend Blouse sure does love the sound of his own voice. He gets a $3 fee for this chesty. Oh, see, Matt, you really have a reason for being here. Yeah, I have, Doc, but I don't know just what to do about it. All right, folks. I come out here to boot hill for the same reason the rest of you come. So we could pay our last respects to a fellow neighbor we knowed and loved. Pachy Roundtree. Now, I can't recall I ever seen Pachy at any of my meetings. Never seen many of the rest of you there for that matter. But I still looked on him like all of you did as a fine, upstanding, courageous, Godfair gentleman. Good, honest, hard-working, accredited, Dodge City, and the whole dog-gone country roundabout. Is he talking about old Pachy Roundtree, Mr. Lever? That's what he said. Oh, but Pachy wasn't nothing but a measly, miserable, shiftless old grub-staker. That's why he was alive, Chester. He was on the trail and safe bedding down in that happy hunting ground we're all a year in and toward. Well, I've got a long journey ahead of him, folks, so let's get him started on his way. You fellows are going to be pallbearers. Get your ropes looped under the end to that coffin. We'll put him down gently. Doc, did you ever hear of a saw bones over at Walnut Springs with the name of Stearns? No. Why? Because that's who signed the death certificate. Well, it must have been some doctor who was just passing through. Something eating you, Matt? Yeah, Doc. All together now, boys. We lift him up, lower him into the grave, and then slip the rope. Ah, just a minute, person. Ah, come on, Chester. Well, I'm sorry, Marshal. Didn't know you was aiming to speak. I'm not. Well, what do you want? Reverend Blouse, I'm going to have to take a look at the corpse. Well, but Marshal, I told you that his horse rolled on him. Something terrible. He's broke up bad. Well, I've seen men broke up bad before. Chester, take that pick over there and pry a board loose on top of the coffin. All right. Now, resent this, Marshal. Why, it's reflection on my calling. I'll do respect to you, Parson, but I still got my job to do. Violent deaths have to be certified by the Marshal's office. But I told you what happened, and I brought in, in fact, his body myself. Yeah, that's right, Parson. Already in his coffin, nailed up tight. Ah, you about got it, Chester? Yes, sir. Here it is. You'll be able to... Mr. Dillon. Ah, I see it. Let me have a look here, Matt. I can tell you in two minutes what he died of. What hood died of? Doc, there's nothing here but some straw and a bunch of rocks. Only with L&M can you enjoy the full, exciting flavor of today's finest tobaccos through the modern miracle of the L&M miracle tip. Through the pure white miracle tip, L&M tastes richer, smokes cleaner, draws easier. No other cigarette, plane or filter, gives you all the flavor you want, the rich, exciting flavor you get only from L&M. So light up, free up, let your taste come alive, live modern, smoke Allen Ann. Make today your big red letter day and start to live the modern way. Live, live, live modern. Jackson, Prager, Morales, Snyder, Creed, and there's nobody named Hawkins in these bulletins, man. That is not here either, Doc, but I didn't figure it would be. You think maybe the Parsons lie? No, I figured it just wouldn't be as easy as finding a name and a stack of wanted bulletins, that's all. I can understand Pachy Roundtree taking on a partner. Why, the old coot never had one before. Yeah, not, Doc, but that's who the Reverend claims turned the coffin over to him on at Walnut Springs, a man named Preston Hawkins. He said he was Pachy's partner and he gave the Reverend a will to file, leaving everything Pachy owned to him. That's the darndest thing I ever heard of him. That's that, all right. But the coffin was full of rocks, Matt. Pachy may not even be dead. And so the will's worth nothing. No, but it might have been if that box had been buried according to plan. Sure. All I own I leave to my partner, Preston Hawkins. But Pachy never owned anything in his whole life, Matt. It's got me, Pete, Doc. If it was anybody but Reverend Blouse who brought in that box where... John? Oh, what'd you find out of the assay office, Chester? Well, sir, Pete done everything but run these rocks through his furnace. Well, what did he decide? Well, they might have come from any one of a dozen different places. But they ain't float rock out of some river bottom. What do you mean? Pete says they're fresh broke, like they've been mined. He says they're pretty good ore, lead and silver. Yeah. Maybe Pachy did own something after all. And Pete said somebody else come in with a piece of this same kind of rock this afternoon, some stranger. What? Well, what did he look like? Heavy, sad, beefy. Pete's seen him around town the last couple weeks. Wonder who it could be. I don't know, Doc. But that's something I'm going to find out. It's the man there by the end of the bar, Matt. You see what I mean? With a Calico shirt. That's right. Heavy, sad, bull, necked. He sure fits the description. You know him, Kitty? No, Matt. I don't want to. He's given the girls here a lot of trouble, Matt. He's the kind who likes to knock people around, especially if they're smaller than he is. That'd cover plenty of ground. There aren't many bigger. He's the man you're looking for, Matt. I'm sure of it. He's been around Dodge about three weeks, and he's asked about Pachy, too. And he calls himself Jeb Cruder, huh? That's right. What's it all about, Matt? Maybe Cruder knows. I'll talk to you later, Kitty. You're watching now, Matt. He's mean. Evening, Cruder. Well, it ain't the Marshall. Have a drink, law man. Cruder, I understand you took some rock into Pete Will's assay office this afternoon. Any log in it? I also understand that you've been trying to find Pachy Roundtree. Not so. Well, Marshall, suppose you go do your understanding someplace else. Mr. Cruder, in Dodge City, a man answers questions with a civil tongue in his head. It's a kind of a habit we got here. Are you even going to teach me about it, are you? Yeah, I think I am. Kitty! Get your hand away from that gun. You don't have the guts to draw it anyway. All right, now get up. Come on, on your feet, Cruder. Well, Marshall, I... I didn't mean no offense. I ask you some questions. Well, I've been looking for Pachy all right. A couple of weeks ago, I knowed him for years, but I ain't seen him in a long time. Did you find him? No, sir, and then that happened out there at Boothill this afternoon. I was just pull-axed, Marshall. You know any reason why Pachy had pull-a-trick like that? No, sir, I sure don't. I thought I might trace him through them rocks, so I took some out of Pachy's coffin. The assayer couldn't help me none. Every hair of a man named Preston Hawkins. No, sir, I just don't know nothing about this, Marshall. I tell you, I sure wouldn't want you to think I meant any offense a while ago, sir, because I was just... Cruder, don't overdo it, huh? A man can get too civil sometimes. Hey, just a second. What's the matter, Chester? I am right sorry to wake you up, but the parson's over at the office, and he says he's got to see you. Reverend Blouse, he sure picks a fine hour to come call him. Well, he ain't calling exactly. Truth is, he's awful upset, Mr. Dillon. No, what about? You won't never believe this, but the parson says he wants to confess. Yes, have an L&M. Enjoy a really modern cigarette. A cigarette that gives you all the full, exciting flavor of today's finest tobacco. No other cigarette, plain or filter, gives you the flavor you get through the modern miracle of the L&M miracle tip. Through the pure white miracle tip, L&M tastes richer. Smokes cleaner, draws easier. So light up, free up, let your taste come alive. Live modern, smoke L&M. Make today your big red letter day and start to live the modern way. Live, live, live modern. With all due respect, parson, that's about the tallest story I've heard in years. Well, I didn't lie to you, Marshal. I maybe just let you mislead yourself a little. Now, you claim that Pachyron Tree met you outside of Walnut Creek and asked you to help him, huh? The mortal fear of his life, Marshal. That's the only reason I've done it. He showed me the paper where he'd gone to in Hays and got his name changed legal to Preston Hawkins. Yeah, go on. He'd give me that willy his at the same time, leave everything to Hawkins or rather to his self under his new name. And he gave me the coffin and asked me to bring it to Dodge and have a burial service. Well, in a way, since he changed his name, legal Pachyron Tree was dead to all intents and purposes. And that's just how I looked at it, Marshal. And if it was the only way to help him out of his trouble, I was glad to do it. Now, you say Pachy claimed he was doing all this just because he was scared. He was scared. Well, he turned right every time he mentioned Jeb Cruder's name. Seems Cruder got the Indian sign on him years ago and bullied him ever since. That's why he always kept moving on, always hoping Cruder wouldn't find him again. And this time he couldn't move on because he'd stumbled into that pocket of silver or... That's right, where Walnut Creek cut sharp up through the Comatchee Hills. Well, from what I saw at Jeb Cruder, Pachy's story holds together pretty solid. Cruder's a coward and a bully, all right? He sure is. How do you figure I got my head cut open this way? I was going to ask you about that. Cruder forced his way into my house tonight. What? He buff-loaded me with his gun barrel and he threatened to shoot my wife, if I didn't tell. Didn't tell what? How to get to Pachy's silver mine. I had to, Marshal, I didn't have no choice. Why? Justin, get a couple of horses saddled fast. They smoke coming up over yonder, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, you must have a cabin there in the brush. Now, wait a minute. Now, there's the opening to his mine shaft there. Well, I declare that don't beat all. He sure has got things mighty well hid, Mr. Dillon. Yeah, there's a horse tied in the bushes, huh? I wonder if by any chance... Hit the round, Justin. There goes somebody running across the creek. Yeah, and it's Jeb Cruder. Well, he's heading for the mine shaft. Hold it, Cruder! You run the inside. Yeah, but it's probably the only way back out. Come on, Justin. Darn fool. Hard to have better sense than to run for a place. Can't get out of it. I guess he was surprised he wasn't expecting anybody to ride in on it. That's very hard. Now, you stop right there in your tracks. Well, let's pack you around the tree. Yeah, just take it easy, Justin. That's a fine darn thing. Man works all night in his diggers and can't even get his breakfast out. Somebody's shooting up a ruckus here. Well, how gone, if it ain't the marshal. Morn it, Packing. Our Preston Hawkins, I guess it is now. Hmm. I reckon you know the whole story then, huh? Yeah. That's how does Jeb Cruder. We just chased him into your mineshaft over there. Oh, you don't say so. Oh, no, that's mighty interesting. Yeah, we were just going in after him. I reckon he'll keep for a while. Let's sit down. Look, Packing, I think we've got... No, sit down, sit down, marshal. That's the only way out. He can't get out no other way. Yeah, we might as well for a minute. Yeah, no. I want to tell you about Cruder and why I done and what I done. You see, the fact is, marshal, I'm a golden coward. Oh, what do you mean? Well, I just ain't got the courage most men got. When it comes to Jeb Cruder, I ain't got none at all. I want to tell you about three years ago out in Montana territory when I thought I'd got clean away from him. I had me a little flock of sheep, built it up from nothing. Then Cruder showed up again. He hog-tied me, marshal, to make me shine over the sheep to him. Look, I want to show you my legs here. It's how come I limp like a dude? Uh, Paqui, later, huh? He held his gun six inches from the calf of my leg and put a bullet through it. I wouldn't sign, and he put a bullet through the other one. Well, I signed, marshal. Well, he ought to be hung doing a thing like that. What? Well, that comes from the mine shaft. Yeah, right on time. Well, that's darn good shoes. Come on, Chester, let's see if we can get him out of there. Oh, no, no, no, marshal, you can't go in there. Oh? No, you can't. I worked all night and got me around to drill it. Thirteen holes and loaded them up. Five, six. Yeah, I touched them off just before I went up to the cabin. But you don't understand Cruders in that shaft, Paqui. Cruder? Oh, dog, gone if it didn't clean slip my mind, marshal. Seven, eight. There's nine. Ah, that was a darn good round. Brung down a lot of rock. There's ten. I reckon I'll stick to this brand a few from now on. Paqui, what am I going to do with you? It ain't pleasant to be shot in the legs, marshal. Ah, that's eleven. I sure hope the person kept that coffin I built. Come in handy. We can find anything to put in it, besides just rock. That's thirteen. Ah, I guess that's the end of it, marshal. Yeah, I guess it is, Paqui. In a moment our star, William Conrad. Have you ever asked a naturalized American how he or she feels about the business of voting? If you have, it's probably given you a whole new slant on the matter. To those men and women who were born in other countries, the right to vote is a precious privilege. And they line up before the voting booth on election day with the same high sense of pride and responsibility that one might feel upon being awarded some rare degree. Actually, the right to vote should give us all the same heady thrill. It is we, you and I, who determine the course of our country and the conditions of our own lives with those votes we cast on election day. Just one reminder, make sure your opinions will be counted. Make sure you cast your vote by being very sure to register. Registration days differ in varying localities. Check on the time in your community and get your name on the rolls. Then take advantage of all of America's media of communication for informing yourself on the issues involved. And then when election day comes, go to the polls with pride and responsibility and vote. And now, William Conrad. You know, it took a lot of courage to stand on a frontier street facing some gunfighter who wants to take your life. Yet next week, a man does just this, knowing full well that he can't even draw his gun. And that was the West. Gun Smoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal. The script was specially written for Gun Smoke by Les Crutchfield with editorial supervision by John Meston. The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns by Ray Kemper and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Ralph Moody, Paul Dubov and Joseph Kearns. Harley Bear as Chester, Howard McNeer as Doc, and Georgia Ellis as Giddy. Join us again next week for another specially transcribed story as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gun Smoke.