Gunsmoke: Trojan War - When the Law Isn’t Enough to Stop What’s Coming

When the Pueblo Gang rides into Dodge City, Matt Dillon already knows their history. Stage holdups from Colorado to the California border. Men shot in the back. A reputation that travels faster than the law. Dillon warns them plainly: one wrong move and all three of them are done. But in Dodge, a man can’t be jailed on suspicion alone  and so the Gang sits down to eat, and Dillon walks away to wait.

The Buckeye stage is more than two hours late. The gold dust shipment - $80,000 or more - should have been on the eastbound Santa Fe by three o’clock. When Dillon and Chester ride out to meet it, they find the coach wrecked in a draw, the guard and driver shot dead, the strongbox empty. And in the willows by the river, a woman named Helen Ford - someone Dillon once knew as Helen Marlowe, shot and left behind in the cold. The Pueblo Gang is back in Dodge. The reckoning has only just begun.

Episode Quotes

“The law doesn’t say you can hang a man because he might steal a horse.” - Marshal Matt Dillon

“A man shouldn’t be jailed on suspicion, I figured, just because he might do something wrong. Only sometimes you can see it a lot plainer afterwards.” - Marshal Matt Dillon

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

Thrifty Foods Mile Card Game Program allows organizations to immediately save up to six percent on the purchase of smile cards in gold, allowing you to keep more money in your organization's pockets. Ask for details at Thrifty Foods in Parksville.

SPEAKER_06 0:28

Around Odd City and in the territory on West, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's for the US Marshal and the smell of gun smoke. Gun smoke, starring William Conrad, the story of the violence that moved west with young America, the story of the man who moved with it, Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Hi, it's a cold morning, Mr. Dillons.

SPEAKER_09 1:33

Yeah. I'm ready for spring, just for the tail end of winter always gets on my nerves. Well, it shouldn't be long now. The worst of it's bound to be over. I hope so. Hey, let's trust Del Monico's hair, huh? I'm always ready to eat, Mr. Dillons.

SPEAKER_05 1:50

Morning, Matt. Justin.

SPEAKER_09 1:52

Oh, hi, Kitty.

SPEAKER_05 1:53

How about joining me, huh?

SPEAKER_09 1:55

Well, thank you. Pull up a chair, Chester. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_05 1:59

You're up early this morning, Matt. Usually you don't even start breathing till noon.

SPEAKER_09 2:03

It's too cold to sleep, Kitty. That jail stove always burns itself out about five o'clock in the morning. From then on, you just have to.

SPEAKER_03 2:10

Oh, what is it, Matt?

SPEAKER_09 2:13

Chester, that second table from the window over there. Those three men there. You know them?

SPEAKER_10 2:20

I'm sure I don't think you do.

SPEAKER_09 2:22

Well, I do. Ran into them about four years ago out in Arizona territory. That's the Pueblo gang. Never heard of them coming this far east before. Well, you want some help, Mr. No, just sit tight, Chester. Man? Uh, order me some sausage and buckfreet cakes, Kitty, will you? I'll be right back.

SPEAKER_07 2:42

Yeah, you're coming in. I don't want to stay in this town. I don't like it enough. Go ahead.

SPEAKER_09 2:49

Morning, boys. It's the Farks brothers, isn't it? Ed and Rio and Chuck Evans. Well, what about it? Easy, Rio. It's still in the U.S. Marshal, the one I told you about. Yeah, I'll bet you did. What'd you tell him, Chuck? Look, Dylan, our food's getting cold. You got something on your mind or not? Nothing important, Rio. I figure it's quite an honor to have the poeboe gang in town. I just thought I'd drop over and tell you how I felt about it. And uh, how do you feel? Well, that depends, Ed. Are you boys here on business or pleasure? Does it uh make a difference? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it makes a difference. I know your reputation wester here. Half the stage holdups in the last five years from Colorado to the California border can be laid right at your door. But as far as I know, you're clean in Dodge City so far. Now, all right, you just keep it that way. You make one move here and your time's up. Right then, you're short, and I'll take you, all three of you. You understand? Sure, we understand. We'll think it over, Dylan. Let you know what we decided for. Rio, you talk too much. Now see you around, boys.

SPEAKER_10 4:04

You can put the gun away now, Chester. All right. I was just gonna be ready in case.

SPEAKER_03 4:09

Um, Matt, I thought I'd tell you. Those boys are mean. They were in the Texas Trail last night. They're just downright mean. Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_09 4:19

What do we do, Mr.

SPEAKER_10 4:20

Dillon? Run them out of town?

SPEAKER_09 4:21

Not unless they give us some reason to, Chester. The law doesn't say you can hang a man because he might steal a horse. He'll forget it. Let's see, huh? Train just about ready to pull out, looks like. Yeah, it's one time. It's three o'clock. Be in St. Louis tomorrow night in Chicago the next day. If the engine holes up. Well, they don't break down so much anymore.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

They're getting them worked out, so they're pretty dependable.

SPEAKER_09 5:00

Yeah, I guess so.

SPEAKER_10 5:01

You ever get a hankering to take a trip back east, Mr. Dillon? Just to see how things have changed.

SPEAKER_09 5:07

Not me, Chester. I've been on the frontier too long. I'd be lost back there. I wouldn't know how to act.

SPEAKER_10 5:13

I guess man could get his rope kinked over which fork to use your butt to matter.

SPEAKER_09 5:19

Oh, hi, Will. He'll be a stagecoach runner for a long time to come, yeah. Railroad's not bothering me any. Glad to hear that. Something else is, though. No? Matt, the stage from Buckeye is more than two hours overdue. I'm getting a little worried. Why, it's usually late, isn't it? Not on this particular day of the month. What's today particular? Gold dust. It's the day those plaster mines out there always ship for cleanup. Charlie's never missed getting it here at three o'clock on time for the eastbound Santa Fe. Not once. Who's riding a shotgun, Will? Houston Jack. He's a good man. I doubt if there's any cause to worry. That shipment runs $80,000 or $100,000 sometimes, Matt. Never been laid before. Oh, Charlie will probably roll in any minute, Uncle. We'll see you later, Will. So long. What do you think, Mr. Dillon? Same as you do, Chester. Let's ride off and meet that stage.

SPEAKER_01 6:38

I still think I heard a whore clean in Miss Dillon.

SPEAKER_09 6:41

Yeah, I thought I heard it too.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

We must be an hour and a half in town the way the stage runs.

SPEAKER_09 6:47

He sure is late, all right. I hope late is all it is, Chester. I hope it's not.

SPEAKER_01 6:52

There. There, there it is again, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_09 6:54

Yeah, it came from that draw over there somewhere on that Silmax ticket. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

Look, Mr. Dillon. Wheel tracks leading off the trail.

SPEAKER_09 7:07

Yeah. Running at a dead gallop and out of controls.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Bye bye.

SPEAKER_09 7:17

Well, Chester, there's the stage. I don't see any sign of life, Miss Dillons. So let's take a look. Oh.

SPEAKER_10 7:29

There's tracks all around.

SPEAKER_09 7:33

Must have been three or four horses here. Yeah, three the way I'm figuring it. I'll lay any odds you want.

SPEAKER_10 7:40

This is some of the that's Houston Jack, ain't you?

SPEAKER_09 7:46

Yeah. Shot in the back of the head. And he didn't take any chances. He must have ridden up behind the stage and fired without any warning. That's probably what spooked the horses and started the runaway. Yeah, they shot the lead horse. It's an old tricker.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Charlie's still up here on the box. They got him, too. Strong box. That's been four throats.

SPEAKER_09 8:19

It's empty. All right, Chester, let's cut these horses loose and get them out of the traces of. Come on, Allah. It's the same way they used to work it out west. Shoot the guard in the back and let the team run until they're far enough off the trail and then kill the lead horse to stop them.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

You mean that through that both gang? Yeah, through us. Oh.

SPEAKER_09 8:47

That's a good thing there weren't any passengers. They'd have got the same treatment.

SPEAKER_12 8:51

All right, there you go.

SPEAKER_10 8:57

I think there were some passengers, Mr. Jill. One, at least. Right? There's a couple of trunks tied on top and a carpet bag of some kind inside the stage. Let's have a look.

SPEAKER_09 9:18

Say, maybe one of the gang was riding as a passenger. They wouldn't leave trunks behind it. What is it? It's stuff in the carpet. Belongs to a woman.

SPEAKER_10 9:31

There's no woman here.

SPEAKER_09 9:33

Yeah, I know.

SPEAKER_10 9:38

And they must have taken her.

SPEAKER_09 9:40

Yeah. It's almost dark. Come on, Chester, let's try to pick up their trail. It's just no use going any farther, Mr. Dillon. It's too dark to tell what we're doing. Well, they were heading toward the river here. Let's take a look through these woolows, and if we don't find anything, then we'll ride on back to town. All right. I still keep getting a faint whip of wood smoke from somewhere.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

So I wish we would find the fire.

SPEAKER_09 10:22

It's getting colder in the kitchen. Wait a minute. Let's look over there.

SPEAKER_10 10:27

Well, I don't swear. It's fire, all right. And what's left of one of them, Mr. Dillon? You suppose you see it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_09 10:37

Let's leave the horses here and go up on foot. Well, there's nothing moving. No sign's alive.

SPEAKER_10 10:48

I couldn't have left too long ago. That fire would have burned itself out. Well I'd say we're too late. I think they're gone.

SPEAKER_09 11:06

Yeah, it looks that way, all right. Yeah, half hour or an hour ago. Made a fast camps take long enough to warm up and then we. What was that? I don't know. Here over here, Chester. There's somebody lying on the ground. Help me.

SPEAKER_13 11:32

Help me, please.

SPEAKER_09 11:35

Throw some brush on the fire, Chester. Yes, sir. No, it's all right, miss.

SPEAKER_13 11:43

Three of them. Robbed the steam. Killed the driver and the guard. Brought me with them.

SPEAKER_09 11:51

Anything I can do, Mr. Dillon? No, Chester, I'm afraid not. Hello, women. Chester, get some light over here. Grab one of those branches that's caught fire. Mr. Dillon, just easy now, ma'am. Just easy now. It's gonna be all right.

SPEAKER_13 12:07

I pleaded with them. Beggnant to let me go.

SPEAKER_09 12:15

This helped anything? See, I'll hold it over here. Helen.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

They wouldn't. They wouldn't let me go.

SPEAKER_09 12:27

Helen before.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

And when they left they drew their gun.

SPEAKER_09 12:39

You know who they were.

SPEAKER_02 12:48

One in one corner.

SPEAKER_10 13:07

We gotta get it all.

SPEAKER_09 13:32

Yeah, it's just too late. I'll carry her back to Dodge and you're satellite for her chest. A long time ago. Other things happen the way they do. When did she marry Bill Ford went out to Colorado? A long time ago. I didn't expect I'd ever see her again.

SPEAKER_10 14:05

It's a bad thing, Miss Yellow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 14:12

Yeah. And I'm gonna see him hang for it.

SPEAKER_08 14:27

We will return.

SPEAKER_06 14:33

We will return for the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment, but first, everybody's got a heart. That's a plenty solid reason for everybody to support with generous contributions the annual fun drive of the heart campaign. Don't forget what your money pays for is aimed at making the sick well and keeping the well from getting sick. Support the heart campaign again this year. Now for the second act of Gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_09 15:23

We'll check the livery stable first. They could have pulled out, of course, but a layout as they came straight back into town.

SPEAKER_10 15:29

You won't take long to find out.

SPEAKER_09 15:31

Now let's go in.

unknown 15:36

What?

SPEAKER_08 15:37

Who there? Who is it?

SPEAKER_09 15:39

Matt Dillon. Is that you, Mr. Kelvin?

SPEAKER_08 15:41

Oh, yeah, sure is, Marshal. Let me get a lantern lid. And just fixing the loff up the stable and go over and grab myself a bite to eat. Running things alone again tonight, and confounded boy didn't show up. Like he's not drunk and seen.

SPEAKER_09 15:57

There. Come on, Marshal. We got a fire going back in the office. Come on back. Set us free. I'd like to, Calvin, but we don't have time. I'm looking for some horses. Well, I got him, Marshal. You want to buy, trade, or hire. Just a look. There are three fellas staying over at the Dodge House. They've been there about a week: Ed and Rio Parks and Chuck Evans. They're keeping their horses here.

SPEAKER_08 16:18

Yeah, they are, right back here. And if I ever saw a ruination in the good horse place, this is it. There. Take a look clear. That one belongs to the oldest parks boy, Ed, and the one next to which Rio's.

SPEAKER_09 16:34

They've been rode, Mr. Dillon. And they've been rode plenty. Yeah. What time did they come in, Calvin? Oh, it's about an hour ago, more or less. Gone since forenoon, just come back a little while ago. Look at that horse. Been rubbed down twice. He's still wet. That didn't say where they'd been, did it? No, not damn.

SPEAKER_08 16:51

They ain't the toughness kind. Just left their horses and went on over the hotel. Well, wherever they were, Dorry, they must have been riding like the devil himself was chasing them.

SPEAKER_09 17:00

Well, maybe he was. Uh, thanks, Mr. Calve. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess there's not much doubt of it, Chester. No, sir. It was them, all right. And I could have stopped it before it happened. A man shouldn't be jailed on suspicion, I figured. Just because he might do something wrong.

SPEAKER_10 17:24

Well, my. Everybody has to play it the way he sees it.

SPEAKER_09 17:30

Sometimes you can see it a lot plainer afterward. What do we do? Go get him, that's all.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Well, where do we start looking?

SPEAKER_09 17:52

The Texas Trail. One thing, Chester, before we go in. Now you leave the play on this to me, huh? Just keep me covered, that's all.

SPEAKER_10 18:02

Mr. John. What was her name before she was married?

SPEAKER_09 18:08

Marlowe. Helen Marlowe. All right, come on, let's go.

SPEAKER_12 18:18

Yeah. I don't.

SPEAKER_04 18:20

It's a real dull even up until now. Hiya, Master Cheton. It's kitty, kitty.

SPEAKER_09 18:27

Uh I'm looking for the Pueblo gang. Have any of them been in here?

SPEAKER_05 18:32

Why, yeah. One of them here now. Little Pop. He's over there at the fellow table. Well, what's wrong, Matt? What happened?

SPEAKER_09 18:41

They held up the Buckeye stage. Killed Charlie and Houston Jack. And a passenger. A woman. Helen Ford. All right, Chester.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

Be careful, Matt.

SPEAKER_09 18:53

Yeah, sure, Kitty. Just cover me, Chester. That's all. Get you. This man over here. With someone to 500 and says I've got the car. Are you gonna cover me or not?

SPEAKER_12 19:07

What's the matter?

SPEAKER_09 19:08

You all a bunch of bikers? Maybe they haven't been out robbing stagecoaches, Rio. What do you mean by that? Maybe they don't make their living by killing women. Dylan, the man could get in trouble shooting off his mouth that way. You're already in trouble. All right, boys, Rio's checking in his hand. The game's over. You can slide on at the end of the table over there.

SPEAKER_01 19:33

Well, I've done the talk to that man.

SPEAKER_09 19:36

You're under arrest for murder, Rio. I know what you're talking about, Dylan. Murder. A murder that you're gonna hang for. Now, where are the other two? Go find them if you want them. I'm gone to as soon as I finish with you. I said you're under arrest, Rio. Now get your hands up. Supposing I don't, Dylan. You're not gonna make any play. You don't have the guts. Shooting a man in the back is more your line, Rio. You're killing a woman. Now get your hands up. That's better. All right, Chester, get his gun.

SPEAKER_10 20:34

Seems like it's getting colder, Mr. Dillon.

SPEAKER_09 20:36

Clear as a bell, though. Look at that moon.

SPEAKER_10 20:41

Hurry, you suppose they are. You've been in nearly every saloon on Front Street.

SPEAKER_09 20:45

I don't know, Chester, but wherever they are, we're gonna find them.

SPEAKER_10 20:47

And you know something, Mr. Dillon? When we do arrest the other two, they're as good as hung with the evidence we got on them.

SPEAKER_09 20:54

I haven't arrested them yet.

SPEAKER_10 20:57

Maybe them other two won't be taken as easy as Rio.

SPEAKER_09 21:01

That's up to them. If they want to surrender, they can. I've never shot a man with his hands up. Chester. Huh? Ben's barbershop, owner. The man that he's shaving.

SPEAKER_10 21:15

It's kind of hard to tell with all that ladder on there.

SPEAKER_09 21:17

No, it's Ed Park's. Come on.

SPEAKER_10 21:21

And there's just him and Ben in the shop. I wonder where Chuck Evans is.

SPEAKER_09 21:26

We'll worry about him later.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Just help yourself this seat, gentlemen. Be ready for you just to send me a.

SPEAKER_09 21:34

Oh, even, Mark. How are you, Ben? Yeah, I didn't know you were in the habit of shaving outlaws.

SPEAKER_01 21:40

Uh, well, maybe you're mistaken, Marco.

SPEAKER_09 21:43

You just have a seat there and now I recognize him, all right. It's Ed Parks.

SPEAKER_07 21:49

Uh, well, I looks like you got the advantage of me, Dylan.

SPEAKER_09 21:54

Well, we can't have that, Ed. Wipe the lather off his face, Ben.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

Yes. Sir, your thing, Marshal. Just a second now, Mr. Parks. There. There you are.

SPEAKER_09 22:06

It's too bad you have to leave that shave half finished, Ed. But they'll give you a free one just before they hang you. What are you talking about, Dylan?

SPEAKER_01 22:15

Now just.

SPEAKER_09 22:15

Once you're under arrest for murder, get your hands up. Your brother's waiting for you at the jail.

SPEAKER_08 22:21

Your arrest is real.

SPEAKER_09 22:24

What about the hands, Ed? Are you gonna put them up? No, I'm sorry. Huh? That was a fast move for a barber, Ben.

SPEAKER_01 22:37

I knew he had a gun under the towel, Marshal, but of course he couldn't say anything about it.

SPEAKER_09 22:42

Well, thank you, Ben. And if you'll send the bill for your shaving mug to the stage company, they'll probably take care of it for you. Yes, sir, Mr. Dillon. Chapster, spill some water on him. I want him to walk to jail. I'll bet Chuck Evans got clean away, Mr. Dillon. And the word must have got to him. Well, he had to do it awful fast. The clerk said he checked out of the hotel less than ten minutes ago. Kelvin? And the light must hurt his eyes. He never keeps a lantern burning. Afraid of fire, maybe. Kelvin? Are you there, Calvin?

SPEAKER_08 23:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_09 23:33

Hey, what's wrong? Who is it? Matt Dillon. Oh. Strike a light. A man could fall over something in this stable and break his neck.

SPEAKER_08 23:40

Right, all right. Don't get excited. I'm used to it myself, or know just where everything is and don't see any point in wasting oil when.

SPEAKER_09 23:50

Now, what's on your mind, Marshal? Chuck Evans, is his horse still here? Yes, indeed, it most certainly is. As a matter of fact, he's back there saddling up right now. Good. I told him it seemed like a full-time night to start out on a trip. I just can't reason with anybody that treats horses with that bunch of stuff, I guess.

SPEAKER_12 24:08

Tell him.

SPEAKER_09 24:11

Well, go on, answering.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Yeah? What is it? Give me a hair back here, will you?

SPEAKER_09 24:19

Tell him yes.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

All right. I'm coming.

SPEAKER_09 24:23

What's this all about, Marshal? Nothing to get yourself worked up about. Just stay right here and stay out of the way. All right, Chester.

SPEAKER_10 24:34

You got a lantern back there. Dolphin. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 24:38

How are you ever write about one thing, Chester? He's trying to leave town.

SPEAKER_07 24:42

Give me a hand with this, Kelvin.

SPEAKER_09 24:43

I can't seem to get to you going somewhere, Chuck.

SPEAKER_07 24:51

Now, look, look, Dylan, you got nothing on me. Lay off.

SPEAKER_09 24:54

The Fox boys are in jail.

SPEAKER_07 24:56

I don't know anything about it, Dylan. You can't prove a thing, and you can't shoot me. I'm not even wearing a gun. It's hanging there on the saddle horn.

SPEAKER_09 25:06

Yeah. So I see.

SPEAKER_07 25:08

If the other boys did something, I don't know anything about it.

SPEAKER_09 25:11

You're a liar, Chuck. And you're a coward.

SPEAKER_07 25:17

You've got no call to talk like that.

SPEAKER_09 25:22

You're under arrest. Chester, get his gun off the saddle.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Wait on, but you don't. He's got another gun. Fellow inside. Help me.

SPEAKER_09 25:30

You're scared, Chuck. You're too scared to shoot straight.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Help me.

SPEAKER_09 25:41

Well, I guess that does it, Chester. Come on. What with Michael? Looks like what happens? Evans is dead. The Farks boys are gonna hang your short three customers, Cove. Oh, well, who's going to pay the stable bill? The stable bill? Yeah. You got their horses. Sell them.

SPEAKER_08 25:59

Oh, yeah, I never thought of that. Well, it serves them right. Anybody that would treat a horse weigh that bunch, you David.

SPEAKER_10 26:12

Guess it's over, Mr. Dillon. Yeah. It's over, Chester. And it's just as well. This country would be a lot better off with them towels dead than alive.

SPEAKER_09 26:22

I guess so.

SPEAKER_10 26:25

Even the moon looks brighter.

SPEAKER_09 26:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_10 26:30

Mr. Dillon, you're still thinking you should have jailed them on suspicion, aren't you?

SPEAKER_09 26:36

I'd have half a dodge in jail if I started that. No, Chester. It's the kind of a chance a lawman has to take. Yes. Whether he likes it or not. Yes, sir. But I'm not liking it much right now. In the morning, I'm gonna have a talk with the preacher about holding the service for Helen. It's about all I can do for her now.

SPEAKER_06 27:21

Gunsmoke, under the direction of Norman MacDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall. Tonight's story was especially written for Gunsmoke by Les Crutchfield, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were Lawrence Dobkin, Tom Tully, Paul Dubov, John Boehner, Harry Bartell, and Louise Lewis. Parley Bear is Chester, and Georgia Ellis is Kitty. Gun Smoke is heard by our troops overseas through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. Join us again next week as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in Gun Smoke. More Godfrey, yeah, starting tomorrow on most of these same CBS radio stations, there will be more Arthur Godfrey and his gang presented by CBS Radio for a Sunday listener. Folks who are regular Arthur Godfrey fans know there's been a 30-minute roundup of Arthur Godfrey time Sundays at the stars address. But starting tomorrow, there will be a 30-minute tour with Arthur Godfrey and all the wonderful Arthur Godfrey gang. This is Roy Rowan speaking. And remember, Lionel Barrymore, your host on the Sunday night playhouse on the CDS Radio Network.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

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