Gunsmoke: Old Lady - A Mother's Cold Reckoning

Marshal Matt Dillon and his deputy Chester ride past the Henry homestead one quiet morning and get a rifle shot for their trouble. Ellen Henry has never taken kindly to visitors, not since her husband Ethan died five years back and left her to scrape by alone. Her son Luther should be the one holding the place together, but he is more often found drinking away his afternoons at the Long Branch than doing an honest day's work, and the homestead shows it: three lean-tos and not a green thing growing.

When rancher Karnes reports cattle stolen off his spread two nights running, suspicion falls hard on Luther. Dillon rides out to press Ellen for answers and gets nothing but a cold shoulder, then finds Ellen herself riding back into Dodge at dusk with Luther's body slung across her saddle. She claims she found him dead. But when Dillon follows her trail into the night, he uncovers a far darker truth about a mother who buried her love for her son the same day she buried her husband.

Episode Quotes

"I’ve been dead five years, and your time’s running short too, Cass." - Ellen Henry

"It takes courage to love, to love with all of you. When the love goes, there’s nothing left but hate." - Ellen Henry

"You’d be taking the coward’s way out, Ellen, if you made me kill you." - Marshal Matt Dillon

Radio Archaeology is a Vancouver Island podcast celebrating the Golden Age of Radio through classic broadcasts including Gunsmoke, Dragnet and other timeless radio dramas while exploring the history of vintage broadcasting and storytelling. Radio Archaeology is part of The PULSE Podcast Community.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsor Tablet Pharmacy for supporting ThePulseCommunity.ca.

All episodes of The PULSE Community Podcast can be found on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, TikTok and YouTube Podcasts, as well as ThePulseCommunity.ca.

Check out Skookum Kid's Stories on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, iHeart, and YouTube Podcasts, with downloadable Colouring Pages.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter of new podcast releases and contests!

Check out the Vancouver Island Podcast Directory: The Vancouver Island Podcast Directory is a free public resource curated by The PULSE Community, helping listeners discover podcasts produced on Vancouver Island and the surrounding coastal islands.

#ThePulseCommunity #PulsePodcast #Gunsmoke #RadioArchaeology #ClassicRadio #MattDillon #ParksvilleQualicumBeach #VancouverIslandPodcasts

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you ever find yourself waiting endlessly at a big box pharmacy feeling like just another number, at Tablet Pharmacy, they provide the personalized service you deserve. They offer free delivery and blister packaging options to make managing your medications easier than ever. Check their competitive prices online at tabletpharmacy.ca.

SPEAKER_04 0:29

Around God City and the Territorian West, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with a U.S. Marshal and the smell of gunsmoke. Gun Smoke, starring William Conrad, the transcribed story of the violence that moved west with young America, the story of a man who moved with it. Matt Dillon, United States Marshal.

SPEAKER_05 1:37

There's Helen Henry's homestead. Wonder how she'd take the serving up a breakfast, Mission Dillon. I'm palm hungry. I'll settle for water and the horses. I don't imagine Ellen has any extra food. No, sir. It's gone pretty hard for her since Ethan died, hasn't it? That's the talk. Look at her place. Three lean twos and not a green thing growing. I don't know how she makes out. Well, maybe Luther helps more than the folks giving credit for. For a son, he's not much good to my way of thinking. I don't know when he turns a hand for his mother between stops at the Texas trail and the long branch. At least not much like his father was. Or Ellen either, for that matter. That's a might early. Nobody's stirring. Well we're. We better just water our horses and ride on, Chester. Yes, sir. Quiet like, isn't it? Where'd you come from, Mr. Dillon? Uh, from the house, I think. Luther? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

You're trespassing. Get off my land.

SPEAKER_05 2:46

It's Marshal Dillon, Alan. We just stopped to water our horses.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

I recognize you. Trespassing still goes, Marshal.

SPEAKER_05 2:56

You're awful quick to fire, Ellen.

SPEAKER_01 2:58

Ethan and me never took to folks arriving unannounced. I still don't take it here.

SPEAKER_05 3:04

Well, that's no cause to be firing on us that way, Miss Henry, especially since you recognize it.

SPEAKER_01 3:09

Quit whimpering. If I'd aim to hit you, I'd have hit you.

SPEAKER_05 3:14

All right, Ellen.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Get off my land and stay off.

SPEAKER_05 3:20

Just don't you get in any trouble with that rifle, Ellen.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

I expect you'll hear about it if I do, Marshal. Now get. I don't always aim high.

SPEAKER_05 3:32

Come on, Chester. How old would you say she is, Mr. Dillon? Well, she can't be over 40, I guess. If that. She looks like an old woman. 60 or more. She's dried up. Dead inside. Remember when Ethan and her and the boy came out here, Mr. Dillon, right after the war? She's an awful pretty little thing. Mm-hmm. Luther was a little more than a baby then. Well, Mr. Dillon, I was just thinking. Ethan was so proud of his homestead and his boy and Ellen. Now he's five years dead, the boy's gone bad. His wife and his homestead, they've just dried up. It's kind of sad, ain't it? Yeah, it is. Well, come on, Chester, let's get on into Dutch. Morning, Marshal. Oh, Mitch. Well, will it be? Set up a bottle of rye, will you? Yes, sir, Marshal Dillon. Look, there's Luther over there at the table.

SPEAKER_03 5:14

Alone.

SPEAKER_05 5:15

Yeah, I saw him. Thanks, Mitch. Wait here, Chester. Yes, sir. Mitch, could it have a little sugar in here, please? Mind if I don't get to my feet, Marshal? I got the feeling if I tried to stand up straight, I'd fall over first thing I knew. Sit still, Luther. I just don't have a lot of choice about it, Marshal. I was out by your place this morning, Luther. I hadn't seen your mother in a long time. Wish I could say the same. A woman shouldn't have to run a homestead alone. Not when her son's big enough to be a real help. Is this a lecture, Marshal? A do-good talk. Put your own name on it, Luther. I can't make you feel what you don't feel. But in a way, you're responsible for your mother and what she does. I'm real lucky, Marshal. I can quit listening anytime, but don't want to hear something. Between the old lady and people like you, I quit listening an awful lot. Get it straight, Luther. I don't care what happens to you. I done something wrong. You accusing me of something unlawful, Marshal? No. But if you have any feeling left for your mother or what happens to her, you'll do something about her. Living out there alone so much, she's gone a little crazy. She's shot at you. That always concerning you, Marshal. Half the time I do go home, she levels off at me. I gotta ride in under fire. Her crawling on my belly. She's crazy, like you said. I swear she's crazy. Then you ought to bring her into town. Get a keeper for her. Maybe I would. If I cared what happened to her. I don't care. I don't care at all. Well, that's up to you, Luther. Now, that's just another one of them things I didn't hear you say, Marshal. Luther's just plain drunk, isn't he, sir? That and just plain no good. Well, whatever you said drove him right out of here, Mr. Dillon. Mm-hmm. Well, we haven't been in the office since early yesterday, Chester. All right, sir. Only. Only what? Well, sir. Mitch's got a catalog in the back room, and he's not busy, and he says it's just full of things you can order straight from St. Louis. I thought I'd. Well. You got extra money, have you, Chester? Oh, no, sir. Well, that is not really extra money, Mr. Dillon. It's just that. Well, Mitch swears you can get underwear from this catalog that don't rub your skin raw, and I'd like to take a look at it. All right, Chester. I'll wait. Yes, sir. Thank you. Oh, Marshal. Oh, hello, Cass. Now, what's on your mind? Talk I heard, Marshal. It's a private life. Maybe we'd go to your office. Couldn't do our talking here. I thought you was always of a mind to get me inside there, Marshal. Well, you could turn the key on me. Maybe I will someday, Cass. Now come on, speak up. Yeah, I heard talk of Luther Henry rode cattle off Carnes Past night. Saw you talking with them just now. Wondered if you'd heard the same. I haven't heard a thing, Cass. Odd, you wouldn't know. I was out at Dodge last night, all night. Uh. I wonder if it's so. Luther didn't give himself away when you talked just now. You're the one who's heard the talk, Cass. I got my rights. I can ask questions of you, Marshal. If a man's herd ain't safe, he's got a right to know. Are you worried for Carnes or for you? If Carnes' cattle can be rowed off, mine can. No? I didn't know you had much of a herd. What a man has is his own business, Marshal. I'm asking about Luther and the other rider. They say there was two. If Luther's wrong with the law, I'll get him. Is there anything else on your mind? Thanks, Mick. Not a thing, Marshal. But I don't much like your attitude. I can't see that worrying me too much, Cass. All right, Chester, let's go. Yes, you can. Mr. Dillon, I was watching him from the back there. He's a snivelling sort, that cat.

SPEAKER_03 10:26

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 10:28

Come to think of it, though, I don't know a single bad thing he's done. Know any good he's done? No, sir. Can't say that it do, Mr. Dillon. How about you, Jeff? Find out about your fancy underwear. Uh. Yes, sir. All right, now we can tend to business, huh? Come on. Hello, Marshal. I was waiting for you. Oh, good morning, Mr. Carnes. How do you, Chester? How do you, Mr. Carnes? You got the key, Chester. Yes, sir. Well, I don't see you in town much, Mr. Carnes. Only when I got business, Marshal. Yeah. Well, come on in, won't you? My, it's close in here. We've been away a day and a night, Mr. Carnes. Sure gets close that way. I'll just open up the back. Won't you have a chair, Mr. Carnes? I don't have a long piece to say, Marshal. It don't take long to say some of my cattle were stolen last night. Yeah, I heard. So soon? Yeah, Cass Stedder told me about it a few minutes ago. Hmm. Well, I don't know how Cass come by the information, but it's true. This is the second time it's happened in the last few weeks. You don't keep much cattle, do you? Hardly any. I suppose a hundred heads is the most I ever had at one time. Mm-hmm. But last night I lost five or six about the same time before. Cass was of the mind that uh Luther Henry did it. I don't know, Marshal. One of my hands said Luther was out of my place the other day just looking around. I got no real reason to suspect him. Only thing I know is that whoever it was rides a horse that shot all the way around. You don't see a lot of that on the prairie. No, you don't. Do you think there was just one rider, Mr. Carnes? There was two from the tracks, but the boys and me lost them in the rain. I thought I'd tell you about it, Marshal. I can't afford to lose a little I got. No, I'll do what I can, Mr. Carnes. I kind of hope it isn't Luther. Not for him so much as Ellen. She's had enough trouble. Yeah. Well, Chester and I'll ride out to the Henrik Place and look around, Mr. Carnes. If uh Luther's guilty, maybe some of Ellen's troubles will be over. Or maybe they'll just be beginning.

SPEAKER_04 13:12

We will return for the second act of Gunsmoke in just a moment. But first, in the 17th annual poll of Noted Daily, CBS Radio won 12 first places. The top poll award, champion of champions, went to the Jack Benny Show. Best comedian was Eve Arden on R. Miss Brooks. Best comedian, Jack Benny. Best Master of Ceremonies, Bing Crosby. Bing also won the nod as Best Popular Male Vocalist. Doris Day was rated Best Feminine Pop Vocalist. And so it went in all twelve first places. Now for the second act of Gunsmoke.

SPEAKER_05 14:20

You think we should be flying a white flag as we ride up, Chester? No, I'd feel a little safer to tell honest truth. She's got no reason to fire on us. But I'll agree that's pretty small comfort. No. Look yonder, Mr. Dillon. I think I saw her peering out. It's all right, Chester. Come on. I don't see Luther's horse around. Maybe he isn't here.

SPEAKER_01 15:03

Well.

SPEAKER_05 15:05

Afternoon, Ellen. I uh want to talk a bit about uh Luther.

SPEAKER_01 15:10

I got work to do in the shed. I'll go in there. You want to talk? All right.

SPEAKER_05 15:24

Let me help, Ellen.

SPEAKER_01 15:25

I'll get it. He's got a loose shoe. I am to fix it.

SPEAKER_05 15:37

Well, we could be a hand, Ellen, if you. Yes, I'm proud, too.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

I aim to fix it myself.

SPEAKER_05 15:42

All right.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

He wouldn't have shoes if I waited for a man to shoe him. Here. Easy. Easy, Dow. Easy. Oh. You come to talk, Marshal.

SPEAKER_05 16:02

Yeah, about Luther.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

Come on, hope it. Huh. Two nails clean out. No wonder it's loose.

SPEAKER_05 16:12

Carnes lost some cattle last night. Two riders got off with five or six head. One of Carnes' hands thinks Luther was one of them. Is he around, Ellen?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

I told you before. He comes and goes, Luther does.

SPEAKER_05 16:35

Have you seen him since we were here this morning?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Don't recall that I have, Marshal. I've got other things to occupy my thoughts. Like trying to get together enough money to go back to my people. What to do with those nails?

SPEAKER_05 16:52

Here they are, man.

SPEAKER_01 16:53

Oh.

SPEAKER_05 16:54

I'd admire to help you, Miss Henry.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

I'll do it.

SPEAKER_05 16:58

That's a fine horse, Ellen. A real fine horse. Shot all the way around.

SPEAKER_01 17:03

Come on, Lord. And where's Eaton's way?

SPEAKER_05 17:08

This your horse or uh Luther's?

SPEAKER_01 17:12

Mine.

SPEAKER_05 17:16

What? That was Luther, Mr. Dillon, and he took your horse. Yeah. You want to make a run after him, sir? Not when he's wild, Chester. I don't want you shot or him either. I just want to talk to him. Hall he just comes and goes, huh, Ellen?

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Believe what you want, Marshal. I didn't know he was around. Like I said, I never know. Quit carrying. Don't worry, Marshal. Luther will get his. He's had it coming to him for a long time.

SPEAKER_05 17:56

Well, I guess we ride back double, Chester. Yes, sir, we sure do. Luther sure cut out quick, Mr. Dillon. Maybe he did run those cattle off Carn't place last night. Maybe. He's running away from something. Wonder where he'll hide. Everybody around here knows your horse. Oh, he's made a lot of mistakes. He'll make more. Nothing says he's gonna turn bright all of a sudden. You're not worried about your horse then, Mr. Dillon. I don't think so, Chester. What kind of a woman is that, Mr. Dillon? Ellen? Yes, sir. I don't know. I'm not much of a hand to understand women, Chester. Any woman. I don't know. You think she knew Luther was home all along? Maybe. I just don't understand it, Mr. Dillon. It's not right somehow, a woman not caring about her own son. You hear her, she said right out, I quit caring. It just don't seem right. Still might close in here. I believe I'll leave them back windows up a spell, Mr. Dillon. I think I'll go up to Amil's blacksmith shop, Chester, and see if he has a horse to spare. All right, you. Uh, there's some paperwork to catch up on if you get the time. Yes, sir. Of course, you'll want to write that place in Chicago about your underwear, the first thing. That's your Mr. Dillon. I'll be back, Chester. Well, I may not need that horse after all. How's that, Mr. Dillon? Ellen Henry's riding up the street, leading my horse. Well, bless my soul, it sure is. There's something thrown across her saddle.

unknown 20:10

Mr.

SPEAKER_05 20:11

Dillon, it looks like. Wait here, Chester. Hello, Alan.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

I brought your horse back, Marshal. He's been running hard.

SPEAKER_05 20:38

He looks all right. You uh you found Luther, did you?

SPEAKER_01 20:46

He's dead.

SPEAKER_05 20:48

You found him dead?

SPEAKER_01 20:50

He had it coming a long time.

SPEAKER_05 20:54

Here, I'll lift him down.

SPEAKER_03 21:01

Chester!

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Easy. Easy, Darren.

SPEAKER_05 21:09

Yes, Mr. Dillon? Uh, Chester. Take the body up to Docks, will you? Yes, sir. Miss Henry, I I'm real sorry.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

I'll be going now, Marshal.

SPEAKER_05 21:26

Well, I'll take my horse then, Alan. You, uh. You got any plans for burying Luther?

SPEAKER_01 21:35

Put him in any ground you like, only don't tell me where it is or when you do it.

SPEAKER_05 21:42

You know how he died, Ellen?

SPEAKER_01 21:45

He was shot.

SPEAKER_05 21:48

Look, it's near dark, Ellen. You could put up in town for the night if uh you'd.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Don't put him near Ethan, Marshal. I wouldn't want that. Come on!

SPEAKER_05 22:11

Doc's working on Luther now, Mr. Dillon. He's just plumbed full of holes. Yeah, I know. Poor Miss Henry. Even though she don't act like it, I just know she feels terrible. Yeah, she's grieving her heart on. Where are you going, Mr. Dillon? I don't think I express my sympathy to poor Miss Henry. Proper. I followed Ellen Henry west toward her homestead. The sun was down now, but I could see her ahead riding hard. There were clouds to the south and the smell of rain on the easy wind that blew in little circles around me. Ellen bore west, and I lost her past a clump of cottonwoods near Carnes Place, so I rode harder. When I came even with the trees, there was just enough sun ray left to see her head soft toward the dark clouds. She wasn't going home. It was dark now. I couldn't see anything. The storm clouds stretched black from the south and fastened over half the sky. And I rode hard against him until I saw the flicker of lantern shine ahead. It was Cass Stedder's place. I left my horse out away from the house and walked in as softly as I could. Cass and Ellen were having their talk in a cattle shed near the. You trusted me before about money, Ellen. What's the rush this time?

SPEAKER_01 23:53

My work's done, Cass. It was done last night when Luther and me drove them last few from Carnes place over here. I want my share and Luther's.

SPEAKER_05 24:03

Him not cold dead yet, and you want a share.

SPEAKER_01 24:06

Ain't a mother entitled to whatever her son leaves.

SPEAKER_05 24:09

Mother. You never had no mother feel for him and him no love for you either.

SPEAKER_01 24:14

Huh. Ain't you the one to talk about love, though? It takes courage to love. To love with all of you. When the love goes, they take it and bury it in the ground. There's nothing left but hate.

SPEAKER_05 24:30

I wouldn't kill my own kin.

SPEAKER_01 24:33

You wouldn't be that honest. You won't even steal cattle yourself. Buy it off of them as has the courage to ride in and rustle.

SPEAKER_05 24:42

Yeah, well, how'd it feel killing your own Ellen?

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Like it'll feel killing you, Cass. If you don't give me the money here and now, like nothing at all. Luther's dead and gone because he tipped his hand, showed his face around Carnes place, talked big in the saloons. He was no use. No use at all.

SPEAKER_05 25:04

There's no woman in you at all.

SPEAKER_01 25:09

I've been dead five years. And your time's running short, too, Cass. I'm in a hurry.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

Too late to hurry, Ellen. What's he? Too late to move forgotten soon. Well, I'm sure. I'm glad to see you, Marshal. Are you, Cass? Oh, I sure am. I guess I called a trip to Luther, all right. Didn't I? Yeah, you were a big help. You and Luther stole the cattle, Alan, then brought them to Cass for pay, is that it?

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Only sometimes, like now, we didn't get paid. Don't believe her, Marshal.

SPEAKER_05 25:52

You wouldn't take the word of one as murders your own son, will you? I don't have to, Cass. Carnes brand won't be hard to find on any cattle you got here.

SPEAKER_01 26:00

Cass was just slow to move them on, Marshal. If you'd have gone on tour d'Abilene with him last night like we planned.

SPEAKER_05 26:06

You're lying, Helen Henry, are you lying? Now get your horses. Both of you. Well. Why are you taking me, Marshal? Well, there's some kind of a law, Cass, about buying and transporting stolen cattle.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Yeah, Marshal knows his law, Cass. You know what she did to lose her, don't you, Marshal?

SPEAKER_05 26:29

Yeah, I know. Now come on.

SPEAKER_01 26:33

You'd like it better, wouldn't you, Marshal? If one asked me to move. So you could use your gun.

SPEAKER_05 26:41

I said, come on, Ellen.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

I think I'd like it better if you used your gun, Marshal. I ain't going to get back east now anyway.

SPEAKER_05 26:49

You'd be taking a coward's way out, Ellen, if you made me kill you.

SPEAKER_03 26:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:57

I said, get your horse, Cass. Now make your choice, Ellen. But I don't think Ethan would think much of you.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

All right, Marshal. I'll go. But mind what I said. Don't put Luther near Ethan. They wasn't the same kind.

SPEAKER_04 27:43

Gun Smoke transcribed under the direction of Norman MacDonald stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshall. Tonight's story was specially written for gunsmoke by Kathleen Height, with music composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Featured in the cast were Jeanette Nolan, Sam Edwards, John Daner, Harry Bartell, and Herb Vigren. Parley Bear is Chester. 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. Marshal, fights to bring law and order out of the wild violence of the West in gun smoke. This coming Monday evening, hear Richard Whidmark as one of the desperate Spencer brothers riding against time and death in a suspense drama, well calculated to keep your interest high. Also Monday night, you want to hear CBS Radio's Lux Radio Theater, starring Joan Fontaine and Joseph Cotton in the strange drama September Affair. Remember, both this Monday night on most of the same CBS radio stations. Suspense and Lux Radio Theater. This is Roy Rowan speaking. America now listens to 105 million radio sets and listens most to the CBS Radio Network.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

At Tablet Pharmacy, they provide the personalized service you deserve. They offer free delivery and blister packaging options to make managing your medications easier than ever. Check your competitive prices online at tabletpharmacy.ca.