Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 4, Episode 16 - Gypsum Hills Feud - full transcript

Matt's attempt to find a man who shot at him from ambush leads him and Chester into the middle of a murderous feud between two bitter and isolated mountain families.

starring
James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Oh, Mr. Dillon,
this sure is pretty country

in through here, ain't it?

It sure is, isn't it?

You know, why didn't they build
Dodge City up here somewheres

instead of down there
in that gol-durned dusty plain?

Well, I don't know, Chester,
it'd be kind of hard

to get the railroad up here,
don't you think?

Well, yeah, I reckon.

You want to take a breather?

Mr. Dillon, the only thing
I'd rather hear you say is:



"Do you feel like eating?"

All right, we'll do that.

Looks like a good place to
build a fire right over there.

Going hunting's fine,
Mr. Dillon, but...

you know, the goin' home's

just about as good
as the startin' out.

Chester, I figured
you'd think the best part

was getting that deer bagged

and having Charlie Beck
dress him out and roast him.

Well...

Well, yeah, that is
the best part, naturally.

I think I like roast deer

just about as good
as I do prairie chicken.

I don't normally,
but I agree with you.



But you know,
time we get that home,

we split it up with Doc
and Miss Kitty

and we give some to Charlie
for dressing it,

couple of other people...

well... you know it don't look
quite as big as it did.

You know, I was thinking
the same thing myself.

What are you fixin' to do?

You know, that's pretty
wild-looking country up there.

Maybe we can take back
a couple of deer.

You want to come along?

Well, you mean...

Well, uh, no, I...

I'm gonna go up there
and see what I can find.

Yeah?

I'll...

just get some firewood.

What is it, Mr. Dillon?

Some dry-gulcher up there
took a shot at me.

What for? Who is he?

Well, let's go ask him.

Let's get the horses.

Go ahead.

Well, this is where
he was, all right.

Think you hit him, Mr. Dillon?

There's no sign of blood here.

This sure is wild country...

he could've lit out
in any direction.

It looks like he's following
the ridge up there.

Let's try to follow his trail.

Keep your rifle ready.

What is that?

Well, just a jackrabbit,
I thought.

Come on, let's go.

Think whoever it was
lives down there?

Well, there's only

one way to find out, Chester.

Come on.

Looks kind of lonesome like,
don't it?

Well, ought to be somebody here.

Anybody home?

Hello there!

Kind of gives you
the creeps, don't it?

How do, ma'am.

What do you want here?

Your husband home?

Who is it wants to know?

My name's Dillon.
This is Chester Goode.

I never heared
of neither one of you.

We're from Dodge City.

Well, then you just better
get on back there.

This ain't no good place
for strangers to come.

Is that so?

Go on, now, get out of here.

Not till I've talked
to your husband, ma'am.

I'm warning you...
now, you get out of here.

You get on back in there.

Keep Pa inside.

What do you want here, mister?

What's your name, mister?

Alben Peavy.

You got business,
you hurry up and state it,

and then get.

Well, I'm a lawman, Peavy,
a United States Marshal.

That don't mean nothin' to me.

Well, maybe it'll mean something
to you by the time I'm through.

Now, I want to know
why you shot at me.

What are you talking about?

Somebody took
a couple of shots at me

back up there on the ridge.

There's others besides us
lives in these hills.

We didn't see any others.

Mountain folk ain't ones
to run around in the open like.

It might be best...

You shut up.

Stay inside.

You got any proof

of what you're standing there
accusing me of, Marshal?

Nope. Not yet.

Well, then the best thing you
can do is to clear out of here

and leave folks be.

You ain't wanted here.

You don't belong.

We got our own laws;
don't need none of your'n.

Now, you better get
something straight, Peavy.

The same law that holds
in Dodge City holds here,

and it doesn't allow you
to kill a man from ambush.

Never shot nobody in my life
without I had a just cause.

That all you got to say?

'Ceptin' only just
to get out of here

and leave us be.

How about you, ma'am?

She ain't got nothin' more
to say neither, Marshal.

You gonna let him get away
with that, Mr. Dillon?

We'll be back.

Whoa! Whoa there!

Gosh darned critters!

Whoa!

Get on down, Liza.

Gonna need your help.

Alben, you're sure this
ain't wrong, what we're doing?

Course I'm sure.

Now, don't you think
no more on it.

Good morning.

Hold it.

I'll take the rifle.

Butt first.

I thought I told you
to leave us be.

You did.

Well, what are
you doing back here?

What are you bothering us for?

You bothered me some
yesterday, Peavy.

Those bullets came awful close.

I told you, I don't know
nothin' about that.

Where's Pa?
What have you done with Pa?

Been nobody around here
since we've been here, ma'am.

He's out huntin',
more 'n likely.

He's always out huntin'.

Is that where you been?

No, we ain't. We been out...

You shut up.

'Tain't nobody's business
where we been, Marshal.

No. No, please.

Uh, Marshal...

There's no need a-lookin'.

That's a man in there.

He's dead.
Been shot to death.

Who is he?

His name don't matter none.

Who killed him?

I didn't.

We don't know nothin' about it.

We just found him
layin' out there.

Out where?

About a mile back down thataway.

We come on him accidental.

He'd been dead since
yesterday, looks like.

So we put him in the wagon
and brung him back.

And just what'd you figure
to do with him?

Why, we're gonna
bury him, of course.

Seems to me you're going
to an awful lot of trouble

for somebody that
you don't even know.

You find a man
lyin' dead on the ground,

can't just drive on
and leave him there.

No, but you could
let the law handle it.

I told you once, I don't hold
with your kind of law.

We work things out ourselves.

Peavy...

I got an idea that you
could tell me who this man is,

and if you didn't
kill him yourself,

you could tell me who did.

Well, I ain't
talkin' none, Marshal.

And I don't reckon
you can make me, neither.

No, I don't reckon I can.

Just so long as
we both understand.

Go on now, Liza.

Fetch me my shovel.

Yes.

If you got no objections,
Marshal,

I'll get on with the burying.

Well, he's about the
mule-headedest man I ever seen.

Chester, I want
to backtrack that wagon,

take a look at the place
where they found the body.

Come on.

Well, this must have been
where he fell.

Hit pretty hard, too,
by the looks of it.

Yeah. You think
Peavy's the one that shot him?

I don't know, Chester.

Now lookit here.

Look at all these horse tracks.

Wagon tracks, too.

But the... the wagon
must have come after the horses

because the tracks roll out
over the top.

Yeah, then it turned around and
went back the way it came from.

Well, I-I just don't
understand it, Mr. Dillon.

First this feller
takes a shot at you.

Then he turns up dead.

And then the Peavys
is a-burying him.

Uh, Chester, I got an idea

that may be one
and the same fella.

You mean the feller
that took a shot at you

is the same as the dead man?

Pretty close to where

we lost his trail yesterday
right up there.

Well, maybe that's the reason
why he shot at you, Mr. Dillon.

Maybe he knowed
somebody was out to kill him.

Could be, Chester.

Come on, let's get out of sight.

Hold it.

Hold it right there.

Who are you?

I'm a United States Marshal
over in Dodge City.

Looking for somebody,

- are you?
- What's your name?

Cade. Jack Cade.

This here's my wife Ellen.

How do, ma'am.

Ain't us you're looking for,
is it?

Would I have any reason to?

No, no, of course not.

Just asking's all.

You folks live around here?

Couple of miles.

Uh-huh.

You know Alben Peavy?

Yup. We know him.

He a friend of yours?

Not hardly, he ain't.

Shut up, Ellen.

Well, if you're not friends
of the Peavys,

where are you heading?

Theirs is the only place
this road leads to.

A man can ride
where he pleases, can't he?

Well, I guess he can,

unless he's carrying a rifle
and his wife is, too.

And they're heading
for somebody's place

that they don't
particularly like.

All right.

I'll tell you, Marshal,
you're so smart.

A man like Alben Peavy
don't deserve to live.

He killed our Ben,
then he stole him.

Run off with his body.

A man can't get no lower
than that.

How do you know
it was Peavy killed him?

'Cause I found Ben last night,
that's how.

Lying dead right there
by them rocks.

So I went to fetch Ellen,
but she don't hold with moving

no dead body at night,
so we waited till morning.

And when we got here,
he was gone.

Them wagon tracks told us plain
as anything, Marshal.

It was them Peavys done it.

Now, why would Peavy want
to kill him, Cade?

What difference
does it make why?

All that matters now
is he's dead,

and they done it to him.

And they gonna pay for it.

We're gonna meet 'em
straight on

and get this over with fast.

Ellen's just as good a shot
as I am, Marshal.

Well, I guess the Peavys
must have had some good reason

for killing your son, then...
if they did kill him.

Marshal, it ain't none
of your bother.

I told you that already.

Well, I'm afraid I'm just gonna
have to make it my bother, Cade.

Hold it right where you are.

Don't move.

You raise that rifle, ma'am,

I'll have to shoot him.

Pretty sneaky, ain't you?

Get their rifles, Chester.

Yes, sir.

All right, let's go.

Where?

You wanted to see the Peavys,
didn't you... get it over with?

All right, let's go see 'em.

They see us,
they'll start shooting

without even a warning.

Maybe not.

I don't even think
that they're here.

No, they're here,
all right, Chester.

Keep an eye on them, will you?

Sure.

Cade, you just rest easy there.

Keep quiet, too.

I hope Peavy shoots him.

I wouldn't worry none
about that if I was you.

You folks like
to take a breather?

Chester, bring 'em back.

What are you up to?

Well, I want to explain
something to you, Peavy.

And to Cade and his wife
at the same time.

Cade?

Give me that rifle, Marshal.

I took his rifle, too.

Well, then, I don't need no gun.

I'll kill him
with my bare hands.

Stay right where you are.

There he is.

They're burying him.

They're burying my boy.

Is that who it is, Peavy?

Is that Ben Cade?

It's him.

Well, then, why didn't you
leave him where you found him?

I told you before.

Can't leave somebody
lying dead on the ground.

You can if it's somebody
that you hate

as much as you hate
this Cade family.

All right, Marshal.

I'll tell you.

There's another grave here.

You might not have noticed it,
Marshal, but it's here,

and it's our boy's buried in it.

Two months ago,
Ben Cade shot my son.

Before my boy died,
I promised him

I'd bury Ben
alongside of him someday,

and that's what I'm a-doing.

It's your boy's own fault
he got shot.

If he hadn't been hounding Ben,
it wouldn't have happened.

I'll teach you
whose fault it was, you...

Peavy!

So that's what this feud here
is all about, huh?

And it ain't over yet, neither.

You were after Ben Cade
because he killed your boy.

Well, wouldn't you be?

And you were after Peavy because
you think he killed your son.

What do you mean,
think he did?

All right, your feud's over.

I know who killed your boy.

You do?

I did.

What?

He fired at me
from ambush yesterday.

He must have thought
I was Peavy here stalking him.

I fired back.

I didn't know it at the time,
but I must have hit him.

He got away,
and must have managed

to live until he reached
the spot where you found him.

We tracked him to within
a quarter of a mile of there.

Is that true, Peavy?

You didn't shoot him?

I never claimed I did.

I just found him dead,
like I said.

Then it had to be you, Marshal.

Nobody else around here
would have.

I'm sorry, Cade.

He fired at me,
and I fired back.

I didn't know who he was
or anything about it.

Well...

you had to defend yourself.

The important thing is,

what are you gonna do now,
all of you?

I can tell you
what we're gonna do.

We're gonna put a stop to it.

That's what we're gonna do.

We both lost our sons.

They're dead.

We can't bring 'em back.

There ain't gonna be
no more killing.

Not as far as we're concerned.

Well, I reckon maybe

there's something
in what she says.

We used to be right neighborly
before this all got started.

Maybe we've been acting
kind of crazy.

All of us.

Whatever it was that started it
between the boys,

whosoever was at fault,
we'll never know.

And I don't reckon
it matters much now.

Not now.

Cade...

if... if you and the missus

was of mind to agree,

well, I'm-I'm willing
to go on ahead here.

Bury the boy
alongside of my son.

I reckon we're willing.

All right.

Cade, you leave Ben here, and

maybe... maybe you ought
to come around once in a while.

I'd want to do that.

See my boy's grave.

I'll take real good care of it.

Both of 'em.

Ellen, maybe if we was
to go in and

boil up some coffee.

You do that.

You women go on and do that.

Marshal,

if you and your partner
will wait till we finish.

All right.

We'd like that.