Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 4, Episode 39 - Cheyennes - full transcript

Starring James Arness as Matt Dillon.

Boot Hill.

This is the graveyard
of the violent ones...

men killed by their own kind.

Whites killed by whites.

A lot of men are buried here.

But a lot more men...
hundreds more...

lie in unmarked graves,

scattered all over the prairie.

They, the unknown, the forgotten,

were killed by red men,



and they were killed because
they brought violence to the Indian.

And the Indian, as any
honorable man would, struck back.

I, for one, never blamed him.

Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.

Want to stop
and rest a while, Chester?

Well, uh, I'm so right nodding out,

it don't matter much
one way or the other what we do.

How far do you think it is
to Dodge anyway?

Oh, probably 50 miles, anyway.

Well, I'd just as soon get rid
of as many of them as we can today.

I think we've been gone long enough.

Let's keep pushing on, then.

They scalped him, Mr. Dillon.

Yeah, the boy, too.



I'd better take a look inside.

What did you find?

Well, they killed the woman, too.

- A woman?
- Yeah.

Oh.

- And we got one of them.
- Yeah.

What is he, Mr. Dillon?

He's a Cheyenne.

Well, look at that.

That there's a Spencer, ain't it?

Brand-new.

- That explains one thing, anyway.
- What do you mean?

I haven't seen any arrows
anywhere around here.

You know, I hadn't noticed.

Cheyennes with brand-new Spencers.

He must've stole that
from somewheres, huh?

I don't think so, Chester.

There isn't an arrow or a lance
or a spear anywhere around here.

The whole war party
must have had these.

That only means one thing.

They've been getting them
from a gunrunner.

Oh, that's bad, Mr. Dillon.
That there's real bad.

Well, they must be from Fort Dodge.

Who's that in command there, though?

I can't tell.

I tell you, I never seen
that captain before myself.

As a matter of fact,
I don't recognize any of them men.

Well, I heard there was
a new troop out there.

- This must be part of it.
- Yeah.

Halt.

Who are you men?

What are you doing here?

We just got here.

I asked you what
you were doing here.

Well, Captain, I guess we're doing
the same thing you are... looking around.

Captain, look at that rifle
he's holding.

It's one of those '44 Spencers, sir.

- Disarm him, Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

Now, Captain, maybe I'd better
tell you who I am.

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

My name's Dillon.

Ah? Where's your badge?

You don't look like a Marshal to me.

- Proceed, Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

I'll take that rifle, mister.

Get his pistol, too.

You men are prisoners.
I'm taking you back to Fort Dodge.

Captain, aren't you interested
in what happened

to these Indians that did this?

- Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

Detail a guard for these men,
and then form a burial party.

Yes, sir.

Smith! Waller! Schwartz!

Get down here!

Captain Nichols reporting
with a prisoner, sir.

Bring him in.

Are these your prisoners, Captain?

Yes, sir.

You think they have something
to do with the gunrunners?

I think so, sir.

Hi, Matt. Hello, Chester.

Hello, Major.

Captain, this is Matt Dillon,
Marshal of Dodge City.

And this is Chester Goode.

Well, heh.

Well...

Marshal, I'm sorry
for what happened.

It's all right, Captain.

I probably would've done the same
thing under the circumstances.

Oh, come on, Matt.
You could've proved who you were.

Why didn't you do it?

To tell you the truth, Major,
I was kind of curious.

About what?

The only thing we found
at that ranch

was a brand-new Spencer rifle.

No arrows, no lances, spears, nothing.

Now, what's going on?

Well, Matt, you know about
the reservations east of here.

Well, yeah, I know you're holding
a couple of thousand Cheyenne up there

till you can move them to Oklahoma.

That's right.

Except we lost a few, about 10 or 15.

That's bad enough...
you saw that.

Yeah. You got any idea
who's leading them?

Yeah. A renegade Indian
named Stone Eagle.

The captain's orders
were to catch anybody

that was supplying them with rifles.

We don't stop this gunrunning,
each one of those braves

is going to slip away
from that reservation and join them.

Yeah, that's bad. Real bad.

Captain, show them where to clean up.

Set up a couple of extra places
in the mess.

And we have time for a drink
just before dinner.

All right.

You know, Major,

you may be chasing some gunrunners
that you're not going to find.

Why won't we find them?

You haven't yet, have you?

No.

If you were a Cheyenne,
I bet you could.

So what?

Tell me, is Long Robe
still out on that reservation?

The old man? Yeah, why?

I used to know him a long time ago.
He was a friend.

What does that mean?

Maybe I'll go out there
and have a talk with him.

That's impossible.
Those Indians are so restless

they'd kill any white man
that went near that reservation.

Maybe I can to him before they do.

It isn't worth it, Matt.

I'll tell you about that later.

You mean you're going anyhow?

Yeah.

Maybe it'll help to get the sight
of that homesteader family

out of my mind.

Don't go in there unarmed, Mr. Dillon.

A gun wouldn't do us
much good, Chester,

if those Cheyenne decide they want us.

No, I reckon not.

You wanted to come.

Well, I ain't complaining.

Not yet, anyway.

Whatever you do, move slow,

because they're watching us
all the time.

Yeah.

Some young buck could...

could get his first coup feather
by spearing us, too.

Well, you wouldn't want to keep a man
from becoming a brave, would you?

Oh, no, of course not.

Sit down, my sons.

It's been a long time, Long Robe.

I know why you have come now.

Stone Eagle.

Four more braves
went past soldiers last night,

leaving reservation.

There will be more tomorrow,
and for days to come.

It'll just lead to war, Long Robe.
Big war.

I cannot stop them.

Stone Eagle has many rifles.

He has a few.

The Army has as many rifles
as the leaves on that tree.

The Cheyenne cannot win, Long Robe.

He must live in peace, or be destroyed.

You're a wise man. You know that.

Yes, I know.

Now, Stone Eagle must be stopped,

or many Indians will be killed.

You want to know
where rifles come from.

It will save many Cheyenne lives.

For the sake of my people,

I will tell you.

A place north of here...
Rock Mound.

There is cabin there.

Rock Mound.
Yes, I think I know where that is.

- And I must warn you, my son.
- What?

The feelings of my people
are like powder.

If your soldiers kill Stone Eagle
and his braves, word will come.

Every brave here will rise
and go on the warpath,

whether they have rifles or not.

If the soldiers or you
kill one Cheyenne,

this will happen.

It's as bad as that, huh?

I speak the truth.

All right, Long Robe.

When this is all over, I'll come back.

- We'll smoke the peace pipe.
- Yes.

If you come back.

Go right in, Marshal.
He's waiting for you.

Thanks, Sergeant.

- Good morning, Marshal.
- Hello, Captain.

Where's Major Henneman?

Well, the major was ordered
to Fort Larned for a few days.

Word came late last night
obliging him to leave at once.

I'm in full command
until the major returns.

I see.

Now, uh, did you learn
anything yesterday?

Yes, I found out where Stone Eagle
meets the gunrunners.

Well, that solves our problem.

Well, not quite, I'm afraid.

Well, all I'll have to do
is take my troop out there

and wait for Stone Eagle
to come get more rifles.

I can wipe out him
and the gunrunners at the same time.

I'm afraid it's not quite
as simple as that, Captain.

No? Why not?

Long Robe's a wise old chief.
He knows his people pretty well.

So?

Your soldiers kill one brave,
there'll be an uprising.

There's an uprising already, Marshal.

15 warriors, yes.

This would mean
the entire Cheyenne nation.

Doesn't make sense.

Maybe not to us. It does to them.

I'll chance it, Marshal.

Now, uh,
where is this meeting place?

I'm afraid I can't tell you, Captain.

I order you to tell me.

Sorry.

I can have you thrown
in the guardhouse.

Captain, you do what you want.

I'm heading back to Dodge.

- Sergeant.
- Yes, sir.

Come in here, please.

What are you stopping for, Mr. Dillon?

Well, we're out of sight
of Fort Dodge now.

Yeah, well, what are you looking for?

I'm trying to figure out
the best trail

over to Rock Mound.

Rock Mound? I thought we was
going back to Dodge.

Well, Chester, the Indians
may belong to the Army,

but I got a claim on those gunrunners.

Well, I sure was looking forward
to a nice, cold glass of beer.

Well, you don't have to come.

Well, no, no.
Now, I didn't mean that.

I know I don't have to go. l...

Come on, let's go.

Did we find it?

Yeah, it looks that way.

It's plum deserted-looking to me.

It won't be for long.

Come on, let's get down there.

I'd sure hate to call this place home.

I'm afraid we'll have to
for a while, Chester.

This place ain't fit for a hog.

Well, you'll get used to it, Chester,
if we stay here long enough.

You want to stay in here?

Yeah, it's a good a place as any.

Got a pretty good view
all the way around.

Ain't going to do no cooking
on this here stove, that's for sure.

It's not likely we'll be
building a fire anywhere.

Well, I reckon I could
clean it up a little bit.

Well, no telling how long
we'll have to stay here.

We'd better get the horses hidden.

You know, Mr. Dillon,
I was just thinking.

What if them Cheyenne get here
before the gunrunners do?

Yeah. I've been thinking
about that myself.

Well, what would we do, though?
I mean...

I don't know, Chester.

It's like Long Robe said...

we kill one Cheyenne,
even in self-defense,

and it's liable to start a war
that'll set the whole frontier on fire.

I just thought of something else,
Mr. Dillon, about our horses.

You know, we don't know what's
going to happen to us,

one way or another.

Don't you think it might be a good idea
to get them all saddled up

so they could run
if we have to get out of here fast?

I saddled them this morning, Chester.

Oh, well, that's good.

Listen, you'd better get back
to that window.

Those Indians
will be coming any minute,

any they might be coming
from any direction.

I just hope that them gunrunners
get here first.

Yeah.

Uh-oh.

- What is it?
- Look at this.

The gunrunners. It's got to be.

We're in luck, Mr. Dillon.

They beat the Indians here.

Whoa!

You know, we could stand
right here in the cabin

and just pick them
right off that wagon there.

No, Chester,
I want to see those two hang.

Might serve as a warning
to keep others from running guns.

Well, we made it.

Yeah, in good time, too.

Say, you still got that jug of whiskey
hid under the seat?

Yeah. And it's still half full.

You and me both need a drink.

- Cover them from this window.
- Yeah.

I'm going outside.

Hold it!

- Good shooting, Chester.
- Is he dead?

Yeah.

How did you find us?

You got rifles in that wagon?

Mostly ammunition.

Them Indians need it worse than rifles.

Where did you get it?

Wichita.

I'm... I'm dying, Marshal.

And you're going to die, too.

Them Indians...

they're never late
when they're out of ammunition.

They'll be here any minute.

I wish I could stay and watch
what they do to you.

Mr. Dillon, maybe he was lying to us
about them Indians and all,

just trying to scare us.

No, I'm afraid not, Chester.

They need ammunition,
and this wagon here is full of it.

We've got to figure out
a way to get rid of it.

I seen me some kerosene in the house
when I was cleaning up.

Get it, and hurry.

Mr. Dillon? Mr. Dillon.

There was only four of them.
What do you make of that?

Well, they're scouts
for the war party, Chester.

They'll be down here any minute.

- Get going.
- Yeah.

Well, look at that.

That's probably the reason
why Stone Eagle and his braves

took off as fast as they did.

Yeah, it could be.

They sure are riding
kind of slow, ain't they?

Well, they're tracking us, Chester.

They don't even know
that Stone Eagle is anywhere around.

Well, he ain't. He's more likely
halfway to Canada by now.

Well, he's finished
in this territory, anyway.

With no ammunition, and nobody
to furnish him with any more,

it'll be a long time before he's back
around this country again.

But I think we'll let Captain Nichols
find that out for himself.

Well, Marshal.

I knew that you were lying when
you said you were going to Dodge.

Did you find the gunrunners?

We found them, Captain.

We killed them.

We also destroyed all the rifles
and ammunition they brought with them.

Well, that's fine, fine.

Now all we have to do is wait
for Stone Eagle and his warriors.

They should be along
any minute, I imagine.

Where is this place?
Over the hill here?

Yeah, just behind there.

When they ride in, I'm going to kill
every last one of them, by heaven.

And no one can stop us now, Marshal.

No, I guess not.

Are you going to stay around
for the fight?

No, I think we'll probably
head back to Dodge.

Good luck to you, Captain.

Don't need luck.
I know what I'm doing, Marshal.

Sure.

Detail, forward!

Ho!

Well, I'm afraid he's going to have
kind of a long wait.

Heh. Yeah.

Well, let's head to Dodge, Chester.