Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 5, Episode 34 - Speak Me Fair - full transcript

♪♪ [theme]

starring James
Arness as Matt Dillon.

[Dillon, narrating] Most
of the men buried up here

are in a coffin of some sort.

We even know who they are,

but out there on the prairie

a lot of men die or get killed,

and they're left
for the birds to pick.

Either way, most of
them die hating something,

hating a man
because he's different

or hating him because
he's got something you want.



You know, it's the hate a
man carries that destroys him.

Hate can twist and sicken him

till he's no good to anybody,

including himself,

and that's a bad thing
to watch in any man.

Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal.

[bird cackles]

You got him,
Mr. Dillon! You got him!

What you think
of that shot, Doc?

Yeah, pretty good
for a young feller.

What do you think? Maybe we
better be heading back to town.

Yeah, might as well.

My gosh, we've got enough game,

we could eat ourselves
into a case of gout.



Well, there's worse
ways of dying, you know.

Well, lookit here. This here's
the fattest one that you got yet.

Oh, he's a dandy.

You know, that's what I
like about this time of year.

You get some good vittles.

Yeah, you sure do.

I tell you, I coulda ate two pounds
of that deer liver this morning

all by myself.

Chester, you did eat two pounds.

Well, yeah, that's what
I said. I sure could do it.

[Dillon chuckles]

Yes, sir, sure is going to
make some good eatin'.

- [Doc] Whole lot better than salt pork.
- [Chester chuckles]

That's about all your
only two worries...

Is where you're going
to get your next meal

and your next fee, Doc, huh?

[Doc] Those are my
only two pleasures.

Fellas, why don't you two
ride that meat on into town.

I'm going to swing
by the Traych ranch.

He's been losing a
few head of cattle lately.

- Oh, Cyrus Traych?
- Yeah.

Serves him right if he
lost his whole ranch.

Why?

Well, I was out
there two years ago

the night his wife died,

and he'd called me too late.

Then he talked me
down to half a fee,

and he hasn't paid me yet.

Yeah, he's a mean one,
all right. I'll see you later.

All right.

- Doc!
- Yeah?

Come here.

- [Doc] Easy.
- My gracious.

[Dillon] Why, he's just a kid.

Matt, somebody's
beaten him half to death.

By the looks of him, the way
he's wearing his hair there,

I'd say he's a Kiowa boy.

Looky here, Matt.

Somebody's hit him right
in the throat with a club,

probably paralyzed
his vocal chords.

Hanging's too good for
anybody'd do a thing like that.

What can you do for him, Doc?

I can't do anything here.

- Let's get him into town.
- Yeah.

Chester, now, let's...
Very, very easy.

- All right.
- Easy, now.

Easy, easy.

Just a kid.

Morning, Matt.

Morning, Kitty.

Want a drink?

No, no thanks.

You look like you haven't
had too much sleep.

What is it, the Indian boy?

You hear about it?

Chester stopped by.
Is he going to live?

Doc's not sure yet.

Might be better
off if he didn't.

He's pretty badly busted up.

Well, it's always better
to live no matter what.

Have you been able to
find anything more about it?

Not a thing so far.

Chester's out checking
around town right now.

It's a rotten shame.

Must have taken some kind of
a monster to do a thing like that.

That I don't know, Kitty.

Might even have
been his own people.

His own people?

Except the Kiowas
wouldn't do a thing like that.

The Apaches might,

but there ain't any
Apaches this far east.

Yeah, but a child?

That's it.

The apaches might do
that to one of their warriors,

but not a 12-year-old boy.

I don't know. It just
doesn't make any sense.

Just must've been horrible.

Marshal, I've been looking
all over Dodge for you.

- Yeah?
- Yeah.

That's where I've
been, all over Dodge.

[chuckles] Of
course I can see now

why you ain't on the job.

- Excuse me.
- It's all right, Kitty.

Suppose you stick
to business, huh?

No offense, Marshal,

but I expected you out
at my ranch this morning.

I lost six more
head last night...

Yearlings and calves,

and they was killed and
butchered right on my range

and their hides
thrown in the gully.

Now, we might've
tracked down who done it

if you'd been out there
before the dew was off.

How about that
other beef you lost?

Were those carcasses
handled the same way?

That's right.

Could've been Indians, then.

Sure, it was Indians.

If it was cattle rustlers,

they couldn't sell
the beef in Dodge,

not and get away
with it for long.

It's not rustlers. It's Injuns.

I'm not so sure about that.

There's plenty of wild game
around this time of year, you know.

Oh, Indians won't
take any mind for game

when there's beef
right around to be stole.

- Did you see any wagon tracks?
- Wagon tracks?

If it was rustlers, they'd
have to have some way

of getting rid of the
carcasses, wouldn't they?

I told you, it's Indians.

There's a whole party of them

camped right down in the river
bottom not six miles from my place.

One of my riders
seen them last week.

What were they, Kiowas?

How do I know? They
all look the same to me.

They're all a bunch
of sneaking thieves.

Could've been where
that Indian boy came from.

[Traych] Boy? What boy?

We found an Indian
kid this morning,

half beaten to death.

That's why I couldn't
get out to your place.

You mean to tell me,

you've been wasting
time on some Indian whelp

while I'm losing beef?

Oh, you figure that beef is more
important than human beings, do you?

I thought you said
it was an Indian.

Get out of here, Traych.

What about my cattle?

I'll take care of
your cattle later.

Now, get out.

It's a fine thing

when the law wastes its time

on Indians and dancehall girls

when an honest
rancher's getting robbed.

Takes all kinds.

Yeah.

You know, I don't really
care if they steal him blind.

Kitty, I'll tell you something.

I'd give his ranch and
all the cattle thrown in

to find out who
hurt that Indian boy.

Golly, Mr. Dillon,

we sure ain't seen
no sign of anything yet.

Nope.

I just can't understand the kind of a
man that would do a thing like that.

I can't either, Chester.

I'll tell you what.

Why don't you ride up to the top of
that ridge there and have a look around.

Maybe you can get some
sign of his horse somewhere.

All right.

And I'll... I'll ride
up the river bottom,

and I'll meet you up
where we found the boy.

All right, sir.

Hello, Marshal.

We ain't met, but I
figured who you was

from hearing folks
talk about you so much.

You got time to jaw a spell?

Seems kind of good to talk
English once and a while.

Say, is that camp down
there on the bottom...

Is that a Kiowa camp?

Yeah. I'm part Kiowan myself.

I scout for the Seventh
Cavalry most of the year,

and the rest of the time

I hole up with the
Gray Feather clan,

old Chief Cloud Eagle.

Uh-huh. That camp missing
a boy, by any chance,

fellow by the name of Kodo?

Why?

We found him this morning.

He's beaten pretty bad.

Can't talk. Fact he
might not even live.

If he can't talk, how do
you know his name's Kodo?

Because Jess Smiley, who
runs the restaurant in town,

has been buying game from him.

He came down and identified him.

Kodo's our'n, all right.

He left here right before
daylight this morning

with a dressed carcass of
antelope to take in to Smiley.

Say he's in real bad shape, huh?

About as bad as he
can get and still live.

You got any idea what
might've happened to him?

No.

No, he's a good, quiet boy.

Never seems to
get into any trouble.

He sure found some
trouble this morning,

somewhere between
here and Dodge.

I can't figure it, Marshal.

Kodo's been going in
pretty near every morning,

never run into
any trouble before.

What has he been going in
there for, just to sell the game?

Yeah, we've been
trying to sell all we could

to buy rifles and ammunition.

Right now we're having to hunt
for game with bows and arrows.

Are you having a hard
time getting game?

This whole river bottom
is swarming with game.

Two months from now I
don't know what will happen,

but right now we can
get all the meat we want

by just throwing rocks.

Uh-huh. You're not
trading for beef at all?

It's funny you should ask.

Couple of fellows came
into camp night before last.

With a load of beef, young beef,

wanted for horses
or furs or anything.

They seemed real anxious.

Did you trade with them?

No, I didn't know
either one of them.

I figured they'd rustled the
beef somewhere, though.

Well, the Traych Ranch,
about five miles north of here,

has been losing beef.

They're more than likely
the ones that's doing it, then.

Mm-hm.

They're probably still
around here somewhere, too.

Tell me something. Now,
when this boy went into town,

which way did he ride.

He usually heads
north out of here

and picks up that
Cimarron stage trail,

and he takes out on into...

Now, wait a minute.

That would take him right by
that Traych Ranch, wouldn't it?

It sure would.

Marshal, I'm not going to
tell Cloud Eagle about this

till after sundown.

Kodo's his son, his only son.

I see.

If Cloud Eagle goes
out looking for him...

Well, Marshal, you'd
just better find him first.

I'll find him.

Mr. Dillon!

I think I found his
pony tracks, Mr. Dillon.

They're coming right from
where we found the boy,

heading right up
to the Cimarron.

Let's follow them. Come on.

Do you think we
lost them, Mr. Dillon?

I don't know, Chester.

There's no reason for
them to have left this trail.

It leads right on up
the Cimarron there.

We ain't seen no
sign of them, though,

for quite a while.

No. This ground's been
pretty hard through here.

We ought to be pretty close to
old Traych's ranch, hadn't we?

As far as I know, we're on it.

Come on, let's keep looking.

[Dillon] Wait a minute.

Here.

Right here. We haven't lost it.

By golly, them's the
boy's pony tracks all right.

He got this far anyway.

Yeah, and he must've still been
carrying that antelope with him

because he dug
in pretty deep here.

Yeah.

Well, what do you think? You
want to take a little breather?

Oh, them's mighty
welcome words, Mr. Dillon.

They go right along with
"payday" and "soup's on."

[chuckles]

That's what I like, ambition.

Well, I got plenty
ambition, Mr. Dillon.

I just don't let it get in the
way of my appetite none.

Yeah, I've noticed that.

My ambition is to
be rich and retired.

Hope you make it.

Well, I probably won't make it.

It's a good thing to
think about, though.

Of course, it's been done,

not as often as it
has been tried, but...

[horses neighs]

It's a wagon.

Yeah.

You reckon it's then fellas that that
Indian scout was telling you about?

Let's ride down
there and find out.

Hold it! Move the rifle down.

- What's the trouble, Mister?
- Get down off that wagon.

What is this, a hold up?

I said get down, both of you.

Get their guns, Chester.

Mr., we ain't really got
anything worth stealing.

You're just wasting your time.

I'm a United States marshal.
Where you men headed?

We're just going
through. That's all.

- Going through from where?
- Well, from...

Now, we ain't done
nothing, Marshal.

What have you got in that wagon?

Just supplies, that's all.

Chester, keep them cover.

You're making a
big mistake, Marshal.

It ain't really the
way it looks, Marshal.

We can explain the whole thing.

You're going to explain the half
a dozen beef carcasses, can you?

We bought them off
a ranch down south.

This one here has
the Traych brand on it.

We got it from a tribe of
Kiowas down the bottom aways.

They were real cheap.

I guess they were
stolen all right.

The Kiowas are hunting
with bow and arrow.

These calves were
shot with a rifle.

You've been hanging
around that Traych ranch

stealing cattle for two
weeks, haven't you?

Now, where did
you sell the meat?

To the quartermaster
at the fort.

We told them we were
commissioned men.

Mm-hm.

All right, you're under
arrest for cattle theft.

Chester, we'll take them
by the Traych Ranch

so he can identify these
carcasses and sign a complaint.

Then I'm going to take
you two into Dodge,

and I'm going to hang
the real charge on you...

Beating that little
Indian kid half to death.

What are you talking about?

We ain't seen no Indian boy.

Well, he's going
to see you, Mister,

and he's going to remember,

and maybe you
fixed it so he can't talk,

but he can sure
point his finger.

Chester, get a rope.

- Chester.
- H'yup.

You wait out here.
I'll find Traych.

Traych?

In here in the barn.

Well, you finally made
it out here, Marshal.

Yeah, Traych, we caught the men
who have been stealing your beef.

- The devil you did.
- Yep.

Chester's bringing
them in right now.

You'll have to identify the
carcasses and then sign a complaint.

Oh, it'll be a pleasure.

Well, guess I won't need this.

I was fixing to saddle up

and ride out and
have a look around.

There's no point in
taking those fellows in.

The best thing to do is
to shoot them right here.

That's a nice looking
antelope you've got here.

Yeah, I shot it this morning
down at the river bottom.

I was figuring to
cut it up a little later.

- You shot him?
- Yeah.

With a bow and arrow?

What are you
getting at, Marshal?

I'm saying this antelope was
killed with a bow and arrow.

So... So what about it?

You're the one that hurt
that Indian boy, aren't you?

- Boy? What boy?
- That Indian boy.

Well... Now, Marshal,
that was a normal mistake,

a mistake anybody could make.

I seen the kid riding down through
the bottoms early this morning.

He had that carcass
across his horse.

I figured it was
one of my calves,

so I roped him off,
his horse ran off,

and then, well, I...

Yeah, then you tied his
hands behind his back,

and you beat him, didn't you?

I was fixing to teach them
thieving Indians a lesson.

I didn't know till later it was
only an antelope he had.

It was a normal mistake.

Traych, that's one of the
rottenest things I've heard of.

Now, come on, Marshal.

There's been no harm done.

He's just an
ordinary Indian brat,

a sneaking, thieving...

Traych, you're under arrest.

- What?
- I said you're under arrest.

Now, let's go.

Don't try it.

[Chester] Mr. Dillon?

Are you all right, Mr. Dillon?

Yeah, I'm all right, Chester.

Cy Traych, you... you shot him?

What for?

There's an Indian boy in town

can give you the
answer to that, Chester...

if he's ever able to talk again.