Gunsmoke (1955–1975): Season 6, Episode 38 - Colorado Sheriff - full transcript

Starring James
Arness as Matt Dillon.

♪♪

Wonder what he's doing
out here all alone, Mr. Dillon.

His rider ought
not be too far away.

Well, let's take a look at
this draw down here first.

All right, mister, hold it.

We're friends.

You a lawman?

Well, yeah. You hurt here?

What's happened to you?

I got a bullet in the back.



Paralyzed all over.

Who shot you?

Some stranger I was riding with.

I don't even know his name.

Met him on a trail yesterday.

Well, what would he do that for?

I guess he figured I was
carrying some money.

I wasn't, though.

I just had a little
bit of food with me.

Say, well, where you from?

From Colorado.

My name is Rod Ellison.

I was on my way to Dodge.

I thought maybe I'd
get me a job there.



That won't be very easy to
do with a bullet in your back.

How we gonna get him into
Dodge anyway, Mr. Dillon?

Well, I guess we'll have to
rig up a travois of some kind.

We find a couple of
saplings around here.

You think you can
stand riding on a travois?

Reckon I have to.

That's him.

He's come back.

He's trying to kill me.

Chester, get his rifle there.

Yeah.

All right, keep me covered.

- I'm going out after him.
- Yeah.

Get him, Mr. Dillon?

Well, I think I got a
bullet in him, all right,

but he rode off.

Why didn't you go after him?

Why didn't you kill him?

Well, I don't much like the
idea of going after one man

to kill him and letting
another man die.

Don't you think we ought to be

getting him back to
Dodge, Mr. Dillon?

Yeah. Chester,
better get your slicker.

We'll need it to
make that travois.

Well, Doc, ain't you
gonna do nothing

except just look at it?

Good.

Another fraction of an inch and
he wouldn't have had a chance.

You mean he's got a chance, Doc?

Well, I hope so, Matt.

Golly, this is close.

I don't know whether
he'll ever walk again or not.

Oh, that poor feller.

I'll know more when
I get that bullet out.

Doc,

you're gonna be
able to keep him here?

Well, yeah, I can keep him
in the back room there, Matt.

Good.

How'd this happen?

Well, he said it
was some stranger

that he was riding with.

Evidently, the fella thought
he was carrying money.

Well, that's your problem.

- I got other worries right now.
- Yeah.

I'm gonna be back in
a couple hours, Doc.

All right.

Is there anything
that I can do, Doc?

Yeah, I can use a
little help, Chester.

Well, I'll sure stay with you.

All right.

You can start by
washing your hands.

I think this is the
first decent meal

I've ever had in this place.

Well, we got a new cook in here.

Well, I hope they
lock him up nights.

I'd sure hate to
see him get away.

Well, they've never been
able to keep one more

than a couple weeks
around here yet.

How long do I have on this one?

Oh, a couple more days
probably, if we're lucky.

Well, that's what I get

for you being out
of town so long.

Oh, listen, I couldn't
help that, you know.

By the way, how is that cowboy

that Doc operated on yesterday?

Well, it's a miracle, but
he's gonna be all right.

- Well, that's good.
- Yeah.

Doc said he could
move his legs today

and he'll probably be up
walking around before long.

Sure is hard to believe.

Well, I'll tell you something,
he was mighty lucky.

Thanks, Ruth.

Well, I thought I'd
find you two here.

Hi, Doc. Sit down.

- You eaten?
- Thank you.

No, not yet, but
I'm sure planning to.

Well, we were just
talking about you, Doctor.

Oh, is that so?

Yeah, I was telling Kitty

what a fine physician
we got here in town.

Well, I'm glad you
finally found that out.

He was telling me how well
Rod Ellison's getting along.

Oh, yeah, he's doing just fine.

Matt, you might be
interested to know

that I just took a bullet
out of another fella.

His shoulder.

Well, who was it?

Well, I didn't ask him,

and he didn't volunteer
the information.

I sure didn't hear any
shooting around here.

I don't know where
the shooting was,

but he got shot all right.

Well, where is he now, Doc?

Think we went over to
Dodge House to get a room.

He wasn't feeling very good.

Thanks.

Well, now where are you going?

Well, Kitty,

whenever a man comes
in with a bullet wound,

it makes me kind of curious.

See you later.

You know, sometime
we're going to be able

to finish a meal together.

Oh, I doubt that.

Oh, Ruth, I tell you
what I'm going to have.

I think... Is that any good?

Oh, it's delicious.
You ought to try it.

I will. Bring me some of that.

Can I have a cup of
coffee before that? Yeah.

Who is it?

Name's Dillon.

I'm a United States Marshal.

Come back tomorrow.

I'm sleeping.

No, I'll see you now.

Open up the door.

I'm not gonna open any door.

Leave me alone.

All right, put the gun away.

You know, I ought
to blow a hole in you.

Can't you let a sick man be?

Not when it's a bullet wound
that's making him sick, no.

All right, so I got shot.

But that ain't none
of your business.

Ben Whitter, huh?

Where you from?

That ain't none of
your business either.

All right, put the hat down.

Pueblo, Colorado, huh?

Another smart U.S. Marshal.

I hate them all.

What did you leave
Colorado for, Whitter?

I was looking for a man.

He found you first, is that it?

Look, Marshal, I
don't have to answer

none of your fool questions.

Deputy Sheriff,
Pueblo, Colorado.

I had dealings with
U.S. Marshals before.

They don't do none of the work,

but they like to
take all of the credit.

That so?

That's so as far
as I'm concerned.

Who you after?

I don't need your help, Marshal.

I didn't ask for it,
and I don't want it.

Now, why don't you just get
out of here and leave me alone?

Whitter, when they
made you a deputy sheriff,

they do it because
you're interested in the law

or just because
you're a hardnose?

Look, Marshal, I had just
about enough out of you.

Tell me something.

Would you be interested
in knowing who shot you?

Yeah.

Who?

I did.

Oh, morning, Mr. Dillon.

Good morning, Chester.

You... I got your
mail for you there.

It's right there on the desk.

Fine, fine.

Did you, uh,

have a good breakfast, did you?

Yes, yes, I sure did, Chester.

- Did you?
- No, sir.

No, I-I ain't ate yet at all.

Oh, well, that's too bad.

I went down to the post
office and I got this mail for you,

and then I've been
kind of readying

up the place here for you,

and tell you the truth,
I just ain't had time.

Oh, well, it's fine, Chester.

Well, doggone it, Mr. Dillon.

I've been standing
here telling you

that I ain't had a bite to eat
yet this morning and that...

and well, you just
won't even listen to me.

What?

Oh, I'm sorry, Chester.

What was it that you said?

Well, uh...

Well, I'm...

I'm gonna get something to eat.

Well, Whitter.

You feeling a little
better, are you?

Where is he?

Where's who?

Rod Ellison.

You're wasting your time.

He's not in there.

All right, you playing
games with me, Marshal?

Well, Whitter, when I start
playing games with you,

you'll know about it.

Then where is he?

You know, I'm beginning to think

you really don't know
about Rod Ellison.

Know what?

That you put a bullet in him.

So?

You paralyzed him
from the waist down.

He ain't dead?

No, he's not dead.

The doctor took the bullet out.

He's going to be all right.

Well, where is he?

He's over at the
doctor's office.

Wait a minute.

I'm going along with you.

Well, I'm not surprised.

I kind of figured

maybe he was a wanted man.

His story never made
much sense to me.

There he is.

Surprised to see me, huh?

What are you doing here?

Don't act stupid, Ellison.

You know what I come for.

I'm a sheriff, remember?

Trailed you all the
way from Colorado.

Finally caught up with you.

Yeah, you caught up with me
out on that prairie, didn't you?

If I'd known how
bad hurt you was, I...

You'd have killed me, huh?

Taking you out of here.

Taking you back to Pueblo...

under arrest.

I don't trust you.

Don't look to me like
you got much choice.

- Come on.
- No.

Hold on a minute, Whitter.

- Now what?
- This man's not fit to travel.

Marshal's right. I'm
not ready to travel yet.

What about it, Doc?

How soon will it be?

Well, uh, I'll know
more in about a week.

You better ask me then.

A week?

I'll get me a wagon.
He can ride in that.

I'm putting this man
under arrest, Marshal.

- I'm taking him with me now.
- You got a warrant for him?

A warrant?

I don't need no warrant.

Around here you do, Whitter.

This is my town
and my territory.

Looks to me like
you're interfering

with the law, Marshal.
That can go hard for you.

Could be.

In the meantime, he
stays right where he is.

You got that?

Listen, Ellison.

You ain't out of this yet,
so don't get no smart ideas.

Sure do thank you, Marshal.

Like he says, Ellison,

you're not out of this yet.

So, he can't travel
for a week, Doc, huh?

He could walk out of here
tomorrow if he wanted to.

- It's a miracle.
- That's what I figured.

- Can he ride a horse?
- No, no, that'd be dangerous,

but I think he can
make it a wagon

- without too much trouble.
- Uh-huh.

Well, thanks.

Look, uh...

think I'll send Chester up
here to stand guard for a while.

Are you afraid that sheriff
might run off with him?

Well, either that or he
might try to run off by himself.

- See ya later.
- Yeah.

♪ Run, rabbit, run,
the dogs'll get you ♪

♪ Run, rabbit, run,
you better get away ♪

♪ Run, rabbit, run,
the dogs'll get you ♪

♪ Run, rabbit, run,
you better get away ♪

♪ Oh, the rabbit run ♪

♪ The rabbit flew ♪

♪ The rabbit... ♪

Mister.

Yeah. What do ya want?

I need some help.

I thought you might
be able to give it to me.

Well, sure, what is it?

I'll pay ya now
and I'll pay ya good.

Oh, no need for
that. What can I do?

I want you to drive
me out on the prairie.

I'll show you where.

Well, now...

gee, I don't know, mister.

I got some things
to do here, and, well,

then I got to get back
on out to my place.

Never mind what you got
to do. Get up in that wagon.

Wait a minute.

You do what I say.

I ain't fooling.

Sure.

Sure, mister.

No tricks, mister.

Just don't you shoot.
I'll do what you say.

Get this wagon out of town,
cross the river, and head north.

How far do you want to go?

We'll see when we get there.

Now shut up and get
this wagon moving.

Giddyup.

Mr. Dillon!

Mr. Dillon...

golly, where have you been?

I've been looking
all over for ya.

- What's the matter?
- Well, uh...

Well, Rod Ellison got away.

He sneaked up behind me

and hit me over the
head. Tied me to the chair.

I couldn't get
loose for an hour.

He took my shotgun,

but when I come to, I
looked out the window,

and I seen him down there.

Some nester's in a wagon

and Rod made the nester
drive him out of town...

out west of town.

- A wagon?
- Yeah.

Come on, let's get the horses.

Ain't Rod Ellison, is it?

No.

That's that nester that
he held up on the street.

What in the world
would he want to kill

a poor feller like
that for, Mr. Dillon?

Well, look at this.

- This wasn't here before.
- My golly, it sure wasn't.

Looks to me like
something was buried here.

Yeah, but what?

Well, just for a
guess I'd say money.

Looks to me like Rod
came out here to pick it up,

the nester was a
witness so he killed him.

Well, Mr. Dillon, Rod
must've stole it in Pueblo.

That's why that Sheriff
Whitter is after him.

Probably.

Well, he can't be far
ahead. Let's get riding.

We'll bury the nester later.

Mr. Dillon, he sure ought
not be too far ahead of us now.

Yeah.

As a matter of fact, he
could be in that gulley

right over there,
waiting for us, Chester.

Yeah.

Let's get over there
and take a look.

Now, keep a sharp eye out.

♪♪

- He's still breathing, Chester.
- Yeah.

All right, see if you can
drag him out of there now.

He sure didn't do himself
much good this time, did he?

A darned fool.

This sure ain't no
country for a wagon.

Uh oh.

What is it?

My gracious, sakes alive.

There must be
thousands of dollars there.

Yeah.

It's not gonna do him
much good though, is it?

He must have robbed
that bank, Mr. Dillon.

He didn't get it punching cows.

Chester, let's see if we can
get this wagon turned back over.

We got to him into Doc so
we can pick up that nester fella.

See if you can round
up the team there.

All right.

All right, Chester.

What happened to Ellison?

You shoot him, Marshal?

Well, he turned the
wagon over on himself.

He have this money with him?

He had it buried right here.

I'll be doggoned.

If you had ridden
in here that day,

you'd probably have found it.

He was lying here half...

paralyzed.

Well, I knew he had it
hid somewhere, Marshal.

The dirty thief.

Is he, uh, still alive?

Yeah, in pretty
bad shape though.

We're gonna get
him into the doctor's.

No, no, no. Just
a minute, Marshal.

Ellison's my prisoner.

I'm going to take him
back to Pueblo with me.

Whitter, I thought I
explained all that to you once.

This money belongs to the
bank. I got to take that back there.

Doesn't it matter that there's
a man dying here to you?

He's a criminal. What
difference does it make?

Now, look here, Marshal.
You and your deputy

get mounted on your
horses and get out of here.

- Now, I'm telling you.
- You're wasting your time, Whitter.

You gonna get on
them horses or not?

Not likely.

All right.

My goodness, Mr. Dillon.

You shot a deputy
sheriff, a lawman.

Well, he wouldn't have
it any other way, Chester.

Well, I will say
he had it coming.

- That's for sure.
- Yeah.

Well, come on.

Marshal!

Marshal Dillon!

Got this for ya.

Answer to your
telegram to Pueblo.

Thanks, Myles.

I didn't know you sent
a telegram, Mr. Dillon.

- Just checking up, Chester.
- What does it say?

"Description of Ben
Whitter fits one of two men

"who held up the bank here,

"killed my deputy
and took his badge.

Hold him. Red
Thompson, Sheriff."

Well, we held him
all right, didn't we?

Well, if that don't beat all.

Wait a minute.

Well, Chester...

might as well take
'em up to Boot Hill.

All three of 'em.

Rod's dead too, huh?

Yeah. Tell you what.

You take 'em on up there
and I'll answer this telegram.

Then I'll be along
to give you a hand.

Ha.