User Reviews

The story begins with Matt Dillon shooting a horse in the desert. Matt and his prisoner, Carl Craddock, are on their way to Dodge, but the lack of water has reached a critical point where even their horses cannot survive. When Matt and Craddock find a small pool of water, they drink, not realizing the water is contaminated.

A group of drovers, led by Virgil Powell, are engaged in a cattle drive toward Dodge when they find Matt and his prisoner near death. They nurse the two back to health and everyone makes their way to Dodge.

In Dodge, the cowboys engage in typical rowdy, drunken behavior. Matt has to walk a fine line between keeping the peace and allowing the cowboys to let off a little steam.

Craddock is in the Dodge City jail, but he is one mean, nasty character. He repeatedly threatens Matt and continuously looks for a way to escape. He has nothing to lose, as he is surely going to be executed by hanging.

This sets the stage for the series of events that take place in the remainder of this fine episode--one of the better of Season 12.

William Watson was always great at playing psychopathic type characters, and he certainly does not disappoint here. Carl Craddock is pretty much pure evil.

Leif Erickson is excellent as the grizzled Virgil, leader of the drovers. Victor French and Dub Taylor also provide memorable performances.

Matt is taking a prisoner back to Dodge during a severe drought. They nearly fall prey to the arid condition until they find a small pool of water. The problem is that the water is contaminated and will cause both Matt and the prisoner to become sick.

They are found by members of a cattle drive and taken back to camp. The leader of the drive, Virgil Powell, is trying to be the first to get his cattle to Dodge so they can take opportunity of the higher price for beef. The drive-leader gets Matt and the prisoner back to health and then cashes in on the good money for the cattle.

The men on the cattle drive, with lots of money to spend, start living it up in Dodge. This causes problems with locals until Mr Powell agrees to pay for all damages that the men cause.

What everyone does not know is that one of the cattle men has made a deal with the prisoner. He will help him escape a certain hanging for a large amount of money. However during the escape something goes terribly wrong. And even Matt is sadden by the circumstance that befalls on Dodge that evening.

This episode was well put together and well acted. The entire story held the viewers attention and made for a good watch. Some of the previous shows were lackluster- but this one puts 'Gunsmoke' back on top of its game.

NOTE- Maybe it was the video that I watched, but the opening credits were not from 1967. The credits were from a later period as Newly was seen on the credit and Thad was left out. So at least on my video tape, they replace the opening credit for some unknown reason.