The two men were actually free-lance broncobusters, and this is how Sheriff Matt Dillon got involved: the ranch owner had refused to pay the men, but the sheriff made him pay because the owner's own ranch hands admitted that the two men did the work. I know this is a minor point but Gary Busey's character was actually suffering from an epidural hematoma, not a subdural one. This is what allowed him to have the "lucid interval" and have that final "good time" before his death. I still think this was one of the greatest episodes and was an appropriate send-off for the series - Gary's character and the show both went out with a bang. Overall, the later Gunsmoke episodes seemed to show more humanity than the "shoot 'em up" episodes in the early years and I still am sorry it went off the air.
Review of The Busters
