Clarabelle Callahan owns the water rights in an area a few days away from Dodge City. She lives on a farm with her two children Maria and John. (This is yet another of many examples of a woman and her children living alone on the prairie -- a common Gunsmoke plot element.)
Lamoor Underwood is an obstinate cattle rancher in the area that not only wants the water but wants the local farmers -- "sodbusters" as he calls them -- to leave the area. He resents the presence of the farmers.
(It is interesting to note the karmic implications of someone like Underwood who was involved in taking land from indigenous people to build his cattle ranch now fighting additional settlers who want their own piece of the land.)
Underwood hires a professional gunfighter named Dick Shaw to help "convince" the farmers to leave and Callahan to give up her water rights. Underwood and Shaw are not aware that a man who goes by the name Pete Brown is actually an extremely talented gunfighter named John Jobson who is living on the Callahan farm and helping the family. When Shaw challenges a group of the farmers, Brown resists. Shaw and Brown face off, and Shaw is nowhere near Brown's match.
Underwood and his men ride away from the confrontation and leave the injured Shaw behind. Brown and the farmers tie Shaw to his horse and shoo the horse away.
When the severely injured Shaw is found by a rancher near Dodge, Doc Adams and Matt Dillon are summoned. Doc can do nothing for Shaw, who was shot through a lung and has lost too much blood to survive. Before he dies, Shaw tells Marshal Dillon John Jobson shot him. Matt goes to the area where Underwood and the other farmers live to investigate.
This is a perfect role for actor Morgan Woodward, who plays the cattle baron Lamoor Underwood. Of course, Woodward appeared so often in the series, he almost qualifies as a regular cast member. This is one of his eighteen different Gunsmoke appearances. A young Harrison Ford makes the first of his two Gunsmoke appearances as one of Underwood's hired hands named Print.
This episode features the only Gunsmoke role for actor Alex Cord. His portrayal of the Pete Brown/John Jobson character is convincing.
Actress Katherine Justice, who was featured prominently in television shows throughout the 1970s, portrays Clarabelle Callahan. Real life brother and sister Leif Garrett and Dawn Lyn play her kids. Lyn's portrayal of Dodie Harper Douglas in the comedy series My Three Sons was just ending around the time this episode was filmed. Garrett and Lyn also played siblings in an episode of Wonder Woman, as well as the films Devil Times Five and Walking Tall.
Watch for actor Colin Male who has a small part in this episode as the character Gene Hill. Male never played any big parts, but his voice is well known as the announcer for The Andy Griffith Show.
Milburn Stone makes an appearance early in this episode, but this is one of those episodes where Matt Dillon is the only regular cast member involved, and he is primarily a sideline character, although his law enforcement presence does grow in importance as the story progresses.
The cattle rancher versus homesteader theme is quote popular in the Westerns genre. Of course, it is historically significant because the Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of public land at no cost if a homesteader filed a claim on the land and successfully established a viable farm.
One of the earliest and best examples of the theme is the 1953 film Shane, and this episode even contains several parallels to that film. Morgan Ryker in Shane is Lamoor Underwood in this story. Shane from the film is Pete Brown here. Jean Arthur's Marian Starrett correlates to Clarabelle Callahan in this story. The Callahan children in this story can be related to Brandon De Wilde's Joey Starrett in the film.
Despite the familiarity of the theme and the lack of much in the way of a connection to the Gunsmoke world, this episode is entertaining, the acting is excellent, and the writing and direction are superb.
Lamoor Underwood is an obstinate cattle rancher in the area that not only wants the water but wants the local farmers -- "sodbusters" as he calls them -- to leave the area. He resents the presence of the farmers.
(It is interesting to note the karmic implications of someone like Underwood who was involved in taking land from indigenous people to build his cattle ranch now fighting additional settlers who want their own piece of the land.)
Underwood hires a professional gunfighter named Dick Shaw to help "convince" the farmers to leave and Callahan to give up her water rights. Underwood and Shaw are not aware that a man who goes by the name Pete Brown is actually an extremely talented gunfighter named John Jobson who is living on the Callahan farm and helping the family. When Shaw challenges a group of the farmers, Brown resists. Shaw and Brown face off, and Shaw is nowhere near Brown's match.
Underwood and his men ride away from the confrontation and leave the injured Shaw behind. Brown and the farmers tie Shaw to his horse and shoo the horse away.
When the severely injured Shaw is found by a rancher near Dodge, Doc Adams and Matt Dillon are summoned. Doc can do nothing for Shaw, who was shot through a lung and has lost too much blood to survive. Before he dies, Shaw tells Marshal Dillon John Jobson shot him. Matt goes to the area where Underwood and the other farmers live to investigate.
This is a perfect role for actor Morgan Woodward, who plays the cattle baron Lamoor Underwood. Of course, Woodward appeared so often in the series, he almost qualifies as a regular cast member. This is one of his eighteen different Gunsmoke appearances. A young Harrison Ford makes the first of his two Gunsmoke appearances as one of Underwood's hired hands named Print.
This episode features the only Gunsmoke role for actor Alex Cord. His portrayal of the Pete Brown/John Jobson character is convincing.
Actress Katherine Justice, who was featured prominently in television shows throughout the 1970s, portrays Clarabelle Callahan. Real life brother and sister Leif Garrett and Dawn Lyn play her kids. Lyn's portrayal of Dodie Harper Douglas in the comedy series My Three Sons was just ending around the time this episode was filmed. Garrett and Lyn also played siblings in an episode of Wonder Woman, as well as the films Devil Times Five and Walking Tall.
Watch for actor Colin Male who has a small part in this episode as the character Gene Hill. Male never played any big parts, but his voice is well known as the announcer for The Andy Griffith Show.
Milburn Stone makes an appearance early in this episode, but this is one of those episodes where Matt Dillon is the only regular cast member involved, and he is primarily a sideline character, although his law enforcement presence does grow in importance as the story progresses.
The cattle rancher versus homesteader theme is quote popular in the Westerns genre. Of course, it is historically significant because the Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of public land at no cost if a homesteader filed a claim on the land and successfully established a viable farm.
One of the earliest and best examples of the theme is the 1953 film Shane, and this episode even contains several parallels to that film. Morgan Ryker in Shane is Lamoor Underwood in this story. Shane from the film is Pete Brown here. Jean Arthur's Marian Starrett correlates to Clarabelle Callahan in this story. The Callahan children in this story can be related to Brandon De Wilde's Joey Starrett in the film.
Despite the familiarity of the theme and the lack of much in the way of a connection to the Gunsmoke world, this episode is entertaining, the acting is excellent, and the writing and direction are superb.