User Reviews

Six outlaws are on the run after a bank robbery in Cimarron. Part of the gang consist of two teenage siblings Eddie and Allie Sommers. The siblings part is to make sure that at specific areas the older robbers have fresh horses to outrun the posses. Here, in the episode, the two are waiting as the gang rides up and they provide them with horses and then hold the money until meeting back together at the hideout.

However this time they have two posses and when the teenagers ride in another direction they ride up on a posse lead by Marshal Dillon. From a great distance Matt shoots at the two bandits and hits Allie in the shoulder. After evading the posses, Allie becomes unable to ride her horse. Her brother, Eddie, hides the money and advises that he will be back with the rest of the gang. However when Eddie rides up on the other gang member, they think it is a posse member and shoots him dead. Before dying he tells the other four that Allie is injured and knows where the money is hidden.

Allie shows up at Doc Adams place where she is given medical attention. Matt believes that Allie may be part of the gang so he lets her think that they have no idea that she is one of the robbers.

Later when one of the gang members comes looking for Allie, she does not want to leave the town. But when she is falsely told that Matt Dillon killed her brother, she will gladly lead Matt right into a trap.

The story was interesting and held the attention of the viewer the entire time. Lane Bradbury (who will later plays Merry Florene in many Gunsmoke episodes) does a great job of playing the naive teenager that only knows one kind of lifestyle. The writing was excellent and the storyline smooth. Good watch!

Note- Ted Jordan plays an outlaw in this episode. It will only be a few more episodes until he has a recurring role as Nathan Burke, the Dodge City freight agent, for the remainder of the series run.

A gang of outlaws have robbed a train near Cimarron and are on the run from a posse. Two of the gang members -- young brother and sister Eddie and Allie Sommers -- are waiting with fresh horses for the other four gang members. The gang members that robbed the train are four sinister men named Dove Bailey, Harve Kane, Hank Wheeler, and Coley Martin. When they meet Allie and Eddie, they give them the money from the robbery and take off on the fresh horses. The Sommers siblings head out in a different direction.

When Allie and Eddie inadvertently ride into range of the pursuing posse led by Matt Dillon, the Marshal shoots at them with a rifle from a long distance. The shot hits Allie in the shoulder, but with the fresh horses the pair still manage to elude the posse.

Eventually, Allie's pain from the gunshot reaches a point where she cannot continue to ride her horse. Eddie hides the money and sets out to rendezvous with the rest of the gang with the intention to lead them back to Allie.

As Eddie approaches the place where the gang is camped, the four outlaws fear someone from the posse has caught up with them. Hank Wheeler foolishly shoots in the direction of the sound, and the shot mortally wounds Eddie. As he is dying, Eddie tells the gang members where he left Allie and that she knows where the money is hidden. Dove Bailey sends Kane to find Allie and get the money from the robbery.

Meanwhile in Dodge City, Doc Adams enters his office one night and discovers an unconscious Allie inside. He tends to her gunshot injury. Allie tells Matt she was traveling with a wagon train. Matt tells her he will take her back to the wagon train once her wound has healed. Matt suspects Allie is associated with Dove Bailey and the gang of robbers, but he chooses not to press her on the matter.

Doc solicits Kitty Russell's help with Allie, and the young girl quickly begins to enjoy living in Dodge City. She and her brother were orphaned as youngsters, and Allie has never known the kind of compassion and care shown by Miss Kitty, Doc, Thad Greenwood, Festus Haggen, Matt, and the other citizens of Dodge.

Back at the hideout, the outlaws are faced with a dilemma: Eddie is dead, and only Allie knows where the money is hidden. When Kane finally arrives at the line shack where the gang is hiding, he tells them he found Allie and left her with the doctor in Dodge City. She was hurt so badly Kane correctly reasoned she needed medical help, or she would die, and they would never find the money.

The other gang members do not trust Kane because he took Allie to Dodge. It was also his idea to leave the money with Allie and Eddie in the first place. When a couple of weeks pass with no sign of Allie, Bailey orders Kane -- who is not known in Dodge -- to ride into the town to see what he can find out about the girl.

In Dodge, Allie tells Kane she wants to stay in Dodge. When an abusive Kane lies and tells her Marshal Dillon killed her brother while he was trying to surrender, she agrees to lead Matt into an ambush. Allie tells Matt she wants to return to her family, and Matt agrees he and Festus will take her.

This series of events establishes the plot elements that will lead to the climax of the story. Allie, Festus, and Matt embark on the three-day ride with the outlaws poised to ambush them. Despite the dramatic elements, this is really the story of Allie discovering there are better opportunities and more trustworthy people beyond those she has known in the past.

"Outlaw's Woman" includes another strong cast of guest characters. Lane Bradbury continues to act in films and television series today. The Allie Sommers role in this story is one of her earlier acting jobs, and her performance stands out here. Gunsmoke fans may remember Bradbury better as the character Merry Florene in four Gunsmoke episodes in later years. (Actually, Allie Sommers is similar to Merry Florene -- a young woman from an impoverished background with a history of being subjected to mental and physical abuse who flourishes in a setting where people value her as a person.)

Bradbury's one-time husband, Lou Antonio is Harve Kane. This is Antonio's first Gunsmoke role. He would eventually participate in five different Gunsmoke episodes. He would even appear with Bradbury again in Season 14's "Gold Town."

Lonny Chapman -- a recognizable actor that usually played some kind of heavy in many television shows of this period -- is the gang leader Dove Bailey. Vincent Beck, another actor that often played unsavory types, is Coley Martin. The seemingly ever-present Ted Jordan is once again included in a Gunsmoke episode -- this time as Hank Wheeler. Of course, Gunsmoke fans know Jordan better as Nathan Burke, a recurring role he would soon fill.