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24 Episodes 1973 - 1974
Episode 1
Mon, Sep 10, 197360 mins
Matt becomes involved in investigating the disappearance of female settlers and travelers in the region. He links it to a band of renegade Native Americans, who plan to sell the women as sex slaves to a band of ruthless white mercenaries.
Episode 2
Mon, Sep 17, 197360 mins
Matt helps two of the captives (a one-time saloon girl named Stella and a young girl named Marcy) escape their bloodthirsty Indian captor. After Matt and Stella bring the shaken Marcy out of her shell - she had earlier witnessed her mother's murder at the hands of her would-be rapist - the three team together to bring the ringleader of the white slave trade to justice before he can escape to Mexico.
Episode 3
Mon, Sep 24, 197360 mins
Matt is shot and abandoned by a fugitive Les Dean, whom he was tracking. Matt's horse finds his way to the farm of young widow named Mike Yardner, who, with the help of her dog, finds Matt and brings him to her farm. Matt is recovering, but he does not remember his past. Love is in the air. Separately, Les Dean makes a contract with Mike Yardner's corrupt neighbor to drive her out due to some water rights. The neighbor's words were "I don't like killings, but I've been around them." Les Dean visits Mike and Matt (who still does not recognize Les), but Les changes his mind about the contract and goes to return the deposit. That's when Matt regains his memory.
Episode 4
Mon, Oct 1, 197360 mins
When a useless old drunk is hired by some men to sit on some property for them to claim, the old man meets up with a young boy. The young boy gives the old man a reason to change his ways.
Episode 5
Mon, Oct 8, 197360 mins
Scott Coltrane's nickname (the title of this episode) is well-earned; he is one of the fastest guns in the West. But Coltrane is honest and has no desire to get in a non-legitimate fight; furthermore, he has recently married and learns he will soon become a father. When he comes to Dodge to settle, three men take him on at the same time (he drops all three in their tracks, though only after trying as hard as he can to persuade them to quit). Before long, another hired gun comes after him. Coltrane has a Hobson's choice of fighting until he gets killed or not fighting and getting killed anyway. Matt tries to figure out another route Coltrane can take.
Episode 6
Mon, Oct 22, 197360 mins
Kitty and a gunman start to fall in love, but she's unaware a vengeful woman has offered 1,000 dollars reward to anyone who kills him.
Episode 7
Mon, Oct 29, 197360 mins
J.J. is a charming petty thief being transported to Dodge by Festus, who eventually has to trust him to protect a woman, her young son, and him.
Episode 8
Mon, Nov 5, 197360 mins
A riot on an Indian reservation leads to some of the men breaking out and marauding over the plains, terrifying the local whites. In one case, their terror is well-justified: a band breaks into the home of a local rancher and destroys it, killing his wife in the process. Matt and other lawmen come upon a group carrying various stolen items and take them in. The rancher gathers his minions and rides into Dodge vowing to lynch the men. Matt won't back down and insists that the Indians be held for trial. The rancher doesn't dare challenge Matt head-to-head, but Matt soon finds that any trial would be a shambles because the Indians can't speak English. In desperation, Matt shanghais a traveling circuit rider into serving as the Indians' counsel. The rider, Cicero Wolfe finally agrees, but warns Matt that he himself is a half-blooded Cherokee and intends to make the trial a crusade against bigotry. The trial begins in a highly charged atmosphere.
Episode 9
Mon, Nov 12, 197360 mins
As the trial for a renegade group of Indians accused of murder during a rampage gets under way, half-breed defense counsel Cicero Wolfe turns it into an expose' on the plight of Native Americans and how they have been prejudged on the basis of their skin color. Matt has sneaked Wolfe a piece of evidence that will clear the defendants -- if Wolfe doesn't get gunned down first. The rancher who lost his wife in the attack, and his daughter, start to develop deep respect for the high-principled Wolfe and start to believe his theory that the wrong men were arrested for the murder. But will it be enough?
Episode 10
Mon, Nov 19, 197360 mins
Matt investigates the circumstances in another town concerning poor man Jake Fielder, who admitted to stealing money but denied killing a woman in the process before they lynched him.
Episode 11
Mon, Nov 26, 197360 mins
Patrolling the back country of Kansas on assignment for Marshal Dillon, Newly O'Brien comes to a small community /of rednecks and finds that a person there needs an emergency operation. Newly, who has been trained by Doc Adams to eventually pursue a career in medicine, undertakes the surgery - but the patient dies and the townsfolk hold Newly responsible. When word of Newly's disappearance reaches Dodge City, Doc and Festus rush off to find him. They get to the scene of hanging in time, but Doc is accidentally shot by one of Newly's guards and Newly must test his surgical skills once again.
Episode 12
Mon, Dec 3, 197360 mins
As Nellie and her niece Susan are moving to St. Louis permanently, Matt Dillon brings in a wounded prisoner, Norman Boswell, for Nellie to patch up, thus delaying the move. Susan highly resents the intrusion in her plans. Nellie and Norman develop feelings for one another and plan to be married, while Susan schemes to turn Norman in for the reward.
Episode 13
Mon, Dec 17, 197360 mins
When a mentally challenged young man comes to Dodge, Festus takes the man under his arm. But it will not be long until Festus knows the young man needs more help than he can give.
Episode 14
Mon, Dec 24, 197360 mins
A wanted man goes into Dodge to get help for his sick baby and his Indian wife. With Doc unavailable, Newly offers to help but will be torn between healing and his duty as a lawman.
Episode 15
Mon, Jan 14, 197460 mins
Matt and U.S. Marshal Bob Hargraves team up to hunt a family of particularly sadistic outlaws.
Episode 16
Mon, Jan 21, 197460 mins
A released safe cracker and aging saloon girl renew their love, but some crooks are pressuring him to break into safes again.
Episode 17
Mon, Jan 28, 197460 mins
Marshal Dillon, with another colleague, face the task of bringing law and order to the wild western town of Hilt. When Dillon arrives he discovers the marshal is an old friend, Luke Rumbaugh. Together the two set out to clean up the town. Once the two marshals manage to bring a measure of peace to Hilt, Dillon leaves while Rumbaugh stays on. One day Rumbaugh discovers that an old friend and love interest, named Martha, has arrived in town with her son while on their way to San Francisco. Confronted with his love for her again, he must decide whether to marry Martha before she leaves. Meanwhile, men Rumbaugh threw out of town plot to return and take their revenge on the marshal.
Episode 18
Mon, Feb 11, 197460 mins
Marshal Dillon is forced to kill a man he knew personally, a farmer named Eli Baines, who had too much to drink. Shaken by the experience, Dillon heads out of Dodge City for a few days. On the trail he discovers a rape victim, named Lettie, and her newborn baby girl. When Lettie is well enough to travel, Dillon heads to her parents' farm, where her parents finally relent to take in the daughter they had sent away. Dillon is left with the task of finding a home for the baby girl. Back in Dodge City, Marshal Dillon entrusts the baby girl to Kitty Russell while he tries to find a home for the baby. At last he finds that Eli Baines' widow, Maylee, is eager to raise the baby. But by that time Kitty has grown so fond of the girl that she is willing to do whatever it takes to keep and raise her.
Episode 19
Mon, Feb 18, 197460 mins
William Talley is a very unusual breed of gunfighter. He is well-educated, married and father to a poetry-spouting teenage daughter. That doesn't stop an association of ranchers around Dodge from hiring him to kill a rival rancher with his own lofty ideals, but it does lead the rivals into an unusual alliance.
Episode 20
Mon, Feb 25, 197460 mins
Dodge City school teacher Sarah Merkle is dedicated to improving the lives of her students. Unknown to Sarah, widower Carl Pruitt has fallen in love with the caring, hard working school teacher. On a school lunch one day Carl saves Sarah from an attack by a traveling salesman named Stokes. When Doc Adams examines Sarah after the incident, she learns to her horror that she is pregnant. Wondering why Sarah is so shaken after visiting Doc Adams, Carl recalls certain comments by Stokes after the attack. He figures it all adds up to Stokes getting Sarah pregnant. Late one night Carl confronts Stokes about the matter. During the confrontation an accident occurs resulting in Stokes' death. Marshal Dillon locks up Carl, who refuses to say why the accident occurred for fear of divulging Sarah's secret. The only person who can clear the matter up now is Sarah - and she's mortified of the possibility of her rape and pregnancy becoming public.
Episode 21
Mon, Mar 4, 197460 mins
Festus pursues the cold-hearted Rance Woolfe after a brutal robbery in Dodge City. Rance heads to his brother's farm. Not wanting his notoriously lawless brother around, his brother agrees to let him stay just long enough to refresh himself. Rance has other ideas. Turning on his brother, he murders him for his money. When his brother's son, Buck Henry, discovers his uncle has murdered his father, Buck vows to kill Rance. Having tracked Rance to his brother's farm, Festus orders Buck to sit out the chase. Determined to avenge his father's death, Buck heads on without Festus. When Festus realizes what has happened, he gives chase, hoping to reach Buck before Rance has a chance to kill him.
Episode 22
Mon, Mar 11, 197460 mins
Dave Rope is a down on his luck young man looking to marry his sweetheart Sally and move to St. Louis. He spots his chance when an old drifter, named Joshua Pinch, passes through and hustles several cowboys in a pool game. He learns that the drifter's real name is Moses Darby, a former world champion billiards player. Rope proposes a partnership with the old hustler. Darby accepts, and along with Sally, they head for Dodge City to seek their fortune. Before long Darby goes up against the local cattle baron, Adam Kearney. Angry at his loss, Kearney brings in Willie Tomsen, the best billiards player west of the Mississippi, to face Darby. For Darby, it is a chance to relive his glory days and redeem himself. But upon learning that Rope has put himself deeply in debt with a large bet on Tomsen, Darby must make an agonizing choice. To play for his own honor, or to throw the game for Rope's sake.
Episode 23
Mon, Mar 18, 197460 mins
Joan Shepherd and her daughter, Anna May, plan to go to a local dance so Anna May can meet a wealthy young man, such as Steven Rogers, son of a wealthy rancher. An arranged marriage would be acceptable to Mr. Rogers, but Anna May detests Steven. She has eyes for Newly O'Brien. A poor neighboring farmer, Orlo Baker, would like to court Anna May, but Joan finds the thought laughable. Chester Shepherd, Joan's son, is interested in a young woman, whom Joan characterizes as a trollop. Joan recalls a young man from her own youth who rode a fine yellow horse, which epitomizes her goal for her children. The tensions threaten to tear the family apart.
Episode 24
Mon, Apr 1, 197460 mins
In Amanda Blake's last episode after 19 years on the show. Matt's life is changed when his gun arm is seriously wounded.