One of the prettiest women I've met in the West was very nearly the cause of violence and carnage.
And to this day, I don't think she knows why.
Frontier Gentlemen
Here with, an Englishman's account of life and death in the West.
As a reporter for the London Times, he writes his colourful and unusual stories.
But as a man with a gun, he lives and becomes a part of the violent years in the new territories.
Now starring John Boehner, this is the story of J.B. Kendall, Frontier Gentlemen.
Frontier Gentlemen
One of the first things I noticed in Laramie, Wyoming territory, was the intense rivalry between that town and Cheyenne on the other side of the Laramie Mountains.
One read the bitter attacks and counter-attacks in the opposition newspapers. One heard it on the streets.
At the time I arrived in Laramie, gold had been discovered in the mountains to the south, and there was great rejoicing in this fact, which threatened to eclipse Cheyenne's claim of superiority.
In the interest of fair reporting, I decided to visit the mining area, with the idea of making comparisons between it and that which I had seen in Montana territory.
It was about midday when I saw the sign by the side of the trail reading, rotten head gulch, and a few minutes after that, when I arrived at the cluster of shacks, which constituted said township.
I noticed three men outside an edifice which bore the legend, Dirty Charlie's Saloon.
Look at there.
Good afternoon.
Howdy. Clones closed.
Oh?
Yeah, voting day.
Ah, I see.
You voted yet?
Oh, well, no.
Buck, get out the voting paper.
I got it right here, Jim. Right here, mister.
I'm not a member of your community. Does that make a difference?
Well, you're a human man, that's all the difference we need. Hey, sure, get off the table, let the stranger sit comfortable like.
Oh, that's set, mister.
Oh.
Make your mark, or you can write it out proper if you know how.
One small point. What am I voting for? Or whom?
You're voting for the school, Mom. That's what and who.
Oh, and do I vote yes or no?
Well, you vote yes, mister. You vote no, your library will end up lying toes down.
Hey, you ain't been sent by them no good goose-crick boys, have you?
No, I've come from Laramie. Left there this morning.
That's all right, then.
Look here, it's not that I mind voting, but I'd like to know something about it.
Why, he told you, mister.
Shut your mouth, Shorty.
Man's got a right to know. That's legal.
Well, sir, now it's this way. We got a school mom rottenhead gulch.
The school district in Laramie give her, and we aim to keep her.
She's the prettiest thing you ever did, Shorty.
I'm telling you, now hobble your lip.
Well, she is, ain't she, Buck?
Oh, man, she is a cow bunny, and that's for sure.
Now, like I say, we aim to keep her, and ain't no goose-crick coyote is going to get her.
That's how come to vote.
And school district says if goose-crick gets more votes than rottenhead gulch, she's going to be sent there.
Ah, now I see.
So you vote, yeah.
But, um, is it legal?
Well, sure it's legal.
Of course it is.
Look here, I'm in charge of voting. I say it's legal.
Anybody comes this here town on voting day is a citizen of rottenhead gulch.
Honorable like.
Now, as mayor, I make you a citizen.
Now you vote.
All right.
Hey, Buck, where at's a rotten quill?
I don't know.
What do you mean you don't know?
We ain't had no voting since this morning.
Guess maybe I left it in the saloon.
Well, go get it.
Sure, Jim.
You know, I'm rather surprised to find a school teacher out here.
I mean, in a mining town as small as this, are there many children?
Oh, shucks, mister, there ain't no kids around.
One of these here days, that leaky mouth of your horn is going to get you a case of slow.
Well, it's the truth, Jim.
A school teacher with no children to teach?
Rather odd, isn't it?
Well, now, sir, ain't nothing not about it.
We need to get us some kids as soon as we get us some women to marry up with and have a kid.
But how did the school district assign her here in the first place?
Ain't nobody asked to find out.
They did, and she's here, and she's going to stay.
She's been learning us.
There's 20 of us. Goes to school every night after work study.
Ain't that so, Jim?
That there's a fact, mister.
Now, maybe we ain't kids, but ain't but five of us can read and write so as you can notice it.
And we figure we got a right to learn as well as any kid.
Oh, I quite agree.
But tell me, where does one meet this school teacher of yours?
Well, I'd seen her a while back down to the Creek, washing some woman thing.
I found it, Jim.
Right here.
Here's a writing quilt.
Where at, Zink?
Oh.
You know something?
I'm going to tell you that there, Buck.
My out school ain't going to do him no good.
You know, he ain't got enough brains to start with.
How many votes will you need to keep her here?
Well, more than Goose Creek, that's for sure.
You see, we got 20 votes in Rottenhead Guts.
Goose Creek's got maybe 30.
We just got to vote more than they do so when the votes is counted, then we'll win.
Who counts the votes?
Oh, back in Laramie.
Well, as soon as the day is finished, we seal up the voting boxes and we take them up to Laramie.
But won't they know that you've enlarged your voting?
They must be aware of the population here.
Shucks, no such thing.
We just got to be sure we got more assigned votes in Goose Creek.
That's all.
How will you know that?
Well, right now it is kind of a problem.
I've got plenty, Jim.
Right here.
Thanks.
There you go, mister.
Good afternoon, boy.
Well, now, good afternoon, Miss Jones.
Howdy there.
Good evening, sir. I've met this gentleman.
Well, no, Miami.
He's just rolled in.
As soon as he's finished his business, he's going to be riding right out again.
Miss Jones, isn't it?
Yes.
My name is Kendall, Miss Jones.
J.B. Kendall.
How do you do, Mr. Kendall?
I have been hearing quite a bit about you, Miss Jones.
Oh, have you?
I'd like very much to talk to you as soon as I've voted.
Voted?
But you can't vote.
James Ponder.
Oh, now, ma'am, this here is man's work.
I will not have a dishonest ballot.
I told you that before.
Oh, it ain't really dishonest, Miss Jones.
Jim made this fellow an honorable citizen a rotten head gust, didn't you?
I'm very sorry, Mr. Kendall, but you cannot vote.
Well, ma'am, you just don't understand these here political things.
I understand that you're trying to stop the ballot box, and I will not have it.
Has everybody in town voted?
Oh, yes, ma'am.
I'm sorry, Mr. Kendall.
I'm sorry.
We sure have.
Then in my presence, I want you to seal the box.
Oh, Miss Jones.
Oh, look, we can't do that.
Look here, now, it ain't legal.
Yeah, not till sundown.
It just ain't legal.
That's what it says right here, and he's hearing instructions from the school district in Laramie.
Now, it just ain't legal.
Not till sundown.
If everybody's voted, it's illegal.
Seal the box.
Yes, ma'am.
That just don't seem right.
Some of the other fellas didn't get to vote.
Shorty!
I hope there's here nothing.
Now, Miss Jones, why don't you take Mr. Kendall and show him the schoolhouse?
I figure he'd like to see that.
As a matter of fact, I would.
All right.
And no more voting.
Is that understood?
Oh, Miss Jones, I understand for sure.
This way, Mr. Kendall.
Are you a minor, too?
No.
I'm a newspaper correspondent for the London Times.
Isn't that strange?
I had a feeling.
Not exactly, but you're very much like my brother.
He's a reporter on a Nebraska paper.
How strange.
It gave me quite a start when I first saw you.
Miss Jones, how long have you been here?
Not near Gotch.
Three months.
Weren't you surprised to find no children?
Yes.
Of course, they kept it from me for almost two weeks.
I think I can understand why.
Can you really, Mr. Kendall?
Oh, I see.
You mean because they wanted to learn themselves.
Yes, you're right.
And that's why you decided to stay?
Yes.
Well, you think it curious that a woman devote her time to teaching 20 grown men.
Not curious.
Unusual, perhaps.
This is the schoolhouse, Mr. Kendall.
The men built it.
They built the desks, benches, everything.
Would you like to come inside?
Very much.
They even built a wooden floor, Mr. Kendall.
Wooden floors are quite rare in these mining towns.
I'm impressed more than I can say, Miss Jones.
They have a great desire for education.
I couldn't leave them, not after they worked so hard to build this.
And now?
Unfortunately, word reached the people of Goose Creek that there was a schoolteacher
here.
They are a slightly larger community and feel that the school district board should assign
me to their town, besides which there are two children in Goose Creek.
I see.
The board decided to have it settled by a vote.
If enough residents of Goose Creek require my services and outvote the men of Rottenhead
College, I shall have to obey the decision of the board.
Well, aren't there other teachers available?
Yes.
But that's the strange part of it.
Neither town will accept anyone but me.
Of course, I'm flattered.
But I can't see that it really makes any difference, can you?
Well, yes.
In a way, you see...
Yes, yes, boys.
You, mister, elevate your hands.
Hi.
Now, we don't aim to hurt you, none, Miss Jones.
You just come along with us and everything will be right fine.
Mr. Kendall.
Now, look here.
Take care of him, Wes.
I'll do that.
In a moment, we return to Frontier Gentlemen.
Another fascinating adventure is waiting for you on CBS Radio today, as most of these same
stations present the FBI in peace and war.
Today, these law enforcers go after a pair of swindlers.
You'll be amazed by the cleverness of the swindlers.
You'll be thrilled to learn, however, that the FBI in peace and war is cleverer still.
And now, we return you to the Anthony Ellis production of Frontier Gentlemen.
I seem to remember a great roaring in my ears, which as I awoke turned out to be the voice
of James Ponder.
He was kneeling over me and seeing my eyes open, redoubled his efforts to pour a great
dollop of foul tasting whiskey down my throat.
Come on, Kendall, it'll clear your head.
No, no, don't.
There you go.
I don't need it, no.
What happened?
Yeah.
What?
Hey, where is she, Kendall?
Help me up, will you?
Well, where is she?
We heard voices and when we got here, there wasn't nobody except you.
Yeah.
There were three or four men masked.
They'd taken her.
Well, who was it?
I don't know, except there was a father and son.
The older man called the other Wes.
Wes.
Jim, that's Wes over to Goose Creek.
Stomp Peter's son, Wes.
I might have noted.
You reckon they carried her off to beat the vote?
That's what they done.
What good would it do?
Well, I'll tell you what good.
They figured they got more votes than we got, and even if we maybe voted more times than
them, they got her in Goose Creek.
And by the time the school district gets around, eyeballing around, maybe a recount, it'll
be two, maybe three months.
By then, there's going to be a new school district board in and the whole blame thing
will have to start up again.
At no count Stomp Peter's.
He's about as welcome as a rattler in a dog town.
I'll dally your tongue, Shorty.
I'll go fetch them other boys out of the hills.
We got to do something about this.
Oh, we sure have, Jim.
I tell you, no Goose Creek sidewinder going to rustle our school tomorrow.
Or I'll hit the breeze, Shorty, and you two bucks tell the boys to wear a suit and irons.
This here is going to be a powder burning contest.
An hour later, 20 men, hard-bitten miners, some of them young, others grizzled, all armed
to the teeth, were gathered in dirty Charlie's saloon.
Their mood was black, and it became blackers.
Jim Ponder spoke to them.
At Stomp Peter's, he's a no-good bull-winded, oily bronc.
He come here looking for our school tomorrow, and he snatches her clean out of Rottenhead
Gull.
Well, he ain't going to get away with it, because we're going over to Goose Creek, and
we're going to shoot up that fair place like you never seen.
And we're going to get Miss Jones right back where she belongs, you hear?
And when we get through Stomp Peter's and that ding-back son of his, we're going to
use him to trim a tree, you hear?
All right, now get your horses, boys, and rattlesnakes out of here.
You got to miss General.
Oh, certainly.
Likely they'll be shooting.
How far is it to Goose Creek?
Oh, about half a mile.
All right, now, let's go!
Don't you imagine they'll be expecting you?
Why, sure they'll be expecting us.
It's going to be a real shoot-up.
Wouldn't it have been better to surprise them?
What for?
They know we'd be coming after them.
Supposing she gets hurt.
Well, now, you know, I didn't think of that.
You figure maybe we're shooting as a chance.
Boys, you hear what Kendall here says?
Well, we don't want the school mom hurt.
You watch where you're shooting at, you hear?
Right now, we're going to take it real slow, just around the next turn.
All right, yeah.
Hey, Kendall, you and me, we're going to keep an eye out for Miss Jones.
Either one of us eyeballs or it gets out of there fast, you hear?
Right.
There they are!
Hey, looky at that there, Kendall.
Right in the middle of the street.
Like you say, looks like they've been expecting us.
We came upon Goose Creek with abrupt suddenness.
The trail rounded a bend and became an elongated clearing lined on both sides with shacks.
Perhaps a half dozen more than existed in Rottenhead Gouch.
Between the dwellings and in the middle of the street were piled boxes, barrels, and
two overturned wagons.
Behind this barricade, we could see the figures of men and a reflection of the sunlight on
steel.
Up to this point, even with my headache, the affair had been rather difficult to take seriously,
but the complexion had radically changed.
We were no more than 20 yards from the defenders, Jim Ponder held up his hand.
Stop, Peter!
What do you want, Ponder?
We've come to get Miss Jones and take her back to her rightful home.
She's in her rightful home.
Guess where she is.
You're a liar.
You want to start trouble?
We ain't going back without the school, Marm.
Maybe you ain't going back because you'll be shaking hands with St. Peter.
Let me talk to him.
This ain't no time for chewing the cud.
Let's start throwing lead.
Shorty, shut your mouth, will you?
We're in a better position than we are.
Shucks, we could ride right over them.
You lived that long.
What's the matter, boys?
Afraid to take the big jump?
Come out, Peters!
You can bring another man with you.
Jim Ponder and I'll meet you between the lines.
Who are you?
The chap who was with Miss Jones.
I told you, Pa.
I told you he wasn't dead.
All right.
You and Ponder, get off your horses.
Come forward, slow.
You watch it, Jim.
Why don't you press?
Hey, boys, hey, start something.
You go ahead and finish it, yeah?
Let's go, Kendall.
What's your name, Mr.?
Kendall.
This here's my boy, Wes.
We figured he'd killed you.
I told you I didn't, Pa.
What do you got to say?
Where's Miss Jones?
In the schoolhouse we got built for her.
Is she all right?
Sure she's all right.
Ain't nobody gonna hurt that pretty gal.
No, sir.
We ain't gonna take her back, Stomp Peters.
You're off your mental reservation if you think you can do it, Ponder.
You ain't got no right to a school mam know-how.
Whether any kid in that broken down fleabedin' town of yours.
That don't matter.
We aim to get some by and by.
School district give it to us.
We just outvoted you.
She's ours now.
You better set your gunna going, Stomp Peters.
Well, that what you want.
I'm willin'.
Draw.
Now, wait, wait.
That won't settle anything.
I've never seen a better way.
You get him, Pa.
I'll cut down this here Kendall, though.
Young man, I owe you something for that clout on the head, but I have no desire to kill
you.
Now, both of you, keep your hands in sight.
You too, Jim.
Huh?
Hey, what's havin' you, mister?
I'm on your side.
Then keep your gun holstered.
There's no need for shooting.
Peters.
Tell one of your men to bring Miss Jones out here.
I ain't gonna do it.
Hey, Sam, go get the school man.
Bring her out.
Just what you got in mind, Kendall.
You'll see.
Well, it better be good.
Of course, effin' it ain't.
Effin' Stomp Peters boys don't get you me or mine will.
Ain't nobody pull their gun on me and gets away with it.
I think it's for the best.
What's the meaning?
What are you men doing?
Well, howdy, ma'am.
We come to get you out of this here pest hole.
We come to save you.
I've had enough of this nonsense.
First I'm forced to accompany Mr. Peters against my will.
Now your men are lined up waiting to kill each other.
I will not have it.
Do you understand?
Yes, ma'am.
Mr. Kendall, put away that gun.
All of you, put down those guns.
All right, boys.
You heard what she said.
Now put them away.
Now, Mr. Kendall, I shall be obliged if you will escort me back to Laramie.
Laramie?
You're gonna go back to Laramie?
Oh, she's going to Laramie.
Oh, Miss Jones.
It's gone too far.
If this is the example, you set your children.
Miss Jones, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Could I have a word with you in private?
I really don't see that that was...
I think you will.
Gentlemen, if you'll excuse us.
Oh, she's going back to Laramie.
You said you could have her.
Look, Black, there ain't nobody going to have her no more.
Oh, gentle, gentle, Grandma.
Double, triple, negative.
Miss Jones, there may be a solution, if you're willing.
I don't see any way.
I really don't.
If they could share you.
Share me?
No, I mean your teaching.
The town's only a half mile apart.
That might be possible.
No, Mr. Kendall.
My mind's made up.
Today is the final straw.
Miss Jones, think of the schoolhouse in Rottenhead Gulf.
You know, it was rather touching.
They've built a schoolhouse for me here in Goose Creek as well.
The floor isn't quite as good, but...
They need you, Miss Jones.
You think so?
I do.
Look at them.
They are like children, aren't they?
Very much like children.
I think perhaps you're right, Mr. Kendall.
But I wonder what the school district board will think.
Well, I imagine a joint petition from both towns ought to settle the problem.
Yes.
Yes, very likely.
All right.
If the men will agree to your plan.
I'm sure they will.
All right.
I'll stay.
Mr. Kendall.
Yes.
While I was being held captive, a rather terrible thought occurred to me.
It is the education that I can give them, isn't it?
I mean, there are no baser thoughts involved.
Is it because I am a woman?
Miss Jones, were it not for the fact that I have already completed my school and university
curricula, I should not hesitate to avail myself of the opportunity to better my education.
Thank you, Mr. Kendall.
You've relieved my mind.
The matter was settled most amicably, and readers of the London Times will be interested
to know that an extraordinarily pretty woman by the name of Miss Annabella Jones is now
entrusted with the education of some 53 adults and two children in the mining towns of Goose
Creek and Rottenhead Gulch in Wyoming territory.
Frontier Gentlemen was written, produced, and directed by Anthony Ellis and stars John
Danaer as J.B. Kendall. Featured in the cast were Jack Crushen, Virginia Gregg, Vic Perrin,
Jack Moyles, Harry Bartel, and Eddie Firestone.
Today's tense episode of Gunsmoke proves no gambling stakes were too high along the frontier.
So thrill upon thrill, hear what happens in the pioneer days of Dodge City when a man's
life hangs upon the outcome of a horse race.
That's on CBS Radio Gunsmoke later on today.
Join us again next week for another report from the Frontier Gentlemen.
Dan Cumberley speaking.