WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:21.000 Slaughter's my name. Luke Slaughter. Cattle's my business. It's a tough business. It's big 00:21.000 --> 00:26.480 business. I got a big stake in it. And there's no man west of the Rio Grande big enough to 00:26.480 --> 00:47.360 take it from me. Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Civil War cavalry 00:47.360 --> 00:53.740 man turned Arizona cattleman. Across the territory from Yuma to Fort Defiance, from Flagstaff 00:53.740 --> 00:58.780 to the Wachukas and below the border through Chihuahua and Sonora, his name was respected 00:58.780 --> 01:04.840 or feared depending on which side of the law you were on. Man of vision, man of legend, 01:04.840 --> 01:26.220 Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Man, I bet I've had about 10 pounds of dust this last couple 01:26.220 --> 01:31.820 of weeks. Won't be much longer, Jim. With luck, we'll be in Tombstone day after tomorrow. 01:31.820 --> 01:37.580 Won't be nothing too soon for me. Once I get out of this saddle, I'm going to stay out of 01:37.580 --> 01:42.940 it a while. You never been to Tombstone, Jim. Couple of things you ought to know. Such as 01:42.940 --> 01:49.380 what? It'll be a pretty wild town. They got some peaceful law-abiding citizens there, 01:49.380 --> 01:55.900 all right. They've also got some of the toughest drifters in the world. Gunslingers? Yeah. 01:55.900 --> 02:01.540 So remember, you keep that itchy trigger finger of yours under control. Don't you worry none 02:01.540 --> 02:10.740 about me. Hold it. What's the matter? Smoke coming out of that brush over there. Jim, keep 02:10.740 --> 02:19.580 the herd headed straight. Come on, Wichita, let's take a look. Right. Could be a campfire. 02:19.580 --> 02:25.100 Yeah. This is Indian country around here, ain't it, Slaughter? Indian country, bandit 02:25.100 --> 02:30.100 country, rustler country, you name it. Well, as soon as we get up to the edge of the wash 02:30.100 --> 02:37.740 there, we... Yeah, there it is. Little campfire down near that clump of o'katee-o. The fire's 02:37.740 --> 02:49.140 out, but it's still smoking. No sign alive around. You reckon... Hold it. Movement back 02:49.140 --> 03:02.020 there in the mesquite. All right. Come on out of there. Come out. I'm coming. Don't 03:02.020 --> 03:09.620 you shoot now. Who are you? My name's Ralston. He's got a leg wound, Slaughter. What are 03:09.620 --> 03:20.380 you doing here? You a marshal? No. I got into a scrape in Tombstone. I had to get out. 03:20.380 --> 03:25.980 With a souvenir on your leg, huh? It's not bad, but it slows me down. My horse got away 03:25.980 --> 03:29.780 from me last night and I couldn't catch it. I had to hold up here. What kind of scrape 03:29.780 --> 03:35.660 were you in? I didn't do nothing wrong, mister. I'm innocent. I didn't ask you about that. 03:35.660 --> 03:42.740 I asked what kind of scrape. Slaughter. Yeah, I see him. Two of them. Rifles across their 03:42.740 --> 03:47.180 saddles. You think this fellow was a decoy to get us into a trap? No, no, that's not 03:47.180 --> 03:55.980 true. One of them's wearing a badge. Yeah. I've seen him before. Tigard, sheriff from 03:55.980 --> 04:01.820 Tombstone. All right, Ralston. Just hold it right where you are. Don't try nothing. That 04:01.820 --> 04:05.980 bad leg of his, Sheriff, I doubt he's going to try much. With fugitives, I don't take 04:05.980 --> 04:11.620 no chances, stranger. Thanks for rounding him up for me. He's a fugitive, huh? He sure 04:11.620 --> 04:18.140 is. My name's Tigard. I'm the sheriff at Tombstone. It's my deputy, Blackwell. Been 04:18.140 --> 04:23.180 trailing Ralston for two days now. What's the charge? Payroll robbery. Had to lie. You 04:23.180 --> 04:27.300 keep your mouth shut, Ralston. Everybody in Tombstone knows you did it. Easy, Blackwell. 04:27.300 --> 04:31.580 He ain't going to make no trouble. We'll see to that. Payroll robbery, you say? Yeah, 04:31.580 --> 04:36.860 one of the mines. He was supposed to be guarding it. Instead, he took off with it. You got 04:36.860 --> 04:43.440 any witnesses? We got plenty of evidence. I asked you if you had any witnesses. What 04:43.440 --> 04:49.980 business is it of yours? Just a minute, Blackwell. I'm talking to Tigard. Who are you, stranger? 04:49.980 --> 04:57.100 Luke Slaughter. Slaughter? I heard of you. You're supposed to be pretty fast with a gun, 04:57.100 --> 05:01.500 ain't you? That's a matter of opinion. You ask me, it's more an opinion. I don't know 05:01.500 --> 05:07.740 what you're talking about. I didn't ask you, Wichita. You got a warrant for Ralston's arrest, 05:07.740 --> 05:16.540 Tigard. Well? There was no time to get a warrant. That's funny. Last I heard, there was a judge 05:16.540 --> 05:21.660 right there in Tombstone. Wouldn't have taken you very long. How about you busting right 05:21.660 --> 05:26.460 across the border without any papers or anything? Slaughter, you got a bad habit of being insulting. 05:26.460 --> 05:34.860 I got a habit I'm gonna break. Now? Let's take him, Tigard. Can you take both of us, 05:34.860 --> 05:43.940 Blackwell? We got the drop on you, Slaughter. That's a matter of opinion too, Tigard. Meaning 05:43.940 --> 05:49.700 what? Those rifles of yours are pretty clumsy at close quarters. I don't think you got the 05:49.700 --> 05:59.540 drop on me at all. Let's find out. I'm here to take my prisoner back to Tombstone. Not 05:59.540 --> 06:02.380 without a warrant. Well, now you ain't gonna stand... Don't move that rifle unless you're 06:02.380 --> 06:13.700 gonna use it. You got a herd out there, Slaughter. You heading for Tombstone? That's right. I'll 06:13.700 --> 06:25.660 see you in Tombstone. It's fine with me. Come on, Blackwell. Thanks, Slaughter. Thanks a lot. 06:25.660 --> 06:40.140 Get Ralston up behind you, Wichita. Let's get back to the herd. By sunset, two days later, 06:40.140 --> 06:44.540 we were in Tombstone. We herded the cattle into the pens, then we went to the Crystal 06:44.540 --> 06:49.580 Palace to collect our money from the cattle buyer, Ezra Canfield. Well, I've checked 06:49.580 --> 06:53.780 them cattle over, Slaughter. He's in good condition considering the distance you brought 06:53.780 --> 07:01.100 him. Here's your money. Count it, Wichita. Right. What are your plans now, Slaughter? 07:01.100 --> 07:05.380 Heading right back to Mexico. Take up another herd. Good. We got a lot of hungry miners 07:05.380 --> 07:10.340 here in Tombstone. Need all the beef we can get. Now, don't tell me we gotta leave right 07:10.340 --> 07:16.020 away, Slaughter. I wanna see the sights around here. Tombstone's not a very good town for 07:16.020 --> 07:20.660 you to be wandering around loose in, Jim. I promise you I won't get in no trouble, Slaughter. 07:20.660 --> 07:27.500 I just wanna do a little living for a change. Money's all here. All right. Jim, take it 07:27.500 --> 07:32.500 back to the hotel room. Sit on it. But what about seeing the sights? Talk about that later. 07:32.500 --> 07:41.620 I'll get moving. All right, dog. Sounds like you sure spoiled his evening, Slaughter. Yeah, 07:41.620 --> 07:44.900 I think we can arrange for him to get a couple of breaths of night air around here before 07:44.900 --> 07:53.220 we take off. Taggart just come in. I see him. Well, Canfield, look like you ain't too particular 07:53.220 --> 07:57.700 who you do business with. There's nothing wrong with them cattle he sold me, Sheriff. 07:57.700 --> 08:02.980 I checked them myself. That ain't what I meant. I'm talking about Slaughter here obstructing 08:02.980 --> 08:09.500 justice, refusing to turn over a fugitive to me. Where are you hiding Ralston now, Slaughter? 08:09.500 --> 08:16.020 You ought to know. You're the sheriff. What's that signify? I had a little talk with Ralston 08:16.020 --> 08:20.580 on the trail. All he wanted was to be sure of getting back here in one piece to stand 08:20.580 --> 08:27.780 a fair trial. Turned himself into your night guard at the jail. You're bluffing. Well, 08:27.780 --> 08:35.940 that'll be an easy bluff to call. Why don't you go find out? I aim to. He's a pretty poor 08:35.940 --> 08:41.500 excuse for a sheriff, Slaughter, but he's all we got. What do you expect? Who'd want 08:41.500 --> 08:47.140 the job? Tombstone's a rough town. Not too rough for the right man. I think you could 08:47.140 --> 08:52.940 be the right man, Slaughter. Me? Yeah. A lot of us around here would like to see law and 08:52.940 --> 08:57.740 order established once and for all, Slaughter. We know about you. Know you can handle the 08:57.740 --> 09:03.980 worst of them. You know, that might not be such a bad idea if you ask me. Nobody did, 09:03.980 --> 09:11.500 Wichita. Oh. I'm sorry, Canfield. My business is cattle, not law enforcement. In Tombstone, 09:11.500 --> 09:21.140 law enforcement's everybody's business. Get over, Slaughter. If you was to take the job, 09:21.140 --> 09:25.580 Slaughter, I'll bet Jim would be glad to be your deputy. Yeah, that's all I'd need around 09:25.580 --> 09:33.300 here. He'd probably start more fights than he'd stop. Come on. Slaughter, I wonder about 09:33.300 --> 09:42.340 you sometimes. I wonder if you wasn't already a law man once. I wonder about you too, Wichita. 09:42.340 --> 09:48.660 I wonder if you were born with that big nose of yours or did you grow it later? Had it 09:48.660 --> 09:54.860 as long as I can remember. Hey, it's raining. I didn't know it ever rained in Tombstone. 09:54.860 --> 10:02.780 It isn't very heavy. Won't last long. Slaughter. What is it, Taggart? What kind of play is 10:02.780 --> 10:07.860 this? I don't know what you're talking about. Ralston is what I'm talking about. I told 10:07.860 --> 10:12.200 you. Ralston turned himself in. Yeah, well, he ain't in the jail now. That cell door is 10:12.200 --> 10:17.020 wide open. What? And what's more, my night guard's been pestle-whipped. Looked like Ralston 10:17.020 --> 10:23.460 had a friend help him to break out. You wouldn't know who that'd be, would you? No, I wouldn't. 10:23.460 --> 10:27.820 Hey, Sheriff. Horse has been stolen from Wilkie's livery stable. That's probably how Ralston 10:27.820 --> 10:33.420 made his getaway. Looks like I got you to thank for this, Slaughter. Think so? Yeah. 10:33.420 --> 10:39.940 If I handled things my own way, this wouldn't have happened. Next time you cross me, it's 10:39.940 --> 10:47.580 gonna be the last time. Don't be too sure of that, Taggart. You know, Slaughter, you've 10:47.580 --> 10:54.340 got a natural talent for making enemies. A man like Taggart, it isn't hard. Come on. 10:54.340 --> 11:05.940 Let's get back to the hotel. I still don't get it, Slaughter. Why would Ralston have 11:05.940 --> 11:10.500 gave himself up and then busted out of jail? Some men you never know about till they make 11:10.500 --> 11:15.700 a move. Ralston didn't do it alone. He had to have a friend. Maybe his friend convinced 11:15.700 --> 11:24.220 him he wouldn't get a fair trial. Maybe. Anyway, Slaughter, look, Jim, on the floor. He's been 11:24.220 --> 11:41.220 slugged. He's had cold. What do you mean? The cattle money. Yeah, it's gone. 11:41.220 --> 11:46.740 In a moment, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone returns. Whenever significant events take place, you 11:46.740 --> 11:51.060 can count on CBS News to bring you first-hand and well-detailed descriptions of what is 11:51.060 --> 11:55.620 happening, often broadcast right from the scene of the event. You can count on CBS News 11:55.620 --> 12:01.220 men too to make certain that fact is emphasized and conjecture clearly labeled. Each correspondent 12:01.220 --> 12:06.900 on staff brings a fine background in reporting to his job. And in the tradition of the CBS 12:06.900 --> 12:11.940 Newsroom, they all share an uncompromising respect for the truth. So why don't you let 12:11.940 --> 12:25.580 CBS News keep you as fully informed as an expert? 12:25.580 --> 12:43.300 And now, Act Two of William N. Robeson's production of Luke Slaughter of Tombstone. Jim, Jim, come 12:43.300 --> 12:51.220 on, boy. That's it, boy. Come on, come out of it. You all right, Jim? I guess so. What 12:51.220 --> 12:58.660 happened, Jim? I don't rightly know, Slaughter. I heard a noise. It sounded like it come from 12:58.660 --> 13:05.200 outside the window on the balcony. Yeah. I went over and stuck my head out to look. Something 13:05.200 --> 13:11.220 awful hard hit me on the side of the head. I went down and then somebody climbed through 13:11.220 --> 13:17.100 the window into the room. I tried to get to my feet and he hit me again. That's the last 13:17.100 --> 13:24.060 I remember. You get a good look at him, Jim. No, his hat was pulled down low and he had 13:24.060 --> 13:33.180 a bandana over his face. Was it Ralston? I don't know. He took the cattle money, didn't 13:33.180 --> 13:41.540 he? Yeah. Fine guard I turned out to be. Yeah, it's too late to worry about that. Just be 13:41.540 --> 13:49.060 glad you have a hard head. Slaughter. Yeah. It was Ralston. How do you figure? Remember 13:49.060 --> 13:54.100 that ring he wore? Mexican work looked like. What about it? Had a green stone set in it, 13:54.100 --> 13:59.540 carved like a snake's head. Yeah, I remember. Here it is. I found it on the floor. Must 13:59.540 --> 14:07.580 have been jarred loose when he slugged him. It's a stone, all right. Well, looks like 14:07.580 --> 14:22.460 Taggart was right after all. Well, well. So you finally wised up to Ralston, Oslutter. 14:22.460 --> 14:28.460 Too late, of course. Maybe not, Taggart. Wichita. Yeah. You got the grub ready? Packed in the 14:28.460 --> 14:33.740 saddlebags. Maybe next time you won't interfere when I'm trying to enforce the law. How about 14:33.740 --> 14:39.460 the bedrolls, Wichita? Already. You're going after him, huh? What do you think? I think 14:39.460 --> 14:44.680 there's a couple of things wrong with that idea. Like what? The first place you get a 14:44.680 --> 14:50.780 poor chance of finding his trail at night in the rain. Rain's letting up. It'll stop 14:50.780 --> 14:55.260 soon. I want to be ready to start trailing as soon as it's light. The second thing is 14:55.260 --> 15:00.340 wrong is law enforcement is my business, Lord, not yours. That's my money he got away with. 15:00.340 --> 15:05.060 Yeah, but there's still the matter of that mine payroll he's got stashed away somewhere. 15:05.060 --> 15:12.620 Now, look, it's slaughter. They no sense our being each other's throats all the time. You 15:12.620 --> 15:17.580 crossed me once. It riled me, but I'm willing to let it pass. I figure everybody's entitled 15:17.580 --> 15:22.940 to one mistake. Depends on what the mistake is, doesn't it? The point is we both want 15:22.940 --> 15:28.860 Ralston. Now, the smart thing to do is for us to trail him together. Me and Blackwell, 15:28.860 --> 15:40.060 you and Wichita. How about it? All right, Taggart. Good. Good. I'll get word to Blackwell right 15:40.060 --> 15:45.580 away. He's on his ranch out of town a ways up near Crocker Mesa. Oh, he ain't a full-time 15:45.580 --> 15:51.220 deputy, huh? This town can't afford one. I'll send word to him to meet us in the morning. 15:51.220 --> 16:07.260 We'll be ready at sunup. Let's keep in Blackwell, Taggart. We'll be along any minutes, lover. 16:07.260 --> 16:12.020 It's been an hour since the rain stopped. We're wasting time. That trail's gonna get 16:12.020 --> 16:17.460 cold on us, even if we manage to pick it up in first place. And that ain't gonna be easy. 16:17.460 --> 16:20.900 Easier than you think, baby. What do you mean, Taggart? I had a talk with 16:20.900 --> 16:25.820 Wilkie down at the stable last night. That stolen horse had thrown a shoe off of his 16:25.820 --> 16:30.860 left hind hoof. Wilkie didn't have a chance to put a new one on. That'll help some. Oh, 16:30.860 --> 16:35.940 here's Blackwell. Sorry I'm late, gents. Busted the cinch strap saddling up and had to rig 16:35.940 --> 16:40.260 a new one. No harm, Blackwell. Ten minutes isn't gonna make much difference one way or 16:40.260 --> 16:46.860 another. It does to me. All right, gentle down, slaughter. Now, I figure Ralston headed south 16:46.860 --> 17:00.220 out of town towards the border. We'll cover that area first. Let's get moving, gents. 17:00.220 --> 17:04.780 Looks like that was a bum hunch of yours about Ralston headed for the border, Taggart. You've 17:04.780 --> 17:09.540 covered every trail leading south out of Tombstone. Well, like I say, slaughter, everybody's entitled 17:09.540 --> 17:15.300 to one mistake. Gotta admit, it was logical to reckon he'd be headed straight south. We 17:15.300 --> 17:20.620 covered most of the country west of town, too. Well, we'd just keep circling. Maybe he took 17:20.620 --> 17:37.340 off to the north. Hold up. What is it? Over there. Tracks. I'll take a closer look. What 17:37.340 --> 17:43.460 about it, Blackwell? Yeah, this is the one we're looking for, all right. No shoe on the 17:43.460 --> 17:58.380 left-hand hook. Hidden straight west. Yeah. Well, the San Pedro River. Let's move. The 17:58.380 --> 18:03.260 tracks lead right into the river. Yeah, it's an old trick, but it still works. Probably 18:03.260 --> 18:09.580 rode up or downstream a ways, then out another side. This trail's gonna be tough to find 18:09.580 --> 18:15.020 again over there. That's pretty rocky ground. So I see. When we do pick it up again, I'll 18:15.020 --> 18:20.940 bet it turns south. I still think he's headed for the border. Let's cross and split up. 18:20.940 --> 18:27.540 Two upstream, two downstream. Right. Whoever picks that trail on the other side, fire two 18:27.540 --> 18:36.020 shots. Right. Gang, if I can figure a fellow like Ralston out, slaughter, I sure never 18:36.020 --> 18:39.820 figured he'd take this way of paying you back for everything you've done for him. Hold it 18:39.820 --> 18:44.420 here, Wichita. What's the matter? Let Taggart and Blackwell get out of sight around that 18:44.420 --> 18:55.380 bend. Now let's get back to the river bank. I don't get it, slaughter. We're not gonna 18:55.380 --> 18:59.700 look for tracks on the other side of the river. We're gonna look for them on this side. I 18:59.700 --> 19:05.420 still don't know what you... Get off your horse. Now take a look, a close look at those 19:05.420 --> 19:15.940 tracks we've been trailing, Wichita. Well? There's a little dry dirt in the bottom of 19:15.940 --> 19:20.340 each one. Yeah. It was raining last night when Ralston supposed to have stolen our 19:20.340 --> 19:25.740 money and the horse and made his getaway. Yeah, rain stopped about an hour before sunup. 19:25.740 --> 19:30.740 These tracks were made after it stopped raining. That's why you see dry dirt with the hooves 19:30.740 --> 19:35.980 cut through the wet. Wait a minute. You mean somebody rigged this trail to lead us on a 19:35.980 --> 19:50.420 wild goose chase? That's just what we're gonna find out. We worked our way along the river 19:50.420 --> 19:55.700 bank. Half a mile upstream, we picked up the tracks coming back out of the river and circling. 19:55.700 --> 20:01.780 We followed them, headed northwest. Twenty minutes later, we came over a rise and spotted 20:01.780 --> 20:07.340 a small ranch house in the hollow below. The only sign of life was a few buzzards clustered 20:07.340 --> 20:12.660 on a mound in a little gully behind the ranch. We left our horses concealed and worked our 20:12.660 --> 20:22.540 way down the slope under cover. Buzzards reluctantly took flight. We saw what had been buried in 20:22.540 --> 20:30.740 the mound or what was left of it. Ralston's body. Yeah. Whoever stole our cattle money 20:30.740 --> 20:35.660 busted Ralston out of jail, forced him out here and killed him. Yeah. Question is, who 20:35.660 --> 20:41.780 done it? Whose ranch is this? See over there to the right, it's Crocker's Mesa. Crocker's 20:41.780 --> 20:47.820 Mesa? Tangert said Blackwell had a ranch near Crocker's Mesa. So Blackwell's our man. 20:47.820 --> 20:53.700 Looks like it. We better get back to that ranch house before Blackwell gets back. Might 20:53.700 --> 20:57.540 be too late. They figure we tumbled to the fake trail. They could circle back here to 20:57.540 --> 21:02.740 the ranch ahead of us. They? You mean Tangert too? Soon find out. Keep down as much as you 21:02.740 --> 21:09.300 can. We'll circle around the corral. There's Tangert on the porch with the rifle. Get down. 21:09.300 --> 21:14.740 That answer your question about Tangert? Sure does. No doubt about it. They're in it together. 21:14.740 --> 21:20.500 There he goes inside the house. We gotta bust him out of that house somehow. Wait a minute. 21:20.500 --> 21:25.340 That wagon there beside the corral. When I get the word, we'll head for it. Get behind 21:25.340 --> 21:38.580 it. Now. What now? The ground slopes down to the house from here. Let's get this wagon 21:38.580 --> 21:49.300 moving. It'll cover us. Now. Shove. Shove. Shove. Stay close behind it. Be ready to shoot 21:49.300 --> 21:56.980 when it hits. She's heading right for the house. Stay low. Yeah, sure will. There she 21:56.980 --> 22:08.500 goes. Come on. Fast. Yeah. There's Blackwell at the window. I'll get him. Hold it, Tangert. 22:08.500 --> 22:23.340 Drop your gun. Drop it. All right, slaughter. All right. Don't try it. My, my. He took 22:23.340 --> 22:34.220 a little convincing. Where's the money, Blackwell? Where is it? Under a loose board in the floor. 22:34.220 --> 22:43.140 Loose board. I got it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Here's our cattle money, all right. And the mine 22:43.140 --> 22:54.660 payroll. I guess that's that. Yeah. You know, slaughter, appears to me you was taking quite 22:54.660 --> 23:00.180 a chance. Just a-winging Blackwell and knocking out Tangert instead of gunning him down. You 23:00.180 --> 23:06.220 don't owe them no favors. I wasn't doing them any favor, Wichita. I was just saving them. 23:06.220 --> 23:19.780 Saving them? For what? The citizens of Tombstone. 23:19.780 --> 23:25.220 Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, starring Sam Buffington, written by Robert Stanley with 23:25.220 --> 23:31.140 editorial supervision by Tom Henley and directed by William N. Robeson. Supporting Mr. Buffington 23:31.140 --> 23:47.860 were Junius Matthews, Sam Edwards, Vic Perrin, Lawrence Dobkin, Jack Moyles, and Frank Gerstel. 23:47.860 --> 23:54.580 Next week at this time, we return with- Slaughter's the name. Luke Slaughter. When we meet up again, 23:54.580 --> 24:17.420 you can call me that. Luke Slaughter. Special score for Luke Slaughter was composed 24:17.420 --> 24:23.140 and conducted by Wilbur Hatch. Stay tuned now for Frontier Gentlemen, following immediately 24:23.140 --> 24:26.340 on most of these same stations of the CBS Radio Network.