A loner named Jim Cobbett lives out on the prairie near Dodge City. He comes to town to meet Lila, the woman he will marry. Hank Luz is another homesteader who resents the fact that Cobbett staked a claim on land he (Luz) wanted. Luz tells Matt Dillon that Cobbett's first wife disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
After the marriage, Jim and Lila settle on the farm. Some time passes and busybody Luz tells Marshal Dillon that Lila is now missing. Matt tells Luz to mind his own business, but he goes to Cobbett's farm to investigate. What he, Chester Goode, and Doc Adams will learn is sad and chilling.
John Larch first appeared in an early Gunsmoke episode, Season 1's "Smoking Out the Nolans." He returns for this installment where he plays the Jim Cobbett character. Larch excelled at playing this kind of mysteriously troubled character. He guest starred in seven Gunsmoke episodes.
Karl Swenson portrays the annoyingly vindictive Hank Luz character. This is Swenson's first guest starring role in the series. He would return for another eight episodes. Fans of television from the 1950s and 1960s will recognize Swenson, as he was a staple in episodic television of the time.
Virginia Christine, who Baby Boomer viewers may best remember for her role as Mrs. Olson in advertisements for Folger's Coffee, plays Lila in this story.
Dabbs Greer returns in this story as Mr. Jonas, the proprietor of the general store in Dodge. The Mr. Jonas character provides some foreshadowing of events to come, although his comments are easy to miss.
This story is a dark, disturbing look at the perils of isolated life on the frontier plains. As was usually the case with these early episodes, John Meston authored the story and screenplay. It is worth noting that Meston had once been the network censor at CBS. He was quite adept at portraying an extremely sensitive subject -- rape, for example -- in a way that would be allowed by censors and still relate the details clearly enough.
Meston was also a meticulous researcher and student of history. He grew up in Colorado, loved horses and cowboy culture. He performed in rodeos at an early age. He knew how cowboys lived and talked. He told others he always wanted to portray "what the West was really like." Sometimes the picture he painted with his words could be brutal.
There is a speculative, unsettling, enigmatic quality to this story. Marshal Dillon accepts Cobbett's story, but it is not necessary for the viewer to do so.