Gunsmoke Western #36
Clean-Up in Buckhorn!
Having hitched a ride on the freight train to Dodge City, Kid Colt stands silently in the horse car with another cowboy. Suddenly, the train lurches to a stop and some rustlers order them to get out while they take the horses. Kid Colt and the other passenger-only care about their own horses and ask that they be spared. However, the thieves insist on taking all of the horses. Kid Colt and the other cowboy try to fight off the thieves but they are both quickly knocked out. Checking with the engineers they learn that the train was also carrying a car full of convicts who staged an escape, explaining where these crooks all came from and why they needed all the horses.
The two gunmen learn that the outlaws ran off to the lawless town of Buckhorn and head there to get their horses back. When they get into town, they ambush Hammer Styles, the man who runs things in Buckhorn. The pair then force him to take them to the horse pen where their stolen horses are being kept. The two men clash with the outlaws and free their horses. That’s when army shows up to round up all the crooks. As it turns out, the man Kid Colt has been working with is named Matt Pierce and he was offered the job to be the sheriff of Buckhorn. Initially, he refused but now that he sees how much the town needs a sheriff he decides to take the job. When he offers Kid Colt to become his deputy, the Kid politely declines
Recurring Characters
Kid Colt, Steel
Tension in Leadville!
Marie Lathrop races into town to find the Black RIder and tell him that the stagecoach has been ambushed up near Dry Creek. At that moment in Dry Creek, the outlaws discover there is nothing of value on the coach and allows it to leave. That’s when the Black Rider arrives and the three outlaws split up. The Black Rider catches one of them and takes him back to Leadville. There he learns that one of the coach operators was shot and is waiting for Doctor Matthew Masters to return to town and treat him.
Changing back to his civilian identity, Matthew Masters treats the injured man and sends him back home with Marie for bed rest. The following day, Masters pays a visit to the Lathrop farm to learn how his patient is doing. The man is Jeff Horner, a doctor as well, and he is healing nicely. Jim Lathrop can’t help but mention how his daughter Marie seems to be developing a soft spot for him. This visibly upsets Matthew, who has loved Marie for some time. But he puts on a brave face when treating Jeff and encourages him to set up a practice in Leadville once he is well enough as the town has grown enough to need another doctor. Back at home, Matthew comes to terms with the fact that he is upset about Jeff Horner is because he might have lost Marie to another man. His thoughts are interrupted when the sheriff comes by to tell Masters that the outlaws who robbed the coach are now holding Jeff Horner’s equipment hostage and he needs the Black RIder’s help fast.
Outside of town, the outlaws try to extort the sheriff out of ten thousand dollars but they are ambushed by the Black Rider who easily disarms the men. Later, both the Black Rider and Marie learn that Jeff Horner isn’t a medical doctor, but a dentist. Once he sets up a practice, Horner can’t wait to send for his wife and child to come up to Leadville. Hearing this is great news for the Black Rider since Matthew Masters no longer has competition for Marie’s affections.
Recurring Characters
Black Rider, Marie Lathrop, Satan
Apaches on the Warpath!
Wyatt Earp flees from the Apaches who are on a warpath, which confuses the lawman as he thought Chief Cochise and his people wanted to make peace with the white settlers. With the Apaches closing in on him, Earp’s only means of surviving is making it to the US Army post at Fort Saguaro. Wyatt barely makes it and meets with Colonel Madison about how he was attacked by the Apaches. This is impossible, and the Colonel introduces him to Chief Cochise who just made a deal with Colonel Madison to end all hostilities. Cochise suspects that the people who attacked Wyatt Earp were either another Native American tribe who does not wish to make peace with the white man or white men wanting to continue profiting on the tensions between the two groups. However, Wyatt Earp refuses to believe Cochise and warns the Colonel not to trust the Apaches before riding away.
However, at least one of Cochise’s theories proves true, the “Apaches” that attacked Wyatt Earp earlier were actually arms dealers disguised as Native Americans who stand to lose a fortune if peace is made between the fort and the Apaches. However, Earp discovers that something is up when he notices that the usual trouble makers are nowhere to be found in town. The next day, when Copperhead Crane and his phony Apache warriors try to attack Fort Saguaro they are in for a rude surprise as they are only opposed by the soldiers of the fort, but a posse assembled by Wyatt Earp, and Chief Cochise and his people. As it turned out, all three parties were aware that Copperhead Crane was spying on the fort and their earlier argument was for his benefit to trick Crane into making his move.
Recurring Characters
Wyatt Earp, Justice
