Deputy Festus Haggen is pursuing a criminal named Eli Maddox through a desert area. Festus fatally shoots Maddox, but before he dies, Maddox manages to shoot the canteen Festus had tied to Ruth, Festus's mule. Maddox also pours out the remaining water from his own canteen. With his dying breaths, Maddox describes what Festus will endure as he dies of dehydration.
As Festus makes his way through the desert, he begins experiencing hallucinations. He shoots at a non-existent lizard. When he encounters a rattlesnake, he thinks it is a mirage and leads Ruth by it. Eventually Festus and Ruth make it to a deserted town called Dry Creek. There is a well, but it contains no water. As Festus is learning this fact, someone begins shooting at him. Festus returns fire in his delirious state and the assault stops. When Festus investigates, he finds a dead man.
Festus also finds a canteen with some water that must have belonged to the dead man. He drinks some of the water and gives some to Ruth. He then proceeds to bury the dead man. (Frankly, it makes no sense that someone who is extremely dehydrated and exhausted would take the time to bury a dead body and risk putting his own existence in danger.)
Festus makes it back to Dodge City, and Doc Adams tends to him. Matt Dillon questions Festus about the events, and Festus tells him about shooting the man in the ghost town. The details of the incident are not clear to Festus due to his delirious state at the time. Festus brought the dead man's horse back to Dodge, and the saddle has the name "Adam Cleary" on it.
Adam Cleary lived on a farm with his father Lemuel, his brother Tom, and his sister Elsie. Marshal Dillon travels to the farm and delivers the unwelcome news to the Cleary family. Adam had left the farm to buy a milk cow. The Clearys all insist Adam never carried a gun and would never have taken a shot at someone.
Lemuel Cleary travels to Dodge and abducts Festus. The Cleary family take Festus back to Dry Creek in the hopes of learning the details of Adam's death. Unfortunately, Festus still cannot remember much about the incident. Much to the Cleary's frustration, he cannot even locate the place where he buried the body.
Meanwhile, Matt travels to the town of Methuselah in search of clues and begins to find pieces of the puzzle. Newly O'Brien meets Matt there and tells him that Festus and the Cleary family are all missing.
Character actor John Anderson plays the part of Lemuel Cleary in the eleventh of his twelve Gunsmoke appearances. Gary Wood and Mary Rings each make their only Gunsmoke appearance as Tom and Elsie Cleary. This episode was filmed early in the acting careers of both actors. Kevin Burchett appears in this story as Adam Cleary. Burchett's only other Gunsmoke involvement was in Season 11 when he was still a young boy.
Harry Raybould has a small part early in this story as Eli Maddox, the man Festus was initially pursuing. The strange thing about Raybould's role is that his only other involvement in a Gunsmoke episode took place almost ten years earlier in Season 8's "Phoebe Strunk" story.
A couple of other actors that were no stranger to Gunsmoke play small roles in this story. This is the last of seven episodes for Robert Knapp, who plays a deputy. It is also the final Gunsmoke participation for actor Bill Zuckert, who plays a hotel clerk here.
While this would not rank among the truly classic Gunsmoke episodes, this is an enjoyable, suspenseful story, especially when viewed the first time. It is fairly easy to guess the circumstances at play, but it is fun watching the events transpire.
One reviewer mentions there are no deserts outside Dodge City, but there is a desert area in northwest Oklahoma. Matt Dillon mentions the town of Dry Creek is some fifteen miles south of the Kansas state line, and we know Festus walked there through the desert. (Incidentally, there is a town named Dry Creek in Oklahoma, but it is in the eastern portion of the state far away from Dodge City.)
As Festus makes his way through the desert, he begins experiencing hallucinations. He shoots at a non-existent lizard. When he encounters a rattlesnake, he thinks it is a mirage and leads Ruth by it. Eventually Festus and Ruth make it to a deserted town called Dry Creek. There is a well, but it contains no water. As Festus is learning this fact, someone begins shooting at him. Festus returns fire in his delirious state and the assault stops. When Festus investigates, he finds a dead man.
Festus also finds a canteen with some water that must have belonged to the dead man. He drinks some of the water and gives some to Ruth. He then proceeds to bury the dead man. (Frankly, it makes no sense that someone who is extremely dehydrated and exhausted would take the time to bury a dead body and risk putting his own existence in danger.)
Festus makes it back to Dodge City, and Doc Adams tends to him. Matt Dillon questions Festus about the events, and Festus tells him about shooting the man in the ghost town. The details of the incident are not clear to Festus due to his delirious state at the time. Festus brought the dead man's horse back to Dodge, and the saddle has the name "Adam Cleary" on it.
Adam Cleary lived on a farm with his father Lemuel, his brother Tom, and his sister Elsie. Marshal Dillon travels to the farm and delivers the unwelcome news to the Cleary family. Adam had left the farm to buy a milk cow. The Clearys all insist Adam never carried a gun and would never have taken a shot at someone.
Lemuel Cleary travels to Dodge and abducts Festus. The Cleary family take Festus back to Dry Creek in the hopes of learning the details of Adam's death. Unfortunately, Festus still cannot remember much about the incident. Much to the Cleary's frustration, he cannot even locate the place where he buried the body.
Meanwhile, Matt travels to the town of Methuselah in search of clues and begins to find pieces of the puzzle. Newly O'Brien meets Matt there and tells him that Festus and the Cleary family are all missing.
Character actor John Anderson plays the part of Lemuel Cleary in the eleventh of his twelve Gunsmoke appearances. Gary Wood and Mary Rings each make their only Gunsmoke appearance as Tom and Elsie Cleary. This episode was filmed early in the acting careers of both actors. Kevin Burchett appears in this story as Adam Cleary. Burchett's only other Gunsmoke involvement was in Season 11 when he was still a young boy.
Harry Raybould has a small part early in this story as Eli Maddox, the man Festus was initially pursuing. The strange thing about Raybould's role is that his only other involvement in a Gunsmoke episode took place almost ten years earlier in Season 8's "Phoebe Strunk" story.
A couple of other actors that were no stranger to Gunsmoke play small roles in this story. This is the last of seven episodes for Robert Knapp, who plays a deputy. It is also the final Gunsmoke participation for actor Bill Zuckert, who plays a hotel clerk here.
While this would not rank among the truly classic Gunsmoke episodes, this is an enjoyable, suspenseful story, especially when viewed the first time. It is fairly easy to guess the circumstances at play, but it is fun watching the events transpire.
One reviewer mentions there are no deserts outside Dodge City, but there is a desert area in northwest Oklahoma. Matt Dillon mentions the town of Dry Creek is some fifteen miles south of the Kansas state line, and we know Festus walked there through the desert. (Incidentally, there is a town named Dry Creek in Oklahoma, but it is in the eastern portion of the state far away from Dodge City.)
