User Reviews

Conflicts over access to water were fairly common in the Old West with one of the most famous examples being the Johnson County War aka the "War on Powder River" in Wyoming in the late 1800s. This Season 8 episode titled "The Ditch" contains many basic similarities to that event, albeit on a much smaller scale.

This episode is also somewhat reminiscent of the classic William Wyler film Big Country with Gregory Peck and Burl Ives, although the episode is certainly not nearly as grand in scope as the film.

Mr. Bart owns the Bar Moon Ranch, the largest ranch in Ford County. He has plans to construct a ditch that would divert water from land occupied by neighboring homesteaders, but he dies before the plans can be completed. Bart's daughter Susan is the sole heir to her father's estate. Although she has been away from the ranch for three years, she decides to move back and see her father's plans to completion.

Of course, the construction of this ditch will devastate the neighbors and destroy their ability to survive on the land. When people are threatened, they usually resist. The homesteaders, led by Trent Hawkins, pool their resources and determine to fight Susan's ditch.

In turn, Susan hires a gunfighter named Leif Crider to "protect" her interests. Crider seizes on this opportunity to use Susan's ignorance and naïveté in an attempt to benefit himself beyond a mere fee for his services.

These elements set the stage for the story that takes a somewhat unusual course for this era of Gunsmoke. Given the typical Kathleen Hite or John Meston treatment, one would expect an all-out range war to erupt with heavy casualties and no clear "winner." But this is one of the many Les Crutchfield scripts.

This episode is fairly formulaic until the last 15 minutes or so. There are a number of story elements introduced near the end that allow for a quick resolution. Crider and his partner Waco hatch a stupid plot to lure Matt and Hawkins to the ranch, but they must be among the worst gunfighters of the time. Matt comes up with a legal solution that introduces a borderline Deus ex machina element to the story and allows for a sudden transformation among the characters.

Joanne Linville, who I always best remember as the Romulan commander that falls for Spock in a Star Trek episode, is good as Susan Bart. Christopher Dark's Crider character comes across as more bumbling than evil. Ted Jordan, who would play the recurring character Burke in later seasons, has a brief appearance as Susan's ranch foreman.

The story idea behind this episode isn't bad, and it includes a realistic premise for the historical period. However, the execution is lacking. There is never that much tension built between Susan and the homesteaders. One wonders why Susan is so committed to the cause of building the ditch once she discovers what building the ditch will do to the homesteaders, especially since she seems like a decent enough person. Crider is clearly rotten, and it is a bit absurd that all he has to do is pay Susan a compliment to get her to believe everything he says.

At the beginning of the episode Doc come out and announces that Mr Bart had passed away. The daughter, Susan Bart, now become the owner of the Bar Moon Ranch. Susan had been away for three years and felt like she wanted to fulfill the dreams of her father- which included diverting a creek which would cause hardship for the home settlers down stream. And even with people begging her not go continue the 'ditch', she felt lead to make the dream reality.

Of course this did not set well with the home settlers especially Trent Hawkins who wants the other settlers to fight back. He used a little scared tactics that only made Susan Bart more determined to complete the ditch. Marshal Dillon believes if something is not done it could start a range war that includes much bloodshed.

Susan goes out and hires a gunslinger named Leif Crider who really feeds false information to Susan so that his job will last longer and more pay will be coming. Crider is so much wanting a war that he goes as far as to shoot Trent Hawkins's mother.

With Matt, Chester and Trent visiting Susan's ranch, Susan now has reservations about what Crider has told her. And Crider knows he has to do something to keep this ranch war brewing.

I was really into the story until we get to the ending scenes. Then it took a turn where all the players were out of character. It was like having this good story with no ending- and then just write whatever happens to come to mind no matter how ridiculous. The ending did not match the story.