Indian Ford

This was one of those episode that was difficult to get you head around. Not withstanding the fact that they had Marshal Dillon talking in an almost staccato English language to Indians that understood English rather well- they also had him making silly hand gestures like saying the word eye and then pointing to his eye. It was like watching an almost comical sign language.

The episode centers around the daughter of Henry Tabor. Over a year ago his daughter Mary Tabor had been captured by Indians. Her whereabouts were unknown until a hunter spotted a white woman with some Indians about two day ride from Dodge.

As is the custom, in order to get the woman returned there has to be ransom of goods. Plus with it being in the Indian Nation the US Cavalry has to be involved. Much to the displeasure of Henry Tabor, the Cavalry sends the Indian hater Capt Benter. After objections from Henry, Matt agrees to ride with the Cavalry to make the exchange.

At first the Indian Brave Lone Eagle refuses to return Mary. But the Chief of the tribe makes sure that Mary is present for the ransom exchange.

One the way back to Dodge it is believe that the Cavalry is being followed. Capt Benter puts then entire troop on full alert as he believes an ambush may take place. And while Matt and Mary talk we find out there is more to the relationship between Mary and Lone Eagle than meets the eye (point to the eye).

This was not the most interesting script but the way the characters were played made you care about the people. With a mildly long middle part of the show- when the ending came it felt rushed. Too much time was spend exchanging the goods and too little was spent on the ending climax. It was over in a flash.

This is an odd story about recovering a white girl who is captured by Arapaho Indians. A lone hunter on the prairie, played by Lane Chandler, who was one of the original leading men in Western movies back in the 1930s, sees a white girl with an Arapaho hunting party. So he rides into Dodge to tell his friend, Marshal Dillon. The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. Why they would be in Kansas is for another story.

Dillon immediately thinks it might be the daughter of Henry Tabor. Tabor was played by Roy Roberts, who appeared on Gunsmoke 21 times. Roberts played the banker Mr. Bodkin on seventeen of his appearances. Gage Clark had previously played the role of the bank manager Mr. Bodkin, until 1964, when he died. I always wondered why they just didn't change the name of the bank manager and introduce Roberts as the new bank manager?

So Roberts asks Dillon to get the U.S. Army to track down the Arapaho tribe, so that they can pay a ransom to get Roberts' daughter back. R.G. Armstrong is sent as Captain Benter, of the Army. He would rather just attack the tribe and kill them all, regardless of whether or not the girl is killed. Armstrong appeared on Gunsmoke five times.

This ongoing debate between Marshal Dillon and Captain Benter about attacking the Indians is supposed to ramp up the drama but it is really annoying. R.G. Armstrong was not a very good dramatic actor, and he is pretty much a two dimensional character in this story. His attitude about killing the Indians is used to foreshadow the unnecessary death at the end of the episode.

Eventually, after a lot of filler time with Chester talking about Indians and drinking beer at the Long Branch Saloon, Dillon and the troops find the Indians. The writers did not seem to be prepared to write a full one hour story for the new format. A lot of the first season of hour-long episodes have a lot of filler material, with extra discussions with random town folks; and walks around the town that do not add much to the story.

The Army finds the Arapaho tribe, and Captain Benter is rude to Chief Lone Eagle (played by Anthony Caruso, who appeared on Gunsmoke fourteen times). Benter would rather fight the Indians than save the girl. Dillon goes into the camp to smoke the peace pipe with the Chief, and to negotiate for the release of Mary Tabor. In the Indian camp, Dillon meets with Mary Tabor, who has been living with the Indians for a year.

Tabor is played by Pippa Scott, who appeared on Gunsmoke twice. Tabor is glad to see the Marshal, but immediately begins complaining about whether or not the people in Dodge will be nice to her when she comes back. Pippa Scott put so much effort into complaining about the negatives of being rescued, that I hoped Dillon would just tell her he was leaving her with the Arapaho.

After some arguments, the Indians agree to release her to the Army. Once Mary is traveling back to Dodge, she continues to complain about her life as a white woman, and how happy she was with the Indians. Tabor's attitude seems intended to depict Indians as good people, but the idea that she is happy that she got kidnapped, and that all her friends were killed by the Indians is hard to understand. I guess that is an example of the "Stockholm Syndrome" were victims of kidnapping identify with their captors? I wonder if the writer, John Meston, had thought this through?

Unfortunately, Tabor (Scott) mostly comes across as being very ungrateful to everyone. Her Dad had to spend a lot of money to give the Arapaho a wagon-load of goods in order to get his daughter back. She seems to have no interest in seeing her Dad, and even takes a shot at him, by saying that he only rescued her to look good in the eyes of the town. Mary Tabor is not a very sympathetic character.

Into the mix is Robert Dix, as Spotted Wolf. He paid five horses for Mary Tabor, and he is in love with her. Thanks to Tabor sending mixed messages about wanting to go back with the Indians, Spotted Wolf follows her back to Dodge, and the results are tragic. Of course, Tabor blames the Army for the death she caused, and continues griping all the way back to Dodge. Like usually happened, Tabor and her father were never seen again on Gunsmoke, so there is no way to know what happened to Mary Tabor and her Father later on. It would have been nice to get an update on Mary a few episodes later.

...this well scripted, and well acted episode broached a topic that had remained a taboo in white society for well over 3 centuries...the concept of true love and respect from a Native American man toward a white woman...and that it was reciprocal...

...the parts of Mary Tabor (Pippa Scott), and Spotted Wolf (Robert Dix) were played with a sensitivity which was rare in its day... so much so that even the hard-bitten Indian-hating character of Cavalry Captain Benter (R. G. Armstrong) feels compelled to confront his long-held prejudices...

...I can speak from personal experience, having grown up in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I personally heard ignorant and racist comments regarding the Lakota and Rosebud Sioux who were part of our annual Frontier Days celebrations...

...even in my safe and secure childhood, I witnessed the craven evil of"othering" and its dehumanizing and intentional hurtfulness...leading to no good end...