The 1970s rolled around and Gunsmoke ran out of steam, and the writers tried to turn Gunsmoke into The Waltons because they lost faith in the traditional Western formula. James Arness wanted to spend less time acting, and many episodes were almost completely guest stars only. Gunsmoke became a Western drama show with random guest stars coming in from week to week.
This episode featured James Stacy as Yankton, and Forrest Tucker as a fat drunk who runs a big ranch. Gunsmoke had dozens or hundreds of characters over the years that had "the biggest ranch" in the territory, and Will Donovan (Forrest Tucker) was just another one. Donovan cheats Yankton at cards, and soon they are hating on each other, so Yankton seduces his daughter. Really classy guy.
As often happens on Gunsmoke, vile and nasty people gradually become less trashy thanks to love or friendship or some other random event that happens during the show. So Yankton starts out to hurt Donovan through his daughter, but gradually comes to love her. Donovan hates Yankton but gradually comes to admire him for loving his daughter.
Donovan's wife hates everyone because she is rich in the middle of nowhere. She wants to be acknowledged as more than the wife of a fat drunken rancher. She wants to travel in Europe, as some kind of wealthy celebrity, and for her daughter to marry a prince or some other important person. She wants to find a better life in Europe, with her Husband's money, but without her Husband. Eventually, thanks to Yankton and his love for the daughter, Forest Tucker and his wife remember when they were young, and they find a reason to love again.
This is a Gunsmoke romance episode, with no guns, no gun smoke, and no Matt Dillon.