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~ Gunsmoke: The Choice, Part 1
Matt Dillon: Ask for Jim Buck. He’s the driver. He’s looking for a man to ride shotgun. Tell him I sent you.
New Folks Showing Up All the Time
Andy Hill is the new guy in Dodge City. It’s the late 1800’s (around the 1870s) when people were moving west across America. Towns were being settled and growing into cities. Its a fast growing town so there are new folks showing up all the time. The railway made much of this possible, bringing passengers by train to settle down in the West, and making it possible to move products across the country and do business. In this setting, we have the growing town of Dodge City. Many of the people who came to Dodge were ranchers and the cowboys they hired to herd their cattle. The cowboys moved around a lot from place to place. Then farmers came. They settled down to plant and harvest crops. They also built fences, which the cowboys didn’t like. In the town, there were shopkeepers, bankers, barbers, saloon bartenders, saloon girls, stagecoach drivers, and post office workers. And of course, there were criminals too – men who stole horses, or robbed stagecoaches, trains, and banks. Men who were often quick to murder another man. The law was desperately needed, and in Dodge City, it was represented by the Marshal, Matt Dillion, and his assistant – his deputy, Chester Proudfoot.
Size Up the New Guy
When you’re new to a place, everyone you meet is sizing you up. They want to know who you are, what kind of person you’re like. In return, you’re probably sizing them up, deciding whether or not they’re the kind of people you want as friends. Both the new guy and the local people are forming first impressions. Some people have a hard time getting past that first impression, while others are more willing to reserve judgement. That means they’re more willing to wait for more information before deciding what they think of the new guy.
A Good Judge of Character
Matt Dillon had to be a pretty good judge of character. He tried to keep watch over the ones who were troublemakers and intervene before they broke the law, if he could. In today’s episode, Matt has to size up Andy Hill, the new guy in town. Listen and find out whether he thinks Andy is a good guy or a bad guy.
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Let’s Talk
In our last story, I asked you if you thought Harry Lime was a good guy or a bad guy. As we saw with Harry, no one is 100% good, and no one is 100% bad either. Now we, along with Kitty, Chester, and Marshal Matt Dillon are trying to judge Andy’s character. What do you think? Is Andy a good guy or a bad guy? Do you think Andy should be trusted to ride shotgun?
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