The Squaw

Originally Aired: April 27, 1958 In Gunsmoke #316, "The Squaw," Marshal Matt Dillon breaks up a saloon fight between young Cully Tate and his friend Ambrose, only to discover the dispute stems from a deeply personal matter. Cully is consumed with shame and anger because his father, rancher Hardiman Tate, has returned from Texas with an Arapaho woman named Natasia, whom he married in Indian custom. The young man's bitterness runs deep - he considers his father a "squaw man" and believes the arrangement dishonors his late mother's memory. Cully has even taken to wearing a gun in defiance, ready to defend what he sees as his family's tarnished reputation. Matt rides out to the Tate ranch with Chester to address the situation, where they meet the young Arapaho woman and find Hardiman genuinely happy for the first time since his first wife's death. The Marshal points out that while the couple considers themselves married, their union isn't legal by white law, and he could technically send Natasia back to the Darlington agency. Instead, Matt suggests a solution that might satisfy everyone: a proper church wedding in Dodge City. Hardiman agrees, and plans are set for a Saturday ceremony, though Matt remains uneasy about how young Cully will react to his father's decision.