1966 - GUN SMOKE: The Treasure of John Walking Fox

John Walking Fox: Leonard Nimoy
Jacob Beamus: Lloyd Gough
Matt Dillon: James Arness  
Festus: Ken Curtis

Near Dodge City an Indian and an elderly man are fighting. The Indian seems to win, but in the end Jacob Beamus overwhelms him. They both laugh when the Indian says: "One day, I’ll win". "Oh, you mean I will be getting old?" the elderly man asks. "It’s coming to all of us," the Indian, John Walking Fox, comforts his friend. They begin to share a meal of roasted buffalo and coffee which John takes from the fire. The two friends are very close and John wonders whether they should be going to town tomorrow – being well aware of the prejudice of other town people. Jacob is determined to sell the load of Buffalo skins they have hunted together. 

Suddenly they hear riders approaching. John hides with his riffle and Jacob remains at the fireplace. The three men invite themselves to the fire not really waiting for the old man's approval, but taking it for granted, so they take some coffee. When Jacob tries to offer them coffee and asks them to leave afterwards, they ignore him – time for John Walking Fox to intervene. They offend John Walking Fox, who takes it calmly, but succeeds in making them leave.

The next day they enter town driving their wagon full of skins. Again the three molest them, aware that an Indian person may not use a riffle in town. Another obstacle await the two close friends: The dealer pays Jacob only half the price he's promised him before, saying the price has gone down. Jacob feels offended and betrayed, but John tries to calm him down and says: "Take it, Jacob, it’s ok." Jacob does not feel it is ok and takes out his gun to make his point, trying to force the deal they had agreed upon before. The dealer moves his hand underneath a heap of skins and shots Jacob with a hidden gun. When the sheriff arrives, all witnesses and even Walking Fox have to confirm that Jacob has drawn first. Everybody knows, Jacob would have not fired, but the situation does not allow to call it murder.

John Walking Fox stays in town to give his friend the best funeral he can. He pays the undertaker with a fifty dollar gold coin – leaving everybody wonder where he’s got it from and ... if there might be more. Speculations are that it comes from a for decades lost treasure.

When Jacob is buried all town people watch John Walking Fox in silence, compassion and grief. He following the wagon with the coffin of his beloved friend, alone and in dignity makes a deep impact on them. The big scale of the funeral, the expensive coffin and the procedure make an impact too – on the three cowboys watching in disrespect and wondering where the money / gold to pay for the funeral might come from and where it still might be.

They decide to pay John Walking Fox a visit at his campsite. Not a friendly one, but to find out about the whereabouts of the gold with no compassion for a grieving friend. First he fights bravely but cannot win against guns pointing at him. They resort to torture when John Walking Fox refuses to tell them where he’s got the coin from. His face hidden behind a cloth the dealer appears on the scene rescuing John. He decided to pretend to care for John W. Fox and advises him to be careful, not to show off with gold in town and gives John the money he owes him for the skins - without mentioning that he has shot Jacob for it. He put his fear that others might find out about the gold in a suggestion: John should stay in town to be safer there.

The owner of the hotel states that all rooms are occupied (in front of many keys behind him), but remembers a free room when John is about to take back the gold coin he intended to pay with.The dealer offers to protect John, even stays in the room beside John's and offers his help. Marshall Dillon knocks. He remembers John and he knew Jacob too. He wonders why John was hunting with Jacob since he obviously did not need to do such a hard job. John shares with him that this was what Jacob wanted to do. Dillon honestly warns John to be careful with his gold, and he really is worried about John, pointing out at the window: People have gathered underneath their window where the owner of the hotel shows the gold coin to the crowd. Smilingly John shares an Indian wisdom: "The ones who want the honey won't kill the bee, but follow it." Matt Dillon is now sure that John knows what he is doing. Still worried about what might come up, he leaves wishing John the best.

After John has hidden a bag under his pillow, he takes the dealer's help asking him to guard his room for the time he's away and gives him the key. Instead of protecting John, the dealer stays in the hotel to "protect" John's possessions by searching through them – watched by John hiding behind a curtain in the corridor. John sees the three cowboys coming into the hotel too. When they've passed him, he leaves. The three enter the room right in the moment the dealer has found a map drawn on a piece of buffalo skin. The dealer draws his gun and is shot by them. The blast makes him fall out of the window, so that the man who killed Jacob lies dead right in front of John Walking Fox. While other people approach, Matt's eyes meets John's.

Having killed the man, the three cowboys escape with the map. They go right for the place on the map, find it and start digging. The time they have hit ground which seems to be dug shortly before and go on until they come to a coffin, John is watching them. Now the marshal and Festus arrive charging them for murder. One is shot in the shoot out, the other two give up and (as Matt confirms to John) will most probably be hanged. John nods in agreement.

When the tombstone saying "Jacob Beamus" stands John and Matt, both friends of Jacob, meet again at the grave and promise to remember each other.