Long, Long Trail (spoilers)

Spoilers ahead...

In "Long, Long Trail" (Season 7, Episode 6), Barbara Lord was terrific as Sarah Drew, a young woman from Boston who manipulates Matt, against his better judgment, into taking her to a distant wilderness fort to meet her army officer fiance. Along the way, she falls in love with Matt, who obviously has also developed feelings for her, but as a gentleman is keeping them to himself because she is engaged. Bad things happen, and everything ends in tears.

Lord is extremely attractive, charismatic, and likable in the role of Sarah. She should have been a bigger star. Like so much of "Gunsmoke", especially in the earlier, black-and-white seasons, this episode is well-written, beautifully filmed, and everyone in it is excellent. It has the quality of a short movie. The music score, by Jerome Moross, elevates it even higher. The show, in general at this point in its long run, was a couple of cuts above the usual tv fare. I didn't appreciate it when I saw it as a kid, when it was new, but now as an adult I see how very good it was.