This is the third Gunsmoke episode to feature the family of "hill people," that includes Merry Florene and her half-brother Elbert Moses. In this installment, Roland Daniel has been replaced by "Cousin Smiley." Elbert Moses and Smiley are in Dodge City running the old shell game scam until Matt catches them cheating the Dodge citizens and runs them out of town.
The two bumbling, would-be criminals run across an old miner outside Dodge. When the miner gives them $20 in accumulated gold dust and title to the mine, Smiley comes up with an idea to trick the Dodge folks into thinking the gold mine is lucrative and can produce large amounts of gold. Smiley and Elbert Moses subsequently establish "Gold Town," and many of the people in Dodge make their way to the new town to seek their own fortune in gold.
Matt is suspicious, but he has to leave town (of course) and asks Festus to investigate the situation. Festus knows Elbert Moses and Smiley are "crooked-er than a dog's hind leg," and the results are predictable.
Anthony James, who appeared on Gunsmoke during this time almost as frequently as any of the regular cast members, reprises his role as Elbert Moses. The always memorable Lane Bradbury returns as Merry Florene. Bradbury's real-life husband at the time, Lou Antonio, plays Cousin Smiley. Viewers should also keep an eye out for a young Eve Plumb, who would begin playing Jan Brady on The Brady Bunch in a few months.
Despite a good cast, there isn't much to recommend about this episode. It is a mostly light-hearted episode, but the attempts at both humor and drama fall short.