This 6'7" lawman is the symbol of frontier justice. As the Marshal of Dodge City, Kansas, a small town in the middle of a harsh territory, he brings law and order to a lawless frontier where lynch mobs are the norm. He has a reputation as a fair man and a quick draw. Cattle rustlers, fugitives, stagecoach bandits and gunslingers are among the variety of villains that populate Dodge City and the surrounding territory. He prefers to take these criminals into custody for a fair trial, but those who resist inevitably end up at Percy Crump's, Dodge City's undertaker and furniture maker.

Matt is a bachelor, but he shares a mutual (though platonic) admiration with Kitty Russell, the auburn-haired beauty who owns the Long Branch Saloon.