Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: July 3, 1960 Gunsmoke #430, "Little Girl," Matt Dillon and Chester respond to a prairie fire and discover a grim scene at an isolated homestead. Inside the burned cabin, they find a man who died in the blaze, seemingly drunk and alone. As they investigate the desolate property with its starving horses and neglected buildings, a young girl emerges from the creek bed. Ten-year-old...

Originally Aired: June 26, 1960 Gunsmoke #429, "Line Trouble," begins when Jasper Foss reports to Marshal Matt Dillon that the new telegraph line west of Dodge has been cut. Matt and Chester investigate and discover Army soldiers repairing the damage and holding a Kiowa man named Smallhawk under guard. The Indian admits to cutting the wire, believing it to be bad magic that carries evil sounds acr...

Originally Aired: June 12, 1960 Gunsmoke #427, "Kitty Accused," finds Kitty Russell facing an unwelcome complication on what should be a simple stagecoach trip to Fort Learned. After a late night at the Long Branch, Kitty prepares to visit her friend Sally, who has just had a baby. Marshal Matt Dillon sees her off, but the journey takes a troubling turn when Arnie Grimes and his bitter wife Hattie...

Originally Aired: June 5, 1960 Gunsmoke #426, "Fabulous Silver Extender," finds Chester holding down the fort while Matt Dillon transports a prisoner to Have City. Into the marshal's absence walks the nervous Professor Albert Cramston, a self-proclaimed metallurgical researcher who claims the San Francisco silver syndicate has put a price on his head. Eight hired killers are supposedly tracking hi...

Originally Aired: May 29, 1960 Gunsmoke #425, "Bad Seed," finds Marshal Matt Dillon on his way back to Dodge from Fort Larnard when an unexpected visitor enters his camp. A young woman named Trudy Trent, claiming to be starving and desperate, begs the marshal not to send her back to her father. She paints a dark picture of life with her Pa, describing him as a violent drunk who mistreats her terri...

Originally Aired: May 22, 1960 Gunsmoke #424, "Marryin Bertha," Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself dealing with an unusual problem when his deputy Chester Proudfoot confesses to a reckless mistake. Suffering from spring fever and feeling romantic, Chester has been writing letters to lonely women advertising in St. Louis newspapers, stretching the truth about himself and even sending one woman Matt'...

Originally Aired: May 15, 1960 Gunsmoke #423, "Tall Trapper," presents Marshal Matt Dillon with a puzzling murder case when Doc Adams discovers a woman beaten to death in a covered wagon east of Dodge. The victim, Cassie Riley, had been traveling west with her husband Riley in hopes the dry climate would improve her failing health. When Doc arrives to treat her, he finds she's already dead from a...

Originally Aired: May 8, 1960 Gunsmoke #422, "Wrong Man different story from #135," Marshal Matt Dillon receives a warning from lawman Blair about a dangerous killer named Jim Waddell who may be passing through Dodge City. Waddell is described as a smooth-talking, well-dressed man who never carries a gun but prefers to kill with a knife. Meanwhile, a charming stranger calling himself Jack Norman a...

Originally Aired: May 1, 1960 Gunsmoke #421, "Nettie Sitton," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester find themselves in desperate circumstances after a renegade Ute ambush leaves Matt badly wounded with a bullet in his leg. Fevered and unable to ride, Matt must be dragged through the wilderness by Chester toward what appears to be an abandoned cabin. However, the cabin is anything but abandoned. They're...

Originally Aired: April 24, 1960 Gunsmoke #420, "Stage Snatch," finds Marshal Matt Dillon delivering a dangerous prisoner named Rouse to Hayes City for trial when their stagecoach is stopped by Bigfoot, a Native American leader, and his son Younghawk. Rouse murdered Bigfoot's father, and the grieving son believes the killer's life belongs to him, not to white man's justice. Despite Dillon's assura...

Originally Aired: April 17, 1960 Gunsmoke #419, "Solomon River," presents Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester with a grim discovery along the riverbank while transporting prisoner Ben Crown to Dodge. The lawmen encounter Letty Thatcher, a woman nearly dead from exhaustion, desperately trying to dig a grave for her husband Luther in the punishing prairie heat. Inside her isolated cabin, they find Luthe...

Originally Aired: April 10, 1960 Gunsmoke #418, "Daves Lesson," Marshal Matt Dillon takes on an unexpected responsibility when his old friend Joe Barrett and Joe's wife Lydia die suddenly from fever, leaving their teenage son Dave orphaned. At the request of Joe's brother Will, Matt agrees to take fifteen or sixteen-year-old Dave under his wing for the summer, giving the boy a chance to get away a...

Originally Aired: April 3, 1960 Gunsmoke #417, "Greater Love," finds Marshal Matt Dillon investigating a deadly stagecoach robbery that leaves a shotgun guard dead and two bandits wounded. The trail leads to the homestead of Howard Brandt and his wife, where Matt discovers that the gentle, easy-going young settler he once met has turned outlaw. One of the wounded bandits left for dead at his own d...

Originally Aired: March 27, 1960 Gunsmoke #416, "Indian Baby," finds Marshal Dillon investigating a troubling situation when Doc Adams and Kitty discover a nearly unconscious white woman lying on the prairie, clutching an infant. The woman, later identified as Dory, is suffering from severe exhaustion and exposure, but what makes the case peculiar is that she's a white woman holding an Indian baby...

Originally Aired: March 20, 1960 Gunsmoke #415, "The Constable," finds Marshal Dillon in a difficult position after cracking down on unruly cowboys from a trail drive. When trail boss Rance threatens to boycott Dodge City after five of his men are buffaloed and jailed, the town's businessmen panic. Led by Mr. Green, they pressure Dillon to ease up on enforcement, prioritizing commerce over law and...

Originally Aired: March 13, 1960 Gunsmoke #414, "Unloaded Gun," finds Marshal Matt Dillon returning to Dodge City exhausted and feverish after a four-day manhunt. During the chase, Matt killed Red Lyme following a holdup, though the details of exactly what happened remain unclear. When Matt arrives back in town, he barely acknowledges Kitty and Doc Adams, stumbling straight to his office where he...

Originally Aired: March 6, 1960 Gunsmoke #413, "Blood Money," finds Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester searching for water on the prairie when they encounter a wary stranger named Joe Harp holding them at gunpoint. Harp's suspicion quickly fades when he realizes he needs their help. He's discovered an injured man named Harry Spiner, whose horse has thrown him and broken his leg. Despite Spiner's ungr...

Originally Aired: February 28, 1960 Gunsmoke #412, "Prescribed Killing," presents a chilling domestic drama on the Kansas prairie. Myra Kirby arrives in Dodge City with a disturbing message for Marshal Matt Dillon: her husband Luke is going to kill her. Living in isolation on their horse ranch, Myra has grown bitter and resentful of Luke's devotion to his horses and his visits to the Widow Holland...

Originally Aired: February 21, 1960 Gunsmoke #411, "Mr.and Mrs Amber," When Marshal Matt Dillon catches Neil Amber stealing seeds from Jonas' store, he takes pity on the desperate sodbuster and pays for the supplies himself. Amber and his wife are struggling to survive on their small patch of land near Pawnee Wells, plagued by one disaster after another. However, Dillon's mercy becomes complicated...

Originally Aired: February 14, 1960 Gunsmoke #410, "Distant Drummer," features Raffi, a simple-minded Civil War veteran who wears his drum proudly around his neck, a gift from his captain at Antietam. When Raffi seeks refuge in the Long Branch from taunting townspeople, Miss Kitty shows him compassion and kindness, offering him work chopping wood while she watches over his precious drum. Doc Adams...

Originally Aired: February 7, 1960 Gunsmoke #409, "Delias Father," Marshal Matt Dillon seeks shelter at a remote ranch during a storm while transporting prisoner Keel and dealing with a lame horse. He's surprised to find the ranch now occupied by Delia Robbins, daughter of his old friend Ben. Delia welcomes Matt warmly, remembering how highly her father spoke of him. When she offers to guide Deput...

Originally Aired: January 31, 1960 Gunsmoke #408, "Chester's Dilemma," Chester finds himself the object of affection from Edna, a young store clerk working for Mr. Jonas who transforms from a wilted shopgirl into a radiant companion each afternoon at closing time. The pretty but mysterious woman, who Jonas suspects is hiding something about her farm upbringing in Ohio, begins accompanying Chester...

Originally Aired: January 24, 1960 Gunsmoke #407, "Bless Me Till I Die," Matt Dillon and Chester encounter Cole and Beth Ann Treadwell on the trail to Dodge City when the couple's wagon breaks down. Cole is a traveling preacher—though not ordained or properly schooled—and the Treadwells are wandering from town to town looking for the right place to settle. Matt suggests Dodge could use a parson, a...

Originally Aired: January 17, 1960 Gunsmoke #406, "Fiery Arrest," finds Matt Dillon and Chester caught in a violent rainstorm and taking shelter in an abandoned shack. Their refuge turns dangerous when two armed men, Hod Mueller and Mosley, get the drop on them. The suspicious Hod is convinced that someone tipped off the law about his whereabouts, and when a woman named Millie arrives with supplie...

Originally Aired: January 10, 1960 Gunsmoke #405, "Lukes Law," presents a clash between frontier justice and modern law enforcement. When old-timer Luke Burris is beaten and left bloody by Smed Moley following a public confrontation in Dodge City, his son Jess comes to Marshal Matt Dillon seeking help. Luke refuses to press charges, insisting he's always handled his own troubles without the law an...