Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: January 18, 1959 Gunsmoke #354, "Kangaroo," Matt Dillon and Chester encounter a disturbing scene while returning from a Sunday ride upriver. In a cottonwood grove, they find Iris Skurlock, a wild-eyed religious fanatic, brutally whipping a young cowboy named Jim Bright who had been strung up by his wrists. Skurlock's two armed sons stand guard as the old patriarch passes judgment...

Originally Aired: January 11, 1959 Gunsmoke #353, "The Wolfer," begins when rancher Nate Guthrie confronts Wib Edmonds, a wolfer he's hired to clear wolves from his land. Wib has successfully eliminated most of the wolf population, but Guthrie's colts are still being slaughtered. Wib claims the killings are the work of a single massive white wolf called Slatefoot, but the suspicious rancher believ...

Originally Aired: January 4, 1959 In Gunsmoke #352, "The Coward," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a deadly threat when a young cowboy named Jack Massey is shot in the back while sitting in Dillon's chair at the marshal's office. The victim, wearing a hat similar to Matt's and matching his build, was clearly mistaken for the lawman himself. Doc Adams and Chester quickly realize someone is hunting Matt th...

Originally Aired: December 28, 1958 Gunsmoke #351, "The Choice," begins when a drifter named Andy Hill gets into a confrontation at the Long Branch. When a troublemaker threatens Kitty, the young Andy demonstrates lightning-fast gun skills in a deadly shootout. Despite the self-defense killing, Marshal Dillon senses something hidden in Andy's past but gives him a chance anyway, recommending him fo...

Originally Aired: December 21, 1958 Gunsmoke #350, "Where'd They Go," finds Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester facing an unusual dilemma when storekeeper Wilbur Jonas reports a robbery at his general store. Though the bandit wore a mask, Jonas insists he recognized homesteader Clint Dodie as the culprit. Despite the five-hour head start and an approaching blizzard, Matt decides to ride out the next m...

Originally Aired: December 14, 1958 Gunsmoke #349, "Kitty's Injury," finds Marshal Matt Dillon making what should be a routine ride to escort Kitty Russell back from the town of Larnard. Despite good-natured teasing from Doc and Chester about the romantic nature of the journey, the trip turns dangerous when Kitty's horse is spooked by a rattlesnake. Thrown from her mount, Kitty suffers a serious h...

Originally Aired: December 7, 1958 Gunsmoke #348, "The Grass Asp," presents Matt Dillon with a dangerous situation when a stray bullet from celebrating cowboys strikes Melodia Bastian, wife of local farmer Red Bastian. The shot comes from a group of Lazy T trail drivers whooping through Dodge City's streets, firing their guns in the air. While Doc Adams fights to save Melodia's life, Red vows veng...

Originally Aired: November 30, 1958 Gunsmoke #347, "Burning Wagon," Matt Dillon and Chester ride upon a burning wagon on the prairie outside Dodge City, its cartridges exploding in the heat. Searching the area, they discover a dead man shot in the back and scattered belongings that suggest a woman was traveling with him. Following the creek, they find her alive but gravely wounded with a gunshot t...

Originally Aired: November 23, 1958 Gunsmoke #346, "The Correspondent," brings an unwelcome visitor to Dodge City. Reed Norton, a cynical newspaper correspondent from St. Louis, arrives determined to write the "real story" of the West, not the romanticized accounts he believes dominate the press. Having been hazed by cavalrymen at the Rosebud, Norton is convinced that Western lawmen are all swagge...

Originally Aired: November 16, 1958 Gunsmoke #345, "Brush at Elkader," begins with the cold-blooded murder of Ben Williams on the streets of Dodge City. When Marshal Matt Dillon returns to town at midnight, he finds Doc Adams and Chester crouched over the dying man, who manages to whisper only one clue: Elkader. The killer is identified as Lou Shippen, a wanted man from Wichita, who called William...

Originally Aired: November 9, 1958 Gunsmoke #344, "Target - Chester," begins when Matt Dillon and Chester intervene to stop the Leach brothers from tormenting an old drunk. When Matt grabs Jabe Leach's gun to stop the cruel sport, it accidentally discharges and wounds Jabe's younger brother Burt in the wrist. Jabe, who dominates his brother's life with an Old Testament ferocity, makes a chilling v...

Originally Aired: November 2, 1958 Gunsmoke #343, "Old Man's Gold," begins when Cassius Mayhew arrives late at night at Matt Dillon's office with an unusual request. His wife is gravely ill, stranded in Dodge City on their journey west to find a dry climate for her health. While asking Matt to fetch Doc Adams, Mayhew also leaves a mysterious suitcase filled with family treasures for safekeeping in...

Originally Aired: October 26, 1958 Gunsmoke #342, "The Tragedian," presents a curious intersection of theatrical elegance and frontier justice. When Matt Dillon breaks up a crooked poker game at the Long Branch, he encounters Edward Vandermann, a down-on-his-luck stage actor who claims to have performed before the crowned heads of Europe. Now broke and desperate in Dodge City, Vandermann has resor...

Originally Aired: October 19, 1958 Gunsmoke #341, "Kick Me," presents a tense situation when two drifters, Weiser and Durbin, come to Marshal Matt Dillon reporting that an old Indian named Tabil is threatening to kill them. The trouble began when the pair played a cruel joke on the aging former Army scout, giving him a letter of recommendation that he believed would help him find work guiding catt...

Originally Aired: October 12, 1958 Gunsmoke #340, "Doc's Showdown," begins with tragedy when young Lemmy Woods is brought home to his mother Sarah, shot in the back and tied to his horse like a butchered animal. Doc Adams arrives to treat the mortally wounded boy, learning from Sarah that Lemmy had decided to quit riding with some dangerous companions that very morning. Despite Doc's efforts, Lemm...

Originally Aired: October 5, 1958 Gunsmoke #339, "Tag You're It," begins when Matt Dillon encounters an old acquaintance on the streets of Dodge City. Carl Killian, a man Dillon once worked cattle with years ago, has arrived in town, and the marshal immediately recognizes the danger. Killian has become a notorious hired gun, goading his victims into drawing first so he can claim self-defense. Thou...

Originally Aired: September 28, 1958 Gunsmoke #338, "Kitty's Rebellion," presents a collision between Old South propriety and Western frontier reality when young Billy Critt arrives in Dodge City from Louisiana. The well-mannered Southern gentleman comes bearing greetings from his sister Lucy, an old childhood friend of Kitty Russell's. When Marshal Matt Dillon escorts Billy to find Kitty at the L...

Originally Aired: September 21, 1958 Gunsmoke #337, "Big Girl Lost," Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself caught in a delicate situation when Philip Locke, an aristocratic visitor from Philadelphia, arrives in Dodge City searching for his former fiancée, Laura Simmons. Laura had written her mother claiming she was teaching school in Dodge, but she never appeared at the schoolhouse. Matt discovers tha...

Originally Aired: September 14, 1958 Gunsmoke #336, "False Witness," finds Marshal Matt Dillon in a difficult position as he prepares to transport young Tom Moray to Hayes City for his hanging. The convicted killer has been desperately ill with fever while in Dodge City's jail, and Doc Adams has only just pronounced him well enough to travel. Tom maintains his innocence, insisting he wasn't even p...

Originally Aired: September 7, 1958 Gunsmoke #335, "Tried It - Didn't Like It," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester ride out to the Cates ranch on a blistering hot day to investigate a complaint from turkey farmer Hank Jurgen. Hank claims that twelve-year-old Eddie Cates has been shooting his prized turkeys with a Winchester rifle, and this isn't the first time. When they arrive, Eddie's father Grover...

Originally Aired: August 31, 1958 Gunsmoke #334, "I Thee Wed," opens with a disturbing pattern of domestic violence in Dodge City. When Sam Blackett publicly beats his wife Hester outside the Long Branch, Marshal Matt Dillon intervenes, but Hester refuses to sign a complaint despite previous incidents, including broken fingers she'd tried to hide. The situation escalates tragically when Hester arr...

Originally Aired: August 24, 1958 In Gunsmoke #333, "The Blacksmith," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester discover that Emil Wollheter, the gentle German blacksmith of Dodge City, is being harassed by a troublemaker named Tolman. When Tolman refuses to pay for horseshoeing work and falsely accuses Emil of crippling his horse, the situation grows tense. Emil confides in the Marshal that he's sent for a...

Originally Aired: August 17, 1958 In Gunsmoke #332, "The Piano," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester find themselves in a desperate pursuit after a brutal stagecoach holdup. When the stage rolls into Dodge City with its shotgun messenger Mike badly wounded and the driver dead, Mike manages to gasp out crucial details before losing consciousness: two men ambushed the stage at Hat Creek and made off wit...

Originally Aired: August 10, 1958 Gunsmoke #331, "A House Ain't a Home," presents Marshal Matt Dillon with a troubling family situation that tests the limits of his authority. When Kitty Russell asks Matt to check on old Jedro Haig at the Long Branch, the marshal discovers the rancher has been driven from his own home by his son Ramey, who has returned after three years away with two gunmen friend...

Originally Aired: August 3, 1958 In Gunsmoke #330, "Miguel's Daughter," Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself caught between protecting an innocent young woman and preventing a desperate father from taking the law into his own hands. When Josefina Ramirez is accosted by two rough cowboys in Dodge City, Kitty Russell comes to her rescue and asks Matt to escort the frightened girl home. The ride to the...