Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: June 18, 1961 Gunsmoke #480, "Letter of the Law," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a moral dilemma when Judge Rambo sends him a court order to evict Brandon Teak from his homestead near Wagon Mound. Teak failed to properly register his land deed, and now land speculator Lee Sprague has filed a claim on the property. The situation is complicated by the fact that Teak, once known as a dan...

Originally Aired: June 11, 1961 Gunsmoke #479, "Doc's Visitor," opens with an unexpected guest arriving in Dodge City. Dr. William Weber has traveled from Philadelphia to find Doc Adams with surprising news: Doc's old friend from medical school, Dr. Henry Wilson, has died and left his prestigious clinic to Doc. Dr. Weber explains that Wilson wants Doc to take charge of the Philadelphia clinic, off...

Originally Aired: June 4, 1961 Gunsmoke #478, "Cows and Cribs," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester Proudfoot set out to bring Ed Thorpe, his wife, and their baby to Dodge City after Doc Adams reports the family has spotted fever. On the way, they encounter Joe and Mrs. Nadler, struggling homesteaders on the verge of starvation. Joe has been forced to butcher a branded calf, and his wife desperately h...

Originally Aired: May 28, 1961 Gunsmoke #477, "The Sod-Buster," presents a comedic case of mistaken identity that threatens to turn serious. When Marshal Matt Dillon rides out of Dodge to track down a wanted killer named Cliff Meadows, he leaves Chester in charge of watching over the cantankerous Doc Adams. Into town rolls Sedge Wilker, an ornery sodbuster with a chip on his shoulder, along with h...

Originally Aired: May 21, 1961 Gunsmoke #476, "Chester's Rendezvous," Chester Proudfoot's encounter with a mysterious young woman sparks an unexpected romance. When Chester retrieves a windblown bonnet on the dusty streets of Dodge and returns it to Em Feeney sitting in a wagon, he's immediately taken with her. Despite her father's gruff interruption, Chester can't get the girl out of his mind. Af...

Originally Aired: May 14, 1961 Gunsmoke #475, "The Lady Killer," brings Marshal Matt Dillon face to face with a puzzling death when rancher Grant Lucas is shot and killed at the Grand Hotel. Grant had come to Dodge City early to testify against Cy Welsh in an upcoming trial for land fraud, a case that seems open and shut with both Grant and Matt as witnesses. When Matt arrives at the scene, saloon...

Originally Aired: May 7, 1961 In Gunsmoke #474, "Mas Justice," a deadly feud erupts over wild horses on the open range near Dodge City. When brothers Reed and Jakey Sayle rope some wild colts, old man Sloat and his son Jazz claim the horses are theirs and ride onto the Sayle property to take them. Gunfire breaks out, leaving Reed badly wounded and Jazz Sloat shot by the boys' mother, Ma Sayle. Wit...

Originally Aired: April 30, 1961 Gunsmoke #473, "Ex-Urbanites," finds Doc Adams and Chester returning to Dodge from Hays City when they discover a wounded wolfer named Nage Gillard near a remote water hole. Doc immediately sets to work to save the dying man, but Nage's partners—his brother Pitt and Jesse Turnbull—arrive with shocking orders: leave Nage to die. When Doc refuses, the confrontation t...

Originally Aired: April 23, 1961 In Gunsmoke #472, "Father and Son," Marshal Matt Dillon confronts a chilling case of murder and brutality when he and Chester discover a driverless wagon on the trail back to Dodge. Inside, they find a barely conscious Indian woman who has been savagely beaten. Doc Adams manages to save her life, and through Kitty's gentle questioning, the woman reveals a horrifyin...

Originally Aired: April 16, 1961 Gunsmoke #471, "Cooter," Matt Dillon returns to Dodge City to find that a cowboy has been killed by a gunman named Pate, who claims self-defense. However, Kitty reveals the truth: the cowboy was drawing on Ben Sissel, a crooked gambler new to Dodge, when Pate shot him down. Pate is Sissel's hired gun, protecting the cardsharp when angry victims catch him cheating....

Originally Aired: April 9, 1961 Gunsmoke #470, "Hangmans Mistake," Matt Dillon reluctantly releases Ark Bernie from jail after receiving word from Abilene that another man has been arrested for the murder—Ark's own brother, Junius. Despite his certainty that Ark is guilty, Matt has no choice but to let him go. When Ark learns that Junius is being held for a crime Ark knows his brother didn't commi...

Originally Aired: April 2, 1961 Gunsmoke #469, "Chester's Inheritance," finds Chester in a panic when he receives a letter from lawyers in Waco, Texas. Too frightened to open it himself, convinced he's about to be arrested over an old four-dollar debt, Chester has Matt read it for him. The letter brings unexpected news: Chester has inherited $368.63 from his late cousin Clarence Webley Proudfoot....

Originally Aired: March 26, 1961 In Gunsmoke #468, "No Indians," Marshal Matt Dillon investigates a series of brutal attacks on settler families near the Smoky Hill River that are being blamed on Pawnee raiders. When frightened homesteader Sam Butler arrives in Dodge City, abandoning his land and accusing the law of hiding while families are slaughtered, Matt decides to ride out with Chester to ex...

Originally Aired: March 19, 1961 Gunsmoke #467, "Joe Phy reused Script," Matt Dillon and Chester ride into the dusty town of El Cater searching for Carey Post, a killer from the Dakota Territory. When they arrive, they quickly learn from local peaceful citizen Cicero Grimes that Post has already been run out of town by Joe Phy, a supposed U.S. Marshal who has turned El Cater into a tightly control...

Originally Aired: March 12, 1961 In Gunsmoke #466, "Sweet and Sour," Matt Dillon and Chester are returning to Dodge from Wichita when they encounter a troubling situation at the train depot. A drifter named Ab Laster tries to force a young woman, Rena Decker, onto the train and insists she drink with him. Matt intervenes, disarming Laster and earning both the woman's gratitude and Laster's bitter...

Originally Aired: March 5, 1961 Gunsmoke #465, "Melinda Miles," presents Marshal Matt Dillon with a troubling murder case that points to a young man courting against impossible odds. Tom Potter is struggling to win the approval of Melinda Miles and her father Paul, who fired Tom and clearly wants him out of his daughter's life. When Tom loses his entire stake in a poker game to Roy Taylor, Paul Mi...

Originally Aired: February 26, 1961 Gunsmoke #464, "Joe Sleet," presents a tense story of a bullying gunfighter brought low by circumstance. Joe Sleet arrives in Dodge City as the typical hard-talking gunman, showing off his fast draw and provoking confrontations in the Long Branch Saloon. His bragging drives even mild-mannered Chester to practice his draw, and he pushes everyone around him to the...

Originally Aired: February 19, 1961 Gunsmoke #463, "Kitty Love," begins with Matt Dillon disappointing Kitty Russell by canceling their plans to attend a town social together. He must ride to Springfield to pick up a prisoner, leaving Kitty hurt and frustrated with the unpredictable life of depending on a marshal. The next morning, while riding with Doc Adams, Kitty discovers a wounded man on the...

Originally Aired: February 12, 1961 Gunsmoke #462, "Daddy-O," finds Marshal Matt Dillon returning to Dodge City after six weeks away to discover that Kitty Russell has bought the Long Branch Saloon. Before Matt can properly congratulate her, Kitty receives a telegram announcing that her father, Wayne Russell, is arriving the next day. Wayne is a charming, well-dressed businessman who abandoned Kit...

Originally Aired: February 5, 1961 Gunsmoke #461, "Love of Money," brings a troubled old friend to Matt Dillon's door. Nate Tatum, a US Marshal from Oklahoma Territory, arrives in Dodge on his way to California after quitting his job. He confesses to Matt that he's running scared, convinced that enemies from his past have hired a stranger to gun him down. Despite his years of facing danger head-on...

Originally Aired: January 29, 1961 Gunsmoke #460, "Harriet," a young woman named Harriet Horn stumbles into Dodge City after walking forty miles across the prairie, claiming her wagon horses ran off during the night. Marshal Matt Dillon immediately suspects she's hiding something, and his instincts prove correct when the truth emerges: Harriet witnessed two drifters, Dan Scorp and Webb Hoogler, mu...

Originally Aired: January 22, 1961 Gunsmoke #459, "Hard Virtue," opens with Andy and Millie Cole arriving in Dodge City, hoping to sell their wagon and make a fresh start. When freight line owner Ed Fellon's runaway team nearly kills Millie, the hot-tempered Andy nearly comes to blows with him. To make amends, Fellon offers Andy a job and pays for the damaged wagon, but Andy's suspicions are immed...

Originally Aired: January 15, 1961 Gunsmoke #458, "The Wake," a stranger named Gus Mather arrives in Dodge City with a coffin in his wagon, claiming it contains his best friend Orson Boggs, who died of a fever. Mather buries Boggs on Boot Hill without a preacher or ceremony, then throws an elaborate wake with free food and liquor for anyone who'll attend. Chester and Doc Adams are invited and find...

Originally Aired: January 8, 1961 Gunsmoke #457, "Old Faces," Tom and Tilda Cook are newly arrived in Dodge City, full of plans for their future together. Their optimism quickly sours when a drunk man accosts Tilda at the stage depot, and Tom angrily defends her. The situation escalates dramatically when the man's partner, Ed Ivers, a notorious ex-gunman from Texas, encounters Tilda at the general...

Originally Aired: January 1, 1961 Gunsmoke #456, "Spring Term," Marshal Matt Dillon becomes the target of a vengeful killer from his past. When a peaceful townsman named Dane Shaw is shot in the back on a quiet Dodge City street, the dying man mutters one word: "Stone." Matt recognizes the name from years earlier in Matagorda County, where a cow thief named Stone was hanged by cattlemen. Stone's p...