Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: March 23, 1958 In Gunsmoke #311, "Indian," Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester discover a Pawnee man who has been brutally murdered, shot in both knees and left to crawl before being killed. When the victim's stoic widow appears at the scene, Matt is disturbed by the cruelty of the killing. Back in Dodge, a bitter frontiersman named Eggard overhears Matt discussing the murder and ope...

Originally Aired: March 16, 1958 Gunsmoke #310, "Real Sent Sonny," A young man named Sonny Garnett calls out Marshal Matt Dillon from the jail, standing brazenly in the middle of the street with a rifle and demanding the marshal come out and fight. Rather than kill the boy, Matt has Chester shoot the gun from his hand. Under questioning, the defiant youngster refuses to reveal who sent him, but Di...

Originally Aired: March 9, 1958 In Gunsmoke #309, "Laughing Gas," a traveling entertainment show comes to Dodge City, promising amazing hilarity through the effects of nitrous oxide. Chester eagerly anticipates the show after borrowing twenty-five cents from Marshal Matt Dillon, despite Doc Adams' warnings about the dangers of the intoxicating anesthetic. The evening takes a violent turn when Clou...

Originally Aired: March 2, 1958 In Gunsmoke #308, "The Guitar," a strange drifter named Weed Pendle rides into Dodge City on a mule, carrying nothing but a guitar he never plays. The scrawny, simple-minded man quickly catches the attention of Tyler and Short, two mean-spirited Confederate veterans who discover Pendle fought with the Third Illinois Cavalry in Missouri during the war. When they atte...

Originally Aired: February 23, 1958 In Gunsmoke #307, "The Surgery," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a dangerous standoff when Doc Adams determines that Lucy Middleton needs a risky surgical operation to survive. Lucy's husband Aaron has been treating her illness with strong herbal remedies, but Doc insists the only way to save her life is through surgery—a procedure he's never performed before bu...

Originally Aired: February 16, 1958 Gunsmoke #306, "Bruger's Folly," Marshal Matt Dillon calls Holly Dean into his office to deliver unsettling news: her ex-husband Sam Bruger has been paroled after serving three years for manslaughter in the shooting death of a man named Tracy Waters. Holly had refused to support Sam's alibi at his trial, and the whole town believed the killing was over her. Now...

Originally Aired: February 9, 1958 Gunsmoke #305, "The Jokes on Us," opens with a grim prairie scene as ranchers Jake Kaiser, Benson, and Duvall prepare to hang their neighbor Tillman for horse theft. Despite Tillman's calm insistence that he was rounding up their stolen horses, not stealing them, the men refuse to wait for witness Jennings to confirm his story. After the hanging, Jennings arrives...

Originally Aired: February 2, 1958 In Gunsmoke #304, "Kitty's Killing," a religious zealot named Jacob Leach arrives in Dodge City consumed with righteous fury. Believing himself to be an instrument of divine justice, Leach demands that Chester lock him in jail to prevent him from killing a man named Ollie Radford, whom he considers a sinner deserving of death. Marshal Matt Dillon agrees to keep L...

Originally Aired: January 19, 1958 In Gunsmoke #302, “Moo Moo Raid,” a missing cow nearly sparks a range war in Dodge City. When trail boss Tush Lee discovers that Oni Hager—and his legendary swimming cow, Ida Belle—have vanished, suspicion falls squarely on rival cattleman Bert Collins. With thousands of dollars riding on which herd crosses the river first, tempers flare f...

Originally Aired: January 12, 1958 In Gunsmoke #301, “Second Son,” an English drifter named Sedgely Carstairs rides into Dodge City determined to win back the horse he lost in a poker game to the ruthless Pete Newson. Polite, soft-spoken, and stubbornly honorable, Carstairs seems out of place in the rough Kansas cowtown. But beneath his refined manners lies a wounded pride—and a...

Originally Aired: January 5, 1958 In Gunsmoke #300, “Puckett’s New Year,” Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester rescue an aging buffalo hunter, Ira Puckett, after his partner abandons him during a brutal prairie blizzard. Left with a shattered foot and his pride deeply wounded, Puckett is brought back to Dodge City to recover—only to learn that his roaming days are over. When the...

Originally Aired: December 29, 1957 In Gunsmoke #299, “Where’d They Go?” a late-night holdup at Wilbur Jonas’s general store sends Marshal Matt Dillon and Chester riding into a brewing winter storm to arrest local homesteader Clint Dodie. Identified by voice and manner alone, Dodie swears he’s innocent—but with no clear alibi and a blizzard closing in, Dillon ta...

Originally Aired: December 28, 1957 In Gunsmoke #298, “Twelfth Night,” an old mountain feud follows two stubborn Ozark men all the way to Dodge City. When Eben Hakes arrives on foot—long rifle in hand—looking for his lifelong enemy Joth Monger, Marshal Matt Dillon braces for bloodshed. The bitter rivalry between the Hakes and Monger families stretches back generations, root...

Originally Aired: December 15, 1957 In Gunsmoke #297, “Ugly,” a horribly disfigured stranger named Bruno Thayer rides into Dodge City, and his appearance alone is enough to spark fear and cruelty among the townsfolk. Scarred years earlier in a buffalo stampede, Bruno keeps mostly to himself, hoping to make a quiet life on an abandoned farm. But in a town quick to judge what it doesn&rs...

Originally Aired: December 8, 1957 In Gunsmoke #296, “Long as I Live,” Dodge City is shaken to its core when Doc Adams is shot down in cold blood. The town’s beloved physician—who has saved countless lives without asking for thanks—lies hovering between life and death, and for once it is Marshal Matt Dillon who must take instructions instead of giving them. With no ot...

Originally Aired: December 1, 1957 In Gunsmoke #295, “Jud’s Woman,” Marshal Matt Dillon rides into a brewing storm and encounters more than bad weather. A frightened young woman named Jenny Barton refuses him shelter one night—only for her jealous and violent partner, Jud Borden, to later accuse Dillon of coming after her. It soon becomes clear that Jenny’s life is on...

Originally Aired: November 24, 1957 In Gunsmoke #294, “Odd Man Out,” Marshal Matt Dillon investigates the mysterious disappearance of Bertha Huggins, a farm wife who has been married thirty-seven years to her aging husband, Cyrus. When Cyrus reports that Bertha has suddenly run off, the story doesn’t quite ring true—but neither does the idea that the devoted couple could si...

Originally Aired: November 17, 1957 In Gunsmoke #293, “The Queue,” Dodge City’s uneasy tolerance is tested when a quiet Chinese immigrant named Chen Lan Wong arrives looking for honest work. Though Marshal Matt Dillon offers protection, prejudice simmers just beneath the surface—especially among two local bullies who resent the newcomer’s presence and spread rumors ab...

Originally Aired: November 10, 1957 In Gunsmoke #292, “Gun Shy,” a timid young Easterner named Tom Wilson comes west chasing dime-novel dreams of frontier glory—only to discover that the prairie demands more than courage in stories. After failing as a ranch hand and accidentally shooting himself in the leg, Tom’s confidence sinks even lower. Convinced he doesn’t belon...

Originally Aired: November 3, 1957 In Gunsmoke #291, “Bull,” Marshal Matt Dillon faces one of the most troubling cases in Dodge City when a drunken buffalo hunter named Bull Hogan kills a young man in what appears to be a fair fistfight. The town swears it was an honest brawl—but the victim lies dead, and Bull flees before dawn. As Dillon tracks the powerful frontiersman to a lon...

Originally Aired: January 26, 1958 In Gunsmoke #303, "One for Lee," Marshal Matt Dillon, Chester, and Doc Adams gather at the train depot to welcome Senator Barclay Hooper to Dodge City. The politician's arrival takes a violent turn when a gunman fires at the senator on the crowded platform, grazing his arm before fleeing through town. The only witness is Willie Angel, an ornery old sheepherder wh...

Originally Aired: October 27, 1957 In Gunsmoke #290, “Man and Boy,” a headstrong young deputy from California rides into Dodge determined to prove himself. Cryley Tobin is barely two months into the job, but he’s already hunting a seasoned killer—Jess Ricker—on charges of robbery and murder. Proud, defensive, and eager to show he doesn’t need help, Tobin refuses...

Originally Aired: October 20, 1957 In Gunsmoke #289, “Professor Lute Bone,” Dodge City falls under the spell of a wandering medicine showman whose silver tongue is matched only by the potency of his “Wonder Medicine.” Professor Lute Bone arrives with grand claims, fiery lectures against liquor, and bottles of cure-all tonic that promise to heal everything from rheumatism to...

Originally Aired: October 13, 1957 In Gunsmoke #288, “The Margin,” Marshal Matt Dillon faces mounting pressure when young ranch hand Grody Beck is accused of rustling cattle from Flag Miller’s spread. Cleared by Judge Bent for lack of evidence, Grody walks free—but Dodge City isn’t satisfied. With Flag’s temper flaring and whispers of vigilante justice in the ai...

Originally Aired: October 6, 1957 In Gunsmoke #287, “The Rooks,” Marshal Matt Dillon returns from a grueling trial in Wichita only to find Dodge City under siege by two cocky cowhand brothers, Clay and Jess Rook. With Dillon laid up by illness, the Rooks bully their way through saloons, smashing bottles and pushing townsfolk to their limits. When the violence escalates to murder, Dillo...