Gunsmoke: Old West Stories

Originally Aired: July 27, 1958 In Gunsmoke #329, "The Cast," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a dangerous situation when Shell Tucker's wife swallows a nail and Doc Adams is called to help. Shell is notorious for his hatred of doctors, believing them to be nothing more than "croakers" who killed his father, but he's away on the prairie when his desperate wife sends their son Roof to fetch Doc. Despite D...

Originally Aired: July 20, 1958 In Gunsmoke #328, "Marshal Proudfoot," Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself in an awkward predicament when Chester's elderly father, Wesley Proudfoot, arrives in Dodge City under a significant misapprehension. The old man, hard of hearing and nearly blind, believes his son Chester is the town marshal, apparently based on some creative letter-writing by his deputy. Ches...

Originally Aired: July 13, 1958 In Gunsmoke #327, "The Proving Kid," a dangerous young troublemaker named Bravo arrives in Dodge City determined to prove he's no child. When he becomes aggressive with Kitty Russell at the Long Branch, Marshal Matt Dillon intervenes and disarms the hot-headed youth without drawing his weapon. The humiliated Bravo vows revenge, insisting the Marshal will regret not...

Originally Aired: July 6, 1958 In Gunsmoke #326, "Chester's Choice," Chester stumbles into a deadly dilemma while fishing outside Dodge City. Dozing in the brush, he overhears three outlaws planning to rob the bank at three o'clock that afternoon. When the gang discovers him, their ruthless leader Milt gives Chester an impossible ultimatum: get Marshal Matt Dillon out of town during the robbery, o...

Originally Aired: June 29, 1958 In Gunsmoke #325, "What the Whisky Drummer Heard," a nervous whiskey salesman named Wilbur Hawkins approaches Marshal Matt Dillon in a Dodge City saloon with an alarming message. Hawkins claims he overheard two men on a train from St. Louis, where one paid the other $300 to kill the marshal. Though the talkative drummer's peculiar manner makes it hard to know if he'...

Originally Aired: June 22, 1958 In Gunsmoke #324, "Target," Marshal Matt Dillon receives a cryptic note from young Danny Leeds, who has fled his father's farm after years of enduring the old man's harsh treatment. When Matt and Chester investigate, they discover the source of the latest conflict: a band of gypsies camping near the Leeds farm's pond while repairing their wagons. The stubborn and me...

Originally Aired: June 15, 1958 In Gunsmoke #323, "Old Flame," Marshal Matt Dillon receives an unexpected visitor from his past when Dolly Milton arrives in Dodge City. The attractive woman from Texas claims to be fleeing from a brutal husband, seeking refuge near someone she can trust. Matt welcomes his old friend and promises to protect her, though both Kitty Russell and Doc Adams seem to have r...

Originally Aired: June 8, 1958 In Gunsmoke #322, "Hot Horse Hyatt," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a potential lynching when Doc Adams alerts him that Del Breggan and his ranch hands have cornered a stranger at the livery stable with a rope. The accused man, Jesse Hyatt, insists he purchased two horses honestly from a bearded trader in Wichita, but Breggan recognizes them as his own blooded stock that...

Originally Aired: June 1, 1958 In Gunsmoke #321, "Quarter Horse," an elderly rancher named Mr. Thatcher faces relentless ridicule from Ed Butler and his cronies at the Long Branch Saloon over his peculiar-looking quarter horse colt. After Marshal Matt Dillon intervenes to stop Butler's bullying, Thatcher approaches the marshal with a bold proposition: he wants to challenge Butler to a grudge race,...

Originally Aired: May 25, 1958 Gunsmoke #320, "Blue Horse," finds Marshal Matt Dillon transporting a murderer named Hobb Cannon back to Dodge City across the dry plains. When Matt's horse steps in a hole and falls, the Marshal suffers a badly broken leg. With no choice but to send Chester riding two days back to Dodge for help, Matt finds himself stranded and vulnerable, left alone with the danger...

Originally Aired: May 18, 1958 In Gunsmoke #319, "The Stallion," a debt collection turns violent when Oak Harker arrives at Dan Stokes' ranch demanding payment for money owed to his father. When Stokes can't pay, Harker seizes his prized stud horse—a beautiful groan with a blaze that Stokes raised from a foal and refuses to sell because he knows Harker mistreats animals. Stokes warns that if...

Originally Aired: May 11, 1958 In Gunsmoke #318, "Little Bird," Marshal Matt Dillon becomes suspicious when saloon owner Kitty Russell points out a frightened young woman being mistreated by a massive brute named Bull Taggart in the Long Branch. The hulking stranger claims the woman is his Indian wife, but Kitty senses something terribly wrong. When Matt confronts them, the woman speaks Spanish an...

Originally Aired: May 10, 1958 In Gunsmoke #317, "How to Die for Nothing," Marshal Matt Dillon faces a deadly standoff when he's forced to shoot a drunken Texas cowboy in self-defense. The young man and his friend ride into Dodge firing their guns and declaring their intention to tear the town apart. When one of them draws on Matt after his companion is disarmed, the Marshal has no choice but to k...

Originally Aired: April 27, 1958 In Gunsmoke #316, "The Squaw," Marshal Matt Dillon breaks up a saloon fight between young Cully Tate and his friend Ambrose, only to discover the dispute stems from a deeply personal matter. Cully is consumed with shame and anger because his father, rancher Hardiman Tate, has returned from Texas with an Arapaho woman named Natasia, whom he married in Indian custom....

Originally Aired: April 20, 1958 In Gunsmoke #315, "The Partners," a dangerous carnival act comes to Dodge City when two performers named Grover Cranston and Little Maury arrive with a deadly exhibition. The partners shoot tin cans off each other's heads for money, drawing crowds eager to witness what could be a fatal mistake. Marshal Matt Dillon shuts down their first performance in the streets,...

Originally Aired: April 13, 1958 In Gunsmoke #314, "Livvie's Loss," a bitter family conflict erupts when Livvie Redgate tries desperately to prevent her son Ben from following in his father Horatio's footsteps. Horatio, a long-absent husband whose breath hasn't been free of whiskey for five years, returns to take the boy into town against Livvie's wishes. When she follows them to a saloon and phys...

Originally Aired: April 6, 1958 In Gunsmoke #313, "Yorky," Marshal Matt Dillon faces an unusual challenge when rancher Mr. Brandt arrives in Dodge City with a troubling problem. During an Arapaho horse raid on his ranch, Brandt's son captured a young boy—no more than twelve years old—who turns out to be white, not Indian. The wild child, who calls himself Yorky, has lived with the Arap...

Originally Aired: March 30, 1958 In Gunsmoke #312, "Why Not," Marshal Matt Dillon finds himself caught between family power and personal freedom when Cyrus Taggart, a wealthy Eastern industrialist, arrives in Dodge City demanding the return of his runaway daughter. The young woman has been living in Dodge under the name Patsy, working at the Long Branch saloon, and is involved with part-time gambl...

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...