What happens
Jack Rhett, a professional gunman, is hired by the leading citizens of Red Mesa to act as sheriff and tame the frontier town beside the Chisholm Trail. Mayor Wayne and his committee want an end to the gunplay that keeps the cattle drivers from spending their money peacefully. Rhett takes the job on his own terms, refusing interference, while saloon owner Bo Helen and the outlaw Todd Mallon watch closely. Deputy Marshal Matt Travener, Rhett's acquaintance, agrees to back him in town but leaves the surrounding territory to himself. Rhett's cold and uncompromising methods draw suspicion as the town's violence continues. This is the first part of the Escape episode Wild Jack Rhett, adapted from the story by Ernest Haycox and broadcast on December 17, 1950, with John Dehner in the title role.
Red Mesa, a small frontier town on the prairie beside the Chisholm Trail, in the 1870s American West
Characters: Jack Rhett, Mayor Peter Wayne, Bo Helen, Matt Travener, Mary Wayne, Todd Mallon, Dr. Brande, Hack Crow
Listen for: The tense confrontations in Bo Helen's saloon and the cold, deliberate manner of Jack Rhett as he faces his enemies.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.