ep Audition: Fort Laramie (July 25, 1955)

“ep Audition” is an episode of Fort Laramie, the old-time radio show, first broadcast July 25, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Captain Lee Quintz of Fort Laramie discovers that a homestead family has been killed by Sioux warriors, and evidence suggests the Indians are being supplied with modern Henry rifles. The Captain wants to pursue the renegade leader Yellowknife and stop the gun smuggling, but his commanding officer orders him to focus on guarding the fort and watching the reservation. That evening, the Major invites the Captain to a dance to show the civilians that the fort is not frightened.

Fort Laramie on the frontier, ten miles from a Sioux reservation housing 4,000 Indians, during what appears to be the post-Civil War era.

Characters: Captain Lee Quintz, Major, Sergeant Corson, Corporal Mercer, Bull Right, Mr. Cybert's, Miss Terry Lawson, Uncle Ned

Listen for: The tension between Captain Quintz's desire to pursue the gun-running operation and his Major's orders to hold the fort; the mystery of who is supplying rifles to the Sioux; the developing acquaintance between the Captain and Miss Lawson at the dance.

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.