Brush at Elkader: Gunsmoke (October 23, 1955)

“Brush at Elkader” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast October 23, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Matt Dillon investigates the murder of Ben Williams in Dodge City. A man named Shipping shot Williams in the street without provocation and rode off. With only a name and the town of Elkader to go on, Dillon and Chester ride north to track down the killer, but find the small town's residents oddly unhelpful and evasive.

Dodge City and the town of Elkader, a remote settlement 100 miles north.

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Kitty, Ben Williams, Shipping, Stable owner, Hotel clerk

Listen for: The tension builds as Dillon discovers the townspeople of Elkader are reluctant to help and seem to know more than they're admitting about Shipping's presence.

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.