Chester's Hanging: Gunsmoke (February 12, 1955)

“Chester's Hanging” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 12, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to Gunsmoke free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

When two drunken troublemakers arrive in Dodge City, Marshal Dillon throws them in jail for starting fights. While sorting through wanted circulars, Chester discovers that one of the men, Jim Kando, is actually a wanted murderer and stage robber. Dillon must apprehend Kando before he escapes town.

Dodge City - the marshal's office, jail, and town streets

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Jim Kando, Leavy Binders, William A. Pinkerton

Listen for: The wanted circular that identifies Kando as a murderer; the confrontation between Dillon and Kando over the rented horse; Chester's pride in spotting the wanted poster

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.