Cows and Cribs: Gunsmoke (May 13, 1956)

“Cows and Cribs” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 13, 1956. 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

Marshal Dillon responds to an emergency when Doc Adams is called to the Smith place where Ed and Mrs. Thorpe are suffering from spotted fever. Dillon must transport the sick family to town, but discovers that Ed Thorpe has already died and his wife passes away during the journey, leaving only their infant baby to care for.

Dodge City and the surrounding ranch country, primarily the Smith place and the town of Dodge

Characters: Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, Kitty, Bowers, Ed Thorpe, Mrs. Thorpe, Joe, Chester

Listen for: The tragedy of the Thorpe family's illness and death, and the question of who will care for their orphaned baby; also the hardship faced by the struggling settlers like Joe and his wife who are barely surviving on the land.

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.