Cows and Cribs: Gunsmoke (June 4, 1961)

“Cows and Cribs” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 4, 1961. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshall Dillon visits a struggling homestead where a new couple, Joe and his wife, are trying to make a life on the prairie. When he discovers that Ed Thorpe has died of spotted fever, Dillon must arrange care for Thorpe's orphaned baby while also helping the desperate settlers who can barely feed themselves.

Dodge City and the surrounding prairie homesteads in Kansas Territory

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Joe, Mrs. Naylor, Ed Thorpe, Doc, Mrs. Needler, Emmett Bowers

Listen for: The Marshall's efforts to find a home for an orphaned child and help struggling settlers on the frontier

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.