Fawn: Gunsmoke (September 26, 1953)

“Fawn” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast September 26, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Dillon receives orders to pick up a mysterious prisoner at Fort Larned and hold her in Dodge City until someone arrives from Boston. When he reaches the fort, he learns the prisoner is Mrs. Phillips, a white woman captured by Cheyennes ten years ago and recently rescued. She refuses to be separated from a young Cheyenne girl named Fawn and insists on bringing her to Dodge, complicating Dillon's mission as they navigate the journey and find lodging in town.

Fort Larned and Dodge City, Kansas Territory, 1950s

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Colonel Bloor, Mrs. Phillips, Fawn, Chief Blackhorn, Roger Phillips, Hank Risling

Listen for: The unusual situation of Mrs. Phillips' decade-long captivity among the Cheyennes and her attachment to Fawn creates tension as Dillon struggles to accommodate both women while dealing with prejudice from the townspeople of Dodge.

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.