Feud: Gunsmoke (May 29, 1954)

“Feud” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 29, 1954. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A mountain man named Luke Humberd arrives in Dodge City seeking Hank Witherspoon to settle a long-standing family feud that has claimed many lives from both sides. Marshal Dillon learns that the two families have been at odds for generations over a trivial incident, and now only Humberd and Witherspoon remain as the last representatives of their respective clans. Dillon warns both men that the law will not recognize a feud as justification for murder, and he races against time to prevent bloodshed.

Dodge City and the surrounding Kansas territory, including a homestead ten miles north at Rock Springs where Hank Witherspoon lives with his wife.

Characters: Matt Dillon, U.S. Marshal, Chester Proudfoot, Luke Humberd, Hank Witherspoon, Mrs. Witherspoon

Listen for: The clash between frontier mountain justice and the law of civilization, as Matt Dillon struggles to explain legal consequences to people who live by their own codes. The contrast between Humberd's fierce determination and his moral code of not killing on Sundays.

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.