Pokey Pete: Gunsmoke (August 16, 1959)

“Pokey Pete” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 16, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A young boy named Ted becomes fascinated by Chester's story about old Pokey Pete, a mysterious figure who visits Dodge City once a month and is rumored to guard buried treasure from a pirate ship. When Ted disappears after a fishing expedition with Chester, Marshal Dillon must track him down before something terrible happens.

Dodge City and the surrounding countryside, primarily the marshal's office, the Long Branch saloon, and Pete's shack near the river

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Kitty, Ted, Heidi (Ted's mother), Pokey Pete, Two outlaws

Listen for: The tense search for the missing boy and the discovery of what really happened at old Pete's place; Chester's guilt over telling the tale that sparked Ted's adventure

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.