Reward for Matt: Gunsmoke (April 30, 1955)

“Reward for Matt” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast April 30, 1955. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Matt Dillon shoots and kills Mel Hornby in self-defense when Hornby reaches for his gun after being questioned about the murder of a homesteader named Jake Reeves. Hornby's angry widow, Mrs. Hornby, arrives in Dodge and vows to hire men to kill the Marshal in revenge, offering a thousand-dollar reward for his death.

Dodge City and the surrounding prairie

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Mrs. Hornby, Mel Hornby

Listen for: The confrontation between Matt and Mrs. Hornby as she learns of her husband's death and makes her deadly threat; Matt's calm reaction to the bounty on his head.

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.