Spring Freshet: Gunsmoke (March 17, 1957)

“Spring Freshet” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast March 17, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Two dangerous outlaws, Todlet and Slater, rob the Dodge City saloon and take Kitty hostage to ensure their escape. When Marshal Dillon discovers they never left town but are hiding in a storage loft, he must find a way to rescue Kitty before the criminals decide she's no longer useful to them.

Dodge City, Kansas and surrounding territory

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Kitty, Doc, Red, Todlet, Slater, Hacks

Listen for: The tense standoff between the marshal and the trapped outlaws holding Kitty hostage in the loft, as darkness falls and options dwindle.

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.