The Buffalo Hunter: Gunsmoke (June 30, 1957)

“The Buffalo Hunter” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 30, 1957. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

Listen to Gunsmoke free, live around the clock: every episode, in the order it first aired. No sign-up.

What happens

Marshal Dillon investigates the death of a young skinner named Billy who allegedly burned himself in hot lead at a buffalo hunter's camp. Suspecting foul play, Dillon questions the camp workers and discovers that Billy's boss Gatlev stood to save money by not paying Billy's wages. When evidence points to murder rather than accident, Dillon lacks proof to make an arrest. That night, a man matching Gatlev's description is found stabbed to death near the river.

Dodge City and the Kansas prairie, where buffalo hunters work their camps.

Characters: Matt Dillon, Gatlev, Billy, Tobe, The Cook, Yorkie, Chester

Listen for: The investigation into whether Billy's death was accident or murder, and the mysterious knife attack that follows.

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.