The Deserter: Gunsmoke (May 31, 1959)

“The Deserter” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast May 31, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Marshal Dillon learns from Doc that a young soldier has been shot and treated at his office, but escaped before fully recovering. The marshal discovers the man hired a horse and rode west out of town. Dillon and Chester pursue him, following tracks to a stream bed where they find signs of the injured deserter and spot a shack where he may be hiding.

Dodge City and the surrounding prairie

Characters: Marshal Matt Dillon, Doc, Chester, Kitty, Moss (liveryman)

Listen for: The mystery of why an army deserter would hold up the paymaster, and what the marshal discovers in the shack.

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.