The Juniper Tree: Gunsmoke (August 30, 1952)

“The Juniper Tree” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast August 30, 1952. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Jim Stanley, a simple ranch hand, steals gambling chips from Mingo's roulette table and throws a bottle at the gambler when caught. Marshal Dillon arrests him, but discovers that Mingo's witnesses are all on the gambler's payroll and motivated by jealousy over Stanley's attention to the dance hall girl Dixie. Dillon must find a way to prove Stanley's innocence against overwhelming odds stacked in Mingo's favor.

Dodge City - a saloon, Marshal's office, and jail

Characters: Matt Dillon, Jim Stanley, Mingo, Dixie, Brandy, Chester, Willy

Listen for: The moral dilemma of justice when a man is technically guilty but victimized by a corrupt gambler's influence; Brandy's cryptic confession about trading a man for brandy.

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.