The Round-Up: Gunsmoke (February 14, 1953)

“The Round-Up” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast February 14, 1953. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

As the cattle-driving season ends in Dodge City, townspeople urge Marshal Dillon to deputize a large group of men to keep peace during the round-up celebration, when a thousand cowboys and homesteaders will flood the streets. Dillon refuses, insisting he'll maintain order his own way. That evening, an old friend named Cell Matlock arrives in town with troubling news: a man named Lowman has been hired to kill the marshal tonight.

Dodge City, Kansas, at the end of the cattle-driving season.

Characters: Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Summers, Torp, Kitty, Cell Matlock, Lowman

Listen for: Dillon's philosophical approach to law enforcement and his reunion with the mysterious Cell Matlock, who brings a warning of assassination.

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.