What the Whiskey Drummer Heard: Gunsmoke (June 29, 1958)

“What the Whiskey Drummer Heard” is an episode of Gunsmoke, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 29, 1958. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

A whiskey drummer named Wilbur Hawkins arrives in Dodge City and tells Marshall Dillon that he overheard two men on a train discussing a $300 payment to kill the Marshall, though he heard no details about how or when. Dillon decides to spread the word that he's been killed, hoping the would-be assassin will reveal himself by making a move now that he believes his target is dead.

Dodge City, Kansas - the Marshall's office, saloon, and surrounding town

Characters: Marshall Matt Dillon, Chester, Doc, Kitty, Wilbur Hawkins

Listen for: A mysterious plot to kill the Marshall set in motion on a train from St. Louis, and the Marshall's clever plan to flush out the killer by playing dead.

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.