Roped: Have Gun, Will Travel (June 7, 1959)

“Roped” is an episode of Have Gun, Will Travel, the old-time radio show, first broadcast June 7, 1959. Listen free on Stupid Potato.

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What happens

Paladin is riding back to San Francisco when he becomes lost in the coastal valley and stumbles upon a remote cabin. The desperate owner, Dirk, mistakes him for a hired gun sent by a rival rancher and strikes him down. Now Paladin must navigate a dangerous situation where his hosts believe he's a threat to their horse-stealing operation.

A remote cabin in the coastal valley near Salinas, California, 1875. The cabin belongs to Dirk, a man engaged in horse stealing who lives with his wife Agnes.

Characters: Paladin, Dirk, Agnes, Miss Wong

Listen for: Paladin's card identifying him as a hired gun, the misunderstanding about his true purpose, and the tense confrontation when Dirk realizes he may have made a terrible mistake.

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.