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The Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 4

Every episode of Gunsmoke Season 4 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Gunsmoke Season 4!

Binge this in 10h 50m•Peaking at 8.6/10

Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 38 - Blue Horse
    8.6/10(258 votes)

    S4:E38

    Seriously injured Matt faces a moral dilemma when Blue Horse saves his life and prevents the escape of a prisoner. The Marshal knows that Blue Horse is being sought by the Cavalry as a fugitive from a reservation, and he is well aware that he is duty-bound to assist their search in any way possible.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 21 - Jayhawkers
    8.3/10(282 votes)

    S4:E21

    Trail boss Dolph Quince sends for his friend Matt to help escort his cattle herd into Dodge because he is having trouble with Jayhawkers (Kansas renegades), and he hopes to ease the animosity his men have towards all Kansans.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 35 - There Was Never a Horse
    8.3/10(268 votes)

    S4:E35

    Gunman Kin Creed arrives in Dodge determined to enhance his reputation by outdrawing Matt in a gunfight. He goes to great lengths to force Matt into a confrontation and is able to wound him, but it proves to be a pyrrhic victory.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 8 - Lost Rifle
    8.2/10(286 votes)

    S4:E8

    Matt refuses to arrest his friend Ben Tiple without more evidence, when the man he has been feuding with is found shot in the back.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 29 - Fawn
    8.2/10(270 votes)

    S4:E29

    After years of captivity, a white woman and her half-Indian daughter are set free by the Indians, but they are shunned in Dodge.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 12 - Grass
    8.1/10(236 votes)

    S4:E12

    White men pretending to be Indians attack greenhorn Harry Pope at night, and he kills one of them. Now the dead man's friends want revenge.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 37 - The Constable
    8.1/10(229 votes)

    S4:E37

    Dodge City's businessmen learn a hard lesson when they reject Matt's advice and hire a meek constable to handle a gang of rowdy but free-spending trail cowboys.

    Director:Arthur Hiller
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 4 - Monopoly
    8.0/10(240 votes)

    S4:E4

    Two murders result when an unscrupulous Eastern businessman named Ivy hires a psychotic killer to help him establish undisputed control of Dodge City's freight shipment business.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 5 - Letter of the Law
    8.0/10(248 votes)

    S4:E5

    A rich landowner seizes the chance to get a little more acreage when he discovers that a homesteader has failed to file the paperwork to make his quarter section his own.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:John Meston

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  10. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 1 - Matt for Murder
    7.9/10(253 votes)

    S4:E1

    Matt resigns as Marshall after Tom Samples accuses Matt of killing an innocent man;however, Doc and Matt's old friend Wild Bill Hickok come up with a plan that might clear Matt of this erroneous charge of murder.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:John Meston

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  11. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 11 - How to Kill a Friend
    7.9/10(242 votes)

    S4:E11

    Two gamblers find Matt incorruptible and attempt to intimidate him by hiring gunman Toque Morlan. The two are ironically unaware that Morlan was Matt's close friend until a long-ago attack by a mob left Morlan scarred and harboring a bitter grudge against lawmen.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 15 - Snakebite
    7.9/10(238 votes)

    S4:E15

    Claustrophobic plainsman Poney Thompson is arrested for murdering a man who maliciously shot his dog, but an ironic fate awaits him after he breaks free from Chester's custody.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:John Meston

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  13. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 30 - Renegade White
    7.9/10(225 votes)

    S4:E30

    A gunfight in the Long Branch forces Matt to arrest a drunk. Letting him go since it was a fair fight, he suspects him of selling guns to the Indians, and goes after him even though he may run into those Indians.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 34 - The Choice
    7.9/10(240 votes)

    S4:E34

    Matt tries to help Andy Hill, a young gunman who is apparently trying very hard to go straight, by getting him a job riding shotgun on the stagecoach.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 13 - The Cast
    7.8/10(229 votes)

    S4:E13

    When Doc arrives too late to save his patient, her husband, a good friend of Matt's, blames Doc for her death.

    Director:Jesse Hibbs
    Writer:John Meston

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  16. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 22 - Kitty's Rebellion
    7.8/10(260 votes)

    S4:E22

    An old friend of the family comes to Dodge looking for Kitty, but when he finds out she's a saloon owner, he's dismayed. Intent on defending her honor wherever she is insulted, he nearly gets himself killed. Kitty finally tells him that she has no honor, and he keeps making a fool out of himself thinking otherwise. It sends him away and saves his life at the same time.

    Director:Jesse Hibbs
    Writer:John Meston

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  17. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 31 - Murder Warrant
    7.8/10(224 votes)

    S4:E31

    Matt and Dodge City's businessmen employ an unusual tactic to save ambush victim Lee Prentice from being taken to corrupt Baker City to face certain hanging on a trumped-up murder charge.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 32 - Change of Heart
    7.8/10(245 votes)

    S4:E32

    Matt becomes suspicious when Jerry Cass's plans to marry saloon hostess Bella Grant are complicated by Bella's sudden insistence that Jerry leave his recently-inherited ranch for six months.

    Director:Andrew V. McLaglen
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 2 - The Patsy
    7.7/10(242 votes)

    S4:E2

    Matt doubts the veracity of Long Branch hostess Holly Fanshaw's claim that she saw trail drover Fly Hoyt murder young Dave Thorp. His suspicions increase further when Hoyt voluntarily returns to Dodge in order to clear his name.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:John Meston

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  20. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 3 - Gunsmuggler
    7.7/10(227 votes)

    S4:E3

    Matt believes white smugglers supplied the guns that a band of Pawnee used to attack local ranchers.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:John Meston

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  21. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 7 - Stage Hold-Up
    7.7/10(235 votes)

    S4:E7

    A stagecoach on which Matt and Chester are riding is robbed and another passenger is murdered. Matt utilizes a ruse to incriminate the thieves when a "cowboy" appears and offers to show him where one of the thieves may be buried.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 9 - Land Deal
    7.7/10(243 votes)

    S4:E9

    When a stranger leading some immigrants planning on settling outside of Dodge wants Matt to give him a badge to avert trouble, Matt gets suspicious and rides out to their camp to see what is really up.

    Director:Ted Post
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 39 - Cheyennes
    7.7/10(207 votes)

    S4:E39

    Matt seeks the help of wise Chief Long Robe to track down gunrunners who are supplying renegade Cheyenne braves with rifles used to murder prairie-dwelling families. Long Robe provides Matt with the needed information, but warns him that the death of even a single brave could lead to a violent uprising.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 6 - Thoroughbreds
    7.6/10(239 votes)

    S4:E6

    Matt and Chester, out of water while riding back to Dodge, come upon a man with two fine horses who is not very trusting. When they meet him later in Dodge, he is much different: friendly and spending money freely.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Gunsmoke Season 4 Episode 14 - Robber Bridegroom
    7.6/10(243 votes)

    S4:E14

    Financially desperate Jack Fitch robs a stagecoach and abducts passenger Laura Church, unaware that she is "engaged" to an unscrupulous businessman who threatened to ruin her father if he did not agree to the marriage.

    Director:Richard Whorf
    Writer:Unknown

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Season 4 Ratings Summary

"Blue Horse" is the best rated episode of "Gunsmoke" season 4. It scored 8.6/10 based on 258 votes. Directed by Andrew V. McLaglen and written by Unknown, it aired on 6/6/1959. This episode is rated 0.3 points higher than the second-best, "Jayhawkers".