A young army drummer named Raffie is terrorized by two bullying mule skinners.

Distant Drummer

James Arness

Amanda Blake

Dennis Weaver

Milburn Stone

John Meston

Arthur Hiller

Ben Tolliver's Stud

The Badge

Matt is summoned to help an old friend, Ab Butler, who has been shot in the back and left for dead.  However, Matt faces a difficult situation when Ab's partner shows up and tells his side of the story.

Friend's Pay-Off

Troublemakers trick an immigrant blacksmith into leaving his house on his wedding night, then burn it down.

The Blacksmith

Matt arrests Finn Pickett after recognizing his face from a wanted poster.  On the way back to Dodge, Pickett's vengeful sons try to free their father as Matt and Chester face a water shortage.

Small Water

Lee Nagel suspects his visiting uncle of murder when his father is killed in their store in an apparent accident.

Say Uncle

While transporting a prisoner with Chester on a stagecoach to Wichita, Matt learns that the stagecoach is also carrying a shipment of gold, and he suspects the coach might be targeted by outlaws.

Shooting Stopover

Matt is called in to deal with a corrupt sheriff in Tascosa.

The Peace Officer

Matt's old friend, Esteban Garcia, tracks a man into Dodge and plans to kill him for stealing his wife.

Don Matteo

Murders follow when a buffalo hunter and his browbeaten partner come to town.

The Worm

Out on the prairie, Matt is shot and taken captive by two outlaws, one of whom is a weakling abused and bossed around by the other.

Jake Creed accuses his young hired hand, Ben Tolliver, of horse theft.

The vicious Dolan brothers move in on a tough cattle rancher and his non-violent son.

No Chip

Gus Mather arrives in Dodge in a wagon, carrying the coffin of his best friend, Orson Boggs, to give him a proper wake. There's only one problem:  according to Mrs. Boggs, her late husband didn't have any friends.

The Wake

A young drifter takes a job as cook at Delmonico's but accidentally kills a crazy buffalo hunter who complains about his cooking.

The Cook

A scheming woman (Else Hedgepath), who is after the money and wealth of Hannibal Bass, makes a play for Hannibal, but runs into some serious, SERIOUS  trouble though when she tangles with *MRS* Bass!

Old Fool

In a family that believes in taking care of its own--including administering punishment within the family for crime--one of two grown brothers appears to have committed murder, but which one?

Brother Love

A man shoots his partner, flees, and is caught by two men claiming to be lawmen.

Bad Sheriff

Red and Joe Lime are no-good murderous brothers, and Matt has to track 'em down out on the prairie. Trouble is, Matt comes down with a fever due to missing out on so much sleep in the last couple of weeks. This situation causes some serious problems for all involved when Matt has to return to Dodge because he is too sick to pursue the Lime brothers.

Unloaded Gun

A man and his wife come across a lone trapper and make camp with him. Next day, the husband comes to Dodge to report to Doc that his wife is sick, but Doc finds the woman beaten to death, and the husband accuses the trapper.

Tall Trapper

The theft of a sack of potatoes leads to increasingly violent hostilities between the Scooper and Galloway families.

Love Thy Neighbor

Matt rescues teen-aged Trudy Trent from a life of isolated poverty with her incestuous and alcoholic father, but he subsequently learns that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" when he rejects her misguided romantic overtures toward him.

Bad Seed

Dillon goes after cowboy Jake Bayloe after he guns down his partner in the Long Branch , shooting Kitty in the crossfire and critically wounding her.

Kitty Shot

While Chester is out searching for Doc, his horse is injured. Chester goes to a house for help and is instead taken prisoner.

About Chester

After witnessing the callous murder of her kindly father, Harriet Horne disregards Matt's advice and unwisely attempts to extract revenge from the perpetrators by making them jealous rivals for her attention.

Harriet

A concealed gunman takes a shot at Chester, and it may have been a bank robber, or it may have been someone who's been making trouble at the Long Branch.

Potshot

Hot-headed Tom's new wife used to be a river-boat girl, and when a gunman from her old life recognizes her, a battle between the two men is brewing.

Old Faces

To protect Kitty, Matt is forced to physically (and publicly) subdue fractious troublemaker Pat Swarner. When Swarner is subsequently found murdered, oft-inebriated Jud Sloan's claim that the Marshal was the killer seems uncomfortably credible.

Big Man

Marshal Dillon must find a suitable home for Charity Gill, a young orphan, after the little girl's father dies when his cabin catches fire. Charity insists that she should live with the Dodge City lawman.

Little Girl

A horse thief murders a man to get his horses. Matt tracks the criminal to a Kiowa camp.

Stolen Horses

Rough and rowdy Minnie comes to Dodge City and sets her designs on Doc Adams, much to the delight of Matt, Chester and Kitty. Trouble comes though when  Minnie's husband  comes to Dodge and finds out that his Minnie is sweet on Doc.

Minnie

Vengeful former convict Nate Bush sets off a tragic series of events when he informs Matt that well-liked new arrival Cole Treadwell is actually Cole Trankin, an escapee from the Arizona Territorial Prison.

Bless Me Till I Die

A gunrunner supplies the Pawnee with weapons. Matt arrests him, but when the Pawnee find out, they capture Matt and free his prisoner.

Long Hours, Short Pay

Hot tempered Andy Coe and his wife want to sell their wagon to Moss, but can't when Ed Fallon's team spooks and crashes into their wagon.

Hard Virtue

A man claiming to be a sheriff from Texas comes to Dodge and asks Matt for help tracking down a named fugitive, but the man may not be a lawman.

The Imposter

A pretty girl arrives in town and chases Chester, who's happy for her to do so, but the young woman has a secret that may land her in jail.

Chester's Dilemma

When an ex-marshal passing through town is shot in the back, Matt suspects a new saloon gal might have had something to do with it.

The Love of Money

When Roy Tayloe is murdered following a poker game, quick-tempered Harry Miles is certain that daughter Melinda's suitor Tom Potter is the killer. Miles quickly becomes impatient with Matt's methodical investigation of the crime and threatens to kill Potter himself unless he stays away from Melinda.

Melinda Miles

Matt and Chester find Rod Ellison shot and paralyzed on the prairie and return him to Dodge for surgery. Ben Witter abrasively advises Matt that he is a deputy sheriff from Pueblo who has come to Dodge to arrest Ellison for robbery, but Matt is suspicious of Witter's refusal to produce a valid arrest warrant.

Colorado Sheriff

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 West. The central character is lawman Marshal Matt Dillon, played by William Conrad on radio and James Arness on television.

Distant Drummer

Seasons20

Season 6 Episodes38

Cast4

Crew2

Discussion

Episode Summary