Long as I Live | Gunsmoke (12-08-57)

Summary

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Podcast Summary: “Long as I Live” | Gunsmoke (12-08-57)

Podcast: Old Time Radio Westerns
Host: Andrew Rhynes
Episode Release: July 19, 2026
Featured Story Airdate: December 8, 1957
Podcast Theme: Reimagining and restoring classic old-time Western radio dramas with modern audio clarity.

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Episode Overview

This episode presents a digitally restored version of the classic “Gunsmoke” radio episode, “Long as I Live.” The story revolves around a shocking shooting: Doc Adams, Dodge City’s beloved physician, is gunned down just as he returns from a rare vacation. U.S. Marshal Matt Dillon must track down the shooter and uncover the motive, revealing deep human pain and the complexities of life—and justice—on the frontier.

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Key Discussion Points & Story Breakdown

1. Episode Introduction & Restoration (03:30–04:38)

• Host Andrew Rhynes sets the context for the audience, emphasizing the restoration process and the historical significance of the “Gunsmoke” series.
• Quick reminder about how the restored sound effects enhance the original performances.

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2. Setting the Stage: Life in Dodge City (04:38–06:05)

• Opening gives a sense of daily life, with Chester excitedly presenting his new (albeit flawed) horse to Marshal Dillon—resulting in light-hearted banter and comic relief.
• Quote:
  “If you ask me, I’d say it was that trail driver who was lucky.” – Matt Dillon (05:27)

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3. Crisis Strikes: The Stagecoach Shooting (06:05–09:21)

• The light mood is shattered when a stagecoach arrives, its passengers shot up—Doc is gravely wounded.
• Chester and Matt quickly shift into action, working to help the wounded Doc.
• Quote:
  “There’s nobody else I trust, Matt, and it’s got to be done.” – Doc Adams, insisting Matt remove the bullet (09:07)

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4. A Frontier Dilemma: Saving Doc’s Life (12:43–16:26)

• Matt, with Kitty and Chester’s help, prepares to operate on Doc, despite being out of his element.
• Doc adamantly refuses chloroform, relying on whiskey for courage and pain relief.
• Memorable Moment: The tension and humanity in this impromptu “surgery,” underscored by Doc’s wry humor, such as:
  • “One more good stiff drink like that and I’ll sing all the way through this thing.” – Doc Adams (16:16)
  • “You put enough bullets into people. You oughta not mind taking one out for a change.” – Doc Adams to Matt (16:26)

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5. Aftermath and Mystery: Who Wanted Doc Dead? (17:31–19:02)

• The operation is over, but Doc’s condition is still dire.
• Matt and Chester ponder who could possibly want to harm the universally respected doctor.
• Quote:
  “It just don’t make sense. Doc never had an enemy in his whole life.” – Chester (17:48)

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6. Confrontation: The Shooter Revealed (19:02–26:22)

• Hod Bricker, a new resident, bursts in at gunpoint, confesses to the shooting, and disarms Matt.
• Bricker reveals his grief: he blames Doc for his daughter’s death, feeling Doc’s absence cost her life.
• Key Exchange:
  • “What did Doc do to you, Bricker?” – Matt Dillon
  • “He killed my young ‘un… She took sick sudden, and I come for the doctor, and he was gone… He’s got no right to, and he’s the only doctor in town.” – Hod Bricker (23:54–24:30)
• Matt challenges Bricker’s actions, painting a portrait of Doc’s selfless service:
  • “Doc would have been the sorriest man in town if he’d known about your daughter. But he didn’t know… And now you’re sorry about it.” – Matt Dillon (25:07–25:51)
• Bricker breaks, hands over his gun, expressing hope for Doc's survival.

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7. Hope and Frontier Resilience (27:01–27:40)

• Doc regains consciousness—grumpy and ready to get back on his feet—a sign of recovery and a return to normalcy.
• Kitty delivers the news:
  • “Matt, I think Doc’s gonna be all right. He’s awake.” – Kitty (27:09)
  • “He says if he's not out of bed in three days, you’ll probably take over his practice now. You better try it.” – Kitty (27:18)
  • “That’s a good sign.” – Chester (27:15)

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8. Western Wisdom and Closing Reflection (27:40–30:49)

• Matt ends on a light note: “I think I’m gonna send that miserable old goat up a hill.” (27:37)
• The episode closes with classic “Gunsmoke” music and a reminder of the show’s enduring power in American radio.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Doc’s Personality Shines:
  “One more good stiff drink like that, now, I’ll sing all the way through this thing.” – Doc Adams (16:16)
• On Frontier Justice:
  “You put enough bullets into people. You oughta not mind taking one out for a change.” – Doc Adams to Matt (16:26)
• Guilt and Grief:
  “He killed my young ’un… She took sick sudden, and I come for the doctor, and he was gone… the only doctor here. And he was gone.” – Hod Bricker (23:54)
• Moral Reckoning:
  “But that wasn’t your reason for coming, was it? Now you hand over that gun, Bricker.” – Matt Dillon (25:53)

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Key Timestamps

| MM:SS | Segment Description | |-------|--------------------------------------------| | 03:30 | Gunsmoke episode begins / Show intro | | 05:00 | Chester’s horse and Dodge humor | | 06:02 | Stagecoach shooting—Doc is injured | | 09:07 | Doc insists Matt remove the bullet | | 12:43 | Matt and Kitty prepare for surgery | | 16:26 | Doc’s jokes, the operation proceeds | | 17:31 | Post-surgery worry, who shot Doc? | | 19:02 | Confrontation: Shooter enters | | 23:54 | Motive revealed: Bricker’s tragic loss | | 25:53 | Matt persuades Bricker to surrender | | 27:09 | Kitty shares Doc’s recovery news | | 30:05 | Credits and episode close |

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Tone and Style

• Language is direct, Western, and laced with both gruff humor and heartfelt humanity.
• Matt Dillon’s authority is tempered by compassion; Doc’s cantankerous wit masks his deep sense of duty.

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Final Thoughts

“Long as I Live” delivers quintessential “Gunsmoke”: gritty, spare, and full of moral complexity. The restoration by Old Time Radio Westerns gives fresh immediacy to the tense frontier drama, weaving action, character, and conscience into a story as resonant today as it was in 1957.

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For further listening:
Check out the OTRWesterns website or podcast feed for more restored classic Western episodes.

Transcript

[Lady Luck]

Hey everybody, Lady Luck here and we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now all summer long I'm going to be celebrating by playing on spinquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to spinquest.com get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.

[Spinquest Announcer]

Spinquest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[McDonald's Drink Announcer]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with Popping Boba to crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Matt Dillon]

Refreshers contain caffeine Foreign.

[Andrew Rines]

Welcome to the Old Time Radio Westerns. I'm your host Andrew Rines and I'm excited to bring you another episode absolutely free. This episode is one of many released every month, totaling over 80 episodes so far. Each one is meticulously digitally restored and stored in the cloud for your convenience, a process that incurs costs. To help cover these expenses, you might hear some advertisements throughout the episode. While we do retain the original commercials for historical authenticity, you may also encounter modern ads which help keep the lights on. If you prefer an ad free experience, we offer a couple options. You can listen to the episodes on YouTube where they don't include the audio ads, although YouTube may provide their own ads on their platform. Alternatively, you can also support us by becoming a patron on our Patreon page. For more information, go to otrwesterns.com donate again otrwesterns.com donate I do want to emphasize that we are committed to providing this content to you for free, but also we have to be transparent about the financial realities to bringing this to you. To those of you who are already supporting us, we extend our heartfelt thanks. Your contributions make it possible for us to continue doing what we love. And as a final note, I did want to mention one last thing. If you are paying for a service, let's say like Audible and you're listening to this show on that site, they do not provide any financial monetary means to this podcast. We provide it to them as a way for you to be able to listen, but they don't help us in any way. So again, thank you to everybody who is already supporting and those of you who want to support us in the future. I deeply appreciate it. Now, let's get into this episode. This episode is going to be Gunsmoke. Original air date is December 8, 1957 and the title is Long As I Live. Let's get into it.

[Narrator]

Around Dodge City and in the territory on west, there's just one way to handle the killers and the spoilers, and that's with a U.S. marshal.

[Matt Dillon]

And the smell of gun smoke.

[Narrator]

Starring William Conrad. The story of the violence that moved west with young America, and the story of a man who moved with it. I'm that man.

[Matt Dillon]

Matt Dillon, United States Marshal. The first man they look for and the last they want to meet. It's a chancery job, and it makes

[Narrator]

a man watchful and a little lone.

[Chester]

Mr. Dawn, Mr. D. Now, what is it, T? Come on out here, Amanda. I got something to show you. Why couldn't you bring it in the

[Matt Dillon]

office and show me?

[Chester]

Cause the door ain't big enough. What? Looky, I just bought me a new horse. This? Yes, sir.

[Kitty]

Here.

[McDonald's Drink Announcer]

Calm down.

[Chester]

I'll quit that.

[Narrator]

He's kindly edgy.

[Chester]

He ain't been rid much the last couple months.

[Matt Dillon]

Or is that so?

[Chester]

Practically stolen, Mr. Dillon. The bargain I got him for. I see. I bought him off Moss Grimmick for $11. $11? And Moss paid 14 for him just last week to one of them Texas trail drivers. Guess I was kind of lucky to catch Moss in a weak moment.

[Matt Dillon]

If you ask me, I'd say it was that trail driver who was lucky.

[Chester]

Chester, what are you talking about? This is a good horse.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah, Be if it wasn't bowed in both front legs, didn't have bad hawks and wasn't walleyed. Roman nose and probably Windbreak win, bro. I'd say that horse is worth about $5, Chester. On a gamble, of course.

[Narrator]

$5.

[Chester]

Mr. D. If that horse ain't worth 20, I'll eat him raw.

[Kitty]

And.

[Chester]

And I'll tell you something else if you.

[Matt Dillon]

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.

[Narrator]

Chester.

[Chester]

What's the matter? What? That looks like the stage coach and Cimarron. Why ain't he stopping at the depot?

[Matt Dillon]

He's coming here, I guess. Must have had some trouble.

[Chester]

Trouble? They don't carry no bullion or nothing that's worth anything. Marshall.

[Hod Bricker]

Yeah, Marshal?

[Chester]

Yeah.

[Matt Dillon]

What's wrong, Judge?

[Chester]

We got shot up, Marshall. Couple or three miles out of town.

[Matt Dillon]

Where?

[Chester]

The. One of the passengers inside there is hurt.

[Matt Dillon]

Well, I'll take a look.

[Chester]

Fell rolled up alongside, mask over his face, fired point blank.

[Narrator]

Good Lord.

[Chester]

What's the matter?

[Matt Dillon]

Give me A hand here, Chester.

[Chester]

It's dark.

[Matt Dillon]

He shot bad. Let's put him down on the couch. Easy enough.

[Chester]

That's you. He's coming, too.

[Matt Dillon]

Now, don't try to talk, Docy. You're gonna be all right. Chester, let's see if you can find Kitty, will you?

[Chester]

All right, sir. I'll get her over here right away.

[Narrator]

Sorry, doctor.

[Matt Dillon]

I'll go as easy as I can. But I gotta get this shirt and vest off here. I want to see what that bullet did.

[Chester]

It doesn't hurt much. Mad. Just. I'm weak. There's lots of blood.

[Matt Dillon]

You got any idea who did it?

[Chester]

No mask over his face. Help.

[Matt Dillon]

There we are.

[Chester]

Is as bad as I think, Matt.

[Matt Dillon]

No, no, it is not too bad.

[Chester]

Bullet went in between the fourth and fifth rib, the way I figure.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah, I guess that's about it.

[Chester]

That saw bone from the east, is he still staying over at the Dodge House?

[Matt Dillon]

He left the same day you did, Doc. He took a train. You're the only doctor within 100 miles of here.

[Chester]

That bullet's gotta come out, man.

[Narrator]

It hurt, Auto.

[Chester]

I guess it's got to right away. Blood poisonous sentence.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah, I know.

[Chester]

Such a good week, too, man. A good vacation. I had a country down there just calling game. Prairie chicken, quail, pheasant. Real fine vacations. First one in two years.

[Matt Dillon]

Well, you tell me about it later, Doc. You save your strength now.

[Chester]

Might not be in here later unless you hurry up and get that bullet out of there.

[Matt Dillon]

What?

[Chester]

There's nobody else I trust, Matt, and it's got to be done.

[Matt Dillon]

Doc, I. I can't.

[Chester]

You got on. Unless you're hankering to bury me.

[Matt Dillon]

But, Doc, I. I just.

[Chester]

Kid.

[Matt Dillon]

All right, Docy, you got to tell me. What?

[Narrator]

Now, just listen a minute, if you will. I've got a little story to tell you. Well, it's not so little. It's sort of a tall tale. It's about John Darling. Maybe you've heard of him. Used to be a boatman on the Erie Canal. Moved west and became a farmer. Well, old John Darling was a hard worker, he was. Became a real champion farmer. They tell about one time when John was reshingling his barn, a heavy fog rolled in. But that didn't slow him up at all. No, sir. He kept hard at his shingling till noon. Well, while he was having lunch, the sun came out and John discovered he'd laid the shingle roof 40ft above the rest of the barn. Winters used to get pretty cold up that way. But this one particular winter was a Granddaddy of them all. It got so cold that the air froze thick and you had to push real hard to get through it. Well, this heavy air wouldn't let the smoke out of John's fireplace chimney. He found a solution though. He whittled himself a paddle, fixed an oar lock to the fireplace and he pushed the smoke up the chimney. He sat there by the hour rocking in his chair, paddling the smoke and singing. Everything worked real fine till one bad night when the smoke froze into a 96 foot column straight up from the chimney. Too much for him to lift with the paddle and just had to suffer through the rest of the winter as best he could. It's kind of a joy though. In the spring when things began to thaw out, he had lots of entertainment. Listening to singing coming out of the melting smoke. Songs he'd sung during the winter had frozen right into the smokers and went up the chimney. Fact of the matter was, he got so interested listening to himself sing that he tripped and broke a bottle of growing tonic he concocted. And his stuff was pretty powerful and it soaked down into the ground where he planted wheat next morning. John was one surprised gent when he stepped outside. Yes indeed, his wheat overnight had grown as high as his roof. Hard to believe, isn't it? Say, isn't it nice being citizens of a country where you can talk and laugh free as a breeze and write and read and worship too? Yes, sir. Maybe you don't think about it much, but you should.

[Kitty]

Hey everybody.

[Lady Luck]

Lady luck here. And we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now all summer long I'm going to be celebrating by playing on spinquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble crafts. Head on over to spinquest.com. get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.

[Spinquest Announcer]

Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more details.

[Chester]

You scrubbing your hands real good.

[Matt Dillon]

If I go much farther, the bones are going to be showing.

[Chester]

You use plenty of that yellow soap. Yeah, I got her, Mr. Dillon.

[Matt Dillon]

Oh, thanks, Joshua. How about Kitty,

[Kitty]

Doc? I'm sorry. How do you feel?

[Chester]

Terrible. I. I don't suppose you thought to bring this bottle.

[Kitty]

Well, knowing you, that's the first thing I thought of.

[Chester]

Kitty and Angel.

[Kitty]

How much?

[Chester]

Well, half a glass will start.

[Matt Dillon]

Doc, don't you think maybe you ought to take it kind of easy? That stuff might not go too good with chloroform.

[Chester]

Chloroform?

[Matt Dillon]

The bullet's gotta be cut out before it starts blood poisoning.

[Chester]

Kidding.

[Kitty]

Matt, you don't know anything about.

[Matt Dillon]

I'm not any happier about this than you are, but it's gotta be done.

[Chester]

Will you please hand me that whiskey?

[Kitty]

Oh, yeah. I'm sorry.

[Chester]

Here you are. Thank you.

[Matt Dillon]

Doc's gonna tell me you ever move to make and I. Hey, Doc, how are you gonna tell me when you're unconscious?

[Chester]

I wondered how long before you figured that out. Give you a fat, fill that up again.

[Matt Dillon]

Now, wait a minute, Doc.

[Chester]

Don't you worry about mixing whiskey and chloroform. There's not gonna be any chloroform.

[Matt Dillon]

Doc, I can't.

[Chester]

I know what I'm doing. Now, that bullet, man, it's gonna be tricky getting it out.

[Kitty]

Doc, isn't there something I can do?

[Chester]

Yes. Will you pour me that drink, please? And that. You bring that bag of instruments over here and spread them out there on the table and I'll show you. Show you what you're gonna need.

[Matt Dillon]

Look, Doug, I. I don't.

[Chester]

Go on now. Go on. Now, you hurry up.

[Lady Luck]

All right,

[Narrator]

Kitty.

[Chester]

There you are. Thank you, Kitty.

[Matt Dillon]

Well, what are we gonna need here to.

[Chester]

Well, let me see now.

[Matt Dillon]

I.

[Chester]

Turn over that. That thing there looks like blacksmith's nippers.

[Matt Dillon]

Are these.

[Chester]

Yes, that's right there. They're forceps.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah.

[Chester]

And then those two things right there, you see, they're probes. And then that hook. Probe too. We'll need that to get hold of the bullet.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah.

[Chester]

And then a couple of them little knife and things right there. Lancets.

[Matt Dillon]

I mean these.

[Chester]

That's right. I guess that ought to do itself. You can just put the rest stuff away.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah.

[Chester]

And Chester.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah?

[Chester]

Now, you bring that brown bottle off that shelf there. That's iodine, sure enough. Kitty, I'll have another little drink there before you leave.

[Kitty]

But, Doc.

[Matt Dillon]

Whatever he wants, Kitty. It's his party.

[Kitty]

Yeah, Doc.

[Chester]

Oh, thank you.

[Kitty]

I'll be back when you need me.

[Chester]

Oh, thank you.

[Kitty]

Good luck, Doc.

[Chester]

Oh, one more good stiff drink like that. Now, I'll sing all the way through this thing.

[Matt Dillon]

It's more than I'll do.

[Chester]

Oh, now, Matt, I'm surprised you. You put enough bullets into people. You had not a mind taking one out for a change.

[Matt Dillon]

That's a little help,

[Chester]

Matt. I know how rough this is on. Yeah. Now, here, let me get a good grip on the sides of this couch here. Chester, I wonder if you could steady me a little bit Here, I got you.

[Matt Dillon]

Well, Doc, I.

[Chester]

Forget it, forget it. Just hurry up and get on while I still got my nerve. Now that night. You listen, you know, you listen close. The very first thing you do.

[Matt Dillon]

Oh, how are you, Chester? Oh, Mr. D. How's Doc?

[Chester]

It bounce same, I'm afraid. He's breathing pretty weak. He ain't come to yet. This kitty's sitting with him for a while. I'm getting worried, Mr. Dylan. It's been pretty near 24 hours now.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah, I know.

[Chester]

It just don't make sense. Doc never had an enemy in his whole life.

[Matt Dillon]

I know that.

[Chester]

It couldn't have been somebody trying to rob the stage or they'd have shot the driver.

[Matt Dillon]

It wasn't a hold up trustee.

[Chester]

Say, look, maybe they mistook Doc for somebody else.

[Matt Dillon]

Nice, I thought of that too. But it just doesn't make sense. The only other passenger was a salesman from the east. And he doesn't look anything like Doc. And he doesn't know a soul. In this part of the country. It was Doc that the government was after.

[Narrator]

But why?

[Chester]

Ain't a person in this town that ain't beholden to Doc?

[Matt Dillon]

It seems like there's one who isn't.

[Chester]

First vacation, Doc took an old two years and has to end up like this. Why, if Doc was to die, this town would be in a real.

[Matt Dillon]

Oh, forget it. Just no use jumping at things.

[Chester]

Long as I live, I won't never forget Doc laying there gritting his teeth, turning white and still trying to grin while you dug that bullet out of him. Whoever done that must have been crazy.

[Matt Dillon]

I thought of that too. Or maybe a stranger in town who didn't know Doc. But that still doesn't help now. Come in. Anything I can do for you?

[Hod Bricker]

You sure can, Marshall. You can get your hands up. You too. Well, I'll take that gun of yours, Marshall. There, that's better.

[Matt Dillon]

What's on your mind, mister?

[Hod Bricker]

You've been talking all over town telling what you was going to do with that fellow that shot that doctor. Well, Marshall, you're looking at him.

[Matt Dillon]

This land is your land. This land is my land. This land was made for you.

[Kitty]

And one of our 50 states owes more to its spirit of religious tolerance and freedom of belief than to any other factor. The state, of course, is Utah. And the settling of Brigham Young and his followers in the Beehive State shaped its future more than any prior event. The Mormons taught those who dwelled in the arid region that is now Salt Lake City the miracles of irrigation. And the area flourished and prospered. The lasting influence of the Mormons is evident in the state's agricultural prosperity. And visitors to the Temple of Queens, the Rainbow natural Bridge, the copper mines at Bingham, the sheep ranches of Duquesne or the richly colored sandstone Navajo twins and Needle Rock. See what the first Mormons saw over a hundred years ago. That Utah is the promised land. Hey everybody.

[Lady Luck]

Lady luck here. And we're celebrating America's 250th birthday. Now all summer long, I'm going to be celebrating by playing on spinquest.com which is an American owned social casino. It obviously features over a thousand slot games and live blackjack, live craps, live bubble craps. Head on over to spinquest.com get yourself a $30 coin pack for just 10 bucks.

[Spinquest Announcer]

Spin Quest is a free to play social casino void where prohibited. Visit spinquest.com for more more details.

[McDonald's Drink Announcer]

All new drinks are now at McDonald's with refreshers like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Mango Pineapple Refresher with popping boba. To crafted sodas like the Sprite Berry Blast with berry flavors and cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire six? All new drinks are here now at McDonald's.

[Matt Dillon]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

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[Matt Dillon]

All right. You got my gun, mister. You mind if I put my hands down now?

[Hod Bricker]

Just don't neither one of you try nothing.

[Narrator]

That's all.

[Matt Dillon]

What's your name?

[Hod Bricker]

What difference does it make?

[Matt Dillon]

I kind of like to know who's pointing a gun at me.

[Hod Bricker]

The name's Bricker. Hod Bricker.

[Matt Dillon]

You know and Dodge, aren't you?

[Hod Bricker]

You've been here a couple of months.

[Narrator]

We.

[Hod Bricker]

You asked too many questions, Marshall.

[Matt Dillon]

I'm gonna ask one more. Why did you shoot Doc?

[Hod Bricker]

Because he had it Coming, that's why.

[Chester]

And if he.

[Hod Bricker]

Hold it there.

[Matt Dillon]

Take it easy. Just.

[Chester]

Well, I. I was just shifting my feet around.

[Hod Bricker]

You two know what's good for you. You won't know more than breathe.

[Matt Dillon]

What did Doc do to you, Bricker?

[Narrator]

Plenty.

[Matt Dillon]

Something bad enough that you wanted to

[Hod Bricker]

kill him 10 times over.

[Chester]

Doc never hurt not nobody in his whole life.

[Hod Bricker]

You shut up. That's what the marshal's been saying all over town. That that doctor never done nobody any harm. That whoever shot him was a dirty skunk and hanging was too good for him.

[Matt Dillon]

And you don't agree with that, huh?

[Hod Bricker]

I said he had it coming, didn't I? And I had plenty of reasons.

[Matt Dillon]

Is that why you came here? To tell me about your reason?

[Hod Bricker]

I just wanted you to know, that's all. But you try to make a move and I'll shoot you. Marshall, I didn't come here to. But I will if I have to.

[Matt Dillon]

Yeah, you said that. All right, Bricker. What about your reason? What did Doc do to you?

[Chester]

He.

[Hod Bricker]

He killed my young un.

[Chester]

That's a gol dang lie.

[Hod Bricker]

Shut up and stay back there.

[Matt Dillon]

Like he says, Chester.

[Hod Bricker]

Six years old.

[Chester]

Our only youngin.

[Hod Bricker]

And he killed her just as sure as if he had pointed a gun at her head.

[Matt Dillon]

But he didn't point a gun at her, did he?

[Hod Bricker]

Was just the same as she was. Took sick sudden, like with the chokes. And I come for the doctor, and he was gone. Out of town on a hunting trip. The only doctor here. And he was gone. He's got no right to. And he's the only doctor in town.

[Matt Dillon]

That was the only vacation Doc's had in over two years.

[Hod Bricker]

And there was nothing we could do for her. I sat with her for two days and two nights, watching her fight for her breath, all the time getting weaker. And finally she died. Day before yesterday.

[Narrator]

I buried her.

[Matt Dillon]

So you got a gun and went after Doc, huh?

[Hod Bricker]

I heard he was coming back to town yesterday, so I rode out and met the stage and shot him. And he had it coming.

[Matt Dillon]

You figured killing Doc'd bring your daughter back.

[Hod Bricker]

Well, if he'd been here like he ought to, she'd still be alive.

[Matt Dillon]

Maybe. And maybe he couldn't have saved her anyway.

[Hod Bricker]

He oughta been.

[Matt Dillon]

Now you shut up and listen to me. I seen doc work 72 hours straight without sleep during epidemics. There's a whole lot of people walking around Dodge today who wouldn't be if it weren't for Doc. And some of them are youngins, the same as yours. Doc would have been the sorriest man in town. If he'd known about your daughter. But he didn't know because of something he didn't even know. You lost your out your head and you went out like a mad dog and you shot him down. And now you're sorry about it.

[Narrator]

What?

[Hod Bricker]

What are you talking about?

[Matt Dillon]

That's what it is, isn't it? You come to your senses now. That's why you come in here. To give yourself up, isn't it?

[Hod Bricker]

I told you.

[Matt Dillon]

I know what you told me. But that wasn't your reason for coming, was it? Now you hand over that gun, Bricker.

[Hod Bricker]

You stay back. I'll kill you.

[Matt Dillon]

You won't pull that trigger and we both know it. You hand over that gun. Thanks.

[Hod Bricker]

That doctor, is he. Is he dead?

[Matt Dillon]

He's the next thing to it.

[Hod Bricker]

I hope he don't die.

[Matt Dillon]

You better hope now that you have to lock him up.

[Chester]

Come on, mister. Matt, no.

[Kitty]

Matt,

[Hod Bricker]

What is it?

[Narrator]

Okay,

[Kitty]

Matt, I. I think Doc's gonna be all right. He's awake.

[Chester]

And he's mean growling.

[Kitty]

That's a good sign. He says if he's not out of bed in three days, you'll probably take over his practice now. But you better try it.

[Matt Dillon]

You know something, Kitty?

[Kitty]

No.

[Chester]

What matter?

[Matt Dillon]

I think I'm gonna send that miserable old goat up.

[Narrator]

Bill.

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[Matt Dillon]

Refreshers contain caffeine.

[Grainger Announcer]

Grainger knows. When you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building. You're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER, click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it.

[Chester]

Ram.

[Narrator]

Gun Smoke, produced and directed by Norman McDonald, stars William Conrad as Matt Dillon, U S Marshal. The music was composed and conducted by Rex Corey. Sound patterns were composed by Ray Kemper and Bill James. Featured in the cast were Parley Bear As Chester, Howard McNear as Doctor and Georgia Ellis has Kitty George Waltz speaking. Join us again next week for another story of the western frontier of America in the 1870s on gun smoke. This is the united states armed forces radio and television service.

[Chester]

Ram. Sam. Ram.

[Andrew Rines]

This has been a presentation of otrwesterns.com and we hope you enjoyed. Please take some time to like and rate our shows in your favorite podcast application. Follow us on Facebook by going to otrwesterns.com Facebook subscribe to our YouTube channel by going to otrwesterns.Com YouTube and send us an email podcasttrwesterns.com you can call and leave us a voicemail 707-9868-8739. This episode is copyright under the Attribution Non Commercial Share Like Copyright. For more information go to otrwesterns.com copyright have a great day and thanks for listening.

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[Grainger Announcer]

Granger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail, filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 247 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done. Grainger knows when you're a procurement manager for an office park, you're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners. Lights about to fail. Filters ready to clog H Vac on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind. Count on Grainger for quality products, easy reordering and 24. 7 support. Call 1-800-GRAINGER click grainger.com or just stop by Grainger for the ones who get it done.