Gunsmoke: Season 4
Season 4 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Gunsmoke Season 3.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 4 Progress Shield
Matt for Murder
Sep 13, 1958 · 26 min
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
The Patsy
Sep 20, 1958 · 26 min
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 voluntar
Gunsmuggler
Sep 27, 1958 · 26 min
Matt believes white smugglers supplied the guns that a band of Pawnee used to attack local ranchers.
Monopoly
Oct 4, 1958 · 26 min
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.
Letter of the Law
Oct 11, 1958 · 26 min
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.
Thoroughbreds
Oct 18, 1958 · 26 min
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: f
Stage Hold-Up
Oct 25, 1958 · 26 min
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
Lost Rifle
Nov 1, 1958 · 26 min
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.
Land Deal
Nov 8, 1958 · 26 min
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 s
Lynching Man
Nov 15, 1958 · 26 min
After mild-mannered Hank Blenis is "lynched" by the two men who stole his horse, self-righteous Charlie Drain decides to take the law into his own hands and is led tragically astra
How to Kill a Friend
Nov 22, 1958 · 26 min
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-ag
Grass
Nov 29, 1958 · 26 min
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.
The Cast
Dec 6, 1958 · 26 min
When Doc arrives too late to save his patient, her husband, a good friend of Matt's, blames Doc for her death.
Robber Bridegroom
Dec 13, 1958 · 26 min
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 fathe
Snakebite
Dec 20, 1958 · 26 min
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.
Gypsum Hills Feud
Dec 27, 1958 · 26 min
Matt's attempt to find a man who shot at him from ambush leads him and Chester into the middle of a murderous feud between two bitter and isolated mountain families.
Young Love
Jan 3, 1959 · 26 min
Over the objections of his sometime partner Rod Allison, treacherous Jim Box murders aging rancher Jesse Wheat, then attempts to steal cattle from Wheat's young widow.
Marshal Proudfoot
Jan 10, 1959 · 26 min
Matt goes along with a hoax when Chester's aging Uncle Wesley arrives for a visit. Wesley thinks Chester is the marshal and Dillion is his assistant.
Passive Resistance
Jan 17, 1959 · 26 min
A man's house is burned and his livestock killed, but he refuses to identify the perpetrators to the marshal.
Love of a Good Woman
Jan 24, 1959 · 26 min
An old friend of Doc's, a nurse, is visiting and he hopes she will stay around Dodge. In the meantime Matt is worried that an ex-con is gunning for him even though he thought he wa
Jayhawkers
Jan 31, 1959 · 26 min
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 th
Kitty's Rebellion
Feb 7, 1959 · 26 min
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
Sky
Feb 14, 1959 · 26 min
Young Billy flees Dodge in fear after being suspected of shooting dead an older saloon girl whose sexual advances he had been resisting.
Doc Quits
Feb 21, 1959 · 26 min
Doc takes hard the death of a homesteader under his care; then a flashy new medicine man comes to town and takes away many of his patients.
The Bear
Feb 28, 1959 · 26 min
Rivalry for the affections of a former saloon gal leads to a frame-up for murder.
The Coward
Mar 7, 1959 · 26 min
A coward gambler, who's too cheap to hire a gunman, wants Matt dead for a beating he got from him years ago, so he starts some talk around Dodge about the big reputation any person
The F.U.
Mar 14, 1959 · 26 min
When Onie Becker is shot down on the streets of Dodge after quarreling with Al Clovis in a poker game, everyone thinks Al Clovis committed the shooting. The plot thickens after Ma
Wind
Mar 21, 1959 · 26 min
Men start killing each other over saloon girl Dolly Varden, who seems to bring gamblers luck just by standing next to them when they're playing cards.
Fawn
Apr 4, 1959 · 26 min
After years of captivity, a white woman and her half-Indian daughter are set free by the Indians, but they are shunned in Dodge.
Renegade White
Apr 11, 1959 · 26 min
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 thoug
Murder Warrant
Apr 18, 1959 · 26 min
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
Change of Heart
Apr 25, 1959 · 26 min
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 s
Buffalo Hunter
May 2, 1959 · 26 min
Marshal Dillon has to stop a ruthless, cold-blooded, greedy, buffalo hunter who is in the habit of brutally killing his hired help to avoid paying them their wages.
The Choice
May 9, 1959 · 26 min
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.
There Was Never a Horse
May 16, 1959 · 26 min
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
Print Asper
May 23, 1959 · 26 min
Print Asper is suspected of attempted murder when he forces a crooked lawyer, at gunpoint, to return the ranch he stole from him, and the lawyer still ends up getting shot later by
The Constable
May 30, 1959 · 26 min
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.
Blue Horse
Jun 6, 1959 · 26 min
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
Cheyennes
Jun 13, 1959 · 26 min
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 prov