Gunsmoke: Season 6
Season 6 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 5.
- 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 6 Progress Shield
Friend's Pay-Off
Sep 3, 1960 · 26 min
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
The Blacksmith
Sep 17, 1960 · 26 min
Troublemakers trick an immigrant blacksmith into leaving his house on his wedding night, then burn it down.
Small Water
Sep 24, 1960 · 26 min
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 wa
Say Uncle
Oct 1, 1960 · 26 min
Lee Nagel suspects his visiting uncle of murder when his father is killed in their store in an apparent accident.
Shooting Stopover
Oct 8, 1960 · 26 min
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 targe
The Peace Officer
Oct 15, 1960 · 26 min
Matt is called in to deal with a corrupt sheriff in Tascosa.
Don Matteo
Oct 22, 1960 · 26 min
Matt's old friend, Esteban Garcia, tracks a man into Dodge and plans to kill him for stealing his wife.
The Worm
Oct 29, 1960 · 26 min
Murders follow when a buffalo hunter and his browbeaten partner come to town.
The Badge
Nov 12, 1960 · 26 min
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.
Distant Drummer
Nov 19, 1960 · 26 min
A young army drummer named Raffie is terrorized by two bullying mule skinners.
Ben Tolliver's Stud
Nov 26, 1960 · 26 min
Jake Creed accuses his young hired hand, Ben Tolliver, of horse theft.
No Chip
Dec 3, 1960 · 26 min
The vicious Dolan brothers move in on a tough cattle rancher and his non-violent son.
The Wake
Dec 10, 1960 · 26 min
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
The Cook
Dec 17, 1960 · 26 min
A young drifter takes a job as cook at Delmonico's but accidentally kills a crazy buffalo hunter who complains about his cooking.
Old Fool
Dec 24, 1960 · 26 min
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 tangl
Brother Love
Dec 31, 1960 · 26 min
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
Bad Sheriff
Jan 7, 1961 · 26 min
A man shoots his partner, flees, and is caught by two men claiming to be lawmen.
Unloaded Gun
Jan 14, 1961 · 26 min
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
Tall Trapper
Jan 21, 1961 · 26 min
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
Love Thy Neighbor
Jan 28, 1961 · 26 min
The theft of a sack of potatoes leads to increasingly violent hostilities between the Scooper and Galloway families.
Bad Seed
Feb 4, 1961 · 26 min
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
Kitty Shot
Feb 11, 1961 · 26 min
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.
About Chester
Feb 25, 1961 · 26 min
While Chester is out searching for Doc, his horse is injured. Chester goes to a house for help and is instead taken prisoner.
Harriet
Mar 4, 1961 · 26 min
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 jealo
Potshot
Mar 11, 1961 · 26 min
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.
Old Faces
Mar 18, 1961 · 26 min
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.
Big Man
Mar 25, 1961 · 26 min
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 cla
Little Girl
Apr 1, 1961 · 26 min
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 wit
Stolen Horses
Apr 8, 1961 · 26 min
A horse thief murders a man to get his horses. Matt tracks the criminal to a Kiowa camp.
Minnie
Apr 15, 1961 · 26 min
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
Bless Me Till I Die
Apr 22, 1961 · 26 min
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 A
Long Hours, Short Pay
Apr 29, 1961 · 26 min
A gunrunner supplies the Pawnee with weapons. Matt arrests him, but when the Pawnee find out, they capture Matt and free his prisoner.
Hard Virtue
May 6, 1961 · 26 min
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.
The Imposter
May 13, 1961 · 26 min
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.
Chester's Dilemma
May 20, 1961 · 26 min
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.
The Love of Money
May 27, 1961 · 26 min
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.
Melinda Miles
Jun 3, 1961 · 26 min
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 w
Colorado Sheriff
Jun 17, 1961 · 26 min
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