Spring Term

Originally Aired: January 1, 1961 Gunsmoke #456, "Spring Term," Marshal Matt Dillon becomes the target of a vengeful killer from his past. When a peaceful townsman named Dane Shaw is shot in the back on a quiet Dodge City street, the dying man mutters one word: "Stone." Matt recognizes the name from years earlier in Matagorda County, where a cow thief named Stone was hanged by cattlemen. Stone's partner, a man named Danch missing one ear, had sworn to kill Matt in revenge, though Matt had nothing to do with the hanging. With Dane Shaw wearing a hat similar to Matt's and built much the same, it becomes clear that the marshal was the intended victim. As Matt and Chester search for the one-eared assassin, Matt catches a man named Bill Lee following him down an alley with a gun. Despite days of interrogation, Lee refuses to admit any connection to Danch or the shooting. Frustrated by the stalemate and tired of being hunted through Dodge City's streets, Matt must find a way to draw the real killer out of hiding before another innocent person dies in his place.