The Correspondent

Originally Aired: November 23, 1958 Gunsmoke #346, "The Correspondent," brings an unwelcome visitor to Dodge City. Reed Norton, a cynical newspaper correspondent from St. Louis, arrives determined to write the "real story" of the West, not the romanticized accounts he believes dominate the press. Having been hazed by cavalrymen at the Rosebud, Norton is convinced that Western lawmen are all swagger and tall tales. He confronts Matt Dillon about a recent stage holdup, criticizing the marshal for not immediately capturing the bandits, one of whom was badly wounded. Despite Matt's explanations about cold trails and prairie winds, Norton spreads word around town that Dillon is sitting idle while criminals go free. When Joe Porter reports being shot at near the abandoned Hutchinson cabin, Matt and Chester ride out to investigate, with Norton stubbornly tracking along behind them. Though annoyed by the correspondent's interference and sharp tongue, Matt allows him to join the expedition, warning him to stay quiet and out of the way. As darkness falls, the three men approach the cabin on foot, where the wounded holdup men may be holed up. Norton is about to discover whether frontier justice lives up to his cynical expectations or proves more dangerous than any story he's written.