“Gunsmoke” was often discussed by the farmers anchored to the loafers chairs in the office of the grain company. I worked there part time when I was in high school and was also a fan of the new TV show that had taken the nation by storm. It become a weekly necessity for millions of people after it debuted in 1955.

If a stranger would have walked in the office and heard the remarks about Marshal Matt Dillon (James Arness), Miss Kitty (Amanda Blake), Doc (Milburn Stone), and Chester (Dennis Weaver), they might have assumed they were members of the local community. In a way they were, for 20 years America found a place in its heart for “Gunsmoke.” The leading characters became family and in the words of one of those arm chair commentators in the grain office, they always ended up “doing the

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