Episode Title: Reward for Matt: A Bounty on the Badge

Originally Aired: April 30, 1955

Reward for Matt: A Bounty on the Badge

In one of the most harrowing and emotional episodes of Gunsmoke, Marshal Matt Dillon becomes the target of a deadly manhunt—not by outlaws, but by ordinary people desperate for cash. After Matt kills rancher Mel Hornby in self-defense, Hornby’s bitter widow swears revenge. Fueled by hatred and pride, she offers a $1,000 reward to anyone who can prove Matt Dillon is dead—no questions asked.

Word spreads quickly. Posters go up around Dodge. And as Matt continues his duties, he’s forced to look over his shoulder every moment. Drifters, cowhands, even kids start watching him with dangerous curiosity. One of them—a desperate, dirt-poor boy of fifteen—takes a shot and dies trying.

Haunted by the boy’s death, Matt confronts Mrs. Hornby, only to be met with cold indifference. But as the blood continues to spill, something begins to shift. The breaking point comes when the boy’s grieving mother arrives—Mrs. Reeves—revealing that her son only did it to survive. Her husband was Jake Reeves, the same man Hornby had murdered weeks earlier.

In a rare moment of humility, Mrs. Hornby sees the human cost of her vendetta. She quietly withdraws the reward and walks away, leaving Matt to face the town—and himself.

A gripping tale of guilt, vengeance, and the burden of justice, Reward for Matt stands as a powerful meditation on what happens when the lawman becomes the hunted.

Keywords: "Gunsmoke Reward for Matt episode," "April 1955 Gunsmoke radio," "Matt Dillon bounty on his head," "Mrs. Hornby revenge plot," "fifteen-year-old bounty hunter," "Jake Reeves murder connection," "John Meston radio drama."

Cast: William Conrad (Matt Dillon), Parley Baer (Chester), Howard McNear (Doc), Georgia Ellis (Kitty), Jeanette Nolan (Mrs. Hornby), Sam Edwards (the boy), Helen Kleeb (Mrs. Reeves).