Originally Aired: May 31, 1959

Gunsmoke #373, "The Deserter," finds Matt Dillon investigating a brazen army payroll robbery at Fort Dodge. When Doc Adams treats a wounded young man in army clothing who mysteriously flees his office, Matt suspects he's found his fugitive. Following a trail west out of Dodge with Chester, the marshal discovers the injured deserter collapsed near a creek bed. As they attempt to move him to shelter, a rifle shot rings out. The young soldier's father, Jed Morton, has found them first and refuses to let Matt take his son Louray into custody, insisting that army justice means certain death for deserters.

Despite Matt's assurances that the young man will receive proper medical care and a fair trial, Jed holds the lawman at gunpoint and forces him to carry Louray back to the family homestead. The desperate father believes protecting his son from military justice is his only choice, even if it means defying a U.S. Marshal. Meanwhile, Chester lies wounded where Jed shot him, and the Morton family faces an impossible decision between a father's love and the demands of the law.