What years...
did this take place? I saw an episode today that had a grave of a man who had just been buried with the date of 1813 on it. Was it that early of a time period?
shareWhich episode was it?
If you read the date correctly, it was a serious error, as Gunsmoke occurs no earlier than the Civil War.
I can't remember. It was the one with the cowboy killed in a stampede and the other cowboys go to town and get drunk. They end up in jail and then discover that money they had the night before is missing. They rob the bar because they figure that the bartender had taken their money while they were drunk. The bartender claims that they spent it buying everyone drinks. Sound familiar? Maybe the date on the tombstone was his year of birth?
shareThat's "Thirty a Month and Found", one of the top episodes.
I think the marker at the beginning says 1878, but I'm not sure. I don't remember a tombstone.
Maybe I saw 1813 when it was written 1878. Festus mentioned in the episode aired on TVLand the next day that it was the year 1873.
shareGot something relevant to add here.
I was watching one of the early episodes last nite with Dillon wandering through Boot Hill in the opening.
There were 2 tombstones in front with visible dates: 1883 and 1885 (they were easily readable, so no error with it being a different date)
This is likely one of the inconsistencies from the early days before a lot was nailed down, as I believe we have discussed the show taking place around 1875 or so.
The episode Old York absolutely places the show (or at least that episode) in 1875.
Heh. Oh, yeah. Old TV shows used to do that all the time.
In the later seasons, GUNSMOKE finally settled on "1873" and that became the series' official year -- despite the fact that the Boot Hill openings from the very first year suggested the show had started out much later than that, or the fact that the characters talked about having been around "for nineteen years" or so in the latter phases of the series.
Don't try to make it make sense in your head. You'll just have a stroke.
I just tell myself that when Marshal Dillon walks thru the graveyard at the start of every Season 1 episode where the tombstones read "1885" or something that it's Dillon's ghost. So the dates can say anything. LOL
--
LBJ's mistress on JFK:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcXeutDmuRA
There are several episodes in which specific dates are mentioned (including month and day) around 1873. By 1880 (or thereabouts) Dodge City had declined to non-importance.
It's interesting that the producers never bothered to check a history book.