Woman at Horse Creek (FTLR)

While riding patrol the cavalry comes across a woman burying her husband. The troop is concerned about her safety and decides to make a gesture. But charity doesn't come easy to some!

Wow. This is one of the most hard-hitting episodes of Fort Laramie I have listened to so far. The subject matter is dark and bitter. When the standard theme music kicked in at the end, it felt totally inappropriate. I sort of just wanted the show to trail off, leaving me entirely dissatisfied with how things turned out (but in a good way).

Notice the writer of this episode is a woman. Why is that important? Because of the subject matter - and I can't tell you to much about that without ruining the show. I distinctly remember going "wow" from shock once in the middle of the episode, once at the end when the whole show wrapped up and it all sunk in, and yet a third time when they announced the script writer. Turns out Kathleen Hite wrote a hundred or more scripts for vintage radio. I'll definitely be keeping an ear out for her stuff in the future.

Fort Laramie #4
The Woman at Horse Creek
12 Feb 1956
19560212(004)_FTLR_TheWomanAtHorseCreek.mp3
Raymond Burr, Norman Macdonnell (producer, director), Vic Perrin, Kathleen Hite (writer), Virginia Christine, Barney Phillips, Jack Moyles, John Dehner, Bill James (sound patterns), Ray Kemper (sound patterns), Amerigo Moreno (music supervisor), Harry Bartell

Kathleen Hite