The strength of Gunsmoke as a whole largely relied on the depth of every figure in each episode, from small quirks given to one time only roles to complex histories woven into the recurring cast. Doc Adams’ back story slowly unfolded during Gunsmoke’s first few years across the radio waves. Grumpy and grim, McNear slowly took the edge off of Doc, and Dodge City’s resident medical become more fully fleshed out over the passage of years – which helped to make him perhaps the most intriguing Gunsmoke character of all. Yet when the real story of Doc Adam’s past was finally revealed in the January 31, 1953 episode titled “Cavalcade” it rocked some established myths about Doc. Doc was really Calvin Moore, educated in Boston. He practiced as a doctor for a year in Richmond, Virginia. During that time, Doc was involved with a beautiful young woman who was also being courted by a wealthy young man. Determined to win the young lady’s affections, the other suitor forced Doc into fighting a duel with him. After killing the man in a fair duel, Doc was forced to flee Richmond because he was a Yankee outsider. The young woman fled after him and they were married in St. Louis, but their wedded bliss was short lived. Two months later, she died of typhus. Broken hearted, Doc wandered throughout the territories until he settled in Dodge City seventeen years later under the name of “Charles Adams”. Listen to the Sparkling Audio Quality in Radio Archives restoration of Gunsmoke, Volume 16.
