The Terrible Catsafterme

SEASON 1 – ABC

Theme music by Herschel Burke Gilbert

• 001. The Sharpshooter – 9/30/1958
  • In the early 1880’s following the death of his wife homesteader and Union Civil War veteran Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors) and his ten-year old son Mark (Johnny Crawford) come from their hometown Enid, Oklahoma to the town of North Fork in the New Mexico Territory where McCain plans to buy and operate a ranch. Meanwhile a sharpshooter named Vernon Tippert (Dennis Hopper) plans to enter a turkey shoot contest and his uncle Wes (Charles Arnt) desires to place outside bets on Tippert. McCain and Mark come upon the old Dunlap Ranch and seek out Judge Hanavan (Sidney Blackmer) to purchase it. They check into a California House hotel run by the Judge and his wife Nancy (Kathleen Mulqueen), and he also registers with the judge to enter the shoot using his rifle. When Sheriff Fred Tomlinson (R.G. Armstrong) overhears Mark chatting with Vernon and realizes that where he came from, he was known as The Rifleman, everyone starts betting on him with Jim Lewis (Leif Erickson), the man who basically runs the town. When it becomes clear that Lewis will kill both Vernon and Mark if he wins, he throws the contest with one shot off center. Lewis mocks Lucas, and the judge, who lost a lot of money on him, refuses to sell him the ranch. Wes Tippert tries to claim the money that Lewis promised him if Vernon won, and Lewis kills him. When Vernon hears about his uncle he heads to the Last Chance Saloon for revenge, but Lucas heads there to claim Vernon’s money and takes them all out in a shootout. Vernon joins to assist him and is shot in the hand. As Lucas and Mark start to head out of town, the Judge asks them to stay. Carl Lamprey is Mickey Simpson. Virginia Aldridge is the waitress. 2/4/18

• 002. Home Ranch – 10/7/1958
  • After purchasing their new ranch house, they are visited by two cowhands Sam Montgomery (Lee Farr) and Billy Lehi (Steve Rowland) who claim that a powerful rancher named Oat Jackford (Harold J. Stone) has been using the property for grazing and tell him he needs to leave. When Lucas refuses, they lasso and drag him, steal his rifle, and burn down his house. When Mark becomes indignant about the Lord not allowing them to have their own place, Lucas tells him the story of Job. While Mark makes camp on his own in the wild and fights his own imagination of wild animals, Lucas stakes out the camp of Sam and Lehi, who are joined by another cowhand named Pablo (Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.), and steals back his rifle and ties up the men. Jackford and his man Clyde (Don Kennedy) find his men and Lucas, and they have a showdown that end up in a fistfight between Lucas and Jackford, who ends up ordering his men to rebuild the house and tells Lucas he can keep his ranch. 2/4/18
• 003. End of a Young Gun – 10/14/1958
  • Outlaw brothers Hank (Charles Cooper) and Will Fulton (Michael Landon) rob a bank with two members of their gang and then split up with them in order to get away and later split up the money. As they are pursued by a posse, they stumble onto Mark who has fell over the ledge of a canyon and is hanging on for dear life. Despite Hank’s protests, Will returns to rescue Mark and in the process breaks his leg. The men return Mark to Lucas and ask if Will can stay with him while his leg heals over the next month. Although Will nearly draws his gun when Marshal Bennet (Joe Haworth) shows up looking for him, it quickly becomes clear that Will is enjoying the ranch life, despite the fact that his parents’ ranch was stolen resulting in their murder. Will even meets Ann Bard (Carolyn Craig) from the neighboring ranch and begins to fall in love. Although he fears his brother’s reaction, when Hank and the men come to pick him up, Will refuses to go, and Lucas refuses to let them take the money. A gunfight results, with Lucas and Will killing the other three men. Will heads out to turn the money over the marshal and promises Ann that he will return. Mel Carter is one of the outlaws. 4/2/18
• 004. The Marshal – 10/21/1958
  • Outlaws Lloyd Carpenter (James Drury), and brothers Flory (Robert J. Wilke), and Andrew Sheltin (William Oates) head to North Fork, the latter two hellbent on revenge against a former lawman named Micah Torrance (Paul Fix), who ended up with nerve damage, and is stumbling through town as a drunk. Lucas finds out about Torrance’s honorable past from Sheriff Fred and offers Torrance a job helping build his corral. Lloyd and the brothers check into the hotel, and while Lloyd flirts with Fred’s niece Nancy Moore (Abby Dalton), the brothers hit the bar in preparation of visiting Torrance and end up wrecking the bar. The next morning, they pay a visit to Torrance, who is suffering from detox tremors, but he refuses to engage in a gunfight. Lucas however stops them from shooting Torrance, and they head back to town and once again destroy the bar in an angry fit. When Fred attempts to arrest the Sheltins, Lloyd kills him, and makes plans to rob the town and have his way with Nancy. In order to eliminate the Rifleman, Lloyd visits Lucas and tells him that the Sheltins killed Fred, and despite the warnings of Micah, he heads off with Lloyd. Micah gathers his courage and his gun and rides in after them. The men ambush Lucas, and in the process, Lucas kills Flory, but Andrew shoots Lucas. As Andrew attempts to finish off Lucas, Micah arrives and kills Andrew and faces Lloyd in a showdown and defeats him. Lucas ultimately heals, and Torrance becomes the new marshal. 4/2/18
• 005. The Brother-in-Law – 10/28/1958
  • Johnny Gibbs (Jerome Courtland), the brother of Lucas’s wife, shows up for a visit as Lucas is trying to tame a colt for Mark. Unbeknownst to Lucas, Johnny is wanted for robbery by the authorities. He and Mark are both thrilled to see him, but soon Johnny is asking to borrow money. Neighbor Alvah Kemper (Charles Watts) offers $100 for Johnny to mount the colt Lucifer, owned by his rival Jeff Stacey (Fay Roope) and stay on for at least 30 seconds so that he can win a wager with Stacey. Johnny then goes to Stacey and offers to throw the match for $500. Meanwhile Lucas finds Johnny’s wanted poster and confronts him about it, not able to refrain from punching him when he realizes how much Mark looks up to him. Stacey’s henchman Oliver (Karl Lukas) also beats up on Johnny as a warning to keep his mouth shut about their arrangement when he finds Johnny drunk in town. He comes home and realizes how much Mark looks up to him, and decides to honor his deal with Kemper and then turn himself in. When he stays on Lucifer for the full 30 seconds, Oliver tries to beat up Johnny, only to be stopped by Lucas who tells him to get out of town, also giving Stacey a lecture about his attitude. Johnny leaves town with Marshal Micah. Mark reveals that he knew Johnny’s story all along. 11/27/18
• 006. Eight Hours to Die – 11/4/1958
  • After a hanging in the town of Taos, an unknown man rides into town and shoots the hangman (Bud Osborne). Later Lucas and Judge Martin Harlow (Irving Mitchell) in Claypool, Wyoming, get anonymous letters with clippings about the hangman’s death. Both realize the letters are from the father of the hanging victim, himself a Judge named Zephaniah Burton (George Macready). Burton kills Harlow and then sends the clipping of Harlow’s murder to Lucas, who had helped capture Harlow’s son Efram, also promising that judgement was coming. Sure enough, Burton shows up and holds Lucas as prisoner, promising to hang Mark, and make Lucas wait for his death as was forced to for his own son. One of Mark’s classmates Bobby (Robert Crawford Jr.) comes to tell Lucas that Mark has to stay after school, so Burton goes to the school to get Mark, telling him that his father has been hurt. Lucas manages to escape from the wagon he’s tied to by rolling it over some hot coals and burning his restraining rope. As Burton and Mark ride back, Burton is bucked from his horse and has hallucinations that Mark is his son Efram. Mark nurses him back to health as Lucas rides toward him, just in time to see Burton fire his gun at Mark. Lucas is ready to kill him, when Mark tells him that Burton had shot a rattlesnake that was behind him. Burton says that he has made some atonement to God for the evil he has done… and then dies. 11/27/18
• 007. Duel of Honor – 11/11/1958
  • A stage driver Mr. Kolb’s (Glenn Strange) coach breaks down in North Fork, and it will take the night before blacksmith Nils Swenson (John Dierkes) can fix it. Among the passengers who need to stay in town is a fancy Italian gentleman named Count Alfredo “Freddy” Di Montova (Cesar Danova), whose strange dress and appearance make him a target for town bully Sim Groder (Jack Elam) and his group of friends. When Freddy goes into the Last Chance to cash in some lire, Groder rips up Freddy’s money and insults him. Freddy challenges him to an authentic duel. Lucas, who is temporarily filling in as the Marshal, is chosen to be Freddy’s second, and vows to honor the rules of the duel. Lucas is nervous that Freddy will be up to the challenge since Groder kills men for fun all of the time, but Freddy doesn’t seem worried at all. On the morning of the duel, Lucas and Freddy force Groder to honor the traditional rules, with Freddy supplying the single shot weapons and Groder choosing which one he gets. They stand back-to-back, but when Groder fires, he misses Freddy altogether. Freddy declines to shoot Groder and tells him the whoever carries the pistol can shoot Groder at their discretion and gives Lucas the pistol. Furthermore, Freddy proves that he is a crack shot by using one of the guns that Groder had originally offered him to use. Joe Bassett is Nat Gilkey. Bill Quinn is Frank Sweeney the bartender. John Harmon is Eddie Halstead, the hotel clerk. 10/5/19
• 008. The Safe Guard – 11/18/1958
  • A Texas gunfighter named Floyd Doniger (Claude Akins) rides into town and has breakfast with the McCains but won’t reveal what he does for a living. The McCains later visit Judge Hanavan’s dedication of of the new Bank of North Fork. The bank president John Maysfield Hamilton (Harlan Warde) shows off the new safe where he offers to store the money. Bandits Gavin (Marc Lawrence) and his men are watching the happenings from afar and see that Floyd has been hired as the bank guard… and view a sample of his sharpshooting. The judge tries to convince Lucas to put his money in the bank so that skeptical townsfolk will follow, but he is concerned because he formerly got wiped out by a bank that went out of business. Mark however decides to put his earnings from selling a pig into the bank. Gavin and company turn out to be former associates of Floyd and try to talk him into helping them rob the bank… and Floyd finally agrees. When the men come in to rob the bank, Floyd does nothing to stop them… but then shoots them all and then leaves with the money. Lucas tries to stop him, and Floyd willingly gives back Mark’s five dollars. However, he will not give up the rest of the money and tries to shoot Lucas, but Lucas is too quick, and he kills Floyd. As the townspeople flock to take their money out of the bank, Lucas sets an example and puts his money into the bank. Hope Summers is Hattie Denton. Dennis Cross is Witcherly. Mel Carter is Walkerman. Fritz Ford is a townsman. 10/5/19
• 009. The Sister – 11/25/1958
  • Mark is hoping to find a wife for his father, and when a girl named Rebecca (Sherry Jackson) returns to town from Kansas, he thinks she might be the right one. He introduces her to an embarrassed Lucas, who is polite but tells Mark that she is much too young. Her brothers Joshua (Mort Mills) and Lucas Snipe (Dan Blocker) a pair of ruffians from outside of town thinks he is courting her and try to befriend Lucas and get the dirt on him. However when he tells them he isn’t interested they become rather insulted and challenge him to fight. Lucas defeats Pete and then dispatches Joshua as well. Meanwhile a criminal named Roy Thursday (David Tyrell) who Lucas once helped convict sends his henchman Earl Battle (Lance Fuller) to town to track down Lucas, then he and his other henchman Injun Adam (Michael Morgan) join them and they all set out to ambush Lucas. Lucas manages to shoot Roy and Earl, but Adam sneaks up from behind and is ready to shoot Lucas, when Adam is suddenly shot by the Snipe brothers. They had been sent by Rebecca who overheard Earl say he was going to shoot a large man when his two partners arrived in town. Lucas and the Snipes bury the hatchet, but the the brothers start to tell him about their other sister Agnes, which elicits plenty of eye rolls from Lucas. 3/22/20
• 010. New Orleans Menace – 12/2/1958
  • One day Mark witnesses a group of men traveling from New Orleans and led by the arrogant and fat little man Cesar Tiffauges (Akim Tamiroff) who has gangland ties, whipping a man from their group who stole some wine. One of Tiffauges’ henchmen Xavier Escobar (Michael Pate) tells Mark to leave and mind his own business. As the gang make their way toward Northfork, they stop by Lucas’s farm and Tiffauges makes an offer to buy his land from him. Lucas declines, but it becomes apparent that Tiffauges isn’t going to give up so easily and tells Lucas he will see him in town the next day. When Lucas arrives in town to pick up supplies, he finds Tiffauges and his gang dining on fancy food and wine in the street with the sheriff. Tiffauges makes veiled threats to harm the farm, house, and even Mark if Lucas doesn’t comply when they return to the house the next day. Tiffauges forces Xavier into a shooting contest with Lucas, and Xavier, who clearly has respect for Lucas, loses. The next morning when the gang returns to Lucas’s farm, he refuses to sell again, and Tiffauges orders him shot. Only his henchman Scheutte (Jerry Oddo) attempts to shoot Lucas but is shot by Lucas instead. When Tiffauges pulls his gun, Xavier shoots him, and his men decide that they would all rather be free than be under the thumb of Tiffauges. Galvan De Leon is the guitar player.  3/22/20 
• 011. The Apprentice Sheriff – 12/9/1958
  • Lucas drops off Mark at school one morning and gives him a warning about minding his own business and not sticking his nose into other kids’ business, then head off into town. Meanwhile cattle driver Keely Thompson (Edward Burns) and some of his Texas cowhands led by Sandy Dixon (William Bryant) and Reed Barns (Grant Richards) come into North Fork ready to blow off steam acting like bullies after some hard work. With Marshal Torrence out of town, the young Dan Willard (Robert Vaughn) acts as marshal. His father Charlie (Russell Collins) who runs the General Store is concerned that Dan has a chip on his shoulder after his bad eyesight got him thrown out of West Point. He rides the cowhands hard, until they decide to retaliate and ambush him in the saloon. The causes Dan to post a notice that all non-residents must surrender their guns by noon. The cowhands refuse, and this leads to a showdown between Dan and Sandy Dixon, with the result being that Dan kills Sandy. Lucas tries to warn Dan that he has gone too far, while also pleading with experienced gunfighter Thompson to go easy on Dan. He tells Lucas that he won’t stop something already in motion, and that it is too late for Dan. Thompson and Dan face each other in the street, and Thompson is the quicker draw… but he only shoots Dan in the hand. Lucas tells Thompson that the law still stands and that he must surrender their guns. They face off, and Lucas likewise shoots Thompson in the hand. When asked why he didn’t kill him, Lucas replies by asking Thompson why he didn’t kill Dan Willard. Thompson and his men ride out of town peacefully. Lucas picks up Mark from school and tells him that it was easier to give him advice about minding his own business that morning than to follow it. Fritz Ford is a cowhand. Elyse Gordon and Steven Gardner are school children. 7/3/20
• 012. The Angry Gun – 12/16/1958
  • After selling off a herd, Lucas and Mark make the long stagecoach ride home in the company of a marshal (Joe Quinn) accompanying ruthless prisoner Johnny Cotton (Vic Morrow). On the way Mark brags about his father is the best shot in the world with his rifle, and they discuss the merits of a handgun versus a rifle. During a stop to water the horses, Cotton’s gang Blade Kelby (Gregory Walcott) and Abe Jordan (Leo Gordon) ambush them, shoot the marshal, and free Cotton. They rob the stagecoach of all its money and take Lucas’s money and rifle. Lucas asks the stage driver (Harry Hickox) to take Mark to stay with Mrs. Peterson (Kathleen Mulqueen) and heads out on foot to track the criminals. He catches up with them, but Cotton spots him and shoots at him, causing him to roll down a hillside. He sends Kelby to check on him and then he and Jordan leave him behind. Lucas overpowers Kelby and knocks him out, but unfortunately Kelby’s gun is damaged. Lucas then catches up to the other two men and is able to start an avalanche that lands on Jordan. Cotton leaves Jordan behind under a mound of rocks, and Lucas is able to retrieve his gun. He finally nears Cotton, who is high above him on a hillside, and Lucas hides behind a rock below. Cotton can easily shoot Lucas using the rifle, but Lucas is unable to hit him with the pistol. As Cotton works his way into position where he can hit Lucas behind the rock, Lucas is able to craft a makeshift rifle using an old board and a small stick for sight. He is able to shoot Cotton with this and retrieve his money, and then make his way back to an increasingly anxious Mark. 7/3/20
• 013. The Young Englishman – 12/23/1958
  • Englishman Lord Ashford owns a ranch in the New Mexican territory and has his brother Jeremy Ashford (Allen Case) run it for him. His foreman Norv Waggoner (Ted de Corsia) and wrangler Cy Parker (James Coburn) occasionally steal Ashford’s cattle and take them to Waggoner’s own land in Cottonwood Ravine. Ashford turns a blind eye to them, and he objects when Waggoner steals one of Lucas’s calves that he finds grazing. Lucas and Mark trail the calf to the Ashford Ranch and question Jeremy who greets them coldly. Lucas becomes even more sure that he’ll find his calf grazing among Waggoner’s and when he warns Waggoner that he’s coming to his place to look over his calves, Waggoner snaps his whip on his face and warns him he’ll be shot if he’s caught taking any of his cattle. After considering the fight he’d have with Waggoner, Parker, and the line boss (Dick Rich) and one other ranch hand, he walks away from the fight. The next morning he brings the calf’s mother Bossie to graze among Waggoner’s calves. Waggoner maintains that all of the cattle has his brand on them, but when Bossie finds her calf, the calf starts to follow them. Even though Lucas never touched the calf, the men start to fire on him. They have a shootout, and when Ashford comes by and tries to stop it, his men fire on him. Mark also approaches and gives his rifle to Ashford. Lucas shoots two of the men, but Waggoner is about to shoot Lucas, when Ashford shoots Waggoner. Lucas tells Mark that a rifle fight is always a last resort… but this was a last resort. They take their calf and head home. 10/19/20
• 014. The Gaucho – 12/30/1958
  • On the way into town to pay their mortgage, Mark begs his father to let him have a rifle, but Lucas tells him no. Lucas finds out from the banker John Hamilton that Rumson’s ranch has been sold to a family from Argentina named Juan Argentez (Lawrence Dobkin) and his children Manolo (Perry Lopez) and Nita (Chana Eden), despite the fact that another man named Curge Palmer (Stuart Randall) had wanted to buy it, and is now furious. Lucas overhears Mark and his friends Danny (Morris Lippert) and Bobby. making fun of the family and hears Mark call Manolo a ‘pepper gut’, causing him to visit Manolo and ask if Mark can ride with him and get to know him. The two become fast friends after Mark sees him use his boleadoras to lasso the cattle, and Manolo starts teaching him how to use them. Still, Manolo has a chip on his shoulder and gets angry when he sees a gringo named Ned Dunnell (Dennis Cross) begin dating Nita, and warns him to stay away from her. The next time Ned visits the Argentez ranch, he is killed. Curge and the men in town believe that Manolo killed him using his boleadoras, but Michal allows Lucas to go see Manolo instead in hopes of having him come in quietly instead of being taken by the mob. Lucas goes to see Manolo, who is teaching Mark to throw the boleadoras, and attempts to bring him in peacefully. Manolo refuses to come, then attacks Lucas with the boleadoras and admits his guilt. In attempting to stab Lucas, he ends up stabbing himself and dies in the field. His father sadly tells Lucas that Manolo saw his mother gunned down by an outlaw, and has been angry ever since, and has now paid his debt. Mark has trouble understanding how this happened when his father had convinced him that Manolo was good. Lucas explains that there is always some bad and unfortunate among the good. He offers to get Mark the rifle he wanted, but Mark declines and said he might appreciate it more when he is older. Montie Montana and Loren Janes are cowboys. 10/19/20
• 015. The Pet – 1/6/1959
  • A man named Ward Haskins (Robert Wilke) guns down a man named Joe Flecker (Bill Erwin) in the street, after Flecker refused to turn something over to him and Haskins warned him that he had better draw first or he’d be drawing second. Lucas witnesses the shot and rushes Flecker to see Doc Burrage (Edgar Buchanan). Doc is unable to save him, but before Flecker dies, he asks Lucas to take care of his horse, and mentions dying with his boots on. Mark talks his father into taking Flecker’s horse home with him. Haskins comes to see Lucas at his farm and demands he turn over the paper he got from Flecker. Lucas doesn’t know what he’s referring to, and manages to knock the gun out of Haskins’ hand. Lucas goes into town to investigate further and visits Doc, who is already drinking whiskey early in the day. Lucas finds the hidden paper in Flecker’s boot, which indicates that Haskins is a wanted man. Doc tells Lucas that he drinking early because he lost two children that day from anthrax, a disease he could have cured if he had received the antidote serum that was just invented a bit earlier. Lucas remembers that the horse was acting strangely and rushes home, fearing that he might have anthrax. The horse in fact has nipped Mark and broken the skin. Haskins returns to the farm and forces Mark to tell him where his father keeps his papers. Lucas enters his house and is held at gunpoint, and forced to give over the papers, telling Lucas that he’s going to kill him. Lucas tells him he has no plans to turn him in because he saw Haskins get nipped by Flecker’s horse as well, and that he would be dying soon of the disease. Lucas takes Haskins to show him the horse, and Haskins shoots the horse. Lucas and Haskins fight in the barn, and Mark is able to give his father his rifle back, and he shoots Haskins. Mark then admits that he was bitten by the horse, but the Doc now has the serum invented by Louis Pasteur that will cure the anthrax. Mark gets a shot from the Doc, so he can fully recover. Hal Jon Norman is the father with the sick child. 2/7/21
• 016. The Sheridan Story – 1/13/1959
  • One day, a bitter and crotchety one-armed former Confederate Private of the Confederacy named Frank Blandon (Royal Dano) comes to the McCain ranch looking for some water, food, and a job. Mark is disgusted by his smell and appearance, and Lucas tells him they aren’t currently hiring. However his conscience catches up with him, and Lucas winds up offering him a job. Blandon seems hellbent in wallowing in self-pity and bitterness, and also has frequent bouts of pain in his shoulder where his arm once was, which drives him to drink excessively. Later a scouting party of the Union Army led by General William T. Sheridan (Lawrence Dobkin), with his men Colonel Cass (Frank Wilcox), Colonel Cushman (Bill Meigs), Medical Colonel Stroud (Stephen Chase) and Lieutenant McLaren (Fritz Ford) come looking for a place to spend the night, wanting to keep out of the public eye of the city. Lucas had once served under McCain during the war, and is honored to put them up, although Blandon wants nothing to do with them and stays in the barn sleeping off his drunkenness. As Sheridan and his men sit by the fire drinking and exchanging stories, Blandon makes his way out and introduces himself as a Johnny Reb who once could have shot Sheridan on Missionary Ridge, but he hesitated and was shot in the shoulder by Sheridan. Blandon pulls a pistol on him and plans to kill him, but Sheridan tells Lucas and his men to stand down. He talks to Blandon, and tells him how haunted he is by all of the men who died, and tells Blandon that he might have lost the war for the Confederacy by not killing him when he had the chance. Sheridan then takes pity on him, and tells him how brave he was for his valiant effort and that Robert E. Lee would have been proud of him. He has Stroud look at his wound, and he notes that it was stitched up poorly, and that it can be corrected and take away Blandon’s pain. He orders his men to escort him to the Galveston Base hospital and to sign him in as one of Sheridan’s special veterans. As they leave, Mark invites Blandon to return, and tells his father that he has been thinking and now realizes it could have been his father that was injured during the war just as easily. 2/7/21
• 017. The Retired Gun – 1/20/1959
  • Retired gunslinger Wes Carney (Robert Webber) and his wife Clair (Wallace Earl Laven) ride into Northfork looking to start a new life since Clair wants him out of the business. He had known her as Clair Wheatley, good friend of his late wife, so he agrees to help him set up a Feed and Grain store in town. Hot on the heals of the Carneys are outlaws Clyde Bailey (Jack Kruschen), Morgan Bailey (Herman Rudin), Owny Kincaid (John Anderson), Jeff Wallace (Duke Snyder), and Phil Norton (Milan Smith), who appear hellbent on making life miserable on him for incidents from his past. Even  Marshal Micah is skeptical of Wes being in town, since he seems to have brought the riff-raff. The Bailey gang begin terrorizing Wes and his business, and then eventually claim they are going to settle in the town, which they begin taking over. Micah cannot enlist any deputies as they are all fearful of the gang. Lucas agrees to help Micah, but it is clear that Clair wants her husband to take no part in it. Before facing down the outlaws, Lucas tells Wes and Clair a story of a friend Tom Harston who gave up his job as an Indian spotter at the behest of his wife, only to have to see the results of a stagecoach robbery who were massacred on a route that he used to oversee. This finally convinces Carney to join in the showdown with the Bailey gang. The three lawmen are able to gun down all five members of the gang, with Carney only suffering a minor gunshot wound. He announces that he will be taking the job of Marshal in another town, a job he had wanted before but was talked out of by Clair. Lucas later tells Micah that he had told Carney the story of Tom Harston… but admits that he never got married. Joseph Mell is customer Sam Moody. 6/4/21
• 018. The Photographer – 1/27/1959
  • Lucas is having Mark’s picture taken by his friend, photographer Abel Goss (John Carradine), when Able spots two men, Colonel Jess Whiteside (Raymond Bailey) and his orderly Bart Jamison (Robert Ellenstein), who had held him prisoner and tortured him during the war. Goss had always vowed revenge on the men, and tells Lucas that he is going to kill them. Whiteside and Jamison spot Goss as well, and fearing the repercussions of what they had done, they plot to kill him as well. As Mark is getting his photo taken in the street, Whiteside approaches Goss in the street and tells him to draw, with the intention to have Jamison shoot him from the hotel window when he pulls out his weapon. Goss tells Mark to hide, and when all is done, it is Whiteside who is lying dead in the street. Micah sees that Whiteside never fired his gun, and that Goss has two fired bullet casings in his gun, so he determines that it was murder by Goss, and arrests him. Lucas has no choice but to testify before Judge Hanavan (Sidney Blackmer) that from his perspective, Goss is likely guilty. Mark takes his issue with his father’s testimony since he has taken a liking to Goss, but his testimony doesn’t sway the judge or jury. As Mark tries to re-create the gunfight in the street, Lucas has the idea to develop the photo that Goss was taking of Mark. Lucas rushes the photo into the courtroom during the trial to present it as evidence, but before he can show it to the judge, Jamison shoots it out of his hand. He is overtaken by Micah, and admits that it was him who actually shot Whiteside. Goss is freed, and Lucas admits to him that he never did actually developed the negative.  6/4/21
• 019. Shivaree – 2/3/1959
  • Lucas happens upon a wagon train headed up by an old-timer named Aaron Pelser (Morris Ankrum), and notices two men getting pushed around by the others. On closer observation, one of the men is actually woman named Lisabeth Bishop (Luana Anders), who was traveling with her fiancé Derek Hanaway (Paul Carr). When Pelser found out that Lisabeth was a woman, and they said they’d be married in Yuma, he took it upon himself to get married at the next town they stop at: North Fork. Lucas doesn’t think the forced marriage is right, but they find a Justice (Edgar Dearing) to marry them. Many of the others in the Wagon Train are ruffians, including an older woman named Ma Wilson (Olive Carey), who is a major instigator, a man named Chet Packard (John Anderson), who lusts after Lisabeth, and his friend Jerry (William Bryant). They all demand that they hold a Shivaree following the wedding. Derek and Lisabeth clearly do not want any such thing, and are bitter about the forced marriage, so they quit the wagon train. Lucas is concerned for their well-being, so offers for them to stay at his place until they can do some work and make some money to continue on to Yuma. Derek explains that they wanted to wait until Yuma so his minister father could marry them properly. Not considering this marriage valid, they decide to sleep apart. Although both Micah and Pelser warn everyone about having the Shivaree, the members of the wagon train get drunk and hold one at the saloon anyway. Packard and Pelser disagree on this, so Pelser quits the train. Everyone travels out to the McCain place and distract Lucas while Packard and Jerry kidnap the bride and groom and take them back into town. Many of the men dunk Derek in a trough, while the rougher man take Lisabeth into the saloon and harass her. Pelser demands that Packard free Lisabeth, but Packard beats him. Lucas is able to get Lisabeth safely out of there and punching Packard. Micah saves Derek from his attackers, but Derek is now livid and punches Micah and goes after Packard with his gun, shooting him in the legs. He will not allow anyone to help Packard, and threatens to shoot Micah and Lucas if they interfere. Lucas is able to talk him down, and the others safely gets Packard to a doctor. Pelser asks Derek for his forgiveness. Derek reunites with Lisabeth in the Marshal’s office where Lucas has locked her safely away. 10/1/21
• 020. The Deadeye Kid – 2/10/1959
  • A young man named Donnel O’Mahoney (Kip King) is working his way west from New York City, but when he tries to jump on a coach, the shotgun guard (Glenn Strange) throws him off. Donnel tries to pull his broken down gun on him, but then gives up. Lucas and Mark happen upon him and take him back to their place, where Donnel regales Mark with stories of the New York City nightlife and the Bowery. Lucas is anxious to get rid of him, so he sends him on a passing freight coach operated by Jackson & Cramer. Only Jackson (Douglas Spencer) is driving that day, as Cramer (Jason Johnson) is in North Fork. When Jackson and Donnel arrive at their office, Cramer accuses Jackson of embezzling from the company, and heads out to report it to the Marshal. Jackson shoots Cramer in the back, and then blames it on Donnel, who is able to knock Jackson down and flee on the horses. Mark finds him after he has crashed, and helps him hide from Jackson, using all of his trail tactics to cover his trail. Meanwhile, Micah, Jackson, and the shotgun guard who witnessed Donnel pull his gun on him, form a posse in pursuit of Donnel. Lucas goes along in order to ensure that he is brought back alive. Lucas eventually realizes that there are two sets of footprints, and that the tricks being employed are ones that Mark knows. Lucas then finds Mark, and tells him to reveal Donnel’s location. Mark says that he is friends with Don and won’t reveal where he is… until Lucas explains to him that if the others find him, he might not get a trial. Jackson overhears their conversation and gets to Don before they do. Lucas forces Jackson to quit firing into the cave where he is hiding, and then tips his hand about Mark being told that Jackson was the killer. Jackson tries to fire on Lucas, but Lucas outdraws him and hits him. Don continues talking about New York and how he is ready to return to the Bowery, but when he finds out that Lucas has found a job for him in North Fork, suddenly Don changes his mind and commits to staying in town. 10/1/21
• 021. The Indian – 2/17/1959
  • Lucas and Mark spot an Indian accompanying another Indian (Eddie Little Sky) who he is taking as prisoner. Lucas give him a stern warning that rather than take the law into his own hands that he takes him to white authorities for proper a proper trial. The Indian tells Lucas that his name is Sam Buckhart (Michael Ansara) and that he is a Deputy United States Marshal who has been educated in Law at Harvard. Lucas is worried that the folks in North Fork won’t take kindly to him. Lucas follows him into North Fork, and is surprised that the town leader Gorman (Herbert Rudley) has befriended him and is pleased to hear that Buckhart is searching for an Apache Indian who burned down a house and killed two Quakers as they slept. Gorman bought the ranch at an auction, and claims he wants to see the person who committed the act to face justice. The town drunk Slade (Lewis Charles) identifies the location of the chief suspect Eskimimzin (Robert Chadwick). When the townsman Tub (Mickey Simpson) overhears Mark mentions that the Marshal was an ‘Injun’, he tells everyone in town, causing them want the Marshal’s head, even going to far to gather all of the glasses to ensure the one that he drank from is destroyed, and then everyone shoots all of the glasses. Buckhart meets with the tribe leader Chief Hotay (Frank DeKova) and tells him he needs to arrest Eskimimzin. Hotay assures Buckhart that Eskimimzin couldn’t have do the crime but agrees to allow him to be sacrificed on behalf of the Apache. Eskimimzin says that he was coaxed to the burnt cabin, and that it was the drunkard Slade who started the fire. Buckhart refuses to take Eskimimzin, and insists that he is going to bring in Slade. Lucas gets frustrated with Buckhart that he won’t be practical and get someone else to pick up the white man for the crime and washes his hands of the whole thing. Buckhart returns to town to pick up Slade, but the townsmen lead by Gorman and Tub won’t let him lead. Buckhart won’t back down, so Lucas, sure that he is outnumbered by men who will even go through Micah to get to Buckhart, jumps up and addresses the town and tells them that they’ll first need to kill Micah, throwing them his rifle. Eventually most of the town slinks away in shame, leveling the playing field more. Tub and Gorman try to pull their guns, but both men are shot and injured. As Buckhart gets ready to take Slade away, he confesses that he did it, but only at the order of Gorman, who now is extra humiliated that he has to be manhandled by an Apache. 3/31/22
• 022. The Boarding House – 2/24/1959
  • Two crooked gamblers named Sid Fallon (Alan Baxter) and his partner Steve (Charles Fredericks), along with two women named Liz (Peggy Maley) and Flo (Kay Cousins Johnson) who act as the crooked dealers, are kicked out of yet another town by the civic leaders and the sheriff (Guy Wilkerson). Sid tells his friends that they’re leaving for North Fork, where one of their former associates who went by the name Big Anna now runs a boarding house, and that this time they won’t be run out until they’re ready. Anna is now going by the name Julia Andueza (Katy Jurado), but Lucas recognizes her as a woman who cheated a friend of his of over $1000 twelve years earlier. Lucas suggest that she’s not wanted in town, but after she makes her heartfelt plea and gives him the reasons she was forced to do it, he decides to forgive her and make her welcome in town. Meanwhile, a haughty woman named Agnes Hamilton (Sarah Selby), whose brother John is the local banker, returns to town to pick up her cousin. Julia invites them to diner at her boarding house, and Lucas and Mark along with them. During the meal, Fallon and his gang storm in and demand that Julia return to their fold and tell her that they’re going to take over the boarding house to make it a casino. Lucas intervenes with his rifle, which easily overpowers Fallon’s knife. The gang promises to tarnish Julia’s name all over town, but even though Agnes is adamantly against her being their, John, Lucas, and Micah stay ahead of Fallon and his cronies, and are able to save her reputation all over the town. Lucas and Micah get the ladies stagecoach tickets to send them to Santa Fe, and let the men buy their own to get out of town. They appear to leave, making Julia think she is in the clear, but the men return with Fallon’s knife and Steve’s gun, and intend to cut up Lucas and put him in his place. He is able to overpower Fallon when he gets hold of one of Julia’s cleavers. Julia gets to Lucas’s gun and holds Steve at bay. Fallon realizes he made a mistake in underestimating Lucas, and he leaves town. 4/1/22
• 023. The Second Witness – 3/3/1959
  • Deputy Phil Rogers (Williams Meigs) and another deputy are accompanying a witness named Tom Williams (Bill Catching) to Silver City where he is to testify against a murderer named Slade Burrows, when Williams is shot by a sniper. Meanwhile, Lucas and Mark are bringing Mark’s sickly colt Blue Boy to Doc Burridge, when they find him attending to Williams. Lucas finds out his story, and notes to Micah and the deputy, that he two witnessed Williams and Rogers together near the Landon Ranch, along with a third man, Elijah Mattern, who was shot and killed near that very ranch. Deputy Rogers asks Lucas to testify in Williams’ place, and Lucas agrees to do so. Mark is proud of his father and tells his friend Freddy Toomey (Robert Crawford Jr.) about it. Lucas tells him that he shouldn’t be bragging to anyone and telling them what he is doing. Mark later gets into fight with Freddy, because Freddy’s father Philip (Robert Foulk) told him that he is as good as dead. Mark breaks down crying both because he doesn’t want his father to go to Silver City, and because Blue Boy isn’t getting any better. The next morning, Lucas finds out from Mark that a stranger named Brad Davis (Michael Pate) stayed in their barn the night before, and that he managed to cure Blue Boy. Mark thinks of Brad as an instant friend, but Lucas warns him not to make friends too hastily. Nevertheless, Lucas invites Brad in for breakfast, and then considers riding with him since he says he’s traveling to Silver City. Lucas starts to suspect Brad’s intentions when the rifle he had visible in his saddlebags suddenly goes missing. It turns out that Brad is Slade Burrows brother, and he has come to stop Lucas from testifying. He has taken a liking to Mark, so he warns Lucas to send Mark off to school, so he doesn’t get hurt. Brad then orders Lucas at gunpoint to mount his horse, because he plans to shoot him as if he was on his way to Silver City. Mark becomes suspicious because his father has referred to Brad as their ‘friend’ after he told him not to make friends too hastily. He returns and surprises Brad, enabling Lucas to knock the gun from his hand, fight, and overcome him. Lucas then leaves Mark with Hattie for a few days while he heads to Silver City to testify. 7/28/22
• 024. The Trade – 3/10/1959
  • A man named Sam Morley (Paul Richards) who walks with a limp, takes his sickly girlfriend Beth Landis (Katharine Bard) and leave town and heads to North Fork. A bounty hunter named Hamp Ferris (Chris Alcaide) is no his trail but the local Sheriff McVey (Dan Sheridan) will give him no information. As Mark heads off to school, Lucas receives a visit from Morley, who turn out to be an old friend for their days on the cattle trails. Morley shows Lucas his $500 wanted poster for an old crime, and tells him that he wants to turn himself in. In actuality, he wants Lucas to turn him in and collect the reward money, keeping $200 for himself, and using the other $300 to send with Beth so that she can head to St. Louis to get proper treatment with it, and then once she is well and Morley does his time, they can get married. The one catch is that he wants to give Beth the money before he is turned in. Lucas says that he can’t get the money first, but then has a potential idea how he might. He asks Micah to wire the Marshal in Sante Fe and tell him that he has Morley in custody and to wire the money. Micah is reluctant, but agrees. Ferris overhears Mr. Trager (Michael Fox) sending the telegraph for the sheriff, finding out that Lucas now has Morley in his custody. Meanwhile, Beth is in a hotel in North Fork being cared for by Doc Burrage, who sees Mark out the window and asks him to grab some pills from his office and bring them up. After school, Mark returns to check on Beth, and she asks Mark to have a watch engraved for Morley and to give it to him, along with a letter, after she is gone. Lucas finds out from the doctor that Beth has only about a month to live, but she doesn’t want Sam to know. Lucas receives the reward money, and also runs into Mark with the watch, and goes to give both to Beth. He asks her to take the money because that is what Sam wanted. He then lets Sam in, so he can take her to meet the stagecoach to St. Louis. Ferris shows up to capture Morley but stops and tells him that they are going to wait in the alley until Beth is gone on the stagecoach. Ferris tries to pull a gun on Lucas, and winds up getting shot. Sam takes Beth to her stagecoach, and they say their goodbyes, Sam still under the impression that they will one day unite again. Micah takes Sam into custody, and Lucas tells Mark he’ll explain why Beth decided not to run away from Sam after all. 7/29/22
• 025. One Went to Denver – 3/17/1959
  • An old friend of Lucas’s named Tom Birch (Richard Anderson) sends his fellow gang member Jimmy Carson (Ben Morris) to scout out the bank and downtown area of North Fork to plan a robbery. Tom sends his man Sammy (Jack Kruschen) ahead to check into the hotel across from the bank. Tom also decides to swing by his best and only friend Lucas’s place to pay him a visit and give Mark a gift, a pair of gloves that are too small. Mark is skeptical of Tom’s presence in their house due to Tom’s lawless lifestyle, but Lucas is willing to forgive their differences and lets him spend the night with them since they were look brothers since childhood and hadn’t seen each other in years. Tom tells Lucas that he’s heading from there to Denver, but when Mark sees him leave early the next morning, he heads toward North Fork. Meanwhile, the Marshal Torrance gets word that the gang was headed to their area, so he brings in a marksman named Eber Tate (Lewis Charles) to sit in wait at the bank. Tom and Jimmy ride into town and rendezvous with his other man Naylor (John Goddard). As 8:30am rolls around, Lucas arrives in town, the bank opens, and Jimmy and Naylor make their way to the bank. Sammy starts a fire in his hotel room to distract the town. Lucas finds Tom in the saloon and questions why he didn’t head to Denver. He warns Tom that if attempts to rob the bank, he will come after him. Luke holds Tom in the saloon when Frank Sweeney announces that the hotel is on fire. Tom and Jimmy hold up the bank, but John Hamilton warns them that there are guns trained on them. They do not heed the warning and are shot by Eber Tate and Micah, and then Eber shoots Sammy as he tries to escape. Tom asks Lucas to let him ride out of town, but Lucas warns him that he’ll shoot. Tom insists on leaving any way. Lucas decides not to shoot him but rather throws his rifle at him and knocks him off his horse, then turns him into Micah to be arrested. 11/23/22
• 026. The Deadly Wait – 3/24/1959
  • Lucas rides into town one evening and finds the streets of North Fork abandoned, save Micah Torrance, who informs him that Dan Maury (Lee Van Cleef) has been released from prison after a five-year sentence in Yuma. Micah was the man who injured Micah’s arm five years earlier and has come back into town to kill him. Maury is just sitting in the saloon, drinking whiskey around the clock and waiting for Micah to fall asleep. Lucas is the only one who can stand up to Maury, so he goes into the saloon and warns him that if he hurts Micah, he’ll have Lucas to answer to. He then demands that Maury leave town and shoots the glass out of his hand to emphasize it. Later, as Lucas is working outdoor at his own place, Maury sneaks up from afar and shoots him at long range. Maury then returns to North Fork and the saloon. Mark finds his father and takes him into town, where he is taken care of by Doc Burrage and put up in the hotel. That night, Micah gets tired and eventually roams into his office. Despite being given sleeping pills, Lucas wakes up on the middle of the night and sees Micah gone. Maury leaves the saloon and enters the Marshal’s office and orders him to come outside and stand against him. Lucas makes his way out of the hotel and stands with Micah. Maury only laughs at them since Micah can’t shoot well with the arm that Maury crippled, and Lucas can barely hold his rifle up. Lucas quietly tells Micah that when he walks in front of him, to draw his gun. Lucas then pretends to faint, and when he does, Micah, who already has his gun drawn is able to shoot Maury dead before he can draw. 11/23/22
• 027. The Wrong Man – 3/31/1959
  • Lawman Jay Jefferson (Lyle Bettger) comes to North Fork from Missouri searching for Pete Dawson, a bank robber from ten years ago who has a reward on his head. Micah doesn’t give Jefferson much respect because he knows that Jefferson, despite his fame as an effective lawman, is known to use unwarranted violence. He asks Micah about Dawson’s possible whereabouts, but Micah won’t give him any information. Lucas and Mark come into town for a local carnival, and after Mark loses ten cents to a shady shell game operator (Gordon Jones), Jefferson exposes the game by betting twenty dollars and then lifting the two outer shells and telling the carny to lift the center one, knowing that it too will be empty. After Jefferson collects, the operator knocks Jefferson out and tries to steal back the money. Lucas gets involved and a brawl ensues until Micah runs the entire carnival outfit out of town. Mark is so impressed by Jefferson that he follows him and asks to have one of his bullets to show off at school. Privately, Lucas mentions to Micah that the bald man that Jefferson is looking for could either be Curly Smith (Robert H. Harris) or Frank Hardy (Robert H. Harris). Jefferson gets into a poker game with Curly and then claims to have a full house to beat Curly’s flush… then takes the money without showing the cards. Lucas rushes Curly out of the saloon before Jefferson creates an excuse to kill him. Jefferson then goes to see Frank Hardy, who admits to him that he is in fact Pete Dawson. Jefferson offers him a deal that he will report that Pete Dawson is dead if he gives him $2000. After Jefferson collects, he goes back to North Fork and kills Curly Smith, making the claim that he is actually Pete Dawson. Lucas becomes suspicious that Jefferson didn’t recognize him when they played cards. He pays a visit to Frank Hardy, and when he tells Frank that Jefferson killed Curly, the guilt drives Hardy to confess to Micah that he is in fact Pete Dawson. When Jefferson hears this confession, he pulls his gun on everyone and tries to slink out of town. Lucas and Micah overpower him and place him under arrest. Micah offers Lucas the reward money for Pete Dawson, but he tells Micah to give it to Curly’s Smith’s son, who is studying law back East. Mark is dumbfounded that his hero turned out to be an outlaw. Frank Sully is the carnival barker. 5/7/23
• 028. The Challenge – 4/7/1959
  • Famous outlaw Jake Pardee (Adam Williams) who was serving a life sentence and had even had a folk song written about his exploits, is broken out of prison by his brother Davey Boy (John Durren) and their older partner, the Professor (Les Tremayne). The come to North Fork and rob the General Store and for no apparent reason, kick everyone out of the store except for Micah and the store owner Hattie Denton. Jake tells Lucas to warn everyone in town that they’re going to be taking food, ammunition, and supplies and if anyone gives them trouble, he will kill Micah and Hattie. When Lucas smarts off to him, Jake becomes obsessed with proving himself to Lucas. John Hamilton and other members on the town council put Lucas in charge in Micah’s absence. Lucas has to stop two cowhands (Mel Carter, Mike Harris) who want to go in guns blazing and claim the reward on Pardee. As time goes by, Jake gets more and more angry and starts shooting up the store and terrorizing the hostages. He points out that his brother is blindly loyal and would rip out Micah’s tongue if he asked him to. He then calls for Lucas and tells him to be there in the morning to face off against him, or else he will kill his hostages. Hamilton doesn’t think the town should ask Lucas to risk his life, but Lucas says he has to do it to save Micah and Hattie. He has to tell Mark that he will be risking his life and if anything happens to him, he should trust Hamilton. Lucas shows up on the morning and Jake meets him outside. When he takes a look at Lucas’s steely-eyed stare, he knows he has been turned coward while in prison. He collapses in the street, wailing at his own failure. The professor is sickened by what he sees and shoots Jake in the back from the storefront. Davey then turns on the professor and shoots him dead. With no one to tell Davey what to do, he gets ready to kill Micah. Lucas tells him that he will tell him what to do and orders him to drop his gun. Davey complies and he is put under arrest. Mark, who has been watching from afar, rushes in to embrace his father. Ian Murray is Hanneberry, John Maxwell is Sam Weltz. 5/7/23
• 029. The Hawk – 4/14/1959
  • While out hunting rabbits, Mark finds a hawk in one of his traps. He is able to free it and put it in a bag to tag home. Shortly after, he encounters a man who tells him not to move… because Mark has a rattlesnake below him ready to strike. The man is able to get past Mark and kill the snake. Mark invites the man, who introduces himself as Walt Hake (Patrick McVey), back to his house to have dinner. Lucas is obliged to Hake for saving Mark’s life, and when the Hake proposes that he stay at the farm and do some work for Lucas, he agrees to the arrangement. Mark decides to keep the hawk as a pet, even though Hake tries to encourage him to let it go so that it can have the freedom it deserves. Hake tells Lucas that he himself loves the notion of being free and has been traveling from place to place. Hake keeps the rattlesnake skin and dries it out and makes a hatband for Mark out of it. When Lucas goes into town that day, he runs into a vicious lawman named Eli Flack (John Anderson), who is hanging ‘wanted’ posters for a man named Reed Young. Lucas notices that the description of Young matches that of Walt Hake. Lucas tells this to Mark and insists that he act as normal. After Mark goes to be that night, Lucas confronts Hake with the wanted poster. Hake does not deny that he is Reed Young but tells him that he was falsely accused of killing a man because he was the only stranger in town. He also had an empty shell in his gun, but he claims he had shot a rabbit earlier that day. He was sentenced to five years in jail, but unable to stand his freedom being taken away, he escaped from Flack’s jail. Lucas tells him that Micah can take him in since it is his district and can help him get his verdict reviewed. Lucas trusts him to sleep in the barn that night and remain at the house while he goes to get Micah, since Hake wants no part of Flack. When Mark is spotted in town by Flack, he recognizes the snake hatband and realizes that Reed Young must be at their house. Mark tries to get there to warn him, but Flack is right on Mark’s tail. He confronts Hake, and they get into fistfight when it appears that Flack is going to kill him. Hake gets the upperhand and only stops beating Flack when Mark pleads with him to. Lucas and Micah then arrive, and Hake tells them that he’d have killed Flack if Mark hadn’t stopped him. Hake then agrees to go into town with Micah. Later, Mark decides to follow Flack’s advise and he and his father set the hawk free. 9/13/23
• 030. Three Legged Terror – 4/21/1959
  • After Mark fails to talk his father into letting him skip school, the two of them ride into town together and Mark goes into the schoolhouse. He immediately calls out to his father because someone had been in the school room and has torn it apart, leaving the teacher Adele Adams (Patricia Barry) injured on the floor. Because there is a very impressive drawing on a flip chart at the front of the school, Mark deduces that the mess had been made by an older student named Johnny Clover (Dennis Hopper). Mark reminds his father that Johnny is an aspiring artist who lives with his uncle Gus Fremont (John Hoyt) ever since Johnny’s father was killed in a stampede. Miss Adams insists that Lucas does not involve the law, so Lucas goes out to see Fremont to have him pay for the damage. Fremont is agreeable to paying, but after Lucas leaves, Fremont beats Johnny with his belt. That night, Johnny is found in the saloon, drunk and firing off his gun. Micah and Lucas go in and try to talk him down, but Johnny insists that Mark enter the saloon and asks him questions about his father whipping him. When Mark tells him that his father never beats him, Johnny insists that Lucas give him a whipping. Instead, Lucas removes his belt and smacks the gun out of his hand and hits him over the head. When Johnny awakens, he is much more reasonable and apologetic about what he has done at the saloon and the school. He wants to pay back the damage he did himself rather than have his uncle pay for it. Mark suggests that Johnny come work on their ranch, and Lucas agrees. When Fremont comes into town looking for Johnny and finds out that he’s working for Lucas, he vows revenge. During the charity schoolbook drive and covered dish picnic at the McCain ranch, Fremont comes looking for Johnny, who is raising money for charity by drawing pictures of the guests. Fremont hits Johnny with a whip and his pistol and then tells him to hold out his drawing hand so that he can shoot it. McCain, who is engaged in the three-legged race with Mark, manages to get to his gun and hit Fremont in order to stop him from shooting. Later, Johnny is able to get his uncle off his father’s land, sell it, and head East to art school, leaving a drawing of Lucas and Mark behind as a gift. Robert Foulk is Toomey the blacksmith. 9/13/23
• 031. The Angry Man – 4/28/1959
  • While chasing a buck, Lucas and Mark roam onto government property that has a sign warning them to keep off the land, which was left by a man named Abel McDonald (George Mathews). They ignore the sign, but wind up running into Abel and his son Carey (Kim Charney). Abel threatens to shoot them if they don’t leave the property and tells him that he now owns the land. Lucas tries to be cordial and presents himself as his neighbor, but Abel continues to insist that they either leave or be shot. When Carey doesn’t show up at school, Lucas decides to pay Abel another visit to tell him that they have a school in town and to also offer him some grain as a welcome gift. Abel is just as rude as before and insists that he leave his property. While chasing a calf onto McDonald’s property, Mark runs into Carey and the two become fast friends. Carey tells Mark about the source of his father’s bitterness: when his mother passed away from a plague she caught from other people, the doctors not only failed to save her, but took all their money. leaving them homeless. When Abel catches them talking, he sends Mark home, but tells them that he can’t take their calf since it had not been branded by McCain. Lucas decides to go back over and retrieve his calf, meeting the same stubborn Abel as before. This time Abel tells Lucas that he is going to put up barbed wire around his property. This provokes Lucas’s anger, and he tells Abel that if he does that, there will be trouble. When Able makes good on his promise, Lucas comes to tell him what this wire could to a man or animal if they get caught in it. Sure enough, Carey’s horse trips over the rolled barbed-wire and Carey falls into it, suffering severe cuts and a head injury. Abel is so disgusted by doctors that he won’t take Carey to see one, and when Lucas attempts to bring Doc Burrage to see him, Abel fires on them. Lucas decides to take matters into his own hands, and he beats up Abel and takes Carey to town to receive Doc’s care. Abel comes into town with his rifle, threatening to shoot Lucas if he won’t let him take Carey. Lucas tells him to go ahead and shoot, and that he might get a shot in on Abel, leaving both boys as orphans. He tells him that if he really cares about Carey, he won’t raise him with such restrictions, and will let Doc help cure Carey of his injuries. When Abel sees Mark praying over Carey, he has a change of heart and tells Carey that things are going to be different after this. Later, Abel visits Lucas and asks him for some help talking down his barbed-wire fence. He also asks if he can come in and have a cup of coffee with him. 1/13/24
• 032. The Woman – 5/5/1959
  • Mark is home with the measles, so his teacher Miss Adams comes to bring him his assignment to read Moby Dick. Lucas notices that she has some pamphlets about the women’s suffrage movement, and she tells him that she is planning on giving a speech about it to the women in town. Lucas finds the notion rather laughable but agrees to read her literature. Meanwhile, two brothers, Garth (Paul Carr) and Jed Healey (Mel Carter) are tracking her movements and mention tar and feathering her. She meets them on the road as she heads back to town for school, and although she tries to be polite, Garth is particularly rude to her. When she arrives back in town, she finds that the boys’ father (James Westerfield) has led a posse of friends and relatives to board up her school. They force her to follow them in town where they make an announcement that she is going to be heading back east. Hattie Denton tells Lucas about how they are organizing to march in protest for women’s suffrage. He sees the commotion going on as Miss Adams’ is forced to board the stagecoach. He asks her if she is leaving under duress, and she says she’s leaving of her own free will because she is so disgusted by the people of the town. Hattie tells Lucas that she is certain that Miss Adams is only leaving because she is trying to protect someone. Lucas heads off the stagecoach to talk to Miss Adams, and one of the Healey cousins (David Leland) follows him. The stagecoach driver (Glenn Strange) says he has to keep on schedule and leaves Miss Adams behind while she is talking to Lucas. She comes home with Lucas and begins cooking dinner for him and Mark. She tells Lucas that Garth Healey took a liking to her and asked her to marry him, but considering their age difference, she declined the offer. He was so bitter and embarrassed by her rebuff that he told her father that it was her who was chasing Garth. She’s now afraid that if Mr. Healey finds out the truth, he will kill him. When the Healey cousin reports back that Miss Adams is at the Lucas house, they head there to ensure that she leaves. Garth arrives ahead of his father and warns Miss Adams to leave. She tells Garth that she’s not running anymore, so Garth decides to stand up to his father and pulls a gun on him. Lucas and Miss Adams talk him into standing up to his father without a gun. When his father states that Garth is a weakling and Jed is a fool. Jed demands that his father take back what he said, and when his father blows him off, Jed shoots him in the back. Lucas tackles Jed and takes his gun. Garth says his father will live, and Jed heads to get the doctor. Lucas notes that the Healeys were busted apart by their own meanness. Later, Lucas catches Mark’s measles, so Mark reads him from the suffrage pamphlets. Lucas wants to go back to Moby Dick, and when Hattie shows up to deliver some tonic for Lucas, Marc notices her bloomer and decides that maybe they should return to Moby Dick. Jack Younger is the cockfighting trail bum. Fern Barry is a townswoman who notes that school has been closed. 1/13/24
• 033. The Money Gun – 5/12/1959
  • A wealthy rancher named Oat Jackford (Bert Freed) comes into North Fork demanding to collect debts from old Bert Sanderson (Jason Johnson), who has a known drinking problem, forcing Sanderson to auction off all of his belongings to pay him back. He is also gunning for Asa Manning (William Phipps), who also owes him money. Jackford assaults Manning in the street, and when Lucas tries to break it up, Jackford punches him as well. After Micah breaks up the fight, Lucas overhears Manning tell Sanderson that he won’t have to worry about Jackford for much longer. Later, a bounty hunter named Tom King (John Dehner) rides into town, and when the local banker John Hamilton recognizes him, he tells Micah that he’s in town. Micah and Lucas go to talk to him, and Lucas tells Micah that he’s very familiar with King as a cold-blooded killer since he once rode with him when he was a deputy and King was on the right side of the law. King admits that he is in town on a job, but doesn’t plan to take Jackford in. He hints that he will provoke Jackford to draw his gun and then shoot him down. As an auctioneer (Earle Hodgins) is taking bids on Sanderson’s belongings, Micah pleads with the men to stand up for Jackford to run Tom King out of town. None of them care for Jackford, and think the town would be better off without him. Lucas tries to talk King into quietly leaving town, and when he refuses, Micah makes a hollow threat to arrest him for disturbing the peace. Still trying to prevent a gunfight, Lucas rides out to see Jackford and warn him that King plans to kill him, hoping he will either stay out of town or go back and bring some of his men. Jackford shows no fear and heads straight to the saloon to see King. Micah orders them to go outside of town to battle if they are going to do it. When King starts to instigate Jackford, approaches him but refuses to draw. Micah warns King that if he draws first, he will be hung as a murderer. Jackford then beats King to a pulp and then breaks his shooting hand. As everyone starts to leave the scene, Asa Manning demands his money back, but King tells him that he will get Jackford in the end. Manning shoots King dead and takes the money from him. He is surprised when Micah tells him that he will hang for the murder of a man who was just beat to a pulp. Everyone refuses Manning’s plea to testify that it was self-defense. Nels the blacksmith is now played by Frank Hagney. 5/14/24
• 034. A Matter of Faith – 5/19/1959
  • Walter Mathers (Parley Baer) and Hode Evans (Bing Russell), business partners with a strained relationship, make their way into North Fork, where the drought has hit the town pretty hard. Micah tells Lucas that he’s concerned that Mathers is trying to recruit the men in town to come and work for the railroad. Many of the men see this as a good prospect as they’ve been struggling with the lack of rain. When some of the men ask Lucas his opinion, he says that he’ll stick with the land, as there will eventually be a great surplus. An old man named Jonas Epps (Royal Dano) tells Lucas that he is correct, that the bible says that God’s spirit is on the face of the waters… and since he is everywhere, the water is everywhere. He tells Lucas and some other men that he can find water with a willow stick, if they will tell him that they believe it can be done. Mathers and Evans overhear what Epps is saying, and Evans follows him and beats him, telling him not to talk about finding water. One of the townsmen, Jeff Borden (Michael Hinn), lead some of the men to Epps and tell them that they want to give him a chance to find water. Lucas invites Epps to stay with him and Mark. Mathers warns his partner not to start any trouble with Epps or Lucas. Epps gives Mark a demonstration of the willow stick and says he’s found water, but when Lucas intervenes and tells him that he’d like to see the water, Jonas suddenly becomes quiet and sad. That night, as Epps works on carving a new ‘witchin’ stick’, Hode sneaks up on the house and open fires at Epps. Lucas sneaks out the window and takes Evans by surprise and kills him. Back in town, Mathers laughs with the townsmen about the water demonstration, when Lucas comes riding up with the body of Evans. Even though Mathers maintains his innocence, Micah makes him leave town, and Borden agrees with the decision. Borden then tells Epps that he is relying on him to find the water somewhere on his 1200 acres of land. After looking for water all morning, Borden is furious with Epps and threatens to kill him. Epps says that Lucas has really done him wrong by not having faith in him. However, Mark still has faith and gives Epps some candy. Just as Borden says he’s giving up on the land, Epps starts to shake and drops to his knees… just as the thunder crackles and it begins to start pouring down rain. Everyone rushes Epps to cheer him on. Lucas asks Mark if he has any candy left for him. The next day, Epps leaves North Fork to travel northward to help the folks going through a similar drought. 5/14/24
• 035. Blood Brother – 5/26/1959
  • Lucas and Mark find a man named John Stoddard (Max Wagner) who has been shot out on the trail and bring him back to North Fork, where the man says he was headed. He is assisted by an eccentric old Civil War veteran named Harley Hannebery (Ian Murray) getting Stoddard in to see Doc Burrage (now played by Rhys Williams). With Stoddard on death’s door, Micah comes in to see him, recognizes him immediately as Stoddard, and tells the Doc not waste any time on him and to let him die. The doc tells Lucas that he needs a blood transfusion if there is any hope in him living, and Lucas agrees to give him his blood. Afterward, Lucas stops in to see Micah, who won’t tell him any more than he already did. Lucas decides to ride on home with Mark, but on the way, he runs into three men from the People’s Committee vigilante group out of Tolbert City. Since the three men, Mr. Jethroe (Richard Devon), Dan Cameron (Larry Perron) and Mr. Smith (Kelton Garwood), Lucas tells him the truth about how he found Stoddard and where he is. When the men ride on to North Fork. Lucas decides to return to town. He finds them threatening to take Stoddard by force for killing a man during a poker game. Doc won’t let them have him, and Lucas forces the men to disperse and says that he will talk it over with Doc. Lucas quickly realizes that Doc is correct not to let him be taken when he will surely die from his wounds on the trail. Lucas once again goes to see Micah, who has started drinking. He accuses Lucas of being self-righteous and the moral beacon of the community. He rips off his badge and throws it on the floor and tells Lucas that he should be the marshal. Lucas takes the badge and goes to see Jethroe and his men, taking Harley along, as he insisted that he come to watch his back. Lucas tells them to get out of town and says that he will bring Stoddard to them in Tolbert City when he is either well enough to travel or if he dies. Cameron and Smith try to pull weapons on Lucas, but he shoots them out of their hands. Jethroe decides to cooperate and tells Lucas that they will come back in a week. Lucas reiterates that they are not to come back, but they will bring Stoddard to them. The men said they will take him at his word, and they leave. Harley then tells Lucas that it’s good that his weapon wasn’t loaded or might have gotten angry and shot the men. Lucas returns the badge to Micah and angrily breaks Micah’s empty bottle by throwing it against the wall. Micah then tells Lucas the story of how he knew John Stoddard. They had been best friends, and Stoddard had acted as his Best Man at his wedding to the love of his life Elizabeth. She had though she could tame Stoddard of his wild ways and invited him to work for them on their farm. They did well for a while, but the crops eventually died off in a drought, causing Micah to worry about their survival. They sold everything they had so that they could get through the winter with their last $200. One morning, Micah woke up to find that his money and Stoddard were both gone. Stoddard had left a note telling him that he would return after doubling the money to $400, but Micah never saw him again. Elizabeth later caught a fever and died because Micah had sold his horse and had to run to town to get the doctor. He had blamed Stoddard for her death ever since. This is why he now wanted him to die. Mark comes and tells Micah that the doc had sent for him. Micah goes in to see his dying former friend, who asks for his forgiveness, tells him that he had been looking for him for a while, and hands him an envelope with $400. Mark is upset by the death, but Lucas tells him to remember him for the good thing he knew that he did: he returned to keep his promise to Micah. 9/29/24
• 036. Stranger at Night – 6/2/1959
  • Mark finds the body of a man in a gulley near the cut-off to Willow Springs and rushes home to tell his father about it. When he enters the house, he is startled by a strange man, who turns out to be Artemus J. Quarles (Thomas Gomez), a cousin-by-marriage from Springfield, who has come to help Lucas patch the roof. While Lucas goes to retrieve the body, Artemus regales Mark with stories of the pirates with whom he has had many battles while sailing the seas. Lucas is unable to find any identification on the body but tells Mark and Artemus that the man was killed by a knife. Lucas then finds the initials R.M. burned into the dead man’s belt. He takes the body into North Fork, while Artemus goes into his trailer and pulls out a gun and holster strap that also has the initials R.M. burned into it. He takes both the gun and holster and buries them next to the McCain house. Marshall Micah looks over the body and says that he had just seen the initials on a saddle of a man named Joe Carson (Jack Hogan), whom he has arrested for being drunk in the Last Chance Saloon. Carson maintains his innocence and says that he simply bought the saddle, along with a horse, from a man he encountered outside of Willow Springs. He says he also offered to buy the man’s gun, a pearl-handled Russian 44, but the seller refused. Back home, Artemus finishes up the roof and chats with Lucas and Mark while Lucas is cleaning his rifle. He says that he can’t abide with killing unless a man comes at him first. When Mark asks how he’d killed them, he said he often used swords. He admits that he likes guns, but only as collector pieces, and should never be marred by being fired. He offers to buy Lucas’s rifle, but Lucas refuses. Artemus offers to sell Lucas some 44 40 shells, but Lucas also declines. As Lucas puts his shells in his saddlebag, he gets a thought to go into town to investigate a saddlebag that Carson had traded at Last Chance. Sweeney the bartender shows Lucas and Micah the saddlebag, which contains 44s as well. Since these wouldn’t fit Carson’s gun, he deduces that he must not have stolen the man’s gun, and thus likely didn’t kill him. Lucas and Micah head back to the ranch to question Quarles to see if he might have picked up any strangers on his way into the area. Back at home, Mark puts Artemus’s saw into his wagon and finds his collection of guns. Artemus initially freaks out about him snooping, but Mark says he just happened on them and wants to show his father all of his fancy guns. Artemus tells Mark he has to ride over to see another man about a roof job and asks Mark if he’d like to go with him. As they head out, Mark mentions that he left a note for his father, so Artemus slams the brakes and returns to the house, claiming he left some tools behind. When Mark catches him in the act of tearing up the note, Artemus attacks Mark and chases him in and out of the house. Mark barricades himself inside and sees Artemus coming at him with his sword. Lucas and Micah arrive just in time, causing Artemus to throw his sword at Lucas. When he misses, he grabs one of his guns, but Lucas knows he will not fire it because he doesn’t want to mar it. Artemus is arrested, and Carson is freed from jail. Mark asks if Artemus’s stories about pirates were true, and Lucas says he doesn’t know, but that Mark should remember the good stories he told him. 10/2/24

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