The first two Senators from Wyoming were Francis E. Warren and Joseph M. Carey. Both were first elected in 1890 four months after Wyoming entered the Union. Warren stepped down from office in 1893. Warren had been the first Governor of Wyoming until becoming a Senator (he was the territorial Governor prior to statehood). He was the last Civil War veteran to serve in the US Senate, and a medal of honor recipient from his actions during the war. He returned to the Senate in 1895 by beating Carey for his seat. Warren served in the Senate until his death at age 85 in 1929. Carey only served one term, but became the 8th Governor of Wyoming in 1911 where he again served one term.
The lineage of Betsy is explained by Judge Garth to the Virginian. She is not Garth's daughter but rather the daughter of Frank Dawson, a friend he came west with that was lost on the trail and later sentenced in Texas for 20 years. After they all became lost on the trail to Wyoming, Garth took the friend's pregnant wife, Annie, to safety and was unable to find his friend when Garth returned to look for him. After her mother died 4 months after childbirth, Garth raised Betsy as his own child. Fifteen years later Frank Dawson broke out of jail. He attempts to take Betsy, his biological daughter from Judge Garth.
This was the only episode directed by renowned western writer/director Burt Kennedy; he also supplied the story. While he is not credited with the teleplay, some of the dialogue certainly has his distinctive cadence and humor.