Cheyenne Bodie is wagon master for a train populated by hopeful settlers and traders but with a few questionable characters mixed in. The organizer is outwardly jovial, whip-carrying Eli Henderson, played with a kind of greasy gusto by Peter Whitney. But there's more to Eli than meets the eye. Turns out he's got a wagonful of guns and gunpowder that he plans to sell to the renegade Apaches who are plaguing the area. Keeping this wicked little secret hidden from Cheyenne proves to be a challenge. It isn't until Cheyenne earns the trust of the young white captive boy he rescued that Henderson's entire sordid plot is uncovered.
There are a couple of twists to the story that keep it from being a run-of-the-mill wagon train vs Indians tale. First, there's Alan Horn, the white boy who'd been captured by the Apache during one of their battles with rival Comanche. Ably played by a very young Michael Landon, Alan is torn between his birth people and his blood brothers the Comanche. Having a similar background himself, Bodie is determined to help the boy transition back into white society if he wants to. But other travelers aren't at all sympathetic, having the prejudice that so often formed the basis of these tales of the Old West. At one point they do manage to chase Alan away, but it's here that the boy proves which side he's on, when he returns with eyewitness information that will save the wagon train.
Then there's a mysterious stranger dragging leg chains who shows up just in time to save Cheyenne from having his white buckskin shirt torn to shreds by Henderson's ever-present whip. Lyle Gordon is a charming southerner escaping from the Federales in Mexico. Played by Richard Garland, we accept that he is who he claims to be, and fellow passenger Clara Bolton (Randy Stuart) takes a shine to him after her efforts to win over the wagon master proved futile.
This episode has a good story enacted with credible competency by everyone involved, especially Whitney and Garland, and Michael Landon makes us care about Alan Horn. Clint Walker is his usual towering, authoritative self, a pleasure to watch whenever he's onscreen. When Cheyenne grabs Henderson by the collar and threatens to make him have that whip for lunch, we know he means it.
(Hey, "birdgoog," this and my other reviews are for all you newbies as well as for the legion of longtime Cheyenne Bodie fans out there! Season One done, working on Seaon Two.)
There are a couple of twists to the story that keep it from being a run-of-the-mill wagon train vs Indians tale. First, there's Alan Horn, the white boy who'd been captured by the Apache during one of their battles with rival Comanche. Ably played by a very young Michael Landon, Alan is torn between his birth people and his blood brothers the Comanche. Having a similar background himself, Bodie is determined to help the boy transition back into white society if he wants to. But other travelers aren't at all sympathetic, having the prejudice that so often formed the basis of these tales of the Old West. At one point they do manage to chase Alan away, but it's here that the boy proves which side he's on, when he returns with eyewitness information that will save the wagon train.
Then there's a mysterious stranger dragging leg chains who shows up just in time to save Cheyenne from having his white buckskin shirt torn to shreds by Henderson's ever-present whip. Lyle Gordon is a charming southerner escaping from the Federales in Mexico. Played by Richard Garland, we accept that he is who he claims to be, and fellow passenger Clara Bolton (Randy Stuart) takes a shine to him after her efforts to win over the wagon master proved futile.
This episode has a good story enacted with credible competency by everyone involved, especially Whitney and Garland, and Michael Landon makes us care about Alan Horn. Clint Walker is his usual towering, authoritative self, a pleasure to watch whenever he's onscreen. When Cheyenne grabs Henderson by the collar and threatens to make him have that whip for lunch, we know he means it.
(Hey, "birdgoog," this and my other reviews are for all you newbies as well as for the legion of longtime Cheyenne Bodie fans out there! Season One done, working on Seaon Two.)
