Death Valley Days (1962)

 

While TV's longest-running syndicated western stuck to its playbook of historically themed plots leavened with a healthy dose western-culture morality, changes were afoot on Death Valley Days in 1962. As we have documented in other posts on this blog, the television broadcast industry was dipping its toes into color programming for scripted series, with NBC taking the most aggressive position based on the success of Bonanza. Besides converting existing westerns like Laramie, Tales of Wells Fargo, and Outlaws to full color broadcasting for the 1961-62 season, NBC began experimenting with occasional color episodes in other genres such as for drama Dr. Kildare and for comedy The Joey Bishop Show. While networks like NBC had the massive budgets that could absorb these test runs of more expensive color film and development, it is remarkable that a syndicated series like Death Valley Days, which at the time was producing only 26 episodes per season, or two-thirds the standard 39 episodes, considered it worth the gamble to film and broadcast 3 episodes in color during their 11th season in fall 1962. Those episodes were "To Walk With Greatness" (November 12, 1962) starring Jody McCrea as a young John J. Pershing, "The Grass Man" (November 13, 1962) featuring Alvy Moore as Scottish botanist David Douglas, and "Davy's Friend" (November 14, 1962) with former Lassie star Tommy Rettig as a 15-year-old credited with capturing Mexican General Santa Anna during the Texas revolution. The episodes all featured a color version of the opening and closing shots of sponsor U.S. Borax's 20-mule team hauling wagons of their namesake mineral across the Death Valley desert. The series would increase the number of color episodes to 10 for Season 12 before going completely to color in Season 13.

Another unusual production technique the series employed perhaps for economic reasons was carrying the same ensemble of actors across multiple episodes. While it was not at all uncommon for TV series in this era to reuse supporting actors and even guest stars multiple times, their appearances were often spread out so that the same actor might appear twice within a single season but usually spaced out by a few months. But on Death Valley Days groups of 3 or 4 actors would appear in episodes that aired within a few weeks of each other, suggesting that perhaps these episodes were shot consecutively and that the actors were retained for a single period of time rather than employed and then recalled some weeks or months later. For example, the first episode to air in 1962, "The Truth Teller" (January 1, 1962) stars Ed Kemmer as reporter Henry Morton Stanley with Barney Phillips as former Civil War hero General Winfield Scott Hancock, Charles Carlson as Wild Bill Hickock, Michael Pate as Indian agent Roy Anthony, and John Pickard as a settler. Two episodes later in "Experiment in Fear" (January 25, 1962), we have Phillips playing an Indian agent, Carlson playing a murderer, and Pate playing a Navajo policeman. This latter episode also includes actors Norman Pabst, Richard Gilden, and Gayle Toren in minor roles, and these three return in larger roles two episodes later in "Feud at Dome Rock" (January 29, 1962), which also includes Pickard as one of the feuders and Kemmer in an uncredited appearance as Pabst's friend Seth. A similar concurrence of actors shows up in the Season 11 episodes "Suzie" (October 3, 1962) and "To Walk With Greatness," one of the color episodes cited above: both casts include Frank Ferguson, Frank DeKova, Robert J. Wilke, and Eugene Iglesias. Granted, these episodes were aired about a month apart and one was shot in black-and-white while the other is in color, but it is still highly unusual to have 4 actors appear in two episodes of the same series in such a short span of time.

But while the series' use of color and casting may have been new in 1962, its freewheeling bending of historical facts and figures for typical Hollywood morality plays continued as in years past. For example, the previously mentioned episodes "Suzie" and "To Walk With Greatness" depict early chapters in the lives of Dr. Walter Reed, credited with confirming that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes, and Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the U.S. Army on the Western Front during World War I, respectively. Both stories show the men averting Indian wars that are mentioned nowhere in their online biographies. In Reed's case, the story is set in the Arizona Territory in 1880 when he and his wife Emilie set out for his new assignment at Fort Apache and come upon a burned out settlement, rescuing a little girl named Suzie who it turns out is the half-breed grand-daughter of Apache Chief Nahnee. Reed's commander fears that Nahnee will attack any military escort Reed might have when he resumes the trek to Fort Apache, so he and Emilie are forced to go it alone. They are confronted by Nahnee and his braves but are allowed to keep the girl when the Apache chief determines she looks and is dressed like a white and considers the Reeds her friends. The real Walter Reed and his wife Emilie did adopt a Native American girl named Susie, but there is no mention of a confrontation with her grandfather, and furthermore the Reeds were already living at Fort Apache in 1877 when their son Walter Lawrence Reed was born. As for Pershing, his first military assignment after graduation from West Point was at Fort Bayard in the New Mexico territory, as shown on Death Valley Days, but according to a 1963 article by Donald Smythe in the New Mexico Historical Review, Pershing's time at Fort Bayard included only two real army maneuvers--one in searching for belligerent Apache chief Mangas who was captured by another army outfit in Arizona and the other in scouting locations for the placement of heliograph stations. There is no record of him having to track down and capture white horse thieves to avert a full-scale war with the Zuni tribe as portrayed on Death Valley Days.

The story of Scottish botanist David Douglas told in "The Grass Man" cited above also involves two perilous Native American encounters, one historical and the other apparently not. In the Death Valley Days telling, Douglas acquires an unusual pine cone from a traveler he meets at a trading post and is determined to find the tree from which the cone fell, a tree that would eventually be named after him, the Douglas fir. Along the way he encounters a few Native Americans who want tobacco, which he provides to them and then amazes them by lighting it using a magnifying glass and sunbeams. They then direct him to the Umpqua River in his search for the mysterious tree and when he finds it he is then captured by another band of Native Americans who plan to kill him and his traveling partner Josh Tavers until he is able to cut his ropes again using the magnifying glass and sunbeams and then frightens them into believing he is drinking boiling water when it is actually water with foaming effervescent salts. But according to his biography on oregonencyclopedia.org, Douglas was searching for a different tree, the sugar pine, along the Umpqua River in October 1826 when he was confronted by what he thought were unfriendly Native Americans who found him shooting the cones out of a tree. When one brave said he wanted tobacco, Douglas obliged on the condition that they bring him more such cones, but once they left to search for them, he went in the opposite direction to avoid running into them again. There is no account of him escaping death with effervescent salts.

One historical figure who did meet his demise at the hands of Native Americans was U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers commander William H. Warner, for whom the Warner Mountains along the California-Oregon border were named. In 1849 Warner was sent on a surveying mission up the Sacramento River towards the Oregon border to determine the best pass through the mountains for an east-west railroad route. His top aide on the expedition was Lt. Robert S. Williamson. Due to rugged terrain, the party was making slow progress when Warner decided to split the group in two to cover more ground. Warner's group headed toward Albert Lake while Williamson was ordered to stay in the Goose Lake Valley area. About 4 miles south of the Oregon border, Warner's group was attacked by Indians and he was killed. His body was never recovered. Williamson's party returned intact, and after a distinguished Civil War career, Williamson was named the first commander of the Army Corps of Engineers office in San Francisco in 1866. In the Death Valley Days version, Warner is assigned to scout a railroad route through the Sierra Mountains while serving in Monterrey. His top aide is Lt. Robert Benson, who wants to marry the niece of unscrupulous former Army officer Joseph Hooker who trades in inside Army information for illegal profit. Knowing the railroad route before anyone else would be valuable information for real estate speculators and the like, a common theme in TV westerns. Hooker's niece Indiana deflects from setting a wedding date with Benson because she says he doesn't make enough money but could change that if he provided inside information to her uncle. Hooker also tries to bribe Warner, who rejects the offer outright, but Benson initially agrees to play ball until he and Warner are actually out in the wild when he comes to realize his duty to the Corps is more valuable than filthy lucre. On the trip back after plotting the railroad route, Warner slips off the side of a cliff and shortly thereafter dies from his injuries but only after dictating to Benson two letters to his superiors, one commending Benson on his loyal service and the other recommending him as Warner's successor. As mentioned above, the real-life Williamson did eventually become commander of the Army Corps office in San Francisco, but it was 17 years later and not because of a recommendation from Warner. Nor is there any record of him being tempted to sell Army secrets in order to get married. And the most prominent Joseph Hooker affiliated with the U.S. Army was the somewhat disgraced Union general whom Robert E. Lee soundly defeated at Chancellorsville, but that, too, was years later in 1863.

However, the fictional temptress Indiana Hooker from "Matter of Honor," an archetype of the Biblical Eve, is hardly atypical in the white male patriarchal universe of 1960s TV westerns and Death Valley Days in particular. We meet her type again in the last episode of 1962, "Loss of Faith" (December 31, 1962), in the person of wealthy Pima County, Arizona meddler Kitty Bolton. Kitty has her eye on Florence Sheriff Peter Gabriel because she considers him State Senator material, but he has no interest in her, while Gabriel's deputy and best friend Joe Phy mistakenly thinks he has the inside track on Kitty's affections. When Gabriel rejects her advances and insults her self-centered behavior, she schemes to have Phy run against him in the next sheriff's race, feeding Phy's head with lies about Gabriel to stoke his anger. Phy loses the election and when Kitty still rejects him, he drinks himself into a rage and goes gunning for Gabriel on May 3, 1888 only to lose that battle as well. In the real-life version, John Peter Gabriel served as Pima County, Arizona sheriff in the 1880s and hired a man named Joe Phy as his deputy but later fired him for drunken behavior and even arrested him at one point for assault. Gabriel left the sheriff's office in 1886, at which point Phy decided to run for the position. Gabriel initially supported Phy but then changed his mind, which angered Phy. Two years later when both were at the same saloon in Florence, Phy decided to settle things once and for all and called Gabriel out into the street for a shootout (in the TV version the shootout takes place inside the saloon with Kitty present). Though Gabriel was badly wounded, Phy did not survive and Gabriel was exonerated as having acted in self-defense. There apparently was no woman involved in the two men's disagreement.

Another duplicitous female figures prominently in "The Vintage Years" (December 19, 1962) in the person of Lorna Erickson, who tells Amish-like Wyoming religious community treasurer Daniel Quint that she is running away from Johnny Meadows who pawed her like an animal when in fact she is in cahoots with Meadows to try to rob Quint of the $11,000 he is carrying in his money belt on a trip to the bank in Rock Springs. But this is one of Death Valley Days' many redemption stories and after spending a good deal of time with Quint, Lorna tries to back out of the robbery and eventually reconciles with Quint, after the robbery is foiled by Denver detective David J. Cook, and becomes Mrs. Quint. The Old Ranger tells us this story is one chapter in Cook's memoir Hands Up! but without having access to this tome, we cannot verify how closely the TV episode hews to the original story.

Another redemption story involving a wayward female that definitely strays from historical accuracy is "Girl With a Gun" (March 8, 1962), which purports to tell the story of Little Britches Midkiff, though in the Death Valley Days version her last name is Metcalf. The real-life Little Britches was born Jennie Stevenson and from a young age became enamored with outlaw heroes as depicted in pulp novels written by the likes of Ned Buntline. She was determined to live a life of crime and tried joining the Doolin gang but lost her horse and had to return home. She then married horse trader Benjamin Midkiff in March 1895, but he sent her home after only 6 weeks because she was unfaithful. Less than 6 months later she and her friend Cattle Annie had joined the Doolins again, though this is disputed by the Oklahoma Journal of History and Culture. After being arrested but escaping, she was eventually recaptured, tried, and sentenced to two years in prison in Framingham, MA for horse stealing and selling alcohol to Native Americans. She was released early for good behavior in October 1896 and returned once more to her parents in Oklahoma, her later years a mystery. The Death Valley Days telling is pure Hollywood schlock--Little Britches only becomes an outlaw after she believes her unfortunately named outlaw father Little Dick Metcalf was unarmed when he was shot dead by Marshal Hobe Martin after agreeing to turn himself in. Martin does not tell her that Little Dick had a derringer hidden in his palm that he planned to use on Martin because he does not want to make her suffer any more than she already is over the loss of her father. Instead Little Britches is bent on avenging her father's death and joins the gang of Billy Hamlin, but after gang member Monte Webb kills Martin's sympathetic deputy who is trying to show her Little Dick's gun to explain why Martin shot him and she sees her father's initials carved into the pistol's stock, she alerts Martin to a planned ambush and shoots Webb with her father's gun. The Old Ranger narrates that she served only 2 years in Framingham because of her age and that afterward she moved to New York and did religious work amongst the destitute in the city's slums, an epilogue that seems to have no basis in fact.

Likewise notorious Texas gunman John Wesley Hardin never practiced as a preacher outside of prison, as depicted in "Preacher With a Past" (February 1, 1962), though Hardin did read theological books while serving a 17-year sentence and was superintendent of the prison Sunday School services. The Death Valley Days version of Hardin shows him and his wife just wanting to live out a peaceful post-outlaw existence but being forced to help break out a former outlaw partner's brother Herschel from jail. The real Hardin hardly lived a peaceful life after prison, committing negligent homicide by shooting at a man sunning himself on a soapbox as part of a bet and having the man die from the fall and later, by some accounts, pistol-whipping El Paso lawman John Selman, Jr. only to have Selman's father, also a former outlaw, shoot him in the back of the head while playing dice in a saloon. Perhaps the series' producers felt it was more palatable and persuasive to show hardened criminals reforming and seeking the righteous path, but there doesn't seem to be a more effective deterrent to those considering a life of crime than to show that it leads to a bullet in the back of the head. It could also be argued that the distortion of historical facts leads not only to ignorance but to unrealistic expectations about happens in the real world. While one may enjoy Death Valley Days as a stepping stone to find out what really happened to various historical figures, most viewers probably accept the stories as true because they are garnished with a veneer of authenticity, which only leads to more ignorance, not enlightenment.

The Actors

For the biography of Stanley Andrews, see the 1960 post on Death Valley Days.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 10, Episode 12, "The Truth Teller": Ed Kemmer (Commander Buzz Corry on Space Patrol, Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, Dick Martin on As the World Turns, and Ben Grant on Somerset) plays New York newspaper reporter Henry Morton Stanley. Barney Phillips (shown on the left, played Sgt. Ed Jacobs on the original Dragnet, Lt. Sam Geller on Johnny Midnight, Lt. Avery on The Brothers Brannagan, Doc Kaiser on 12 O'Clock High, Capt. Ed Franks on Felony Squad, Mike Golden on Dan August, and Fletcher Huff on The Betty White Show and voiced Shazzan on Shazzan and Porthos on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour) plays Civil War hero Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock. Michael Pate (starred in Face to Face, Julius Caesar, Hondo, and Tower of London and played Chief Vittoro on Hondo and Det. Sgt. Vic Maddern on Matlock) plays Fort Larned, KS Indian agent Roy Anthony. John Pickard (Capt. Shank Adams on Boots and Saddles and Sgt. Maj. Murdock on Gunslinger) plays settler Sam Dixon. Phil Arnold (vaudeville actor, appeared in Little Miss Broadway, Deadline, G.I. Jane, The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, and Robin and the 7 Hoods and played Dr. Zerbo on Cowboy G-Men) plays Topeka telegrapher Dan Jacks.

Season 10, Episode 13, "A Sponge Full of Vinegar": Lloyd Corrigan (shown on the right, starred in A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob, Hitler's Children, Captive Wild Woman, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, and Son of Paleface and played Papa Dodger on Willy, Wally Dipple on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Ned Buntline on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Uncle Charlie on Happy, and Professor McKillup on Hank) plays Totem, Idaho vagrant Dorsey Bilger. Paul Birch (Erle Stanley Gardner on The Court of Last Resort, Mike Malone on Cannonball, and Capt. Carpenter on The Fugitive) plays Totem Sheriff Ed Lick.

Season 10, Episode 14, "Experiment in Fear": Michael Pate (shown on the left, see "The Truth Teller" above) plays Navajo policeman Harry Two Horses. Barney Phillips (see "The Truth Teller" above) plays Arizona Indian agent Edward Keams. Richard Gilden (appeared in The Ten Commandments, The Black Whip, The Unknown Terror, and The Black Klansman (1966)) plays half-breed Charlie Little Tree.

Season 10, Episode 15, "Miracle at Whiskey Gulch": Fess Parker (shown on the right, starred in Them!, Old Yeller, Hell Is for Heroes, and Smoky and played Davy Crockett on The Magical World of Disney, Senator Eugene Smith on Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Daniel Boone on Daniel Boone, and Fess Hamilton on The Fess Parker Show) plays preacher Joel H. Todd. George Kennedy (starred in Charade, The Sons of Katie Elder, The Dirty Dozen, Cool Hand Luke, and The Naked Gun and played MP Sgt. Kennedy on The Phil Silvers Show, Father Samuel Cavanaugh on Sarge, Bumper Morgan on The Blue Knight, and Carter McKay on Dallas) plays saloon owner Steamboat Sully. Hal Baylor (Jenkins on Rawhide and Mercury on Batman) plays bully Ben Poole. Andy Albin (Andy Godsen on Julia) plays Sully's friend Harry Gray.

Season 10, Episode 16, "Feud at Dome Rock": John Pickard (see "The Truth Teller" above) plays mine claimant Jesse Blount. Richard Gilden (see "Experiment in Fear" above) plays his rival's son Phil Curry. Ed Kemmer (see "The Truth Teller" above) plays Curry's father's friend Seth. Hope Summers (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Ehrenberg, AZ resident Ruth Pickford. William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays Ehrenberg postmaster Rufe Daniel. Joel Ashley (Pvt. Boone on Boots and Sad) plays postal inspector Mr. Waterbury.

Season 10, Episode 17, "Justice at Jackson Creek": Arthur Franz (starred in Flight to Mars, The Member of the Wedding, and The Caine Mutiny and played Bill Winters on World of Giants and Hugh McLeod on The Nurses) plays former lawyer Payne P. Prim. Dub Taylor (starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on Casey Jones, Mitch Brady on Hazel, and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays his prospecting partner Jake. William Schallert (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays injured prospector Carl Sprenger. Bartlett Robinson (Willard Norton on Wendy and Me and Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays the Jackson Creek magistrate. Bill Bixby (Charles Raymond on The Joey Bishop Show, Tim O'Hara on My Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on The Courtship of Eddie's Father, Anthony Blake on The Magician, Dr. David Banner on The Incredible Hulk, and Matt Cassidy on Goodnight, Beantown) plays inexperienced attorney Kinney. Ben Wright (voice of Roger Radcliff in One Hundred and One Dalmations, Wolf in The Jungle Book, and Grimsby in The Little Mermaid, was the narrator in Cleopatra, and appeared in Judgment at Nuremberg, The Sound of Music, and Munster, Go Home!) plays town drunk Matchby.

Season 10, Episode 18, "Preacher With a Past": Neville Brand (shown on the left, starred in D.O.A., The Mob, Stalag 17, Riot in Cell Block 11, and The Three Outlaws and played Al Capone on The Untouchables and Reese Bennett on Laredo) plays gunman-turned-preacher John Wesley Hardin. Richard Devon (Jody Barker on Yancy Derringer) plays his former outlaw partner Deke Walker. Chris Robinson (Sgt. Sandy Komansky on 12 O'Clock High, Rick Webber on General Hospital, and Jack Hamilton on The Bold and the Beautiful) plays Walker's younger brother Herschel. Roy Engel (Doc Martin on Bonanza, the police chief on My Favorite Martian, and President Ulysses S. Grant on The Wild, Wild West) plays Texas Sheriff Ben Smathers.

Season 10, Episode 19, "Abel Duncan's Dying Wish": Anne Seymour (appeared in All the King's Men, The Gift of Love, The Subterraneans, and Fitzwilly and played Lucia Garrett on Empire and Beatrice Hewitt on General Hospital) plays Abel Duncan's widow Gretchen. Walter Sande (appeared in To Have and Have Not, A Place in the Sun, and Bad Day at Black Rock and played Capt. Horatio Bullwinkle on The Adventures of Tugboat Annie and Papa Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter) plays her relative Eric. Michael Hinn (George Haig on Johnny Ringo) plays relative Sam McAfee. Robert Sorrells (Seaman Claude White on Ensign O'Toole) plays his son Gabe. Bill Erwin (Joe Walters on My Three Sons and Glenn Diamond on Struck by Lightning) plays relative Neil. Tom Fadden (Duffield on Broken Arrow, Silas Perry on Cimarron City, and Ben Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays relative Tavis. Eduard Franz (shown on the right, starred in The Thing From Another World, Lady Godiva of Coventry, The Jazz Singer (1952), Sins of Jezebel, and The Indian Fighter and played Gregorio Verdugo on Zorro and Dr. Edward Raymer on Breaking Point) plays Jewish Rabbi Eli Lipner. Tyler McVey (Simon Peter on The Living Christ Series and Maj. Norgrath on Men Into Space) plays Jesuit Father Timothy. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays wedding guest Paul Morris.

Season 10, Episode 20, "Matter of Honor": Trevor Bardette (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Army Corps of Engineers commander Capt. William Warner. Meg Wyllie (Mary Elizabeth Kissell on The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Doris Roach and Lila Morgan Tolliver Quartermaine on General Hospital, and Aunt Lolly Stemple on Mad About You) plays his wife Martha. Vic Morrow (shown on the left, starred in Tribute to a Bad Man, God's Little Acre, and Portrait of a Mobster and played Sgt. Saunders on Combat! and Capt. Eugene Nathan on B.A.D. Cats) plays his top aide Lt. Robert Benson. Shirley Ballard (Miss California 1944, wife of actor Jason Evers, script supervisor on Mad Max and continuity supervisor on Water Under the Bridge and The Sullivans) plays his girlfriend Indiana Hooker. Howard Petrie (Hugh Blaine on Bat Masterson) plays her uncle Joseph Hooker.

Season 10, Episode 21, "The Breaking Point": Dick Foran (Fire Chief Ed Washburne on Lassie and Slim on O.K., Crackerby!) plays mule team driver Bill Ferguson. William Schallert (see "Justice at Jackson Creek" above) plays swamper Dave Meiser. James Flavin (Lt. Donovan on Man With a Camera and Robert Howard on The Roaring 20's) plays their supervisor Perry. DeForest Kelley (shown on the right, played Dr. McCoy on Star Trek) plays Meiser's mining partner Shad Cullen. Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand on Star Trek, the Star Trek feature films, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek New Voyages) plays saloon girl Verna.

Season 10, Episode 22, "Girl With a Gun": Garry Walberg (Police Sgt. Sullivan on Johnny Staccato, Sgt. Edward Goddard on Peyton Place, Speed on The Odd Couple, and Lt. Frank Monahan on Quincy M.E.) plays notorious outlaw Little Dick Metcalf. Anne Helm (shown on the left, starred in Follow That Dream, The Interns, and Honeymoon Hotel and played Molly Pierce on Run for Your Life and Mary Briggs on General Hospital) plays his daughter Jennie. Ken Mayer (Maj. Robbie Robertson on Space Patrol) plays Metcalf's captor Marshal Hobe Martin. Josh Peine (Judson McKay on Don't Call Me Charlie) plays his deputy Kenny. Paul Sorensen (Andy Bradley on Dallas) plays outlaw ring-leader Billy Hamlin.

Season 10, Episode 23, "Way Station": Dennis Day (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Jack Benny Program) plays Boston bookkeeper Jason Barnes. Theona Bryant (appeared in The Miracle of the Hills, The Private Lives of Adam and Eve, College Confidential, and The Last Time I Saw Archie) plays his girlfriend Cynthia Waterfield. Frank Wilcox (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays her father and railroad executive Cyrus Waterfield. Merry Anders (starred in Calypso Heat Wave, Escape From San Quentin, House of the Damned, and Tickle Me and played Joyce Erwin on The Stu Erwin Show, Val Marlowe on It's Always Jan, Mike McCall on How to Marry a Millionaire, Alice on Never Too Young, and Policewoman Dorothy Miller on Dragnet 1967) plays Fairbanks, AZ way station manager Abby Jefferson. Charles Seel (Otis the Bartender on Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on The Road West) plays her father. William Phipps (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays her suitor Ed Bascomb. Les Brown, Jr. (son of bandleader Les Brown, played Jim Bailey on The Baileys of Balboa and Buzz Coleman on The Young Marrieds) plays way station assistant Ben. Paul Sorensen (see "Girl With a Gun" above) plays Bisby Gang leader Clay Hooker. Harry Holcombe (appeared in The Fortune Cookie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Foxy Brown, Escape to Witch Mountain, and Empire of the Ants and played Frank Gardner on Search for Tomorrow, Doc Benson on My Mother the Car, Mr. Kendricks on Barefoot in the Park, and Dr. J.P. Martin on Bonanza) plays railroad board president Mr. Hadley.

Season 10, Episode 24, "The Unshakable Man": Tony Martin (shown on the left, singer who starred in Ziegfeld Girl, Till the Clouds Roll By, Two Tickets to Broadway, Deep in My Heart, and Hit the Deck) plays banker Amadeo P. Giannini. Parley Baer (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays banking council leader Crowder. Nick Dennis (starred in A Streetcar Named Desire, East of Eden, and Kiss Me Deadly and played Nick Kanavaras on Ben Casey and Constantine on Kojak) plays produce dealer Pietro. Robert Carricart (Pepe Cordoza on T.H.E. Cat) plays Giannini teller Salvatore. Ralph Manza (Al Bonacorsi on The D.A.'s Man, Mike Costello on General Hospital, Jay Drury on Banacek, Ambulance Aide Stanke on A.E.S. Hudson, Padre Guardiano on Mama Malone, Bud on Newhart, and Father Lewis on Days of Our Lives) plays Italian immigrant businessman Bartolomo.

Season 10, Episode 25, "Showdown at Kamaaina Flats": John Vivyan (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Mr. Lucky) plays disgruntled shipmate Jeremy Whitlock. Gregg Palmer (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays slave ship first mate Leathers. Terence de Marney (Case Thomas on Johnny Ringo and Counsellor Doone on Lorna Doone) plays informant Smith. Jose De Vega (starred in West Side Story, Blue Hawaii, and Ash Wednesday) plays escaped Hawaiian Kimo. Oscar Beregi, Jr. (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays gold prospector Mueller. Gordon Jones (appeared in The Green Hornet, Flying Tigers, My Sister Eileen, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and McLintock! and played Mike Kelley on The Abbott and Costello Show, Pete Thompson on The Ray Milland Show, Hubie Dodd on So This Is Hollywood, and Butch Barton on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays fellow prospector Callahan.

Season 10, Episode 26, "La Tules": Katy Jurado (shown on the left, appeared in High Noon, Arrowhead, Trapeze, and One-Eyed Jacks and played Rosa Maria Rivera on a.k.a. Pablo, La Jurada on Mas alla del puente, and  Justina on Te sigo amando) plays gambler La Tules. Rodolfo Hoyos, Jr. (Luis Valdez on Viva Valdez and Hernandez on General Hospital) plays New Mexico Governor Armijo. Rodolfo Acosta (appeared in Wings of the Hawk, Flaming Star, and The Sons of Katie Elder and played Vaquero on The High Chaparral) plays New Mexican army commander Lt. Don Diego Archeluta. Jody Fair (appeared in High School Confidential, Hot Rod Gang, The Brain Eaters, and Sex Kittens Go to College) plays La Tules' maid Luna. Roy Engel (see "Preacher With a Past" above) plays U.S. Army commander Gen. Kearney. Robert McQueeney (Conley Wright on The Gallant Men) plays his second-in-command Col. Price.

Season 11, Episode 1, "The Hangtown Fry": Fabrizio Mioni (appeared in Hercules, Get Yourself a College Girl, Girl Happy, and The Venetian Affair) plays mining supply company co-owner Paul Duval. Jeff Morris (appeared in The Bonnie Parker Story, Kid Galahad, Kelly's Heroes, and The Blues Brothers) plays his business partner Stan Keever. Alberta Nelson (appeared in Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Pajama Party, Beach Blanket Bingo, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini and played Lori the waitress on Peyton Place) plays Keever's wife Ella. Don Haggerty (shown on the right, played Jeffrey Jones on The Files of Jeffrey Jones, Eddie Drake on The Cases of Eddie Drake, Sheriff Dan Elder on State Trooper, and Marsh Murdock on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays Hangtown, CA Marshal Cory. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart and Howard Buss on Picket Fences) plays Hangtown Judge Calvin Mears. Helen Kleeb (Miss Claridge on Harrigan and Son, Miss Tandy on Room 222, and Mamie Baldwin on The Waltons) plays diner owner Mrs. Alton. Nancy Rennick (Patty Johnson on Rescue 8) plays her daughter Ann. Quentin Sondergaard (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Tombstone Territory) plays a stagecoach driver.

Season 11, Episode 2, "The $275,000 Sack of Flour": James Best (shown on the left, played Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard and The Dukes) plays Austin, NV farmer Reuel Gridley. Noam Pitlik (Bentley on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, the pathologist on Ben Casey, Officer Swanhauser on Sanford and Son, and Victor Gianelli on The Bob Newhart Show, and directed multiple episodes of The Practice, Barney Miller, Taxi, Mr. Belvedere, and Wings) plays his friend Harrick. Booth Colman (Zaius on Planet of the Apes, Prof. Hector Jerrold on General Hospital and Dr. Felix Burke on The Young and the Restless) plays physician Dr. Frederick Shelton. William Schallert (see "Justice at Jackson Creek" above) plays Virginia City newspaper editor Samuel Clemens. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman, Sam Watkins on The Real McCoys, the autopsy surgeon on Perry Mason, Simon Benjamin on The Young Marrieds, and Judge Irwin A. Chester on Peyton Place) plays charity drive organizer Rev. Henry Billows.

Season 11, Episode 3, "Suzie": Jeffrey Hunter (starred in The Searchers, Hell to Eternity, and King of Kings, played Temple Houston on Temple Houston, and turned down the lead role on the original Star Trek after filming the series' first pilot) plays Army doctor Capt. Walter Reed. Aneta Corsaut (shown on the right, played Irma Howell on The Gertrude Berg Show, Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show, Head Nurse Bradley on House Calls, Blanche Dailey on Days of Our Lives, and Judge Cynthia Justin on Matlock) plays his wife Emilie. Robert J. Wilke (appeared in Best of the Badmen, High Noon, The Far Country, Night Passage, and Stripes and played Capt. Mendoza on Zorro) plays his subordinate Sgt. Brill. Frank Ferguson (Gus Broeberg on My Friend Flicka, Eli Carson on Peyton Place, and Dr. Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction) plays his superior Col. Leacock. Frank DeKova (Chief Wild Eagle on F Troop and Louis Campagna on The Untouchables) plays Apache chief Nahnee. Perry Cook (Barney Udall on Hunter) plays Reed client Collier.

Season 11, Episode 4, "Fort Bowie: Urgent": Ed Nelson (Michael Rossi on Peyton Place, Ward Fuller on The Silent Force, and Sen. Mark Denning on Capitol) plays escaped bank robber Frank Girard. Jack Hogan (shown on the left, starred in The Bonnie Parker Story, Paratroop Command, and The Cat Burglar and played Kirby on Combat!, Sgt. Jerry Miller on Adam-12, Chief Ranger Jack Moore on Sierra, and Judge Smithwood on Jake and the Fatman) plays his brother Jerry. Henry Beckman (Commander Paul Richards on Flash Gordon, Mulligan on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, George Anderson on Peyton Place, Colonel Harrigan on McHale's Navy, Capt. Roland Frances Clancey on Here Come the Brides, Pat Harwell on Funny Face, Harry Mark on Bronk, and Alf Scully on Check It Out) plays fellow escapee Roach. John Clarke (appeared in Operation Bottleneck, Gun Street, and The Satan Bug and played Officer Joe Huddleston on The New Breed and Mickey Horton on Days of Our Lives) plays banker Wilbur Harlow. Dub Taylor (see "Justice at Jackson Creek" above)  plays telegrapher Mr. Earnshaw. Tyler McVey (see "Abel Duncan's Dying Wish" above) plays a prison warden. Byron Morrow (Capt. Keith Gregory on The New Breed and Pearce Newberry on Executive Suite) plays the Fort Apache chaplain.

Season 11, Episode 5, "The Hat That Wore the West": Alan Young (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Mister Ed) plays hatmaker John Stetson. Don Haggerty (see "The Hangtown Fry" above) plays fur trapper Dan Willis. Ann Robinson (starred in The War of the Worlds, Dragnet, and Midnight Movie Massacre and played Queen Juliandra on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger and Helen Watkins on Fury) plays saloon girl Millie. Lee Van Cleef (starred in High Noon, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, The Bad and the Ugly) plays gambler Brogger. Paul Sorensen (see "Girl With a Gun" above) plays bartender Mike.

Season 11, Episode 6, "The Last Shot": Johnny Seven (shown on the left, played Lt. Carl Reese on Ironside) plays Italian immigrant Carlo Farelli. Grace Lee Whitney (see "The Breaking Point" above) plays saloon girl Della. John Pickard (see "The Truth Teller" above) plays Sonora, CA Marshal Hobbs. Joe Higgins (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays bartender Pete. Richard Reeves (Mr. Murphy on Date With the Angels) plays bully John Bruce. Joseph Mell (Bill Pence on Gunsmoke) plays store owner Murchison.

Season 11, Episode 7, "To Walk With Greatness": Jody McCrae (shown on the right, son of actor Joel McCrea, played Deadhead/Bonehead in 5 beach movies--Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, Bikini Beach, Beach Blanket Bingo, and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and played Ben Matheson on Wichita Town) plays recent West Point graduate Lt. John J. Pershing. Robert J. Wilke (see "Suzie" above) plays his subordinate Sgt. Flanagan. Yvonne Craig (starred in Gidget, High Time, Kissin' Cousins, Ski Party, and One Spy Too Many and played Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, on Batman and Grandma on Olivia) plays his girlfriend Emma. Bing Russell (father of Kurt Russell, played Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza) plays horse thief Jake Conlan. Frank DeKova (see "Suzie" above) plays Zuni Chief Sanchez.

Season 11, Episode 8, "The Grass Man": Alvy Moore (shown on the left, appeared in Susan Slept Here, Designing Woman, and The Wackiest Ship in the Army and played Howie on Pete and Gladys and Hank Kimball on Green Acres) plays botanist David Douglas. Keenan Wynn (starred in Annie Get Your Gun, Royal Wedding, Angels in the Outfield, The Absent-Minded Professor, Son of Flubber, Dr. Strangelove, The Great Race, and Point Blank and played Kodiak on Troubleshooters, Williard "Digger" Barnes on Dallas, Carl Sarnac on Call to Glory, and Butch on The Last Precinct) plays his friend Josh Tavers. Perry Cook (see "Suzie" above) plays guide Colby.

Season 11, Episode 9, "Davy's Friend": Tommy Rettig (shown on the right, appeared in The Five Thousand Fingers of Dr. T. River of No Return, and The Cobweb and played Jeff Miller on Lassie and Jojo on Never Too Young) plays 15-year-old friend of Davy Crockett, Joel Robison. Russell Johnson (starred in It Came From Outer Space, This Island Earth, and Johnny Dark and played Marshal Gib Scott on Black Saddle, Professor Roy Hinkley on Gilligan's Island, and Assistant D.A. Brenton Grant on Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law) plays Texas revolutionary officer Sgt. Tate. Conlan Carter (C.E. Caruthers on The Law and Mr. Jones and Doc on Combat!) plays one of his soldiers Sylvester. George Mitchell (Cal Bristol on Stoney Burke) plays settler patriarch John McAllister. Meg Wyllie (see "Matter of Honor" above) plays his wife. Ronnie Haran (owns and operates a film location service and was the original booking agent at the Whiskey A Go-Go who helped get The Doors signed to Elektra Records and took the photograph on the back cover of the band Love's LP Forever Changes) plays their daughter Natalie. Abel Franco (Mr. Rojas on The Young Marrieds and Al Ramirez on Grand Slam, and later was head of the Drama Department at Pasadena High School) plays Mexican army commander Gen. Santa Anna.

Season 11, Episode 10, "Bloodline": Paul Richards (shown on the left, appeared in Playgirl and Beneath the Planet of the Apes and played Louis Kassoff on The Lawless Years and Dr. McKinley Thompson on Breaking Point) plays San Francisco physician Dr. Max Richter. Parley Baer (see "The Unshakable Man" above) plays medical society president Dr. Simon. Abraham Sofaer (appeared in Christopher Columbus, Quo Vadis, and Elephant Walk) plays visiting ruler of the country of Hassan, King Tu. Ben Wright (see "Justice at Jackson Creek" above) plays his prime minister Akbar. Patricia Huston (Addy Olson on Days of Our Lives and Hilda Brunschwager on L.A. Law) plays Richter's former nurse Anne Knight.

Season 11, Episode 11, "The Vintage Years": Ralph Bellamy (shown on the right, starred in Air Hawks, His Girl Friday, The Wolf Man, Trading Places, and Pretty Woman and played Mike Barnett on Man Against Crime, Dr. L. Richard Starke on The Eleventh Hour, Ethan Arcane on The Most Deadly Game, Harold Baker on Hunter, and was the narrator on Frontier Justice) plays religious community treasurer Daniel Quint. Michael Hinn (see "Abel Duncan's Dying Wish" above) plays fellow community member Abraham. Merry Anders (see "Way Station" above) plays "runaway" Lorna Erickson. William Bryant (McCall on Combat!, President Ulysses S. Grant on Branded, Col. Crook on Hondo, Lt. Shilton on Switch, and the Director on The Fall Guy) plays her co-conspirator Johnny Meadows. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays Denver detective David J. Cook. Woody Chambliss (Captain Tom on Yancy Derringer and Lathrop on Gunsmoke) plays a stagecoach driver.

Season 11, Episode 12, "The Private Mint of Clark, Gruber and Co": John Lupton (Tom Jeffords on Broken Arrow, Frank on Never Too Young, and Tommy Horton on Days of Our Lives) plays Denver banker Milton Clark. Sue Randall (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Leave It to Beaver) plays his wife Martha. Jerry Paris (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Untouchables) plays his business partner Manuel Gruber. Alvy Moore (see "The Grass Man" above) plays newspaper editor William N. Byers. E.J. Andre (Eugene Bullock on Dallas) plays prospector Gus Brenton. Malachi Throne (Martin Phelps on Ben Casey, False Face on Batman, Noah Bain on It Takes a Thief, The Narrator on Lancelot Link: Secret Chimp, Ted Adamson on Search for Tomorrow, and The Narrator on Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light) plays prosecuting attorney George Fenner.

Season 11, Episode 13, "Loss of Faith": Rhonda Fleming (shown on the right, starred in Spellbound, The Spiral Staircase, Out of the Past, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Great Lover, The Eagle and the Hawk, Serpent of the Nile, Inferno, and Gunfight at the O.K. Corral) plays wealthy schemer Kitty Bolton. Jim Davis (Matt Clark on Stories of the Century, Wes Cameron on Rescue 8, Marshal Bill Winter on The Cowboys, and Jock Ewing on Dallas) plays her suitor Deputy Joe Phy. Don Collier (appeared in Safe at Home!, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, and The Undefeated and played Marshal Will Foreman on Outlaws, Sam Butler on The High Chaparral, and William Tompkins on The Young Riders) plays his boss Sheriff Peter Gabriel. Clegg Hoyt (Mac on Dr. Kildare) plays bartender Jose.