Wagon Train deserves its reputation, largely due to the guiding presence of the great Ward Bond as Maj. Seth Adams, who played the fair-but-grumpy wagon master. Bond lasted on Wagon Train from its premiere in 1957 through roughly a third of the episodes in season four (he died of a heart attack in 1960). The second season, which ran from 1958-1959, has some of the best writing of the entire series. Among the visiting actors was Angie Dickinson, whose breakthrough role, as John Wayne’s love

May 2011
In This Issue:
Features
More In This Issue
- The Charms of Ranch Life
- July 2011 Events
- Woolies & Chinks
- Buckskin Bessie Treasures
- The Legacy of C.B. Irwin and the Y-6 Ranch
- How long did the Old West wagon train era last?
- Where did the term “buffaloing” originate?
- What can you tell me about the “Orphan Train?”
- Why does John Wayne appear to have a large caliber bullet in his belt?
- Was beer as popular in the Old West as movies make it out to be?
- Who is Chief Buffalo Hump?
- Was there such a thing as a .24 caliber pistol in the Old West?
- The West’s Best Breakfasts
- The Indian Agent
- The Contract Surgeon
- Mission Creek
- Cattle King for a Day
- Come and Get It: The Saga of Western Dinnerware
- Tracing the Santa Fe Trail
- Aileen & Roy: From Sod House to State House
- Hell on the Range
- Don’t Make Me Go to Town: Ranchwomen of the Texas Hill Country
- Dude Ranching in Yellowstone Country
- Outlaw Ranch
- Enid, Oklahoma
- Barry Corbin
- What to Do with a Frontier Fort on Your Ranch
- National Historic Trails Bucket List
- Guns with True Grit
- Following Dinosaur Tracks in the West
- Women Writing the West
- Texas Kids Revolt
- The Exploding Tortilla
- Strychnine, Hollywood Style
- From the Bloody Earth: Wine?
- June 2011 Events
- 1912’s The Invaders
- Nero Clues Us In
- Civil War on TCM
- The Deputy: The Complete Series
- Wagon Train: The Complete Season Two
- May 2011 Events
- How prevalent was “pot” in the West?
- How did 19th-century government land grants to the railroads work?
- Why did Gene Autry carry a two-gun rig minus one holster?
- When did the practice of branding livestock begin in the U.S.?
- What’s the difference between a marshal and a sheriff?
- Did early Westerns actually film at night or just close down the lens?
- The Blevins Boys are in the House