Teleplay by FINLAY McDERMID  & EDMUND MORRIS story by Finlay McDermid Directed by ANTON M. LEADER Guest Cast WAYNE MORRIS as Tod Horgan BEK NELSON as Dru Lemp RUSTY LANE as Brady TOM HOLLAND as Farley Brent LONIE BLACKMAN as Lucy Brent WILLIAM MEIGS as Johnson RAY WALKER as Sheehan DUANE GREY as Willard

Johnny's excited when Dan's first mentor comes to Laramie

This episode uses one of  the classic confrontations of the Western frontier:  cattlemen v. homesteaders, the open range v. fenced farms.  As in most presentations of this conflict in episodic TV, the "nesters" are the underdogs besieged by the powerful cattle barons.  In this case, the three big cattlemen send for a man from the Cattle Association, supposedly to stop the homesteaders from rustling cattle.  Dan warns that Association men were known to make charges and nail them down with a gun.

The homesteaders complain to Dan about cut fences

Dan warns cattleman Brady that the homesteaders are entitled to legal protection

When Dan gets back to town, Johnny is excited to report that famous lawman Tod Horgan is in Laramie and is waiting for Dan at the cafe.  Dan credits Horgan with teaching him everything he knows about being a lawman.  Dan was his first deputy.

He's down at the cafe

You two are going to want to to talk

Come along boy, Tod won't mind.

Their initial enthusiasm over the charming Tod is  dampened considerably when they find out he's the Association man Brady's been expecting.  Tod explains that he has nothing to show for being a lawman for over twenty years.  He's been making good money working for the Association for the past six months.  Dan accuses him of doing a dirty job like any hired gun.  Tod insists no one has their brand on him.  Dan and Johnny leave without waiting for their steaks.

The festive mood turns sour as Horgan lets them know why he's come to Laramie

Horgan accompanies Brady when he goes to Brent and Johnson, the two closest homesteaders.  Brady offers to buy them out, but not enough for them to recoup what they've already put into their farms.  Horgan lets them know he's out to find rustlers.

Brent refuses to sell and denies ever rustling cattle

The cattlemen get impatient when after a week, Horgan hasn't pinned any rustling on the homesteaders.  They let him know they'll back up any story he wants to tell.  They aren't happy when it becomes clear he's only looking for real rustlers, not an excuse to roust homesteaders.  So they send him out to to guard the north section while they frame Johnson and Brent by driving cattle onto their land and leaving butchered steers in their barns.  Then they bring Horgan to view the "evidence".  Horgan follows one set of tracks to the Brent homestead and tries to arrest him for rustling.   Brent doesn't object when Brady demands to  search his barn.

Brent has nothing to hide or so he thought

When Horgan finds a dead steer covered with straw, Brent knows he's been set up.  Horgan kills him in the ensuing gun fight.  When Dan arrives he recognizes the set up.  He knows that Johnson was in jail all night after a fight in the saloon.  Brent was tending his sick baby.  Dan sends Lucy Brent and her kids into town with Johnny and sets out in the direction where Johnny found their tracks.

Brent is killed, leaving a grieving widow & two kids

Dan tells Horgan he's under arrest.  Horgan protests that he knew nothing about the frame-up.  But he is clearly bothered that he killed an innocent man, even if he did draw first.  He and Dan draw on each other.  Horgan ends up with one of those ubiquitous shoulder wounds.  It is clear neither man actually tried to kill the other.  (Horgan says he had a sudden dizzy spell.  Dan says the sun was in his eyes.)

Two old friends face off

As Dan is tending Hogan's wound, Brady raises his rifle to shoot Dan.  Horgan shoots him down.

Brady tries to shoot Dan in the back but gets shot himself instead

In the final scene, Dan gets a letter from Hogan in prison where he's serving six months.  Hogan has sent money for Brent's widow.

The poster in the background with the 500 pesos reward appears in many Warners westerns.  It appeared next the a poster for Bret Maverick in a Sugarfoot episode.

NiteOwl Review:  A nicely played out episode.  It was typical of Johnny to get excited about the big names in the law game.  And typical of Dan to be skeptical.  It was not unusual for men who were good with a gun to play both sides of the law.  However, in this case, Horgan was never intentionally on the wrong side of the law.  He had to be duped into thinking the homesteaders were rustling cattle.  He was perhaps not as skeptical as he should have been about the convenience of Brady finding such blatant evidence of rustling so soon after the cattlemen let Horgan know they would back up any story he wanted to tell.  Since Brent did draw his gun first and Horgan wasn't in on the set up, it's not entirely clear why he got a prison term, even a short one.  Our favorite scene:  There were no big scenes in this episode.  So we just chose the scene we liked as kids.  Johnny rides up fast and dismounts gracefully before the horse stops moving.  Can't do that on a motorcycle.

To Lawman Episode Fourteen

Comments? Trivia? Suggestions?
Contact us at:  lawmanfans@peterbrown.tv

LAWMAN Fansite Map

LAWMAN Home

Yr. 1 Episode Guide

Yr. 2 Episode Guide

Yr. 3 Episode Guide

Yr. 4 Episode Guide

John Russell BIO

The Producer Jules Schermer

The Lawman Characters

Guest Shots

Autographed Photos

Lawman Memorabilia

Peter Brown BIO

PETER BROWN Fansite Map

HOME

BIO

LAWMAN

LAREDO

Western TV

SOAPS

Prime Time TV

MILITARY Roles

GENRE Films

Misc. Roles  & Projects

What's Up? What's New?

Peter/Lawman Memorabilia

Autographed Photos

Video Sources

Contact us at:  peterbrownsite@peterbrown.tv