When a substantial payroll for a lumber mill is stolen during a stage holdup, Jim Hardie is assigned the case, despite just beginning a vacation at his ranch. But the thieves are smart, and they're ready to take the replacement payroll from the next stage.
Hardie takes his place on the stage and finds himself with two other passengers, one of which is Dr. Alice MacCauley, who is returning east after the accidental death of her husband. The plot takes a turn when the second passenger turns out to be a plant from the holdup gang, the El Paso Kid. But Hardie manages to thwart the robbers and save the payroll, at the cost of a bullet wound.
Dr. Alice bears considerable anger since her husband's passing, and blames his death on the territory and its wild ways. Although she sees to Hardie's wound, she refuses adamantly to examine or treat anyone else, and insists that she is leaving on the next train to get as far away from the west as possible. This refusal includes one Wells Fargo employee whose wife is about to give birth.
When the El Paso Kid's brother is wounded in the second holdup attempt, the gang kidnaps Dr. Alice to treat him, which of course she refuses to do. After making his way in the outlaw hideout, Hardie has to dress her down strongly, saying later it was the only way he could think of getting her to do something. And he did it big time...shaming her, as he called it.
The episode touches on one of the most important points of working for Well Fargo, when Hardie wonders out loud if the mill workers knew or even cared about the multiple employees that gave their lives so the workers could collect their pay. No doubt, working for Wells Fargo is a dangerous job.
We also are shown Jim Hardie's ranch for the first time, where he plans to retire someday in the future.
The cast is quite large for the series. Dianne Brewster appears as Dr. Alice. She guested on many of the series in the era, until her retirement from the screen in 1970, although she did reappear a couple times in later years. Ray Teal appeared as the Sheriff. He was prolific during the era, playing both good and bad characters, but he was mostly known for his role on Bonanza. Richard Devon appeared as the El Paso Kid, and was one of my favorite heavies along with actors such as Bob Wilke, Charles Horvath, and Jack Lambert. The remainder of the extended cast wasn't well-known, and had many hundreds of bit roles over several decades.
I don't really consider this episode to be one of the better ones, Hardie's capture of the gang was kinda pat, and they offered no resistance at all despite a likely trip to the gallows. Still, EWIBIG...
Hardie takes his place on the stage and finds himself with two other passengers, one of which is Dr. Alice MacCauley, who is returning east after the accidental death of her husband. The plot takes a turn when the second passenger turns out to be a plant from the holdup gang, the El Paso Kid. But Hardie manages to thwart the robbers and save the payroll, at the cost of a bullet wound.
Dr. Alice bears considerable anger since her husband's passing, and blames his death on the territory and its wild ways. Although she sees to Hardie's wound, she refuses adamantly to examine or treat anyone else, and insists that she is leaving on the next train to get as far away from the west as possible. This refusal includes one Wells Fargo employee whose wife is about to give birth.
When the El Paso Kid's brother is wounded in the second holdup attempt, the gang kidnaps Dr. Alice to treat him, which of course she refuses to do. After making his way in the outlaw hideout, Hardie has to dress her down strongly, saying later it was the only way he could think of getting her to do something. And he did it big time...shaming her, as he called it.
The episode touches on one of the most important points of working for Well Fargo, when Hardie wonders out loud if the mill workers knew or even cared about the multiple employees that gave their lives so the workers could collect their pay. No doubt, working for Wells Fargo is a dangerous job.
We also are shown Jim Hardie's ranch for the first time, where he plans to retire someday in the future.
The cast is quite large for the series. Dianne Brewster appears as Dr. Alice. She guested on many of the series in the era, until her retirement from the screen in 1970, although she did reappear a couple times in later years. Ray Teal appeared as the Sheriff. He was prolific during the era, playing both good and bad characters, but he was mostly known for his role on Bonanza. Richard Devon appeared as the El Paso Kid, and was one of my favorite heavies along with actors such as Bob Wilke, Charles Horvath, and Jack Lambert. The remainder of the extended cast wasn't well-known, and had many hundreds of bit roles over several decades.
I don't really consider this episode to be one of the better ones, Hardie's capture of the gang was kinda pat, and they offered no resistance at all despite a likely trip to the gallows. Still, EWIBIG...
