Three men come flying out of a saloon and hit the ground hard, then a diminutive fellow struts out behind them with a little smirk on his face, cackling, "That'll teach ya not to mess around with me." We find out he's Shorty Jones, a spitfire of a man, but when Cheyenne Bodie follows him out of the saloon brushing off his doeskin shirt and running his hand through his hair, it's obvious that Shorty had help. That's pretty much the most action there is in this story. There's more talkin' than shootin' but as always, the denouement sees the chief bad guy dispatched, this time by Mother Nature with an assist from Cheyenne Bodie. And there's also a nice element of mystery until that point, giving Cheyenne another chance to use brain over brawn and come away with fewer bruises than usual.
The mystery begins when Shorty receives a letter that has him packing to rush out of town, promising Cheyenne he'll be back in a couple days to help deliver the freight Bodie and Shorty had contracted to take to Marysville. When he doesn't return, Cheyenne tracks him to Sacramento, where he finds Shorty in jail for disturbing the peace. "Did you have to come all the way to Sacramento to find yourself a scrap?" asks Cheyenne. Not one, but two as it turns out; one with a pickpocket and the other with a dapper lawyer. The supporting players begin to multiply when Shorty is shot and Cheyenne embarks on a quest, not only to find the killer but to locate and save the wife and son Shorty told him about moments before he died. Small clues are dropped along the way, including a plethora of Winchester 44s (the rifle used to kill Shorty), a Colt 45 with the Running M brand of Marshall Ranch used to attack Cheyenne, a mysterious letter and newspaper ad connected to the lawyer, and a stern woman who uses clothespins for target practice. All clues lead to a ranch in the Siskiyous that belonged to Shorty, where on a wintry weekend the pickpocket, the lawyer, and Adelaide Marshall converge, along with Cheyenne, and where thanks to Cheyenne's dogged sleuthing, his friend's considerable estate settled.
Familiar faces in this episode made it almost feel like a family reunion. Mike Conners made his only appearance in the series, playing the congenial pickpocket; but during his long career, he became a household name as Mannix, so he fits right in here. Joanna Barnes plays Adelaide Marshall, more like her familiar starchy characters than the infatuated wife she played in her only other appearance in "Cheyenne" (Alice Claney in "Devil's Canyon"). In this, one of his six appearances in the series, Don Megowan plays Adelaide's fiancé determined to see that she inherits the Marshall ranch. Last but not least is John Russell as the lawyer who hides a secret or two of his own. Worthy of mention is Don Barry, the scrappy and likeable Shorty Jones; he wasn't around long, but he made good use of his screen time. Master of accents Karl Swenson is the Scottish owner of the inn in the Siskiyous who never put down his knitting needles; another familiar face that makes any show feel like home.
Of course, the main reason a lot of fans watched "Cheyenne" to begin with could be summed up in two words: Clint Walker. There were very few clunkers in the series due to inferior story or production values, but fans of the show were never disappointed to see how Clint Walker carried the day on his massive shoulders. He was always fun to watch, and in this episode, his alter ego Cheyenne Bodie proved yet again to be a loyal friend by finishing Shorty's last fight.
The mystery begins when Shorty receives a letter that has him packing to rush out of town, promising Cheyenne he'll be back in a couple days to help deliver the freight Bodie and Shorty had contracted to take to Marysville. When he doesn't return, Cheyenne tracks him to Sacramento, where he finds Shorty in jail for disturbing the peace. "Did you have to come all the way to Sacramento to find yourself a scrap?" asks Cheyenne. Not one, but two as it turns out; one with a pickpocket and the other with a dapper lawyer. The supporting players begin to multiply when Shorty is shot and Cheyenne embarks on a quest, not only to find the killer but to locate and save the wife and son Shorty told him about moments before he died. Small clues are dropped along the way, including a plethora of Winchester 44s (the rifle used to kill Shorty), a Colt 45 with the Running M brand of Marshall Ranch used to attack Cheyenne, a mysterious letter and newspaper ad connected to the lawyer, and a stern woman who uses clothespins for target practice. All clues lead to a ranch in the Siskiyous that belonged to Shorty, where on a wintry weekend the pickpocket, the lawyer, and Adelaide Marshall converge, along with Cheyenne, and where thanks to Cheyenne's dogged sleuthing, his friend's considerable estate settled.
Familiar faces in this episode made it almost feel like a family reunion. Mike Conners made his only appearance in the series, playing the congenial pickpocket; but during his long career, he became a household name as Mannix, so he fits right in here. Joanna Barnes plays Adelaide Marshall, more like her familiar starchy characters than the infatuated wife she played in her only other appearance in "Cheyenne" (Alice Claney in "Devil's Canyon"). In this, one of his six appearances in the series, Don Megowan plays Adelaide's fiancé determined to see that she inherits the Marshall ranch. Last but not least is John Russell as the lawyer who hides a secret or two of his own. Worthy of mention is Don Barry, the scrappy and likeable Shorty Jones; he wasn't around long, but he made good use of his screen time. Master of accents Karl Swenson is the Scottish owner of the inn in the Siskiyous who never put down his knitting needles; another familiar face that makes any show feel like home.
Of course, the main reason a lot of fans watched "Cheyenne" to begin with could be summed up in two words: Clint Walker. There were very few clunkers in the series due to inferior story or production values, but fans of the show were never disappointed to see how Clint Walker carried the day on his massive shoulders. He was always fun to watch, and in this episode, his alter ego Cheyenne Bodie proved yet again to be a loyal friend by finishing Shorty's last fight.
