Mercenary band leader William Blunt (Henry Wilcoxen), a former friend of Daniel's, hijacks a shipment of rifles and intends to sell them to the Shawnee. But he lets the driver and his wife go; they make it to Boonesborough, from where Dan, Mingo, and Jericho set off in pursuit.
A redo of episode 1.6, but this time in color. Guest star duties and much of the hour are handled well by urbane Cecil B. DeMille stock player Wilcoxen ("The Ten Commandments"). In briefly at the onset as a pioneer couple are 1940's supporting actors Tom Fadden and Barbara Pepper.
We drop in (mercifully briefly) at Boonesborough, but then its on to a moderately-paced chase episode. The contractually-obligated Shawnee villains are in for the hour, and horse-mounted, rarely seen in DB. (Little Joe's pinto from " Bonanza" might have been trotted across the lot for this hour), We get some MacGyvering with wagons and gunpowder. But the hour would have been stronger with some previous episode backstory and Wilcoxen as a recurring character.
Blunt wants to use the proceeds from the heist to build a private trans-Appalachian empire, and here a bigger dose of history could have proved engaging. Very hasty research might have intended to tie the character to 18th-century U. S. politician William Blount (why the prevarication? The Blount descendants waiting by their Touch-Tone phone with their libel attorney?). Blount was appointed by George Washington as territorial governor of Tennessee and later became the first U. S. Senator (Tenn.) to be expelled after he ventured into Aaron Burr territory; after incurring debt problems from land speculation he attempted to foment a British takeover of New Orleans from the Spanish to keep the port available to the frontier. The John Adams Administration begged to differ with that as an option.
A serviceable road episode, and the denouement leaves the impression Wilcoxen might be back for another round. But, it's not to be, leaving the hour a curious centerpiece with missing bookends.
A redo of episode 1.6, but this time in color. Guest star duties and much of the hour are handled well by urbane Cecil B. DeMille stock player Wilcoxen ("The Ten Commandments"). In briefly at the onset as a pioneer couple are 1940's supporting actors Tom Fadden and Barbara Pepper.
We drop in (mercifully briefly) at Boonesborough, but then its on to a moderately-paced chase episode. The contractually-obligated Shawnee villains are in for the hour, and horse-mounted, rarely seen in DB. (Little Joe's pinto from " Bonanza" might have been trotted across the lot for this hour), We get some MacGyvering with wagons and gunpowder. But the hour would have been stronger with some previous episode backstory and Wilcoxen as a recurring character.
Blunt wants to use the proceeds from the heist to build a private trans-Appalachian empire, and here a bigger dose of history could have proved engaging. Very hasty research might have intended to tie the character to 18th-century U. S. politician William Blount (why the prevarication? The Blount descendants waiting by their Touch-Tone phone with their libel attorney?). Blount was appointed by George Washington as territorial governor of Tennessee and later became the first U. S. Senator (Tenn.) to be expelled after he ventured into Aaron Burr territory; after incurring debt problems from land speculation he attempted to foment a British takeover of New Orleans from the Spanish to keep the port available to the frontier. The John Adams Administration begged to differ with that as an option.
A serviceable road episode, and the denouement leaves the impression Wilcoxen might be back for another round. But, it's not to be, leaving the hour a curious centerpiece with missing bookends.
