THE RIFLEMAN – The Ordeal – 1959
Chuck Connors headlines this 1958 to 1963 western series that ran for 168 episodes. Connors is a world class hand with a Winchester rifle. This of course ends up getting him in no end of trouble.
Once a year, Chuck Connors and his boy, Johnny Crawford take a wagon 80 miles out into the desert. The reason is to fill some barrels with salt from a salt dig. They use the salt to cure meat etc for the coming winter.
Things start to go wrong when a rattlesnake spooks the buckboard team. As the team bolts off, Connors makes a leap for the wagon. The wagon turns and Connors is sent flying down a hillside. A large rock stops his fall and caves in a rib or two. Crawford catches the wagon and returns it. The rear axle is broken so the wagon is useless, and one of the horses has suffered a broken leg and needs to be put down.
The surviving water barrel still holds water, but they have no way to carry it. The two fill their canteens and drink as much as they can before heading off across the desert. The two take turns riding the horse as they head for the distant waterhole. During the first night that they camp, the other horse runs off when a dust storm hits. Connors also twists his ankle and can hardly move at all.
He fills Crawford's canteen from his own and sends him on. "It is the only way. You need to find help and return". The lad walks and walks and slowly uses up all of his canteen. He finally staggers up to a couple of cowboys out fixing a fence. They quickly load up on water and get back to Connors in the nick of time. (b/w)
Chuck Connors headlines this 1958 to 1963 western series that ran for 168 episodes. Connors is a world class hand with a Winchester rifle. This of course ends up getting him in no end of trouble.
Once a year, Chuck Connors and his boy, Johnny Crawford take a wagon 80 miles out into the desert. The reason is to fill some barrels with salt from a salt dig. They use the salt to cure meat etc for the coming winter.
Things start to go wrong when a rattlesnake spooks the buckboard team. As the team bolts off, Connors makes a leap for the wagon. The wagon turns and Connors is sent flying down a hillside. A large rock stops his fall and caves in a rib or two. Crawford catches the wagon and returns it. The rear axle is broken so the wagon is useless, and one of the horses has suffered a broken leg and needs to be put down.
The surviving water barrel still holds water, but they have no way to carry it. The two fill their canteens and drink as much as they can before heading off across the desert. The two take turns riding the horse as they head for the distant waterhole. During the first night that they camp, the other horse runs off when a dust storm hits. Connors also twists his ankle and can hardly move at all.
He fills Crawford's canteen from his own and sends him on. "It is the only way. You need to find help and return". The lad walks and walks and slowly uses up all of his canteen. He finally staggers up to a couple of cowboys out fixing a fence. They quickly load up on water and get back to Connors in the nick of time. (b/w)
