Wagon Train

Back To The West

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Hitch your wagon to a star.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ward Bond started his acting career when one of his fellow football players at USC got him some work as an "extra". Oh by the way, his team mate was John Wayne! By the way, Ward Bond's first job was in the 1929 musical "Words and Music". That was also the first movie where John Wayne got listed in the opening credits!

Wagon Train

18 September 1957

2 May 1965

A wagon train is a group of wagons traveling together. In the American West, individuals traveling across the plains in covered wagons banded together for mutual assistance, as is reflected in numerous films and television programs about the region, such as Audie Murphy's Tumbleweed and Ward Bond and John McIntire's Wagon Train series on NBC and later ABC. Although most trains elected a captain and created by-laws, in reality the captain had little authority. His role was largely confined to getting everyone moving in the morning and selecting when and where to camp at night.

Overland emigrants discovered that smaller groups of twenty to forty wagons were more manageable than larger ones. Membership in wagon trains was generally fluid and wagons frequently joined or left trains depending on the needs and wishes of their owners. An accident or illness, for instance, might force someone to fall behind and wait for the next train, or an emigrant might "whip up" to overtake a forward train after a quarrel.

Although "train" suggests a line of wagons, when the terrain permitted the wagons would often fan out and travel abreast to minimize the amount of dust each wagon encountered.

At night, wagon trains were often formed into a circle (a "laager") for shelter from wind or weather and corral the emigrants' animals in the center to prevent them from running away or being stolen by Native Americans. While Native Americans might attempt to raid horses under cover of darkness, they rarely attacked a train; wagons were seldom circled defensively, contrary to popular belief.

Although wagon trains are associated with the Old West, the Trekboers of South Africa also traveled in caravans of covered wagons. Today, covered wagon trains are used to give an authentic experience for those desiring to explore the West as it was in the days of the pioneers and other groups traveling before modern vehicles were invented.

Frank

McGrath

Terry

Wilson

Each season, the Wagon Train would head out from St. Joseph, Missouri and would reach California at the end of the season! It was almost like making the treck yourself!

The series had 2 wagonmasters during its run. Ward Bond died in November of 1960 and John McIntire took over as the head man in the spring of 1961.

It's almost hard to believe but, in fact, after shooting the Wagon Train TV show in color for its seventh season, ABC decided to return to black and white episodes in the eighth season! No big surprise that that was also the final season! Actually, the show did drop in the ratings during the seventh season but ABC had also lengthened it from one hour to 90 minutes and it was up against a new hot (and newer) series called "The Virginian".

Robert Fuller (Cooper Smith) appeared in the final 2-part episode of "Walker Texas Ranger" as the charachter Wade Harper. He also starred on the hit 1959 TV show "Laramie" as Jess Harper. His first role on screen was a bit part (uncredited) in "Gentleman Prefer Blondes" starring Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell!

The Wagon Train TV show was not only popular with audiences. Actors and actresses were very easy to get as guest stars. Here's a list of just a few: Eddie Albert, Dan Blocker, Ernest Borgnine, Lee Van Cleef, Chuck Connors, Lou Costello, Bette Davis, Bruce Dern, Rhonda Fleming, Sterling Hayden, Lee Marvin, Martin Milner, Ricardo Montalban, Agnes Moorehead, Leonard Nimoy, Leslie Nielsen, Ryan O'Neal, Cliff Robertson, Cesar Romero, Mickey Rooney, Barbara Stanwyck, Dean Stockwell, Robert Vaughn, Shelley Winters, James Whitmore and Keenan Wynn!

One reason that big stars were willing to appear on Wagon Train was that the storylines often made them the main character. The regular cast members were often delegated to supporting roles while the guest-star became the main focus of the show.

Many years after his role as Duke Shannon on Wagon Train, Denny Miller appeared on the final episode of the TV mini-series, "Lonesome Dove". He played the part of Sheriff Owen Kearney.