Wagon Train

Whenever i watch any western movie, i wish for long running time even thought it is only a wagon running or horse riding or coach journey. and i like the old days Western movie production, new one are not up to the mark. I didn't know about Wagon Train TV serial before, i accidentally watched Wagon Master, i impressed with the story and wagon master characters, so started searching something related, guess what i got "Wagon Train", i am watching it like a treasure map.

Each episode is beauty, as of now i am in season 1 episode 7. Brilliant. I can say this is one of the best TV serials i watched so far.

And also surprisingly in parallel i am also watching, Andromeda, Game of Thrones and Rome all are related to different periods.. cool.. i love this life. :) Thanks Youtube for Wagon Train complete episodes.

I'm not quite sure how your website allows for the addition of biographical information - so I'm entering this comment in this forum in the hope that you might be able to add this to Mr. Horton's biographical sketch. I thought that your readers would find it interesting - as I did - that Mr. Horton wrote the biography for his character Flint McCullough in Wagon Train.

At the Western Film Festival in Tombstone Arizona (2004) - Mr. Horton stated that since the writers often changed from episode to episode - he wrote the biography for Flint McCullough - to ensure consistency for his character across all episodes. For example - one writer would write his character as an expert horseman - and the next would write his character as being less than expert with horses.

Perhaps the quintessential show from the Golden Age of TV westerns, this series ran from 1957 to 1965 and it had a simple but compelling format. Each week it told the story of one of the travelers on an 1870's "wagon train" making its way across the American West. This format thus combined the sweeping backdrop of an ever-changing frontier with the small, personal story of a single individual.

So popular did the show become that it attracted an impressive array of "guest stars" -- Bette Davis, Ernest Borgnine, Rhonda Fleming, Barbara Stanwyck, Leslie Nielsen, Lee Marvin, etc.

The earlier shows in the series were probably the best since they featured Ward Bond as the leader of the wagon train and Robert Horton as his scout. Ward's death in 1960 and Horton's departure in 1962 weakened the series though it maintained a respectable level of production for several more years.

While the TV westerns that arose in the Eisenhower years are now nostalgically regarded as fine "family" entertainment, it's curious that they often showed their leading actors stripped half-naked and subjected to various forms of torture. "Wagon Train" was no exception. On the 1-15-1958 episode titled "The Gabe Carswell Story," for example, a bare-chested Robert Horton is staked out spreadeagle-style under the scorching sun and left to die by a villainous "half-breed." And in the 12-13-1961 episode titled "The Traitor," Horton is stripped to the waist, tied to a wagon wheel, and whipped across his bare back. In both cases the sado-masochistic nature of these sequences is emphasized rather than muted and the exposed muscularity of the actor is openly exploited.

While Ward Bond could never be replaced, many viewers looked kindly on his successor, John McIntire. Robert Fuller, however, never quite seemed adequate as Robert Horton's replacement.

As a lad way back in the day I was one big fan of this TV series. Even at that age I appreciated all the famous guest stars this series seemed to attract.

Take a look at the film credits of Ward Bond. You can hardly find a player, male or female, who at one point did not work with Ward Bond. All the more remarkable when you consider his rightwing politics and championing of the blacklist. The man was hated in some circles, but apparently no one denied his talent.

It was a simple concept, Ward Bond as Major Seth Adams and his team led a group of hardy pioneers across the plains and mountains to California post Civil War. EAch episode focused on those traveling in a particular wagon or someone they met on the way who was usually a name guest star.

Wagon Train was enormously popular. When Ward Bond died in November of 1960 it was national news. It was quite a month, his death and that of Clark Gable almost put the election of a new president named Kennedy out of the headlines.

Bond's death also allowed Wagon Train to pioneer what Law and Order later perfected, the revolving change of regulars. Only Frank McGrath and Terry Wilson stayed with the show for the entire run.

Frank McGrath and Terry Wilson were a pair of stunt men who worked a whole lot for John Ford and though they had done some roles with dialog in front of the camera, Wagon Train made their faces familiar to the public. McGrath was funny little guy as cook Charlie Wooster who must have kept them all amused because the regulars were forever complaining about his lousy cooking.

Wilson played Bill Hawks and comments have been made about the horrible continuity Wagon Train had. It sure did and the most glaring example was that when the show first started, Hawks had a wife named Emily in that first season. She was not only dropped. but later on Hawks referred to himself as a bachelor. Couldn't do that today.

John McIntire replaced Bond and was more than adequate as the father figure wagonmaster. There was a good episode that introduced McIntire as a temporary and sadistic wagonmaster played by Lee Marvin takes over and at the same time, the train picks up McIntire who's just seen his family massacred by Indians. McIntire is a former wagonmaster and he and Marvin have a confrontation.

Robert Horton was scout Flint McCullough and several episodes featured him in the lead and they took him to the places he was scouting with guest stars there for him to interact with. Supposedly political differences were pretty rife between him and Bond. He quit as he was planning to do anyway as I remember even after Bond died. Bad career move though, he never got anything as good as Flint McCullough again.

After that a host of new regulars came on the show, Robert Fuller, Denny Miller, and Michael Burns. The train came to an end in 1965. I was sorry to see it end.

Hallmark channel runs Wagon Train sometimes, here's hoping they start them again.

Would like to know why Wagon Train is never shown in reruns. It was one of my favorite westerns and I would love to see the episodes again. I remember watching it every week with my Dad (who also loved westerns), in fact, the first time my future husband came to my house, we were watching Wagon Train, and he watched it with us, even though he didn't really care for westerns! It's a wonder we made it together, but we have been married now for 43, almost 44 years. I really preferred Ward Bond as the wagon master, but of course, he died and they had to replace him. Flint McCullough was my favorite character. I thought he had the most exciting role, being the one who always went ahead to check things out for the rest of the wagon train.