The Dakotas

Jack Elam's best role ever. Deputy J.D. Smith DID NOT take crap from anyone or any thing. When he sensed things were about to get tough, he shot old women, kids, dogs, cats, horses, tree stumps, preachers, shadows and, now and then, an outlaw. If an outlaw in the Dakota Territory had to make a choice between being captured by hostile Indians or facing J.D. Smith he might flip a coin, if he was really brave. If he was not really brave he'd run towards the hostile Indians. If this series had had Amanda Blake and Glenn Strange it might have run as long as Gunsmoke. Given the propensity of producers of "western" TV shows during this period of having a "good guy" or well meaning but troubled "good guy" in the leading role, (Jim Bowie, Sugerfoot, Johnny Yuma) this western series stood out bold enough to make a pablum fed audience, weaned on formula plots, really uncomfortable. It exhibits a whole new definition of "ahead of it's time."

Well said, patmyhill. I agree with all your points. Jack Elam was simply one of the best western actors of all time. It's so sad that public reaction to the Sanctuary at Crystal Springs episode shot such a fine series dead in the dust. The Dakotas makes other TV oaters like Gunsmoke and Bonanza look like soap operas. The episodes I've seen take me right back to '63. It's the only time I ever remember people on the bus talking in hushed tones about the episode shown the previous evening. As I recall, the blokes were delighted and a little shocked at the shootout, but I can't remember which episode they were discussing.

Does anyone know if the twentieth episode, Black Gold, is available on DVD or videotape? What a treat it would be to catch this missing segment. If only it had gone on to become the long-running series it deserved to be. Long live JD Smith!

Being born in 1940, by the time we got a tv it was the US western series that were being shown and I loved em all--'Maverick'--'Sugarfoot' and my special favourites 'Bronco' and 'Cheyenne', which I still remember with fondness, but it was this series that really impressed me, as I seem to recall it had a harder edge to it. Having only recently discovered imdb.com I was stunned but pleased to note that 3 of the above series are still available on video but was so disappointed that this series wasn't ---- how could you go wrong with anything in which the wonderful Jack Elam appeared. I still maintain that 'Support your local Sheriff/Gunfighter are two of the best films ever made. Oh for a time machine and a video!! God bless America for all the enjoyment you've given me over the years.

As an adolescent when this show debuted, I immediately fell in love with the character J.D. Smith, so adeptly played by Jack Elam. In the pilot ("A Man Called Ragan"), he was a gunfighter called in by Del Stark's stepfather to kill Frank Ragan, the Federal Marshal. Realizing that Ragan might have more to offer him than his boss, he decides to join the marshal's team (including young Del Stark and town constable Vance Porter) and begin bringing justice to the Dakota Territory. J.D. Smith is somewhat uneasy in his new role as a deputy, using wry humor as a means to temper his natural tendency to dispense his own brand of 'justice' to those who cross him or otherwise bully the downtrodden. Having seen some of the episodes recently, the stories are good, albeit some a bit preachy, but Jack Elam is absolutely delightful to watch. This character "made" the show and was clearly the forerunner to The Man With No Name and Dirty Harry, and nobody could have done it better than Jack Elam!

I was 8 years old when this was on. I don't remember too much about this show other than Jack Elam as J.D. Smith. I thought his character was real cool. He wasn't physically handsome like the other "good guys" on television at the time but the way that he portrayed his character and the way he walked made this 8 year old boy take notice. I just watched an episode that I have on tape and realize that this was a well-made western. Too bad that it didn't last longer.