In 1861 East Texas, young farmer Stewart Petersen (as Jimmie D. Richardson) wants to marry maturing "Brady Bunch" daughter Maureen McCormick (as Rose of Sharon). Her big brother Buck Taylor (as Bovey Kingman) does not approve. The prospective couple also has trouble obtaining permission from Ms. McCormick father, wealthy rancher and politician Henry Wilcoxon (as Trevor Kingman). He has a rivalry with Mr. Petersen's poorer goat-herder father Ken Curtis (as Jed Richardson). A fatal gunshot triggers Petersen becoming a "Pony Express Rider" in search of justice...
This is mainly Petersen versus Mr. Taylor, with a series of "guest stars" acting expectedly. Dub Taylor (as Boomer Riley) was my pick for best. Petersen might have done well with a Disney contract. Director Robert Totten and the gang would have had more mileage if this were a CBS-TV Monday night movie special - grabbing some of the recently departed "Gunsmoke" audience, who were moving in droves to "Little House on the Prairie". Of course, they may have tried that
**** Pony Express Rider (11/76) Robert Totten ~ Stewart Petersen, Buck Taylor, Henry Wilcoxon, Maureen McCormick
