When Cheyenne Bodie rides into Trail Cross, he's accosted by three men who, like so many before them, are itching for a fight with him in particular. Unlike others who have tried to beat up the Big Guy the minute they lay eyes on him, however, these three are just trying to distract everyone so the fourth member of their gang can rob the bank. Cheyenne is deputized to bring back the robber while his three confederates sit in jail as "material witnesses," as the sheriff quotes Dakota law. He has only three days to find the fourth gang member before the others are released.
He finds Curley Galway defending himself against Sioux tribesmen who also have an interest in the $4000 stolen from the bank. To avoid another Sioux attack, they must take the long way back to Trail Cross. On the way, when scouting ahead on foot, Bodie triggers a bear trap and is injured. Curley helps free him and takes him to his family's ranch nearby, then rides off for the doctor, leaving Cheyenne in the care of his bossy sister Nora. Later, he meets Curley's father Pat and learns that XL Ranch is trying to take over the valley, including the Galway property. Cheyenne volunteers to do a little mediating after Pat is assaulted by two strangers that he is certain were sent by the XL's manager, John Beamer. Using his newly acquired knowledge of Dakota's "material witness" law, Cheyenne manages to bluff Beamer into helping Pat Galway. The final test of Curley's true character comes when his cohorts show up and demand he turn over the money, which will also mean betraying Cheyenne's trust.
Familiar faces are peppered throughout this episode, and there's something comforting in that. Even though he's in only a few scenes, Regis Toomey always lends an aura of amiable stability to any episode he's in, he's such a skilled veteran. Carlyle Mitchell is John Beamer, almost as sleazy a ranch manager as he was a judge in "The Trap." Robert Keys and Mike Ragan are reliable crooks, and Stuart Randal looks the part of a seasoned sheriff. Dependable Will Wright is the grumpy doctor who pulls wood slivers out of Cheyenne's arm. Curley's pretty but no-nonsense sister Nora is played nicely by Dawn Richard; her only other appearance in the series was in "Rendezvous at Red Rock," where she was Millie, who looked like she'd just stepped away from a Salvation Army kettle. Here, after taking care of two stubborn men most of her young life, Nora naturally takes charge of Cheyenne Bodie when he resists her order to rest, ignoring his protestations and shoving him onto the bed, proving yet again that those prairie home beds were not designed for a 6'6" frame. Of course, she's also noticed that he's a pretty fine lookin' fella. Although grateful for the help she gave and no doubt finding her an attractive young lady, he doesn't stick around long enough to encourage her. Richard Crenna was a little old for the part of a naïve young would-be robber, but he does well, and you can't help but sympathize with his situation. Knowing Cheyenne Bodie as the empathetic and resourceful character he is, there was no way this all-too-human drama couldn't help but work out all right.
As a side note, it's known that members of Clint Walker's family were on hand the day the bear trap scene was shot. It must have given them great satisfaction and pride to see how he had evolved from a hard-working, modest small-town Illinois lad into the most capable and charismatic--yet still unpretentious--of all the Western tv stars.
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