Wagons, Ho! - Uploading "Wagon Train" Eps comes to a close

For the past two years, I have worked at uploading episodes of Wagon Train to one of my YouTube channels. On Wednesday - September 18th - I finally uploaded the last episode! That means 284 episodes that made up 8 seasons.

Click photo to go to my YouTube channel.

 The first episode was aired 18 Sept 1957, with guest star Ernest Borgnine. The great Ward Bond played wagon master, Major Seth Adams. Robert Horton was the scout, Flint McCullough. Along with cook, Charlie Wooster (Frank McGrath), and helper, Bill Hawks (Terry Wilson), the wagon train travelled across the country over a space of nine months. Terry Wilson and Frank McGrath were stuntmen who doubled for Ward Bond in many of his films. Bond personally requested that they appear in the TV series.

Season 6 Stars

When Ward Bond died unexpectedly in the middle of Season 4, the series was suddenly in need of a new leader. For several episodes, Flint or Bill would be leading part of the train while the Major was "somewhere else". Finally a new wagon master arrived, Christopher Hale, who was played by veteran character actor, John McIntire. Robert Horton stayed with the series through Season 5, but then decided to move along. His role was filled by Denny Miller, who played scout Duke Shannon. Also, the final episode of the season brought young Barnaby West (Michael Burns) to join the cast for the last two seasons.

Season 7 Stars

Season Seven saw two major changes - they left the one hour, black & white shows for 1-1/2 hour colour episodes. Also, a new scout, Cooper Smith (Robert Fuller), was introduced. Season Eight saw a return to the hour-long black & white episodes and the exit of Duke Shannon. The last episode aired on 2 May 1965, with guest star Rory Calhoun.

With the very favorable ratings that Wagon Train received the first season, many stars made guest appearances in the following seven seasons. Bette Davis, Barbara Stanwyck, Ann Blyth, Dan Duryea, Ernest Borgnine,  Jeanne Cooper, Ronald Reagan, Carolyn Jones, Rhonda Fleming, Robert Ryan, William Bendix, Jan Sterling, Marjorie Main, Linda Darnell - just to name a few!

Robert Fuller

We discovered Wagon Train two years ago, when I was searching the internet for Ann Blyth movies. It said that she appeared in an episode in Season 2, so I ordered the whole season in from the library. As we liked old westerns, we thought that we would give it a try and decided to start from the beginning. We ended up really enjoying it and the laugh was that Ann Blyth's episode was the season finale! In the episode, The Jenny Tannen Story, she sang two songs which I really liked. So, I uploaded her two songs and a clip from another episode where Rhonda Fleming and Robert Horton sang part of the old song, "Cindy", onto one of my YouTube channels. That was on 14 Sept 2011. A couple of weeks later, I got a message though YouTube from someone who said that they enjoyed the songs so much, would I consider uploading the entire episodes. 

Robert Horton as Flint

On 11 Oct 2011, it all started! From then on, I have spent most of my computer's free time downloading, rendering and uploading WT eps. Now, almost two years to the day, I have finally finished the entire series! I renamed my channel along the way to "Wagons, Ho!" - the fabulous cry of Major Adams that ended most of the first four season episodes and was later carried on by other characters (although no one could do it as well as Ward Bond!). 

We have only watched the first three and a half seasons, but I have enjoyed seeing who would guest star in each episode as I would prepare it for uploading. It was fun spotting repeat guests and I really liked seeing how many famous British performers appeared! Dana Wynter, Michael Rennie, Joan Fontaine, Henry Daniell, Brian Aherne, Charles Laughton . . . Most were privileged enough to portray British characters, but I did find Dana Wynter playing an Indian princess and a Southern Lady!

There is one really fun episode in Season 4 - The Colter Craven Story. This episode was a slightly different WT show. Longtime friends John Ford, John Wayne and Ward Bond had worked together many times, but never where Ward Bond starred in the picture. John Ford always called Ward Bond the morning after the show aired and told him everything that was wrong with the show. Bond finally told the director that if he thought he could do better, than he should come over and try. Ford agreed, but on one condition. He had a new actor that he wanted to try on TV. Bond agreed. Of course, that actor was old buddy John Wayne (who appears under part of his real name - Michael Morrison). Sadly, Ward Bond died before this episode was aired. But it became a classic show for western fans to see the famous trio together for the last time. Ward Bond wears a completely different outfit for this episode because they cut in a lot of footage from John Ford's film, "Wagon Master" which starred Ward Bond. So, Bond had to wear the matching clothes for the show so that you would not see the differences between footage.

Ward Bond

Personally, I don't think the show was the same after Ward Bond was gone. Although we like John McIntire in films and he was a very solid character actor, I don't think that he had enough charisma  or a strong enough personality to be a good wagon train leader. He seemed to flounder just a bit. After Flint left, it seemed to drag even more, as there was no strong character left. I saw a few scenes with Robert Fuller, and he might be a good replacement scout, but I haven't seen enough of him. Ward Bond was one of those amazing actors who would be hard to follow.

Along the way, I have met some very nice people who have contacted me about different episodes. One lady was a wonderful help because she listed every episode in the first four seasons and helped me figure out which eps I hadn't uploaded! (I started just uploading favorite shows, but then when I decided to just upload all the episodes, it got a bit confusing. For the last four seasons I got a better system . . . I started at the first episode and worked all the way to the end!) People's nice comments, kind words and appreciation for the episodes made the task of uploading so many files a fun thing to do. So - many thanks to all those who took time to say "thank you"!

WAGON TRAIN CAST OF CHARACTERS:

Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond) -- Wagon master [S1-4]

Flint McCullough (Robert Horton) -- Scout [S1-5]

Frank McGrath (Charlie Wooster) -- Cook [S1-8]

Terry Wilson (Bill Hawks) -- Assistant wagon master [S1-8]

John McIntire (Christopher Hale) -- Wagon master [S4-8]

Denny Miller (Duke Shannon) -- Scout [S4-7]

Michael Burns (Barnaby West) -- Train wrangler [S6-8]

Robert Horton (Cooper Smith) -- Scout [S7-8]

In Season 2, the credits featured a theme song, written by Sammy Fain and Jack Brooks and sung by Johnny O'Neill. Throughout the run of the show, the theme music changed several times, but half of season two was the only time that the theme ever had lyrics.

(Roll Along) Wagon Train

Roll along, Wagon Train.

Rollin over prairie where there ain't no grass,
Rollin over mountain where there ain't no pass.
Sittin on a board, eye on the weather,
Prayin to the Lord, we stay together,
Side by side on the Wagon Train.

Wagon Train, roll along.

Pickin' up a passenger in every town,
Wonderin' if he's ever gonna shoot you down.
Lookin for a pal, ain't it a pity,
Lookin for a gal, needn't be pretty,
If she'll ride on the Wagon Train.

Wagons ho!

Gotta keep em on the run. Time to go!
And follow the sun. 

Roll along, Wagon Train.

Never had a cabin near a general store,
Only had a wagon and a forty four.
Sittin on a board, eye on the weather.
Prayin to the Lord,  we stay together
Sid by side on the Wagon Train ...