Law of the Plainsman

Law of the Plainsman
Michael Ansara as Sam Buckhart.
Starring	Michael Ansara Gina Gillespie Robert Harland Dayton Lummis Nora Marlowe
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	30
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Release
Original network	NBC
Picture format	Black and white (1959-1960)
Original release	October 1, 1959 (1959-10-01) – September 22, 1960 (1960-09-22)

Law of the Plainsman is a Western television series starring Michael Ansara that aired on NBC from October 1, 1959, until September 22, 1960.^[1]

The character of Native American U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart was introduced in two episodes ("The Indian" and "The Raid") of the popular ABC Western television series The Rifleman starring Chuck Connors. As with The Rifleman, this series was produced by Four Star Productions in association with Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions .^[2]

Law of the Plainsman is distinctive in that it was one of the few television programs that featured a Native American as the lead character, a bold move for U.S. network television at that time. Ansara had earlier appeared in the series Broken Arrow, having portrayed the Apache chief, Cochise. Ansara, however, was not Native American but of Syrian descent.

Plot[]

Ansara played Sam Buckhart, an Apache Indian who saved the life of a U.S. Cavalry officer after an Indian ambush. When the officer died, he left Sam money that was used for an education at private schools and Harvard University. After school, he returned to New Mexico where he became a Deputy Marshal working for Marshal Andy Morrison. He lived in a boarding house run by Martha Commager. Other continuing characters include 8-year old Tess Wilkins, an orphan who had been rescued by Buckhart, and a second Deputy Marshal, Billy Lordan.

Cast[]

• Michael Ansara as Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart

Recurring[]

• Gina Gillespie as Tess Wilkins (15 episodes)
• Dayton Lummis as Marshal Andy Morrison (9 episodes)
• Nora Marlowe as Martha Commager (7 episodes)

Guest cast[]

Episodes[]

Production[]

Filming[]

The series was produced by Four Star Television and was filmed at CBS Studio Center.

Syndication as The Westerners[]

The show only lasted one season. For syndicated reruns it was grouped with three other short-lived Western series from the same company, Black Saddle starring Peter Breck, Johnny Ringo starring Don Durant and Sam Peckinpah's critically acclaimed creation, The Westerner^[3] starring Brian Keith, under the umbrella title The Westerners, with new introductions and wrap-ups by Keenan Wynn.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Law of the Plainsman.

• Law of the Plainsman at IMDb
• McNeil, Alex. Total Television (1996). New York: Penguin Books ISBN 0-14-024916-8
• Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Earle, The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows (1999). New York: Ballantine Books ISBN 0-345-42923-0