The BEST episodes of The High Chaparral

#1 - The Covey

Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/18/1968

Mexican bandit El Lobo breaks jail and plots to plunder the Cannon Ranch supplies to avenge his imprisonment by Manolito. When heavy rain prevents wagons from reaching the ranch with needed supplies, Buck, Billy Blue, and Manolito attempt to get a mule train through. El Lobo traps the group in an isolated canyon.

#2 - The Buffalo Soldiers

Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/22/1968

""A factual drama based on the 10th Cavalry, a Negro regiment formed in 1866. Lawlessness in Tucson brings martial law--and the 10th--into open conflict with the town's white populace and an army of outlaws. Members of the honorary 10th Cavalry, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, are featured in this episode."" (TV Guide)

#3 - New Hostess in Town

Season 3 - Episode 22 - Aired 3/20/1970

Victoria is kidnapped by outlaws and forced to work as a cantina waitress. Enroute to the Montoya Ranch with a large sum of cash for a cattle purchase, Victoria and Buck are overpowered by bandits Bates and Gideon who take her to an outlaw refuge and leave Buck stranded in the desert. Made to work as a cantina hostess for town boss Robbins, the stunning Victoria soon has the entire outlaw band vying for her attentions. She decides to play one man against the other in a plan to escape.

#4 - Trail to Nevermore

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/31/1969

Stranded in the desert following an attack by bandits, John, Victoria and Manolito add to their troubles when they seek shelter in what they assume to be a deserted ghost town. While on their way to town in a buckboard, John, Victoria and Manolito are accosted by renegades Bennett, Lippert and Moore who make off with valuables and horses, leaving John seriously hurt. Manolito locates a makeshift shelter in what appears to be a deserted community only to learn the hard way that the town has other residents, among them Marcum, an aging former lawman who resents intruders.

#5 - The Guns of Johnny Rondo

Season 3 - Episode 18 - Aired 2/6/1970

A former gunfighter's new life as a Cannon ranchhand is jeopardized by four enemies. Other Cannon ranchhands and Johnny's teen-age son, Dan, who are unaware of Johnny's reputation, misinterpret his refusal to wear a gun and otherwise go out of his way to avoid confrontation with anyone. Any doubts as to Rondo's courage are soon dispelled however, when he is challenged by three men out of his past.

#6 - The Lion Sleeps

Season 2 - Episode 25 - Aired 3/28/1969

Don Sebastian, wounded by a would-be assassin, plays on the sympathy of his family and friends in a scheme to gain control of the Cannon Ranch. On his pretended death bed, Don Sebastian extracts a promise from Manolito to marry Anita Santiago, a beautiful but headstrong neighbor in a plot to join the two ranchos. Victoria gives in to her father's wish to persuade John to sign the Cannon Ranch over to Manolito. Don Sebastian's plan begins to falter when Mano learns that his father is faking, and the assassin returns for a second attempt on Don Sebastian's life.

#7 - The New Lion of Sonora (2)

Season 4 - Episode 15 - Aired 2/19/1971

#8 - Too Late the Epitaph

Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 11/6/1970

Manolito is jailed in a case of mistaken identity on charges of holdup and murder. En route back to the Cannon ranch from a cattle purchase, Manolito is arrested when mistakenly identified as a member of a gang who held up a gold shipment hours earlier. He is released when an old friend Dave Redman, a fast-rising leader of the community in which Mano is being held, vouches for him. Later, when Mano finds himself framed for murder, he learns who his real friends are.

#9 - Only the Bad Come to Sonora

Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/2/1970

A half-breed Indian lad whose life has been saved by men of the Cannon ranch strives to repay the debt. John Cannon, Buck and Manolito intervene when ranchers Fraley and Henderson attempt to hang Wind, whom they accuse of rustling cattle. The boy's indebtedness later figures significantly in the defense against a series of mysterious and costly raids on a major cattle drive.

#10 - An Anger Greater Than Mine

Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/18/1970

Embittered former revolutionary Diego De La Paula leads his newly-formed army of liberation in a series of harassing raids on the vast lands and herds of the Cannons and Montoyas. He charges they won their wealth at the expense of his deposed hero, Maximilian. Aware of the seriousness and growing destructive power of the vengeful Diego, John Cannon and Don Sebastian Montoya join forces to thwart the attacks with a unique plan that results in a face-to-face confrontation between the elder Montoya and the self-styled liberator. good show

#11 - The Reluctant Deputy

Season 3 - Episode 21 - Aired 3/6/1970

Blue is the victim of a practical joke that finds him enlisted as a temporary lawman Tricked into being sworn in as a deputy marshal by Manolito and his Uncle Buck, Blue is forced to take the job seriously when the town's regular lawman departs leaving him in charge of the entire town. Blue's new authority enables him to exact a sweet revenge on Manolito and Buck.

#12 - The Lieutenant

Season 3 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/27/1970

Men of the Cannon ranch are caught in the middle of a confrontation between a neighboring rancher and a young cavalry officer determined to arrest him. When Lt. Jason Adams reveals his intent to bring in neighboring rancher Henry Simmons on a long-standing desertion charge, Billy Blue makes an ill-advised effort to warn Simmons and his daughter Martha. Resigned to giving himself up, Simmons prepares to do so but, fearing for her father's life, Martha reacts and provokes a military siege of their home.

#13 - Jelks

Season 3 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/23/1970

Joe, foreman of the Cannon Ranch, threatens to quit over John Cannon's mistrust of a new hired hand but later realizes that John's suspicions were well-founded. In need of new help for an upcoming cattle drive, Joe hires drifter Jelks, whose attitude and actions are questioned by the boss. Dissention erupts between John and his foreman over the new man, who inadvertently solves their differences by proving one of them wrong.

#14 - The Long Shadow

Season 3 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/2/1970

The Cannon Ranch faces wholesale resignations by hired hands because of a series of attacks on men and cattle by an unknown assailant. Convinced that the source of the fear is a former employee, John directs a search for the man. Cannon and his men are stunned on learning they have been tracking the wrong man after they find their quarry dead, victim himself of the mysterious marauder.

#15 - A Piece of Land

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/10/1969

After accidentally uncovering a silver deposit, an excited Buck Cannon wastes no time in talking Manolito into joining him in a major real estate investment. Unable to raise the down payment to Jeff Patterson, who has agreed to sell his ranch, Buck invites Manolito to be his financial backer for half-interest. After Victoria has turned over a priceless necklace to her brother for collateral on a loan, the new land owners learn hat their silver cache is worthless.

#16 - Tornado Frances

Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/11/1968

Buck Cannon's plans to open a saloon are threatened by a temperance group led by spirited Frances O'Tolle. Oscar Hipple sells his saloon to Buck, but conceals the fact it was wrecked by Miss O'Tolle's crusaders. Buck hires Warren Case to help restore the saloon and learns Miss O'Tolle started the crusade when she came West to marry Case, but found him drunk. She leads a second assault and Buck's deputized customers jail her for trespassing.

#17 - Feather of an Eagle

Season 2 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/7/1969

Billy is taken hostage by Apaches after he ignores Buck's advice and frees a white girl from them. Buck learns Apache leader Santos considers himself to be Sarah's husband. Buck hesitates to use force which would break the Cannon peace treaty with the Indians. Santos threatens Billy's life unless Sarah is returned.

#18 - A Man to Match the Land

Season 4 - Episode 18 - Aired 3/12/1971

Albert Salmi is the sole survivor of an Indian battle who decides to live as an Apache. Needing to fulfill an Army contract for the sale of horses, John Cannon, Buck, Manolito and Wind head for Indian country to round up a wild herd. Confronted by a tribe of embittered Apaches led by White Horse and Red Eagle, Cannon is allowed access to the herd only on condition that White Horse accompany the group with Buck left behind in the Apache camp.

#19 - The New Lion of Sonora (1)

Season 4 - Episode 14 - Aired 2/19/1971

Gilbert Roland guest stars as the surprise heir to the Montoya ranch in this special two-hour presentation. The sudden, peaceful passing of Don Sebastian Montoya brings his daughter Victoria, his son Manolito, John Cannon and Buck to the Montoya ranch to attend funeral services and to settle estate matters. All are amazed to learn the will leaves the vast Montoya holding to Don Sebastian's ne'er-do-well brother Don Domingo, a charming, irresponsible rascal currently living in Mexico City. Upon his return to the family home to claim his legacy, Domingo shocks the family by announcing he plans to sell the ranch and travel. A series of unexplained raids on his new-found cattle and property serves to uncover a little-known dimension of Don Domingo

#20 - A Matter of Vengeance

Season 4 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/27/1970

Embittered over the loss of his home and grandson in fire during a bandit raid, Casement vows to track down Reese, Gail and Wiley, the men responsible. He trails them to Tucson where his friends of the Chaparral offer to help, but the determined Casement wants to face the men alone.

#21 - Fiesta

Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/20/1970

En route to a bordertown fiesta, Buck invites trouble when he befriends a Mexican boy. Buck encounters Homero Jose, an itinerant promoter whose income comes from fights he stages between friendless Mexican youths for anyone willing to wager on the outcome. Repelled by the sight of 11-year-old Beto being beaten, Buck takes him away in hopes of finding him a new home; but a vengeful Jose takes up their trail, vowing to get the boy back.

#22 - The Forge of Hate

Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/13/1970

Efforts of a young Apache warrior to make peace with the white man are undermined by the belligerence of his long-embittered tribal chief. Determined to ease the ever-present threat of all-out war, youthful Two Pony negotiates a plan for peace with John Cannon whereby the Indian lad is temporarily housed at the High Chaparral to learn the blacksmith trade. His rebellious chieftain, Grey Wolf, thwarts the peace effort by carrying out a series of harassing attacks against Cannon and his herds.

#23 - A Good Sound Profit

Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/30/1970

John Cannon faces alienation of family and friends when he maintains his decision to aid a band of revolutionists. John Cannon, seeing a financial windfall in the sale of guns, ammunition and horses to ill-equipped Mexican rebels, negotiates with their leader over strong objections from his Mexican-born wife, Victoria, and her brother, Manolito. Even when Manolito elects to leave the Cannon ranch for good, John continues his profit-making deals despite the reaction of his family.

#24 - Wind

Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/9/1970

Returning home from a visit to her father's ranch, Victoria and her escorts Sam and Pedro find infant Joey, the only survivor of an Indian raid on his parent's wagon. When the boy's grandfather, Dan Casement, spared only because he had gone ahead to scout for water, insists on leaving with the child, a concerned Victoria balks, insisting that she can better care of the baby en route to the safety of the Cannon ranch. Relenting, Casement joins them in their slow trek across the desert while Indians stalk them, awaiting the best time to attack.

#25 - Spokes

Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/25/1970

Needing to get away temporarily from the rigors of ranch life, Buck chooses the raucous Fourth of July holiday for the time and the roughest town in the territory for the place Soon after his arrival in Spokes, a lawless community run by tough China Pierce, Buck witnesses a saloon shootout in which Pierce's son Bud is killed by Jones, an old friendless trapper who is seriously wounded. Although it was a fair fight, cowering townspeople refuse to help Jones, so Buck goes to the man's aid and then mounts a vigil to await the inevitable explosive confrontation with Pierce.