Buffalo Bill, Jr.

Overview

Jones was a native of Snyder in Scurry County south of Lubbock on the Texas South Plains; the series, however, is set in southwestern Texas near the Rio Grande River, the boundary with Mexico. In the series format, he is cast as Buffalo Bill Jr., with Nancy Gilbert as his younger sister, Calamity, who at the age of twelve is training to be a telegraph operator at the station at nearby Wiley Junction. The two were orphaned years earlier in the Black Hills of South Dakota following a massacre of their wagon train. The children were rescued and adopted by Judge Ben "Fair and Square" Wiley, played by Harry V. Cheshire, whom they often called "Uncle Ben". Cheshire was an older character actor originally from Emporia, Kansas. With a raspy voice, he frequently played the parts of bankers and western townsmen but occasionally outlaws too. Judge Wiley is also a diversified frontier businessman. The sign on his shop reads, "Wileyville General Store / Groceries - Hardware - Dry Goods / Judge Ben 'Fair 'n' Square' Wiley, Prop. / Justice of the Peace / Town Marshal / Physician & Surgeon / Blacksmith / Haircuts - Legal Advice / By Appointment Only". Wiley brings Bill and Calamity to fictional Wileyville, a Texas town which he founded himself.

The children were renamed for Buffalo Bill Cody and Calamity Jane, respectively. In reality, there was no Buffalo Bill Jr.; William Frederick Cody had four children, two of whom died young, including Kit Carson Cody. In the script, Bill is twenty-eight and the Wileyville marshal committed to upholding the law and the pursuit of justice. An athlete and an equestrian in real life, even a trick roper as a small child, Jones did most of his stunts for the series on his horse, Chief.

Bob Woodward appeared in twenty episodes as a stagecoach driver. The program was among the creations of Gene Autry's Flying A Productions. All episodes of Buffalo Bill Jr. were filmed at the Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley of southern California.

In 1964, Buffalo Bill Jr. was rebroadcast for a year on the ABC Saturday morning schedule.

Selected episodes

In the series debut, "Fight for Geronimo", Chief Thundercloud portrays the Apache Geronimo. In the story line, Bill and Calamity uncover a plot to release Geronimo from the custody of the United States Army so that the culprits can capture him and obtain reward money.

In "Red Hawk", Michael Hall plays the title role, the adopted Indian son of Jess Sundy, portrayed by Stanley Andrews, the host of Death Valley Days who appeared in different roles in six episodes of Buffalo Bill Jr. In the story line, Sundy seeks a freight contract with a mining company to fulfill his life dream that he enter into business with his son, Red Hawk. One of Sundy's rivals tries to gain the contract himself by using racial prejudice to frighten the company owner into avoiding Sundy. Hall subsequently appears as another Indian, Running Deer, in the episode "Rails Westward". Stanley Andrews appears in this episode as businessman Silas Greeley, who purchases a stagecoach line soon to become worthless with the progress of the extension of the railroad to Wileyville.

In "The Black Ghost" a masked outlaw seeks to steal the land of a prosperous rancher. Other episodes feature some of the best-known names of the Old West who just happen to pass through Wileyville. In " Trail of Killer", an affable Billy the Kid (Chuck Courtney) visits the town while eluding a posse led by Sheriff Pat Garrett of Lincoln County, New Mexico Territory. At least two episodes, including "Runaway Renegade", focus on former members of the Jesse James gang. In "First Posse", Buffalo Bill Jr. meets Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday as they pursue an outlaw gang in southwest Texas. Other segments introduce the outlaws Kid Curry, Johnny Ringo, Butch Cassidy, and the Wild Bunch, long before the television series Alias Smith and Jones and Johnny Ringo and the 1969 film, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Other guest stars

Comic book

The Buffalo Bill Jr. Dell Comics series ran for thirteen issues from January 1956 to August–October 1959. The first six issues appeared in Dell's catch-all nigh-weekly comic book, Four Color Comics #673,742,766,798,828,856. It appeared under its own numbering for issues #7-13. Art by Mike Sekowsky. The final issue was written by Gaylord Du Bois. Jones was featured on the cover of the comic books.