Series Description

The Law of the Plainsman TV show was a 30 minute western drama series on NBC about an American Indian who, as a youth, had helped a U.S. Cavalry Captain get his health back after being ambushed by other Indians. The Captain died two years later and left the Indian enough money to pay for a college education! He then returned home, became a Deputy U.S. Marshall, and did his best to improve relations between the Indians and the White Man.

Law of the Plainsman Cast

Michael Ansara .... Deputy Marshal Sam Buckhart
Dayton Lummis .... Marshal Andy Morrison
Nora Marlowe .... Martha Commager
Gina Gillespie .... Tess Logan

Law of the Plainsman Trivia

The Law of the Plainsman TV show was a "spin-off series" of "The Rifleman". Both of the Law of the Plainsman's two pilot episodes (see below) aired on that series.

The money that the Plainsman inherited was sufficient to send him to private schools and then to Harvard University!

The Plainsman had been born an Apache. The series' storyline took place in the 1880s in the New Mexico Territory.

In one way the Plainsman was torn between the Indian culture and that of the White Man. He had immense belief in the U.S. Constitution and how it ensured rights for the individual but realized that his American Indian friends and relatives were not given any of those rights! He felt that the only way that everyone would be able to live together peacefully was if the Indians were treated fairly and equally by the law.

ABC aired reruns of this NBC series two years after it ended, during the summer of 1962.

Most fans of the Law of the Plainsman TV show were thankful for the "Bat Masterson" TV series that came on the air right after Law of the Plainsman.

Episodes List With Original Air Dates

TV Pilot Episodes

The Indian (2/17/1959) (Episode #21 on "The Rifleman TV Show")
The Raid (6/9/1959) (Episode #37 on "The Rifleman TV Show")

Law of the Plainsman - The First and Only Season

1. Prairie Incident (10/1/1959)
2. Full Circle (10/8/1959)
3. A Matter Of Life And Death (10/15/1959)
4. The Hostiles (10/22/1959)
5. Passenger To Mescalero (10/29/1959)
6. Blood Trails (11/5/1959)
7. Desperate Decision (11/12/1959)
8. Appointment In Santa Fe (11/19/1959)
9. The Gibbet (11/26/1959)
10. The Dude (12/3/1959)
11. The Innocents (12/10/1959)
12. Clear Title (12/17/1959)
13. Toll Road (12/24/1959)
14. Calculated Risk (12/31/1959)
15. Fear (1/7/1960)
16. Endurance (1/14/1960)
17. The Comet (1/21/1960)
18. The Rawhiders (1/28/1960)
19. The Imposter (2/4/1960)
20. Common Ground (2/11/1960)
21. The Matriarch (2/18/1960)
22. A Question Of Courage (2/25/1960)
23. Dangerous Barriers (3/10/1960)
24. The Show-Off (3/17/1960)
25. Rabbit's Fang (3/24/1960)
26. Stella (3/31/1960)
27. Amnesty (4/7/1960)
28. Job's Daughters (4/14/1960)
29. Cavern Of The Wind (4/21/1960)
30. Trojan Horse (5/5/1960)