“Welcome to the McCain Ranch”

Come along with us to North Fork and see how I, Lucas McCain struggled to build a ranch and make a home for my son, Mark.
This program has two special qualities that set this above and apart from any other westerns series. First of course is the way I handle my rifle. But this program is more than the story of a rifleman fighting for justice. It's also a story of a father building a ranch for his son on the edge of the frontier. Ya' know I figure the job of guiding a boy through his formative years is a big & challenging responsibility. That's the way it is with me as The Rifleman as I teach Mark to appreciate the wild & beautiful country that surrounds him. To know the meaning of bravery & courage, and the necessity of tolerance and understanding. The wisdom behind justice and the physical skills necessity for a youngster living in untamed land before the turn of the century. Mark & I feel our stories have wide appeal but strong identification for every member of the family. This is true when I am fighting against an injustice, involved in the less violent adventure of building our ranch or watching and helping Mark as he goes through the often dangerous process that comes up. We hope you feel as we do.....

Chuck Connors.....Lucas McCain
Johnny Crawford.....Mark McCain

Paul Fix.....Marshal Micah Torrance
Harlan Warde.....John Hamilton/President of the North Fork Bank
John Harmon.....Eddie Halstead/Clerk/Owner of The North Fork Hotel
Bill Quinn.....Bartender/Owner of the North Fork Saloon.......Sweeney
Edgar Buchanan/Fay Roope/Rhys Williams/Jack Kruschen/Robert Burton/Ralph Moody/Bert Stevens/Dr. Who?.....Doc Burrage
Joe Higgins/John Dierkes/Frank Hagney/Henry Rowland/Karl Swenson....Nils Swenson/Blacksmith
Hope Summers............Hattie Denton/Owner General Store (1958 - 1960)
Joan Taylor......................Milly Scott/Owner General Store (1960 - 1962)

Patricia Blair.....Lou Mallory/Owner General Store/Madera House/a farm and several parcels of land (1962 - 1963)

The series ran from September 1958 to April 1963.
There were 168 episodes in all.

The Rifleman The First Season

1. The Sharpshooter (The Shooting Match).....After wondering the country for four years, Lucas and Mark finally find the ranch they'd been looking for, but the ranch comes with a price, and Lucas may have to decide between the ranch and his son's life!  Leif Erickson - Dennis Hopper - Sidney Blackmer - R.G. Armstrong - Charles Arnt - Mickey Simpson - Kathleen Mulqueen - Virginia Aldridge - Matthew McCue - Howard Wright - John Barton - Archie Butler - Jack N. Young - Bobby Somers - Jesse Wayne (9/30/58) Writer: Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Arnold Laven 
The Rifleman, originally aired on CBS on Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater on March 7, 1958 - Season 2 Episode #52. The title of the script for the pilot was The Shooting Match, but the program aired as Sharpshooter, with a slightly edited version debuting as the first episode of the series in the regular season; it was broadcast as The Sharpshooter on ABC on September 30, 1958.

2. Home Ranch.....After two of Oat Jackford's cowhands burn the McCain's house, drag Lucas, and steal his rifle, Lucas goes to hunt Jackford and his men to inform them that he and his boy are there to stay.  Lee Farr - Steve Rowland - Harold J. Stone - Rodolfo Hoyos Jr. - Don Kennedy - Jack N. Young - Bobby Somers (10/7/58)
Writer: Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Arnold Laven

3. End of a Young Gun.....When Mark gets caught on a mountain ledge, a young outlaw risks his life to rescue him and breaks his leg doing so.  Michael Landon - Charles Cooper - Joe Haworth - Carolyn Craig - Mel Carter - Jesse Wayne (10/14/58) Writer: Frank D. Gilroy ~ Director: Jerry Hopper    
"What five stars from Bonanza appeared on The Rifleman?"

4. The Marshal.....The notorious Shelton's ride into the town of North Fork to take revenge on an elderly Marshal who is now crippled and working for Lucas McCain.  James Drury - Warren Oates - Robert J. Wilke - R.G. Armstrong - Abby Dalton - Bill Quinn - Bert Stevens - Archie Butler - Jesse Wayne (10/21/58)
Writer & Director: Sam Peckinpah

5. The Brother-in-law ♫.....Johnny Gibbs, Lucas McCain's brother-in-law, visits the McCain ranch. Gibbs, a rodeo rider wanted by the law, begins stirring up trouble.  Jerome Courtland - Charles Watts - Karl Lukas - Daniel White - Fay Roope - Carol Henry - Archie Butler - Bobby Somers - Jesse Wayne (10/28/58)
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Arnold Laven
  Jimmy Crack Corn

6. Eight Hours to Die.....A bitter judge kidnaps Mark and plans to kill him to avenge his own sons hanging while Lucas watches.  George Macready - Russell Collins - Hope Summers - Marilee Phillips - Irving Mitchell - Bobby Crawford Jr. - Bud Osborne - Jack N. Young - Bobby Somers - Fred Aldrich - Paul Kruger (11/4/58)
Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Arnold Laven

7. Duel of Honor.....A stagecoach breaks down and an Italian nobleman. Count Di Montova is stranded overnight in North Fork. The count soon accept a challenge for a gun duel.  Cesare Danova - Jack Elam - Glenn Strange - John Dierkes - Joe Bassett - John Harmon - Bill Quinn - Archie Butler - Robert H. Robinson - Jesse Wayne - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave -
Spec O'Donnell - Les Raymaster (11/11/58) Writer: Ken Kolb ~  Director: Joseph Lewis

8. The Safe Guard.....The first bank in North Fork is opening, and a Texas gunfighter is hired to guard the safe, but a gang of bank robbers are in town who knows the new employee at the bank.  Claude Akins - Marc Lawrence - Sidney Blackmer - Harlan Warde - Hope Summers - Dennis Cross - Mel Carter - Fritz Ford - Robert H. Robinson - Bob Woodward - Jesse Wayne - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave - John Breen - Prudence Beers (11/18/58)
Writer: David Swift ~ Director: Joseph Lewis

9. The Sister.....Mark tries to set Lucas up with a pretty young woman he thinks would make a perfect wife for his Pa. Lucas soon finds himself contending with the two brothers of this young woman as well as some outlaws bent on killing him.  Dan Blocker - David Tyrell - John Dierkes - Lance Fuller - Michael Morgan - Mort Mills - Sherry Jackson - Hope Summers - Michael Harris - Bob Woodward - Archie Butler - Fritz Ford - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave (11/25/58)
Writer & Director: Montgomery Pittman
"What five stars from Bonanza appeared on The Rifleman?"

10. New Orleans Menace.....A gambling czar, fleeing from New Orleans, stops at the McCain ranch with his following of bodyguards, henchmen and gamblers and decides to take the ranch off of Lucas' hands.  Harlan Warde - Akim Tamiroff - Michael Pate - Hope Summers - Jerry Oddo - Galvan DeLeon - Jack Tornek - Bobby Somers - Archie Butler - Robert H. Robinson - Jesse Wayne (12/2/58) Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven

11. The Apprentice Sheriff.....Not taking the advice he gave Mark that morning, Lucas gets involved in trying to help a young West Point reject who is standing in as Marshal and soon finds the town in the middle of a gun fighting disaster.  Edward Binns - Fritz Ford - William Bryant - Grant Richards - Robert Vaughn - Russell Collins - Jimmy Noel - Forrest Burns - Elyse Gordon - Steven Gardner - Archie Butler - Fritz Ford (12/9/58) Writer: Barney Slater ~ Director: Arthur Hiller

12. The Angry Gun.....Lucas and Mark are riding the stage, returning from a cattle sale when the stage is robbed by three outlaws. After the outlaws take his money, Lucas sends Mark on in the stage while he goes after the outlaws without his rifle!  Vic Morrow - Leo Gordon - Gregory Walcott - Harry Hickox - Kathleen Mulqueen - Joe Quinn - Jesse Wayne - Fritz Ford (12/23/58) Writer: Samuel A. Peeples ~ Director: David Swift  

13. The Young Englishman.....Lucas McCain accuses the young foreman of a neighboring ranch of rustling one of his calves.  Allen Case - Dick Rich - James Coburn - Ted de Corsia - Bobby Somers - Jesse Wayne (12/16/58) Writer: Arthur Weiss ~ Director: Arnold Laven

14. The Gaucho.....Lucas helps an Argentina family who are new to North Fork when the other people make fun of them, but teaching his son that people who are different are as good as Americans may not be as easy as he thinks.  Perry Lopez - Lawrence Dobkin - Bobby Crawford Jr. - Chana Eden - Stuart Randall - Harlan Warde - Dennis Cross - Morris Lippert - Loren Janes - Archie Butler - Montie Montana - Robert H. Robinson - Jesse Wayne - "Ernie" Who? (12/30/58)
Writer: Bruce Geller ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
  
15. The Pet.....Lucas allows Mark to take in a horse left homeless after his owner is killed in an unfair gunfight, but Lucas soon discovers a horrible reality about the horse and races to save Mark's life while fighting off a gunfighter who doesn't want his secret to be exposed.  Robert J. Wilke - Edgar Buchanan - Bill Erwin - Hal Jon Norman - Penelope Sue Carver - Robert H. Robinson - Archie Butler - Jesse Wayne - Fritz Ford (1/6/59) Writer: Ken Kolb ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis

16. The Sheridan Story.....Wanting to teach Mark a lesson in tolerance and acceptance, Lucas hires an injured and bitter confederate soldier to work on his ranch, but when a Union army comes to stay the night as well, trouble erupts.  Lawrence Dobkin - Royal Dano - Frank Wilcox - William "Bill" Megis - Alden 'Stephen' Chase - Fritz Ford  - Bobby Somers (1/13/59) Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven

17. The Retired Gun.....A famous gunman promises his new bride that he will retire from gun fighting and settle in North Fork, but five outlaws try to make him break his promise.  Robert Webber - Eileen Harley/Amanda Ames - Jack Kruschen - Duke Snider - John Anderson - Herman Rudin - Joe Mell - Bobby Somers - Milan Smith - Jesse Wayne (1/20/59) Writer: Barney Slater ~ Director: Arnold Laven
 
18. The Photographer.....When a photographer, an old friend of the McCain's, is accused of murder, Mark and Lucas find themselves on opposite sides against each other.  John Carradine - Sidney Blackmer - Raymond Bailey - Robert Ellenstein - Matthew McCue - George DeNormand - Brick Sullivan - Bobby Somers - Jesse Wayne - Rudy Doucette - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave - Frank McClure - Prudence Beers - Rick Warick (1/27/59) Writer: Ken Kolb ~ Director: Arnold Laven

19. Shivaree.....A wagon train master forces a young couple to marry after they hide the fact that one is a girl, and Lucas takes them in to help them; but trouble soon arises when a drunken crowd calls for a Shivaree.  Luana Anders - Paul Carr - Morris Ankrum - John Anderson - Olive Carey - Edgar Dearing - William Bryant - Bob Woodward - Chick Hannon - Foxy Callahan - Milan Smith - Whitey Hughes - Jesse Wayne - "Ernie" Who? - Jimmie Booth (2/3/59)
Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis

20. The Deadeye Kid.....Without telling his father, Mark helps a boy from Brooklyn hide from the law when the boy is accused of murder.  Douglas Spencer - Kip King - Jason Johnson - Glenn Strange - Rod McGaughy - Bob Woodward - Jesse Wayne (2/10/59) Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: Jerry Hopper

21. The Indian.....U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart arrives in North Fork to look for Indians who are suspected in the brutal murder of a Ranger and his family.  Michael Ansara - Herbert Rudley - Lewis Charles - Frank DeKova - Mickey Simpson - Leonard P. "Lenny" Geer - Robert Chadwick - Eddie Little Sky - Ethan Laidlaw - Whitey Hughes - Bill Quinn - Carol Henry - Hal Needham - Bob Woodward - Archie Butler - Bobby Somers - Milan Smith - Jesse Wayne - Jimmie Booth - John Breen - Rudy Doucette - "Ernie" Who? (2/17/59) Writer: Cyril Hume ~ Director: Arnold Laven - This is the pilot for the series Law of the Plainsman.

22. The Boarding House.....Julia Massini, a reformed gambler, runs a respectable boarding house in North Fork, but her old boss shows up and tries to force her to turn her place into a gambling house.  Katy Jurado - Alan Baxter - Harlan Warde - Sarah Selby - Kay Cousins - Peggy Maley - Charles Fredricks - Charles SeelBill Quinn - Charles Tannen - Guy Wilkerson - Lovyss Bradley - Fritz Ford - Jesse Wayne (2/24/59) Writer & Director: Sam Peckinpah

23. The Second Witness.....After the first witness in a murder case is killed, Lucas agrees to testify in order to convict a murderer, but there is someone out there who wants the prosecution stopped, and they’ll stop at nothing. Mark and the town folks try to talk Lucas out of testifying.  Edgar Buchanan - Michael Pate - Bobby Crawford Jr. - Hope Summers - Bill Catching - Robert Foulk - William "Bill" Megis - Fritz Ford - Jesse Wayne  - Archie Butler - "Ernie" Who? (3/3/59)
Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Lewis Allen
 
24. The Trade.....After falling in love with a sick young women, Sam Morley, a man wanted by the law, asks his friend Lucas McCain to turn him in and give the reward money to Beth to pay for the medical help which she needs.  Paul Richards - Edgar Buchanan - Katherine Bard - Chris Alcaide - Dan Sheridan - Michael Fox - John Harmon - Whitey Hughes - Jesse Wayne - Archie Butler - "Ernie" Who? (3/10/59) Writer: David Lang ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis

25. One Went to Denver.....Tom Birch, an old friend of Lucas McCain's, comes for a surprise visit and Mark is upset because he is a renown bank robber; but what Lucas doesn't know is that he plans to rob the North Fork bank.  Richard Anderson - Jack Kruschen - John Goddard - Lewis Charles - John Harmon - Ben Morris - Bill Quinn - Harlan Warde - Jesse Wayne - Chet Brandenburg - Archie Butler  - "Ernie" Who? (3/17/59) Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Lewis Allen

26. The Deadly Wait.....Dan Maury, released from Yuma prison, arrives in North Fork with the intent on getting even with Marshal Torrance, who helped send him to jail.  Edgar Buchanan - Lee Van Cleef - Bill Quinn - John Harmon - Archie Butler - Jesse Wayne (3/24/59) Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis

27. The Wrong Man.....A crooked marshal from another territory intentionally kills an innocent man so that he can collect the bounty money and blackmails the real outlaw.  Lyle Bettger - Robert H. Harris - Gordon Jones - Frank Sully - Fred Krone - Archie Butler - Roydon Clark - Jack Perkins - Tom Kennedy - Bobby Somers - Whitey Hughes - Fred Aldrich - Rod McGaughy - Fritz Ford  - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave (3/31/59) Writer: N.B. Stone Jr. ~ Director: Arnold Laven
 
28. The Challenge ♫.....An escaped killer holds Hattie and Micah hostage at the General Store to prove that he is still good with a gun.  Les Tremayne - Adam Williams - John Durren - Harlan Warde - Bill Quinn - Hope Summers - Michael Harris - John Maxwell - Mel Carter - Ian Murray - Whitey Hughes - Jimmie Booth - Fred Aldrich - Jesse Wayne - Jack Perry - "Ernie" Who? - King Mojave - Joe Polski (4/7/59) Writers: David Victor & Herbert Little ~ Director: Lewis Allen
The Ballad of Jake Pardee
 
29. The Hawk.....After saving Mark from a rattlesnake, the McCain's befriend a stranger; but the McCain's soon discover that he's not who he says he is.  Patrick McVey - John Anderson - Fred Aldrich - Whitey Hughes (4/14/59) Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Lamont Johnson

30. Three Legged Terror.....After an orphaned teen being raised by his abusive uncle wrecks havoc on the school, Lucas takes him in.  Dennis Hopper - John Hoyt - Patricia Barry - Robert Foulk - Bill Quinn - Larry Asmus - Whitey Hughes - Archie Butler - Jimmie Booth - "Ernie" Who? (4/21/59) Writer: Palmer Thompson ~ Director: William Conrad

31. The Angry Man.....A neighboring rancher refuses medical assistance when his son is seriously hurt in an accident because he blames doctors for the death of his wife.  Edgar Buchanan - George Matthews - Kim CharneyFritz Ford - Bob Woodward - "Ernie" Who? (4/28/59) Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Jerry Hopper
 
32. The Woman.....After a boy admits to his Pa that he and the school teacher are in love, the rancher chases the advocator for women's rights out of town; but Lucas wants to get at the truth.  Patricia Barry - Paul Carr - Mel Carter - James Westerfield - David Leland - Fern Barry - Hope Summers - Bill Quinn - Glenn Strange - Jack Younger - Leonard P. "Lenny" Geer - Joe Polski - Whitey Hughes - Archie Butler - Bobby Somers - Daniel Borzage - Rod McGaughy - "Ernie" Who? - Joe Polski (5/5/59) Writer: Pat Fielder ~ Director: Arnold Laven

33. The Money Gun.....Bookkeeper Asa Manning hires a professional gunman to provoke his client, a bully rancher who suspects him of embezzlement, into a gunfight.  Bert Freed - William Phipps - John Dehner - Jason Johnson - Earl Hodgins - Harlan Warde - Frank Hagney - Whitey Hughes - Archie Butler - Rod McGaughy - Fritz Ford - "Ernie" Who? - Jack Lowell (5/12/59) Writers: Bruce Geller & Sam Peckinpah ~ Director: Sam Peckinpah
  
34. A Matter of Faith.....Although a drought has forced local cowhands to seek work on a railroad construction project, railroad executives are afraid that their workers will desert them if they believe an old man's claim to have found a way to make rain.  Royal Dano - Parley Baer - Bing Russell - Michael Hinn - Rod McGaughy - Fred Aldrich - "Ernie" Who? (5/19/59) Writer: Harry Kronman ~ Director: Don Taylor
"What five stars from Bonanza appeared on The Rifleman?"

35. Blood Brother.....Lucas is surprised when Micah wishes death on a dying man he brings into North Fork. Then Lucas discovers that Micah holds a big secret.  Richard Devon - Rhys Williams - Ian Murray - Max Wagner - Kelton Garwood - Larry Perron - Whitey Hughes - Bobby Somers  - Fritz Ford - Archie Butler - "Ernie" Who? (5/26/59) Writers: Pat Fielder & Chuck Connors ~ Director: Arnold Laven

36. Stranger at Night.....Mark stumbles across a dead man and the only clue to his identity is a belt with the initials RM.
Thomas Gomez - Jack Hogan - Bill Quinn (6/2/59) Writer: David Lang ~ Director: Lewis Allen

37. The Raid.....A renegade band of Indians captures Mark and disappears into the hills of New Mexico.  Michael Ansara - Mike Forest - Robert Foulk - Pat Hogan - Robert Dix - Clancy Cooper - Mark Goddard - Forrest Draper - Hope Summers (6/9/59)
Writer: Harry Julian Fink ~ Director: Paul Landres   

38. Outlaw's Inheritance.....The towns' people question the reputation of Lucas when he is named in a will of a notorious outlaw. William Bishop - Dabbs Greer - Harlan Warde - Robert Foulk - Whitey Hughes - Fred Graham - George DeNormand - Clark Ross - Archie Butler - "Ernie" Who? - Whitey Hughes (6/16/59) Writers: Judy & George W. George ~ Director: Don Taylor

39. Boomerang.....Lucas takes in an orphan boy and teaches him how to use a gun, not knowing that the boy plans on killing the banker he believes is responsible for his father's death.  Lee Kinsolving - Dabbs Greer - Harlan Warde - Hope Summers - Whitey Hughes - Leonard P. "Lenny" Geer - Archie Butler - "Ernie" Who? (6/23/59)
Writer: Arthur Browne Jr. ~ Director: Joseph H. Lewis

40. The Mind Reader.....A young man accused of a murder he didn't commit, is finally cleared by the accidental discovery of a mind readerJohn Carradine - Sue Randall - Michael Landon - Charles Seel - William Schallert - James Chandler - Steve Ritch - John Harmon - Robert Bice - Vic Perrin - Whitey Hughes - Archie Butler - Ethan Laidlaw - Leonard P. "Lenny" Geer - Robert H. Robinson - Albert Cavens (6/30/59) Writer: Robert C. Dennis ~ Director: Don Medford
"What five stars from Bonanza appeared on The Rifleman?"

 2nd season     3rd season     4th season     5th season
 



Character Actors Index Page
Have you ever been watching TV or a movie and wondered who is that guy?

One Timers Only
This is a list of character actors whose has appeared on The Rifleman — One Time Only. Whether they have appeared one time only or 168 times, they are just as important as the main characters and/or anyone else involved in The Rifleman.

Bloopers Index
Chit Chat on bloopers and things worth mentioning!

The Rifleman episodes are OOOP! Hard to find!
For anyone who does not have all The Rifleman episodes & wish to purchase please check out The McCain Ranch's
Buyer Beware! page before purchasing any DVD's.

The Rifleman....."Welcome to the McCain Ranch" is a tribute to the cast, crew, the creators of the series and all the writers!

I want to personally thank Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions for all the great Westerns and their other great shows that have brought us hours of enjoyment!

And a special thanks to Herschel Burke Gilbert for that great Rifleman theme.
Have you seen the lyrics to the Rifleman theme?
Songs of The Rifleman
Can you name the episodes these songs were in?

"I tip my cowgirl hat to all of you!"

"Keep your sites on The Rifleman!
The Rifleman hits the 'mark' on ABC TV every week!

"This has been a Four Star Production"

Four Star Television, also called Four Star International, was an American television production company. The company was founded in 1952 as Four Star Productions, by prominent Hollywood actors Dick Powell, David Niven, Joel McCrea, and Charles Boyer. McCrea left the company soon after, and was replaced with Ida Lupino as the fourth star, even though she did not own any stock in the company.

"Hi! "I'm I maintain The McCain Ranch for Lucas & Mark."
Please feel free to contact me.

"Come along with me on a trip down memory lane. Sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy yourself as much as I am enjoying myself creating The McCain Ranch!"

*The original idea for Lucas telling the story of each episodes are from Cowgirl/Margie.
The original episodes were written by Cowgirl/Margie & revised/written by Michelle Palmer.
A special thank you to Michelle for all she has done for the ranch!  Lucas, Mark & I really appreciate it!
Please be sure to check out Mark's Memories, Mark's version of each episode written by Michelle Palmer.

Anything pertaining to The Rifleman on this website is copyrighted material in one way or another by Levy, Gardner & Laven Productions, the producers of The Rifleman.

The McCain Ranch was designed solely for entertainment purposes.

*No Financial gain is made from this website

Come and join us at
The McCain Ranch messageboard
Do you love The Rifleman as much as we do?
Take the trail to North Fork and stop by The McCain Ranch.
Sit a spell, have Sweeney draw you a beer or maybe a sarsaparilla, it's on the house!
We'd sure would love to chit chat with you a spell and hear your comments on this great show!
Lots of fun & games! How much do you know about this great show?
Come and join the fun!

Site Map
 around The McCain Ranch

I want to thank each and everyone for visiting The McCain Ranch!

 
 

This website was started 6/27/03