Death Valley Days (1952)
Death Valley Days is an American radio and television anthology series featuring true stories of the old American West, particularly the Death Valley area. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program was broadcast on radio until 1945 and continued from 1952 to 1970 as a syndicated television series, with reruns continuing through August 1, 1975. The series was sponsored by the Pacific Coast Borax Company and hosted by Stanley Andrews, Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor, and Dale Robertson. With the passing of Dale Robertson in 2013, all the former Death Valley Days hosts are now deceased.
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Episode 1 - Olvera
Release Date: 1959-10-01A Mexican official must decide between his fellow caballeros and his obligations to the U.S. Government during the annexation of California.
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Episode 2 - "Gates Ajar" Morgan
Release Date: 1959-10-15A man goes too far promoting a phony religious philosophy based on the novel "The Gates Ajar", and must admit the truth if he is to save his friend and benefactor from a lynch mob.
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Episode 3 - Sam Kee and Uncle Sam
Release Date: 1959-10-27Sam Kee, ostracized because he's Chinese, finds refuge at a fort after saving a soldier's life. He makes himself useful and befriends Lt. Burke who needs help after Apaches repeatedly steal the payroll. Sam is able to come to the aid of his benefactors.
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Episode 4 - The Grand Duke
Release Date: 1959-11-03Russian Grand Duke Alexis is touring the West and the government assigns Buffalo Bill as his guide. The frontiersman objects but ends up bonding with the royal. An encounter with hostile Indians cements the friendship.
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Episode 5 - Fair Exchange
Release Date: 1959-11-13Charlie and Phoebe Stoner are having hard times because of his drinking. Major Bullock arrives from the East willing to grubstake Charlie to learn his mining expertise. When valuable items disappear Bullock suspects Charlie but there's a simpler solution.
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Episode 6 - The Scalpel and the Gun
Release Date: 1959-11-17Dr. Tom Bell stays out west after the Mexican American War but his belief in himself is gone. When a patient of his dies unexpectedly his medical practice is ruined and he thinks his only choice is to join with criminal elements.
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Episode 7 - Indian Emily
Release Date: 1959-11-26After an army skirmish with hostile Indians prisoners arrive at the fort including an ill girl. Mrs. Easton nurses her to health and she adopts the Anglo ways but leaves after falling in love with Tom. She returns only to perform a heroic act.
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Episode 8 - Hang 'Em High
Release Date: 1959-11-26Two competing teams race to complete a cross country telegraph line, aiding the Union cause. Also at stake is a bonus so when sabotage takes place suspicions grow. But Hudson learns it's Confederate sympathizers at work.
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Episode 9 - Tribal Justice
Release Date: 1959-12-10The son of an Indian chief accused of the murder of a fellow tribesman faces trial.
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Episode 10 - The Little Trooper
Release Date: 1959-12-10The MacArthur family arrive at Ft. Selden their new post in frontier Arizona. In the midst of hostile Apache actions the young Douglas falls under the watchful eye of Norkul who risks everything to protect the future commanding general.
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Episode 11 - Ten Feet of Nothing
Release Date: 1959-12-24During a drunken evening in town, a miner gives a pretty saloon-singer half-interest in his apparently worthless claim, only to learn that the surrounding property contains a vein of valuable ore.
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Episode 12 - Lady of the Press
Release Date: 1959-12-24Mike Ward arrives in Carson City and immediately clashes with newspaper owner Lauri Frick. He establishes a rival paper both working to improve things in frontier Nevada. What Lauri doesn't realize is who her secret contributor is.
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Episode 13 - The Reluctant Gun
Release Date: 1959-12-26When artistic Billy Jackson is threatened by gunslinger Corbett, he shoots him in the back. Famed lawyer Temple Houston is asked to take Billy's case but because the crime took place with many witnesses Houston must work a miracle.
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Episode 14 - His Brother's Keeper
Release Date: 1960-01-09Edwin Booth arrives in Downieville to do a Shakespearean show 6 months after his brother assassinated Lincoln. Town tough Rogan and his cronies try to prevent the performance. It's up to Jeb Hayes to show his son to stand up for what's right.
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Episode 15 - The Devil's Due
Release Date: 1960-01-21Tom Dixon, formerly an outlaw, is trying to change his ways and marry his sweetheart. But he's wanted for a past bank robbery and the reappearance of fellow gang member Cassidy make it difficult to avoid trouble.
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Episode 16 - Money to Burn
Release Date: 1960-01-22Carl, a destitute vagabond, stumbles upon $50,000 in Wells Fargo loot. He lives it up in a fine hotel but also sharing the money with those in need. He doesn't realize the original thief Browning and Hume, a bank detective, are on his trail.
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Episode 17 - Dogs of the Mist
Release Date: 1960-02-06Steve Hewitt accidentally kills the dogs of miner Tully who had sent a desparate message. Haunted by his mistake he searches for the man while his friends suspect him of hiding a lucrative mine. Steve is guided by mysterious howling.
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Episode 18 - A Wedding Dress
Release Date: 1960-02-13Marshall Bill Tilghman works in 1890's Oklahoma territory trying to bring in the Doolin gang. He methods are questioned when he first offers amnesty but gets sidetracked when he does a bride a favor, putting his job in jeopardy.
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Episode 19 - Shadows on the Window
Release Date: 1960-02-18Lew Wallace is governor of New Mexico territory during Billy the Kid's murderous time in the 1880's. While dealing with threats to his life, worries of his family, he manages to write a novel that would become biblical best-selling Ben Hur.
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Episode 20 - The Battle of Mokelumne Hill
Release Date: 1960-02-19California imposes a monthly tax on immigrant miners in the 1850's gold boom. Most groups grudgingly respond but the French resist violently. Lt. Bradshaw is tasked with enforcement despite his sympathy for the miners.
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Episode 21 - The Strangers
Release Date: 1960-03-03A hate-filled drifter threatens successful rancher John Gaunt and his family.
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Episode 22 - Goodbye Five Hundred Pesos
Release Date: 1960-03-03In the years after California's conquest, an Army commander grapples with hostile citizens.
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Episode 23 - Forbidden Wedding
Release Date: 1960-03-17A couple face opposition to their marriage: the governor of California, whom the woman once rejected.
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Episode 24 - One Man Tank
Release Date: 1960-03-17Prospector "Dutch" Charley Koehn (John Bleifer)searches for gold for many years, but never finds any. He decides to settle down and buys a goat farm...and strikes it rich when he finds gold on the property.
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Episode 25 - The Man on the Road
Release Date: 1960-03-30John Raitt plays a drifter who befriends a boy whose father has been jailed for horse theft.
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Episode 26 - The Man Everyone Hated
Release Date: 1960-04-01A general planning to house Indians on a reservation finds himself hated by white men and red men alike.
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Episode 27 - The General Who Disappeared
Release Date: 1960-04-08The going gets rough for a corrupt politician. The governor of Montana has launched a reform campaign.
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Episode 28 - The Million Dollar Pants
Release Date: 1960-04-13The saga regarding the need for and development of blue jeans during the California gold rush by Levi Strauss.
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Episode 29 - Pirates of San Francisco
Release Date: 1960-04-14A sailor, a barmaid and a newspaperman join forces to clean up a lawless city.
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Episode 30 - A Woman's Rights
Release Date: 1960-05-01Bethel Leslie plays America's first female judge, who loses her life savings and her husband in a fight against corruption.
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Episode 31 - Eagle in the Rocks
Release Date: 1960-05-10Townspeople plan a vendetta when a Mexican outlaw is accused of killing four miners.
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Episode 32 - Cap'n Pegleg
Release Date: 1960-05-12A vengeful sea captain goes after the sailors he holds responsible for the loss of his leg.
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Episode 33 - Emma Is Coming
Release Date: 1960-05-24A singer wants to chuck it all and go home.
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Episode 34 - Human Sacrifice
Release Date: 1960-06-02An Indian chief's young widow fights an ancient ritual requiring her to be killed following her husband's death.
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Episode 35 - Pete Kitchen's Wedding Night
Release Date: 1960-06-07Cameron Mitchell plays Pete Kitchen, a stubborn Arizona pig rancher battling Indians on his wedding night.
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Episode 36 - Mission to the Mountains
Release Date: 1960-06-09On a peace mission, a rancher and an Indian meet a prospector who thinks they're after his gold.
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Episode 37 - The Great Lounsberry Scoop
Release Date: 1960-06-24Colonel Lounsberry is selected by General Custer to be the only newspaperman to travel with the troops leaving on a campaign against the Sioux.
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Episode 38 - Somewhere in the Vultures
Release Date: 1959-10-15A former prospector is hired by a young woman to find her fiance, who became lost in the mountains while searching for gold.