Bonanza became one of NBC’s longest-running primetime dramas—a classic Western program with outstanding production, star-studded cast members, and compelling episodes. Bank Run, which debuted on January 28, 1961, was one of several second-season Bonanza episodes directed by Robert Altman. Moreover, N.B. Stone Jr. wrote this comic episode.

Ben Cartwright leaves Little Joe in charge of the Ponderosa as he and Adam go on a business trip. Later, he learns that Harrison (Ian Wolfe), the town banker, plans to incite bank panic to foreclose on a mining claim. Joe stages a bank robbery to foil Harrison’s plans, dragging an unwilling Hoss into his course of action.

Walter Burke plays Tim O’Brien, Wynn Pearce plays the Bank Teller, and Owen Bush plays Huggins for this episode.

Read on to see Bank Run‘s storyline and some behind-the-scenes facts, or watch the episode below.

Watch the Full Episode of Bank Run

Watch the Full Episode of Bank Run:

Main Cast

Aside from Bonanza’s lead characters, the second season’s nineteenth episode, Bank Run, also featured some of the series’ recurring and guest cast. The cast members include the following:

• Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
• Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
• Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
• Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
• Dan Tobin as Finch
• Wynn Pearce as Mr. Johnson
• Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee
• Walter Burke as Tim O’Brien
• Ian Wolfe as John J. Harrison
• Owen Bush as J.R. Huggins
• Arnold Merritt as Frank the Telegrapher
• Howard Wendell as Harrison’s Advisor
• Carl Milletaire as Harrison’s Advisor
• Mickey Finn as Mr. Miller
• Fred Aldrich as Townsman (uncredited)
• John Barton as Townsman (uncredited)
• Nick Borgani as Townsman (uncredited)
• Forest Burns as Townsman (uncredited)
• Michael Cirillo as Townsman (uncredited)
• Jaye Durkus as Townsman (uncredited)
• Betty Endicott as Townswoman (uncredited)
• Herman Hack as Townsman (uncredited)
• Chuck Hamilton as Townsman (uncredited)
• Al Haskell as Townsman (uncredited)
• Jimmie Horan as Owner of the Mules (uncredited)
• Michael Jeffers as Townsman (uncredited)
• Ethan Laidlaw as Townsman (uncredited)
• Jack Lilley as Townsman (uncredited)
• Martha Manor as Townswoman (uncredited)
• Tony Regan as Townsman (uncredited)
• John Rice as Townsman (uncredited)
• Cosmo Sardo as Bartender (uncredited)
• Tom Smith as Townsman (uncredited)
• Jack Tornek as Townsman (uncredited)
• Bruno VeSota as Madigan (uncredited)

Full Story Line for Bank Run

The episode starts with John J. Harrison’s desire to foreclose on a mining claim to make quick money. Later, Harrison revealed his interest in taking over the Ponderosa after.

Meanwhile, Ben puts Little Joe in charge while he and Adam leave the Ponderosa for a business trip. Adam thinks it’s not a good idea, but Ben believes it’s an opportunity to show Joe what responsibility means. As soon as they leave, Joe becomes obsessed with the authority he has, ordering Hoss around and making unnecessary decisions.

When Little Joe visits the telegraph office in Virginia City, he discovers that the city’s banker, Harrison, is intentionally closing their bank’s branch in Virginia City. They speak to Tim O’Brien to make him transfer his money to a different bank. However, he’s too drunk to understand what’s happening. Little Joe and Hoss decide to head over to the bank to ask about the bank’s status. While Hoss is on the lookout, Little Joe delivers the news to the bank manager, Mr. Huggins, and his assistant, Mr. Finch. However, Little Joe’s attempt to foil Harrison’s plan led to Joe and Hoss “robbing” the bank to protect its innocent depositors.

Sheriff Roy, Huggins, and Finch find it hard to understand why Hoss and Joe would rob the bank. However, unbeknownst to the sheriff, Huggins and Finch think the Cartwrights robbing their bank would benefit them greatly.

Meanwhile, sheriff Roy plans to send a message to the peace officers of every town to inform them that the two Cartwrights as wanted men. However, Joe orders Hoss to chop down one of the poles, cutting the connection to the telegraph office.

When Ben and Adam return from their business trip, they find WANTED posters for Joe and Hoss all over town. Uninformed about Joe’s plan, Ben and Adam rush to sheriff Roy’s office to find out what happened. Ben insists on taking the boys and returning what they’ve stolen.

Joe cashed the drafts from the Virginia City branch to the Placerville branch, intending to return the funds to Virginia City. They rested for the night before returning to the city. However, Huggins and Finch found them, robbing their horses and the cash they “stole.”

When Ben and Adam find Joe and Hoss, he reprimands them for what they did. He orders Joe and Hoss to surrender while he and Adam make arrangements to pay for what they stole.

Ben finds the townspeople at the bank, worried about their deposited money. He assures them they won’t lose a penny, even if paying back the robbed money would mean selling the Ponderosa. Once the people had left, Ben asked Johnson, the bank staff, for Huggins and Finch. Johnson revealed that the two went on a hunting trip. Ben finds it unbelievable, given the situation the bank has. He further asks about the stolen money, and Johnson reveals that the Cartwright boys stole a hundred thousand dollars in bonds.

Ben realized that his boys were telling the truth, so he visited the sheriff to report it. Adam backs him up by stating how odd it is for Huggins and Finch to go on a hunting trip after the robbery. Ben insists that Harrison plotted the situation but assures the sheriff that he’ll pay back every deposit even if he has to go broke.

Meanwhile, Joe and Hoss must work hard to recoup the stolen funds and regain their father’s favor. They return to the Ponderosa with their horses and the money from the bank. However, Ben finds out that they “borrowed” two mules, so he orders them to return and pay for renting them.

Ben returns to Virginia City with Adam to return the money. Harrison arrives at the bank, asking why it hasn’t closed, given his order. Johnson tells him that the bank has run out of money, enough reason to have it closed. Ben tells Harrison that if he tries to make another shady deal in Nevada Territory, he won’t hesitate to have him investigated and jailed.

Meanwhile, Joe and Hoss find themselves beaten up by the man who owned the mules they stole. They both learned that they’re better off as hired hands.

Full Script and Dialogue of Bank Run

[Music]

the claims that of the x's on them

belong to us mr harris

that is correct mr harrison uh we've

gotten control of all the silver claims

in the area uh but this one what where

why haven't we got that one too the

claim belongs to a stubborn irishman by

the name of tim o'brien

holmes has been unable to get him to

sell or negotiate in any manner

whatsoever don't negotiate

negotiation is the backbone of our

civilization force him to negotiate

i think i've got the exit chief

item number one

tim o'brien has all his money deposited

in the virginia city branch of our bank

and to the tomb of nearly one hundred

thousand dollars

oh the man's a fool item number two

about a month ago

he bought ten thousand dollars worth of

machinery

from your mind equipment company

and we've seen to it that the bill has

not yet been paid were you all so

farsighted enough to require his claim

as collateral for the equipment that is

item number three close the doors of our

virginia city branch

declare it insolvent

and demand immediate payment for the

equipment and when o'brien can't pay

for close and take over his claim

chief we might have just one problem i

don't have problems i give them

it's ben cartwright

he's a good friend of tim o'brien's and

he might cause a stink about this let

him it don't do any good

then carfax will have troubles of his

own soon enough

what do you mean sir

after we acquire tim o'brien's claim

can you guess what piece of nevada real

estate we're going after next

not the

the ponderosa

precisely

the pandarosa i want it all

i want everything

[Music]

[Applause]

that's really a good-looking briefcase

you got bud well it ought to be it's

genuine kangaroo

oh you got your horses all settled up

paul oh thank you

oh boys

now you know what my policy is

when adam and i are way in business i

like to leave one of you two in charge

i'm leaving you in charge

joseph

huh

me

that's right

you'll be in charge of ranch operations

and uh make all the decisions just as i

do

what do you mean you mean that i'm the

boss i'm the head man that's right i'm

giving you a blank check as far as

ponderosa is concerned

well you know i have been thinking

there's a few changes we ought to make

around here

changes

oh well not exactly changes there

improvements i mean like uh cleaning the

stable and all those fence posts above

the ravine they need to be replaced

they're all full of dry rot you know

things like that all right

oh uh

joseph about those uh improvements

nothing too drastic huh

oh no no no sir nothing drastic now

listen you and adam you go have a good

time stay as long as you want i'll take

care of everything

you're sure you know what you're doing

yes i want joseph to have the

responsibility gotta learn that running

a ranch as big as the ponderosa isn't as

easy as it seems

yes but you left him with a blank check

we get back we'll probably find the

person traded up for a salted gold mine

up in alaska

stop worrying he'll be so busy cleaning

stables and repairing fences he won't

have time for anything else

[Music]

[Applause]

and then after you finish branding the

new calves i want you to whitewash the

smokehouse white washer smokehouse joe

we got hired hands new stuff like that i

got other plans for the hired hands

boss don't you remember what it was like

when pile left you to be boss

yeah

what else you want me to do

if you finish with a whitewash and i

want you to build a new ramp up into the

stable and then wait a minute joe

just one thing i got to find out

what do you want me to be doing when are

you busy oh i'll thank you something

lost

[Music]

wow

what's taking you so long

you want to go in town with me you're

gonna have to knock on it tail

come on hurry up there's another brush

there

oh yeah

huh

that's good thinking

[Music]

hey i'm gonna go down to telegraph

office for a while what you're gonna be

doing down there what there's a little

advertising he's got a prized book for

sale in placerville okay

i'm gonna send him a telegram tell him

i'm gonna buy

says here he wants a thousand dollars

for that bill

well paul left me a blank check didn't

he told me to make all the decisions

trigger buying this bullet decision

[Music]

oh hey hi little joe what are you doing

in town uh business frank you know now

that i'm running the ranch i've got a

lot of business to take care of

you're running the ranch mm-hmm yeah wow

well that reminds me want to send a

telegram to placerville california

wait wait we haven't strung any

telegraph wires to placerville yet the

only way to get in touch with anyone

there is a regular mail no

i'm gonna get the letter written hey hey

hey little joe yeah you ain't forgotten

how to send and receive morse code eddie

oh no i remember that but you know i

gave up the idea been a telegrapher

that's uh

kind of kid stuff compared to running

one of the biggest spreads in nevada

yeah why do you ask

oh nothing else i was figuring on

showing you something i got for the uh

the new rig if you know if you watch the

key for a minute but i guess you

wouldn't be much interested now and a

new rig

yeah

hey

oh yeah you didn't get a salty did you

better than that

i got my paws all buggies see what i'm

doing i'm stripping it down see uh-huh

i'm cutting it under yeah and i'm adding

a stick seat oh

hey what about the springs oh oversized

naturally good you don't know the best

part

i got myself a pair

get this

panel boot victoria lamps

from boston oh panel boot victoria nice

yeah

jr huggins

manager

harrison branch bank

virginia city nevada

declaring

virginia city branch

insolvent

stuff

you hereby

ordered to close bank

and forward all

assets to harrison

corporation

john

j harrison

[Music]

well there it is little joe what do you

think of that huh

yeah it's uh

it's really great frank

great hey that's all you're gonna say

about it

hello guy have you seen my brother haas

uh yeah i saw him down in front of the

bucket of blood all right thanks

oh hey

any messages while i was away

no not frank no no speaker

[Music]

you probably never even saw paddled

victoria lamp before

[Music]

[Music]

[Laughter]

in the housing bank down the street

[Music]

yeah that's what it means but the bank

ain't going broke they're doing this

deliberate how come they want to break

your own bank

i don't know some kind of shady dude

remember paul saying that old man

harrison was as quick as a dog leg as a

matter of fact i remember paul's policy

and the same things

this telegram ever gets delivered it'll

bust this town wide open

[Music]

whatever pot told him to do he'd do the

opposite

he's gonna talk

[Music]

[Applause]

to you ah today tim o'brien is a drinker

not a talker irish whiskey to wear

wizards

give the boys a couple of bottles two

boxes

[Applause]

where's

no you tell me that he's gone

he just rolled over to cedar creek damn

cedar creek

well for a minute i thought she meant

something more permanent

now that he's back amongst the living me

spirit rules for another drink right

away joe we're wasting our time come on

tim let's go sit down irish whiskey the

nectar of the gods consumed by gentlemen

in all the civilized capitals of the

world

sam

you got any money in the harrison branch

bank

have i got money in the harrison bank

have i got money in the harrison bank

i don't think you last realized that

it's tim o'brien you're talking to here

have a look at that that's me painful

98 649

and 82 cents

yeah 82 cents

tim

the tim c house and i were thinking it

might be a good idea for you to take

your money out of the harrison branch

bank and put it into another bank

why

no special reason tim just thought it'd

be a good idea

take my money out of one bank and put it

into another so that don't make sense at

all

have you boys been drinking

well if you haven't you should be

here do justice to that put me back

turned

you know using talking damn joey's drunk

you can't have the floor of this hat

yeah

i'm sure we should pause here you know

what to do and we'll pie in here so it's

up to us to do some thinking it's going

over the bank [ __ ] foot around asking

questions

what sort of question

you know what kind of questions have to

ask me what kind of questions questions

the idea me taking business away from a

nice old man like mr house

[Music]

out of three branches they pick this one

to break

that proves it's crooked it wasn't the

whole bank would go busted not just one

branch that bernie joe how do they get

away with it um crook like john j

harrison gets away with it all the time

listen you keep a lookout out here i'm

gonna talk to mr huggins hey keep a

lookout for what

you just just keep a lookout

[Music]

mr finch

that young cartwright boy must think

we're running a general store

he actually wants me to take all the

money out of the safe so he can see it

mr huggins you're the manager i'm just

your assistant but if i were you i'd

humor the boy

you would

why

who knows maybe ben cartwright sent the

boy here to check on our financial

structure

you may be right

very well mr finch get everything out of

the safe and bring it into the office

yes sir

so

[Music]

so

[Music]

here we are

sixty thousand dollars in cash and our

securities

now let me get this straight you said

you had deposits totaling a hundred

fifty thousand dollars

yes in that neighborhood so you only

have sixty thousand dollars here well i

can see you don't know much about banks

those bonds can be cashed at any

harrison bank on demand for one hundred

thousand dollars

well then gentlemen i suggest you cash

them

before your depositors read this and

want to withdraw their money

close the bank

but that would mean i'd have to go back

what

oh nothing i was just good

all right here's what we'll do

you cash the bonds let the depositors

draw out their money then i'll deliver

the telegram are you trying to tell me

how to run this bank no but you want to

ruin a bunch of innocent depositors

oh no no no of course not

all right me and my brother will ride to

placerville to the harrison branch

we'll cash the bonds bring the money

back here to virginia city

you want me to turn these bonds over to

you and your brother you think i'm out

of my mind

mr come here

[Music]

gentlemen

i am trying to be real

[Music]

[Music]

um

[Music]

hey joe what are you what are you doing

i'm robbing a bank

oh come on we're in this together

[Music]

bread and butter come to supper

hey everything satisfactory

[Music]

thing

[Music]

what else to take

nothing else only the bonds you're dead

short with little joe and hoth

cartwright of course it was them

oh i know those boys well sheriff it was

them no mistake about that mr johnson

you better get back to your window

yes

i just can't believe it yes it came as

quite a shock to us too i just warned

that those boys just couldn't do a thing

like that

but then cartwright finds out that

they're bank robbers it'll

well it'll just break his heart

and our bank too

you got any idea where they'd go to cash

to bonds

yes they yes yeah i heard uh young

cartwright say that they were heading

south of the mexican border

mexican border huh

i'll send telegrams to all the law

enforcement officers within a radius of

100 miles to keep a lookout for them

i'll keep you advised

mr finch

i was almost sure that cartwright boy

said he was going to placerville

exactly mr hoggins do you think they'll

have any trouble cashing the bonds there

oh no trouble at all our placerville

branch is equipped to handle the largest

kind of transactions precisely

we're going to let the cartwright

brothers pull our chestnuts out of the

fire

what do you mean finch

you know what i mean huggins

mr finch

if you're suggesting what i think you're

suggesting

[Music]

why not spoken in the true spirit of

john jay harrison

now we've got the sixty thousand dollars

cash

plus the hundred thousand we are going

to get from the cop right boys

which gives us a grand total of 160

thousand dollars

80 000 each

80 000 each there's a man to live

handsomely on that

in switzerland

switzerland

i think i would prefer that south of

france

i've heard the women in france uh by the

way fence you've met my wife hammock

yes

once

now i have one suggestion

[Music]

we'll leave ten thousand of the money

with johnson for the tell is safe

that'll take care of the transactions

for the next three days

the rest of the money we put in the big

safe the big save why

that's what we tell johnson

very wise

you know mr finch in time you too could

have risen to the post of branch manager

thank you mr huggins

[Music]

frank

send this message

now that can wait you send this message

to the police officers of every town in

this list

joe and hoss

now i knew it knew what i knew something

was wrong and he wasn't interested in my

panel boot victoria lamp in your what

never mind just send the message

[Music]

joe you you shred sure we're doing the

right thing

hopefully i said i was boss and i make

all the decisions didn't he

yeah you don't have us robbing a bank

now it's destroying private property i

don't know why the poor would consider

that coming under the title of making

decisions or not yeah what if mr huggins

telegraph the harrison bank of

sacramento they sent a messenger to

placerville who get there before us and

tell them not to cash their bonds come

on you better knock on it

yeah

well what's the matter

my mind just went dead

must be a loose connection along the

line somewhere

oh paul might have failed

now what do you mean a pool might have

fell

yeah last month over in carson city of

baltimore went down boom

boom

you send a message as soon as you can

you hear

[Music]

my feet's as cold as a couple of bushel

baskets icicles how come we didn't stop

by the house and pick up some bed rolls

hey joe

what's the average time a man gets for

for bank robbery 10 15 years of hard

labor

yeah you got nothing to worry about yeah

lynch mob usually saves the government

cost of trying

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

hello look at that

this is somebody's idea of a joke hmm

looks pretty official to me

not joe and harsh they wouldn't do a

thing like that let me see the sheriff

i don't believe it

i wouldn't believe it if there were 50

witnesses

i know my boys they just wouldn't do it

again i understand how you feel but

nonetheless it's true then you just

gotta face it it just isn't possible my

boy

how much are they supposed to have taken

one hundred thousand i'm just fixing to

swirl in a half a dozen deputies now and

go after him well there's no need to do

that deroya

i'll bring the boys back i'll

i'll see to the everything they're

supposed to have taken his return well

that's very nice of it but the trouble

is this is not just a family affair

the boys are committed to crime that

means it's my job to go after them not

you now i'm asking

i'm asking this is a favor roy i'll i'll

bring him back

all i need is a little time to do it in

man i can't

all right i'll give you a little time

but to protect me now don't tell anybody

all right thanks thanks

[Music]

hurt your hands

[Music]

what's the matter

joe you know how my head always is when

somebody's following me i always claim

that well it's itching right now

i don't think they could organize the

posse this song are you sure your hair

just doesn't need washing i just washed

it last month for a cheap dip in the

water no

that explains it

[Music]

so

[Music]

[Music]

so far so good mr huggins onward and

upward mr finch

[Music]

me

[Applause]

[Music]

hey well

can i see you in virginia city

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

huh

yeah i just made the same mistake to get

the money oh sure i got it that's what i

went in there for anything yeah but a

hundred thousand dollars that's a lot of

money and the bank manager knew paul

figured he's working on some kind of a

big business deal i didn't see any

reason to tell them otherwise

we that since yesterday we got another

cool night on the trail how come we

don't buy a couple of blankets and beans

or something yeah hey well you got any

cash money on you no i ain't right on me

but i was thinking it maybe boss would

you think it ain't honest

me

[Music]

now we're on the right trail park

and horse has a break in his shoe

joseph is getting lazy by the day he

told him a week ago to replace that shoe

in his horse

[Music]

i damn beating in the froze last night

i ain't gonna let that happen again

hey

[Music]

the coprite brothers i presume

[Music]

joey got us more troubles and a horse

without a tail at fly time

we're gonna explain all this to sure

ain't the sheriff i'm so much worried

about is it is paw

that burn it every time i think about

the brace getting them two bank fellers

playing on this makes me mad enough to

bite myself

well

we gotta get on back to town we got a

lot of explaining to do

yeah

we're gonna be just about as popular in

town as a couple of wet dogs and a pile

of social

[Music]

so

[Music]

well

go go ahead and then tell them

you're the boss

well you

you see po

what ha what happened is

i think i'll get me some water

that's the most unbelievable [ __ ] and

bullion i've ever heard

you steal the bonds from the bank

because it's going broke

then you catch them and then the bankers

steal the money from you well that's

exactly what happened huh sure is boy

and then then they stole the horses on

top of that

where's that telegram you got over the

wire

[Music]

wait wait a second

[Music]

i ain't got it you got it ain't you

why

i ain't exactly got it with me paw

you ain't exactly got it with you

because it wasn't exactly sent i don't

listen no

you listen and you listen good

i don't know what you boys did with the

money but there's one thing i do know

for sure

you're gonna give yourselves up to the

sheriff and stand trial for bank robbery

understand

adam

you and i ride back to virginia city and

make arrangements to pay back every cent

that these

brothers of yours took

uh bob where are you gonna get a quick

hundred thousand dollars

hey paul how are we supposed to get back

into virginia city we ain't got no

horses

walk

make sure you get there

you're here

like you said pop you really know little

joe you'll be cleaning out the stable

preparing the fences oh come on

what's going on

looks like a bank run

[Applause]

keep them out of here until i get my

money your money what about my money

again don't be selfish

[Applause]

did you remember to fill out your

withdrawal flipping trip again

it seems to be the trouble mr johnson

bank run mr cartwright hundred thousand

dollars your two boys stole is turn this

town into a all right all right now

quiet down folks please quiet down dog

just i can now look your deposits are

perfectly safe here i i promise you that

who's gonna make up the money your boy

stole

well i will a whole hundred thousand

every cent now you you can take my word

for that where are you going to get the

money mr cartwright

well i'll i'll get it even if i sell the

ponderosa and as you all know the

ponderosa is worth well in excess of a

hundred thousand dollars

well i'll go along with that mr

cartwright

we all know what the ponderosa means to

you

you heard it folks mr cartwright says we

won't lose a penny

that's good enough for me

come on i'll buy the drinks with a

bucket of blood

i'll tell you mr cartwright if you

hadn't stopped them when you did we'd

have been plumb out of money where's

huggins

oh mr huggins mr fence going away on a

hunting trail a hunting trip

the bank is robbed and the two men in

charge go hunting

well i had vacation coming to

matter of fact i got a vacation coming

too three weeks and two days of course i

ain't had time recently mr johnson what

exactly my boy stealed don't you know

sure hate to be the one to tell you mr

cartwright

it was a hundred thousand dollars

in bonds

bonds

but they didn't take any cash

just the bonds

there was sixty thousand dollars in cash

right there that they could just as easy

taken as not but didn't touch that

mr johnson you can tell any of your

depositors who ask that i'll have the

money in the bank tomorrow

you have to believe them wait a minute

then

if what the boys told you is true it

must be true the fact that they didn't

touch any of the bank's cash should

prove that

certainly all in their favor i can't say

as i've heard of any bank robbers

passing up ready cash

roy

doesn't it strike you as being pretty

strange that the manager and his

assistant would go on a hunting trip the

morning after their bank was robbed yeah

well it doesn't seem like the natural

thing to do

seems to time with little joe's story

about the bankers having robbed them

well yeah now mind you mind your boy i'm

not saying that i approve of what the

boys did but it was certainly a great

relief for me to learn that at least

their motivations were honest then i

don't want to jail little joe and horse

if it can possibly be avoided

but i've got to remind you that bank

robbing in this territory is still a

crime

if anybody's committed a crime is that

john jay had harrison of that confounded

conspiracy of his to bankrupt his own

bank and i think you'll know it

maybe i do but who's going to convince

the depositors well i'm going to

personally pay back every deposit

whether the bank closes or not then you

could go broke doing it

i came here with nothing and if i have

to i can start out all over again

[Music]

hey

us we're heading in the wrong direction

what are you talking about it's the

right way home oh we ain't going home

we're gonna get that money back we're

going after the crooks on foot

joe the way i feel i couldn't catch a

turtle on foot

now well we need some transportation

and if my eyes aren't as soon as my feet

have two vacant mules i'm looking at

hey hey joe

we need you

these days yeah we got no time to argue

about ownership no not me i didn't got

enough again me already without having

you

left

you know when it came time to explain to

paul you said i was boss did you

well didn't you all right then i'm a

boss and i'm telling you get on that

thing and ride it

and hurry up

[Music]

[Applause]

joe you sure we're doing the right thing

[Music]

[Applause]

so

[Music]

well i saw colonel duggan he's willing

to help oh good how much fifty thousand

dollars he'll meet at the bank at two

o'clock it'll be a ten year low interest

loan ah he's a good friend well i've

been figuring out we should be able to

get about 25 000 on the timber right

[Music]

[Applause]

afternoon brah

hi paul

guess what we've done oh we

we got our horses back we got the money

back too huh

the money from the bank

is the bank's money

yeah how'd you get it that wasn't easy

what happened to huggins and finch

oh they got away well well not exactly

see paul there was a little argument

about that money they didn't want to

give it up

so there's a little fishing and shoving

and i breaking them two fellows sort of

fell in the trekkie river huh last time

we saw them they're floating underway

this is the uh is the whole hundred

thousand well that's 150 000

fifty thousand

yeah there's uh the hundred thousand

they took from us and then see that that

other little bag there there's a

virginia city brand that's got fifty

thousand dollars in it i reckon they

robbed their own bank before they rob

dust

ball where'd you get the mules

[Music]

oh

they're mute

[Music]

we borrowed them

sort of

you borrowed them oh we we had to get

some transportation to go get that money

yeah

now you two boys

are gonna take those mules

you're gonna find the owner of those

mules

and you're gonna pay the owner for

renting them

we haven't got any money

now adam and i are going to ride into

virginia city

we're going to give this money back to

the bank

this afternoon

you two boys are going to ride into

virginia

to the sheriff's office

yes sir

yesterday

[Music]

huh

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

adam

you take these to the bank i'm going to

see the sheriff

you're going to press charges against

horse and joe

i'm going to press some charges

uh so so we'd like we'd like to pay you

a rental fee for the mules say uh

let's say ten dollars

[Music]

uh

we we would ask you before we took them

but it was sort of an emergency

make it make it fifteen dollars

[Music]

uh of course of course that's 15 for the

rental mules and uh and there's ten

dollars more for the time you lost

plowing

mister you uh you tell us what what's it

gonna take to make you happy

[Music]

hi miller hi sheriff

mr clark wright the people of virginia

city well thank you we ain't gonna

forget what you've done

well i hope they forget what horse and

little joe

done

and i'll have no advice from you mr ben

cartwright not as much as you'd put in

the eye of a needle

this money goes up to my claim to be

buried in a tin can

there's too many different kinds of bank

robbers around here to suit me

[Music]

what is the meaning of this why hasn't

this bank been closed as i ordered

this is no place for an honest man

well

well it's closed all right mr harrison

whip them out of money out of money

that's impossible

well there is enough to cover three

weeks and two days vacation

nobody who works for me ever gets a

vacation fish what is this fool

blathering about mr harrison what's

happening who are you

oh

ben cartwright

yes ben cartwright

i can promise you mr harrison that if

you try to pull one more shady deal in

nevada territory i'll make a special

trip to washington and use all the

influence at my command to have you

investigated and jailed

and that's my department you heard what

the man said this bank is closed

adam

wait

you wait till i find out who's

responsible for all this

which reminds me uh horse and joe should

be back by now

i wonder where they are

i just hope they return those mules i

wouldn't want that charge hanging over

their heads

[Applause]

[Music]

sort of a

sort of a worry little man hey

he sure was

hey

i'll let you be boss for a while

no no no

no brother i'm perfectly content just

being a hired hand

[Music]

so

[Music]

foreign

Behind the Scenes of Bank Run

The “Wanted” poster for Joe and Hoss states that Joe is 5’11” tall. However, according to IMDb, Michael Landon (Joe) stands 5′ 9′′ tall. The poster also says that Hoss is 6’3′′ tall, which is consistent with Dan Blocker’s page on IMDb.

The episode finally reveals that the town of Placerville (mentioned numerous times throughout the series) lies in California.

The start of the show tells the year 1863. There are only a few episodes earlier in the same season, showing the year 1861.

Looking for More Bonanza Episodes?

Make Bonanza your next show to binge-watch by yourself or with family! It’s a fantastic 14-season program run by NBC from September 1959 to January 1973. Bank Run is the 51st episode out of 430 and the nineteenth for its second season.

You can find more about any of the 430 Bonanza episodes here>>