The Rescue Full Episode – Bonanza, Season #02, Episode #23

Bonanza, the first Western series filmed in color, gained a loyal following through the compelling daily adventures depicted in each hour-long episode. Steve McNeil wrote The Rescue, Bonanza’s fifty-fifth episode, which premiered on February 25, 1961.

Ben Cartwright accuses Josh Tatum (Leif Erickson) of stealing cattle, later finding themselves engaging in a fight that only caused injuries for Ben. Ben’s sons, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe, promise vengeance for their father by confronting Tatum themselves. On the other hand, the Cartwright boys also face difficulty fulfilling their father’s responsibilities on the ranch.

Former Captain Video star Richard Coogan plays Jake Moss in this episode.

Read The Rescue‘s plotline, including some trivia, or watch the full episode below.

Watch the Full Episode of The Rescue

Watch the Full Episode of The Rescue:

Main Cast

Apart from the main cast, The Rescue, Bonanza’s fifty-fifth episode and second season’s twenty-third, features the program’s recurring and guest cast.

The actors that made an appearance in the episode are as follows:

• Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
• Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
• Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
• Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
• Leif Erickson as Josh Tatum
• Richard Coogan as Jake Moss
• Victor Sen Yung as Hop Sing
• Burt Douglas as Jack Tatum
• Joe Patridge as Gus Tatum (as Joseph Patridge)
• Ron Hayes as Johnny Reed
• Lane Bradford as Curly

Full Story Line for The Rescue

Ben finds a cowhide with the Ponderosa brand at Josh Tatum’s place. He tells Josh he should have told him he needed beef instead of taking it without their consent. Josh doesn’t like how Ben’s accusing him of being a thief. He calls for his son, Gus, who is awaiting his signal to pull the trigger of his rifle.

Josh orders Ben to drop his gun belt and get off his horse. The two start arguing, which later leads to a fistfight. After their brawl, Ben ended up knocked to the ground. Once Ben gains enough strength, he rides on his horse and returns home.

The Cartwright boys ate their breakfast while worrying about Ben, who rode out before daylight. Ben suddenly returns home, then tidies himself before the kids realize what happened to him. However, that didn’t stop his sons from asking him questions. Adam asks if his horse threw him, Hoss asks if he bumped into a limb, while Joe asks if he forgot to duck. Ben replied “no” to each question, then confessed that he got into a little scuffle. He tells them to forget about it, expressing his desire to avoid more trouble.

When Ben leaves to change his shirt, the Cartwright boys discuss who their father fought with and what they should do about it. Hoss suggests they tell Ben to take things a little easy, and Adam believes it’s time for Ben to reduce his involvement in physical activities. They all agree that it’s time for Ben to become a supervisor, similar to what other ranches have.

The Cartwright boys suggest Ben avoid more trouble, to which Ben agrees. He changes the topic by telling the boys they have lost about 200 head of cattle in the past weeks. Ben asks them to flip a coin to see who’ll join him in finding the rustlers. On the other hand, one of them will stay at home. The Cartwright boys believe it’s not the best condition to travel, so Ben declares he’ll come with Hop Sing instead. They suggest Ben stay home to supervise the ranch, considering he’s getting older. Ben accepts their suggestion, but he feels saddened about the situation.

The Cartwright boys followed tracks to a box canyon. Once they reach a spot, the awaiting rustlers start shooting, which scared their horses to run away. The Cartwright boys and the rustlers exchange fire for a moment. Adam rushes to an injured Hoss. Hoss believes they’ll face a rough night, considering they lost their horses, got no food, water, or fire, and the rustlers will shoot them dead at any chance.

Ben is pacing back and forth, looking out the window as he anxiously waits for his sons to return. Hop Sing assures Ben they’ll return, especially Hoss, who’ll rush home once he smells his cooking.

Hop Sing’s claim was correct as Hoss could smell Hop Sing’s roast pork and sweet potatoes, even if they were at the boulders. However, Adam is skeptical, considering how far they are from home.

The rustlers kept their fire pot to inform the Cartwright boys that they were still there. Jake Moss worries that Ben will come looking for his boys, but Johnny assures him not to worry about the older man.

Despite their dire condition, the Cartwright boys remain alert for the rustlers. Adam shoots his rifle and hits Curly, one of the rustlers, through the billiard physics he learned in Virginia City. His shot darts off the canyon wall, successfully hitting his target.

Ben pursues a search for his sons. He encounters Josh, who he no longer trusts after assuming he took his cattle and entered his land. Ben reveals that he’s only being careful, considering the Ponderosa lost hundreds of cattle in the past month. Ben also tells Josh that he’s leaving to look for his sons, who went after the rustlers but haven’t returned. Josh couldn’t believe Ben would go after his sons alone without a sheriff or a posse.

While following a trail, Ben hears a gunshot. He dismounts to investigate, but Johnny spots him. A second later, Johnny successfully shoots Ben, who drops to the ground. Johnny approaches Ben with his rifle to check if he’s still alive. Assuming he’s dead, Johnny picks up Ben’s rifle. However, Ben gets up and shouts at Johnny, then shoots Johnny before the latter can fire back.

The Tatums arrive at Jake’s camp. Josh worries that Ben has reached their area, so Jake assures him that Johnny will take care of Ben. However, Gus returns to report that Johnny isn’t in his position. Josh orders Gus to return to Johnny’s position while he and Jake handle the Cartwright boys.

Hoss noticed a pattern from the shot fired at him. Whenever he shoots, the rustler in position, Jack, retaliates immediately. Hoss shows Adam and Little Joe an example. Adam asks Hoss to fire again. However, Ben shoots Jack in the shoulder before he can shoot back. The Cartwright boys find it odd that Jack’s down, considering Adam hasn’t fired. However, they immediately figured Ben had come to save them.

Meanwhile, the injured Jack returns to camp.

Ben sees his sons and fires three shots from his gun to inform them about his arrival. Joe returns the signal, then covers Ben while he approaches them.

Josh tends to Jack’s injury, who informs him that another person caused his wound. Josh believes it’s Ben. He also realized that the situation could have killed his son, changing his perspective on what was happening. Josh orders Jake to take Curly to Silver City to remove the bullet on his shoulder. Jake argues that Josh’s going soft, but Josh only wants his sons to be safe and out of harm. Once Jake and Curly leave, Josh ties his red handkerchief to a stick and waves his flag at Ben.

Ben tells Josh that Hoss has a wound in the leg but will be just fine. Josh replies by saying Jack got shot in the arm. He immediately confesses to rustling his stock, thinking Ben wouldn’t notice since they have a lot of livestock. Josh also tells Ben he’s done many things he’s not proud of, today’s event even leading to nearly killing his and Ben’s son. Josh apologizes, saying none of the cattle in Nevada was worth the lives of their sons. Ben agrees, and the dispute is finally over. Josh offers to help Hoss return to Ponderosa, round up the cattle they rustled, and let the Cartwrights take them to the sheriff.

Hop Sing immediately welcomes their return, asking what happened to Hoss. In response, Hoss jokingly says he’s dying of starvation. Ben tells Hop Sing to cook turkey and beefsteaks for the Tatums, who’ll stay for dinner.

Josh hopes things will differ between them once they’ve settled things with the sheriff. He also mentions the difficulty in raising kids, to which Ben agrees.

Full Script and Dialogue of The Rescue

[Music]

uh

[Music]

you going to shave paul

maybe saturday if we go into town

what are we going to use for money that

feller in town said he'd have some for

that forty heady cattle by sandy

better get breakfast started son here

comes your brother

jack i thought i told you to bury that

high i thought i'd eat first paul then

get it out of sight

it's a ponderosa brand

a man steals beef from his neighbor he

usually tries to bury the hide didn't

have time

well now then you wouldn't mind if we

waited until we had our breakfast would

you mr cartwright

no not at all

you wouldn't even have to bury the hide

if you told me you needed beef a big man

like ben cartwright we didn't figure you

want to be bothered with us

tatum's any man needs eating beef from

the ponderosa all it has to do is ask

for it since you got several thousand

head that's right generous

but if he doesn't ask for it first

he steal it you're calling me

you've already taken land josh this

ranch house of yours is more than a

quarter of a mile inside the ponderosa

lines i never said a thing about that

you ain't figuring to throw us off our

place are you cartwright gus

right there paul

i got him right my side you just say the

word paul and i'll pull this here

trigger

[Music]

drop the gun belt man

[Music]

now just get off the horse

jack move this critter out the way

now ben you've been pushing people

around so much

maybe you forgot how it feels to get

pushed a bit yourself pushing people

around

i right in here i find that hide there

with the ponderosa brand on it one of

your kids got me in his rifle sites

who's pushing who josh now you're

telling me our place is a quarter mile

inside the ponderosa well isn't it

you got money you got the law you can

probably prove it and push us off

anytime you like josh i could have done

it a long time before this yeah and now

for one lousy steer you're gonna try it

josh i got something for you to remember

cartwright

we don't push easy

yes

oh

ugh

[Applause]

uh

big man

he don't look so big now

i sure cut him down the side

what do you kids know about well you

upped him didn't you fall

yeah i guess so

they want no waltz like you young pups

seem to think

[Music]

so

where's paul

he wrote out for daylight

i wish you wouldn't do that ah he's

fretting over those wrestlers i heard

him down here facing the floor last

night like a caged up cougar well what

you think he's gonna do right out and

corral them all by himself well give it

a try that's a big trouble boy he still

thinks he's 21 years old he won't start

taking them out easier

you tell him huh

well

somebody on him

oh don't look at me

[Music]

so

[Music]

good morning

boys fine

thank you

horse throw you

no

did you

bump into a limb or something paul

no

forget the duck

what happened

got into a little scuffle into a little

scuffle who with paul

forget it

forget it

why

because if i told you who it was you'd

all run out of here hot-headed and itchy

and looking for trouble and you'd find

the trouble there'd be some current

playing somebody get hurt

change my shirt

i wonder who it was

oh

a man paul's age to go around getting

into fights

h has nothing to do with it

i never knew a man yet who didn't think

he was as good as the best day he ever

saw yeah remember the time sam luke just

tried to beat the heck out of you

yeah that old man must have been 70 or

75 years old and weigh a hundred pounds

ran you out of time i had to run he's

going to bust my head into that pickaxe

handle

you know

maybe we could try to talk paul into

taking a little easy or something huh

yeah sure we're gonna set him in an easy

chair give him his pipe and slippers not

me

well nothing like that but uh

we might suggest that he cut down a

little on the physical side of things do

a little more supervising huh just

supervision paul

well why not other ranches have

supervisors

we're going to do with that

maybe we could talk paul into it

yeah maybe we could try

it won't be easy let's eat now and think

about it later

paul

if you boys are still trying to figure

out who i had the fight with forget it

oh no sir we

we just want you to to avoid them scraps

fine i'll avoid them now let's get to

business

as far as i can figure things we've lost

about 200 head of cattle in the last

three weeks that keeps up this way we'll

be ought to be so we're going to do

something about it

which one of you boys flips a coin

go with me

that man stays home

well

paul it's a pretty hard ride up there in

that that country and it gets colder

than a polar bear's nose yeah and

there's no telling what kind of trouble

we're going to run into paul

well if you boys don't want to come

along with me you can always take hop

sing no paul that that idiot it's

well the fact is we think we all ought

to go

all of us

someone has to stay home

why don't you stay

i never have

yeah

we know you ain't never pulling

that's our point

see we were thinking maybe you ought to

start take taking a little easy i like

supervising it

you uh

you boys think i might be getting

too old for this sort of thing

now we didn't say that

what did you say

what did we say adam you know what we

said

yeah

well huss

well paul we

dog gone it we

we think you ought to start taking it a

little easier paul

man gets a certain age you ought to slow

down a little bit now we ain't saying

you ought to be put out to pasture or

nothing it's well that's comforting

oh

and well you know you know a man with

three sons i'd ought to be able to get a

little load taken off his back

doesn't sound too bad to me sounds

pretty good

you mean you don't mind

why should i mind

well we thought that we'll stop thinking

and stop drawing and get to it or else

the whole day will be gone we're going

to wait paul be back for dark yeah and

we're the rusters get back by supper

right right uh paul you sure you'll be

all right

i'll try to make that horse

[Music]

[Music]

looks like a bucks canyon to me

and the track said it ain't so they go

in but they don't come out

i might be a way out at the other end or

elves are still in there

i sure don't like the looks of it

i need to get trapped in there you want

to find those wrestlers or don't you

yeah but i want to find them i don't

want them finding me

let's just be mighty careful

[Music]

so

[Music]

i sure don't like the looks of this

well what you two are gonna do but i'm

gonna get myself a little closer to the

ground i ain't gonna sit up here like no

crawl defense post

[Music]

[Laughter]

[Music]

right

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

[Music]

cover me joe right

let's take a look

in and out slick and clean

[Music]

i'm never gonna tease you again about

wearing him clean shirt

well the only reason i wear them is

because i knew you'd get shot one day

better stop the bleeding

you'll be fine as a frog's hair in no

time

you all right

yep

right now

we ain't got ourselves many problems

lost our horses

we got no food and water and even if i

could walk we couldn't get out of here

them fellas using real bullets up there

on top of all that it's going to be so

cold and i did freeze the hide right off

a drunken cowboy and we can't build no

fire at least we did one thing what's

that i found the wrestlers

[Music]

worry worry you get very egg you better

eat now uh i'll wait a while

the boys should be along soon maybe they

sleep out tonight

no i don't think so they said they'd be

back before dark besides i didn't take

any food with them

they'd be back

mr horse up there he smell food cooking

he come to food like homing kitchen

what do you smell

yeah it can't be

it can't be what

i swear i'd smell hob scenes cooking

we're over a half days right from the

house you can't smell that distance

i don't know about that i remember once

horse melon biscuits and a sandstorm the

storm was over we got home showing off

there with the biscuits remember that

yeah

i wish i didn't

roast pork and sweet taters

you come eat roasted pork sweet potato

keep warm much longer all dry up

i'm afraid they've run into some kind of

trouble always do you eat

i'm not very hungry i'm saying

they catch trouble okay

how you help by not eat

just in case

better put that back in the oven

[Music]

you want me sit up all night keep fire

and cook stove

now you can let it go out of when the

boys come back i'll fire it up again

oh man it's colder than the well

digger's toenails out there

where's carly

keep an eye on them

heart writes

throwing in a couple of shots now and

again just let him know who's boss

any doubt in your mind whose boss around

here

didn't mean nothing by that

never thought coffee tastes better than

whiskey

but it

does how long for dawn

what you're worrying about sun comes up

it comes up

you figure come daylight we can uh pick

off them cartwrights and get the hurt on

the trail huh sure sure

you think i'd throw in josh tatum didn't

know what i was doing oh you got it all

figured out boss

i mean they ain't going nowhere without

them horses that big fellas hitting the

leg

the only thing is they'll be dug in deep

by daylight well then we'll dig him out

provide no ben cartwright doesn't come

looking for his boys at that time that

old goat what can he do

what can he do

well he's just one more man andy

sometimes that one more man is just one

too many

the tatums are due here in the morning

to help drive the herd that makes six of

us

figure three to pick off them cartwright

pups that that leaves three to take care

of the old man that ought to do it

it should

you know something

one slug takes care of one man

i don't care who he is

you're new around johnny

yeah

maybe that's what you need

somebody who don't get the shakes around

oh ben cartwright

i'll take care of him

johnny

let's see what you do

[Music]

so

where is he

you see them rocks up there the great

big one on the left and the two little

ratchets piled on top of each other yeah

he's behind those little ones on the

right ain't no way to get at him

i'll get him we're going to shoot

through the rocks

nope

all those times we were in virginia city

and you were busy chasing girls and he

was busy throwing people over tables you

know what i was doing

you're probably not in the bank counting

your money

yeah checking the books to find out the

bank's gonna go broke well i was

improving my education

playing

billiards big rock on the left's the

cushion

character behind the little rock is the

object ball

and this slug is the cue ball

[Music]

ready can you hit him

i should have

the angle was right

[Music]

what'd you do try to change position

a wise guy down there must have bounced

one off the rocks

you reckon paul started out after us yet

i doubt that

after we told him we'd do all his

fighting for him he's probably sitting

at home taking it easy waiting for us to

ride in

you go now mr carlite no

you go virginia city get sheriff

no there's no need for that oh you think

no trouble

yes i think no trouble

what have you got there a sandwich it is

for little joe and mr adam

it is for mr horse

seems about right

you tell mr horse i cook turkey for

supper no that's fine what are the rest

of us going to eat

it's pretty funny joke mr khan light

now not so funny have to kill another

turkey pick another turkey stuff another

turkey cook another turkey big joke

goodbye

[Music]

josh

that rifle

your gun belt

so that's the way it's going to be huh

i give you a beating now every time i

poke my face out of the brush

i'm looking down a gun barrel you're

kind of poor loser ain't you ben

you stole one of my steers

you're on my land

for all i know those wolf pup sons of

yours are behind a tree right now with a

beat on me if that was so you wouldn't

be standing there talking about it come

on give me back my guns

i'll give them back to you when i'm

ready getting mighty edgy over one

measly steer

i've already told you josh

any man needs food and get a steer just

for the asking

the ponderos has lost hundreds ahead in

the past month through wrestling i'm not

edgy over the one you stole and i ain't

edgy over the hundreds you lost unless

you're accusing me of being a part of it

if i was

i'd tell you

how about my guns

you find your guns about a mile up the

trail

the back feels better that way

what's the matter ben don't you trust me

no

i don't trust you josh

besides i got to be on my way oh yeah

you cartwright's always got big things

to do ain't you big enough for me going

after my sons your sons

what happened they lost or something

they went up into the high country to

look for the rustlers they didn't get

back last night

i'm going after him

no posse

you going all by yourself

don't get time for a [ __ ]

but my sons

what would you do if they were yours

[Music]

a sign of him yet

he's coming he ought to show up pretty

soon

now he's got to come up that draw

when he does

like a sitting duck yeah

if he's alone you can take him

he's got a posse along empty that rifle

and we'll get out of here

hey how's curry staying away from rocks

you can bet

i ain't hurt too bad i got abandoned and

stopped the bleeding man i sure could

use some whiskey we should have thought

of that i did

gotta find my saddlebag where is it now

kept it curly he needs it more than you

do well you tell him to save some for me

so i can get this night chill out of my

bones you just take care of oh ben cut

right i'll see that you get a case of

the stuff

[Music]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

all right

[Music]

so

[Music]

now you took long enough getting there

we ain't rich enough to buy horses they

hang a man for stealing them they come

as soon as they could

which way did you come up over the ridge

like a set of wood

i don't suppose you've seen anything in

ben cartwright yeah i seen him right

after i started out he had me

bushwhacked as pretty as you ever seen

how come he didn't shoot at you

i talked him out of it that's how come i

can handle ben cartwright

we don't have to worry about him anyway

johnny's waiting for him

so he didn't go to virginia city for a

posse it's like we got them cartwright's

right where we want him maybe i have

maybe ain't where's johnny

he's covering the draw where ben's got

to come

why don't you get on there and back him

up no way there's no need for that

johnny can take care of him but chipmunk

couldn't get by i don't care if a

chipmunk can get by or not i'm thinking

about ben cartwright and i don't want

that old coot getting in here gus you go

down there and back him up just like i

said

ben got you spooked

he's nine feet tall i know i know but we

ain't taking no chances now where's

curly keeping them three cartwrights

pinned down

you know something one of them got curly

in the shoulder i told you to be careful

didn't i

jack go spell curly off whereabouts is a

jig

see the needle pointed rock over yonder

he's hunkered down behind it better let

him know you're coming he's getting

skittish as a hungry coyote

all right have some coffee

where's the herd upon the mesa plenty of

grass there ain't nowhere for him to go

what are you worrying about

ben cartwright

but i told you i got i know you told me

johnny is taking care of him and johnny

ain't but a kid he don't know ben

cartwright ben's got to come up through

that draw and johnny's got him in his

sights he can't miss

he ain't there what do you mean he ain't

there well like i said he ain't there i

looked all over for him i never should

have sent that dern kid down there why

don't you let a man handle it he might

have changed position

you believe that

oh

i reckon i don't

where that old buzzard is now

josh

i wish i had a quarter of that stuff

that slug's still in there curly

yeah it's still in

it's just like a hot branding iron

josh how about us getting this over with

so i can get to a sore bones i've got to

get the slug out of here yeah you take

it easy for a spell curly and you favor

that shoulder gus you're going back down

to where johnny was and keep your eyes

peeled

jake let's you and me see if we can't do

something about these cartwright boys

get the rifles

[Music]

oh he is coming i sure hope he brings

some sandwiches i swear my stomach's

empty a chicken liver would feel like a

full

meal well you can't have any food

how come

you're wounded

wounded man ain't supposed to have

anything not even water

that i'm wounded in the leg not in the

belly

well that's not making a difference

right joe

that's right i heard it from a doctor in

virginia city

really mm-hmm i'll kill you

one of them

dirty no good

nothing grabbing

take food right out of a man's mouth

there you go

yeah see that little clump of rocks up

there that dead bush in the middle yeah

they got me a real live one in there

he's setting up a pattern every time i

squeeze off around enemy fires one back

at me before i can even clear my chamber

watch

you see him

uh-huh

try him again he's getting careless

he's hit

yeah you didn't even shoot that's right

hey must be paul

hey hot

diggity hmm

[Music]

[Music]

it is paul

[Music]

weren't coming hey paul did you bring me

food

yeah i did it was in my saddle bags but

i got bushwhacked and my horse spooked

run off

what happened to your bag uh i got shot

it didn't bust no bones i don't think i

can't walk on it though

paul what kind of food was in him bags

i don't know hopsin said something about

turkey and i suppose it was some of that

real tender roast beef of his

dad burn it

since you didn't make it here with it i

showed you wish you'd sent cheese cheese

why because i don't like cheese

thought maybe you went to virginia city

to get the sheriff in a posse oh by the

time i realized it was real trouble

remember voice

well don't you think we're not glad to

have you with us part of that put you in

the same jam we're in

why not

my name's cartwright too isn't it

bad son

not too bad

easy boy

how did it happen

i don't know

i was shooting down at them three

cartwrights

next thing i know i'm hit

couldn't have been one of them though

they didn't have that angle on me

[Music]

ben cartwright

had to be

johnny's gone

now you're hit

there

that'll take care of the bleeding

boy

is it busted up bad no it ain't nothing

but a scratch you'll hardly even have a

scar to show to some pretty gal

give him another shot of that whiskey

how was it

how would it be his shot eddie i was

just wondering

living this way i always figured we'd

catch some lead one day thinking about

it

seeing your boy with a slug in his two

different things

he might have been killed this ain't

exactly a beast thing i've got my

shoulder i know it curly but it ain't

the same thing

it may not be the same to you josh but

it's the same thing to me

one old buzzard holding up six minutes

sure seems like six man ain't you

forgetting something johnny's gone you

and jack are hit the way i figured that

leaves only three not six

thinking ben cartwright why'd he have to

stick his nose into this what's he gonna

do let us keep his boys pinned down he

runs out of ammunition

wounded you think he's gonna like that

that'll turn him as mean as a trapped

cougar

you all right he's gonna be

you see gus

yeah gus is all right but i seen

something else then cartwright is down

there with his boys

what did i tell you

anybody else with him no but he got in

there with a couple of rifles and

probably some extra ammunition

you're gonna be a tough nut to crack i

never said he wouldn't be did i you

never said nothing

you're so full of ideas now let's hear

one of them

well first off i think you better take

curly cross country to silver city and

find a saw bones that slug in his

shoulders got to come out all right all

right but what about the herd right now

that herd we wrestle don't seem so

important

what are you aiming to do just walk out

here you got a better idea yeah i'll

give the orders

now why don't you just try that

yeah i never should have throwed in with

you in the first place

i might know you'd go soft just because

a man don't want to see his sons get

killed don't mean he's going soft

as far as i'm concerned it does

uh

curly

think you can set a horse

you just lead me to him

all right

you better get out of here curly you

take care of that shoulder boy thanks

josh

what are you doing that for paul

for to keep from getting shot when i

talked to ben cartwright

what do you want to talk to him for

you got shot

they might get guts

[Music]

that's pretty quiet paw

yeah

[Music]

i'm still running this show

[Music]

foreign

heart event

how's it bigger a little late to show

concern isn't it

for the record

there's a clean wound in the leg it'd be

all right

jack got shot in the arm

well what'd you expected nobody get hurt

then i didn't figure to turn out this

way

you see we've been

rustling some of your stock

well it didn't seem like much you having

so many didn't seem like stealing

and i suppose ambushing my sons didn't

seem much like shooting i was miles away

when a bacon got shot oh now you're

gonna tell me that if you'd been here

you're gonna put a stop to it

i've done a lot of things in my time and

i'm proud of ben

and today i might have gotten my kids

killed

i might have killed one of yours

you're alive right now because you

didn't all right ben

i only come back here because i'm sorry

for what i've done

i figured you was man enough to take

into account that i ain't rich

i ain't no boss or no ponderosa

i got the same feeling toward my boys as

you got toward yours

maybe all you want is just revenge

well

if that's what you want you better dig

in deep and save your ammunition

that is unless you shoot me in the back

when i walk out of here josh

now nobody's going to shoot you in the

back yeah we're pretty

we'll hold up here we got plenty of

ammunition

if you and your gang figure you you

haven't had enough you just say the word

we can start this ruckus all over again

don't you stand there yelling at me

what do you want to go on with this

adulterer

you want to try your luck again

ben you got me wrong

hey all the cattle and nevadas were one

of our boys that's what i come here to

tell you

oh my god

both reaching for the same conclusion

we're butting our heads together like

old billy goats

no

we're we're like a couple of them she

bears with a litter of cubs yeah you

ain't never tried to mess around with

one of them have you

me

i got more sense than that me too

why we're messing with each other

i can't think of it

ben

here's me and my boys

i figure we can rig up a

litter and

help you get the big and back to the

ponderosa

then we'll help you round up the cattle

that we rustled

after

you can take us down to virginia city

to see the sheriff

[Music]

yeah let's get the boys out of here

since how he had to shoot one

i wish it had been the little one

thanks a lot

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

what's the matter you mr horse i'm

saying i'm dying of starvation that's

always matter of me i got turkey uh good

that'll do for a starter then later on

you can fix me a full meal

he make joke i don't think so

i got two turkey all right hopsin

that'll do for a start uh you better get

some beef steaks going the tatums are

staying for dinner i think they're

hungry they've had a hard day very good

[Music]

figured you'd want to get into virginia

city to have jack's arm patched up josh

the sort of the better so i uh

long walks i had the uh boys saddle up

three horses for you more than decent of

you ben

to see the sheriff i'll have someone

bring these horses back

i reckon we'll be staying there quite a

while

yeah well i reckon you're right

russian's a serious crime i ain't

denying it

of course uh

seeing as how you you didn't really go

through with it

seen as how you told us where the cows

are i ain't asking no favors

i'm not offering any

except for the loan of the horses

i expect you'll want one of your boys to

go along with us see we get to the

sheriff and then get these horses back

why

can i trust you

man

when i get straightened out with a law i

hope things will be different between

you and me

i mean

oh but what are you waiting for you're

gonna stand around until you get bud

poison in that arm you heard mr

cartwright if you ain't forgot how to

ride get started for a wheel of tire out

of both of you

dang wolf pups

raisin kids ain't easy ben

no

sure isn't josh

of course there's uh there's one good

thing

man can sure start taking it easy

once his boys are grown big enough to

take care of things

[Music]

hey

[Music]

Behind the Scenes of The Rescue

The episode’s title in German is “Böse Nachbarn,” which means “Bad Neighbors.”

Looking for More Bonanza Episodes?

Are you looking for a television program to enjoy alone or with your beloved ones? Try Bonanza! From September 1959 to January 1973, the NBC network aired the 14-season television series on their channel. The Rescue is the 55th episode out of over 400 episodes and the twenty-third for its second season.

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