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>>