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>>