Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon

"Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon" is the first episode of the first season of Rawhide. It aired on 9 January 1959.

Synopsis
A group of cattle drovers led by trail boss Gil Favor have set up camp next to a watering hole along their route to market. As dinner is being called for the drovers, they spot a prison wagon approaching their camp. Favor meets with Marshal Wilt Jackson and his deputy, Art Gray, who explain they are escorting seven prisoners to trial in Fort Craig. They ask to camp near the watering hole for the night and Favor agrees, though his drovers are nervous being in such close proximity to outlaws. However, as the lawmen unload their prisoners from the wagon, they are excited to discover a female prisoner among them; Dallas Storm, wife of notorious outlaw Luke Storm. Soon, though, the drovers return to their dinner and duties as the Marshal and his deputy set up camp.

Later, while the lawmen and their prisoners are eating dinner, Dallas and two captive members of her husband's gang, Lennie Dawson and Jed Ryan, begin to plot an escape attempt for that night. They ambush the lawmen while they are chaining the prisoners up for the night, killing Gray and severely injuring Jackson. The attempt to unlock their handcuffs and escape on horseback but Favor and ramrod Rowdy Yates rush in to stop them, with Yates tackling Dallas while Favor overpowers Dawson in a fistfight; the gangster Ryan is able to escape on one of the Marshal's horses. With the remaining six prisoners once again under control, Favor agrees to escort them and the wounded Marshal to Fort Craig. Dallas warns them that Ryan will inform her husband, who will surely come to her rescue. They bury the Deputy Marshal and Favor leaves scout Pete Nolan in charge of the herd while he and Yates commandeer the prison wagon. They agree to meet in three days, and with the Marshal in the back with the prisoners, Favor and Yates make off towards Fort Craig.

On the trail, Dawson argues with Sinclair, an Englishman with a history of violence against women, over who is in charge of their escape plan. A fight breaks out and Gil and Rowdy break it up, removing Dallas from the wagon as they believe her to be the cause. Later, when the group is camped for supper, Dallas grabs a burning stick from the fire and tosses it into the brush, causing a wildfire. When Favor and Yates rush to put it out, Sinclair takes Dallas hostage and climbs up to a vantage point, stating his intention to wait for Luke Storm and use his wife as leverage for his freedom. However, prisoner Norm Morton, who deserted from the army after a fistfight with a superior officer, is able to subdue Sinclair and free Dallas. The group continues on, with Sinclair informing the prisoners that he has learned Favor and Yates can be overwhelmed and likely will be during an upcoming river crossing, providing another opportunity to escape.

At the river crossing, Yates sets to work preparing the wagon for crossing while Favor orders all of the prisoners out and onto the roof of the wagon. Storm and his gang catch up as the wagon begins its crossing, and two of his men rush forward while firing on the wagon and Yates. Favor is knocked off the wagon by Sinclair, which also knocks Dallas into the water. Yates is injured by gunfire, but is able to kill one of the gangsters with return fire. When Gil climbs back aboard and realises Dallas is drowning, he jumps in to save her. Marshal Jackson, though prone and wounded, is able to kill another of the outlaws before Favor is taken captive by Storm after coming to shore with his drowning wife.

Leaving the prisoners on the wagon in the river, Storm gloats of his victory over the law to Favor and Yates, who inform him they are only cattle drovers. When Storm learns Dallas was injured on the trail by Sinclair, he shoots him dead into the river before threatening to do the same to Gil and Rowdy. Surprisingly, Dallas defends the pair on the grounds that Favor saved her life, but Storm is unrelenting. Dallas arms herself with Luke's pistol, and he shoots her in front of Gil, who quickly grabs the gun and shoots Storm and Ryan down. Bleeding profusely, Dallas orders Favor to drive carefully on the way to Fort Craig, as she does not wish to die in prison.

The episode ends showing Favor and Yates, presumably on their way back from Fort Craig after delivering the prisoners, passing Dallas' gravesite near the river.

Cast

 * Eric Fleming as Gil Favor, trail boss.
 * Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates, ramrod.
 * Sheb Wooley as Pete Nolan, scout.
 * Paul Brinegar as Wishbone, wagon cook.
 * James Murdock as Mushy, cook's assistant.
 * Steve Raines as Jim Quince, drover.
 * Rocky Shahan as Joe Scarlet, drover.
 * Milan Smith (not credited) as Kyle Jeffers, drover.
 * Earl Parker (not credited) as an unnamed drover.
 * Frank Wilcox as Marshal Wilt Jackson.
 * Bob Steele as Deputy Marshal Art Gray.
 * Terry Moore as Dallas Storm, female outlaw.
 * John Larch as Lennie Dawson, gangster.
 * Bill Hale as Jed Ryan, gangster.
 * Tom Conway as Sinclair, wife-murderer.
 * Maurice Manson as Matt Hays, bootlegger.
 * David Whorf as Norm Morton, deserter.
 * John War Eagle as Virgo, Native American prisoner.
 * Val Dufour as Luke Storm, notorious outlaw.