Author's Notes
by Ed Stowers
This is a "crossover" story that involves characters from The High Chaparral
and from The Rifleman. It is aimed at readers who were fans of both shows,
and is basically about Lucas McCain and his son, Mark, and their
adventure with gun-runners and Apaches while crossing a part of the High
Chaparral ranch. It is also a story about Buck and John and, to a lesser extent,
Victoria. There are flashback
scenes in the story to actual episodes of The Rifleman, most notably from "The
New Orleans Menace" (episode 10, air date December 2, 1958) and from "The Sheridan Story" (episode
16, air date January 13,
1959). Both of these episodes, produced by Four Star Films, were
written by Cyril Hume, and are his creations. The interpretation of these
television episodes as presented here is ours. Our story is set in 1874, roughly
one year after the Cannons have arrived at the High Chaparral. All of the
incidents described in this story, which are not historical or otherwise
credited, are our own invention. They do not reflect the opinions, stated or
implied, of anyone associated with either The High Chaparral or The Rifleman in
any capacity. This is strictly a "fun" story for fans of both shows.
As much as possible, we wanted to create a "historical" version of the story.
To that end, research was done in an attempt to assign some authenticity to the
setting. This is no small task when writing about two very dissimilar television
shows that aired a decade apart, and which reflected the classical
Hollywood, or "romanticized,"
version of the Old West, rather than its historical version. We have endeavored to remain true to the characters and canon from
both TV shows, but also to add in real history where we could. For example, the
background incidents concerning the Chiricahua, the
death of Cochise, the Battle of Cedar Creek, and the Apache attack remembered in
Manolito's "flashback" were real events. The
characters of Cochise, Taza, Naiche, Pionsenay, Natiza, Eskinya, Juh, Thomas Jeffords, and Sergeant Serrano were real people.
Sod Chambers, his gang of cut-throats, and their involvement in the events of
Apacheria, as well as the other Apache characters, are
our invention. If we have done our job correctly, readers should have some
difficulty separating fact from fiction in the story.
The Civil War deserves special note here. We wanted to postulate some
historical background that might help explain Buck, John and even Lucas from a
psychological perspective; to help us understand how they came to be who and
what they were. There were few Americans living in 1874 who had not been touched
by the War Between the States in some way. We felt our favorite characters in this story would be no exception, and
that the war would have marked each of them differently. At the time of this
story, nine years have passed since the Civil War ended, roughly the same amount
of time (at this writing) that has today passed since Operation: Desert Storm.
The Civil War is still very much recent history in the story to Buck, Lucas and
John.
We have used the timeline produced by the
High
Chaparral Resource
Center as
much as possible. No timeline was ever pinpointed for The Rifleman by its
producers, probably to allow story flexibility for the writers. Some incidents
in the series occurred in the 1870s, others in the 1880s. In fact, the rifle
that Chuck Connors wielded so adroitly in the TV series was an 1892
Winchester, a rifle not available in
either of those time frames. There was a perfectly suitable
Winchester 1873 saddle carbine at
the time, however, and that is what Lucas carries in our tale. We have assumed,
for the sake of the story, that the year is 1874, and that the start of both TV
series was 1873. In that regard, this story is set in the second season of both
shows. An interesting note to some readers is that Leif Erickson, who played Big
John Cannon on The High Chaparral, also played badman
Big Jim Lewis in the pilot episode of The Rifleman, entitled "The Sharpshooter."
Many references were used during research for this story. Most of the
incidents regarding
Books referenced concerning the Civil war included The Guns of Cedar Creek,
by Thomas A. Lewis, Harper & Row Publishing; and Sheridan in the
Shenandoah, by Edward J. Stackpole, Stackpole Books, Inc.
Internet resources used include the following sites:
The
Rifleman
The Rifleman Episode Guide
The Cannon
Ranch (site no longer available)
The
Iron Brigade of the West
Company K 19th Indiana
Infantry and the Iron Brigade (site no longer available)
19th Indiana Unit History
5th Virginia Infantry by Robert H.
Moore
The Story
of Cedar Creek (site no longer available)
The poem remembered by Mark McCain in Chapter 5 is
Sheridan's Ride, by Thomas Buchanan
Read.
WARNING: This story contains a minor amount of profanity, violence and mature
themes, especially concerning Indian torture, desert survival, and various
references concerning rape. It is realistic, but not graphic, and should be safe
for all but the very young.
Special Thanks to: Tina Sweet, for agreeing to help me co-author this story.
Tina served as my editor and supporter from the moment this idea germinated in
my head while working in Saudi
Arabia in 1998. She was my High Chaparral
"expert," and provided excellent suggestions for story development and content.
Her insights into Victoria Cannon are awesome. Also special thanks to Sheryl
Clay, whose writings helped spark the idea for this story. Very special thanks
to Sandy Sturdivant, for providing us a place to post
our story on the Don Collier website. Thanks also to various members of the High
Chaparral Discussion Group, whose encouragement and banter via email helped keep
me oriented on getting this story posted.
DEDICATION: to Chuck Connors and Cameron Mitchell, two fine actors who
brought us many memorable characters, but most especially the ones for which
they will always be remembered: Lucas McCain and Buck Cannon.
Feedback is encouraged. Please contact me at [email protected] and tell me what you think.
Any errors in the historical facts or canon in this story are entirely my own.
DISCLAIMER: The High Chaparral characters and universe belong to David Dortort. The Rifleman characters
and universe belong to Levy-Gardner-Laven Productions,
Inc. Both have been borrowed with love, but without permission. No copyright
infringement is intended.
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