Frontier road builder Cassady (John Kellogg) is determined push a route through Shawnee country irrespective of tribal agreements, and in the process kills a young tribesman. Daniel, Jericho, and Mingo attempt to persuade him to cease and keep the peace with the Shawnee.
Another decent road adventure this week, and again we are not missing the Boonesborough baggage; Boone and sidekicks are at their best when operating far afield. Only guest star of note is Westerns-and-war genre support specialist Kellogg, who does ok as the obsequious contractor.
The point of what initially. A slow-paced hour is to show Dan as reasonable mediator between settlers and the tribes, a role the real Boone never took on. Finally, the Shawnee get a rare break in a portrayal as aggravated parties, and their costumer seems to be leaning toward the side of authenticity this week. And for fun, we get to see a fair amount of wilderness camp props and a well-built stockade.
A large helping of disjointed history this outing. Breaching the Appalachian frontier was accomplished mainly through water routes, impossible for the tribes to close. Roads were mainly needed by armies on campaign, such as British General Braddock's in 1759 and U. S. Gen. Anthony Wayne's Ohio route in the 1790's, and they built them as they moved. No precedent for an 18th-century private contractor taking on such a massive infrastructure project or Cassady's willingness to fight an Indian war with only his crew to get the task done.
Cassady states that his project is endorsed by the Continental Congress "in case of trouble with the British." But that would imply a Revolutionary War dating of the episode, and no mention here of the war. Regardless, the Continental Congress was too busy with war matters to worry about roads through Ohio, far from the main fighting.
1960's Western series were liberally sprinkled with tribal-sympathetic episodes, universally predictable in their outcome. This one checks the boxes, mainly serving to burnish the title character's image.
