Fans continue to witness the daily adventures of the fictional Cartwright family as Bonanza, the hit Western television series, launched its second season on September 10, 1960, with its first episode, Showdown, written by Dean Riesner.

Sam Kirby (Ben Cooper) and his gang of outlaws hide out on the Ponderosa as they evade the law. Sam finds work as a ranchhand at the Ponderosa, disguising under a false name to keep track of the sheriff and any posse that may discover their hideout. Everyone on the ranch is happy to have the friendly stranger join them, except Joe Cartwright, who found Sam suspicious.

Ray Teal plays Sheriff Coffee for the first time in the series. Other actors, like Jack Lambert, acting as Pardo, and Jody Warner as Ellie, joined the cast. 

Read the storyline and some interesting trivia, or watch the episode below.

Watch the Full Episode of Showdown

Watch the Full Episode of Showdown:

Main Cast

Showdown, the premiere episode of Bonanza’s second season, featured some of the program’s recurring and supporting cast members. The entire cast of the episode consists of:

• Michael Landon as Joseph ‘Little Joe’ Cartwright
• Lorne Greene as Ben Cartwright
• Pernell Roberts as Adam Cartwright
• Dan Blocker as Eric ‘Hoss’ Cartwright
• Ben Cooper as Sam Kirby
• Jack Lambert as John Pardo
• Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee
• Jody Warner as Ellie McClure
• John Maxwell as Tom McClure
• Norman Leavitt as Rudy the Telegrapher
• Boyd ‘Red’ Morgan as Link (as Red Morgan)
• Bill Clark as Fight Spectator at Picnic (uncredited)
• Chuck Hamilton as Fight Spectator at Picnic (uncredited)
• Cactus Mack as Cartwright Ranch Hand (uncredited)

Full Story Line for Showdown

John Pardo and his gang of outlaws rob the Virginia City bank. They later decided to hide in the Ponderosa, sending Sam Kirby to work as a ranch hand to be on the lookout if ever the town decided to form a search party or summon a platoon from the army.

Adam, Hoss, and Joe Cartwright are riding horses when Sam arrives at the Ponderosa ranch. Sam’s laughter draws the horses’ attention when one of the horses throws Joe. He asks for a job, but Joe claims he and his brothers are taking care of all the tasks in the Ponderosa. After successfully riding the horse that threw Joe and declaring a reference from a former Ponderosa hand, Adam offers him a position on the ranch, which he accepts immediately.

Sheriff Coffee arrives at the Ponderosa to notify the Cartwrights about the robbery at Mr. McClure’s bank.

Ben decided to start searching the area before it got dark. Joe informs him about their new hire, but Ben and Adam shrug it off since they believe their former ranch referred him.

To cover more ground, Ben sends the boys to different areas in the Ponderosa in pairs. When Sam realizes Hoss is heading towards the gang’s hideout, he volunteers to accompany him. Sam suggests returning, making an excuse that it’s getting late. However, Hoss finds some suspicious markings and starts examining them further. Seeing his words not stopping Hoss from investigating, Sam tried to draw his gun. Joe shows up in time to stop him. Joe claims he saw Sam pulling his weapon, but Hoss doesn’t believe him. Meanwhile, Sam argued he only reached for his gun upon hearing somebody coming. They leave the area, and Joe starts to find Sam suspicious.

Ben reports to Sheriff Roy regarding the areas they covered. Adam and Sam arrive shortly after, and the sheriff thinks Sam is familiar. He asked when the Cartwrights hired him and where he was during the night of the robbery, to which he replied that he was on the trail. The Cartwrights, except Joe, believe there’s nothing wrong with Sam. A telegraph arrives at that moment, stating that the army will come into town. Joe noticed the telegrapher’s doubtful look at Sam, so he went outside to ask. The telegrapher informs him that he might have seen Sam with two other men that night a gang robbed the bank. Although the telegrapher is unsure about what he saw, Joe becomes increasingly suspicious of Sam.

At the picnic party, Hoss introduces Sam to Ellie McClure, daughter of the bank’s owner. Sam becomes friendly with Ellie, helping her set up one of the picnic tables. Ellie expresses her dismay about the bank robbery and how her father feels responsible, even if it wasn’t his fault that some robbers stole the money. However, she’s happy to hear about the upcoming arrival of the army. Pleased to meet Sam, Ellie invites him to the Thursday dance.

Joe suddenly comes back, believing Sam’s getting Ellie from him. A fight erupts, and Sam’s shirt gets ripped at one point, exposing whip scars on Sam’s back. Feeling angry and humiliated, Sam insisted on leaving. Adam hands him his vest to cover his back. Ben, Hoss, and Adam want to know why Joe acted that way towards Sam. Joe reveals what the telegrapher, Rudy, told him about Sam, saying he won’t be surprised if Sam has a connection with the robbery. However, Ben believes it wasn’t enough evidence to conclude that. Joe feels bad and says he’ll apologize to Sam.

Sam returns to the gang’s hideout and reports about the army troop’s arrival and the posses’ location. Pardo noticed Sam’s vest and asked about it. He tells him that Adam gave it, and Pardo’s impressed, even amused, to see how the Cartwrights trusted Sam. Despite Sam’s objections, Pardo insists he returns to the Ponderosa.

Joe followed Sam’s trail, which eventually led him to their hideout. Two of the gang members brought him in, and there he saw Sam. When Sam is about to leave, Joe hits him, so Pardo punches him back, knocking him down. Pardo tried to hit Joe more, but Sam stopped him. Pardo thinks Sam’s going soft for the Cartwrights, then sends Sam back to find out more about the army troops.

Adam asks about Joe upon hearing about Sam’s arrival. Sam claims he hasn’t seen Joe, much to Adam’s surprise, since Joe left immediately after Sam to apologize. Hearing this makes Sam feel even worse. Adam considers him a friend, but Sam says a man’s sole friend is himself. Adam doesn’t argue and calmly informs Sam that the sheriff is inside to see him.

Sheriff Roy states he sent a telegram to the ranch hand in Arizona. Although they know Sam, the ranch fired him when they discovered he had a prison record in Texas. Sam admits to killing his stepfather in cold blood several years after his mother’s death. Growing up, his stepfather consistently beat and whipped him, causing scars on his back. Sam waited ’til he was big and strong enough to fight back, then served his time in prison. Ben thinks the sentence he faced was enough, but Roy wants to take Sam with him. He refuses to let Sam go with the sheriff, so Roy tells him he’s now responsible for Sam. Although Ben treats him kindly, even offering a home for him in the Ponderosa, Sam leaves and tells him not to expect any from him. Adam believes Sam’s not used to the kind of treatment Ben gave him.

Adam visits Sam in the bunkhouse that night. He sees Sam preparing to leave, wondering if their kindness and friendship overwhelmed Sam. Adam was about to reach for his vest when Sam knocked him out before leaving.

Ben finds Adam leaving the bunkhouse. They realize the sheriff and Joe was right about Sam the whole time.

Sam goes back to the gang. Pardo fails to get information from Joe, so he asks Sam to do it for him. Sam refused, so Pardo accused him of softening since he lived in the Ponderosa. Sam argues that Joe will never reveal the details, considering Joe’s a Cartwright. Pardo orders his men to kill Joe, but Sam persuades him to do otherwise. He says they’ll get away with Joe riding upfront, so he’ll die if the Cartwrights start shooting at them. The idea satisfied Pardo. When the men go to pack up, Sam aims his gun at Pardo’s head. A scuffle ensues, giving Joe the time to obtain a gun and shoot Pardo. At the end of the fight, Joe assures Sam that he has friends now.

The following morning, the Cartwrights are searching the area when they see Joe and Sam leading the gang toward them. There they realize that they misjudged Sam Kirby.

Full Script and Dialogue of Showdown

[Music]
let it go
[Music]
hurry up make it fast this whole town
ain't deaf
well it looks like we made it clean
portal this sure sleeps on to virginia
city don't they let's go
[Music]
sam ponderosa's off in that direction
well i reckon i can find it
you know what you're gonna do when you
get there we've been over it 97 times
pardo
just once more all right i go to the
ponderosa and i hire on as a hand and i
keep my ears open
and if a search party comes down this
way i'll let you know first
especially if it's a platoon from the
army then what
well then when things quiet down i come
on back and we light out
mark that big old dead tree we'll be uh
a mile and a half south of here you'll
see a big granite boulder
leads into a box canyon that's where
we'll be waiting
you just let old sam take care of it
you're my eyes and my ears
i'm dependent on you sam let's go
sam cover up those hoof prints
they probably want to know where you
came from tell them about that ranch you
used to work on
that fella was always talking about the
ponderosa that ought to convince him
what if it doesn't what what if somebody
starts getting extra nosy
you got a gun haven't you sam
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
ah
[Music]
hey riding cowboy come on stick with him
adam
[Music]
i know i told you it was too much horse
for you
now you're next broncbuster that's what
they call me hey
joe you ain't been making no rash
promises to ellie mcclure have you
i ain't had a chance are you sure
because there comes a point in the
sheriff right now
hey i wonder what they want i don't know
but now me
always sort of went for june wedding for
lots of apple blossoms
yeah well you know a fella could do a
lot worse than ellie mcclure
oh excuse me all the pieces
well you gonna ride this thing or not
coming up
if you'll excuse me ladies it's time for
your writings
now we'll see some fun
stay with him boy ride him
[Laughter]
well i'm glad somebody enjoyed it i'm
sorry i didn't know it showed
what can we do for you well you wouldn't
happen to have an easy job in a cool
place now would you
yeah but my brothers and i take all of
those what else you do
well i've accidentally managed to break
a horse or two in my day
and well we just happen to have one on
hand yeah well i was hoping you'd take
my word for it
now what's this cowboy wants to try his
luck in that hammerhead
you ever busted any broncs before a
button
one or two i guess well if you ain't for
sure
right now it'd be a real good time to
back out
well no i don't reckon i'd want to do
that
you think we should let him do it well
it's his hide
some fellas have to learn the hard way
job
oh
[Music]
that's what i call riding the horse oh
you gotta admit i tired him out a little
bit
well you might as well face it joe some
people just better with horses than
others
nice ride kid i'm out of cart right sam
kirby
these are my brothers uh horse and
little joe hey
hi pleased to meet you you uh looking
for a job sam
well ed limp said you might be hiring
some hands ed limp you friend of his
well he ram-ratted an outfit i worked
for down in arizona the barbie
i see yeah i'd give you a letter to show
well yeah i uh i got it uh packed in the
saddle bag there if you really want to
see it if you say you got it you got it
high's old lead in here
oh he's meaner than ever still thinks
mighty higher the ponderosa though
well we uh pay 30 a month bunking beans
well you just hired yourself a hand
now as far as posses are concerned we
got them here
here and up here looks like they're well
covered
now i've been on a telegraph to every
long man in the territory so i believe
we got him pretty well sealed in
that is within this general radius yeah
oh boys
come in please you know mr mcclure share
of coffee
yeah sure if i can't honey hey mr
mcclure
are we getting all set for that birthday
party sunday i'm hoping we'll be able to
have a birthday party little joe
well why what's the matter uh mr
mcclure's bank was robbed last night
i thought that bank was pretty near
robert proof yeah so did i how much they
get away with
just about all there was right now we'd
be lucky if we could pay off five cents
on the dollar
uh boys that information is not to leave
this room
you mean the people don't know about it
well they know we've been hit but they
don't know how bad
we can't afford to have a run on the
bank right now if we can get that money
back by the first of the month we got a
chance to weather it
you'll be fine tom any idea who did it
sheriff
yeah it could have been the john potter
bunch he pulled a job just about like
this something but last year
well what are we waiting for oh wait a
minute joe the sheriff has plenty of
help up north he's holding us
responsible for the ponderosa
chances are they'll hole up for a while
anyway this thing cools down a bit
i want to see to it that they don't hold
up on our land so keep your eyes open
for anything unusual
you know smoke tracks that hadn't ought
to be there drifters that got a lot more
money than they ought to have
anything like that well we'll let you
know if we see anything roy
uh much blood she ben more than likely
they won't come down this way at all
but it don't do no harm to make sure no
it doesn't bye
hello hi mr mcclure i sure hope ellie
can have that birthday party
i hope so too little joe we're waiting
to hear from fort mckay
we're trying to get help from the army
well i'm sure they'll want to help so do
we tom
then when i think about some of the
small ranchers around here i
i'm just not man enough to tell them
that they've worked five 10 15 years for
nothing
it's a tough thing to face up to no not
tom that's enough of that kind of talk
they'll find pardon his outfit you mark
my words i hope so
thank you ben
[Music]
let's finish breaking those horses pop
now forget about the horses for now
there's still time to do some looking
before it starts getting dark
you boys saddle up and tell a horse in
the men hey bob i was uh i was just
thinking about what the sheriff said
about drifters
huh what about him well we just hired
one a little while ago
i just thought i'd mention it come on
joe just because he out roger doesn't
mean he's a bank robber
look i told you to stop kidding me wait
a minute now wait a minute
what about this new man well ed lamp
sent him he's all right
followed there by the corral sam kirby
in the gray shirt
well if that lamp watches for a man
that's good enough for me
tell her the vendor satellite uh we'll
cover more ground if we split up in twos
joe you take the arroyo and everything
east
right phi horst yes sir you get out
south as far as the wash
adam and i will take the west spot all
right take a minute let's get busy
okay yeah let's bird dog i'm out of
there come on
so
oh i don't know about you i think i'm
going to stretch him out
well uh don't you think it's getting
kind of late shouldn't we get back yeah
that's how i work out 15.
wonder how the others are doing i don't
know
i hope they're doing better than we are
[Music]
it's funny you find something
yeah this bush here
it's been broke all fresh you wouldn't
have that come to
me well a stray maybe
[Music]
well i don't see no tracks
in it well it uh
it's deer brush maybe some indian took
it for his fire
maybe that's me and you take a look
around in here
[Music]
plus
what's trouble joel ah nothing i guess
it's from back there it looked like he
was drawing down on you
oh say i'm here well i just heard
somebody coming i
just want to be sure joe you're letting
this whole thing spook you boy
yeah i guess so i reckon he was right
about that deer brush
boom let's get on in for supper
[Music]
i sure will find something tonight i
never had roast beef that good in my
whole life
get your gear stowed away no i i better
get to it
want some help no thanks i don't have
that much
if you need anything sam just holler
do you uh suppose it's something serious
i don't know i think the cat's got his
tongue
no i was just thinking about l.a mclaren
no doubt
uh no doubt
now i was thinking about sam kirby well
now you
can't still be stealing about him
breaking that horse this morning
no i told you that had nothing to do
with it no it's like i was telling you
before a supper he's all bothered
because he thought he caught old sam
drawing down on me out there in a wash
forget that joey told you how that
happened didn't he
yeah he told me what's the matter with
you then
i don't know i was just do something
about him
well on friday we we covered the south
and the west part
then yesterday we took the east and this
morning we split up and swept north
no luck huh ah not unless adam found
something i didn't
oh it kept you well sam saw some uh
smoke up around bitter creek
turned out to be ollie ludlow's posse
always been watching the dayton road
don't i know you son i couldn't say
sheriff
i don't think i know you roy this is sam
kirby
he's working for us now since when
since friday all right on friday huh
where were you thursday night sam
you mean the night the bank was robbed i
was on the trail
you can prove that of course not unless
you want to take the word of my horse
sam's all right sheriff he had limps in
him up here from the barbie
oh how's old ed
meaner than a snake
well i guess sheriff the tariff got a
message for you from fort mckay
thanks rudy get my glasses come to town
for the picnic mr cartwright
oh you mean uh ellen mcclure's birthday
party uh that was being called off
wasn't it
looks like they call it back on again
you know about ladies and parties and
such
they say it's gonna be a real dew hot
dogs that's what i call real good news
and here's some more good news
the army's gonna bust loose for the
whole troop of horse soldiers says
they'll be here tomorrow afternoon
tomorrow well that is good news sheriff
that changes things considerably
now we can organize a search that'll
really mean something well tom mcclure
be happy to hear about that
what's up rudy who's that young feller
in there joel that's the new hand we
hired why
well nothing i just thought maybe i saw
him in town with two other men the night
the bank was robbed
are you sure well he sure looks like the
fella i've seen
hell maybe you ought to come in there
and tell the sheriff oh no wait a minute
i ain't that sure anyway it was kind of
a dark night that night
[Music]
well i'll see you back at the ponderosa
mr cartwright all right sam
aren't you going to the picnic sand no
no i'm not much good at picnics well you
ain't never seen the kind of big mix we
have around here
well i think i just ride on back to the
ranch house why don't you come on it'll
do you good
well some other time oh joe and me are
gonna look pretty silly packing you all
the way over there
ain't we oh maybe he's got something
better to do
all right you win i'll go well
hope she's got some of that blueberry
pie
yes sir i sure relish a couple of them
blueberry class full supper
now for the team of adam cartwright and
troy fuller adam cartwright
come on
all right come on boys
ellie i wouldn't do all this work for
just any girl i hope you know how much i
like you
you mean i'm the only girl you ever
carried a picnic basket for a little joe
let's just say you're the only girl i'd
carry one for now
little joe cartwright right in front of
all these people
yeah well you know we could go behind
that wagon
all right all right i'll get the rest of
the groceries
the pickle fork pickle fork where did i
put that
health card right ma'am
it was a great big old horse fly here
and i i i i was just i know what you was
just
you cartwrights if it isn't one thing
it's the other
there'll be no refreshments served until
after the games
yes miss ellie
ain't that your pickle fork over there i
don't see any
horse card right remember ma'am i'm just
a growing boy
hey sam hey sam come in
what you doing setting off over there
all by yourself i'm just
watching well that ain't no way to do it
at a picnic you got to get around here
and meet some of these pretty gals oh no
don't bother
i'm fine yeah but you'll be a lot finer
when you meet some of these gals come
here
miss ellie miss ellie i i want you to
meet a friend of mine this here sam
kirby
how do you do mr kirby my pleasure man
you better be nice to miss ellie her
father owns a bank
is that so
oh you two will excuse me i i better
find pulling at them and learn them
something about shooting them horseshoes
you like picnics mr kirby well i don't
exactly know
you don't know you see this is the first
one i've ever been to
didn't they have picnics where you grew
up not hardly
what kind of a place was that i don't
think you'd much want to hear about it
i'm sorry i didn't mean to be
inquisitive it's my fault i
i didn't mean to give you a short answer
that's all right
if you'll excuse me i've got to finish
setting this table is there anything i
can do to help you
thank you
i didn't think i was gonna have a party
today at all that's all
you heard about the bank being robbed
yeah
i heard pop has been awfully upset
and mom and me too naturally i guess you
would be
so many people trusted papa
the wilsons and ludlows even the
cartwrights
i think it would just kill papa if they
were to lose everything
well i i don't see where it's his fault
he feels responsible to his friends
it doesn't matter now anyway we had some
real good news today
i suppose you mean about the army coming
in yes isn't that wonderful
yeah wonderful ellie
have you seen the napkins yes miss you
maker they're in that basket over there
well come on girl the party can't wait
all day you mind setting them out
of course not me shoemaker
it was nice meeting you mr kirby i hope
to see you again
thank you ma'am well as a matter of fact
there's a dance next thursday
it doesn't amount to much but the
cartwright boys usually come
why don't you come along with him
well thank you ma'am i think i'd like
that
thirsty then yes ma'am
oh let me get that
[Music]
what are you trying to do kirby
i wouldn't say i was trying to do
anything
now little joe mr kirby and i were only
talking yeah sure i saw the way he was
talking
and it looked at me like he was trying
to put his arm around you joe cartwright
what business is this of yours carter
i'm making you my business kirby
just because i've gone on with you once
or twice it doesn't give you the right
to think of me as your personal property
now you stay out of this ellie there's a
lot of questions i
wanted to ask you kirby now's as good a
time as any well i'm not answering any
questions
you know you're gonna answer this one
where were you thursday night
joe
mr kirby please
[Music]
make it
[Music]
it's all right folks everything's all
right boys who are just getting a little
hungry that's all
i think uh mr mcclure would like us to
adjourn to the tables for a little food
yes friends over here we have fried
chicken
sam we didn't mean no harm we we didn't
know your back was scarred up like that
he's supposed to be all right if i went
along now
where do you want to go sam back to the
ranch
if it's all right of course it's all
right
sam little joe didn't mean nothing
we just want you to have a good time
that's all horse
sam put this on
it'll cover your back
[Music]
well it wasn't much of a picnic for him
paul
you reckon what to do a man's back like
that
but the only thing i could figure is
bullwhip
[Music]
what are you all looking at oh forget it
joey nobody looking at you
well all right what was i supposed to do
you didn't have to poke him oh i didn't
have to poke him look he's the one who
threw the first punch
come on now you've been down on him ever
since he rode that horse
i told you that's got nothing to do with
it well what is it then joe
what do you got against that boy all
right i'll tell you rudy told me he saw
him in town thursday night
i wouldn't be surprised if he had
something to do with a bank robbery
hey joe that's going a bit too far in it
boy
it's a pretty serious charge joe you
have any real evidence
to support it
already told me thought he saw him in
town he thought
he saw him in town and you call that
real evidence
i guess not
i'm sorry paul i should have known
better
look maybe i better ride after him tell
him i'm sorry yeah
good idea
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
come on coach
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
me sam
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
so oh
hello sam how's the boy just fine carter
thing's quieting down no
you're getting hot there's an army troop
of cavalry headed in from fort mckay
yeah when i only do in virginia city
tomorrow afternoon
what time i'm afraid i didn't say that
oh well we'll have plenty of time
where are the bosses well i got them all
spotted
yeah you sure i had a good long look at
the map in the sheriff's office
sheriff's office they must have trusted
you pretty good
yeah they trusted me fine why
no reason where'd you get the new vest
adam cartwright he uh
he gave it to me he gave it to you i
gotta hand it to you
you sure got away with your sam yeah
all right we'll take out of here in the
morning before the cavalry pulls in
[Music]
now what's so funny i got right fella
given you is best
[Music]
brahmos
[Music]
there's one thing still left for you to
do sam
i want you to go back to ponderosa
spend a little more time with your
friends why
now for one thing you might want to
return that vest
you're thinking of turning on me sam you
better forget it and what makes you say
that
i don't know i just said it now get back
to that ranch and find out which way the
soldiers are coming in
[Music]
pardo do i have to go back there yeah
you have to go back there
[Music]
where'd you find him looks like he was
trailing sam
remus and me thought you might be
interested you know him
yeah it's joe cartwright
it's a small world in it kirby i thought
you said you had him fooled
no not all of us what's that mean
nothing just keep him here
i'm going back to the ranch
leave him alone
are you going soft sam good time up
get on back to ponderosa before those
cartwrights get suspicious
and find out which way those horse
soldiers are coming in you're here
i hear you
[Music]
that's you little joe oh it's me sam
oh i thought uh joe would be with you
but you thought wrong it's funny you
rode out of town right after you did
he uh felt kind of bad about what
happened at the picnic today he
went after you to tell you he was sorry
oh
well you tell him i said not to lose any
sleep
sam i haven't known you for very long
but i uh conscious a friend
let me tell you something a man's only
got one friend
one guy in the whole world he can count
on who'll go out on a limb for him
and that's himself
all right the sheriff's inside
sheriff wants to talk to you sam
but why me
why don't you ask him about yourself
[Music]
that headlamp i tried to convince him to
stick it out in this territory but
he never did think this country to mount
to much hired out to arizona
did pretty well out there had all that
golden silver right here under his feet
yeah and the lumbered cattle
oh sam
when uh you know the sheriff
yeah um i said i'm saying
no thanks
sheriff tells me he has some uh
information about you
i thought you'd want to be here when he
told us
that's nice to you mr cartwright seems
uh
sheriff coffee here got to worrying
about you this morning after we left his
office
well that was real nice of you too
sheriff i sent a telegraph message about
you down to barbie ranch
old ed limp here's the answer
it says they'll let you go more than six
months back on account of your prison
record in texas
to check on that too didn't have to
is that the whole story
funny thing about a prison record mr
cartwright
they say you do your time and you pay
your price
but don't you believe it
sam did you serve your timeout eight
years
and i was pardoned i suppose they left
that out
it's all there now roy what's all this
about
since when do we hound a man has paid
for his mistake
it wasn't exactly a mistake
now just what does that mean he murdered
his father in cold blood
is what he's saying true
yeah some
he was my stepfather and he needed
killing
nobody needs killing he did
i was six years old when my mother died
you know what he did when we come back
from the funeral
he took a whip to me just to show you he
says
just to show you things are going to be
different from now on that was my
stepfather
see from then on he beat me every day i
can remember
except when he was too drunk
and it was he who did that to your back
he did
[Music]
so i waited i waited till i figured i
could handle him
[Music]
and i waited till he was stoned cold
sober
i wanted him to know what was happening
and who was doing it
that's premeditated murder yeah
[Music]
and then one night he came for me and i
was ready
and i killed him
[Music]
i was 14 years old
and that's what you served your sentence
for
for 10 years
i served eight i think you'd better come
along with me boy
i'm not going anywhere with you
kirby you haven't got a chance against
the four of us
sam
all right now what's the charge against
him
no charge don't need any he can't prove
where he was thursday night he's got a
prison record
that's enough to take him in that's not
enough to take a man off this ranch
now what does that mean ben roy half the
people in this territory couldn't prove
where they were thursday night
let's remind having a prison record once
he served his sentence his debt is paid
and that's it
boy stays here you're refusing to
cooperate with the law
i'm refusing to allow to lock the boy up
without a valid reason
no law in the world says you can do that
i could deputize some men well sure if i
reckon you better get you a whole bunch
of them
all right ben but it's your
responsibility
then you're sticking your neck out a
country mile because if you've made a
mistake you're gonna have to account for
it
uh
well sam looks like little joe and the
rest of us owe you a new shirt
yep you go down and get the best one you
can find sam with pearl buttons and all
sam and what's been said here has been
said and that's the last of it
i want you to know that you have a home
here in the ponderosa for just as long
as you want it
uh paul you'll have to excuse sam he uh
has some theories about people going out
on a limb
i guess they kind of fell apart huh
that's where you're mistaken y'all just
made me see how right i am
so i got a home in the ponderosa have i
well i can't use it sam
look what do we say that forget it just
don't you do me any favors
and don't you expect any
oh what got into him i guess he's not
used to being treated like a human being
why little joe didn't come back with him
oh boy he probably got
halfway out and decided to go back and
make up to ellie
should have been home hours ago
strange boy that sam kirby
man i guess that's what happens when you
never been given a helping hand yeah he
got himself so far out on that limb he
didn't quite know how to get himself off
well it's been a hard day pie
i better get to bed don't worry about
little jimmy paul
he can take care of himself yeah
goodnight house good night adam good
night good night paul
he's sure enough worried about joe wadey
yeah well
you know how he always is about him
hey where are you going and i'll be
right back
you think you'll need any help
so
couldn't even wait till morning huh why
you so touchy sam
no reason i just want to get out of here
but nothing my father said made any
difference to you why don't you
cartwrights leave me alone i'm full up
to here
and here's your vest i don't want it
sam is it really the kindness that's
killing you or is it something else
i just don't like a lot of people asking
me questions
why not what have you got to hide who
says i got anything to hide
little joe right about you all alone is
that what bothering you sam
[Music]
[Music]
so
[Music]
so
[Music]
adam
[Music]
adam are you around
what's my i got hit in the head kirby
slammed into me and ran off i guess he
had his whole food
and particularly me i think the sheriff
is right about him
little joe too
he might have the answer to joe's
whereabouts let's get awesome get
settled
up and pick up this trail since it turns
light
all right once more you're wasting your
time
which way
about time you were getting here we got
to get moving what are you doing to him
how'd you find out did you find out
which way the horse soldiers were coming
in
no i didn't get a chance uh maybe we
still have a chance
he probably knows which way they're
coming in
why don't we just have you make him tell
us
yeah why don't you make me talk sam
go on after all you're practically one
of the family
oh what are you waiting for
you asking that living with the
cardroids is making you go soft
it's his kind that put you in jail and
took eight years out of your life you're
forgetting that no i'm not forgetting
that
but i know that carter cartwright's well
enough to know that he won't talk now if
we stay here any longer we'll never get
out of here let's get going now
he'll never get out of here when my pond
brothers find out i didn't come home all
night then the cavalry will be all over
the place
you're not gonna make it uh maybe we
won't
but you won't be alive to know it kill
him hold it link
he he just gave us the answer yeah yeah
take him with us joe cartwright riding
out there in front
and if we get trouble from any of the
other cartwrights he gets a bullet right
in the back
might work promise
go get andy saddle up the horses
blank get the money out of the cave all
right pardo
[Music]
plano
[Music]
you sure waited long enough you took 10
years off my life
well i just hope i didn't take 10 years
off my life too
don't worry you got friends now
friends that'll stick by you
i know that i'll be all right
what about those other two yeah let's
pick them up
[Music]
[Music]
it looks like little joe didn't wait for
the army hey he's got sam with him
looks like he was wrong about sound paul
yeah
looks like we were all wrong about sam
kirby
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
you

Behind the Scenes of Showdown

This episode is the first one with Sheriff Roy Coffee. It also marks Ray Teal’s first out of 88 appearances in the series.

Sheriff Roy Coffee gave the Cartwrights the written report on Sam Kirby’s past. Ben picks up the piece of paper, glances at it, crumples it, then throws it into the fire shortly after. He missed throwing the crumpled paper, leaving it in front of the fireplace and between Hoss and Adam. Ben gazes into the fire, pretending to watch the paper burn, then walks over to Hoss and Adam’s position. By that scene, the paper has disappeared.

Ben was laughing for a moment before quickly returning to his serious face during Sam and Joe’s fight scene at the picnic.

There were initially a series of law enforcement officials in Virginia City (one marshal, nine sheriffs, and three deputies) during its first season. For its second season, the show has settled on a permanent sheriff in the form of Ray Teal as Sheriff Roy Coffee. Meanwhile, law enforcers outside Virginia City in the first season included one Texas sheriff, a marshal from Los Angeles, and a police sergeant from San Francisco.

Looking for More Bonanza Episodes?

All 14 seasons of Bonanza are worth watching by yourself or with the family. The program ran under the NBC network’s production from September 1959 to January 1973. Showdown is the 31st episode out of 430 and the first for the second season.

You can find more about any of the 430 Bonanza episodes here>>