Daniel - in a uniquely jarring opening for a series hour - comes upon a slaughtered U. S. Army patrol. Reporting the defeat to General Grosscup (Mort Mills) at Fort King, Boone comes in for severe reprimand from Grosscup's junior officers when he notes the shortcomings in the Army's pacification strategy, but Grosscup asks him to bring in his old friend Wyandot chief Campuits for a peace conference.
DB returns to the frictional elements that makes the series worthwhile - American expansion, tribal resistance, and the threat of general conflict, but the electricity of the mid-60's episodes is absent. Guest star support is off and on. Mills does basic duty as an ethically dubious officer (though more creative writing might have used the hour to introduce Gen. Anthony Wayne and the 1790's Legion of the U. S.). "Rich Man, Poor Man" heavy William Smith is deeper as Campuits, but no real standout performances here.
Vietnam again hangs heavy in the background. The hour aired in late 1968 as the antiwar movement skyrocketed in lieu of post-Tet Offensive national disillusionment, and the theme is clearly that of an American force over its head, thrashing around ethically, and needing a "peace with honor" resolution.
The historical background does secure the writers some points. Dialog references date the episode as 1785-95, and during that period the Wyandot - an offshoot of the Northeastern Huron - were resident along the Ohio-Michigan border and fighting in coalition with the Shawnee against the American expansion. The matter was resolved by Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers and the tribal cession of Ohio via the 1795 Treaty of Greenville. Earlier, in real life Boone fought the Wyandot at the 1782 Battle of Bryan Station, Kentucky. There was a Fort King, but it was a Florida post c. 1824-44 during the Seminole War, and the mentioned Fort Marcy was really located near McLean, Va. And was not existent until the Civil War.
Continental soldier count: about 20, a good-sized force, again garbed as Massachusetts Continentals or Fairfax, Va. Independent Militia.
The elements here might have produced one of the series better mini-action epics, but the scenes are mostly talk and the heavy-handed political overtone gives the impression that Parker wanted to do an antiwar piece without alienating fans of his Crockett-Boone persona. He could have just waited until his move to winemaking in the late 70's and sponsored a screening of the polemic "Hearts and Minds" instead.
DB returns to the frictional elements that makes the series worthwhile - American expansion, tribal resistance, and the threat of general conflict, but the electricity of the mid-60's episodes is absent. Guest star support is off and on. Mills does basic duty as an ethically dubious officer (though more creative writing might have used the hour to introduce Gen. Anthony Wayne and the 1790's Legion of the U. S.). "Rich Man, Poor Man" heavy William Smith is deeper as Campuits, but no real standout performances here.
Vietnam again hangs heavy in the background. The hour aired in late 1968 as the antiwar movement skyrocketed in lieu of post-Tet Offensive national disillusionment, and the theme is clearly that of an American force over its head, thrashing around ethically, and needing a "peace with honor" resolution.
The historical background does secure the writers some points. Dialog references date the episode as 1785-95, and during that period the Wyandot - an offshoot of the Northeastern Huron - were resident along the Ohio-Michigan border and fighting in coalition with the Shawnee against the American expansion. The matter was resolved by Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers and the tribal cession of Ohio via the 1795 Treaty of Greenville. Earlier, in real life Boone fought the Wyandot at the 1782 Battle of Bryan Station, Kentucky. There was a Fort King, but it was a Florida post c. 1824-44 during the Seminole War, and the mentioned Fort Marcy was really located near McLean, Va. And was not existent until the Civil War.
Continental soldier count: about 20, a good-sized force, again garbed as Massachusetts Continentals or Fairfax, Va. Independent Militia.
The elements here might have produced one of the series better mini-action epics, but the scenes are mostly talk and the heavy-handed political overtone gives the impression that Parker wanted to do an antiwar piece without alienating fans of his Crockett-Boone persona. He could have just waited until his move to winemaking in the late 70's and sponsored a screening of the polemic "Hearts and Minds" instead.
