Boonesborough newcomer James Burns's (Myron Healey) party wants to settle on land held by Chief Wamakah's (Ted de Corsia) tribe. Daniel has misgivings, but agrees to guide Burns on a negotiating trip. Wamakah ups the game when he demands 20 rifles in exchange for land, and then kidnaps Rebecca and Israel as an incentive.
DB seemingly plays to its strengths this hour with an apparently straight-up action episode; Healey is a stock-character naive greenhorn, but adds a note of regional authenticity with Scots-Irish accent. Midcentury tough-guy specialist de Corsia is adequate as the adversary, but Ted Dante - Crazy Horse in the youth-rebel accented "Custer" series of the same period - is an engaging foil as Israel's benevolent captor. Plus, Fess Parker is around for the duration, of course necessitated by Israel's abduction.
And then human-interest crashes the party on takeoff when the chief's crippled son shows up and we are subject to yet another "triumph of the human spirit" arc. The victim follows the all the dots from sullen denial to frustration to renewed interest in life; for those interested 1970's TV movies would provide a steady conveyor belt of the same. Israel is of course the catalyst and engages in feats unrealistic for a grade schooler.
Historical interest is firmly relegated to the rumble seat this week; although Wamakah (tribe uncertain) wearing a British uniform coat (Royal American Regiment again) that could indicate the British attempt to keep influence in the Northwest post-Revolution, Burns makes reference to the "government land office" approving his deed. Kentucky was never subject to a formal Federal survey, leading to endless frustration and disputes over claims. Its one reason why Abraham Lincoln's father left for Indiana.
The rifle-ransom plot is never brought to conclusion, and what is left by the end of the hour is an unsatisfactory hybrid of action and human interest that is far less than the sum of its parts.
DB seemingly plays to its strengths this hour with an apparently straight-up action episode; Healey is a stock-character naive greenhorn, but adds a note of regional authenticity with Scots-Irish accent. Midcentury tough-guy specialist de Corsia is adequate as the adversary, but Ted Dante - Crazy Horse in the youth-rebel accented "Custer" series of the same period - is an engaging foil as Israel's benevolent captor. Plus, Fess Parker is around for the duration, of course necessitated by Israel's abduction.
And then human-interest crashes the party on takeoff when the chief's crippled son shows up and we are subject to yet another "triumph of the human spirit" arc. The victim follows the all the dots from sullen denial to frustration to renewed interest in life; for those interested 1970's TV movies would provide a steady conveyor belt of the same. Israel is of course the catalyst and engages in feats unrealistic for a grade schooler.
Historical interest is firmly relegated to the rumble seat this week; although Wamakah (tribe uncertain) wearing a British uniform coat (Royal American Regiment again) that could indicate the British attempt to keep influence in the Northwest post-Revolution, Burns makes reference to the "government land office" approving his deed. Kentucky was never subject to a formal Federal survey, leading to endless frustration and disputes over claims. Its one reason why Abraham Lincoln's father left for Indiana.
The rifle-ransom plot is never brought to conclusion, and what is left by the end of the hour is an unsatisfactory hybrid of action and human interest that is far less than the sum of its parts.
