Daniel is trying to get out of the cabin on a hunt, but is blocked by an on-the-tear Rebecca (in a quickly writer-quashed move toward character growth) who wants household tasks tended. Overriding all that is news that Ohio River pirate Lac Duquesne has stolen fifty rifles meant for Boonesborough with intentions of selling them to the Shawnee. A posse of Dan, Yadkin, and Mingo hits the trail.
Early series points for finding a Quebecer to play a French-Canadian voyageur villain; the use of Canadian-turned-US TV journeyman Emile Genest adds a nice layer to Duquesne's authenticity. That's about it for the guest cast budget, but Westerns regular James Griffith is along to provide his usual tall and gaunt henchman.
As we will learn down the trace, its always welcome when the Boonesborough setting is left behind early for wilderness action, and this hour delivers that. We will see in this outing and future ones a stretch of stream (San Bernardino National Forest?) that will be used again, again, and again. Setting sail as well is a keel-flatboat hybrid somewhat too small for the crew that might have ended up at Disney's Frontierland. Also, a bit too much is set at night. But the storyline and action are concise enough to overcome these minor limitations.
For what its worth, the series has moved forward from last week's pre-Revolution outing to apparently post-Revolution one (reference is made to the "territory of Kentucky," no allusion to Crown authority), but there will be a lot of shifting with little concern for continuity to come. Duquesne is said to be a former French officer now interested in setting himself up as a wilderness warlord, arming the Shawnee against the Cherokee. Some plausibility geographically, but the Ohio River Valley was not that devoid of governmental authority post-Revolutionary War, and the only individual who made a misbegotten attempt at setting up a private empire was Aaron Burr (covered in a future DB episode).
River piracy was an actual thing on the Ohio c. 1790-1840, flaring up now and then but usually quashed by Federal troops, vigilantes, or nascent law enforcement. Disney's Crockett series and Fess Parker also got an episode out of it. The Shawnee - no speaking roles of note here - are again villains of the week. Get used to that.
Early series enthusiasm again carries through another hour from the black-and-white era.
Early series points for finding a Quebecer to play a French-Canadian voyageur villain; the use of Canadian-turned-US TV journeyman Emile Genest adds a nice layer to Duquesne's authenticity. That's about it for the guest cast budget, but Westerns regular James Griffith is along to provide his usual tall and gaunt henchman.
As we will learn down the trace, its always welcome when the Boonesborough setting is left behind early for wilderness action, and this hour delivers that. We will see in this outing and future ones a stretch of stream (San Bernardino National Forest?) that will be used again, again, and again. Setting sail as well is a keel-flatboat hybrid somewhat too small for the crew that might have ended up at Disney's Frontierland. Also, a bit too much is set at night. But the storyline and action are concise enough to overcome these minor limitations.
For what its worth, the series has moved forward from last week's pre-Revolution outing to apparently post-Revolution one (reference is made to the "territory of Kentucky," no allusion to Crown authority), but there will be a lot of shifting with little concern for continuity to come. Duquesne is said to be a former French officer now interested in setting himself up as a wilderness warlord, arming the Shawnee against the Cherokee. Some plausibility geographically, but the Ohio River Valley was not that devoid of governmental authority post-Revolutionary War, and the only individual who made a misbegotten attempt at setting up a private empire was Aaron Burr (covered in a future DB episode).
River piracy was an actual thing on the Ohio c. 1790-1840, flaring up now and then but usually quashed by Federal troops, vigilantes, or nascent law enforcement. Disney's Crockett series and Fess Parker also got an episode out of it. The Shawnee - no speaking roles of note here - are again villains of the week. Get used to that.
Early series enthusiasm again carries through another hour from the black-and-white era.