Somebody has been taking Cartwright cattle, and we all know that the Cartwrights don't like that at all! But this time it's a little different. A tribe of Paiute Indians are taking them because they are starving. Interestingly, they are too proud to ask for help but not too proud to steal. But the story doesn't stop there. The men of Virginia City are killing the antelope so the Paiute don't have any to kill. The Paiutes are threatening war against the people. The Cartwrights must stop it!
When they go to the mines, they learn the miners aren't having much success and they are buying an antelope for $10 a pound. The Cartwright's offer their cattle for $20 a head to help feed the miner families.
The Cartwrights meet a man named Mark Burdette who is taking advantage of a recent silver rush in the Virginia City mines. The men are starving, and he sees a way to get rich by killing antelope and selling their meat for $10 a pound. They warn Mark that if they don't stop killing the antelope, they will be at war with the Paiutes. Little Joe opens his mouth about their prime beef and that they could sell them at a good price. This opens a can of worms! Now Mark wants their prime beef. Ben is angry at the way they are selling meat for an unfair profit and refuses to do business with them. But Mark Burdette always gets what he wants!
Burdette has Thorne, his right-hand-man, to stop the miners from taking the cattle. But he goes way past what Burdette orders and kills the miners, dressed up like Indians. When Burdette gets onto him, he and his men go to kill Indians to put the Cartwright family right in the middle. They have to find out who caused the killing before a war breaks out. So Little Joe goes in for some answers.
I'm surprised that Ben let's Little Joe walk in. He's the hot-headed, immature kid who got them in this trouble in the first place
but perhaps that's why he thinks it's his fight
An unlikely person gets mixed up in all this. Glory, a saloon girl becomes Burdette's girl, but she doesn't believe his story about who killed the miners. Thankfully, one of the miners survived and was able to tell her the truth. But out of desperation, Burdette and Thorne abduct her and take off, trying to save the necks. The Cartwirghts must find the girl and the two men before it's too late!
This is yet another classic Bonanza story that's filled with adventure each moment of the way. It's classic in showing us the characteristics of the Ponderosa dwellers and their love for mankind.
Results: 6 dead, 1 wounded
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