Mexican drover Jesús faced racism at times from outside of the crew. Robert Culp played an ex-soldier on the drive who had become dangerously addicted to morphine. Rawhide frequently dealt with controversial topics.
For example, neither the wagon train nor the herd moved very much.
In some ways, the show was similar to the TV series Wagon Train, which had debuted on NBC on September 18, 1957. The scout spent much of his time looking for water, sometimes finding that water holes and even rivers had dried up. A frequent story line was the constant need to find water for the cattle. Its story lines ranged from parched plains to anthrax, ghostly riders to wolves, cattle raiding, bandits, murderers, and others. Some Rawhide stories were easy in production terms, but the peak form of the show was convincing and naturalistic, and sometimes brutal. Favor has to fight at times and usually wins. Duffield to shape the character of Favor.) Although Favor had the respect and loyalty of the men who worked for him, the people, including Yates, are insubordinate to him a few times, after working too hard or after receiving a tongue lashing. (Producer Charles Warren called on the diary written in 1866 by trail boss George C. Rowdy Yates (Clint Eastwood) was young and at times impetuous in the earliest episodes, and Favor had to keep a tight rein on him.įavor is a savvy and strong leader, who always plays "square" with his fellow men – a tough customer who can handle the challenges and get the job done. Many times, one or more of the crew venture into a nearby town and encounter some trouble from crooked townspeople or lawless politicians from which they need to be rescued. In a typical Rawhide story, the drovers come upon people on the trail and involve themselves in other people's affairs, usually encountering various corrupt individuals. Most episodes are introduced with a monologue by Gil Favor (Eric Fleming), trail boss. Set in the 1860s, Rawhide portrays the challenges faced by the drovers of a cattle drive. For other uses, see Rawhide (disambiguation).