THE HIGH CHAPARRAL SEASON ONE

David Dortort, the man behind television's Bonanza was looking to create a more adult and realistic western series. He came up with The High Chaparral.

Most of the episodes are stand alone stories, as was most episodic television in those days, but it is essential to see the first three episodes in order to fully understand the set up of the Canon Ranch.

Right from the start the show was different than any other western on at the time and it certainly looked different. More Hispanic actors were hired on this show than anything else showing on mainstream television. And main characters would die, as did Mrs Canon in the first episode, Destination Tucson.

Left a widower John Canon is forced into an arranged marriage to Victoria Montoya, the daughter of a local Mexican gang boss in order to keep the peace. Also with the deal with Don Sebastian Montoya comes the gang boss' errant son, Manolitio who at first isn't trusted by John Canon but as the series progresses he becomes a trusted member of the team. Together with John's brother, Buck (played with swashbuckling relish by Cameron Mitchel) they make up the main section of the cast.

The third episode shows the marriage between John and Victoria as being a shambles and both are cold and distant to the other. It is also apparent that John is still grieving his wife and his son Blue (Mark Slade) is not happy about this new woman trying to take his mother's place.

As Indians attack the Chaparral an old English suitor of Victoria's rides in with an offer to take the newly wed woman to England so she can escape the sham of a marriage. However by the end of this episode she has actually fallen in love with John Canon and decides to make a go of the marriage.

After the first three episodes the series settled into the standalone story every week format but there was still more grit on the screen than in other western shows. The Apache's were portrayed often as the injured party in any dispute and they were never shown as the evil savages of so many other westerns of the period. In fact John Canon would often show sympathy for the Apache people and seemed to think they could all live together if only the army, who are often shown as being corrupt and bloodthirsty, would just leave well enough alone.

By the end of the first season the character reltionships had been set in stone - Mano and Buck were becoming a double act, Blue's character was developing to make him more than the show's interest for teenage females and the marriage of John an Victoria was as strong as any had ever been. There was also a large secondary cast with distinct and well developed characters and as the series progressed attantion would often be set on secondary characters.

While it was being aired the show never fell out of the US top 20 ratings and it was number one in Europe, it still has a cult following - you can read some fan fiction HERE.