Lucas McCain

Lucas McCain is the title character of the ABC Western television series The Rifleman, played by Chuck Connors. The show ran from 1958 to 1963. Singer/actor and former Mouseketeer Johnny Crawford was cast in the role of his son, Mark.

Lucas, a widower rancher in fictional North Fork, in the New Mexico Territory, is a Civil War veteran and a legendary shot with his rifle, hence the soubriquet "The Rifleman".

Family drama
The McCains had previously lived in Enid, long before Oklahoma statehood in 1907. While there, Lucas' wife Margaret died in a smallpox outbreak (Season 5, "The Guest"). Mark meets the spirit of his dead mother (played by Marian Seldes) in "The Vision" (Season 2, Episode 26, originally aired March 22, 1960) when Mark was suffering from typhoid and in a heavy fever.

Despite Lucas McCain's use of his lightning rifle to sometimes settle disputes when he has no alternative, he seeks to avoid violence and instill proper values in his young son.

The Rifleman was unique for its time in making its protagonist a widower with a son, and thus burdening him with family responsibilities. This theme became more emphasized as the show developed in its five seasons, not only as a counterpoint to the violence of the show (the F.C.C. began pressuring networks to tone down violence in 1961 ), but to elucidate the theme of the introduction of civilization to the West, as Lucas brings Mark up with a respect for the rule of the law and fair play as part of the process of instilling moral values in his son.