Tales of Wells Fargo

Tales of Wells Fargo is an American Western television series starring Dale Robertson that ran from 1957 to 1962 on NBC. Produced by Revue Productions, the series aired in a half-hour format until its final season, when it expanded to an hour and switched from black-and-white to color.

Synopsis
Set in the 1870s and 1880s, the series starred Oklahoma native Dale Robertson as Wells Fargo special agent Jim Hardie, noted at the time as "the left-handed gun". The character was fictional, but the series' development was influenced by the biography of Wells Fargo detective Fred J. Dodge. Agent Hardie was shown working cases in many areas of the Old West, occasionally interacting with legendary outlaws such as Jesse James and Belle Starr, as well as with other American historical figures. Hardie's own history was rarely discussed, but one episode gave a detailed backstory, portraying him as a Louisiana-born drifter who almost became an outlaw before finding his true mission in life.

In the final season, when episodes were longer, Hardie was given a base of operations, in a town called Gloribee, and four regular supporting characters were added. Hardie usually rode a chestnut gelding with a white blaze on his face and four white stockings. The horse actually belonged to Dale Robertson, and was named "Jubilee".

Lead

 * Dale Robertson as Jim Hardie, Wells Fargo agent

Recurring

 * Jack Ging as Beau McCloud
 * William Demarest as Jeb Gaine (1961–1962)
 * Virginia Christine as Ovie (1961–1962)
 * Lory Patrick as Tina (1961–1962)
 * Mary Jayne Saunders as Mary Gee Swenson (1961–1962)

Notable guest stars

 * Nick Adams
 * Stanley Adams
 * Claude Akins, five times, once as John L. Sullivan
 * Rico Alaniz
 * Eddie Albert
 * Chris Alcaide
 * Fred Aldrich
 * Morris Ankrum
 * Roscoe Ates
 * Roy Barcroft
 * Trevor Bardette
 * Bob Bailey (actor)
 * Rayford Barnes
 * Baynes Barron
 * Hugh Beaumont as Jesse James
 * John Beradino, three times
 * Lyle Bettger as John Wesley Hardin
 * Dan Blocker
 * Nesdon Booth
 * Lane Bradford
 * Stewart Bradley
 * Steve Brodie
 * Charles Bronson as Butch Cassidy
 * Johnny Mack Brown
 * Edgar Buchanan
 * Walter Burke
 * Terry Burnham
 * King Calder
 * Harry Carey Jr.
 * Robert Carricart
 * Stephen Chase
 * John Cliff
 * James Coburn
 * Fred Coby
 * Chuck Connors twice, once as Sam Bass
 * Bill Coontz
 * Ben Cooper
 * Jeanne Cooper as Belle Starr
 * Ellen Corby
 * Walter Coy
 * Royal Dano as Cole Younger
 * Cesare Danova as Tiburcio Vasquez
 * Jim Davis
 * John Dehner
 * Francis De Sales
 * Richard Devon
 * Brad Dexter
 * John Doucette
 * Dan Duryea
 * Buddy Ebsen
 * Bill Erwin
 * Frank Ferguson
 * Paul Fix three times, once as Philip Sheridan
 * Ron Foster


 * Byron Foulger
 * Beverly Garland as Pearl Hart
 * Anthony George
 * Sam Gilman
 * Bruce Gordon
 * Leo Gordon
 * Tom Greenway
 * Dabbs Greer
 * Herman Hack
 * Neil Hamilton
 * Chick Hannan
 * Ron Hayes
 * Myron Healey
 * Anne Helm as Nellie Bly
 * Kelo Henderson as Ike Clanton
 * Tom Hennesy
 * Robert 'Buzz' Henry
 * Robert Hinkle
 * Ed Hinton
 * Harry Holcombe
 * Rex Holman
 * Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.
 * Clegg Hoyt
 * Richard Jaeckel
 * Brad Johnson
 * I. Stanford Jolley
 * Dean Jones
 * Bobby Jordan as Bob Ford
 * Robert Karnes
 * DeForest Kelley
 * Ray Kellogg
 * Don Kennedy
 * Douglas Kennedy
 * George Keymas
 * Wright King
 * Jess Kirkpatrick
 * Fred Krone
 * Jack Lambert
 * Martin Landau as Doc Holliday
 * Michael Landon, three times, twice as a Wells Fargo rider
 * John Lasell
 * Wesley Lau
 * Tom Laughlin
 * Norman Leavitt
 * Tina Louise
 * Barbara Luna
 * Herbert Lytton
 * Barton MacLane
 * Donna Martell
 * Carole Mathews
 * Ken Mayer
 * Ann McCrea
 * Lin McCarthy
 * Frank McGrath
 * Steve McQueen as Bill Longley
 * Tyler McVey
 * Joyce Meadows
 * Don Megowan as Ben Thompson
 * Jan Merlin
 * Robert Middleton, four times


 * John Milford
 * James Millhollin
 * Frank Mills
 * Ewing Mitchell
 * George Mitchell
 * Gerald Mohr
 * Alan Napier
 * Anna Navarro
 * Ed Nelson
 * Jack Nicholson
 * Leonard Nimoy
 * Jimmy Noel
 * Simon Oakland
 * Warren Oates
 * J. Pat O'Malley
 * Gregg Palmer
 * Dennis Patrick
 * Wynn Pearce
 * John M. Picard
 * Phillip Pine as Kid Curry
 * Edward Platt as Tom Bell
 * Joe Ploski
 * Sydney Pollack
 * Gilman Rankin
 * Addison Richards as Lew Wallace
 * Paul Richards as Johnny Ringo
 * Jason Robards Sr.
 * Willard Sage
 * Robert Sampson
 * George Sawaya
 * Frank J. Scannell
 * Vito Scotti
 * George Selk
 * Richard Shannon
 * Alex Sharp
 * Dan Sheridan
 * Roy N. Sickner
 * Olan Soule
 * Warren Stevens as Clay Allison
 * Boyd Stockman
 * Guy Stockwell
 * Barbara Stuart
 * Olive Sturgess
 * Grant Sullivan
 * William Tannen
 * Vaughn Taylor
 * Guy Teague
 * Ray Teal
 * Russell Thorson
 * Lee Van Cleef
 * Robert Vaughn as Billy the Kid
 * Gregory Walcott
 * Dawn Wells
 * Adam West
 * Peter Whitney
 * Robert J. Wilke
 * Guinn Williams

Production
Nat Holt was the producer of Tales of Wells Fargo, and Les Martinson was the director. N. B. Stone Jr. was the writer. It initially was broadcast on Mondays from 8:30 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Pall Mall and General Foods were the sponsors.

Critical response
A review of the series's first episode in the trade publication Variety described the show as "strictly formula, with none of the characterization or human values that have embellished the better class of TV westerns to date." It said that Robertson seemed "authoritative enough" in his role but compared the overall product to the lesser of two films in a double feature. In summary the review said that the show was better suited for syndication because "network exposure implies the willingness to depart from the routine."

Broadcast
The pilot for Tales of Wells Fargo originally premiered as an episode of the anthology series Schlitz Playhouse of Stars.

In the 1960–61 season, Wells Fargo was scheduled opposite ABC's detective series Surfside 6 and CBS's new sitcom Bringing Up Buddy, starring Frank Aletter.

Home media
Timeless Media Group released the first two seasons on DVD in Region 1.

Ratings
For its first two years, the series was in the top 10 of the Nielsen Ratings. During the 1957–58 season, it was ranked number three, and during the 1958–59 season, it was ranked number seven.

Merchandise
The television series also spawned a number of publications for young readers, including the hardcover book Danger at Dry Creek (Golden Press, 1959), and a series of Dell Comics and Little Golden Books. One of the artists who created this comic-book adaptation was Russ Heath.