It wasn’t often that John Wayne made the jump from film to television. A movie star to his core, the Duke was best known for his Western charm and strong lawmen, who always seemed to be on the right side of things. More than that, he was known for earning top billing in expensive Hollywood motion pictures. But there was a time when Wayne graced audiences on their living room television sets, appearing in an episode of the beloved Western classic Wagon Train in a role that might feel familiar to longtime fans of the Western star.
Which ‘Wagon Train’ Episode Was John Wayne In?
In its fourth season, NBC aired an episode of Wagon Train titled “The Colter Craven Story” on November 23, 1960. This black-and-white adventure is centered on newcomer Dr. Craven (Charleton Young) as he’s co-oped into the titular wagon train, only to struggle to bring himself to perform surgery. The American Civil War had left Craven a broken man and, as a result, wagon master Major Seth Adams (Ward Bond) confronts the drunk doctor about his past. But the only way to help shake Craven out of his struggles is by noting his own experience in the Civil War, specifically Adams’ experience with future-president General Ulysses S. “Sam” Grant (Paul Birch). After spending some time with Sam in Illinois during the war, Grant promotes Adams to major and introduces him to another notable historical figure.
It’s here that Adams briefly encounters General William Tecumseh Sherman, played by none other than John Wayne himself. While it’s hard to make out the Duke’s features in the shot, which purposely cloaks him in shadow, Wayne’s trademark voice booms through. His vocals are unmistakable, and he stands proudly in front of Adams and Grant the way only this movie star could. It’s after this encounter that Adams ends his tale, and explains to Craven that he can also overcome his trauma from the war. Craven was at the Battle of Shiloh, and he lost upwards of 70% of those under his charge. But Adams was there too — and he lost all but 17 of his 200-something men. With that final push, Craven successfully performs the necessary C-section to save a woman and her child, whom he then strangely asks to be named after Ulysses S. Grant rather than his own name.
While one might think that John Wayne’s appearance would be immediately caught by audiences, especially given his trademark vocals, the Duke wasn’t credited under his usual stage name for his Wagon Train cameo. Instead, the episode credits him as “Michael Morris.” If that name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because John Wayne was actually born Marion Robert Morrison, with “Michael Morris” being a disguised reference to John Wayne’s real name. But after years of avoiding television, why did John Wayne finally give in and appear in a seemingly random episode of Wagon Train? Well, because it wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill episode to begin with.
John Ford Directed John Wayne’s ‘Wagon Train’ Episode
When Wagon Master was first developed, it was partially based on the 1950 John Ford picture Wagon Master, which centered on a group of Mormon pioneers as they traveled through the deserts of southern Utah. Wagon Master featured future Wagon Train star, Ward Bond, in one of the leading roles, and — along with the 1930s John Wayne flick The Big Trail — directly inspired the television series. So when it came to “The Colter Craven Story,” the great minds behind the Western classic couldn’t think of anyone better to direct this hour-long horse opera than John Ford himself. Like the Duke, Ford was a motion picture guy, which meant that he didn’t often tackle television projects. In fact, he only has four TV directing credits to his name, with one of them being this episode of Wagon Train. But after being challenged by Bond to helm a TV adventure himself, Ford gave this hour of Wagon Train his all — and somehow convinced some of his other friends to join him.
During this time in Hollywood, there was a group known as the John Ford Stock Company. This unofficial conglomeration consisted of cast and crew members who most often found themselves collaborating with the aforementioned director, usually on Westerns. In addition to Ward Bond himself, “The Colter Craven Story” reunited the director with Carleton Young, Anna Lee, Ken Curtis, John Carradine, Willis Bouchey, Cliff Lyons, Chuck Hayward, Chuck Roberson, Hank Worden, and many others. This list, of course, also included John Wayne, who rarely said “No” to a Ford collaboration, even for television. To say that this Wagon Train episode was anything short of a John Ford spectacular would be a lie, and the director sure knew how to best establish his scene, even if it meant re-purposing some old footage.
That’s right, Ford used footage from his previous work, Wagon Master, throughout “The Colter Craven Story.” What goes around, comes around in the Old West, and Ward Bond’s time with Ford on Wagon Master came back around in the end. Not only was the 1950 picture the ini
tial basis for Wagon Train, but clips from the film were interspersed throughout Ford’s episode. Six scenes throughout the hour-long episode featured clips directly cut from Ford’s lesser-known masterwork, and thus Wagon Train came full circle. If only Bond had been there to see it. Tragically, the Wagon Train star died 18 days before the episode aired in November 1960. Ford had undertaken the episode as a favor to Bond, and it proved to be their final collaboration.
John Wayne Reprised His Role for John Ford in ‘How the West Was Won’
It wasn’t long after this episode of Wagon Train that John Ford got the bright idea to revisit the scene between Ward Bond’s Adams, Paul Birch’s Sam Grant, and John Wayne’s General Sherman, but this time around, he did it for the big screen. “I’ve always wanted to do a feature on Grant. I think it’s one of the great American stories,” Ford once said, and after years of waiting, he finally got his chance about a year and a half later with the Western epic, How the West Was Won. Alongside Henry Hathaway and George Marshall, John Ford directed one of the five segments from the classic motion picture, specifically “The Civil War” segment. While there was no James Stewart in this scene, John Wayne reappeared here as General William Sherman, this time in full view of the audience.
Since he was a fictional character in the first place, Bond’s Seth Adams was omitted from this big screen remake, and Paul Birch was replaced as General Grant by Harry Morgan for the motion picture. They don’t appear terribly long in the sequence, which likewise chronicles the aftermath of the Battle of Shiloh, but Wayne is as notable as ever. It almost feels as if his brief appearance in “The Colter Carver Story” was only a prelude to a more significant one in How the West Was Won. Whether Ford intended it to feel that way is unclear, but it’s worth noting that, aside from the fictional Rooster Cogburn, General Sherman is one of two characters the Duke reprised throughout his career — and the only one to jump from TV to motion pictures.
Like with his Wagon Train episode, John Ford once again sourced footage from a previous motion picture to cut costs and create a greater ambiance for the Civil War aftermath. But this time, it didn’t come from one of Ford’s pictures, but rather the Duke’s. In 1960, Wayne directed a war epic titled The Alamo, which nearly bankrupted the Hollywood star. Footage of Mexican soldiers from the film (which Ford shot as a second-unit director while visiting Wayne on set) would be repurposed for the opening sequence of Ford’s “Civil War” segment in How the West Was Won. Unlike the Wagon Master to Wagon Train transfer, this footage didn’t feature any overlapping actors, only highlighting extras in the background.
‘Wagon Train’ Had an Many Unique Guest Stars
It wasn’t uncommon for Wagon Train to feature notable guest stars throughout the show’s impressive eight-year run. With a revolving door of exciting guests, John Wayne was only the cherry on top of a long list of other notable actors who appeared on the show, such as Lon Chaney, Jr., Lou Costello, Bette Davis, Louise Fletcher, Burgess Meredith, Jane Wyman, Leonard Nimoy, Mickey Rooney, Barbara Stanwyck, and many more. Future United States president Ronald Reagan would also be featured in the episode “The Fort Pierce Story,” and famous country musician Johnny Cash showed up in “The C.L. Harding Story.” But even with all these great guest stars, Wagon Train wasn’t exempt from harsh changes in the main cast.
Following Ward Bond’s death halfway through the series’ run, Wagon Train promoted John McIntire into the leading role as Christopher Hale, who had been featured as a guest star the previous year. Robert Horton continued on the program as scout Flint McCullough for another season, but following his departure, he too was replaced by Robert Fuller, who played Cooper Smith in the show’s final two years. Not unlike a real wagon train, the NBC series (which eventually moved to ABC) saw characters come and go. In any case, “The Colter Craven Story” marked a serious turning point in Wagon Train history, and, for better or worse, the show was never the same.