The High Chaparral

The High Chaparral
Genre	Western
Created by	David Dortort
Starring	Leif Erickson Cameron Mitchell Mark Slade Henry Darrow Linda Cristal Don Collier
Theme music composer	David Rose
Composer(s)	Harry Sukman
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	98 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	48-50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	NBC
Original run	September 10, 1967 (1967-09-10) – March 12, 1971 (1971-03-12)

The High Chaparral is an American Western-themed television series starring Leif Erickson and Cameron Mitchell, which aired on NBC from 1967 to 1971. The series, made by Xanadu Productions in association with NBC Productions, was created by David Dortort, who had previously created the hit Bonanza for the network. The theme song was also written and conducted by Bonanza scorer David Rose, who also scored the two-hour pilot.

Cast and characters

The show revolves around "Big" John Cannon (Leif Erickson), a rancher living in the Arizona Territory in the 1870s. He runs the ranch, called The High Chaparral, with his brother Buck (Cameron Mitchell) and son Billy Blue (Blue Boy) (Mark Slade). Blue Boy's mother, Annalee (Joan Caulfield), is killed in the first episode by an Indian arrow, and John Cannon then marries Victoria (Linda Cristal), the daughter of a powerful neighbouring rancher Don Sebastián Montoya (Frank Silvera), in what is initially a marriage of convenience. His marriage to Victoria Montoya brings her brother Manolito (Henry Darrow) into the picture, and he comes to live with the family.

Among the guest stars were Rico Alaniz, Scott Brady, Anthony Caruso, Chief Dan George, Roberto Contreras, Dennis Cross, John Dehner, Paul Fix, Ron Foster, Frank Gorshin, Ron Hagerthy, Ron Hayes, Myron Healey, Don Keefer, Dan Kemp, Robert Loggia, Tyler McVey, Ricardo Montalban, Joanna Moore, Stuart Randall, Ned Romero, Frank Silvera, Barry Sullivan, William Tannen, Dub Taylor, and Morgan Woodward.

Series Format

The two hour opening episode establishes the format for the series, bringing John Cannon and his family to Arizona, where they buy a run-down hacienda and establish a cattle ranch on it. But the Apache Indians, under the leadership of Chief Cochise, are hostile; John's wife is killed in an attack, and in order to survive the Cannons are compelled to enter into an alliance with a rich and powerful neighbouring rancher, Don Sebastian Montoya, who owns a huge estate on the Mexican side of the border adjoining the High Chaparral.

Part of the price for the alliance is the sealing of the pact by the marriage of John Cannon to Montoya's daughter, Victoria. Montoya's feckless son, Manolito, whose relationship with his father is strained, accompanies his sister in order to get away from Don Sebastian. John's son, Blue, is vehemently opposed to the marriage, coming so soon after Anna Lee's death.

But reinforced by Montoya's men, the Cannons are able to fight off the Indian attacks, and, through the offices of Manolito as interpreter, manage to negotiate a truce, albeit a fragile one, with the Apache leader. The main reason for its fragility is the US Cavalry's refuses to recognise Cannon's right to negotiate a peace with the Apaches and continued Army interference constantly threatens the treaty. But there are also frequent problems between the Cannons and the arrogant Don Sebastian, usually concerning the terms of their alliance.

Cannon's brother, Buck, notionally the ranch's head cowhand, is a hard-as-nails former soldier, who had fought in the American Civil War ten years previously, on the side of the Confederacy. From time to time Buck's past comes back to haunt him, in the shape of other Confederate soldiers drifting through the Territory, forever unable to return to their homes in the defeated South.

The series gradually evolved into a state where Manolito and Buck were the principal stars of the show, and its most popular characters, who tended to get into trouble each week; both were completely irresponsible, particularly under the influence of drink, and the other characters became somewhat marginalised. Cattle ranching almost never featured in the storylines, which were much more likely to revolve around Manolito or Buck and some form of hell-raising, usually involving gambling, women, and whisky.

Name of the ranch

Annalee Cannon: Isn’t it beautiful, John? It should have a name.

Big John Cannon: You name it.

Annalee Cannon: What is that bush called — that green one?

Big John Cannon: Chaparral.

Annalee Cannon: That’s it — Chaparral. I christen thee “The High Chaparral” — the greatest cattle ranch in the whole territory . . . the whole world!

Production

The High Chaparral was Dortort's brainchild, and he left the day-to-day running of Bonanza in the spring of 1967 so he could focus all of his energies on The High Chaparral. After the show's cancellation in 1971, Dortort did not return to Bonanza but retired instead.

All the exterior filming was done at Old Tucson Studios and the nearby Saguaro National Park, though in a few later episodes there was some filming in California and the Coronado National Forest south of Tucson. The interiors were generally filmed at television studios Burbank Los Angeles. Template:Lightning in a Bottle, autobiography of Henry Darrow

Cameron Mitchell was offered the part of Buck following an airline flight to Tucson where he had sat next to the series originator and his wife.

Syndication

The series has appeared on CBN, The Family Channel, Hallmark Channel, and, as of September, 2012, exclusively on The Inspiration Network as part of their Saturday western lineup that includes Bonanza., The Big Valley, and The Virginian,.

DVD

No information exists yet about when it will be released on DVD in the US or all over Europe. But on May 20, 2010 the first worldwide release of season 1 were in Germany (Kinowelt, now Studiocanal). Subtitles English and dubbed to German. Season 2 was released on December 9, 2010. Season 3 was released June 9, 2011. The final season 4 was released in February 16, 2012. On disc 1 episode 1 starts with some scenes shown on German TV that were not in the original and thus dubbed German instead of English for a few minutes. Quality is superb.

Art-S Home Entertainment (www.art-s.nl) in the Netherlands released the first box with season 1 (28 episodes) on May 2, 2012. Season 2 released on January 28, 2013. Season 3 released on September 3, 2013 and the final season 4 released January 26, 2014. The High Chaparral is also released in Sweden with each season in 2 boxes. In Australia they have also released The High Chaparral in 4 boxes.

Episodes

See also

• High Chaparral Theme Park (Sweden)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The High Chaparral.

• The High Chaparral Home Page
• The High Chaparral & Bonanza FanFiction
• The High Chaparral at the Internet Movie Database
• / The High Chaparral Reunion