In spite of an awful and even misleading title, this adventure series disguised as a detective show does provide some interesting history of the latter part of the nineteenth century. The narration works well, though maybe not in the voice of its star, Jim Davis. The editing, mixing in stock footage from Republic Pictures, is pretty good, and this show provides more action sequences of stampedes (horse and cattle) and stagecoach and wagon disasters than any western I know.
The stories are pretty good, examining the rampages and ends of some of the most notorious outlaws in western history (all supposedly based on true facts). The sets are very good--though as with much of early TV in the mid-1950s, you can see the abrupt change from location shooting to the studio set. And continuity problems are not uncommon.
The acting is okay, especially from some of the guest stars, many of whom were just starting out in television.
Overall, it works, and I wish they had continued--but, as another reviewer pointed out, I guess they ran out of true-to-life bad guys whose stories they could tell. I rated the series a 9 because it's better than an 8. And the location landscape shots (lots of well-filmed chance sequences) are wonderful.
