End of a Rope

Deputy U. S. Marshal Bronco rides into Las Cruces, New Mexico where he stops at the U. S. Marshal office to see if there are any messages for him. He and partner Jim Fargo have traveled from Montana looking for the escaped prisoner "Rod" Bundy.

At the office he learns his friend, Allan Brierly, from the war is getting married so he stops in at the reception. Later, Bronco is knocked out and Allan shot. A gunfire outside town involving a marshal cause Bronco along with the local marshal and deputy to ride out and help. Bundy is killed as well as Bronco's partner Jim. Bundy's effects contain a purple poker chip from the Club Frontera at Fort Canto near the border. Allan's widow finds a picture missing from an album. A new picture from the negative shows outlaw Wib Travis who was hanged at Fort Canto years ago. Marshal Merrick asks Bronco to go undercover to investigate which results in Bronco being hung.

The marshal and the judge run a clever scheme to catch an outlaw, sentence him to hang and then fake his hanging and collect the reward. A great idea and a fast moving plot makes this one above average, though a lot of Bronco episodes are way above average. It's a superb series.