Teleplay by  CALVIN CLEMENTS  Story by LEWIS REED & CALVIN CLEMENTS  Directed by PAUL STANLEY  Guest Cast BURGESS MEREDITH as Grubby Sully. BEVERLY GARLAND as Aggie MARIO ALCALDE as Lazyfoot HARRY HICKCOX as Sheriff LEO GORDON  as Moose BERN HOFFMAN as the Town Drunk DOROTHY DELLS as the Saloon Girl ERNEST ANDERSON as the Bartender HENRY WILLS as Sombrero Indian RON BURKE the Cowpoke DAVE PERNA as the Partner

Lazyfoot & his renegades have eluded the Rangers so Reese, Chad & Joe are sent to find them with reinforcements to follow.  While undercover as prospectors, the boys meet Grubby Sully in Aggie’s saloon.  He claims to need partners to get to his gold mine in territory controlled by Lazyfoot.  Chad & Joe join him, leaving Reese behind by leading the sheriff to believe he's a sheep rustler.   When the three are captured by Lazyfoot, Reese frees only Grubby who leads Reese to his mine.

Reese returns and infiltrates the renegade band in disguise, frees the boys & helps thwart an ambush of the Captain & his reinforcements.  He then takes off to the mine leaving Chad & Joe with the captured Gattling gun.  They get credit for the rescue &  let the Captain think Reese deserted them to look for gold. In the end the boys discover Grubby’s mine is nothing but planted fool’s gold.  He just needed their help to get past Lazyfoot.  In the end, they watch him disappear over the mountain to get to his real mine alone.

NiteOwl Review:  This premiere episode (although reportedly not the first one filmed) showcased the elements that typified the series.  Chad devised schemes to get rich; Joe backed the schemes & fought the bad guys.  Reese, the perfect dupe, is tricked into the bullring so Chad & Joe can place bets, goaded into a saloon brawl for their amusement, jailed under false pretenses so Chad & Joe can ride off to find gold and then talked into the bull ring again so Chad and Joe can recoup their previous losses. Chad & Joe’s capture provided the perfect excuse for a little beefcake.  A decent choice for the first episode although we think Rendezvous at Arillo would have been the best choice.  Definitely a top ten recommendation for collectors.