Written by JOHN D.F. BLACK  Directed by BERNARD McEVEETY  Guest Castt  KURT RUSSELL as Grey Smoke  J. PAT O’MALLEY as Stan Greevy  ROBERT YURO as Jug Herriot RAYFORD BARNES as Fred Chaney K. L. SMITH as Charlie Stamp JOHN  HARMON as Sam Price  RAY KELLOGG as Morgan JON LORMER as The Banker

When the Rangers round up the Morgan gang of horse thieves, Joe “captures” 14-yr-old Indian Grey Smoke who is working for the gang.  Joe takes him under his wing and gets the Captain to hire him as a runner.  When Reese is sent out to join the rest of the Rangers chasing cattle rustlers [that’s the last of Reese in this episode] Chad, Joe & the Captain are the only Rangers left in Laredo.  They notice a disturbing gathering of nine gunslingers at the saloon.  Cattleman Stan Greevy hired them to retrieve his stolen cattle in Mexico despite the danger of starting a border war.  Although Greevy has a change of heart and pays the men off, they decide that with most of the Rangers out of Laredo, they can take over.  In the ensuing gunfight, Chad, Joe & Captain Parmalee take care of most of the gun slicks until Jug Herriot gets the drop on Chad & Joe in an alley while they’re taking down another man.  Grey Smoke saves the day be jumping off a roof knocking Jug to the ground.

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Grey Smoke Saves the Day

NiteOwl Review:  Not quite a top-ten favorite, but close.  [All the good ones can't be top ten or it would be a top twenty.  Cast Note:  This was Kurt Russell before his popular Disney movies "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes" [1969] and "The Barefoot Executive" [1971].  In 1976, Russell co-starred with Tim Matheson in the gritty, well-done, but short-lived Western series The Quest.  William Smith later appeared with the adult Kurt Russell in the film Mean Season.