Don Collier

Outlaws
The Little Colonel

jail.jpg (9835 bytes)Colonel:  Ralph Manza
Valdez:  Rafael Campos
Tenfuente:  Roberto Contreras
Cass:  Ted Markland
Ben:  Craig Curtis
Monique:  Anna Navarro
Written by Lowell Barrington

This story is perhaps one of the funniest of the whole first season.  Three outlaws (Ben, Cass, and Valdez) have robbed the Southern Pacific Railroad of $10,000 and absconded to Mexico with plans to purchase a ranch.  The ranch just happens to be the location where previous bandits have buried a small fortune.  Valdez knows this because his father was one of the other bandits.  Since all of these former bandits were killed before they could spend any of the loot or reveal where the fortune was buried, the three new bandits decide on a treasure hunt.  To allay any suspicion of what they are doing, the must first purchase the ranch, and not having enough money, they rob the railroad.

tedoutlaws2.jpg (16083 bytes)The threesome race across Texas with marshals Frank Caine and Will Foreman in hot pursuit.  When the bandits cross over into Mexico, they think they have outwitted the American law, but they underestimate the tenacity of the marshals.  First, the marshals get permission to track the bandits across Texas, and then, they just plow right across the border on the heels of the crooks, planning on seeking permission after they reach the nearest town.   Unfortunately, plans did not materialize the way any of them expected.

Once in Mexico, the marshals run into a brick wall known as the Little Colonel.   He is the alcalde of the town, and his top henchman is Tenfuente, who does all his bidding.  All the Little Colonel really wants is a cannon for defense of the town and uniforms for his men, but he has a problem getting this across to the governor.  When the two marshals appear, he begins to see a solution to his problem.  In a brilliant stroke of genius, he has the two marshals tossed into jail.

bartonmad.jpg (6758 bytes)Frank Caine is furious.  He wants to get the three train robbers before they can disappear deeper into Mexico, but the Little Colonel is not suitably impressed.  As Will translates, the Little Colonel arrests both lawmen on charges of "invading Mexico and smuggling on horseback."   When they protest, the Colonel says they can see the judge, and this is when the marshals learn that the Colonel is also the judge.  Before Tenfuente leads them off to the hoosgow, the two marshals are forced to surrender their hats, stars, guns, and gun belts. 

samboots.jpg (13194 bytes)Once behind bars, Will has just enough time to wonder what else they will lose, when he hears "las botas" from the other room.  Grimacing, he helps Frank remove his boots and then takes off his own, meekly passing the footwear through the cell bars.

The next day finds the court in session.  During the proceedings, the marshals discover that the colonel is a real hero to his people.  He is very lenient and very fair, and it is obvious that his people really respect him.  This gives Frank Caine an idea, and while he formulates it, Will Foreman begins flirting with the senorita who has been fixing their food.  Noticing the flirting, Frank tries to get his deputy to keep his mind on business, but it becomes increasingly difficult for Will with the pretty senorita in the room.

When it is time for the marshals' trial, Frank puts up a good defense about wanting to pursue the train robbers.  While he is arguing his case, Senorita Monique arrives announcing that three men with a lot of money want to purchase her ranch.  She is engaged to the Colonel, but he has been reluctant to marry her because she did not have any money.  Putting two and two together, the Colonel rightly reasons that the American bandits are the ones wanting Monique's ranch.  He allows the two marshals to accompany him to set a trap for the bandits.

crooks.jpg (16174 bytes)The trap works, and the bandits are arrested, but what now to do with the money that is recovered?  The marshals want it back, only the Colonel still hasn't gotten his cannon or uniforms for his men, so he makes the inference that it is the missing treasure which was buried on the ranch.  He says he will keep it, and this sends the marshals into another uproar.  Will even remarks about a mule he once had who was right nice for about six months --- before knocking him through the barn wall.   Will tosses his hat in frustration.

The marshals journey to the American embassy and from there, they all go to the governor, where a representative is duly dispatched back to the Little Colonel, demanding that he release the impounded funds.  The Colonel, however, has planned for just such an event.  Tenfuente tosses them back into jail, and the Little Colonel gets the townsfolk to stage a mock riot, an "invasion" by an army of bandits and gunslingers.  The two marshals watch in admiration from the safety of the jail cell, while bullets fly everywhere and "dead" bodies litter the street.  The governor's emissary immediately promises the cannon and the uniforms for the militia and hurries back to the safety of the governor's office.

smiles.jpg (12047 bytes)Finally, while Will still winks and flirts with the pretty senorita, the Little Colonel proudly shows off his new cannon and his nattily dressed militia in a ceremony attended by all the townsfolk, including his new "best" friends, the two marshals from Oklahoma Territory, who now have their stolen train money returned and are now ready to leave for home.

 

 

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