Episode guide revision date: June 2, 2026
Compiled by Loren Heisey
https://innermind.com/myguides/
Series notes
In 1842 a Midwestern family decides to pack up their belongings and head west to the Oregon Territory to make a new life for themselves.
The pilot aired as a TV movie in January 1976 followed by the series in October 1977. Some changes were made for the series including dropping Evan Thorpe's second wife and his father. The characters scout Luther Sprague and Evan's love interest Margaret Devlin were added. The show was filmed in Arizona.
NBC canceled the series with 6 episodes airing. The other 7 episodes which were completed never aired in the U.S. but these episodes did air in the U.K.
On April 13, 2010 a The Oregon Trail box set was released by Timeless Media Group which included the TV Movie pilot and all 13 of the series episodes.
Guide notes
Credits are as listed in the DVD release. The unaired in the U.S. episodes are listed in the order they first aired in the U.K. The series did not have on screen episode titles so some of these vary.
Series Production credits
Supervising Producer: Richard Collins
Produced by: Carl Vitale
Created by: Samuel A. Peeples, Michael Gleason
Executive Producer: Michael Gleason
Executive Story Consultant: Eugene Price
Music Score: Dick De Benedictis
Theme "Oregon Bound" by: Danny Darst, Rod Taylor, Charles Napier
Sung by: Danny Darst
Director of Photography: Joe Jackman
From Universal an MCA Company
Series Cast
Rod Taylor as Evan Thorpe
Charles Napier as Luther Sprague
Andrew Stevens as Andrew Thorpe
Tony Becker as William Thorpe
Gina Marie Smika as Rachel Thorpe
Darleen Carr as Margaret Devlin
TV movie
The Oregon Trail
Original U.S. Airdate: January 10, 1976
Written by: Michael Gleason
Directed by: Boris Sagal
TV Movie Cast: (opening credits)
Rod Taylor as Evan Thorpe
Blair Brown as Jessica Thorpe
David Huddleston as Painted Face Kelly
Douglas V. Fowley as Eli Thorpe
Andrew Stevens as Andrew Thorpe
Tony Becker as William Thorpe
Gina Marie Smika as Rachel Thorpe
G.D. Spradlin as Thomas Hern
Linda Purl as Deborah Randal
TV Movie Cast: (closing credits)
George Keymas as Trenchard
Robert Karnes as Hatcher
Jerry Hardin as Macklin
A. Wilford Brimley as Ludlow
Hoke Howell as Vaughn
Walker Edmiston as George Cutter
Eddie Little Sky as Sioux Brave
John Wyler as Reverend Turner
Russ Dodson as Indian Brave (uncredited)
Synopsis: Evan Thorpe marries Jessica two years after the death of his first wife. The next day they, with Evan's father and three children, Andy (age 17), William (age 12), and Rachel (age 10), set off to join a wagon train headed to Oregon.
Episodes
1. Hard Ride Home
Original U.S. Airdate: September 21, 1977
Written by: Michael Gleason, Eugene Price
Directed by: Burt Brinckerhoff, Herb Wallerstein
Guest Cast:
William Windom as Packy Devlin
Ken Swofford as Cutler
A. Wilford Brimley as Joseph Burke
Michael LeClair as Horace Sawyer
Hoke Howell as Vaughn
Jimmy Weldon as Ludlow
Ron Foster as Connolly
Synopsis: Thorpe's young son, William, accidentally wanders into a burial ground and brings the wrath of Indians against the wagon train.
2. The Last Game
Original U.S. Airdate: September 21, 1977
Written by: Eugene Price
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein
Guest Cast:
William Windom as Packy Devlin
John Vernon as Charles Shrigley
Carole Tru Foster as Effie
Hoke Howell as Vaughn
Norman Blankenship as Ryder
Charles W. Young as Jackson
Joe Rainer as Kirk
Francesca Jarvis as Helen Olsen
Kimo Owens as Dumont
Synopsis: Despite the wagon train's rules against gambling Charles Shrigley is running a crooked poker game and cleaning out the settlers. Margaret and her father have plans to fleece Shrigley, but they conflict with Evan's plan to prove Shrigley is cheating so he can throw him off the wagon train.
3. The Waterhole
Original U.S. Airdate: September 28, 1977
Teleplay by: Nicholas Corea
Story by: Parker Browning
Directed by: Virgil Vogel
Guest Cast:
Lonny Chapman as Coe Webster
Jean Rasey as Ellie Webster
William Phipps
Kim Hunter as Liz Webster
Lester Lee Blackwell as Higgs
Lucky Hayes as Mrs. Smith
Synopsis: During the pioneers push westward the search for water becomes desperate. To make matters worse dust storms hinder their ability to see.
4. Trapper's Rendezvous
Original U.S. Airdate: October 12, 1977
Teleplay by: Nicholas Corea
Story by: Robert Boxberger, Nicholas Corea, William Kelley
Directed by: Hollingsworth Morse
Guest Cast:
Claude Akins as Lemus Harker
Ted Gehring as Tobias
Timothy Scott
Bob Terhune as Bear Williams
Richard Elman Kennedy as Mr. Barnes
Synopsis: The wagon train runs into a band of trappers led by Lemus Harker who befriends Rachel. The trappers want to hang a member of the train they believe guilty of a crime. Evan has to fight Lemus with the winner to determine if there is a hanging. Rachel is torn between her father and her new friend.
5. The Army Deserter
Original U.S. Airdate: October 19, 1977
Teleplay by: Eugene Price
Story by: Eugene Price, Stanley Roberts
Directed by: Herb Wallerstein
Guest Cast:
Kevin McCarthy as Levering
Nicholas Hammond as Paul
Clu Gulager as Harris
Steve M. DeFrance as Pvt. Moss
Ed Jauregui as Foster
John Llyod Abbott as Pvt. Babcock
Synopsis: A cavalry soldier is sickened by his involvement in Indian killings. He deserts but then decides to take Andy hostage to evade capture by troops sent to bring him back.
6. Hannah's Girls
Original U.S. Airdate: October 26, 1977
Written by: Nicholas Corea
Directed by: Don Richardson
Guest Cast:
Stella Stevens as Hannah Morgan
Mills Watson as Dixie Long
Denise Galik as Libby Owens
Louisa Moritz
Billy Green Bush as Niles Sharpe
Michael MacRae as Maxwell Ryan
Suzanne Hunt as Kate Bowles
Michelle Goodman as Jolene
Lucille Meredith as Mrs. Thatcher
Synopsis: The wagon train picks up a group of women who say they are mail order brides. It turns out they are saloon girls wanting to go west to get away from their employer.
7. The Man Who Wouldn't Die aka Return From Death
Original U.K. Airdate: November 23, 1977 (unaired in U.S.)
Teleplay by: Robert Pirosh
Story by: John W. Bloch
Directed by: Richard Benedict
Guest Cast:
Beth Brickell as Martha Hubbard
Jack Hogan as Stanley Bowman
Robert J. Hogan as Ben Jarvis
Kitty Ruth as Laura Hubbard
James Wainwright as Ethan Hubbard
Tom McFadden as Flint
Alba Francesca as Alice Bowman
Dick Alexander as Langley
Synopsis: A man on the wagon train is killed and Evan becomes defense attorney for the accused slayer who Evan discovers wasn't the man he appeared to be.
8. The Scarlet Ribbon
Original U.K. Airdate: November 30, 1977 (unaired in U.S.)
Teleplay by: Nicholas Corea
Story by: E. Jack Neuman
Directed by: Bill Bixby
Guest Cast:
Donna Mills as Lizzie Coulter
Richard Jaeckel as Corporal Jess Smith
Bill Bixby as Fred F. Mason
William Shatner as Master Sgt. Buford Cole
Damon Douglas as Pvt. Shaeffer
Russ Marin as Forbes
Harry G. Adams as Pvt. Haynes
Synopsis: Evan runs across a couple of gun smugglers who are selling rifles to the Indians. He wants to stop the supply but is hindered by conflicts in the army of how to go about it.
9. The Gold Dust Queen
Original U.K. Airdate: December 7, 1977 (unaired in U.S.)
Written by: Richard Collins
Directed by: William Wiard
Guest Cast:
Susan Howard as Amelia McKay
Howard McGillin as Stephen McKay
Dennis Burkley as Ben Christie
Brad Weston as Jase
Tony Swartz as Luke
John Perak as Russ
Lois Walden as Effie Billbough
Synopsis: Amelia McKay is a wealthy widow who hires some of the wagon train folk to make her life easier on the trail. When Amelia sets her romantic sights on Evan, Margaret decides to hire on to her staff to help her to decide Evan is not for her.
10. Return of the Baby aka Return For the Baby
Original U.K. Airdate: December 14, 1977 (unaired in U.S.)
Teleplay by: S.S. Schweitzer
Story by: Lester William Berke, S.S. Schweitzer
Directed by: Alan J. Levi
Guest Cast:
Gerald McRaney as Daniel J. Morehead
William Bryant as James Davies
Kim Darby as Mary Anne Morehead
Eric Server as Baker
George McDaniel as Finney
Sarah Rush as Joan
Synopsis: Indian captive Mary Anne Morehead is hugely pregnant and after escaping asks the wagon train for help to get back to her home and husband. Evan and Andrew escort Mary Anne home and find everything is not as it seems.
11. Evan's Vendetta aka Evan's Dilemma
Original U.K. Airdate: January 17, 1978 (unaired in U.S.)
Teleplay by: Nicholas Corea, John Austin
Based on a Novel by: Burt & Budd Arthur
Directed by: Paul Stanley
Guest Cast:
Ed Lauter as Russell
William Smith as Silver
Dirk Blocker as Timothy
Lynne Randall as Connie
Jim Davis as J.D. Price
Kathie Browne as Mae Simms
Gordon Zimmerman as Jack Simms
Synopsis: While riding, Evan and Andy are bush-whacked by a gang of men and women fleeing to Mexico after knocking off a train. The gang forces Evan to lead them to find a source of water.
12. Suffer the Children aka Suffer the Little Children
Original U.K. Airdate: January 24, 1978 (unaired in U.S.)
Teleplay by: Robert Hamilton
Story by: Richard H. Bartlett, Robert Hamilton, Norman Jolley
Directed by: John C. Champion
Guest Cast:
Robert Fuller as Hancock
Brandon Cruz as Thad Cooley
Lee de Broux as Mac
Woodrow Parfrey as Doc Cooley
Elizabeth Cheshire as Jenny Hancock
John Steadman as Harper
Loren Ewing as Slim
Synopsis: A young girl, Jenny, has an accident and her father insists she doesn't need a doctor - just faith in God. Because Jenny wants a doctor pointing out that's what her mother said before she died, Evan sends Luther to a nearby mining town to get a doctor. Even if a doctor comes Evan still will have to get Jenny's father to agree.
13. Wagon Race aka The Race
Original U.K. Airdate: January 31, 1978 (unaired in U.S.)
Written by: Elizabeth V. Wilson
Directed by: Lewis Allen
Guest Cast:
Mariette Hartley as Susan White
Morgan Woodward as Frank
John Lawlor as Samuel Burnette
Diane Shalet as Mrs. Burnette
Andrew Prine as Joseph White
Jim Malinda as Jedediah
Sanford Gibbons as Kurtz
T.J. Conlan as Hoffer
Synopsis: Thorpe party's wagon train and another wagon train are in route to get the the next trading post at about the same time. Since this trading post does not have enough supplies to fully restock both wagon trains the other train attempts to sabotage the Thorpe party's outfit to slow them down and prevent them from getting to the trading post first.
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