Wagon Train

Wagon Train was inspired by John Ford's 1950 film Wagon Master and the 1930 widescreen film The Big Trail, both of which starred Ward Bond.

Revue Productions conceived the show as a semi-anthology series with a regular cast serving as a touchstone while famous guest stars carried individual episode storylines each week.

The initial budget was about $100,000 per episode, over 40% more than most contemporary hour-long Westerns, which allowed location filming in California's San Fernando Valley and paid for expensive guest stars.

Gene Roddenberry pitched Star Trek as 'Wagon Train to the stars,' explicitly referencing the show's concept of a recurring cast on a long journey encountering guest characters, as stated in his March 1964 pitch document.

Star Ward Bond died of a heart attack in the middle of the fourth season and was replaced by John McIntire as wagon master, with no explanation ever given on the show.

Robert Fuller, who replaced Robert Horton as scout, had previously starred in the Western series Laramie and physically resembled Horton; the two even shared the same birthday, nine years apart.

Ward Bond and Robert Horton frequently quarreled on set, a publicized rivalry reportedly fueled by Bond's jealousy over Horton receiving more fan mail, according to Scott Eyman's biography of John Wayne; Bond allegedly tried to limit Horton's screen time and interfere with his lines, though the two reconciled shortly before Bond's death.

As a favor to Ward Bond, director John Ford directed the 1960 episode 'The Colter Craven Story,' the only episode of the series he directed, featuring many members of his regular stock company.

John Wayne made a brief cameo in 'The Colter Craven Story,' playing General William Tecumseh Sherman while billed under the pseudonym 'Michael Morris,' a reference to his real name Marion Michael Morrison; the episode aired 18 days after Ward Bond's death and reused action footage from Ford's film Wagon Master.

In 'Wagons Ho!', actress Olive Sturgess had to wear the lowest possible heels so as not to tower over her co-star Mickey Rooney, who stood 5'2".

The show's most remembered theme, 'Wagons Ho!', was written and conducted by Jerome Moross, adapted from music he had composed for the 1959 film The Jayhawkers, and was used from the third season onward.

When Ward Bond's original episodes were syndicated on ABC weekday afternoons starting in 1963, they were retitled 'Seth Adams Trailmaster' to avoid confusion with the still-running evening series, complete with a new theme song.