One of the most successful
and highly acclaimed Westerns
on
television was
The High Chaparral, the name of the ranch owned by the
Cannon family in the Arizona Territory
during the 1870's. Stubborn, determined, 50-year-old John Cannon is the patriarch of the family
with ambitions to establish a cattle
empire while finding a way to co-exist with the Apaches and the Mexicans just
across the border. To help him, he has his younger brother Buck, who can out-drink,
out-shoot, out-fight, and when motivated, out-work any man
alive. He also has his son, Billy Blue, a young man in his early
20's, whose mother is killed in the first episode. In an arranged marriage
intended to keep peace with the neighbors, John then marries an aristocratic Mexican beauty, Victoria Montoya, daughter of Don
Sebastian Montoya, a wealthy Sonoran rancher. Her brother, Manolito, accompanies
Victoria to the Cannon ranch as her
guardian, staying on as a member of the household even
after the arranged marriage turns to one of substance and
trust. |
