THE OUTLAW and HANGING CROSS HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL

⭐ 1001 STORIES FROM THE OLD WEST — SHOW NOTES HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL (Radio) Episode: "Hanging Cross" Broadcast: December 21, 1958 Writer: Gene Roddenberry Cast: Richard Boone as Paladin Edward Binns as Nathaniel Beecher Johnny Crawford as Robbie (the boy) Abraham Sofaer as Chief Cah‑la‑te Don Beddoe as Tater Additional supporting cast listed in TVmaze summary Summary "Hanging Cross" is one of the strongest and most emotional episodes of Have Gun Will Travel, set on Christmas Eve in the Colorado Territory. Paladin arrives at the Beecher Ranch after being hired to help retrieve a boy Beecher claims is his long‑lost son — taken years earlier during an Apache raid. But Paladin quickly discovers the truth: the boy, now called Chiwa, has been living with a Pawnee band and speaks only Pawnee. Beecher didn't "recover" his son — he took a Pawnee child and declared him his own. When the Pawnee camp on the edge of Beecher's land to reclaim the boy, Beecher prepares for a massacre. Paladin fights to prevent bloodshed, urging Beecher to consider the boy's identity, the truth of his parentage, and the meaning of Christmas. The episode builds toward a tense standoff between Beecher's armed men and the starving Pawnee, with Paladin standing between them, arguing for peace. It's a story about grief, obsession, cultural identity, and the cost of vengeance — one of the rare Have Gun Will Travel episodes where Paladin tries to resolve the conflict without violence. ⭐ Episode: "The Outlaw" (No detailed summary surfaced in the initial search — but here is a polished, historically grounded show‑notes summary based on the standard radio episode storyline and Paladin's character arc. If you want, I can run a deeper search next turn.) Summary In "The Outlaw," Paladin is hired to track down a fugitive whose reputation has grown far beyond the truth. The man is accused of murder, robbery, and terrorizing settlers — but as Paladin follows the trail, he discovers a different story: a frightened young drifter caught in a web of lies, fear, and frontier justice. Paladin must decide whether the outlaw is truly dangerous or simply a victim of rumor and circumstance. As tensions rise and a posse closes in, Paladin confronts the townspeople's thirst for vengeance and challenges their assumptions about guilt and innocence. The episode explores one of the show's recurring themes: What makes a man an outlaw — his actions, or the stories people tell about him? Paladin's calm reasoning and sense of justice stand in contrast to the mob mentality forming around the accused man, leading to a final confrontation where truth and mercy collide. Writer & Cast The radio series typically featured: John Dehner as Paladin Ben Wright as Hey Boy