THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) FRONTIERADO TV SERIES

The Frontierado holiday is about the myth of the old west, not the grinding reality. This year it will be observed on Friday August 2nd. Here’s another seasonal post.

THE ALASKANS (1959-1960) – The gold rushes in Alaska during the late 1890s and early 1900s provided the usual tableaus of boom towns, claim-jumping, gambling and gunslinging. Unlike such rushes in the Continental United States, the frigid temperatures and monumental snows of Alaska added unique twists to the wild west feel of gold-seeking.

Previously, Balladeer’s Blog covered Alaskan prospectors, gunslingers and gamblers like the Montana Kid, Swiftwater Bill, Klondike Kate, One-Eyed Riley, Silent Sam Bonnifield and others HERE. The Alaskans starred Roger Moore, Dorothy Provine, Ray Danton, John Dehner and Claude Akins searching for gold in the 1890s.   

The series was produced by the same outfit behind James Garner’s iconic series Maverick and featured Roger Moore’s character Silky Harris, who ran con games and gambled with as much skill as he displayed at gunplay. Dorothy Provine’s Rocky Shaw was a Klondike Kate-style saloon entertainer who knew how to handle herself in rough company.

John Dehner appeared as the real-life figure Soapy Smith, infamous crime lord of the frozen north. Balladeer’s Blog examined Soapy’s career of crime in Denver and later in Alaska HERE.

The Alaskans lasted only one season, but since Roger Moore was obligated to the production company for two seasons he was moved over to their other program Maverick. Moore played Beau Maverick, the British cousin of the Maverick Brothers Bret (James Garner) and Bart (Jack Kelly).

Beau replaced the outgoing Bret when Garner left the show for movies in 1960. Roger Moore had proven with his depiction of Silky Harris that he could handle the same type of fast-talking gambler-gunslinger needed to replace Garner for the 1960-1961 season of Maverick.

NOTE: Because I’m a geek for the 1957-1962 Maverick series, its revivals in the 1970s and 1980s, plus the 1994 movie adaptation I’ll mention that the producers kept Beau Maverick in the lore of the series. In the attempted revivals called The New Maverick and Young Maverick, the new main character was Beau’s American son Ben Maverick, the latest of the family’s slick talking gambler-gunslingers. 

           If you want to take a really deep dive into the lingering lore behind Roger Moore’s character, Beau Maverick had sent his son Ben to Harvard. Possessed of the family’s trouble-making nature, Ben was expelled for running what he described to Bret (Garner guest-starring in The New Maverick) as “the friendliest little poker game you ever saw.” 

Getting back to Moore’s series The Alaskans, B-movie legend Allison Hayes appeared in one episode, as did performers like Madlyn Rhue, Lee Van Cleef, Ruta Lee, Alan Hale, Marie Windsor, Simon Oakland, Julie Adams, Troy Donahue, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Fay Spain.

Let’s take a look at some memorable episodes:

THE GOLD SLED (October 4th, 1959) – The very first episode. Silky Harris plus his fellow gambler and conman Reno McKee (Jeff York) arrive in the Alaskan port city of Skagway. The pair are joined by saloon singer Rocky Shaw among the next gold-hunters headed for the Klondike in 1898.

CHEATING CHEATERS (October 11th, 1959) – Rocky’s employer, saloon owner Nifty Cronin (Ray Danton) out-cheats Silky and Reno in the seeming disappearance of a shipment of gold being sent down to the Continental United States.

PETTICOAT CREW (October 25th, 1959) – Silky, Reno, Rocky and Nifty (but not Potsie) get caught up in a risky attempt to transport turkeys and dance hostesses to the iconic town of Dawson, one of the most well-known of the gold rush. Silky purchases a paddlewheel boat for the project. 

REMEMBER THE MAINE (December 20th, 1959) – A very simplified and edited down version of Soapy Smith’s real-life scam in which he defrauded the U.S. government out of a fortune by way of the phony military detachment he pretended to raise for the Spanish-American War. Silky and Reno get involved.

BLACK SAND (February 14th, 1960) – Guns, gambling, betrayal and danger from the elements feature in this tale of a battle to be the first to reach a lost gold mine. Reno gets the spotlight in this episode of the series.

KANGAROO COURT (May 8th, 1960) – Silky Harris has his own adventure away from most of the recurring cast. In his travels, he encounters a slinky female entertainer and her manager. She plays a game of her own against Silky and her current man.

THE SILENT LAND (May 15th, 1960) – Recurring character French-Canadian rogue Pierre Duran (Michael Forest) discovers a Mountie left to die after the prisoners he was transporting overcame him and ran off. He offers what aid he can and takes on the escaped prisoners.

WHITE VENGEANCE (June 6th, 1960) – Silky Harris and the father of a young man who just made a gold strike clash with the deadly villains who victimized the son. The snowy terrain becomes the vehicle for “white vengeance.” 

FOR MY REVIEW OF MAVERICK (1994) STARRING JAMES GARNER, MEL GIBSON AND JODY FOSTER CLICK HERE.