CIMARRON STRIP (1967-1968) – Here’s another seasonal post for Frontierado, which is observed this year on Friday, August 1st. Cimarron Strip was the stretch of land also called the Oklahoma Panhandle. Stuart Whitman starred as U.S. Marshal Jim Crown, assigned to tame the nearly lawless region in the late 1880s.
This program’s 23 episodes ran 90 minutes each with commercials, just like The Virginian and the first season of Wagon Train. Jill Townsend played Dulcey Coopersmith, Marshal Crown’s love interest and Percy Herbert was Deputy Marshal MacGregor. Karl Swenson played Doc Kihlgren.
STANDOUT EPISODES:
THE BATTLE GROUND – A range war breaks out in the Cimarron Strip after the government cancels leases on land owned by cattlemen. Those ranchers clash violently with farmers and settlers with Marshal Jim Crown caught in the middle as he tries to end the war before a massacre occurs. Telly Savalas himself guest stars, along with Warren Oates, L.Q. Jones, Richard Farnsworth and R.G. Armstrong.
JOURNEY TO A HANGING – Ace Coffin (Henry Silva), the leader of the Coffin Gang, kills a subordinate member of his gang before escaping from Cimarron’s jail. A fellow inmate called Screamer (John Saxon) witnesses the deed and wants the reward on Coffin’s head. Marshal Jim Crown warily accepts the man on his posse going after Ace. Both Crown and Coffin face potential mutinies from their own men. Shug Fisher and Margarita Cordova guest star. Continue reading
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