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Fort Laramie |
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Every episode began with the sound of horses
trotting É then the words: "At the gallop, Ho" É a trumpet signalled The Cavalry Charge É drum roll
É. then É Fort Laramie starring Raymond Burr as Captain
Lee Quince. Specially transcribed tales of the dark and
tragic ground of the wild frontier, the saga of fighting men who rode the rim of
empire and the dramatic story of Lee Quince, Captain
of Cavalry É A dramatic beginning to a
fabulously dramatic western series from the final years of radio! The radio audience admired Fort
Laramie for its gritty realism and
attention to detail whilst the deep and powerful voice of Canadian B movie
heavy Raymond Burr made the for
a very believable Lee Quince -
Burr was only a few months away from scoring the role of his life: TV's
Perry Mason! Appearing alongside Burr in
the supporting role of laconic Sergeant Ken Gorce was Vic Perrin, and Jack Moyles
essayed the part of crusty Major Daggett, the Fort's commanding officer. Later, another character was added
to form a foursome: a novice officer named Lieutenant Richard Siberts (played by Harry Bartell) was originally a minor player introduced in Fort
Laramie's debut episode, Playing Indian (1956-01-22), but his presence was enhanced by the seventh episode, The
Shavetail (1956-03-04). The Fort at Laramie,
Wyoming was real and a significant location in the US history of the Western
Expansion. Located on the eastern Wyoming prairie near the confluence of the
North Platte and Laramie Rivers, this military post was in the heart of the
homeland of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho. When Norman Macdonnell created the Fort Laramie series for radio, he made it clear to his writers
that historical accuracy was essential to the integrity of the series.
Correct geographic names, authentic Indian practices, military terminology,
and utilizing actual names of the original buildings of the real fort, was
insisted upon. So when the radio characters referred to the sutler's store
(which is what the trading post was called prior to 1870), the surgeon's
quarters, Old Bedlam (the officers' quarters) or the old bakery, they were
naming actual structures in the original fort. Another example is the use of
"shavetail": its an epithet bestowed upon officers newly minted out
of West Point and it was borrowed from the custom of "shaving or docking
the tail of an untrained horse so the troopers would be wary of such a
mount." Macdonnell gave the
listening audience a great insight into his feelings about the Fort Laramie
series when he spoke after the credits (in place of the normally scheduled
Public Service Announcements) for The Payroll (1956-09-16). His words coincided with the 67th
anniversary of the closing of Fort Laramie, a closing synonymous with End of
an Era and the Closing of the Frontier! Macdonnell saw the Fort
Laramie series as "a monument
to ordinary men who lived in extraordinary times; their enemies were the
rugged, uncharted country, the heat, the cold, disease, boredom, and, perhaps
last of all, hostile Indians. Men died at Fort Laramie: some died of
drowning, some of freezing, some of typhoid and smallpox. But it's a matter
of record that in all the years the cavalry was stationed at Fort Laramie,
only four troopers died of gunshot wounds." The Fort Laramie radio series was an honest reflection of the
difficulties of life on an isolated military post in the early 1880s and the
storyline of each episode accurately reflected military life at the original
Fort Laramie. For instance, The Chaplain (1956-08-26 ) dealt with the threat of scurvy, The Coward (1956-03-25 ) described the residual pain of the
Civil War, whilst Squaw Man
(1956-02-05 ) chronicled the tragedy of the disappearing buffalo. Another
interesting episode which was based on an actual event is The Massacre (1956-08-05) in which John Dehner plays a religious zealot, Major Petrie, who leads his troopers as they slaughter a large
group of peaceful and unsuspecting Indians. The soundmen, Ray Kemper and Bill James, who were assisted by Tom Hanley, were simply second to none in this department.
They created the most convincing and imaginative sound effects - every crack
of a rifle, creak of the McClellan saddle (official Cavalry issue in the mid
1800s), and footsteps going across the dirt parade ground, over the gravel
path, and up the wooden steps, were all done with authentic precision. Kemper, James, and Hanley
never missed a chance to shade the texture of a scene with the perfect sound,
whether they created it manually or pulled it from their reservoir of audio discs.
Each time a character got up from a table, you heard the chair legs scrape
against the wooden floor before the footsteps started. Unfortunately Fort
Laramie's run was relatively short and with competition from TV and the
decline of radio in general (it was 1956), only 39 episodes were produced.
Purists might point out that there were actually 41 episodes but this number
includes the 1955 Audition program (with John Dehner instead of Burr), the script of which used in the
second program of the series proper (1956-01-29 The Boatwright's Story). The 4th program (1956-02-12 The Woman at Horse
Creek) was repeated and played the
35th programs spot (1956-09-23). So without repeats there were 39 different
episodes of this series which played continuously on Sunday evenings at 5:30
pm from Episode No. 1 1956-01-22 Playing Indian through to 1956-10-28 Army Wife. (Note there was no program on Sunday April 8th) The 2 CD set consists of all 39 different
episodes of Fort Laramie as well as the Audition program from 1955. Each
episode has been carefully restored to perfect (2 channel) sound. The Public
Service announcements which occurred after the credits and in the middle of
the conclusion music have been excised - however Macdonnell's tribute to the
real Fort Laramie in The Payroll (1956-09-16 ) - replacing the usual
announcements - remains intact Want
to check out a few episodes? - why not "taste & try"? These
two episodes (the 1st and the 34th) can be freely
downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any link below and
chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that effect). The file is
on an average about 20Mb - download time will depend on your (broadband)
speed FL_1956-01-22
Playing Indian.mp3 Fort Laramie A. Series Episodes
(starring Raymond Burr) 1.
FL_1956-01-22 Playing
Indian.mp3 2.
FL_1956-01-29 The
Boatwright's Story.mp3 3.
FL_1956-02-05 Squaw
Man.mp3 4.
FL_1956-02-12 The
Woman at Horse Creek.mp3 5.
FL_1956-02-19
Boredom.mp3 6.
FL_1956-02-26
Captain's Widow.mp3 7.
FL_1956-03-04
Shavetail.mp3 8.
FL_1956-03-11 Hattie
Pelfrey.mp3 9.
FL_1956-03-18 The
Beasley Girls.mp3 10.
FL_1956-03-25 The
Coward.mp3 11.
FL_1956-04-01 Lost
Child.mp3 12.
FL_1956-04-15 Stage
Coach Stop.mp3 13.
FL_1956-04-22 The New
Recruit.mp3 14.
FL_1956-04-29
Capture.mp3 15.
FL_1956-05-06 Never
the Twain.mp3 16.
FL_1956-05-13 War
Correspondent.mp3 17.
FL_1956-05-20 Black
Hill Gold.mp3 18.
FL_1956-05-27 Sergeant
Gorce's Baby.mp3 19.
FL_1956-06-03 Don't
Kick My Horse.mp3 20.
FL_1956-06-10 Young
Trooper.mp3 21.
FL_1956-06-17 Winter
Soldier.mp3 22.
FL_1956-06-24 The
Loving Cup.mp3 23.
FL_1956-07-01
Trooper's Widow.mp3 24.
FL_1956-07-08 Talented
Recruits.mp3 25.
FL_1956-07-15 Old
Enemy.mp3 26.
FL_1956-07-22 Spotted
Tail's Return.mp3 27.
FL_1956-07-29 Nature
Boy.mp3 28.
FL_1956-08-05 The
Massacre.mp3 29.
FL_1956-08-12 The
Assembly Line.mp3 30.
FL_1956-08-19 Goodbye
Willa.mp3 31.
FL_1956-08-26 The
Chaplain.mp3 32.
FL_1956-09-02 The
Return of Hattie Pelfrey.mp3 33.
FL_1956-09-09 The
Buffalo Hunters.mp3 34.
FL_1956-09-16 The
Payroll.mp3 35.
FL_1956-09-30 A Small
Beginning.mp3 36.
FL_1956-10-07
Galvanized Yankee.mp3 37.
FL_1956-10-14 Still
Waters.mp3 38.
FL_1956-10-21 Indian
Scout.mp3 39.
FL_1956-10-28 Army
Wife.mp3 B. Audition Episode
(starring John Dehner) 1.
FL_1955-07-25
Audition.mp3 |