Abducted by the Shoshones at the age of six, teenager Billy Horn (Carl Reindel is brought back to the White Man's world by Ben Cartwright. As Billy tries to adjust to a different set of rules and values, he forms a strong friendship with Ben's son Joe. Meanwhile, a slick operator named Milton Tanner (Ken Lynch) has laid claim to the Ponderosa, using a set of old land grants as proof of possession. While Ben prepares legal recourse with family lawyer Lewis (Robert Burton), Billy tries to use Indian methods to defend his new friends against the mean-spirited Tanner-with tragic consequences. Raymond Bailey, minus the toupe he wore as Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies, appears as the Judge in the closing scenes. Written by Preston Wood, "The Beginning" first aired on November 25, 1962.
by Hal Erickson
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