Saddle Up: Classic TV Westerns Quiz
Instructions: Ride back to the golden age of television with questions about the cowboys, marshals, and outlaws who ruled the small screen from the 1950s through the 1970s.
- 1.
Which actor played Marshal Matt Dillon on the long-running TV western Gunsmoke?
AJames ArnessBJohn WayneCJames GarnerDJoel McCrea - 2.
Bonanza, the beloved western featuring the Cartwright family, aired on which television network?
AABCBCBSCNBCDDuMont - 3.
What was the name of the Cartwright family's sprawling ranch on Bonanza?
AThe Lone StarBThe PonderosaCThe Bar 20DThe High Chaparral - 4.
Which TV western featured James Garner as a witty, card-playing drifter who preferred his wits over a quick draw?
AThe VirginianBCheyenneCHave Gun – Will TravelDMaverick - 5.
What was the name of Tonto's horse on The Lone Ranger?
AScoutBSilverCTriggerDChampion - 6.
Which actor played Paladin, the refined San Francisco-based mercenary gunfighter on Have Gun – Will Travel?
AJames ArnessBHugh O'BrianCRichard BooneDChuck Connors - 7.
Before his spaghetti western fame, Clint Eastwood starred in the TV series Rawhide. What was his character's name?
AGil FavorBRowdy YatesCPete NolanDWishbone - 8.
What was the name of cowboy star Roy Rogers' famous palomino horse?
AChampionBScoutCSilverDTrigger - 9.
How many seasons did Gunsmoke run on CBS, making it the longest-running prime-time live-action dramatic series in American TV history at that time?
A20B15C12D18 - 10.
Who played the title role of frontier lawman Wyatt Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp?
AJames ArnessBJames GarnerCHugh O'BrianDRichard Boone - 11.
In which frontier town was the TV western Gunsmoke set?
ATombstone, ArizonaBDodge City, KansasCDeadwood, South DakotaDAbilene, Texas - 12.
Which actor starred as rancher Lucas McCain, famous for his customized rapid-fire Winchester rifle, in The Rifleman?
AJames ArnessBHugh O'BrianCSteve McQueenDChuck Connors - 13.
Which popular TV western was set on the Bar 20 ranch and featured a cowboy hero famous for wearing all black?
AHopalong CassidyBThe Lone RangerCBonanzaDMaverick - 14.
Which actor played Tonto, the Lone Ranger's faithful companion, on the 1950s television series?
AIron Eyes CodyBChief Dan GeorgeCJay SilverheelsDWill Sampson - 15.
Which western series debuted in 1955, the same year as Gunsmoke, and is often called the first 'adult' TV western?
ARawhideBThe Life and Legend of Wyatt EarpCBonanzaDHave Gun – Will Travel
Answer Key
James Arness played Marshal Matt Dillon throughout all 20 seasons of Gunsmoke on CBS (1955–1975), making it one of the most iconic roles in television history.
Bonanza ran on NBC from 1959 to 1973 and became one of the first western series broadcast in full color, which helped make it a must-see hit.
The Ponderosa was the vast Nevada ranch owned by patriarch Ben Cartwright and his three sons — Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe — and was the heart of every episode.
Maverick (1957–1962) starred James Garner as Bret Maverick, a charming gambler who used cleverness and humor rather than gunfighting to get out of trouble.
Tonto's horse was named Scout; the Lone Ranger himself rode the famous white stallion named Silver, whose name gave us the classic cry of 'Hi-yo, Silver!'
Richard Boone played Paladin, a cultured chess-playing gunfighter for hire who carried a business card reading 'Have Gun – Will Travel,' through all six seasons of the CBS series (1957–1963).
Clint Eastwood played Rowdy Yates, the ramrod of a cattle drive, on Rawhide from 1959 to 1966 — the role that launched his career before Sergio Leone cast him in A Fistful of Dollars.
Roy Rogers' palomino stallion Trigger was known as 'the Smartest Horse in the Movies' and appeared with Rogers in both films and his 1950s television series.
Gunsmoke ran for 20 seasons from 1955 to 1975, a record for a prime-time live-action drama that held for many years and still inspires admiration today.
Hugh O'Brian played Wyatt Earp in The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, which premiered in September 1955 and is widely credited as the first true 'adult' western on American television.
Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, Kansas, a real cattle-trail boomtown famous in the 1870s and 1880s for its rowdy cowboys, saloons, and the lawmen who tried to keep the peace.
Chuck Connors played Lucas McCain in The Rifleman (1958–1963), a widowed New Mexico rancher raising his young son Mark, known for his lightning-fast rifle that could fire as fast as a pistol.
Hopalong Cassidy, played by William Boyd, operated from the Bar 20 ranch and was famous for his all-black outfit — unusual for a hero in westerns, where villains typically wore black.
Jay Silverheels, a Mohawk actor from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, played Tonto on The Lone Ranger from 1949 to 1957 and became one of television's best-known Native American actors.
The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp premiered on ABC on September 6, 1955 — four days before Gunsmoke — and is credited as television's first western aimed squarely at adult audiences rather than children.