Go West Trivia Quiz

Answer: Adam Cartwright

The western "Bonanza" aired on TV from 1959 to 1973, and went from black and white to color. The plot was about a patriarch, Ben Cartwright and his three sons from three different mothers. They lived during the Civil War on a ranch in Nevada called the Ponderosa. Pernell Roberts was the oldest sibling, Adam, until he went to med school and became "Trapper John, M.D." in 1979.

Answer: Marshal Jed Cooper

Before Clint Eastwood went on to directorial fame, he was the protagonist in the 1968 western movie "Hang 'Em High". Eastwood plays Marshal Jed Cooper whom some vigilantes believe is a cattle rustler, so they hang him and leave him for dead. But the marshal survives and goes hunting for the vigilantes who tried to lynch him, in order to bring them to justice.

Answer: Matt Dillon

James Arness served as Marshal Matt Dillon, marshal of Dodge City for twenty years, from 1955 to 1975. "Gunsmoke" had been the longest running prime-time scripted drama until the title moved to "The Simpsons" in 2018. What would the Wild West have been without the kind but tough Marshal Dillon to tame it? As an aside, James Arness' brother was Peter Graves from "Mission Impossible".

Answer: Will Kane

What better western plot than a fugitive getting out of jail and coming for revenge on the marshal who put him there? That is the story behind the 1952 film "High Noon". Former Marshall Will Kane, stoically played by Gary Cooper, is getting married and planning to leave Hadleyville, New Mexico with his bride...until Frank Miller decides to return and Kane must face him alone.

Answer: Lucas McCain

"The Rifleman" was a TV series set in North Fork, New Mexico. The show ran from 1958 to 1963, with Chuck Connors starring as windowed rancher Lucas McCain with his son Mark (played by Johnny Crawford). The gimmick here was that the strong, silent hero protecting others in the Wild West used a "customized rapid fire Winchester rifle" to thwart the desperados, and help the marshal maintain order.

Answer: Victoria Barkley

The wonderful actress Barbara Stanwyck never won an Academy Award despite the fact that she could do drama and comedy as well as any actress of her time. She showed off her acting chops again when she took on the role of widowed Victoria Barkley, the matriarch of the "Big Valley" ranch in the San Joaquin Valley in California in the 1870s.

Helping with the chores are her daughter and three sons.

Answer: Artemus Gordon

Before the Will Smith/Kevin Kline 1999 movie 'bomb' called "The Wild, Wild West", there was the TV show (1965-1969) that started the concept of two Secret Service Agents working for the government to protect the citizens from evildoers. Their headquarters was a train which was outfitted with all the best spy gadgets of the time. Robert Conrad was Jim West and Ross Martin played sidekick Artemus Gordon.

Answer: Kid Shelleen

The 1960s seems to have been the "Golden Age of Westerns" on TV and in movies. The film "Cat Ballou" was released in 1965 and stars Jane Fonda as the eponymous protagonist. In order to get revenge on the man who kills her father, Catherine Ballou hires a famous gunman called Kid Shelleen, who turns out to be the Wild West's drunkest hired gun. Lee Marvin plays Shelleen and Tim Strawn.

Answer: Hedley Lamarr

If you are a fan of comedy in a western setting, the 1974 Mel Brooks' film "Blazing Saddles" may be something you want to see. Typical of Brooks' screwball comedies, this movie has Harvey Korman as corrupt politician Hedley Lamarr. Hedley has appointed a black sheriff to help his nefarious scheme, but the sheriff (Cleavon Little) turns out to be his worst nightmare.

Answer: Wilton Parmenter

Ken Berry played inept Captain Wilton Parmenter on "F Troop" which ran from 1965 to 1967. Parmenter was given command of Fort Courage, a remote Army Outpost, after he led a cavalry charge the wrong way, accidentally becoming a hero. The fort is actually run by Sergeant O'Rourke and Corporal Agarn who trade with their 'supposed' enemies, the Hekawe, and bilk the tourists.

Answer: Chris Larabee Adams

Based on Akira Kurasawa's original 1954 movie "Seven Samurai", "The Magnificent Seven" was updated and set in a small Mexican farming village. Every year the village is terrorized by bandits. The town sends farmers to the United States to hire gunmen to defend them.

The 1960 movie (not the remake) stars Yul Brynner as Chris Larabee Adams, the leader of the seven who must fight the bandit army.

Answer: Josh Randall

Steve McQueen was one of the stars of the "Magnificent Seven" movie above. Before that film, McQueen starred on the small screen in the role of bounty hunter Josh Randall, in the early western "Wanted Dead or Alive". The show began airing in 1958 and ended its run in 1961. To make Randall's role more palatable, the character gave all most of his earnings to help the victims' families.

Answer: Gil Carter

The theme of vigilante justice is dealt with in the powerful 1943 film, "The Ox-Bow Incident". Two strangers arrive in a Western town where three men have just been arrested for killing a local farmer and rustling his cattle. The townspeople are divided between lynching the men on the spot or seeking justice through the law.

Henry Fonda plays Gil Carter who argues for wiser heads to prevail.

Answer: Gus McCrae

Based on a 1985 novel by Larry McMurtry, "Lonesome Dove" was made into a February 1989 miniseries. The plot revolved around two ex-Texas Rangers, i.e., Gus McCrae (Robert Duvall) and Woodrow McCall (Tommy Lee Jones) as they join several of their neighbors on a cattle drive to the Montana Territory. The miniseries shows the difficult conditions and casualties of life in the early West.

Answer: Ransom Stoddard

The opening scene of the 1962 movie "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" depicts the funeral of Tom Doniphon, played by John Wayne. The story is told through the eyes of Senator Ransom Stoddard who is known to have shot and killed the outlaw Liberty Valance (Lee Marvin). James Stewart plays Stoddard whose real story may be somewhat different from the legend.