Incident of the Tumbleweed (A.K.A. Incident of the Tumbleweed Wagon) is the first episode of the first season of Rawhide. It first aired on January 9, 1959.
Trail Boss Gil Favor and chief assistant Rowdy Yates share camp with lawmen who are taking prisoners to their trials. When a break for freedom fails, Gil and Rowdy are saddled with the task of bringing the outlaws to justice. - CBS DVD
First of 3 episodes directed by Richard Whorf. He directed this first episode as well as the second. It took more than six years before he directed his third Rawhide episode, which eventually became the series last.
Gil Favor (opening): "It’s not the roundin’ up and the ropin’ and the brandin’ of the cattle that’s the big problem for the ranchers, it’s gettin’ ‘em to market: 1500 bone-weary miles, from the southern tip of Texas to the railhead at Sedalia. That’s where I come in. Gil Favor’s my name, trail boss."
Wishbone, to Mushy: "You are the only one I know can make a chow bell whisper."
Jim Quince, after noticing the beautiful Dallas is one of the prisoners: "O, mama, tell me: how do I get throwed in jail?!"
Favor, to Rowdy: "You never saw a woman in trouble yet you haven’t fallen for."
Favor: "Nobody wants to die. A man just does what he feels is right."
