Of all the Westerns on TV during the early 1960s "The Dakotas", produced by Warner Brothers, was by far the very top of the top shelf. The hour long western drama was hard hitting, likely a bit too early for its time, but one true TV Western fans wished was not taken off the air so quickly.I agree with the vast majority of reviewers, Western TV & motion picture veteran gunman & bad guy, Jack Elam, really made this TV western show one I really looked forward watching, after homework of course. The rest of the cast was equally fine, attempting to maintain the Dakota territorial law any way they could. The show had numerous familiar favourite guest Western stars who appeared, making for great Western TV entertainment. The show's musical score was wonderful! I shall always fondly remember "The Dakotas"!

Well what does one say, others have said it all! Like the other contributors I saw The Dakotas in my mid teens, thought it was the best western to date, and, of course it was the great Jack Elam that made the show! J D Smith could have been a good feature film story. Oh if only Peckinpah had used Jack Elam more (in Pat Garrett & ...) and earlier - imagine Jack partnering Warren Oates, especially in The Wild Bunch as the Gorch brothers.But to details. Now, in Oct 2007 I have realised an old ambition and got hold of all 20 episodes that were shown. Look on ebay if you want them.A little research shows there is a fair bit of misinformation around, but Wikipedia is a good start, together with this site and Classic TV Archive.21 episodes were made in all, the last, number 20, Black Gold was not transmitted in the US. The first, number 0, A Man Called Ragan was first shown in the US in 1962 as part of Cheyenne.But what about the UK? I'm sure it was on Sat night, 8 or 9pm and that the series started with number 0, possibly retitled as The Dakotas. So all the web info appears to relate to the US. I recall complaints in the UK about the violence, but was the series terminated early in the UK as well? Or was it all shown. what happened in the UK, was it bought, leased/rented/syndicated or is there a copy, maybe of the full set lying in a vault somewhere? 16mm versions of some episodes are available on US ebay, suggesting that is how Warners distributed it. So is there a Warner Bros archive? So you guys in the UK try and remember when you saw it, it might be traceable. You guys in the US, what about it? These 16mm versions came from somewhere. The thought of a full set of high quality print DVDs is tantalising.This series is probably the greatest memorial and testament to one of the west's finest character actors, so for Jack's sake...........

I have just watched 15 episodes of The Dakotas, This is a group of men that the public was not ready for. These guys were awesome. The episode that started their demise "Sanctuary at Crystal Springs" where the TV public wrote in and complained to take it off the air. This was due to the shooting that JD and Dale did inside of the "Church" That was going too far said the public. But, remember the priest in his remarks to Dale in the Church. "Nothing goes on in here unless God permitted it to happen". 1963 TV public, God led them there for what reason I do not know, but he did. This should have been the longest running western in the 60's As a boy, age 9 in 63' I was not happy when it went off the air. So I have spent the last few years searching for those episodes, I have 5 more to locate.

As an adolescent when this show debuted, I immediately fell in love with the character J.D. Smith, so adeptly played by Jack Elam. In the pilot ("A Man Called Ragan"), he was a gunfighter called in by Del Stark's stepfather to kill Frank Ragan, the Federal Marshal. Realizing that Ragan might have more to offer him than his boss, he decides to join the marshal's team (including young Del Stark and town constable Vance Porter) and begin bringing justice to the Dakota Territory. J.D. Smith is somewhat uneasy in his new role as a deputy, using wry humor as a means to temper his natural tendency to dispense his own brand of 'justice' to those who cross him or otherwise bully the downtrodden. Having seen some of the episodes recently, the stories are good, albeit some a bit preachy, but Jack Elam is absolutely delightful to watch. This character "made" the show and was clearly the forerunner to The Man With No Name and Dirty Harry, and nobody could have done it better than Jack Elam!