Mackenzie's Raiders is an American Western

Western (genre)

The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...

 television series starring Richard Carlson that aired in syndication from 1958 until 1959. The series was narrated by Art Gilmore

Art Gilmore

Arthur Wells "Art" Gilmore was an American voice actor and announcer whose voice has been heard in radio and television programs, movies, trailers, advertising promotions and documentary films.-Biography:...

.

Synopsis

Carlson played Colonel Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie

Ranald S. Mackenzie

Ranald Slidell Mackenzie was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, described by General Ulysses S. Grant as its most promising young officer...

, commander of the 4th Cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 Regiment at Fort Clark

Fort Clark, Texas

Fort Clark was a frontier fort that later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division.-Founding:The land that became Fort Clark was owned by Samuel A. Maverick at the time its potential for military development was recognized by William H.C. Whiting and William F. Smith in 1849...

 near Brackettville

Brackettville, Texas

Brackettville is a city in Kinney County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,876 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Kinney County...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, during the 1870s

1870s

The 1870s continued the trends of the previous decade, as new empires, imperialism and militarism rose in Europe and Asia. America was recovering from the Civil War. Germany declared independence in 1871 and began its Second Reich. Labor unions and strikes occurred worldwide in the later part of...

. The real Mackenzie was a nephew

Nephew

Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...

 of Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 diplomat John Slidell

John Slidell

John Slidell was an American politician, lawyer and businessman. A native of New York, Slidell moved to Louisiana as a young man and became a staunch defender of southern rights as a U.S. Representative and Senator...

 and the brother of Union Navy

Union Navy

The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...

 Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 Alexander Slidell MacKenzie

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie

Alexander Slidell Mackenzie Born in New York City, Mackenzie was a U.S. Navy officer who served during the first half of the 19th century. He was an accomplished author and writer who wrote several contemporary essays and biographies of notable US naval figures of the early 19th century. He was...

.

In the series story line, Colonel Mackenzie receives secret orders from U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...

 and General

General

A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....

 Phil Sheridan to stop Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 bandits from crossing the Rio Grande

Rio Grande

The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...

 into the United States or from returning to Mexico. The show continued as Mackenzie and his raiders ride deep into Mexican territory, but the Raiders also fought gunfighters and renegade Indians

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

. The series lasted for a single season.

Cast members

• Richard Carlson ...Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie
• Kenneth Alton ...Raider
• Morris Ankrum ...Raider
• Charles Boaz ...Corporal Dixon
• Jim Bridges ...Private Lewis
• Louis Jean Heydt ...Raider
• Brett King ...Raider

Production notes

A Ziv Production

Ziv Television Programs

Ziv Television Programs, Inc. was an American television syndication and production company, producer of popular syndicated TV programs in the 1950s.- History :...

, subsequently MGM

MGM Television

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television is an American television production/distribution launched in 1955 and a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc....

, Mackenzie's Raiders was filmed at the Iverson Ranch

Movie ranch

A movie ranch is a ranch that is at least partially dedicated to being used as a site for the creation and production of motion pictures, and television productions...

 in Chatsworth in Los Angeles County, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

The series was produced by Lou Breslow

Lou Breslow

Lou Breslow was an American screenwriter and film director. He wrote for 70 films between 1928 and 1955...

and Elliott Lewis. Series star Richard Carlson also served as a writer and director.