Chuck Connors Was Branded: Dealing with a Stained Reputation

All but one man died.
There at Bitter Creek.
And they say he ran away.

Branded, scorned as the one who ran.
What do you do when you're branded,
and you know you're a man?

Wherever you go, for the rest of your life
You must prove, you're a man.

source: Lyrics on demand

* * * 

When I was a kid I had a good friend who really liked Chuck Connors as Lucas McCain, The Rifleman. As a writer, one of the most interesting parts of writing fiction is creating characters and giving them names. Lucas McCain is intriguing. The four Gospels of the New Testament are written by men named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Lucas is the formal full name for someone nicknamed Luke. The "Mc" in the last suggests a Scottish origin, "Son of Cain." The firstborn of Adam and Eve were Cain and Abel. Cain lost his temper and killed his brother out of a jealous rage. The implication is that Lucas McCain is a good man with a complicated heritage in a complicated world.

The show ran from 1958 to '63 after which time the tall, lanky Connors got a new role: Branded. In Branded, another 1880s Western, Connors plays the role of Jason McCord, as West Point grad who has now been court-martialed and shamed for having survived a massacre at Bitter Creek.*

One thing about television, it can really sink a jingle into your brain when put to music. For more than 50 years that line has stuck with me, "What do you do when you're branded and you know you're a man?" 

* * *

There are actually several takeaways here. The first that comes to mind is the notion of Reputation. A good reputation will open doors for you in the marketplace. A bad reputation will hurt you on many levels. Trust is the basic foundation of most relationships and loss of trust is detrimental. All kinds of sayings affirm this. "He's as good as his word," is the first that comes to mind.

Another saying along that line, "It takes years to build a good reputation and minutes to destroy it." Your reputation is your cred. It is more important than many people realize. 

A second takeaway is how this story dovetails with a common emotion that people have at times, the feeling of being misunderstood. I don't think many of us have been in the same circumstances as Jason McCord, but most of us have experienced the pain of being misunderstood. Hence the popularity of the 60s hit from that same time period, "Oh I'm just a boy whose intentions are good. Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood."

A third takeaway here is the challenge we have regarding our stance toward others in the community. That is, how much can we reveal and how much must we conceal regarding who we are. This has become especially disconcerting on social media. When we were children life was "live and let live." Now we have to give more thought to how we say things. On one level that it's OK to be circumspect and thoughtful with our speech. On another level, it seems sometimes that communication today has descended from trying to understand one another to trying to pin people down, with no mercy.

* * *

Those early days of television were very different from today. Westerns were the rage. Maverick, Bonanza, Rawhide, Wagon Train, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke and Have Gun, Will Travel are just a few of the dozens that of Western-themed shows. What really interesting is how many actors who came to enjoy later success were either stars or guest characters in these shows. Clint Eastwood, James Garner, Michael Landon and Richard Boone were just a few who used starring roles in Westerns to springboard to broader careers on the silver screen. 

* * *

Related Links
The One Who Gets Things Done: Have Gun, Will Travel
Cowboys and Aliens 
Branded at imdb 

* When I was 15 and 16 I caddied at a country club in New Jersey. One of the caddies was a fellow who had been court-martialed. He had low self-esteem and I could see it weighed on him. He was mocked privately behind his back, which I didn't understand at the time and felt bad about.