The regular cast includes: •
Ward Bond as wagon master Major Seth Adams (1957–61, seasons 1–4). Bond died of a heart attack in the middle of the fourth season, and was replaced by John McIntire as wagon master. No explanation was ever given on the show. •
Robert Horton as scout Flint McCullough (1957–62, seasons 1–5). •
John McIntire as Christopher Hale (1961–65, seasons 4–8), replacing Bond as wagon master upon Bond's death. McIntire had guest starred in a Season 3 episode in the role of preacher Andrew Hale, apparently Christopher's brother according to a reference made by Christopher later in the series. •
Robert Fuller as scout Cooper Smith (1963–65, seasons 7–8) replacing the McCullough character after Robert Horton left the series. Fuller had previously played a lead in the Western series
Laramie and physically resembled Horton. Fuller and McIntire rotated top billing from week to week on the series. Fuller even shared the same birthday as Horton, albeit nine years apart. •
Frank McGrath as cook Charlie Wooster (1957–65, seasons 1–8), one of only two regulars to last the entire series. •
Terry Wilson as Bill Hawks (1957–65, seasons 1–8), was one of only two regulars to last the entire series. •
Michael Burns as Barnaby West (1960–65, seasons 6–8). •
Denny Miller (aka; Scott Miller) as Duke Shannon (1961–64, seasons 4–7). •
Chick Hannan in various roles (1957–65, seasons 1–8), mostly as a wagon train member. In the first four seasons, Ward Bond was
billed above Robert Horton in the opening credits. In season five, Horton rotated top billing with relative newcomer John McIntire, a practice which subsequently continued with McIntire and Robert Fuller rotating top billing from episode to episode when Fuller joined the series in the seventh season. During the sixth season, Horton had left and Fuller had not yet replaced him, so McIntire carried the show with the supporting cast. Neither Bond nor McIntire, both veterans of dozens of supporting roles in movies, routinely had a leading role in theatrical films, although Bond did in at least one
B-picture. Rivals Bond and Horton frequently quarreled on the set, an extensively publicized development at the time, while their characters disputed within the episodes. According to Scott Eyman in his biography of John Wayne, Bond's jealousy of Horton was fueled by Horton receiving more fan mail. Eyman stated Bond would try to limit Horton's screen time and interfere with any good lines Horton might be given in the scripts. They eventually reconciled shortly before Bond's death. In his fourth appearance on Wagon Train, he played a mentally unstable man obsessed by demons and superstitions in "The Bleymier Story", broadcast 16 November 1960, eleven days after the death of Ward Bond. Samuel Bleymier opposes the interest shown to his daughter, Belle, portrayed by
Elen Willard, by a young pioneer, Justin Claiborne, played by
James Drury, some two years before the start of his
The Virginian series. The episode is filmed mostly in the dark or during heavy rains, high winds and a cyclone, and involves pioneers passing through a
Sioux burial ground. •
Jena Engstrom appeared three times. In 1961 she was featured in "The Jenna Douglas Story" with guest star
Carolyn Jones. In 1962 she was featured in "The Amos Billings Story", guest-starring Paul Fix. And in 1964 she appeared in support of
Joseph Wiseman in "The Santiago Quesada Story". •
Glenda Farrell appeared in the 1959 episode "The Jess MacAbbee Story" as Andy Devine's character's wife. •
Ron Foster appeared twice in the 1957 episodes "The John Cameron Story" and "The Julia Gage Story". •
Rhonda Fleming appeared three times. In the 1958 episode "The Jennifer Churchill Story", in the 1961 episode "The Patience Miller Story" and in the 1963 episode "The Sandra Cummings Story". •
Med Flory was cast as Sheriff Gile in "The Nancy Palmer Story", with
Audrey Meadows in the guest-starring role (1961). •
Nina Foch appeared as the title character in "The Clara Beauchamp Story". •
Louise Fletcher appeared as different characters in two Season 3 episodes. •
Eduard Franz appeared in the lead in 1957 in "The Les Rand Story", and
James Philbrook had a minor role in the same episode. •
Kathleen Freeman appeared in five different episodes, usually as the embodiment of ignorance or intolerance. •
Annette Funicello appeared in "The Sam Pulaski Story" (Nov. 1963) •
George Gobel appeared as Major Adams' country cousin in "The Horace Best Story", the Season 4 premiere episode. •
Don Grady appeared in "The Christine Elliot Story" (1960). •
Lorne Greene appeared in "The Vivian Carter Story" (1959). •
Tom Greenway appeared as Dr. Quinn in "The Dan Hogan Story" (1958). •
Kevin Hagen appeared four times on
Wagon Train as Lansing in "The Willy Moran Story" (1957) and as Claymore in "The Nels Stack Story" (1957) and "The Annie MacGregory Story" (1958) and as Ed Prentiss in "The Silver Lady" (1965). •
Sessue Hayakawa appeared as the title character in "The Sakae Ito Story" (1958). •
Peter Helm appeared three times on
Wagon Train in 1962 and 1963: "The Daniel Clay Story", "The Wagon Train Mutiny", and in the title role "The Tom O'Neal Story", with
Myron Healey cast as his father. •
Dwayne Hickman appeared in the title guest-starring role in "The Clay Shelby Story" in December 1964.
Celia Kaye played Ann Shelby, and
Richard Carlson and
Mort Mills were cast as military officers. •
Darby Hinton, a
child actor, appeared in March 1964 as Benjie Diel in the 75-minute episode "The Ben Engel Story". •
Dennis Holmes, another child actor, appeared three times on
Wagon Train, including the role of Danny Blake in "Those Who Stay Behind", along with
Peter Brown and
Bruce Dern (8 November 1964). •
Dennis Hopper appeared as the title character in "The Emmett Lawton Story" as the crippled son of the murdered sheriff in a town taken over by outlaws, March 1963. •
Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., as Padre in "The Don Alvarado Story", 21 June 1961, with
Ed Nelson as Sheriff Donovan •
Sherry Jackson appeared as the title character in "The Geneva Balfour Story", which was originally broadcast on 20 January 1964. •
Anne Jeffreys and her husband,
Robert Sterling, play a couple with an unusual "half-marriage" courtship arrangement brought about by an attack of fever in the episode "The Julie Gage Story", the fourteenth episode of the series broadcast on 18 December 1957. •
Brad Johnson and
Susan Oliver in the title role appear in the 9 November 1960, episode "The Cathy Eckhardt Story", with Johnson cast as Will Eckhardt. •
I. Stanford Jolley appeared ten times, but not in the lead role of an episode. in a 1961 appearance •
Carolyn Jones appeared during the show's first four episodes, also as the title characters in "The Jenna Douglas Story" (1961) as a traumatized woman found by the wagon train, and in "The Molly Kincaid Story" (1963) as an escaped captive of the Indians intent on punishing the husband who abandoned her. •
Dick Jones was cast as John Hunter in "The Wagon Train Mutiny" (1962). •
J. M. Kerrigan appeared in "The St. Nicholas Story" (1959). •
Brett King appeared five times on
Wagon Train, his last as a lieutenant in "The Sandra Cummings Story" (1963). •
Charles Laughton appeared as Albert Farnsworth in "The Albert Farnsworth Story". (1960) •
Linda Lawson guest starred in "Princess of a Lost Tribe" (1960). •
Art Linkletter appeared as the title character in "The Sam Darland Story" (1962). •
Peter Lorre played the title character in "The Alexander Portlass Story" (March 1960). •
Dayton Lummis appeared in three episodes: as Maj. Barham in "The Martha Barham Story" (NBC, 1959), as T.J. Gingle in "The John Turnbull Storey" (NBC, 1962), and as the Rev. Philip Marshall in "The Myra Marshall Story" (ABC, 1963), with
Suzanne Pleshette in the title role. •
Lee Marvin appeared as Mexican bandit Jose Morales in the Season 4 episode "The Jose Morales Story". After 20 episodes he appeared as newly hired wagonmaster Jud Benedict in the Season 4 episode that introduced the Chris Hale character, "The Christopher Hale Story". •
Raymond Massey guest starred in "Princess of a Lost Tribe" (1960). •
Mike Mazurki appeared in "The Duncan McIvor Story" (1964). •
Tyler McVey appeared six times on
Wagon Train, including a two-part 1960 episode "Trial for Murder". •
Audrey Meadows played the title character in "The Nancy Palmer Story" (1961). •
Joyce Meadows appeared three times: as Martha Williams in "The Conchita Vasquez Story" (1959), as Rheba Polke in "The Jed Polke Story" and as Melanie in "The Artie Matthewson Story" (both 1961). •
Ralph Meeker appeared in the title role of "A Man Called Horse" (season one, ep 26, trans 26 March 1958) in a story that served as the basis for the
Richard Harris film
A Man Called Horse, a decade later. •
Burgess Meredith guest starred in "The Grover Allen Story" (1964). •
Vera Miles appeared three times on
Wagon Train as the lead role in "The Sister Rita Story" (1959), as Janice Stuart in "The Bob Stuart Story" (1964) and as Anne Reed in "The Silver Lady" (1965). •
Ricardo Montalbán appeared as the title character in the second episode of the series, "The Jean LeBec Story". •
Archie Moore, African-American prizefighter, appeared as a cowboy in "The Geneva Balfour Story", which was originally broadcast on 20 January 1964. •
Read Morgan appeared three times: as Ben Denike in "The Vincent Eaglewood Story" with
Wally Cox in the title role (1959), as Curly Horse in "The Martha Barham Story" with
Ann Blyth (1959), and as Jake in "The Myra Marshall Story". •
Ed Nelson guest stars in the episode "Alias Bill Hawks", a story of townspeople covering for a murder, and trying to dig a needed
artesian well. Terry Wilson, as the real "Bill Hawks", arrives to put the puzzle together. •
Leslie Nielsen guest stars in "The Jeremy Dow Story". •
Leonard Nimoy appeared in four episodes-—twice as a Mexican, once as an Indian and once as one of three Spanish brothers. •
Susan Oliver guest starred in four episodes: "The Emily Rossiter Story" (1957), "The Maggie Hamilton Story" (1960), "The Cathy Eckhart Story" (1960), and "The Lily Legend Story" (1963). • Prolific Western actor
Gregg Palmer appeared in three episodes: as Groton in "The Mary Halstead Story" (1957), as Paul Dawson in "The Riley Gratton Story" (1957), and as Raleigh in "The Jose Morales Story" (1960). •
Michael Parks was cast as Hamish Browne in "The Heather and Hamish Story" with fellow guest star
Anne Helm (1963), and as Michael Malone in "The Michael Malone Story", with
Joyce Bulifant (1964). •
John Pickard appeared as Jed Otis in the 1959 episode "The Matthew Lowry Story". •
Ronald Reagan, in one of his final acting roles prior to his entering politics, played Captain Paul Winters in the seventh-season episode "The Fort Pierce Story", first broadcast in September 1963. •
Michael Rennie appeared in two episodes: "The John Cameron Story" (1957) and "The Robert Harrison Clarke Story" (1963). •
Cesar Romero appeared in "The Honorable Don Charlie Story" (1958). •
Mickey Rooney guest starred as "greenhorn" Samuel T. Evans in "The Greenhorn Story" (1959), and again as Samuel T. Evans with young wife Melanie (
Olive Sturgess) in "Wagons Ho!", the 1960 season premiere.
Ellen Corby played the role of Aunt 'Em in both episodes. Sturgess in her role had to wear the lowest of heels so as not to tower over the 5'2" Rooney. •
Pippa Scott guest-starred in "The Link Cheney Story" (1964). in "The Mavis Grant Story", 1962 •
Ann Sheridan guest-starred in "The Mavis Grant Story" (1962). •
Tom Simcox and
Paul Stader guest-starred in "The Link Cheney Story" (1964). • Roger Smith - (see "Charles Bickford" earlier in the list) •
Arnold Stang played the lead in "The Ah Chong Story", the tale of an ebullient Chinese cook who joins the wagon train with a rickshaw. Ah Chong produces higher quality and more reliable food service than Charlie Wooster, who has become arrogant because of his success at poker playing. Ah Chong introduces wagonmaster Chris Hale and his assistant, Bill Hawks, to
bird nest soup. Wooster soon sees Ah Chong as a threat in both cooking and poker, and hurls insults at him.
Frank Ferguson plays a sheriff at the beginning of this episode, which aired near the end of the fourth season on 14 June 1961. •
Barbara Stanwyck appeared three times. •
Rod Steiger portrayed a blind doctor heading west in "The Saul Bevins Story" (1961). The other travelers object to his inclusion on the train because of the obstacles he must overcome.
Vivi Janiss plays his sister, Martha Bevins;
Charles Herbert, his son Job Bevins. Janiss also appeared in five other
Wagon Train episodes. •
Charles Stevens appeared twice in "The Nels Stack Story" (1957) and "The Mark Hanford Story" (1958). •
Dean Stockwell appeared in four episodes, including "The Rodney Lawrence Story" (10 June 1959), in which he portrays a young white man whose parents were massacred by other whites, and he is reared by a single Indian. The Indian urges Rodney to rejoin his people when the wagon train passes through the area, and soon after he joins the train he is accused of murder and theft. Scout Flint McCullough proves that Rodney is innocent, and he becomes attracted to a young white woman, Mandy McCrea (
Cynthia Chenault).
Roger Mobley plays Lawrence as a child in a flashback. •
Karl Swenson played mountain man
Jim Bridger in "The Jim Bridger Story".
Francis De Sales also appeared in the episode as Mark. •
Akim Tamiroff appeared in "The Joe Muharich Story" (1961). •
Phyllis Thaxter was cast in the title role of "The Christine Elliott Story" (1960), in which a young woman takes a group of orphan-boys, who had previously lived in her late father's orphanage, to a new life in the West.
Don Grady and
Gary Hunley also appear in this episode. •
Franchot Tone appeared in the lead role in "The Malachi Hobart Story" as a traveling preacher who loses confidence in his own
Christian message. •
Lee Van Cleef appeared in "The Jesse Cowan Story" (1958). •
Johnny Washbrook appeared as Tommy Peeks in "The Swift Cloud Story", with Rafael Campos in the 1959 title role, and as Ron Pearson in "The Beth Pearson Story", with
Virginia Grey in the 1961 title role. ,
Harry Carey Jr. and
Ward Bond in
John Ford's feature film,
Wagon Master (1950), one of the primary cinematic inspirations for the series. Ford dressed Bond identically to this, with the black hat and checkered shirt, in the
Wagon Train episode that Ford later directed titled "
The Coulter Craven Story" featuring many regulars from Ford films, including
John Wayne. •
John Wayne appeared briefly, partly obscured by distance and shadow, in a long shot in the episode directed by
John Ford, "
The Coulter Craven Story", in which he portrays General
William Tecumseh Sherman and speaks briefly. In this episode, Wayne is billed under the pseudonym "Michael Morris", a reference to his real name, Marion Michael Morrison. Several other
regulars from Ford's films also appeared, including
John Carradine,
Ken Curtis and
Hank Worden. Ford used action footage from his 1950 film
Wagon Master in this episode, which was shown 18 days after Bond's death and is the only episode in this series directed by Ford. Wayne also played Sherman under Ford's direction in the movie
How the West Was Won, and was billed as "Michael Morris" for a lengthy Ford-directed
cameo appearance in the
Alcoa Premiere television anthology show episode titled "
Flashing Spikes" (1962) starring
James Stewart. •
Marlene Willis played a supporting role in "The Jess MacAbbee Story" starring Andy Devine. •
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams appeared in "The Vincent Eaglewood Story" (1959). •
Shelley Winters appeared during the show's first four episodes. •
Jane Wyman appeared twice, once in "The Doctor Willoughby Story" (1958), as a woman doctor heading west. And, again in "The Wagon Train Mutiny" (1964). •
Dick York guest-starred in "The Michael Malone Story" (1964) as Mitchell. •
Tony Young guest-starred as Quent Loomis in "The Melanie Craig Story", with
Myrna Fahey in the title role (1964). •
Harry von Zell guest-starred in "The Link Cheney Story" (1964) and "The Tobias Jones Story" (1958). ==Episodes==