While conducting a book tour in Texas, Pratt learns that not everyone in the region appreciates the fact that "Nicodemus Legend" fought on the side of the Union. He also learns that there may be a plot against President Ulysses S. Grant. Although Pratt isn't especially inclined to take the story seriously, Bartok convinces him to send a wire to let the President know about the potential danger.
The next day, a series of encounters convinces Pratt that the threat is real. Ethan Catledge Steele, a former Confederate colonel, is upset at the effects of post-Civil War Reconstruction, and he intends to do something about it. When Pratt is subsequently approached by I. F. Potter, a member of the US Secret Service, he is left with little option but to meet the president in person.
So Pratt, along with Bartok and Ramos, join Potter and take the Legend Balloon from Sheridan to nearby Pueblo, where President Grant awaits aboard his presidential train. The President and Steele, we learn, were once friends, although they found themselves on opposite sides in the Civil War. Grant wants Pratt to go to Texas to learn more about the plot, but Pratt declines, and the President stiffly dismisses him. When Potter points out that Pratt could find himself accused of being part of the conspiracy, should anything happen to the President, he realizes that he has no choice. He, Bartok, and Ramos journey to Texas.
Upon arrival, Pratt approaches Steele's daughter, Abigail, who confirms that Steele is indeed continuing with his plans against Grant, and that this is expected to happen in El Paso. With help from one of Bartok's inventions, they attempt to eavesdrop on a meeting between Steele and his men, but a lightning strike causes the equipment to destroy the entire wall of the bunkhouse in which Steele is meeting, and Pratt, Bartok, and Abigail are quickly captured. Steele insists that he has no intention of harming the president, but that the president must be made to see the negative effects of Reconstruction. He orders Pratt, Bartok, and Abigail locked up, to be released once the president has been captured.
Ramos (still in the Legend Balloon) frees Pratt and the others with the use of a ball lightning generator, and they take to the skies to intercept the president's train before Steele's men can get there. Pratt lands on the top of the train with the use of the Legend Wings, and enters the president's car to get them to stop the train. Pratt proposes a diversion: the president and his wife are to travel in the Legend Balloon while the train continues on to El Paso. The train is waylaid by Steele's men, as expected, but Steele finds Abigail sitting in the president's chair instead of Grant, himself. Pratt surprises Steele from behind and disarms him, arranging for Steele and Grant to meet far away from their soldiers, and thus able to discuss their concerns without the threat of violence. Grant agrees to change his itinerary to join Steele on a tour of the south, and hopes that, together, they can inspire forgiveness among the rest of the country, as well.Some additional notes:
- Although this episode aired after "Mr. Pratt Goes to Sheridan" (and clearly was always intended to), it was filmed before it.
- Abigail Steele's backstory obviously borrows liberally from Gone with the Wind.
- Steele is played by a pre-Scrubs Ken Jenkins (Dr. Kelso), while President Grant is played by G.W. Bailey, already well-known from the Police Academy movies (Harris) and Short Circuit (Skroeder).
- IMDb refers to Jenkins' character as "Ethan Catridge Steele," but having listened to the episode closely in preparation for this post, I'm consistently hearing a definite "L" in the middle of the name (which is used often), and so am going with the spelling proposed by rdanderson.com.
- This episode features an appearance of the steam locomotive, the Reno. Originally built for the Virginia & Truckee Railroad as engine No. 11 in May 1872, it is the 2nd oldest surviving example of its type of engine (a Baldwin Locomotive Works 4-4-0, the numbers indicate its wheel arrangement). The Reno has a long history of appearing in films and television. Sadly, on April 24th, 1995 (8 days before this episode aired), a fire broke out in Old Tucson (where parts of Legend were filmed. While Legend itself was unaffected, to the best of my knowledge,* I do know they filmed at least a few episodes after the fire, so can't say what might have been filmed had the fire never taken place) and the Reno was all-but destroyed. Indeed, this episode may well have been the Reno’s final appearance before the fire, but I haven’t been able to verify that for certain. This was not the end, however, as the Reno was cosmetically restored a few years later when Will Smith used it in his film version of Wild, Wild, West, where it stood in for Union Pacific No. 119 in the famous “Golden Spike” ceremony (a real world event symbolizing the completion of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad). The Reno was eventually sold to the reconstituted Virginia & Truckee Railroad in 2021 and returned to Nevada, where it is expected to be restored to working condition.
- Although this is far from the only story set in this era to use the United States Secret Service in their modern role as protectors to the President (the above Wild, Wild, West being another example), this is an anachronism. While the Secret Service has existed since 1865, it was originally created to combat counterfeiting, and only took on presidential security in 1901 (after the assassination of McKinley).
Next week: "Custer's Next-To-Last Stand"
*Recently recovered correspondence from Bill Dial (circa April, 2000) confirms that, although they did use Old Tucson a bit, including to access the Reno, they weren't there very much, and that most of their time was spent at the set in Mescal.
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