Tom Birch and his gang were camping outside of town while waiting for one of his gang to come back from checking out the bank in North Fork. They were planning to rob it. Jimmy just rode in and Tom 
and the boys were anxiously awaiting to see what he had found out. "Well how's it look Jimmy Boy?" asked Tom. "It looks to good to be true," he said. He proceeds to tell them that the bar is across the street from the bank. The hotel is on the other end, maybe a hundred yards on the main street. The bank opens at 8:30 and the bank manager gets there at eight. Tom thought it sounded like a good deal. He told Sammy to go on ahead to the hotel that night. Tom starts to leave and Jimmy wonders where he is going. He tells him that he has a friend in North Fork. He has a present for his kid and thought he'd drop it off. Jimmy can't figure out why he'd want to go there now. Tom asked him if he ever had a friend before. "Not one he could trust," he replied. Tom tells him he does have a friend like that, just one!
I was is in the kitchen making homemade vanilla ice cream while Mark was sitting at the table reading the Almanac trying to figure out whether to plant beans or corn in his garden. I went out onto the porch to chip more ice when I hear someone say "Mr. McCain" and then laugh. Surprised by this I turn quickly with the ice pick in my hand. I hear Tom say "your reflexes are good as ever. "Tom, Tom, Tommy", I yelled. I was glad to see my old friend. I asked him if he was traveling alone, he replied, "like a newborn pup." "Tom tells me he couldn't pass up stopping by to see me when he was so close. Tom is surprised how much Mark has grown. I can sense
Mark is not impressed with Tom. "Aren't you gonna shake hands son?" I asked Mark. Tom remarks how much of a gentleman I am raising. He asks where Margaret is. Tom didn't know. I told him it's been four years and we're over it. I invited him to stay and to have a bowl of ice cream with us. He sees my rifle and asks me if I still use it. Tom wanted to know if I was still any good at it. I told him I was better than him and we laughed.
Micah and Eban Tate are in the hotel lobby playing checkers when Sammy comes in to get a room. He asks for a room, street side. Eddie tells him #12 upstairs, front. Micah goes over to check the registry. "John Smith, hmmm, no self respectin' criminal gonna sign himself in as John Smith," says Micah. Tate tells Micah maybe the man they're expecting is a master criminal who would figure he felt that way. Micah just left it go by and made a comment about getting on with the game.
Tom and I start reminiscing about the good old days and stretching the truth a bit. Tom gets out a pair of moccasins and goes to put them on Mark and finds that they are way to small. It has been a long time since he had see him, he hadn't pictured Mark as grown. Tom asked if I remembered that old Apache 
hold he taught me. He bet he could beat me. I really didn't feel like it and told him so. He convinced me to do it anyway. As we struggle to see who will win, Tom tells me I better quit, he'd hate to see me get blood all over this floor. I tell him it'll wash. He then tells me I better quit, that I haven't got a prayer. I tell him "not yet." Tom started to clown around and asked if I still have that ticklish spot." With that he goes to tickle me and that breaks the hold and we start laughing. Mark didn't think it was fair, but we assured him we we're only playing around. I send Mark off to bed. Tom mentions that my son doesn't cottin' up to him. I told him that every school boy has heard of the Birch gang. I had left the room to get some bedding for the cot for Tom to sleep on. When I came back, Tom was gone. So I go out to the barn to look for him. When he heard me he reached for his gun. "Don't you ever do that again," said Tom. I asked him if it was that bad. He replied "sometimes." We got to talking, I asked him where he was headed, he told me Denver. I told him that North Fork is a kinda puny town. Too bad he won't get to see it, he said he was heading West in the morning. We go inside the house and Tom remarks how nice it is to have a roof over his head and to tell Mark he hasn't had vanilla ice cream or talked to a kid or sat a table without his back to the wall since he can't remember when. I asked him why he doesn't give it up. He tells me I know better then that and that I am a lucky man. We then said good night. When I got up in the morning, Tom had already left.
He went to their campsite to meet Tommy. 
He tells Tommy he heard it was a puny town. Tommy tells him that's not what the safe says. "Well, lets get acquatinted," says Tom. They head on into North Fork."Beans, I decided on beans," says Mark. "Tell Hattie I want enough for the whole garden, will you Pa?" I told him I would get them tomorrow that I had chores to do here. He apologizes for not saying good bye to Tom. I told him he had to leave early, it's a long way to Denver. Mark was surprised when I said Denver. He said he saw Tom riding towards North Fork just a little after sun up. I sent Mark off to school and got to thinking about the direction in which Tom went, I decided to go into town and check it out.
As I got in town, I ran into Micah. He asks me if something was wrong, that I'm acting like I had a bad nights sleep. I tell him he doesn't look so Spring morning either. Micah's been worried. He got word a couple of days ago that a gang of holdup men might hit us. That he hasn't slept much since. "What about the bank?" I ask him. He told me he had Eban Tate posted inside the bank, they'll be dead as soon as they walk in the door, assuming of course they'll be kind enough to identify themselves first.
While riding into town, Tom and Tommy are looking over the situation. As they glance up at the hotel they see Sammy at the window. Sammy has a pile of crumbled up papers on the floor waiting for the signal to set them on fire. They go into the Saloon to wait for the bank to open. Naylor was in the Saloon and approaches them and tells them that the Marshal has a bad arm. Tom tells him that as soon as they open the doors to the bank they would follow thru with their plans. Naylor goes out by the bank to wait for the signal.
It is now 8:30. Tom gives the go ahead to Tommy to signal Sammy. Wait until you see the smoke, then start in, he would be in right behind them. 
I enter the Saloon and tell Sweeney to go wash the dishes. I ask Tom if he didn't get his directions mixed up. It seems to me that Denver is in the opposite direction, or didn't he know? I tell him to sit down. I ask him right out if he was here to hit the bank. I tell him if he is, I wasn't gonna let him do it. "If you hurt my town, you hurt me, that's the way I am, he should know that by now." I believed him and I still was trying to believe him. Just as I tell him to hand over his guns, Sweeney comes running in yelling the hotel's on fire. I question him if this was done by friends of his, he assures me he has no friends, just me.
You wanna bet," said Tom. I told him I was turning him in. He wants me to let him ride out of town, he reminds me I owe it to him, for saving my life. "Not anymore, if you walk thru that door I'll shoot!" "I guess you will. Make it good Luke, prison isn't for me," said Tom. Tom walks out and gets on his horse. I aim my rifle at him to shoot, but I can't. "So long friend," says Tom. I couldn't shoot, so I threw my rifle at him and knocked him off his horse. "What did you hit me with?" asks Tom. I tell Micah that I want him to meet a friend of mine. "A friend, of yours?" says Micah. "Tom Birch is the name," says Tom. Micah replies "We've been expecting you." He then takes Tom into custody.piddlin' stuff.....Richard Anderson has appeared in 6 episodes of 'The Rifleman.' 'One Went to Denver' as Tom Birch. [The Rife in which Lucas threw at Tom Birch at the end of the episode was a 'rubber rifle.' Chuck took it home and left his kids play with it] - 'Lariat' as Lariat Jones [He was a close friend of Lucas' and was once in love 
with Margaret] - 'Miss Bertie' as Duke Jennings [He was a gunslinger with a bounty on his head. Also Lucas takes the rifle and threatens to hit him with it like a club] - 'Flowers by the Door' as Jason Gowdy [He was a door-to-door book salesman who assaults and kills woman] - 'The Bullet' as Griff [He was a crooked gambler and the murderer] - 'Millie's Brother' as Harry Chase - [one of my favorites] "Just who is the better man, Harry Chase?" "We all know the answer to that one, don't we?" He also was on "Hardcastle & McCormick" [love that Hardcastle and McCormick!!!!!] ~ but the most rememberable part I would have to say was Oscar Goldman on the "Six Million Man" and "The Bionic Woman" Jack Kruschen appeared in 'The Retired Gun' as Clyde Bailey. He was the one who Lucas told to put his gun away. 'One Went to Denver' as Sammy. Remember, he's the one who started the fire in the hotel room to distract the bank being robbed? [ if you look at the first picture, he is the man on the right, behind the campfire] He also was one of the many actors to play Doc Burrage. He played the Doc in 'Trail of Hate' & 'Baranca.' "Will the real Doc Burrage please stand up?"
Lewis Charles played Eban Tate in 'One Went to Denver'. He was in 'The Indian' as Slade the man who was responsible for the the brutal murder of a Rancher and his family. He also appeared in 'Skull' as Pascal. John Goddard played Naylor in this episode of 'One Went to Denver'. He was a member of Tom Birch's gang. He also appeared in another episode of "The Rifleman" ~ 'Letter of the Law' as Davis. He was one of Stocker's gang.
The Rife in which Lucas threw at Tom Birch at the end of the episode was a 'rubber rifle.' Chuck took it home and left his kids play with it.'One Went to Denver'—we can see the front of the McCain barn ... from THE BEDROOM of their house. Thanks Rob!
'One Went to Denver' episode #25—Rumor has it that the rifle Lucas threw at Tom Birch was a rubber rifle.
How many cowboy's other then Lucas also cared for Margaret?
There was Reef Jackson—episode #162 'End of the Hunt', Tom Birch—episode #25 'One Went to Denver' and Lariat Jones—episode #67 'Lariat' Thanks Linda C.*From the book Chuck Connors....."The Man Behind the Rifle" ~ In a 1993 letter to the author, Mr. Anderson recalled working with Chuck Connors and this particular episode: "The best part I had on the show was a gunfighter old friend who came visiting—and we has a good time interacting. Chuck Connors was a friend on the set, a natural personal presence on the screen, and above all―huge energy. He was also bright and knowing and fun."
*If anybody has any information on any of the stars, and would like to share it, please get in touch with
Trivia—'One Went to Denver'
The Deadly Wait 
The TradeSite Map
around the McCain Ranch
updated 12/4/07