# TV Western "Branded": What happened at Bitter Creek? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173 "2010-01-16T05:47:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/1 "2010-01-16T05:47:40Z")
What happened at Bitter Creek that got Chuck Connors drummed out of the Army? And what secret is so terrible that he chooses never to reveal what really happened, and clear his name? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/2 "2010-01-16T05:49:49Z")
Jason McCord was accused of cowardice. IIRC he was the sole survivor of a massacred cavalry unit. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/3 "2010-01-16T05:52:01Z")
Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl… ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/4 "2010-01-16T05:55:50Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Jason McCord was accused of cowardice. IIRC he was the sole survivor of a massacred cavalry unit. THAT part I guessed. But I also gather he WASN’T really a coward or deserter. So, why didn’t he say so and defend himself? What really happened, and why can’t he TELL anyone about it? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/5 "2010-01-16T06:01:21Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl.. We always sang… What do you do when you’re branded, and you know you’re a man. Wherever you go, for the rest of your life. He must prove, He’s a man with his dick in his hand. 😉 that song has a lot of potential. As to the OP’s question. The imdb says… “_Kellie_ was the Last show of the series. McCord never proved that he wasn’t the Coward of Bitter Creek.” It was canceled after only 2 seasons. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/6 "2010-01-16T06:02:18Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl.. I wondered how long it would take someone to “sing” that. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/7 "2010-01-16T06:10:27Z")
I was a big fan of this show. They dropped a few hints about McCord. _The Richest Man in Boot Hill_ from the imdb Jason meets up with an old friend, and together they must deal with Jason’s reputation as a coward if they are to put an end to a stage robbery. I’m pretty sure they told some of McCord’s back story in that episode. At least one of his old friends stood by him. the complete series comes out on dvd next month > **[Amazon.com: Branded - The Complete Series starring Chuck Connors! 6 DVD SET -...](https://www.amazon.com/Branded-Complete-starring-Chuck-Connors/dp/B002XY5EAC)** > > BRANDED - THE COMPLETE SERIES - OVER 19 HOURS ON 6 DVDS! In Branded, Chuck Connors plays the part of Captain Jason McCord, West Point graduate and decorated Cavalry officer. As the sole survivor of the Battle at Bitter Creek, an Apache Indian... ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/8 "2010-01-16T06:37:38Z")
I always thought Jason Mccoy might be loosely based on Captain Benteen at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. > [@](#): > > Benteen has been criticized for “dawdling” on the first day of the fight, and supposedly disobeying Custer’s written orders to bring “pacs” (ammunition). However, Benteen has also been acknowledged by many historians for supporting and defending Reno’s men on Reno Hill. > **[Battle of the Little Bighorn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn)** > > The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes and the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. It took place on June 25–26, 1876, along the Little Bighorn River in the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana Territory. The battle, which resulted in the def Most ... Benteen’s role will always be controversial. > [@](#): > > Benteen displayed calmness and courage by exposing himself to Indian fire and was hit in the heel of his boot by an Indian bullet. At one point, he personally led a counterattack to push back Indians who had continued to crawl through the grass closer to the soldier’s positions. Much like the tv show. Cowardice & heroism are a matter of perspective. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/9 "2010-01-16T06:52:37Z")
Benteen and Reno stayed together because they, after Reno first attracted ALL the attention of the Indians, had far too much on their own hands to try to also help Custer. Note that they were held under siege for many hours after Custer’s command was destroyed. Oh, we’re talking about _Branded?_ It’s been many decades since I saw it, but it sometimes happened that a glancing blow from a bullet or a coup stick left one unconscious but not dead. ---
**Author:** ![priapus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@priapus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/priapus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/10 "2010-01-16T09:40:33Z")
My memory might be faulty, but I think he didn’t know how he ended in a barn. he just woke there after the battle. In the 2nd season, he was secretly cleared but acted as an agent for the president ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/11 "2010-01-17T02:43:34Z")
I always assumed that he couldn’t clear his name because, either (1) there were no surviving witnesses (other that Indians, who didn’t count in old Westerns), or (2), clearing his name would have involved blackening the name of his cohort, which he wouldn’t honorably do. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/12 "2010-01-17T03:51:33Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Stranded, stranded on the toilet bowl.. Evidently, in my boyfriend’s house, if you find yourself out of toilet paper you’re required to sing that before somebody will bring you another roll. (His mother is alone in a house full of men.) I asked her once why the hell she didn’t hide a secret stash. It had never occurred to her. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tv-western-branded-what-happened-at-bitter-creek/525173/13 "2010-01-17T23:35:53Z")
I wonder what he could have been court-martialed for that would _only_ have gotten him cashiered, not thrown in a military prison or hanged.