Joel McCrea played Marshal Mike Dunbar, in charge of keeping the peace in the booming cattle town of Wichita, Kansas. His deputies were Ben Matheson, played by McCrea's real life son, Jody, and Rico Rodriquez, portrayed by Carlos Romero. Making occasional appearances were the town doctor, Nat Wyndham (played by George Neise), the blacksmith, Aeneas MacLinahan (played by Robert Anderson), and the bartender in the local saloon, Joe Kingston, played in six episodes by Robert Foulk.
The model for shows such as these had already been laid out by other Westerns such as Gunsmoke, Lawman, and The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, so Wichita Town may not have been unique in its plotting and structure.[citation needed] The two most unusual features about the series were the presence of Joel McCrea, a favorite of Western film audiences for his performance in such films as Union Pacific, Buffalo Bill, and Ramrod, and the fact that his real life son was in Wichita Town, but did not play his son.[citation needed]Wichita Town was produced by Mirisch Company and Joel McCrea's Production company for Four Star Television and aired for a single season.
I. Stanford Jolley, as Smokey, and John McIntire, as Frank Matheson prior to his Chris Hale starring role in Wagon Train, were cast together in the episode "Paid in Full".
Keith Larsen, star of NBC's Northwest Passage, appeared on Wichita Town in the role of the Indian, Blue Raven, in "Seed of Hate" (1960).
Nan Leslie, formerly of NBC's The Californians, cast on Wichita Town as Margaret Cook in "Day of Battle" (1959)
Suzanne Lloyd, as Laura in "Afternoon in Town" and "Sidekicks" (1960)
Mort Mills, as Pete Bennett in "Man on the Hill" (1959)
John M. Pickard, formerly of Boots and Saddles, appeared twice in episodes "Wyndham's Way" and as a character named Bain in the episode "Second Chance".
