Young Pioneers is a 1976 American Western television film which aired in March 1976 on ABC."'Young Pioneers' brave raw Dakota wilderness." Austin Daily Herald, 17 February 1976. Elements of novels Let the Hurricane Roar and Free Land by Rose Wilder Lane (daughter of Laura Ingalls Wilder) were used as the basis for the movie,"TV Scout Reports." The Times and Democrat, 1 March 1976. with Roger Kern and Linda Purl starring as the focal characters David and Molly Beaton.O'Connor, John J. ""Young Pioneers' Offers Good Family Entertainment." The Missoulian, 6 March 1976. Although produced as a TV series pilot by ABC Circle Films"Inside TV: 'Angels' to Star Wayne Rogers." Los Angeles Times, 4 December 1975. and ranked #7 in the Nielsen ratings for the week it aired,Deeb, Gary. "Happy Days for ABC." Chicago Tribune, 13 March 1978. the movie was not immediately picked up by ABC as a series.Hanauer, Joan. "ABC, its power growing, list fall schedule." The Times-Standard, 2 April 1976. A second pilot attempt was made in December 1976 with Young Pioneers' Christmas,Hanauer, Joan. "Old Pilots Don't Die." The Daily Register, 1 June 1976. but ranked lower at #37 in the Nielsen ratings."Christmas Specials Top Week's Nielsen Ranking." Los Angeles Times, 22 December 1976. In 1978 The Young Pioneers (miniseries) was broadcast.Lee Margulies, Trial Run for Young Pioneers, The Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1978, page 32

Plot David and Molly Beaton, 18-years-old and 16-years-old respectively, marry and leave their native Iowa to make a life for themselves as homesteaders in the Dakota Territory of the early 1870s.Gardella, Kay. "'Young Pioneers' Producer Looks to Libraries for Ideas." Daily News, 23 February 1976. The U.S. Government Homestead Act offers applicants 160 acres of land in undeveloped areas. Those who stay on the land for five years become the official owners.

The young couple manages to survive government and railroad corruption,Henniger, Paul. "Competition for The Waltons?" Capital Journal, 1 March 1976. and perseveres through blizzards, a grasshopper invasion, crop destruction, and giving birth in a sod house among other challenges."Video Networks Take Youth Route." The Daily News, 26 February 1976.

Production The project was developed and produced by Ed Friendly for ABC Circle Films with the script written by Blanche Hanalis and directed by Michael O'Herlihy."Series Pilot Work Starts." The Evening Sun, 5 December 1975. Ed Friendly and Blanche Hanalis had previously produced and scripted the television series pilot for Little House on the Prairie based on the novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder, the mother of Rose Wilder Lane.Lochte, Dick. "Book Notes: If Winter Could Kill." Los Angeles Times, 22 February 1976.

400 actors and actresses were interviewed before Linda Purl and Roger Kern were offered the lead roles of Molly and David Beaton.Scott, Vernon. "'Young Pioneers' Producer hopes to attract teen Viewers." The Daily Herald, 28 February 1976.

Principal photography began November 28, 1975, in Southern Arizona with additional filming at the Old Tucson Studios in Tucson, Arizona.Shelton, Robert. "Out Takes From Old Tucson." Tucson Daily Citizen, 29 November 1975. A scene with 180,000 grasshoppers was done on location in Nogales, Mexico. Sound stages at 20th-Century Fox in Los Angeles, California were used for the blizzard scenes.Hoffman, Steve. "'Young Pioneers' Looks Like Best Of New Westerns." The Cincinnati Enquirer, 1 March 1976.

Cast

Roger Kern as David Beaton Linda Purl as Molly Beaton Robert Hays as Dan Grey Shelly Juttner as Nettie Peters Robert Donner as Mr. Peters Frank Marth as Mr. Svenson Brendan Dillon as Doyle Charles Tyner as Mr. Beaton Jonathan Kidd as Dr. Thorne Arnold Soboloff as Clerk in Land Office Britt Leach as Mr. Loftus Dennis Fimple as Man in Land Office Bernice Smith as Mrs. Svenson Janis Jamison as Eliza Jeff Cotler as Charlie Peters Lucky Hayes as Second Woman Earl W. Smith as Man in Boxcar Michelle Stacy as Flora Peters Mare Winningham as Nettie Peters

References

External links Young Pioneers (1976), Internet Movie Database (IMDB.com) About Blanche Hanalis, LittleHouseonthePrairie.com Rose Wilder Lane and Laura Ingalls Wilder, Hoover Presidential Library and Museum