Ep 18. The Spanish Grant

The episode titled "The Spanish Grant" is the eighteenth of season two of the Western TV series Cheyenne. It originally aired on February 14, 1957, on ABC.

The story begins with Cheyenne Bodie (played by Clint Walker) receiving notice that he had inherited a hacienda in California from his late grandfather, Don Reginald Dela Vega. Cheyenne travels to California to claim his inheritance. However, he soon realizes that the land is at the heart of a dispute between two groups. The first is the Dela Vega family, who had owned the land for generations, and the second is a group of greedy ranchers who want to seize the land for themselves.

Cheyenne meets with the Dela Vegas, who welcome him warmly and inform him that the hacienda comes with a Spanish grant. However, when Cheyenne goes to the land office to register his grant, he discovers that it has been stolen. Cheyenne travels back to the hacienda and informs the Dela Vegas about the theft. They suspect that the ranchers are behind it, and Cheyenne plants himself in the middle of the fight to protect the hacienda and the Dela Vegas from harm.

Cheyenne soon realizes that the Dela Vegas have been duped into believing that their land is worth next to nothing. The ranchers have schemed to drive down the land's price by buying up the land of their neighbors and flooding the market. Having driven the prices to rock-bottom levels, they plan to buy up the Dela Vegas' land as well. Cheyenne tries to convince the Dela Vegas to hold out for a higher price. The Dela Vegas refuse, wanting to end the dispute and move on with their lives.

Cheyenne later discovers that the grant was never stolen but is instead in the hands of a corrupt land official. He devises a plan to retrieve the grant from the official and secure the Dela Vegas' claim to their land. Cheyenne enlists the aid of the sheriff and local business owners to help, and they successfully retrieve the grant.

However, when the Dela Vegas return to the land office, they discover that they have been outwitted by the ranchers. The ranchers had beaten them to the registration office and claimed the land for themselves. Cheyenne discovers that the ranchers had bribed the land registrar to alter the boundary lines, effectively stealing the Dela Vegas' land.

Cheyenne, along with the sheriff and some of the other business owners, must come up with a plan to take back the land. They concoct a plan to use the sheriff's posse to draw the ranchers into an ambush and take back the Dela Vegas' land.

The episode concludes with a thrilling shootout between Cheyenne and his allies versus the ranchers and their thugs. In the end, justice prevails, and Cheyenne manages to return the land to the Dela Vegas.

"The Spanish Grant" is a gripping tale of corruption, greed, and deception that showcases the skillful storytelling and action-packed scenes that have made Cheyenne a beloved Western classic. With a heartwarming story and memorable characters, this episode is a must-see for fans of the Western genre.