Life in the old west was a favorite topic for TV shows in the mid-20th century. They had rustic charm with pastoral lifestyles, horseback riding, and wide open landscapes, along with the thrills of facing off against wild west gunslingers and ruffians. Now, one of the longest running Western series is celebrating its 65th anniversary.

Rawhide debuted on January 9, 1959, and ran for 217 episodes across eight seasons through December 1965. The show was created by Charles Marquis Warren, who had developed Gunsmoke for television four years earlier in 1955.

Set in the 1860s, the series follows a group of cattle drovers who are routinely entangled in affairs happening off the trail. Rawhide starred Eric Fleming as trail boss Gil Favor, a fresh faced Clint Eastwood as impetuous young cattle driver Rowdy Yates, Paul Brinegar as the surly cook George Washington “Wishbone” Haggerty, Sheb Wooley as the scout Pete Nolan, Robert Cabal as wrangler Hey Soos Patines, James Murdock as Wishbone’s assistant Harkness Mushgrove, and also starred Steve Raines, Rocky Shahan, Don C. Harvey, and John Cole as drovers.

Some of the regular plots would see the drovers helping people who were injured or in danger along the trail. Other times they would visit town and intervene when they came across corrupt lawmen and politicians, outlaws who came to make trouble, or misbehaving townsfolk. They also faced problems like wolves attacking their herd, dehydration and drought, illness, and injury.

The show won four Western Heritage Awards for best drama series and was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1964. Its popularity extended into other forms of entertainment with a novelization written by Frank C. Robertson and a comic adaptation by Dan Spiegle that was published by Dell Comics.