Young Pioneers (1976)

Linda Purl is Molly Beaton; Roger Kern is David Beaton, and they’re a teenage couple determined to try their luck out West.

Married on Molly’s 16th birthday, they immediately set out for Dakota Territory, where a 160-acre claim costs $18, but doesn’t become yours until you’ve lived on it for five years.

In a rush to reach his land, David makes a mistake by driving his team of prized Morgans so hard that one breaks a leg and has to be put down.

It’s an early sign that this Western adventure won’t be an easy one.

A second comes when they meet the Peters family. They’re headed back East because homesteading became too difficult, though they’d eventually like to try again.

Once the Beatons reach their homestead, the real work starts, beginning with the construction of a sobby to live in.

The hardships come too, including the harsh Dakota blizzards, a baby who arrives in the middle of winter, and a depression that threatens to stiffle development of a once thriving territory.

But Molly refuses David’s repeated demands that she return home where life is easier.

She figures she’s already home. And she refuses to let David give up on his dream of his own thriving farm out West.

Roger Kern as David Beaton, determined to homestead land in Dakota Territory in Young Pioneers (1976)

Linda Purl as Molly Beaton, hearing a storm approach in Young Pioneers (1976)

Review:

Pardon the pun, but Linda Purl is a pearl in the lead role, looking so innocent and young, yet so determined to make a life out West.

Roger Kern is likeable as her husband, too, and that’s the main reason viewers might find this more appealing than your average homesteading Western.

Otherwise, the ground covered here has been covered before, including the grasshopper plague that strikes just as the Beatons are ready to harvest their first crop.

And it comes just after David has borrowed against what he expected to make off that crop, forcing the young lovers to part as he heads part way back East looking for work.

This was the pilot for a short lived TV series by the same name. There was also a sequel, “Young Pioneers Christmas,” released the same year.

Robert Donner as Mr. Peters, the homesteader who turns back, hoping for a second chance in Young Pioneers (1976)

Mare Winningham as Nettie Peters, the homesteaders’ daughter who befriends Molly in Young Pioneers (1976)

Directed by:
Michael O’Herlihy

Cast:
Linda Purl … Molly Beaton
Roger Kern … David Beaton
Robert Hayes … Dan Grey
Robert Donner … Mr. Peters
Mare Winningham … Nettie Peters
Michelle Stacy … Flora Peters
Jeff Cotler … Charlie Peters
Shelly Juttner … Nettie Peters
Frank Marth … Mr. Swenson

Runtime: 94 min.

Linda Purl as Molly Beaton, reunited with an old friend in Young Pioneers (1976)

Robert Hayes as Dan Grey, a young man who purchases a homestead near the Beatons in Young Pioneers (1976)

Memorable lines:

Preacher: “Kiss your bride, Davey. She’s all yours.”

Molly Beaton: “Burn buffalo chips? I should say not.”
David Beaton: “You’ll think different after you’ve tried twisting hay. It’s mighty hard work.”
Molly: “Thank you, but I’d just as soon twist hay.”

David Beaton: “Guess there’s always a bright side. Heard grasshopper blizzards don’t come more than once in every seven years. We got seven years to get rich again.”

David Beaton: “You’re a rare one, Molly.”

Frank Marth as Mr. Swenson, a homesteader who settles near the Beatons in Young Pioneers (1976)

Bernice Smith as Mrs. Swenson, admiring Molly’s baby in Young Pioneers (1976)

Roger Kern as David Beaton and Linda Purl as Molly, caught in a blizzard in Young Pioneers (1976)