Death Valley Days
A Short Cut Through Tombstone
TV Flash files “A Short Cut Through Tombstone” as hour 409 of 452 in the TV Flash guide — Death Valley Days (1952–1970) on Syndication, season 17, episode 9, aired 1968-11-22, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S17E09: listed hour 409 of 452 in the Death Valley Days guide, hour 9 of 26 in season 17. It aired 1968-11-22 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “Lady with a Past” (S17E08). Next is “Up the Chimney” (S17E10). Broadcast log — titles and dates, not a plot bible.
Viewer FAQ
Where does A Short Cut Through Tombstone sit in the Death Valley Days guide?
S17E09 is listed hour 409 of 452 — hour 9 of 26 in season 17, season 17 episode 9.
When did Death Valley Days S17E09 air?
A Short Cut Through Tombstone aired 1968-11-22 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Where should I start?
Start with any host era you can find — Andrews, Reagan, Taylor, Robertson — and a Borax-framed 'true' desert tale. The anthology-plus-pitch is the show.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Death Valley Days is the longest-running western anthology, Borax-sponsored Americana hosted by old pros and at least one future president. True-ish frontier tales as a brand. A 2026 viewer watches it for the host-as-pitchman ritual and the trivia that Ronald Reagan once sold 20 Mule Team from the same desk.
The window is eighteen seasons. Death Valley Days ran in syndication from 1952 to 1970 — **452 episodes**, outlasting shinier primetime westerns on pure inventory — and the continuity was not a sheriff. It was Twenty Mule Team Borax. Ruth Woodman's desert brief treated claimed-true stories of the American West as a weekly textbook with a pitchman host: Stanley Andrews as the Old Ranger, then Ronald Reagan, Robert Taylor, Dale Robertson. Old pros and at least one future president selling desert lore from the same…
Filed against
- Stanley Andrews as The Old Ranger
Stanley Andrews hosted Death Valley Days as The Old Ranger — Borax-sponsored Americana, the longest-running western anthology, true-ish frontier tales as a brand. Host-as-pitchman ritual, old-pro weather. TV Flash files him as 1950s…
- Ronald Reagan as Host
Ronald Reagan hosted Death Valley Days as Borax-sponsored Americana — longest-running western anthology, true-ish frontier tales as a brand, host-as-pitchman ritual that later trivia would never let go. A future president selling 20 Mule…
- Robert Taylor as Host
Robert Taylor hosted Death Valley Days as Borax-sponsored Americana — longest-running western anthology, true-ish frontier tales as a brand, old-pro pitchman ritual in the desert. TV Flash files him as 1950s host-as-product craft: a…
- Dale Robertson as Host
Dale Robertson’s host weather on Death Valley Days sold Borax with a western drawl — 1950s catalog frontier anthology, then Tales of Wells Fargo making him a soft-spoken company agent on the trail. TV Flash files him as the cowboy who…