What happens
Fred and Martha Martin, a homestead couple, have dug irrigation ditches to grow lettuce beside a small river in the dry West. When the river begins to shrink overnight, they suspect Longhorn Laraby, a cattle rancher upstream whose herd is drinking from it. Forest Ranger Bill and the young Henry Jefferson look into the mystery, weighing the cattle, the ditches and the river's behaviour against one another. Henry, who has been studying geology, offers a theory about where the water has gone. The episode is part of the Ranger Bill series and first aired on April 9, 1958.
A dry ranch country in the American West, with a small river, irrigation ditches, a homestead and a cattle ranch.
Characters: Ranger Bill, Fred Martin, Martha Martin, Longhorn Laraby, Henry Jefferson, Gonzalez
Listen for: Listen for the moment the river level falls and for Henry's explanation of the geology involved.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.