[2] Ben Pride moves with his children Timothy, Midge, and Kip, his new wife Elizabeth, his father Tom, and his brother-in-law Chance from Ohio to Kansas during the 1860s.
A core idea of the show was to present a realistic portrayal of the real struggles faced by settlers who traveled 'The Road West', with extreme temperatures in each of the summer and winter seasons.
[3] He had previously expressed that he would never star in a weekly television series again, although he warmed to the show when he began working closely with the cast and crew.
[11] Production moved away from Kansas in 1967, with it reported that the shift in location was always the plan, although happened sooner than anticipated due to the show's future being at risk.
Ratings struggled against other shows including Family Affair and The Felony Squad, while Seel's character Tom Pride was killed off to reduce costs.