"Bat Masterson" was a half-hour television program which ran on the NBC television network from 1958 to 1961. The program was loosely based on the real Bat Masterson who spent some time in the American West. He is portrayed by Gene Barry and frequently wears a derby hat and carries a cane. This episode is titled "The Desert Ship" and was first broadcast on July 15, 1959. The year is 1878 and Bat Masterson is in Little Paris, Arizona Territory. He is playing poker with Colonel Dorn who has arrived from the Netherlands with his niece Elsa Dorn. Bat wins the Colonel's money and the Colonel wagers an antique watch which Bat also wins.
The watch has inscribed in it the location of a Spanish treasure ship which sailed up a river in 1540 and disappeared in the desert. At the beginning of the program some currency and a couple of coins are shown lying on a table. The coins are dark and are probably meant to be gold coins.

Colonel Anders Dorn has arrived from the Netherlands with an antique watch which supposedly has the location of a Spanish treasure ship inscribed on it. He is accompanied by his niece Elsa Dorn and two rough men, Ben Tarko and Les Wilkins. The Colonel meets Bat Masterson and gets into a poker game with him.

The latest "pot" of currency lays on the table.

The notes are imitation or prop notes marked "50" and "20". The coins are dark and appear to be British large pennies. They would presumably be gold coins in the story. The Colonel shows his cards.

Bat then shows a "full house" which beats a straight. Bat wins the Colonel's money.

The Colonel's assistants try to talk him out of betting the watch but he does anyway and loses it to Bat. Later Elsa Dorn visits Bat.

She offers to buy the watch which Bat refuses. She then tells him that the watch has "encoded figures" which give the location of a Spanish treasure ship which sailed up the (then) Colorado River in 1540 and disappeared. Bat has heard of the ship, the Santa Lucia but believes that it is a myth. The Colonel's two associates shoot Bat, steal the watch, they and the Colonel take Bat to a doctor, and then ride into the desert. The doctor has some documents about the ship and Bat looks at one.

Bat rides into the desert and encounters Elsa. She tells him that the Colonel's party located the ship and then the two gunmen shot the Colonel. Bat and Elsa ride toward the the location and spot the ship.

Bat and Elsa dismount and enter a door. A traditional treasure chest appears.

Ben stuffs a necklace into his shirt. The outlaws arrive with the Colonel now a wounded hostage.

The Colonel sees the chest.

Bat and Elsa leave as a sandstorm starts. They return later and can not find the ship.

Bat gives Elsa the necklace and keeps a ring.

Gene Barry as Bat Masterson
Karen Steele as Elsa Dorn
John Wengraf as Colonel Anders Dorn
Jack Kruschen as Ben Tarko
Michael Forrest as Les Wilkins
Director: Walter Doniger
Writers: Wells Root, Richard O'Connor
Based on the 1958 book Bat Masterson by Richard O'Connor