Ne'er-do-well Tom Newcombe is publicly hanged for murdering a woman because the local school teacher, Celia Ames (Colleen Dewhurst), refuses to alibi him. A mysterious man, Paul Taylor (Hugh O'Brien), comes to town, signs on to work as a Shiloh Ranch hand and begins romancing Celia. However, his odd behaviour begins to raise the suspicions of Judge Garth and the local Sheriff who wonder about the motives of the stranger.
Three men, who are prison escapees, come to Shiloh looking for Judge Garth. One of those men (Barry Sullivan) turns out to be Betsy Garth's real father, a fact unknown to Betsy. The man aims to reclaim his daughter and receive compensation, believing the Judge abandoned him purposefully in the wasteland some years before.
A homesteader (Jack Warden) accused of rustling narrowly escapes hanging by local ranchers led by Major Cass (John Anderson), an event that is observed by Shiloh hands including the Virginian. However, the homesteader is severely injured, and the Virginian helps him work his farm during off hours. After some investigation into the rash of cattle rustling, the Virginian decides to defend the man against the Major and the other ranchers including Judge Garth.
Columbian Enrique Cuellar (Ricardo Montalban) has inherited land which was leased and used by Judge Garth. The Judge wants to renew the lease or buy the land outright. He minimizes its importance to his operations even though it contains a pass needed to drive his cattle herd between its seasonal ranges. Enrique discovers this deception and demands a large amount of money for the land. The Judge decides to drive his cattle through the land before Enrique can get a legal restraining order and in turn Enrique begins erecting a barbed wire fence to block the passage. A violent confrontation seems inevitable but is prevented by an unpredictable event involving Betsy Garth.
A new school teacher, Arthur Lilley (George C. Scott), and his uppity wife (Anne Meacham) come to Medicine Bow. Arthur is a well-educated man and his wife believes the job beneath him but Arthur sees himself as a coward, thinking he was responsible for the deaths of several students in a fire at his former school in Vermont. When two murderers escape from prison and take as hostages the teacher, his wife and the school children including Betsy Garth, Arthur's mettle meets the supreme test.
The Judge, Steve Hill and Trampas travel to Casper on the 4th of July in order to pick up a fancy bed the Judge had ordered. In Casper they have several adventures revolving around a wrestling match involving an old acquaintance of the judge (Aldo Ray) who is fighting for the championship and Steve's romantic interest in one of the saloon girls who reminds him of a past lost love.
Molly Wood (Pippa Scott) tells Trampas of the outbreak of the Spanish-American war and says she is impressed with a man in uniform, so Trampas rides to San Antonio, Texas to join the Rough Riders being formed by Teddy Roosevelt. Steve Hill and the Virginian follow, intent on persuading Trampas to return but they both end up enlisting as well despite conflicts between the free-sprited westerners and their staid eastern officers led by Lt. Drex (Ray Danton). In Cuba, when Lt. Drex is wounded, the Virginian leads a detail including Steve and Trampas to discover and decommission snipers and a hidden cannon emplacement, which they manage to do successfully. After the three soldiers return to Medicine Bow, they learn a welcome home party is going to be held in the Town Hall in their honor.
The Virginian and crew collect wild horses in the mountains which they are to take to Shiloh Ranch to sell to the army. However, tough widower Pa Kroeger (Eddie Albert) lives in the mountains with his four sons and a daughter and believes he owns the horses. When the Virginian refuses to turn them over, Kroeger goes to great lengths to try and stop the Shiloh crew from taking the animals. Complicating matters are the facts the Kroeger sons think there may be a more reasonable way to deal with the situation and the daughter is attracted to Trampas.
Martin Kalek (Lee Marvin) and his gang kidnap Judge Garth for ransom. The Virginian pays the ransom but the kidnappers refuse to release the Judge until they are able to escape into Idaho. The Kidnappers head off pursued not only by the Shiloh hands but also separately by a former crony of Kalek's called Sharkey (Warren Kemmerling) who is out for revenge on the criminal.
Seeking some excitement in his life, Trampas joins a groups of older cowboys (Steve Cochran, James Brown, Claude Akins) who set off to find adventure in what they still believe is the wild, lawless West. However, their outdated attitudes lead them into trouble and eventually, tragedy.
Uncontrollable 16 year old Tabby McCallum (Joan Freeman) is chastised by the Virginian for shooting a shiloh steer. In retaliation she tries to burn down the Shiloh barn but is accidentally shot by a Shiloh hand, Sam Hicks (Charles Aidman). Tabby's brother Bruce McCallum (Carl Reindell), who is from the same mould as Tabby, claims she was deliberately shot while her father, Tucker (Charles Bickford), thinks her boy friend, Dan Flood (Bert Brinckerhof), started the fire. The result is a spiralling series of events which eventually lead to murder.
Older cowhand Slim Jessup (James Gregory) is accussed of killing a man in Idaho and escapes east. He signs on with a Shiloh Ranch cattle drive to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. On the way the drovers are joined by a young man, James Cafferty (Bandon de Wilde), who wishes a different life than dirt farming with his widowed step-father (Frank Overton). The older Slim takes James under his wing and teaches him lessons in life before his past catches up with him.
The Rocky Point Bank is robbed by two men who shoot its President. One of the men is captured and claims Trampas, with whom he has a grudge, was his accomplice -- so Trampas is arrested. His identification as the robber is supported by a spinsterish bank teller, Delia Miller (Bette Davis), who has recognized the real robber and is protecting his identity in order to blackmail him. The Virginian tries to prove Trampas innocent and expose the real criminal by falsifying Delia's story.
Twin sisters Judith (Carol Lynley) and Susan (Shirley Knight) Morrow, who are the daughters of a deceased friend of Judge Garth, come to Medicine Bow where Susan is to start a pottery. Also arriving on the same train is a sailor, Kevin Doyle (Tom Tryon) who wants to settle down and become a farmer. While Susan is more reserved and practical, Judith dreams of seeing exotic places and is captivated by Kevin's stories of travel to faraway lands. They begin seeing each other but Judith seems to act strangely. Kevin finds himself so in love with Judith that he agrees to give up his dreams of settling down and take her to the places she has always wanted to see...but her problems are such that this will never come to be.
This episode explains how Steve Hill came to work at Shiloh Ranch. Running away from home to become a cowhand he meets grizzled cowboy Johnny Wade (Brian Keith) who takes him under his wing and gets him a job working at a new ranch owned by Georgia Price (Geraldine Brooks). Georgia's plan is to make a huge profit quickly at the expense of destroying the common range by overgrazing. She uses her feminine wiles to get Johnny to head up her plan and their actions bring them into conflict with Judge Garth and eventually, with Steve Hill. Steve leaves to work at Shiloh and is forced into a showdown with his former friend and mentor Johnny.
Judge Garth is forced to shoot a man in self-defence but a passerby, Johnny Grey (Ed Nelson), who can prove the Judge innocent, leaves the scene. The Virginian trails Johnny to North Bend, Montana and along the way befriends Angelina Clump (Tammy Grimes) who is heading to the same town to get a job as a saloon singer. In North Bend the Virginian is forced to deal with two problems: Angelina receives threats to leave town from an anonymous stranger and Johnny Grey refuses to return to Wyoming unless he gets money from Judge Garth.
This episode reveals why Henry Garth is no longer a practicing Judge. In flashback it recounts how he had to sentence, and deservedly, a man to death for murder. However, the man's relatives, led by Jake Carewe (Clu Gulager), intimidated the townsfolk to the extent that they tried to get the Judge to set the man free. When the Judge stood up to the family, he had to do so without support from the town.
In self-defence, Trampas is forced to shoot Big John Belden (Charles McGraw), who took exception to Trampas dancing with his his son Martin's (Fabian) fiancee. John is left a paraplegic and he encourages his son to take revenge on Trampas for the family honor even though Martin is, in direct contrast to his father, very mild mannered. Trampas is afraid he will have to kill Martin but their feud is interrupted by an encounter with Moses, a fierce lengendary bear.
The owners of the Bradford and Willson Transportation Co. had been contracted to build a railway line for Judge Garth and other investors but had been procrastinating in starting the project. When the Judge threatens them with legal action, they send a woman, Mrs. Wallace (Vera Miles), to spy on the Judge by becoming Betsy Garth's private tutor. Matters become complicated when the Judge falls in love with Mrs. Wallace. They become even more complicated when the Judge shoots in self-defence, Willson (David White), but can convince no one, including the police, that the man is dead.
In Mount Gorpus, Montana, Kyle Lawson (Britt Lomond) is framed for the murder of Lawrence Kelland. Kyle had been having an affair with Kelland's wife, Leona (Dana Wynter). The Virginian and Trampas, friends of Kyle, go to Mount Gorpus to investigate the crime. Posing as a cattle buyer, the Virginian begins romancing Leona. Leona eventually confesses to the murder but the Virginian is not so sure she is guilty.
In Coyote Wells to deliver some cattle, the Virginian, Trampas and Steve Hill encounter Martin Reese (David Wayne). Reese had lost his wife and children to smallpox, had sold his farm, and now travels giving lectures urging vegetarianism. His lectures are not received well in cattle country and when one of his hecklers is found murdered, Reese is the main suspect, is seen as a murderous loony and is pursued by a posse. On the way back to Medicine Bow the Shiloh cowboys encounter a woman, Ellen Beecher (Barbara Barrie), who knows of Reese's whereabouts. Ellen has several orphans in her care and the Virginian and crew become involved in trying to help Ellen with the children and in finding and protecting Reese from the vengeful posse.
A mysterious woman, Mrs. Francis (Nina Foch), comes to Medicine Bow and asks the Virginian to take her to meet his friend, Michael O'Rorke (Michael Rennie), the former foreman of Shiloh, who now lives as an outlaw in the badlands. She believes her husband, who had been wrongly accussed of murder, is hiding out with O'Rorke's gang. However, Mrs. Francis is not whom she claims and trouble follows.
A con man, William Martin (Steve Forrest), and his gang come to Medicine Bow and Martin begins wooing bank teller Lydia Turner (Bethel Leslie) the daughter of the bank's owner. He plans to use the woman to get her father and Judge Garth to invest in a fake oil drilling scheme. However, complications ensue when there is a run on the bank and Martin discovers he likes Lydia.
Trampas and Betsy Garth discover the body of a murdered neighbour, Mr. Keel. Trampas encounters a Latvian immigrant, Karl Rilke (Karl Boehm) and his pregnant wife Maria (Ilze Taurins), and discovers they have Keel's rifle although Karl claims he bought the gun from a man on the road. Judge Garth believes Karl innocent and that Keel's son Johnny (Robert Duvall) is the murderer, so he defends Karl at the trial.
Ed Fraser (Howard Duff) returns to Medicine Bow, having served time for robbing the local lumber yard. He had been convicted based largely on Steve Hill's testimony but the stolen $30,000 was never recovered and his unknown accomplice, Helen Blaine (Ida Lupino), whose daughter (Joey Heatherton) Steve has been dating, had escaped. When there is what he perceives as an attempt on his life, Steve makes no secret of the fact he is convinced Fraser is out for revenge. When Fraser is killed Steve becomes the prime suspect. Although he avoids trial due to a lack of evidence, Steve becomes a social pariah and sees that the only way out is to solve the crime.
Sam Harter (Bradford Dillman) is released from prison and in Medicine Bow encounters Trampas, an old friend. Harter and Bleek (John Dehner) had robbed some gold bullion. Bleek had escaped and Harter was captured but not before he had hidden the gold. Trampas had refused to participate in the robbery and Harter had protected him from Bleek who was afraid Trampas would reveal their plan. Harter takes a job at Shiloh but he knows Bleek will inevitably appear. He does and a showdown ensues.
Judge Garth and Betsy are among the passengers on an overcrowded stage which is waylaid by an outlaw gang led by Pauk (Paul Richards). The passengers are trapped in a way station and the outlaws demand that one of the male passengers, a George Wilson who is traveling incognito, be given to them. Wilson is a former outlaw who had betrayed the gang. The various passengers must decide whether to live with their consciences and hand Wilson over, or risk their own lives in a gun battle with the desperate gang.
While delivering a prize bull to New Mexico, the Virginian meets a young woman, Kathy (Dolores Hart), and two older companions, whom he learns are missionaries who want to travel to Mexico to minister to the Yaqui Indians. He later learns they had hired a dishonest guide who plans to rob them so he sets off in pursuit and manages to save them. However, they refuse to give up their quest to the Yaqui's who it turns out had murdered their husbands the year before. He accompanies them on their quest and along the way finds himself falling in love with Kathy.
The Virginian and Steve Hill deliver 1800 head of cattle to Centre City, Nebraska. There is a run on the local bank but fortunately, Judge Garth's lawyer (Russ Conway) had heard of the possible bank run and had withdrawn the money to pay for the cattle the day before. The Virginian and Steve set out for home but are pursued by a local man, Swenson (Karl Swenson), and his sons who had their life savings in the bank and figure part of money is theirs. The episode recounts the adventures and travails of the two Shiloh men as they attempt to elude those pursuers.
Strip mining operations begin in the Medicine Bow area. While Judge Garth sees the mining as ""progess"" other locals see it as a threat to their way of life and also do not like the influx of polish miners. Amongst the miners' families is the beautiful Polcia (Ulla Jacobsson). A ""love quadrangle"" develops as three men desire Polcia: Jan (Dean Fredericks) the son of the leader of the miners, Jack Anderson (Don Galloway) the son of the rancher most opposed to the mining, and Trampas, who had been assigned by Judge Garth to assist the miners in getting settled and who is Polcia's true love. Fueled by ethnic sentiments events escalate into a series of conflicts and tragedies.
The Virginian accidentally comes upon, and is held at gunpoint by, young Lon Mortison (Buzz Martin). The boy had been searching for a gambler who he thinks is responsible for his father's suicide and had already shot and wounded a man who interfered. In order to convince the boy to give himself up, the Virginian recounts in flashback how Trampas first came to Shiloh Ranch. He came seeking revenge on Judge Garth who had been forced to kill Trampas' father (Sonny Tufts) in self-defence. This object lesson serves to get Lon to realize the error of his actions and convince him to surrender to the Sheriff.
Judge Garth is convinced to go to Arapaho, Wyoming, by Roseanna Dobie (Joan Blondell), an old friend. Her son is dead and although it is claimed he had died when thrown off a horse, actually, an old friend of the Judge's, rancher/lawyer Frank Sturgis (John Dehner), had led a group of 13 men who had lynched John Dobie for allegedly beating to death a young woman who had rejected his advances. Roseanna (Joan Blondell) claims her son's innocence and demands his name be cleared by an "after the fact" trial. To clear their names and consciences, the Judge manages to get Sturgis to be the prosecutor and to participate in a "trial" with the 12 others involved in the lynching, including the dead girl's father, as the jury and the Judge as defense attorney.
In Santa Rita the Virginian meets an old flame, Savannah (Gena Rowlands), who has been seeing a local man, a very jealous Gordie Madden (Robert Colbert). Savannah is accussed of murdering Madden and the Virginian gets Judge Garth to come and defend her. However, the cards are stacked against them as Madden's wealthy father (Everett Sloan) controls the town, including the Sheriff (Stephen McNally), and wants revenge.
A bounty hunter named George Wolfe (Broderick Crawford) comes to Medicine Bow, having been summoned by a now dead informant who told Wolfe a fugitive is in town. Although the informant had left a letter revealing the fugitive's identity in a lock box at the bank it can not be accessed until the circuit judge can return and issue a court order. Trampas, who had accidentally become involved with some felons two years before, thinks he is Wolfe's quarry and Wolfe is suspicious of him. Before matters can come to a head, however, an outbreak of typhoid fever intervenes.
In cooperaton with a progressive warden, Judge Garth gets a man named Matthew Cordell (Robert Redford), who had been in orphanages or prison most of his life, paroled into his custody to work at Shiloh Ranch for a year as a blacksmith. Cordell who had been mistreated his whole life, remains aloof and has several run-ins with the ranch hands. He saves Betsy Garth's horse and she begins to fall in love with him but he is more interested in Rita Marlow who owns the local dress shop. Trouble occurs when an old prison friend of Cordell's, Deke (Don O'Kelly), arrives and tries to get him to help rob Judge Garth.
Judge Garth is asked by an old friend, Wade Anders (Lloyd Nolan), to take his eldest son Hank (Chris Robinson) to work as a hand at Shiloh. He wants the son to eventually take over his ranch but Hank has personal problems which make him difficult to handle, especially a hatred for Indians. At Shiloh he has run-ins with Trampas who is acting as foreman while the Virginian is away, and this conflict eventually leads to tragedy and a showdown.
Former n'er do well Willie Caine (Albert Salmi) is now a monk, Brother Thaddeus. He is involved in establishing a mission and boy's school on property owned by Judge Garth and Trampas and Steve Hill are helping to build the mission. A gang, including a former crony of Thaddeus', robs the train and Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) locks him up as an accomplice. Thaddeus manages to escape and with the help of Trampas sets out to track down the gang and exonnerate himself.
After delivering a herd of cattle to New Orleans, the Virginian meets and falls for a mysterious woman, Marie Valonne (Madlyn Rhue). He is attacked and the woman disappears. In his attempts to relocate her he comes into conflict with Johnny Madrid (Mark Richman) who controls some corrupt politicians. Despite the assistance of a local police detective, Dan Bohannon (Skip Homeier), the Virginian is unsuccessful in finding Marie and is only left with her picture.
Steve Hill befriends a dishevelled deaf mute named Judd (Clu Gulager) and convinces the Virginian to gives him a job at Shiloh ranch. Judd is accussed of murdering a gambler, runs off and is befriended by spinster farm owner Ruth Ferris (Gail Kobe). Steve Hill manages to track down Judd, tells him to give himself up and then sets off after the real perpetrators. The murderers try to kill Steve but he is saved by the arrival of Judd who then returns to the waiting Ruth with whom he has fallen in love.
The well-off Caroline Witman (Joan Freeman) and her Aunt Grace (Lillian Bronson) visit Medicine Bow on their way from San Francisco to New York. Caroline falls in love with the Virginian who generally ignores her but a Shiloh hand, Jefferson Tolliver (Dick York), becomes smitten with her and she encourages Tolliver's advances in order to make the Virginian jealous. Tolliver's ambitions are thwarted by a lack of money and when he catches an unemployed hand rustling cattle, rather than turn him in, he joins him in crime. However, they end up murdering a ranch hand and this eventually leads to a penultimate confrontation between Tolliver and his friend, the Virginian.
After she calls for the President to bring in the army to rid the badlands of outlaws, newspaper editor Molly Wood, the Virginian's love interest, is murdered by four of those outlaws: O'Dell (Steve Ihnat), Horn (John Milford), Denver (Berkeley Harris) and their ruthless leader, Colonel Calhoun (Robert Lansing). The Virginian joins a posse but while the other posse members give up he eventually locates the villains' badlands hideout. He poses as a prison escapee, joins the gang and exacts his revenge.
Accompanied by her secretary (Melinda Plowman), opera singer Elena (Yvonne DeCarlo) comes to Medicine Bow to perform. Judge Garth recognizes here as someone he knew years before and is clearly attracted to her. A man named Carl Elston arrives in town and is shot by Elena who claims he is a stranger who tried to force his attentions on her. However, Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) discovers evidence that Elena knew Carl, and that he was her manager and husband. The Judge is forced to defend Elena in court and uncover the truth.
Trampas wins $1,000 at poker in Medicine Bow and heads to his old stomping grounds of Logan, New Mexico to repay several debts. There he has a run in with comancheros, led by Pedro Lopez (Joseph Campanella), who virtually run the town and have the town leaders under their thumb. Trampas discovers that some of the commancheros have murdered his old friends and turns them over to the Marshall (Ron Hayes) to hold for trial. However, Pedro threatens the townsfolk and they cave under and force the marshall to release the murderers. Pedro and his men then come gunning for Trampas.
Trampas' Uncle Josh (Harry Shannon) is murdered during an holdup by Wismer (Leonard Nimoy) and Judson (William Bryant). On their trail, Trampas is eventually forced to illegally enter Apache territory where the two robbers had made a gold strike. He is joined on his quest by a guide who is after the gold (Michael Pate), a woman (Peggy McCay) who is looking for her husband who it turns out is Judson, and an army doctor who is attempting to escape court martial (DeForest Kelly).
Rancher Mike Tyrone (Ed Begley) purhases a ranch near Medicine Bow, and moves there with his daughter Margaret (Beverly Owen), and his two sons (Rees Vaughan and James McMullen). Tyrone tries to force surrounding ranchers to sell their spreads, eventually cutting off the water from a local river that the other ranchers use to water their stocks. However, the conflict is ended by an unexpected decision of Margaret Tyrone.
A cougar kills a Shiloh hand and Steve Hill, experienced in hunting these animals, tracks it into the mountains where he comes upon a homestead owned by Nancy Mayhew (Joyce Bulifant) and her husband Charles (Jack Klugman). The Mayhew's have strained relations and it is learned Charles son was killed by the same cougar. Nancy blames this on Charles' cowardice and indicates a romantic interest in Steve, an interest which eventually endangers Steve's life.
J. Jimerson Jones (Pat O'Brien) finds a gold vein and on the way to Chicago to enjoy his fortune, meets Judge Garth and Betsy. In Chicago the Garth's make the acquaintance of young newspaper reporter Eddie Tighe (David Macklin) while Jones meets a middle-aged hotel maid, Maggie Hyeth (Ann Doran). Jones becomes the target of con artists and Betsy the romantic target of Tighe, with generally humorous results.
Former British soldier Gavin Heath (Leo Genn) strikes it rich and returns to Medicine Bow where he had previously lived. Heath is attacked by an apparently rabid dog. Thinking he may only have 30 days to live, Heath is forced to confront his cowardly past.
This episode recounts in flashback how the Virginian came to Shiloh Ranch. The Virginian comes to Medicine Bow and first works for Miles Peterson (Leif Erickson) whose spread is run by ranch foreman Hugh Stager (Michael Forest). Stager tries to gain control of the ranch by romancing Peterson's daughter Maria (Mariette Hartley) and plotting to remove Peterson and blame it on Judge Garth. However, he has not reckoned on the Virginian and his growing friendship with Judge Garth.
A young drifter named Randy (Randy Boone) camps with Silas (Frank Maxwell) and his young daughter Melanie (Claire Wilcox) near Medicine Bow. Silas reveals he has been mining and that he found gold nuggets. Silas is murdered, the gold stolen and Randy is accused of the crime. He hides out with Melanie who knows him innocent and with help from Betsy Garth and the Virginian is eventually able to expose the real killers.
Robert Gaynor (Peter Graves), a wealthy and somewhat ruthless Chicago meat packer, buys a local ranch and comes to Medicine Bow. He begins romancing, and wins the heart of, Janet Lawrence (Jean Hale) who had been seeing Trampas. Gaynor's methods bring him into conflict with local ranchers. In the end it is up to Trampas to resolve the conflict and save Gaynor from a hired assassin.
Trampas is the sole survivor of a stagecoach robbery but he is wounded and wanders off in a daze. The local Sheriff (Richard Carlson) finds him and accuses him of being one of the robbers, hints the townspeople will lynch him and even tries to kill him. Trampas escapes and takes refuge with Kim Ho (Miyoshi Umeki) who learns of his innocence. Meanwhile Steve Hill heads for the area thinking Trampas is dead. Trampas tries to find the real guilty parties to clear himself and in the end is saved by the arrival of Steve Hill.
Judge Garth is hosting a meeting at Shiloh Ranch between a US Army General and the Chief of the Sioux (Iron Eyes Cody) as someone is trying to stir up trouble between the Indians and Army. He manages to send most of the hands away to keep the meeting secret. Four men arrive including Trachsel (Darren McGavin) and the Utah Kid (David Carradine), and they take the remaining residents hostage intent on killing the Sioux Chief when he arrives. However, the criminals did not reckon on the abilities of Judge Garth and Betsy's visiting friend, young Chicago newspaper reporter Eddie Tighe (David Macklin).
The Virginian's friend, young Dan Grant (Paul Petersen), is killed in a bank robbery. The three robbers escape a posse but the Virginian is more persistent and tracks them to Montana. Two of the robbers are captured and the Virginian tracks the third (Johan Agar) to a farmstead occupied by a young boy and his mother (Sherree North), and suspects the absent husband is the third gunman. As he waits for the husband to return he bonds with the boy and becomes romantically involved with the wife. However, the robber returns and the inevitable showdown occurs.
A beautiful woman, Alva Lowell (Diana Millay), arrives in Medicine Bow having just bought the Lazy K Ranch and manages to hire a reluctant Steve Hill to be her foreman. A former business partner of Alva's, Jess Carver (Peter Breck), arrives and is killed by Steve, apparently in self-defence. However, Steve is arrested and must go to trial defended by Judge Garth's friend, lawyer Ebberly Packis (Paul Fix).
Betsy Garth is driven by Randy to Brynmar Hall, a large mansion, where she meets several other old acquaintances and invitees (Brooke Bundy, Tom Skerritt, Mark Goddard). All knew Mildred Brynmar, a young woman who was killed in a fire two years before, and have been invited to the house by Mildred's mother (Jane Wyman). A masked figure spies on the proceedings and several mysterious events occur which culminate in death.
The Virginian is friends with Mary Ann Martin (Patricia Breslin) and her young son Cricket (Casey Peters) who live near Shiloh ranch. A detective named Corbett (Joseph Campanella) and his client, Judith Holly (Ruta Lee), claim that Cricket is actually Holly's son and that she wants him back. The Virginian attempts to ferret out the truth of the situation in order for Mary Ann to retain custody of the boy. The affair culminates in a series of surprising events at a judicial hearing.
Lars Holstrum (Peter Whitney) is a middle-aged and wealthy rancher friend of Judge Garth's who is about to marry a 20 year old girl. Lars injures his back and Trampas is given the job of traveling to Laramie to pick up the girl, Katia Swenson (Katherine Crawford). On the return trip the two have a series of misadventures revolving around encounters with local Indians, a group of cowpokes, and a mysterious man who has been trailing them from Laramie.
Steve, Randy and other hands capture two horse rustlers, Frank Conrad (Robert Wilke) and Striker (Edward Faulkner), and kill a third. They also find Conrad's daughter, Billie Jo (Brenda Scott) and she is taken to Shiloh until the court can decide her custody and the rustler's fate. There she nurses Randy Benton who has hurt his back and lost the feeling in his legs. Billie Jo is eventually forced to decide on her future by choosing between helping her father escape and returning to a life on the run, or accepting the kindnesses of the Shiloh crew which promise a better future.
Randy and Betsy explore a cave and find a number of gold coins and a human skeleton, a find which gets wide publicity in the newspapers. Kane (Jeremy Slate) shows up and begins working at Shiloh where he reveals to Randy that he is not only his long lost older brother but also that he is evading the law on charges he claims were false. The publicity also attracts a US Treasury agent, Duggan (Dick Foran), as the coins seem to be a small part of missing Confederate assets. A treasure hunt ensues in which Randy is ultimately forced to decide on his brother's fate.
A former law man and now hired gun, Emmett Ryker (Clu Gulager), heads to Medicine Bow at the request of Hagen (Leslie Nielsen). Hagen holds a mortgage on the ranch of Hale (Russ Conway), a friend of Judge Garth, and wants to run the rancher off the property. Being a man of some morals, Ryker refuses to become involved but when Hale is killed he is suspected of the crime. Ryker becomes friends with Trampas and agrees to help Hale's daughter Janet (Anne Helm) bring the guilty parties to justice.
Carl Hendricks (Victor Jory), with his son Arnie (Chris Robinson) and daughter Jenny (Katharine Ross), buys a local ranch. Trampas is embarrassed when he tries to get Jenny to dance at a local gathering without realizing she has a club foot. He apologizes, they become friends, and he begins setting up Jenny with his shy blacksmith friend Wally (Larry Pennell). Carl is subsequently murdered and Trampas is a suspect although he had no motive. It is left up to Deputy Emmett Ryker to solve the crime.
A wild stallion escapes its owner, John Slaughter (Don ""Red"" Barry), killing a handler in the process. The animal injures itself and is found by Randy Benton who takes him to the nearby ranch of alcoholic horse trainer Charlie Orwell (Robert Culp) who nurses it back to health. Most believe the horse bad and wish to have it destroyed but Randy gets Charlie to help him save the animal and with the help of Jodie Wingate (Jenna Engstrom), they save Charlie too.
Posing as a newspaper man, James Templeton (Steve Forrest) comes to Medicine Bow to interview Judge Garth who is a leading candidate for territorial senator. Betsy Garth is smitten with James who is just about perfect in everything he does whether it is riding or shooting and this makes Trampas suspicious. His suspicions turn out to be well-grounded.
Felicity Andrews (Katherine Crawford), the new Medicine Bow school teacher, lives with her older sister Kate (Mariette Hartley) and grandfather Jonah (Carl Benton Reid). Everyone raves about her and the Shiloh hands, including Steve Hill, are all smitten but Felicity's heart is won by the Virginian who proposes to her. However, Felicity's family protects some secrets which eventually brings an end to the Virginian's marriage plans.
Samantha Frye (Barbara Eden), who has been fired from many newspapers for her exaggerated stories, arrives in Medicine Bow where she begins working for the newspaper and becomes courted by the Virginian and Emmett Ryker. She begins a series of articles for the ""Police Gazette"" about a legendary but supposed dead outlaw called the Brazos Kid and her hints he is still alive bring a bounty hunter, a detective and a man seeking revenge on the outlaw, to Medicine Bow. Complicating matters even more are the facts the Kid is really alive and living incognito nearby and that the Virginian is his friend and is aware of his identity. Because Samantha's descriptions of the Kid resemble the Virginian, the Shiloh foreman becomes the target of the Kid's pursuers.
Millionaire Paul Leland (Linden Chiles) treats everyone like dirt and ends up in the desert after getting shoved off a train by a disgruntled employee. He is found and taken on by the Virginian and Shiloh crew who are driving a herd of cattle to Seattle. Leland has several run-ins with the crew as well as former employees met along the way but in the end becomes a better man for his tribulations.
At the Medicine Bow orphanage Toby Shea (Kurt Russell) makes up stories about his great father which none of the other boys believe, so he befriends Trampas and tells the other boys Trampas is his father. His real father, Jim Shea (Rory Calhoun), who has been released from prison, tries to find his son but is trailed by two former partners in crime seeking some lost loot. Jim Shea becomes a hand at Shiloh Ranch and manages to keep his identity secret until his former partners and his past catch up with him.
Steve Hill is asked to go under cover by a US Marshall (Don Collier) by renewing his relationship with a former girlfriend, Jane Carlisle (Ruta Lee),who is a new dance hall girl at the Medicine Bow saloon. The Marshall suspects Jane is part of a notorious robbery gang out to steal gold destined to pay for Indian land. Steve reluctantly agrees to do so and to gain the gang's confidence begins to act irresponsibly much to the chagrin of the Virginian and Shiloh hands who are unaware of his task. In the end Steve must face the robbery gang and its ruthless leader (Mark Richman) and his fate is in the hands of Jane.
An old friend of Judge Garth named Charlie Ryan (Leif Erickson) revives the low grade silver Gloria Mine with help from his mining college-trained son Craig (Peter Brown) and a new partner Whit Parsons (Whit Bissell). They fall behind in their payments and may not make quotas specified in their contracts. A desperate Craig begins to alienate the locals including Judge Garth with his tactics to save the mine operations. Things come to a head when local cattle begin to die and contaminated mine water is suspected. This leads to conflict not only between the local ranchers and miners but eventually to conflict between Charlie, his son, and especially their business partner, Whit, who seemingly will stop at nothing to make the mine a success.
Victoria Greenley (Anne Francis) comes to Medicine Bow to set up a law practice but encounters resistance from those who do not think law a suitable profession for a woman. Although initially reluctant, the Virginian gets Victoria to represent him in a court dispute with a saddle-maker. She is successful and romance brews between the two. However, they soon find themselves on opposite sides when Victoria agrees to defend some men accused of trespassing on Shiloh land.
Widower Sam Horn (John Lupton) comes into conflict with the railway headed by Colonel John Briscoe (Edward Binns). Part of his land had been expropriated as a railway right of way and the compensation was based on much outmoded land values. The Colonel is also having conflicts with his son Scott (Buck Taylor) over an old girlfriend of Buck's called Peg Dineen (Laurel Goodwin) who also happens to be in town. Peg is a supposed widow with a young child and Sam Horn is smitten with her. When Buck is shot, Sam is put on trial for murder although he claims it was self-defense. In the courtroom it is up to Judge Garth to defend and save Sam Horn by uncovering the tangled and hidden motives behind the events.
French-accented portrait painter Charles Boulanger (John Gavin) says goodbye to Betsy Garth and Maggie Mencken (Vera Miles) who have been visiting Chicago. Maggie is a good friend of Judge Garth and the Judge is the executor of her late husband's estate. Charles accent is phony and he is wanted by hoods trying to collect a gambling debt so he escapes to Medicine Bow by saying he will paint Maggie's portrait. At Maggie's house Charles discovers an important art work purchased by her late husband and while romancing Maggie, makes plans for faking the painting and selling the original to pay off his debts. However, two things stand in his way: his growing affection for Maggie, and Judge Garth, who suspects Charles is not what he seems.
Ryker invites the man who raised him to come to Medicine Bow after being released from 10 years in prison. When Ryker finds Abe has invited his family to join him, he knows there are problems as Shiloh makes a record sized cattle shipment.
Trouble comes to Medicine Bow in the form of a number of settlers who camp on land they say has been promised to them but that Judge Garth and others traditionally have leased from the government for grazing cattle. The land settlement has been promoted by Congressman Matt Cosgrove (James Dunn) who had read law with the Judge 30 years before. The Judge knows the soil is no good for farming but is told government reports support the reverse. While the Judge and Cosgrove are at odds, Cosgrove's nephew, Army Lt. David O'Mara (Martin West), and Betsy Garth find each other more to their liking.
A landslide blocks the pass needed to drive the Shiloh cattle to the rail line. The only alternative route would have to cross the property of Junius Antlow (Tom Tully), an arch enemy of Judge Garth, and Antlow refuses permission to use that route. The Judge hires Big Jim Lafferty (Leo Gordon), foreman of a crew of Chinese coolies, to clear a way through the blocked pass. Amongst the Chinese, disguised as a man, is a girl, Kam Ho (Cely Carrillo) who falls in love with the Virginian even though she is promised in marriage to one of the other workers named Chang (Kam Tong). Junius Antlow attempts to sabotage the work, hoping the cattle will starve, and in the process some of the Chinese labourers are killed and others wounded. His actions bring him into conflict not only with the Judge but also with his own son, Chris (Tom Simcox), and tragedy results.
The Virginian hires some workers to help drive some cattle to Shiloh from Cheyenne, among whom is an easy going and timid hand who reads Shakespeare named Eddie Laredo (Fabian). Eddie accepts a full-time job at Shiloh but he is razzed by locals, including the unsavoury Bojo Sanders (Rayford Barnes) and saloon girl Molly Weems (Elizabeth McRae), because he likes literature. Bojo is murdered and Molly testifies that Eddie killed Bojo but because of her unsavoury reputation the charges are dismissed. Molly Weems is also killed and Trampas sees Eddie riding away from the scene. It looks like Eddie is guilty and will face the death penalty despite the efforts of Judge Garth to defend him.
Betsy Garth investigates rumours of wild broncos in the mountains and while there she encounters a young man, Clint (Andrew Prine) and his father Martin (Forrest Tucker) living in an isolated cabin. Clint gets Betsy to promise not to reveal their presence but when Betsy is bitten by a rattlesnake he is forced to take her to Dr. Spaulding (John Bryant) in Medicine Bow, thereby saving her life and earning the Virginian's gratitude. However, Martin is a wanted man and Emmett Ryker is on his trail. Betsy must choose between her growing friendship with, and promises to, Clint and revealing the hideout to the law.
Emmett Ryker learns that a man named McMasters, who had killed his good friends, a rancher and his daughter, two years before, was one of six men supposedly killed by Indians. Believing the man still alive, and seeking revenge, he accompanies a young woman, Lucille Carver (Sheilah Wells), whose father was also reported as among those killed, to the massacre site at Cripple Creek. The trail eventually leads him to Deadwood where he suspects a man who has made a gold strike, and may be Lucille's father, is McMasters.
A man dies due to a gunshot wound but not before he reveals to his sweetheart, Clara Malone (Shirley Knight), that robbery money is hidden near Medicine Bow. Faking suicide to escape the rest of the robbery gang, Clara takes the stage to Medicine Bow along with one other passenger, the Virginian. In a stage accident she is injured and the Virginian takes her to Shiloh Ranch to be nursed by Betsy. Suffering from amnesia, Clara can not recall her past and she and the Virginian begin a romance. However, her past catches up with her when the robbery gang discovers she is still alive.
Trampas is in Albuquerque to pick up some money on behalf of the cattlemen's association. He encounters and is robbed of some of the money by Charity (Kathryn Hays). She was in love with a man, Byron Prescott (Jerome Courtland), who was forced to jilt her by his wealthy family. Charity is trying to get to Rancho Valdez to sell a ruby ring, a family heirloom which had been given to her by Byron. Although Trampas catches up with Charity, she in turn has been robbed by a local guide, Judd (Warren Oates). They set out after Judd, tailed not only by Byron Prescott, but also by Emmett Ryker who has come looking for the overdue Trampas.
The Virginian makes the acquaintance of a young man, Mark Shannon (Richard Beymer), who along with his sister (Diana Lynn) and her love interest, trail boss Jack Slauson (Myron Healey), is taking a cattle herd to the army. When near Medicine Bow it is learned the Shannon herd could be carrying Spanish fever. Those cattle are largely immune but the local cattle are not. The local ranchers, with the Virginian acting as their delegate, try to get the herd to bypass the Medicine Bow area. By taking another, but more direct, route, the herd would avoid infecting the local cattle. However,there would be substantial losses to the Shannon herd because of a drought affecting the other route. Mark refuses and this leads to a showdown not only with the Virginian and Medicine Bow ranchers but also with Slauson.
Emmett Ryker's good friend, storekeeper John Conway (Jack Warden), is to marry a woman he met in San Francisco and has known for only a very short time, Rita Boland (Marilyn Erskine). When Rita comes to Medicine Bow, her relationship with John becomes strained because of her seeming unwillingness to consider having children. She turns to the bottle and it is clear she is haunted by some event in her past. Meanwhile, Emmett's past also threatens to catch up with him as two Garr brothers (John Milford and James Beck) whom he had sent to jail for a robbery attempt, and whose third brother he had killed in that same attempt, come seeking revenge. The two disconnected stories become intertwined, and then resolved, in a fateful showdown.
In Cobb's Run, Kansas, while waiting for the Virginian, Randy Benton is framed for a $50,000 payroll robbery. His defence, that the legendary but aging town marshall, Floyd Buckman (Ford Rainey), had inadvertently allowed the robbers into the bank, is scoffed at by the locals. As a result, Randy is sentenced to be hanged. The Virginian tries to track down the the real robbers to prove Randy's innocence and in desperation even breaks Randy out of jail. In the end however, Randy's salvation is in the hands of the legendary lawman.
Local ranchers are upset with the lumbering of Charles Daniels (Arch Johnson) which they believe will destroy a valuable watershed area and ruin grazing land. Daniels refuses to listen to their entreaties as delivered by the Virginian and Emmett Ryker has to try and keep the peace despite the growing tension. Complicating matters is a budding relationship between Daniels' daughter Katie (Joan Freeman) and the son of one of the local ranchers opposed to the logging, Dave Ferguson (Martin Milner). This relationship is frowned upon not only by Daniels but also by Daniels' foreman, Paul Rogers (William Smith). When Rogers is killed accidentally by Ferguson, Daniels believes it murder and seeks revenge.
Trampas escorts a murderer back to a town where he knew the sheriff. There is a question of the man's innocence plus Trampas learns the sheriff died in a horse accident two days later. He decides to investigate the questionable stories.
A deputized Virginian arrives in the very misnamed Honesty, Wyoming looking for Major Ralph Forrester (Richard Carlson) who had defrauded Judge Garth. However, the local judge is in the Major's pocket and, using the excuse that the Virginian is not a full-time deputy, refuses to let the man be taken back to Medicine Bow. While waiting for Deputy Ryker to arrive, the Major is murdered and the Virginian is accused of the crime. Ryker arrives and with help of a local lawyer, John Harrison (Harold Gould), tries to sort out who the murderer is from amongst a number of suspects including the murdered man's wife (Dorothy Green), a former acquaintance of the Virginian who runs the local saloon and was being blackmailed by the dead man (Kathleen Crowley), and the Major's business partner(Douglas Henderson).
An older man, Murdoch (Franchot Tone), and his young grandson Willie (Billy Mumy), arrive at Medicine Bow on foot. Much to the Virginian's chagrin, Trampas feels sorry for Murdoch and offers him a job at Shiloh. Murdoch's ineptitude causes several problems, and he begins to resent his grandson's admiration for top cowboy Trampas. In the end, however, Murdoch more than proves his worth and gains the admiration of all, including his grandson.
The Virginian arrives in Monolith, Arizona to buy cattle from the Landers family but finds himself in the middle of a feud between them and the city Marshall Frome and his brother. The Fromes seem overbearing but maybe with a reason
In this pilot episode for the Laredo TV series, Trampas must pick up a bull for Shiloh Ranch in Mexico, and along the way he runs into Texas Rangers Reese, Joe, and Chad. Trampas ends up helping the Rangers recover stolen gold, and bring in the Bandits that stole it.
Matt Denning (Robert Lansing), a good friend of Emmett Ryker's, believes his younger brother Will (Andrew Prine) innocent of a crime and breaks him out of a military jail where he is awaiting execution, accidentally killing a guard in the process. Along with Matt's wife (Jan Shepard) and son (Kurt Russell), they escape into an area where many Sioux Indians are out for blood, and are trailed by Ryker, army Sgt. Cohane (Myron Healey) and three soldiers. They find the escapees but the party is attacked by the Sioux. Will is killed, confessing as he dies that he was guilty as charged and leading Matt to realize all has been for nothing. Despite the fact the guard's death was clearly an accident, and the fact Emmett and Cohane testify on his behalf, Matt is found guilty and Emmett is forced to uphold the law and turn Matt over to the Sheriff who will escort him to prison.
An Australian, Adam Tercell (John Anderson), has bought a local ranch and plans to graze sheep on open range, a strategy which would destroy it as grazing land for cattle, so the locals want to negotiate an area set aside for sheep. However, Tercell's bullying son, Abel (Jon Locke), refuses and even stockwhips a local rancher (Edward Faulkner) which brings him into conflict with the Virginian. Abel tries to bullwhip the Virginian and falls and is accidentally killed when he hits his head on a rock. Adam Tercell arrives in Medicine Bow and tries to get the Virginian charged with murder but is unsuccessful and things become complicated when Tercell's daughter Reagen (Maura McGivney) begins to fall in love with the Virginian. Events continue to escalate and eventually lead to a fateful confrontation between Adam Tercell, his estranged daughter, and the local ranchers.
After release from prison, Bert Kramer (Bruce Dern) comes to Medicine Bow to find his estranged wife who is the new school teacher, Martha Perry (Susan Oliver). A Shiloh hand, Rafe Simmons (Albert Salmi), tells the Virginian he is quitting. He goes to town, get a job in the harness shop and gets Martha to teach him to read. Bert Kramer arrives in town and is spotted by Emmett Ryker who recognizes him as a hired gun. Rumours are spread that Rafe and the schoolteacher are having an affair. A local barber, Cal Beeson (Harry Townes), who has had a run in with Rafe, and Bert Kramer plot together to ambush the harness shop worker. However, Rafe manages to get the upper hand. In a struggle over a gun, Bert is killed but Rafe is cleared by the actions of the Virginian and Martha who get Beeson's young son to own up to the plot.
Trampas becomes discouraged with being a ranch hand and sets off with an old friend, Luke Milford (William Shatner), to Deadwood City in the Dakotas where gold strikes are reported. They learn that most of the gold is off limits in Sioux territory but they meet and help a man named Finley (Strother Martin) who claims to have a gold strike outside of Indian land and who agrees to cut them in if they will stake him for equipment. They do strike gold but it turns out it is on Indian land. Trampas runs into trouble not only with the Sioux but inevitably ends up in a showdown with Luke who has become fixated on finding and retaining the gold.
A destitute former Minister, David Henderson (Glenn Corbett), who has had a crisis of faith, comes to Medicine Bow just as a dispute breaks out at a local mine over safety issues. Emmett Ryker entreaties Judge Garth to try and find a solution to the problem. When an accident occurs at the mine David's assists in a rescue attempt but hurts his leg. He is taken to Shiloh where Betsy Garth nurses him and they become romantically involved. David's actions gain him the respect of the miners, he becomes their leader, and he calls a strike over the working conditions. Despite an attempt to intimidate the miners by importing scab labour, with Judge Garth's help the owners and miners manage to reach an agreement. David rediscovers his calling and asks Betsy to marry him. They are married at Shiloh Ranch and head off to start a new life at a parish David has been assigned in Pennsylvania.
Emmett Ryker is amongst a group of stagecoach passengers and crew waylaid by and trapped in an isolated cabin by a group of Mexicans from a small cross-border town. The Mexicans want one of the passengers, a cowboy named Wylie (Earl Holliman), for murdering a woman but Emmett believes Wylie should be turned over to the American authorities for a proper hearing. A siege and gun battle ensues but in the end, the Virginian and Trampas, who are waiting for Emmett in a nearby town, come to the rescue of their missing friend.
A telegram arrives at Shiloh revealing Judge Garth's late sister's daughter, Jennifer Sommers, will be arriving shortly from Boston. Meanwhile, in nearby Tylerville, Johnny Bradford (James MacArthur) leaves a saloon and is watched by a man (Hal Needham) who trails him into a nearby warehouse. However, Johnny shoots and kills the man. The stage headed for Medicine Bow arrives in Tylerville with Jennifer aboard and she meets Johnny who is boarding the stage to travel beyond Medicine Bow. She admits to him that she is going to live at Shiloh but does not know Judge Garth and they become friendly. Arriving in Medicine Bow, Jennifer is met by the Judge and Randy. At Shiloh, the Judge admits he was not close to his sister and Jennifer admits she came only because she had no place else to go and is not necessarily enamoured of the idea. The next morning the Virginian takes Jennifer on a tour of Shiloh and they come across an old cabin which the Virginian says was the first house Judge Garth a
New area rancher Ben Justin (Charles Bronson) is branding a calf when Trampas and Randy Benton and nearby rancher Tom Suchette (George Kennedy) arrive. Trampas politely informs the newcomer that following Stockmen's Association rules no calf should be branded until roundup but Ben says he will brand any calf found on his own land. Tom is less polite and threatens Ben if he does it again. Trampas tells the Virginian what happened so the Virginian visits the Justin ranch. On the way he notices some of Ben's cattle have broken through Justin's fence so Ben rides off when informed by the Virginian. The Virginian tells Ben's wife Mary (Lois Nettleton) that if her husband does not follow Stockmen's rules he will be denied access to the railhead to get his cattle to market and Mary tells him that Ben's young son Will (Bob Random) is her stepson. Ben returns to his ranch in the evening and has a hard time stopping himself from drinking. We learn he thinks he can not trust anyone because back E
In Denver, Midge Conway (Lee Patterson) visits Paul Leland (Ken Lynch), head of Leland Enterprises. Leland sends him to Eagle Rock, Wyoming. He wants that town just as he has taken others in the past and tells Midge he will have to muscle in on local Frank Colter. Trampas meanwhile is riding back to Medicine Bow when he comes upon a runaway freight wagon which he manages to stop but injures his horse in the process. The wagon driver reveals himself to be Frank Colter (John Beymer) who tells Trampas to come with him to Eagle Rock where they can get the horse treated. Trampas is surprised because Eagle Rock had long been a ghost town. At Eagle Rock the blacksmith, Bert Devlin (Mort Mills) deduces the horse has a strained tendon but with treatment it can be healed in four or five days. Attorney Keith Bentley (Leonard Nimoy) arrives and he and Frank discuss the small amount of supplies Colter has brought back. The townspeople can not get more credit and some people are leaving. Trampas ask
The Virginian and Trampas head to Mexico to purchase some palominos for the Judge. At a saloon in San Christian near the Mexican border, Trampas tries to make the acquaintance of Maggie (Joan Staley) but is warned off by several men led by Cal (Gregg Palmer) and is told she is "Zack Wheeler's girl" by the bartender (Jimmy Lee Cook). The Virginian is feeling ill so they go to a hotel. After they leave Zack Wheeler arrives (Michael Forest). It is clear Maggie feels Zack is neglecting her. Zack tells her she will be taken to his friend Fidencio's place to wait for him until his business is finished. Cal drives Maggie to the Mexican cantina and hotel owned by Fidencio (Thomas Gomez). We learn Zack Wheeler is involved in criminal activities including robbery. Trampas and the Virginian have rented horses and entered Mexico but the Virginian gets much sicker and clearly needs help.
Judge Garth visits middle-aged widower Stavros Karos' (Michael Constantine) who, along with his two young children, Sophie (Vicki Malkin) and Yanko (Joey Russo), is digging a well which he hopes to use to irrigate his fig trees. Charlie Cousins (Russ Conway), who owns the adjacent ranch, had for no apparent reason refused to allow Stavros to divert water from a stream on his property. The Judge takes the children to Shiloh while Stavros goes to the train station to pick up his bride to be, a woman he has never met. In town, Trampas lounges around while Randy does all the work picking up supplies and meets his friend Sam Cousins (Anthony Hayes) on the street. They both note the arrival on the train of the young, beautiful Eleni (Louise Sorel) and the two, especially Sam, try to chat her up. Stavros arrives to pick up his promised bride and does not realize Eleni is the woman as he expects someone older. He also has a run-in with Sam who derides him about the young Eleni. Sam returns hom
Two hoboes, Harry Lightfoot (Leslie Nielsen) and Crouch (Berkeley Harris), pass a rural farmhouse where only Mrs.Clinchy (Marge Redmond) and son Timothy (Rory Stevens) are home. Mrs. Clinchy gives them some food but they want more and try and force themselves into the house. Timothy escapes through a window to get his father as Crouch threatens Mrs. Clinchy with a knife. In the Medicine Bow saloon, Deputy Emmett Ryker celebrates his birthday with good friends Ezikiah the blacksmith (Claude Akins) and bar worker Ev Clinchy (Harold J. Stone). Timothy arrives and tells his father what has happened and they all ride, along with Sherriff Brannon (Harlan Wade) to the ranch and find Mrs. Clinchy stabbed to death. With the help of the Virginian, the hoboes are captured crossing Shiloh and returned to the town jail. The two deny killing Mrs. Clincy, claiming some Indians did it, and Crouch manages to hide his knife in the jail cell. The town is outraged by the crime and there is talk of lynchin
Sam Willock (Harry Guardino), a legendary breaker of horses, goes to Shiloh with a promise to two companions, Mace (Kelly Thordsen) and Albie (Don Dubbins), that they will meet in three days time. It is clear they are planning some crime together and Sam promised his companions he will not back out. At Shiloh, Judge Garth is leaving for Denver and he tells Jennifer to take good care of a young hand who has been injured trying to break horses and specifically tells her to warn anyone against trying to tame a wild black stallion. The Virginian hires on Sam to break horses based on his reputation and appoints novice Randy Benton as his helper as Sam does not want anyone with preconceived notions about ""horse fighting"" interfering with his methods. Sam's abrupt manner puts him at odds with most of the hands, especially Trampas, but he begins to like the guileless Randy who, like Sam himself, has long dreamed of having his own horse ranch. Sam meets Mac and Albie in town and it is revealed
Judge Garth and Jennifer appeal to the governor for the release of Curt Westley (James Best), a man they believe was unjustly convicted of a train robbery – but the governor (David McLean) refuses their request. Meanwhile, the Virginian is on a train returning to Medicine Bow which is robbed by a lone gunman (James Doohan). The Virginian and train conductor (William Tannen) follow the robber and manage to find him before he can ride off. In the ensuing gun battle, the man is shot by the Virginian but before he dies reveals to his pursuers that his name is James Francis O'Banion, that he, not Curt Westley, robbed the train, and that the money is hidden at Crystal Falls. The Virginian and Emmett Ryker ride to the falls and find all the money save $10,000. The governor paroles Westley, but does not exonerate him, saying the confession of one thief does not clear another. Westley arrives at the Medicine Bow train station where he is met by his wife Joan (Davey Davison), the Virginian and E
Trampas meets local rancher and former Sheriff Bill King (Leif Erickson) and his daughter Judy (Joan Freeman) riding into Medicine Bow. Trampas asks Judy to the dance but she is reluctant to go with him even though she eventually acquiesces. At the bank, banker Bert March (Noam Pitlick) refuses Bill a loan saying he was not a good credit risk even if he had spent 20 years as the town Sheriff. He also refuses to take for credit the gold watch Bill got from the town for his service as Sheriff. Bill goes to the saloon for a drink with Emmett Ryker and afterwards, as they leave, the money wagon arrives driven by Ben Wallace (Karl Swenson), an old friend of Bill's, who announces he has been robbed of its gold shipment. Emmett organizes an unsuccessful posse to find the three robbers. Trampas picks up Judy for the dance and as they leave the King ranch they are watched by a young man, Sam Coates (Michael Sarrazin). Coates enters the ranch house with his gun drawn on Bill. He reveals he had b
One-armed civil war veteran and photographer Ansel Miller (Peter Whitney) takes photos of the Shiloh hands at work as Judge Garth arrives. It is revealed Miller lost his arm at Andersonville prison which was run by Captain Piper Pritikin (James Whitmore) and that Pritikin has been released from Leavenworth penitentiary and is coming to Medicine Bow. His wife, Laura (Virginia Grey), and their son Davis (Steve Carlson), have been living in town under her maiden name of Beaumont. It is also noted that Judge Garth was appointed as Pritikin's attorney at his trial and that it was largely due to the Judge's efforts that Pritikin was not hanged for war crimes. As Pritikin is about to arrive by train a crowd gathers and Judge Garth tries to get them to disperse but Ansel Miller, fueled by three days of drink and pent-up hatred, berates him for protecting the Captain. Pritikin arrives and his son says Judge Garth does not want to see him but Pritikin says he is owed something by the Judge. On
The Sheriff of New Hope (Douglas Kennedy) and his men evict Ernie and Pearl Packer (Andy Albin and Colleen Gray) from their home saying Colonel Bliss (Telly Savalas) will pay for the moving wagon. As the townspeople watch, Ernie asks if the Colonel is paying the Sheriff too, draws a gun in resistance, and is shot dead. The wagon leaves town with Pearl, Ernie's body and their things, accompanied by local woman Gina Larsen (Brenda Scott) who will take Pearl to relatives in the next town. Outside town, Trampas and Randy Benton come across the dejected Pearl sitting in the wagon and nearby they find Gina burying Ernie. Pearl drives off and the two cowboys give Gina a lift back to town. They tell her they are there to pick up some Arabian horses from Colonel Bliss for Judge Garth. In town Colonel Bliss and his son Lem (Buck Taylor) visit the restaurant and wine bar owned by Gina's father Eric (Robert F. Simon). The Colonel tells him that he and all the townsfolk are squatters on his land a
Medicine Bow storekeeper, Benjy Davis (Quinn Redeker), a friend of the Virginian, is sentenced to death for murdering Hobey Kendall (Robert Karnes), a man who sexually assaulted his wife. However, Benjy says he had met a man near the murdered man's home named Jonah McIntosh (John Cassavettes) and the Virginian traces that man to a colony of mountain men near Wind River. Jonah admits he killed Kendall in self-defence but will not return to clear Benjy. The Virginian takes Jonah a prisoner but has a difficult time getting Jonah back to Medicine Bow due to the pursuing mountain men and an encounter with a murderous trapper (Dub Taylor). He manages to accomplish his task thanks to the help of a beautiful young Shoshone widow, Hapamawa (Pilar Seurat) and to a growing respect and trust between himself and Jonah.
The Sheriff of Laramie orders an itinerant family of con artists, Micah Ellis (Ed Begley), his son Clifford (Tony Bill) and daughter Becky (Linda Lawson), to leave town. In doing so they are forced to leave in jail Micah's brother Clemmet (Lonny Chapman). Their wagon breaks down near Medicine Bow. Clifford goes hunting for a rabbit. He shoots a steer and is heard by Randy Benton and Jennifer who are riding nearby -- but Clifford claims the steer had a broken leg and he was only putting it out of its misery. Randy and Jennifer help them temporarily fix their wagon and they go to Shiloh ranch to make permanent repairs. The Judge is away and the Virginian is in charge. They say they need work and Jennifer offers them jobs, much to the Virginian's chagrin who warns Jennifer to be careful. Becky stays in the house while the male Ellis' are put up in the bunkhouse. Becky, who is used to the high life of saloons, finds staying with Jennifer stifling and tries to get the others to leave ...
At Shiloh, the Virginian pays off hand Niles Tait (Lou Antonio) and offer him a full-time job which he says he will think about. As he leaves he picks up a little girl's bonnet won by Randy Benton which had been damaged in some tomfoolery with the hands. Jennifer sees him and he says the bonnet is for his sister. Jennifer assumes she is a little girl and offers him some of Betsy's things but he refuses out of pride. Meanwhile, Niles' sister Marcy (Stacey Maxwell), who is a mentally-challenged 16 year old, plays near a waterfall on the Tait ranch where she surreptitiously observes the arrival of Brodie (Jack Dodson) and a wounded Gully (Robert Petersen) who have robbed the local bank. Brodie figures the Sheriff will be looking for two men and that the wounded Gully will slow him down so he shoots and kills him and hides the robbery money nearby. Ma and Pa Tait (Angela Clarke & Anthony Caruso) discuss their daughter ...
Shiloh Ranch hands Randy Benton and Belden (L. Q. Jones) stop at the Medicine Bow saloon on their way to deliver baggage and furniture to the train station. They meet Emmett Ryker and discuss the fact their load is being sent to Judge Garth who has been named as theTerritorial Governor. Emmett also learns that the Shiloh men are disgruntled because Judge Garth has brought in someone named Morgan Starr to run Shiloh instead of appointing his long-time foreman the Virginian. The scene flashes to Morgan Starr (John Dehner) leading a cattle drive from Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. We learn quickly that Starr is a hard, tough man with little sentiment: he runs off a group of men who try and stop him taking the cattle across what they claim is their land; his head hand, although given a bonus, refuses to come to Shiloh to continue working for Starr; and in Dodge City Starr dismissed an old flame (Peggie Castle) who expresses affection for him. Starr arrives at the Medicine Bow train station.
At the hotel, Sheriff Emmett Ryker gets ready to leave Medicine Bow on business and is seen off by several citizens including Regan (Geoffrey Horne) who has been appointed a deputy while Emmett is away. Also at the hotel on business are Morgan Starr and the Virginian who encounter, and are flirted with respectively, by Constance Burns (Jan Shepard) who works at the saloon and by the snobbish Louise Deavers (Barbara Turner) who is engaged to a man in San Francisco. As Emmett leaves on the train, a group of heavily armed Metis arrive (mixed blood Indians and French Canadians) led by Jean (Fabrizio Mioni) and Shilton (John Anderson). Smelling trouble, Regan resigns as deputy and the town leaders are wary of the strangers even though Starr and the Virginian tell them the are simply fearmongering. The owner of the hotel, Charlie Davis (Willard Sage) is reluctant to give rooms to the newcomers except at exhorbitant prices and certainly to those he perceives as ""Indians"" who are forbidden to
Trampas accidentally becomes the custodian of two young children who are being sought by men in the hire of their Mexican grandfather, ""El Supremo,"" a powerful landowner. Trampas attempts to return the children to their American mother who lives in Laramie. Along the way he meets a woman card dealer, Melinda (Nita Talbot), who agrees to assist him in his task. With the children they pose as a homesteading family. Not only do they have to elude El Supremo's armed men but they must also avoid a Sioux war party which is operating in the area.
Bounty hunter Bowers (Warren Oates) trails a Sioux Indian, High Sun (John War Eagle), who has left the reservation. However, High Sun sees a herd of buffalo and surrenders to Bowers. Meanwhile, Morgan Starr (John Dehner) and Randy Benton arrive at the Rolling Creek Indian Agency to complete a sale of cattle to the Indian Agent, Harry Weatherby (Gary Wahlberg). Morgan is surprised that the agent only wants 500 head of cattle because he suspects it will not meet the needs for the Indians and hints Weatherby is lining his own pockets. Bowers returns with High Sun and Weatherby tells him to tie up the man and not let him speak to Two Hawks (Eduard Franz), a Sioux leader who speaks no English. With the intervention of Morgan, High Sun is allowed to talk to Two Hawks and he tells him the buffalo are returning. Two Hawks, through his son, Tonka (Clive Clerk), tells Weetherby that he is going to see the buffalo, talk to the Great Spirit, and then return to lead his people. Weatherby sends for
Robber "Golden" Tom Brant (Victor Jory) is released from prison after having served 35 years for killing three members of a posse and returns to Medicine Bow an old and apparently broken man. His return creates emotional problems for his abandoned daughter (Dee Carroll), the son of his former partner (Dee Pollock) and a surviving member of the posse, Amos Coe (Kelly Thordsen) whose brother was killed in the gun battle. These problems are exacerbated by a newspaper man (Linden Chiles) who sees a story in the legend of the shootout and the fact the gold stolen in the robbery has never been found which attracts a large number of gunslingers to town. Events spiral such that Tom eventually has to face Amos Coe in the saloon where the original shootout occurred many many years before.
Randy Benton arrives in Prindiville, Montana to meet Georgie Sam Smith (Michael J. Pollard) with whom he is supposed to start a horse ranch. He finds Georgie Sam is no longer interested in such a venture and that he is working at the livery stable solely so he can watch local girl Dulcy (Peggy Lipton) walk by each day. He admits Dulcy does not even know he exists but convinces Randy to stick around by visiting a local ranch run by Pa Colby (Jay C. Flippen) to buy a mare. At the ranch Randy discovers Dulcy is Colby's daughter and is so taken with her that he is signed on for a few days as a ranch hand by her brother Ben (Donnelly Rhodes). However, he agrees to help Georgie Sam, who has also signed on as a temporary hand, in his quest for Dulcy That evening a stranger (James Farentino) arrives in Prindiville and pays to have the local mortician cut a headstone labeled ""Colby."" At the Colby Ranch, Ben sends Randy to help Dulcy bring the food for the hands' lunch, even though Randy tries
The Virginian, attempting to recover money Shiloh spent on diseased cattle, becomes embroiled in a blackmail attempt and finally murder. A pretty woman is involved who was just released from prison for murder and is the talk of Medicine Bow.
Starr with Trampas agrees to go to Mexico to check the security of a town where A US Senator and a Mexican Governor plan to sign a treat. All looks okay so Trampas leaves but Starr soon finds he is in the middle of an assassination plot.
Trampas, Emmett Ryker and Randy Benton spend some time at the Grand Teton Hotel in Medicine Bow spinning tall tales when four hillbillies arrive. They include Randy's brother Brett (Andrew Prine), his Uncle Del (Royal Dano), and his two cousins, Peck (Michael Stanwood) and Razz (Kay E. Kutzer). They tell him they are there to protect him. Jim Claiborne (Andrew Duggan), with whose family the Bentons have had a long history of feuding, is on his way to Medicine Bow to seek revenge on Randy whose testimony sent Jim to prison for six years. Claiborne and his daughter Glory (Karen Jensen) arrive in town. Jim has learned about Medicine while in prison and hopes to set up in Medicine Bow helping a doctor but he has kept from Glory his reasons for choosing that town. They meet Randy accidentally in the hotel and Randy offers to show Glory around town but Jim is reluctant to have anything to do with Randy. When the Benton clan sees Jim Claiborne in the street they attack him but are stopped by
The Virginian and Trampas arrive at the Medicine Bow saloon just as young Johnny Younce (Barry Primus) stumbles out. Johnny looks in the window of a tailor shop owned by Jake (Harold J. Stone) which contains a sign ‘the clothes make a man."" Johnny proceeds to break the window and goes on a rampage even trying to burn down the town with a thrown lantern. He is subdued by the Virginian but hits his head on a wagon and gets a concussion. At the jail Doctor Stanton (Bill Quinn) says Johnny can not be left alone so the Virginian volunteers to take Johnny to Shiloh to recuperate until his trial. The Virginian learns that Johnny had been working at the saloon but had been fired for unclear reasons. He also learns Johnny had come to town the year before looking for his Aunt Emily but found she was Lily Duvall (Jean Willes) who ran the local bordello and never visited her again. He also will not tell the Virginian or Emmett Ryker why he went on his rampage. At Shiloh it is clear Jennifer Sommer
The Virginian and Belden (L. Q. Jones) set off for the train station to meet the new owner of Shiloh. They meet John Grainger and his grandaughter Elizabeth. Trampas is said to be away on business in Cheyenne. John is surprised his grandson Stacey is not there to meet them too but he learns from Sheriff Mark Abbott (Ross Elliott) that Stacey has spent the night in jail over a gambling dispute and so John has to put up bail. As the group returns to Shiloh we learn that Shiloh ranch's government grazing land leases will soon be up for renewal. Also, the entourage is watched by neighbouring rancher Lee Calder (Jo Van Fleet) and her foreman Jim Dawson (Jeremy Slate), the former of whom comments that she has not seen John Grainger in 25 years. At Shiloh John discusses with the Virginian whether or not the Shiloh foreman will stay on and he tells the Virginian that his son was killed in an Indian raid ten years before. Sheriff Abbott and Jim Dawson arrive and the latter says some Calder ran
On behalf of his father Einar (Harold J. Stone), Lemoine Carlson (Ron Russell) and a drover, Wally Buxton (Warren Oates) deliver 50 cattle to Shiloh. Lemoine unsucessfully tries to get John Grainger to give an extra $60.00 for delivery charges which he and Buxton want to use to have a good time in the town of Clarion. Buxton wonders why Lemoine's father is so tight with his son while lavishing money on Lemoine's youngish stepmother Annie (Angie Dickenson). Buxton convinces Lemoine to turn the other cheek while he rustles and sells five of the cattle and to meet him later in Clarion. The next morning The Virginian finds the cattle missing and sets off on their trail. He eventually finds them in the possession of a black sodbuster, Ransome Kiley (Bernie Hamilton) and his two young twin sons, Elver and Jethro (Byron and Myron Berry). Kiley claims to have paid gold for the cattle and will not give up the animals. The Virginian is skeptical but Kiley tells him to go to nearby Delphi and get
A white girl is caught with her adoptive Arapaho parents stealing Shiloh cattle. She stays at Shiloh while the authorities try to find her white parents. She wants to return to the Arapaho but is forced to learn to live in the white world.
After helping deliver a herd of horses, Trampas decides to take a few days to visit an old friend nearby but he arrives in time for his friend's funeral. He is bothered by the circumstances of his death, so he decides to investigate.
Jake who can't hear or speak runs after he accidentally kills a man in a bar. He lands at Shiloh where his hard work results in a job. Stacey seeing Jake can't express himself decides to teach him to read and write but puts him in danger.
After a stagecoach holdup and accident, Trampas stumbles into a farm with a concussion and amnesia. The farmer and his two kids tend to Trampas but the white handled gun he is carrying puts him into danger from the law and the outlaws.
A man wanted for murder and robbery escapes jail and ends up in Medicine Bow where he befriends Stacey in a fight. He goes to work at Shiloh as a ranch hand and Elizabeth takes an interest in him. However, Stacey is less certain about him.
Sheriff Mark Abbott (Ross Elliott) arrives at Ed Wells (Hugh Marlowe) ranch and finds him playing checkers with Trampas and being served lemonade by Ed's wife, Connie (Monica Lewis). The Sheriff finds a horse in the corral missing a shoe and reveals a shoe, along with a piece of fringe from a distinctive shirt Ed owned, were found at the scene of the murder of Cy Bates who had been robbed of $8,000 in gold. The shirt is missing and Ed claims he was home at the time of the robbery, meeting with travelling salesman/tinker Gabe Styles. Marks wants Ed to come to town with him. In private Ed asks his wife where the shirt is and she says she gave it to her brother Willy (Steve Carlson) who lives with them, a fact Ed hides from the Sheriff. After the Sheriff and Ed leave, Willy arrives and admits to his sister that he was at the robbery but claims an accomplice killed Cy Bates and that Ed will get off anyway once Gabe Styles confirms his alibi. However, unknown to all, Gabe has died a natural
Lucy Hammond (June Vincent) and her teenage daughter Marjorie (Alice Rawlings) arrive by train in Medicine Bow. Marjorie is enthralled by her first trip west which she imagines to be like the dime novels featuring her hero Deadeye Dick. At Medicine Bow they are met by Lucy's widowed sister Livvy Underhill (Patricia Donahue). While Marjorie is waiting in the buggy for her mother and aunt, a tumbleweed spooks the horse but is calmed down by the Virginian who happens to be nearby and she tells the Virginian that was how the heroine of her novels met Deadeye Dick. Marjorie and Lucy arrive at the Underhill ranch and while out riding Marjorie spies the Virginian rounding up cattle and meets him by pretending her horse is a runaway so he will rescue her. She even pretends to see a snake to see how fast the Virginian is on the draw. The two meet neighbouring farmer Tom Foley (William Schallert) and his teenage son Bob (David Macklin) and the Virginian gets Bob to escort Marjorie home. Bob disc
When a friend of The Virginian is killed and the posse won't follow the killer out of the county, The Virginian goes alone. He tracks the killer and a woman involved to a remote outlaw controlled town but can he get them back to the law?
A wild white stallion draws the attention of Elizabeth who convinces her grandfather to buy it. Against his wishes, she tames and breaks the stallion when Trampas is unable to. Her and the stallion become inseparable but a problem occurs.
In Beauville, Texas the Virginian completes the sale of horses to government agent Fallon for $10,000. Fallon only has cash so the Virginian is forced to take it but just before boarding the stage he goes to the express office to have the money wired to Medicine Bow. Just after he gets a receipt for the money two men hold up the office and steal the funds. The Sheriff (John Pickard) and Express Agent (Joseph Mell) think he is involved in the robbery as a quick way to double his money. He is cleared by Fallon but the Sheriff is still suspicious it was an inside job and also, that it might be connected to a series of other robberies in the area. The stage is delayed waiting for the Virginian, much to its driver's (Frank McGrath) chagrin. On board the Virginian meets two other passengers, the beautiful Linda Vallance (Diane Baker) and apparent gambler Whitey Luder (Bill Fletcher). Arriving at the next town where they are to stop over for the night, the Virginian asks Linda to dinner. The
Jim Boyer Sr. returns to his wife and son living in Medicine Bow and takes a job at Shiloh. Boyer is a very capable but ignores detail in his work as he tries to earn the foreman job at another ranch Grainger is hoping to purchase.
Cowhand Howie Sheppard (Tom Tryon) participates in his last cattle drive for Shiloh as he is to marry Donna Maguire (Pamela Austin) once the roundup is over and settle down – that is, if Donna's father Jasper (Hugh Beaumont), a well-off store owner, consents to the marriage. He also encounters Rail (Michael Greene), a former co-worker with a larcenous streak and warns him against rustling cattle from the Shiloh herd like he used to do when they worked together at the Connally ranch. At a dance, Donna tells Howie the story of the girl on the glass mountain who would not come down until she met her Prince. After a dance, Howie asks Jasper Maguire for his daughter's hand and although he tells Howie he does not see him as the ideal son-in-law, he consents to the marriage. Howie agrees to buy a store with a living area at the rear where he can set up a saddlery shop. Donna and Howie are married with Stacey and Elizabeth Grainger serving as best man and bridesmaid. The saddlery shop is a suc
Stacey is forced to kill a man who tries to rob him. He returns the body to the man's sister who asks Stacey to leave rather than see the Sheriff. She is afraid their younger brother who joins the Shiloh cattle drive will try for revenge.
Sue Ann McCrae (Patty Duke) lives on a small farmstead with her widower father (Edward Binns), her two younger brothers, and hand Joe Stevens (Paul Carr). Joe wants to marry her but she feels trapped and one night runs off. She hails a stage driven by Mr. Tait (Roy Barcroft) and on it meets Trampas and tells him she is going to San Francisco. Arriving in Medicine Bow, Trampas gets her a room at Mrs. Crandall's (Rita Lynn) boarding house. Meanwhile, Joe and Pa McCrae search for Sue Ann and learn from Tait that she went to Medicine Bow and that she was with a Shiloh hand, Trampas. They arrive at Shiloh and Trampas takes them to the boarding house. Sue Ann confesses to them that she wants to see life and live it and do things outside the farm routine and that she is going to get a job to raise money to go to San Francisco. She volunteers to come back to the farm but her father says he will give her a chance to spread her wings but she is always welcome to return. Joe wants to stick around
Stacey buys a gold watch that may have belonged to his dead dad. It sets him off on a journey to find the truth about his parent's deaths. He meets an orphaned girl who owned the watch and is curious about her parents who she never knew.
One morning the Virginian arrives in a small town to meet Stacey Grainger and sees a gallows being built. From the owner of the saloon, Clara Plain (Cloris Leachman), he learns Stacey is being held in jail and is scheduled to be hanged the next morning. The Sheriff (Ford Rainey) tells him Stacey lost in a card game watched by the beloved local doctor, John Marsh, and had harsh words with him and that the doctor had a large quantity of money he had collected for the local orphanage. Having no money, Stacey went out of town where he encountered and murdered the Sheriff for the money and was caught by two locals. Stacey claims he came upon the already dead doctor, heard someone running away and fired a waring shot into the dark. Although Stacey did not have the money on him, the Sheriff claims he threw it away when he heard men approaching. In the next cell to Stacey is Randall (Morgan Woodward) who is awaiting transfer to prison. The Virginian learns that Stacey's trial was called hastil
Five men arrive in Medicine Bow intent on robbing the bank: Bob Archer (Harry Carey Jr.), Frank Cave (Gene Ellis), brothers Roy (John Goddard) and Cullen Tindall (Harrison Ford), and leader and well-known gunslinger, Del Stetler alias the Modoc Kid (John Saxon). However, they have been observed by Deputy Emmett Ryker and are ambushed by him, Sheriff Abbott (Ross Elliott) and other deputies. Cave is killed and Archer is wounded and captured but the others escape even though Roy Tindall is seriously wounded. They manage to elude the posse and go to Shiloh ranch where the hands are away on a trail drive and only the Graingers are home. They take the Graingers prisoner, forcing Elizabeth to tend to the wounded Roy, and it soon becomes clear the Modoc Kid is obsessed with his own notoriety as a gunslinger. Roy needs medical attention and so the Modoc Kid forces John Grainger to lure Dr. Hinton (Paul Fix) to Shiloh with the pretense that Elizabeth Grainger has broken her collar bone in an ac
The Virginian is shot crossing a large Texas ranch. The owner taking him in tries to hire him to be his own foreman. The owner likes to make his own rules putting him at odds with his wife over their son and the running of a gauntlet.
Stacey has developed an interest in a girl but her father doesn't approve of him. After dragging Stacey, the father is found shot in the back. When the $300 he was carrying is found in Stacey's saddle bags, Stacey is charged with murder.
An old and successful friend and his daughter from Chicago visit the Graingers. John is surprised when he learns they want to stay in the area. The high society daughter falls in love with Trampas who doesn't know about her secret illness.
Dr. Spaulding decides to hire another doctor to help share the load but he is unsure whether the attractive female doctor he is sent will work out. The Virginian takes a strong interest in her and her problems as she tries to adapt.
Watched by two men, Stacey Grainger buys a train ticket to San Francisco where he is to meet the Virginian. He leaves his bag with the Station Master (Harry Harvey Sr.) but when he returns to the station to catch the train he is waylaid by the men who had been watching him. One of the men, whom it turns out is army Sergeant Tom Beale (Johnny Seven), dresses Stacey in an army uniform, fills him with rotgut and takes him to Fort Killman where he gives the clerk (Wally Strauss) papers saying Stacey is Willard J. Thorne, a new recruit. Beale is surprised to learn, however, that his own army discharge papers have not yet arrived and won't come through for two days. The unconscious Stacey is thrown in the guardhouse where he meets black soldier Billy Martin (Don Mitchell). The top Sergeant, Joe Trapp (James Daly) and commanding officer, Captain MacDowell (Les Crane), return to the fort from a reconnaissance. It is clear the two distrust one another and are not on good terms, with Trapp imply
The Virginian travels to Winton to buys oats for Shiloh. He finds himself in the middle of a fight between the farmers and ranchers with the owner of the oats at the core of the fight with a rancher who is a close friend of John Grainger.
Trampas goes to visit Ida Martin and son Joe who he lived with as a child. Having not seen them in a few years he finds their place deserted. When he learns Joe was killed by a posse, he can't believe the reason given for his death.
On the range Trampas spots a girl (Valora Noland) riding a pinto whom he has seen before but whom no one believes exists including the Virginian. Trampas rides after her but she rides off refusing to talk to him. In town he sees her again with her mother, Miriam Harley (Vivi Janiss), learns her name is Amanda, and that her parents have bought a local farm. He tries to get her to go a dance but she refuses. As the Harley's leave town they are watched by a man, Richard Pierce (Warren Stevens), who has just arrived at the hotel. Pierce learns where the Harleys live and later visits and talks with Amanda but rides off when her father, Frederick (R. G. Amstrong) arrives. In town, Pierce tries to get the stationmaster to arrange to stop a train so it can drop off some horses and is overheard by Sheriff Mark Abbott. He also briefly talks with another man who arrives on the train, Bert Robinson (Sandy Kenyon). The Sheriff returns to the jail where Marshall John Howard (Ken Mayer) is waiting a
John Grainger asks an old friend from Maryland to come to Shiloh to take the rough edges off his grandkids. She does as he asks quite well but is less than popular with the kids and The Virginian. Unknown to them, she has a secret plan.
A nurse comes to Medicine Bow so see if an outlaw Ryker captured might be her brother as they were both orphaned at an early age. When he escapes and is shot, he uses her feelings to get help as Ryker who is attracted to her purses him.
The Virginian, John and Elizabeth go to Texas where The Virginian is seen by members of a gang whose leader thinks The Virginian is responsible for the death of his brother seven years earlier. Elizabeth is kidnapped to trap him.
After receiving the third letter with his name on a list of people being killed, Trampas decides to learn who is after him. He meets a gunfighter who is on the list. Together they are trying to solve the mystery which involves his ex-wife.
The owner of a ranch next to Shiloh dies leaving his entire estate to a woman who runs a saloon in Wichita. Her and her partner go to Medicine Bow expecting to sell the ranch but she decides to stay on the ranch despite their background.
An old friend of Ryker's settles on a ranch with a new wife and stepson under a new name due to being wanted. Ryker helps him but loses his job when the man confesses to killing a Shiloh hand who was blackmailing him due to his past.
The Virginian rescues a man who has been shot. As he recovers at Shiloh he and the Grainger kids realize the man is a bit different as well as being from England. A private detective looking for him provides a clue to his background.
Bank teller George Foster has told his ex-lawman dad he is a sheriff to make him proud. When his father is to stop by for a two hour visit, Ryker and The Virginian decide to make him Sheriff but they didn't expect the visit to be extended.
The Shiloh cook, Ah Sing, has decided to open a restaurant in Medicine Bow to support the mail order bride he wants. When he applies for a license for the restaurant with the Justice of Peace, Milo Temple, it is denied because he is Chinese. After being jailed for attempting to open the restaurant without a license, he is represented by a local attorney who has become an alcoholic. The case stretches the attorney's abilities to the breaking point.
Clay and Holly Grainger take over for John as a herd from Texas is brought in by Kyle Jackson and his brothers. However, things turn tragic when Trampas discovers the herd is sick and a brother accidentally kills the wife of an ex-lawman.
Trampas is sentenced to hang for a murder he didn't commit. The Virginian and Stacey try to find new evidence while Clay Grainger and the attorney try for a new trial. Meanwhile, a desperate Trampas escapes prison with his cell mate.
Frank returns from prison to find his father crippled after saving Trampas and working at a low level job for Clay Grainger. Frank accepts a job but his attitude toward Trampas and Grainger push him toward getting revenge via rustling.
Harness maker Walter Varig (Harry Landers) and Dr. Baldwin (Malachi Throne) have an argument due to the fact Varig is reneging on a promise to let the doctor use some property for a new hospital in Medicine Bow. In town on business, Trampas has to restrain the doctor and escorts him back to his office. At the office, Dr. Baldwin finds his nurse, Carol Fisk (Joanna Moore), removing the damaged leg brace of Nancy (Lorette Strome), the young daughter of lawyer Arthur Blanton (William Windom). Trampas accompanies Carol to the blacksmith's, she to leave the leg brace for repairs, he to get a plow fixed. As Carol leaves she is approached by a drunken Walter Varig, her former boyfriend. He accuses her of having an affair with the doctor and reveals that is why he put a stop to the hospital. He knocks Carol down so Trampas intervenes and knocks down Varig who swears he will get Carol. He begins staking out Carol's residence to catch her with the doctor. After dinner, Trampas goes to retrieve t
The Virginian returns the body of one of Asa Keogh's sons to him after The Virginain shot and killed him during an attempted theft of his horse. After the burial the crippled Asa suffers a heart attack. Asa is dying and asks The Virginian to see if his daughter who was stolen by Indians when she was ten will return home. He had found her eight years after her capture but she decided to stay with the Shoshone at that time. Asa wants to give her his farm as his only other child is an outlaw. The daughter, Sarah, agrees to return with her son as her Shoshone husband is dead. Sarah's other brother Dobie upon hearing that Dick was killed comes to avenge his brother's death. Complicating the situation for The Virginian a couple of men in town want the property due to silver ore on it. Asa has died splitting the property between Sarah and The Virginian. One is a lawyer who takes Asa's will from Sarah and tries to say Asa died with no will but Sarah surprises everyone.
Trampas and two cowhands drive a herd of cattle to a remote army fort. Trampas must go to Triste, which is almost a ghost town, to receive the money for the herd. He encounters an old companion, Lee Knight, who is a gun fighter tired of life. He tries challenge Trampas to a gun fight which Trampas tries to avoid. Although Trampas tells the two cowhands to stay away from Triste, they go anyway to celebrate. It results in their use as bait by Knight to goad Trampas into a gun fight.
The Virginian is traveling alone when Tom Conlan and his ranch hands meet him and steal The Virginian's horse and gun after he refuses to drink with them. He makes it to a nearby town where he encounters a married woman he knew when she was single. When he tires to retrieve his possessions, he has no support and events lead to a potentially fatal accident involving the woman's daughter. The citizens ask The Virginian to help return law and order but his support comes from a surprising source.
The Viginian takes a herd of cattle to Montana near the Canadian border for the ranchers in Medicine Bow. He receives the $100,000 for the herd but the bank is robbed where he left the funds. He tracks the robbers into Canada where he learns the real thief is the buyer of the cattle who controls the area and people around him in his own empire. The Virginian devises a sting to recover the funds but not without consequences for others.
A trio of soldiers are transporting a prisoner across Shiloh property when they learn after a run in with Trampas it appears the prisoner has scarlet fever. Elizabeth and Holly Grainger find the prisoner stranded and inadvertently help him escape. The Graingers are concerned with contracting scarlet fever while Trampas helps two of the soldiers who have their own internal feud recapture the prisoner. However, Trampas is plagued with flashbacks of his own history with scarlet fever.
An old friend of Trampas, Jed Matthews, is hired for his gun to come to Medicine Bow by rancher Tom Tallman to fight homesteaders blocking a pass used by the ranchers to take their cattle to market. Tallman has Jed go to work at Shiloh to spy on their plans as the ranchers have differing views on how to handle the problem. Trampas introduces Jed to the sister of a homesteader who falls for Jed forcing him to choose sides in the dispute.
While on a trip Trampas runs into a dog, Ulysses, who leads him to the ailing Joe Keller. Joe asks Trampas to locate his lost niece who is in the town where Trampas is to visit a girl he along with her family. However, Joe does not remember the name or a description of his niece other than the strawberry mark she has on one knee. Complications due to this task severely interrupt Trampas's attempts to see his friend especially when he is caught inspecting multiple knees in his hotel room by her and her family.
Clay decides to take on three convicts on parole to test whether they can be rehabilitated at the urging of a prison warden. The three get off to a rocky start as they are obvious misfits with no experience and one has a bad attitude.
Elizabeth finds the outlaw Jim Dewey shot and about to die from blood loss. Her and Clay bring him back to Shiloh where everyone is gone except them and Holly due to a cattle drive. While they nurse Dewey back to health, the bounty hunter Ben Hicks arrives revealing the outlaw's identity and wanting to take him in preferably dead but they stop him. Elizabeth is persuaded by Jim he really has a good side and she torn on whether to help him as members of his gang arrive at Shiloh and Hicks hires help.
Trampas, Stacey, and Elizabeth are transporting a bull back to Shiloh when they encounter a massive sand storm. They find a deserted homestead to take shelter in while waiting out the storm. While there others start showing up beginning with the Van Owens who are on vacation. Trampas recognizes her as as a crooked dealer from years back with a different name and her husband is the president of the local bank. When the bull knocks a hole in the wall, Trampas and Stacey discover $10,000 in gold coins and wonder who to trust.
Kiley Cheever's father, the sheriff, is fed up with his son's bratty behavior. After publicly humiliating him, Kiley decides to leave Texas and find his old friend Trampas and ask for a job at Shiloh. His personality trait of embellishing his abilities creates tension with the hands at Shiloh. Melissa, niece of the Graingers, visiting Shiloh takes a shine to Kiley while still seeing his flaws and letting him know it. An old hand, Charlie, who knows Kiley's dad takes a shine to Kiley but loses his job when Kiley lets him take the blame for starting a fire in the stable.
Stacey breaks his arm and injures a nerve in his shoulder during an accident with a girl friend. When his recovery is questionable, she abandons him due to family induced emotional constraints, putting Stacey into a deeper depression.
Ward Bowden is pressing his father to fight for total ownership of a strip of land between their ranch and Shiloh that has been shared. When their attorney tells them their case is weak, Ward initiates activities to sway public opinion in their favor. A drifter, Jim, comes to the aid of Trampas when Ward leaves him knocked out on a runaway wagon. One of the Bowden hands recognizes him as a known gunfighter from Virginia City leading the Bowdens to believe Shiloh has upped the ante in the conflict. As the Shiloh handyman, Jim continues to come to the aid of Trampas.
Sheriff Dan Porter leaves his job as sheriff of Mason City to follow his wife to Medicine Bow as she is terrified of him being killed on the job. He signs on as a ranch hand at Shiloh to learn ranching but Trampas has a grudge against him for putting Trampas in jail. He hopes to buy and start his own ranch once he has learned the basics. When a Shiloh cattle drive has to divert to Mason City, he finds the young man he left in charge is not up to the challenge of the job.
While hunting a cougar, Trampas encounters a lost and sick teenager who calls himself Seth. Trampas tends to him and adopts him as an assistant on the rest of the hunt. Although Seth stays with Trampas, he occasionally takes side trips unknown to Trampas. Seth continues to work at Shiloh until the sheriff tracks down his family. Although reluctant to go with his uncle, Seth does. The sheriff learns that the uncle is an outlaw resulting in him and Trampas tracking down Seth and his uncle and learning the truth.
David Sutton takes a job at Shiloh to make up for the work Trampas can't do after being involved in Trampas breaking his leg. He has a hard time fitting in with the other hands while a girl he met earlier tracks him down to help her.
Dan Sheppard and his son Jeremy arrive at Shiloh to photograph the west. Dan learns that an old sweetheart Della Price is a widow with a ranch caught in a bidding war between an oil speculator and the other local ranchers who are afraid of the negative aspects of the oil industry. Unknown to everyone her foreman is working with the oil speculator to cover gambling losses he incurred with the ranch's money. Della tries to rekindle their lost romance while Dan tries to help the Graingers.
Clay Grainger continues to help an old friend, Tim Bradbury, from 20 years ago in Texas who he feels obliged to since Tim went broke due to a drought after buying out Clay's share of their ranch and cattle. Clay went north and became wealthy. Tim has two sons. One, Mike, works for Clay but is unreliable and gambles heavily. The other son, Walt, is industrious but wants to farm to become financially solvent while his father continues to dream of rebuilding his Texas ranch life. Mike becomes involved with rustlers who are hitting Shiloh and adds to the strain in his family. Holly Grainger attempts to make Clay see the reality of the relationship between him and Tim.
Elizabeth is blinded by a stagecoach accident. She is found by Ben Oakes who wanted to kill Trampas who had to miss the stage. Ben tries to help her home but becomes lost. After they are found, She is in love with the conflicted Ben.
In Montana on business, The Virginian and Trampas stay at the inn run by Louis Boissevain (Ricardo Montalban), an exiled Canadian revolutionist, and his wife, Suzanne Mayo (Lois Nettleton) whom Trampas recognizes as a former love interest. The Shiloh duo find that some of Louis' former confreres want him to return to Canada to lead another revolution, but that there are traitors in the group who plan to hand Louis over to the Canadian government for execution.
Shiloh hand Rafe Judson is mistaken for an outlaw as the two men look identical. When Rafe loses an option on a ranch due to a lack of funds, he decides to take advantage of the situation to rob a stagecoach without taking the blame.
A Shoshone Indian girl return from the East after receiving an education. She is unsure if she want to rejoin her tribe and seeks advice and help from the Graingers. Her tribe is facing threats from a land-greedy cattleman.
Shiloh and its neighbor's cattle herds are threaten by an outbreak of anthrax. A wounded man and woman wanting horses tell Clay the stage with a vaccine was robbed and they are chasing the outlaw gang so The Virginian and David join them.
Trampas and an old friend clash over the building of a dam in Nebraska.
The Viriginian finds a woman unconscious on a remote mountain trail on the way to visit his friend Jingo. He takes her to Jingo's cabin and they wait for her to recover as no help is available. She wakes up but is slow to communicate and recover her memory. At the same time another visitor arrives with a lame horse asking to stay until his horse can travel again. As the woman recovers she is attracted to The Virginian in a romantic manner but remembers no details.
The Virginian and David are to pick up a herd of horses Shiloh needs for a cattle drive. The horses are stolen from the seller so they must catch and break a new herd but a conflict between a father and his son over his future intervenes.
Clay's old sweetheart Nora and her husband a Major in the Army stop at Shiloh. Nora tries to impress everyone with herself and her down to earth husband. She is willing to put others lives on the line to help her husband win a promotion.
Trampas and David are sent to buy a bull at Durango for Shiloh. The Virginian vouches to Clay that Trampas can be relied on but it is David who finds himself in trouble. He agrees to be engaged to a woman he bumps into on the street.
Frank Hammel known as a gunman arrives on the stage in Medicine Bow shortly after The Virginian arrives in town. When the people of Medicine Bow learn of Hammel's arrival many of the residents with skeletons in their closets believe he is after them. Hammel tells The Virginian who knows Hammel personally that he is waiting for the 2:30 pm stage but the Virginian believes he after someone. One by one Hammel indicates he is not after various citizens of Medicine Bow. However, The Virginian uncovers the truth with a twist.
David kills a man in self-defense on Shiloh who stole his girlfriend. He is forced to stay at Shiloh as the man's father and brother wait for him in Medicine Bow as Trampas who is in charge encounters unusual problems on the ranch.
The Virginian runs into an old friend Bill Burden who is accused of robbery and murder after their meeting. Bill's son, Dan, comes and ask The Virginian to come immediately to Socorro Creek to clear his dad. The Viriginian is delayed a day by Shiloh business but still arrives before the scheduled trial. However, when he arrives at Socorro Creek he finds his friend lynched. The Virginian is determined to learn the truth and Dan wants revenge while Kate still has feelings for the Virginian as he had for her.
After a fight with Trampas, David leaves. He finds himself not only robbed of his clothes and horse by bank robbers but arrested for the robbery himself. Trampas who followed to get him to return, finds himself in the same jail cell.
An orphan who lived with the Graingers in Texas 15 years earlier comes through Medicine Bow. He decides to stay and work for them and is very protective of the Graingers but his years away from them have changed him - in a bad way.
Clay Grainger sends a letter to The Virginian to take on a new hand, Scott Austin, while Clay is in Denver. Scott is the spoiled son of a wealthy self made man who is hoping a summer working at Shiloh will make him a responsible person. Scott is insecure and after several incidents including one involving the thoroughbred colt belonging to Elizabeth,he decides to leave. The Virginain goes after Scott and tries a scheme to change Scott but it has unintended consequences for both of them.
A dispute ends with one man dead, the Sheriff unconscious, and the shooter on the run. The Virginian, Trampas, and David catch the shooter with his family. The softhearted David wants to let the shooter go but The Virginian won't go along.
The daughter, Eileen Linden, of a friend of the Graingers comes to visit the Graingers. Her father has asked her to take a six week hiatus from seeing Peter Bowers who she wants to marry. Her father does not trust him. When Peter follows her and starts working at Shiloh, her and others become entangled in a situation that make none of them happy. Eileen finally comes clean with Clay but other problems surface.
Trampas is sent by stagecoach on a cattle buying trip. At a way station two soldiers and a payroll join the stage and they are told there may be Indian trouble ahead. When the coach stops for rest and water, Trampas finds Jason Adams standing in the river over the dead body of the ferry man from Diablo Crossing where the stage is headed. At Diablo Crossing they find the ferry destroyed and Bud McLister and Marcy McLister who are brother and sister. While repairing the ferry, Trooper Rankin takes a shine to Marcy, they are shot at, and the horses disappear followed by the payroll.
Elizabeth goes missing. Clay and The Virginian ride out to search, soon followed by Trampas and Holly. They find Elizabeth trapped in an abandoned mine, where she had taken refuge during a storm. Another cave-in thwarts efforts to dig her out. Things look bleak until wolves are spotted near the mine, raising the possibility that the animals may have been using a forgotten emergency tunnel as a den. A desperate search for the tunnel ensues.
Claire Garson and her manager Nathaniel E. 'Doc' Watson who are entertainers are hired to have Claire assume the identity of the lost niece of Charles Grainger, Clay's dead brother. Charles was killed in a mine disaster in California and Clay has no knowledge of him other than his death since Charles left Texas. Claire's "entertainment" abilities and honesty, however, interfere with her ability to assume the role.
Luke Nichols arrives at Shiloh searching for Trampas. He and Trampas were cell mates in prison when Trampas was sentenced to hang for a murder he did not commit. They escaped prison together. Trampas was cleared of the murder and Luke escaped to Canada where he waited for Trampas to join him. Bracken, a bounty hunter, traces Luke to Trampas who tries to hide Luke with Widow McCloud but Bracken finds him and blackmails Trampas for Luke's freedom.
The Virginian encounters a stranger, Garrison, on a trip when both are victims of separate robberies. Garrison is very standoffish with everyone but The Virginian finds him a reliable person and hires him at Shiloh. When the foreman at a neighboring ranch is murdered and the owner is shot and robbed, Garrison is thought by the community to be guilty based primarily on his actions. However, The Virginian is not so sure but the case tightens against Garrison.
The close friendship and free life of teenage cowhand Jim Horn and an old wrangler are put at risk when they both sign on the Shiloh. Young Jim takes a liking to his new surroundings, and to Elizabeth.
During a cattle drive, a rattler startles the Virginian's horse while he is chasing a stray, and he is thrown and hits his head on a rock causing temperary blindness. As he wanders in the darkness, he stumbles upon a young lady who lives with her father (James Whitmore)and brother, whom the Virginian had just fired. The daughter wants to help the Virginian though the men protest. The two men tell her that they are returning the blind man to his friends but actually plan to kill him. After leaving the house, the Virginian somehow manages to escape and makes it back to the house where he wanders into the corral and is nearly trampled by the horses until Trampas and Jim Horn rescues him from the corral and the two men.
Trampas takes the job as teaching foreman at a rehabilitation ranch in Arizona. The group of prisoners which has been selected to start the ranch are having more problems with the nearby town than in learning how to work a ranch.
The territorial representative resigns so Clay is drafted to run against a local man. Once in the race Clay learns the dirty side of politics including being lied to about who drafted him. He runs an honest contest but will the other side.
Jim becomes farmhand, midwife and friend to a pregnant teen whose husband is on the lam from the law.
The Graingers become stand-in parents for a boy running away from an orphanage.
The Virginian becomes attracted to Julie Oakes, an Eastern reporter whose mysteriously tragic past may doom their relationship.
Trampas' vacation takes a nightmarish turn when he's jailed in a small town on a trumped-up murder charge.
A story of alienation between a veteran Army officer and his son, a deserter.
The Virginian becomes involved in a lawman's obsessive search for two surviving members of a gang.
A pig tailed brat returns home from finishing school for a two week vacation as a beautiful woman catching Trampas' eyes again. They fall in love as she remembers the good times but her father wants her to return to school in the east.
Jim is in North Dakota to purchase ponies when he tangles with a pair of sharp operators after his $4000 bank roll.
The Shiloh people unwittingly stir up the past when they shelter the son and white widow of a Shoshone.
A bigoted gambler and his outlaw gang force Trampas and a black recluse into an alliance for survival.
The accent is on comedy as a proper Southern woman, aided by Trampas and old Luther, goes after robbers who took her dowry.
When the wife of a prominent Medicine Bow business man arrives, smoldering jealousies quickly rise to the top.
The Shiloh ranch is burned down after Clay joins with his fellow ranchers to oppose an Eastern combine trying for a land-grab. This leaves Clay with only has one chance for survival of the ranch, get a herd to Denver in record time.
On a train to Cheyenne, Clay, Elizabeth and Jim become involved in a fellow traveler's efforts to escape a vengeful family.
Two young men and a girl take over the Shiloh ranch and hold the Graingers captive. They are setting up a trap for a close friend of Clay's, Judge Will McMasters.
A man signs on to work a cattle drive for the Shiloh ranch putting the other hands in danger. He is a fugitive Indian caught between the white world and his Kiowa roots. Things get heated when they come to a small, bigoted town.
Clay Grainger is kidnapped and held for ransom by a gang hired by an Englishman (Patrick Macnee)who has posed as a friend of the Graingers. However, his true intentions are later revealed by his wife (Jackie DeShannon) but not before the Virginian follows the kidnappers - after the ransom drop-off - captures them, and convinces them to tell him where Grainger is stashed.
Adam Randall is hired on as a Shiloh hand despite his being a gunfighter. Despite his being a troublemaker, the Virginian, whose life he saved, and Clay, for unknown reasons, stand behind him.
A farmer who has been poor his entire life suddenly comes into a lot of money. He goes on a spending spree giving large parties, buying luxury items, and a ranch hand more than willing to help him spend it.
A saloon singer finds herself the target of killer after his partner dies in her room.
Colonel Alan MacKenzie arrives from England as Shiloh's new owner. Right away he faces his first challenge when a young struggling small rancher is lynched, allegedly because of rustling cattle from one of the larger ranches. Another was lynched just before MacKenzie's arrival. MacKenzie locks horns with other members of the cattlemen's association, who believe that extraordinary measures are needed to deal with rustlers, and due to his strong disagreement the colonel is beaten. Meanwhile, the lynched man's sister and young son are staying at Shiloh for their protection, especially as the boy may have witnessed his father's hanging though he has now gone mute due to shock.
Trampas and his friend Pick Lexington visit some old friends in Mexico. But Trampas is caught between Pick and one of his Mexican friends as both men fall for the same girl, and he hopes to stop them from dueling each other while the girl chooses between them.
The Virginian comes to the aid of a woman being attacked in a hotel, and finds that it's an old flame, Jenny Davis, who says three men have been following her though she doesn't know why. The next day, she and The Virginian are on a stage with another man and a young woman when the three men chase after them and cause the stage to break down in the desert. Jenny is slow with telling the whole truth, but finally admits that the men are the partners of her late outlaw husband who are looking for money he hid before he was imprisoned. A mysterious man riding alone is also following both the stage and the three outlaws.
Trampas wins a riverboat from an old man named Skeet in a poker game. He also wins a substantial amount of money, which two railroad detectives confiscate as it was previously stolen. He finds his new boat very dilapidated, and works to fix it with the help of Skeet and his granddaughter. But two aging outlaw brothers and their gang also want to use the riverboat to stage one last big crime.
Colonel MacKenzie is traveling on a train with Lark Walters, the young and sheltered daughter of a wealthy friend of his. At a stop in a town, he sees a young man shoot another man in self-defense. Later, MacKenzie saves the same young man from being lynched, and brings him onto the train, where the overly romantic Lark falls for the young stranger. MacKenzie tries to keep them apart, but Lark won't give up. Meanwhile, other men on the train hatch up a scheme to kidnap Lark and hold her for ransom, and try to get the young man, Tate, to join with them. This episode introduces Tate as a series regular.
The Virginian is taken by a posse, brought into a saloon in a small town, tried before an incompetent drunken judge, convicted of murder, and taken out to be hanged, all in a span of a couple hours. The only evidence allowed is the accusation of the dead man's son, who claims The Virginian is a notorious hired killer known as Boss Cooper, and that he saw him kill his father. The Virginian escapes from the lynch mob and determines to clear his name by finding the real Boss Cooper, though the dead man's sons are trailing him.
A group of German immigrants is repeatedly threatened by night riders who want them out. The night riders are working for a blacksmith who should know only too well the evils of prejudice. Tate becomes involved after the daughter of the leader of the immigrants mistakes him for the gunman they hired to protect them.
Trampas is arrested for the murder of a man he argued with over ownership of a mine. The judge and marshal seem primarily interested in wrapping up the trial as quickly as possible so they can go fishing. Trampas's hope lies with his attorney, Frances B. Finch.
After Colonel MacKenzie is seriously injured in an accident, Tate brings him into the nearest town looking for a doctor. He finds that the only doctor in town is in jail, scheduled to be hanged the next morning. Though Tate finally persuades the sentencing judge to let the doctor out under guard to treat the colonel, when Tate investigates he learns that the judge may have been motivated more by a desire for vengeance than for justice.
The Virginian comes to the communal village of New Life, looking for a number of Shiloh cattle that have strayed. At the commune council meeting, the members agree to let him take his cattle back. After the Virginian leaves, however, the council makes another vote---to start "complex" or group marriage in the community, meaning that every woman will be considered married to every man. Given an unreasonably short time by the acting leader to round up his cattle, the Virginian appeals to the widow of the commune's original leader for help, but when he learns of the new marriage rule he decides to help her and her daughter escape the commune.
Ritter Miley, the leader of an unschooled backwoods clan of thieves, kills a cousin who wanted to go straight. Colonel MacKenzie finds that the type of gun used in the killing was sold to only two men, Ritter and Trampas. Trampas thus tries to prove his innocence by bringing Ritter in and locating his gun, but Ritter's brothers come up with their own ideas to force his release.
While on a trip to buy cattle, Colonel MacKenzie becomes involved in the affairs of a woman reporter and a group of former Comancheros who are now trying to make an honest living raising sheep. In writing a story about the group, the reporter has mentioned their hunting down of a maverick steer. Gossip in the nearby town fails to note that the steer was a maverick, and a group of cattle ranch workers respond by killing the sheepherders' entire herd. The leader of the former Comancheros, Sosentes, responds by kidnapping the reporter and holding her for ransom. Unfortunately, MacKenzie finds that the local sheriff's hatred of Comancheros far exceeds his concern for the woman's safe return.
After a precocious young girl's father is stricken with a heart attack while traveling on the train he is on, Trampas decides to help the girl find her estranged mother. He has a hard time keeping the girl, Hannah, from trying to do everything by herself. Unfortunately, Hannah's mother has been manipulated by her boyfriend into participating in a bank robbery.
Upon arriving for a business appointment with a friend, MacKenzie learns that the man was killed by the brother of Nan Allen, a young woman he was in the act of assaulting. He finds this hard to believe, but upon getting to know Nan, he takes a strong liking to her. When her brother Bobby is injured from an avalanche, MacKenzie brings both him and Nan to Shiloh while he recuperates. As he and Nan begin to fall in love, MacKenzie starts to wonder why more than one man in her past has died violently, and if Bobby's strangely possessive attitude has something to do with it.
When he is appointed to the Senate Foster Bonham decides to sell his ranch to Shiloh. The Virginian arrives at the Bonham ranch to finalize the sale, but Foster's drunken, irresponsible brother Jack is determined to stop the sale any way he can. When a murder is committed the Virginian searches for Jack, and Foster must decide between his brother and his Senate seat.
Tate comes across a deaf and mute Indian boy, who is being hunted by a posse for the killing of a respected rancher. To prevent his being lynched, Tate brings the boy into town himself, and hopes to somehow learn his side of the story. But just about everyone in the town, including the judge, is too anxious to hang the boy quickly, so Tate finds he has to take on the role of defense counsel himself.
Stopping in nearly abandoned Spencer Flats, Trampas is held by sisters Della and Annie Spencer, who accuse him of being outlaw Deke Slaughter, though their handyman is not so convinced. Then the real Slaughter rides into the town, claiming to be a sheriff.
The Virginian arrives at Laura Duff's ranch to buy her Angus cattle, only to find that she has lost her head steer due to someone cutting her fence. While she suspects a hostile rancher who wants her land, her son insists that a friendly neighbor is responsible, not only for the cattle but also for the death of his father several months earlier.
Colonel MacKenzie finds a woman unconscious on a remote mountain trail on the way to visit his hermit friend Muley. He takes her to Muley's cabin and they wait for her to recover as no help is available. She wakes up but is slow to communicate and recover her memory. At the same time another visitor arrives with a lame horse asking to stay until his horse can travel again. As the woman recovers she is attracted to the Colonel in a romantic manner, thinking he is someone she knows, but remembers no details.
Tate is hired by his friend Joe Benson to work on his ranch and watch over his teenage son and daughter while he's away on business. This puts Tate squarely in the middle of a dispute with a big rancher over a fence Benson wants to build, as well as with a woman who arrives claiming to be Benson's fiancée, the children's rebelliousness, and a hired gun who comes to town with a wanted poster on Tate.
When an Army troop arrives looking for a group of marauding Indians who have gone on the warpath, both Colonel MacKenzie and Parker recognize one of the sergeants as a lancer from the British Army whom they believed to have been killed in India ten years ago - and who was supposed to have been leading MacKenzie's brother when he was captured and killed. The man deserts when he recognizes Parker, and MacKenzie goes out after him, with the Indians following behind.
On the way to a cattle purchase, The Virginian meets up with Ben Hunter and his group when they interrupt a holdup attempt on him. He finds that Hunter is leading a protection racket that now covers a number of towns on the way between Medicine Bow and Billings, and that the people in these towns are cowed into paying him outrageous fees to keep their homes and businesses safe. When The Virginian is forced to kill one of Hunter's men the citizens of one town are ordered to turn him over to be killed, and except for the daughter of one man are too willing to do so.
After being mauled by a cunning wolf he has been tracking, and then robbed of his horse, gun, and other possessions by a stranger on the road, Col. MacKenzie is taken in by a homesteader and her young son. The wolf, however, is still at large and MacKenzie is determined to hunt him down.
After stopping in the town of Jump-Up to see an old girlfriend, Tate is cheated in a card game by a gambler, and then framed by town boss John Timothy Driscoll and his son for killing the man, and forced into a hard labor camp.
