A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.

In this series' highlight, little Michael Thorpe heads to the high country to ask God to spare his critically wounded father, believing he has found Him in the form of longtime fugitive Tom Cain.

Hoss comes upon an overturned stagecoach and discovers a little girl suffering from shock. After the Cartwrights suceed in bringing her around, Hoss is disappointed she has relatives and cannot stay. The girl's uncle turns out to be the enemy and Hoss saves her.

Virginia City's newest preacher is an ex-gunfighter who wants only to build a new church, but the brother of one of his victims has other ideas. The blueprints for the church are said to be a gift from Adam.

The Cartwrights attempt to straighten out the snobbish young son of Ben's cousin.

A judge awards itinerant horse breeder Jim Acton's beloved mare to rancher Sam Whipple. Jim tries to buy her back, but Whipple refuses his offer, after which a fight ensues and Jim kills Whipple in self-defense. The Cartwrights want to bring Jim in to make sure he receives a fair trial, but an ambitious and overzealous deputy doesn't care how he brings him in.

The mother of a young outlaw condemned to hang, threatens to have her gang's hostages killed if her son is not set free. One of the hostages is Joe.

Feeling guilty for unintentionally ending the career of a professional boxer, Hoss vows never to fight again. But things change when Joe is nearly beaten to death.

Juan Ortega claims he has a land grant which gives him ownership of the entire Nevada Territory.

Conclusion to the previous-week's episode, where the Cartwrights provide needed assistance to the Pony Express.

While Sheriff Coffee is in Saint Louis, the Morrisey bunch decides to work off excess energy by wrecking the saloon in a violent spree. When Deputy Bill Harris tries to arrest them, they hit him on the head with a whiskey bottle, accidentally killing him. All of them get away except Cliff, who is put in jail. He refuses to say the names or locations of his friends. Mayor Garrett holds an emergency meeting of the Virginia City town council. They hire legendary lawman Wes Dunn, as the temporary sheriff. He is a humorless man who is determined to restore order in town. He beats Cliff almost to death to find out where his friends are, but Cliff will not say anything. Meanwhile, Hoss finds Chuck, a wounded gang member. When he tries to take Chuck's gun away, he shoots Hoss. Joe goes with Dunn to find the other men. He thinks Dunn is a hero until he sees him murder one of the suspects in cold blood.

Ben helps a convict win a parole only to have the man later become the chief suspect in a bank robbery.

Ben must determine who is the rightful heir to a fortune that includes water rights vital to the Ponderosa.

Hoss finds a kindred spirit in Skeeter Dexter, a lonesome young man who feels closer to animals than most people.

Joe is goaded into facing gunman Dan Taggert, unaware there is more to be prearranged than he realizes.

Italian immigrants are determined to establish their own vineyard on Ponderosa property.

The Generation Gap, Western-style, as Hoss tries to bring a young man and his father closer together.

The Pony Express sets up office in Virginia and Joe is one of the first to join up. Ben also decides to invest in the fledgling enterprise. However, troubles soon plague the Pony Express with the Paiutes and a newspaper reporter, both trying to get their own agendas across.

Wiley and Annie Kane arrive at the Ponderosa to work off their father's debt to Ben. It seems as though the elder Kane once swindled the Cartwright patriarch.

Ben and Hoss unwittingly aid a vengeful army colonel who plans to wipe out every Indian he can with a Gatling gun.

Hoss finds himself in another mess, this one involving a beautiful blonde, a moonshiner, and a nearsighted outlaw who is allergic to chocolate and flowers.

After his only friend is killed, the Cartwrights take in a slow-witted man, who Roy Coffee informs them, is wanted for murder by Arizona authorities.

Not one, but three mail-order brides show up unexpectedly at the Ponderosa, all of them believing they are to marry Hoss.

Ben and Claire Armory fall in love, but their future is jeopardized by her disabled brother.

Young, adoring Wendy Daniels has come to Virginia City to meet up with her father, Taylor Daniels, who has been traveling on business for the last five years. Joe is attracted to Wendy, but he faces stiff competition for her affections. She idolizes her father and cannot stop talking about his great business visions, although she has not seen him in five years. The Cartwrights realize there is something wrong when Wendy's supposedly rich father leaves her stranded in Virginia City with no money. When she is evicted from the hotel after running up a debt of $50, Joe takes her to the Ponderosa, only to have her dreams of her father shattered when he shows up flat broke.