Ben puts aside his feelings about a supposed Army deserter (Robert Lansing) when the man submits the lowest bid to haul Ponderosa timber.
Hoss befriends a former Army scout (Henry Hull) who drinks to forget the massacre of his troop.
A Deputy U.S. Marshal arrives to escort a man to California to testify against a gang; guest Dan Duryea.
A hired hand (Claude Akins) victimizes the Cartwrights' disabled neighbor (Harry Townes).
Outlaws plot to steal a trunk containing the savings of a religious group heading for a new life in the West.
The Cartwrights' neighbor (Franchot Tone), a former soldier and lawman, seeks security for his daughter.
Hoss' bandit uncle (Neville Brand) decides to bypass the Ponderosa, but his gang disagrees.
Hoss and Little Joe spend a most unforgettable night at the carnival when Little Joe's date disappears.
A sheriff's daughter runs off with her boyfriend (John Ericson), unaware he is a murderous bank robber.
Ben gives farmland on the Ponderosa to an outcast Indian (Ricardo Montalban) who saved his life; guest Madlyn Rhue.
An outlaw joins the Cartwrights' cattle drive, knowing it will take him to the town where his father is sheriff.
Attacked by Shoshones while crossing a burial ground, Adam discovers that the "Indian" woman tending him is white.
Little Joe runs into romantic complications when he tries to teach a deaf girl (Stella Stevens) sign language; guest Albert Salmi.
An Easterner swears revenge for the death of his father, a drunk that a Cartwright killed in self-defense.
Adam tells betrothed Hoss his intended is a compulsive gambler who caused her husband's death.
A Kentucky mountain clan swears revenge on Little Joe after he shoots a family member for arson.
Little Joe and Hoss are mistaken for gunmen while in a small Texas town; they find themselves in the middle of a dangerous feud between two families.
A potential mayoral candidate attempts to stir up trouble between majority and minority groups in town.
A former dance hall girl poses as a Spanish heiress to claim a land grant that includes part of the Ponderosa; guest Sebastian Cabot.
A shepherd ignores the Cartwrights' warning not to drive his flock across the Ponderosa; guest Everett Sloane.
A disabled New Orleans police inspector (Lloyd Nolan) comes to arrest Ben on a 20-year-old murder charge.
Adam is taken hostage by a band of U.S. Army prisoners who have escaped and sought refuge on the Ponderosa.
A wanderer seeking his parents' lynchers, arrives in Virginia City as Ben and Adam are convicted of murder.
Two British socialites find that they still have a lot to learn when they visit their friends, the Cartwrights.
When a neighbor agrees to sell his property, the Cartwrights fear the loss of water rights for their cattle.
The Cartwrights befriend a boy whose father has been sent to jail and whose mother has recently died.
The deputized Cartwrights sentence a murderer to hang at dawn.