Although some question his guilt, a man is hanged in Medicine Bow when a woman denies being with him at the time. A stranger with many talents arrives in Medicine Bow taking a job at Shiloh who takes a keen interest in the main players.
A man at the unfinished White Wing cabin on Shiloh asks Judge Garth to meet him. Garth tells The Virginian the troubled history of his arrival at Shiloh. Garth's future with Betsy is threatened by the man and his desire for revenge.
The ranchers, who are losing cattle and hold homesteaders as the prime suspects, nearly hang an innocent man. The Judge's decision to apply the law of the range to the suspected cattle thieves drives a wedge into the loyalty of his foreman.
Judge Garth has a visitor from South America who inherited a critical piece of property in the middle of Shiloh used to move cattle. When he learns Garth has held back information on it, he decides to put crippling pressure on Garth.
A timid easterner and his wife arrive in Medicine Bow looking for a job as a teacher. Two escaped convicts come through Medicine Bow taking the new teacher, his wife, and students hostage while The Virginian is the temporary sheriff.
The Fourth of July finds Judge Garth, Steve and Trampas in Casper, Wyoming to pick up a bed for Betsy. The Judge meets a friend wrestling in a title match and Steve becomes infatuated with a girl. Intrigue follows.
Trampas and Steve decide to join up with Teddy Roosevelt's Rough Riders. Comedy ensues with the boys wanting to do it their way. The Virginian shows up and among other things shows the easterners how to "play" polo western style.
The Virginian, Trampas, and Steve are capturing wild horses in the mountains for sale to the Army. The Kroeger clan claims all horses as theirs. When Kroeger can't scare the Virginian out, he resorts other tactics.
The Judge, believing violence in the West is disappearing, creates a rift with the Virginian when he stops a violent fight involving the Virginian. When the Judge is kidnapped, the Virginian goes to his rescue from violent captors anyway.
Trampas becomes involved with 3 good old fun loving guys. The four of them meet up with a gang of real bad guys. When Trampas and friends volunteer to go after the bad guys they get an awakening from the townsfolk.
Tabby McCallum, beautiful but cruel teenage daughter of Tucker McCallum, is banned by the Virginian from Shiloh after she kills a steer by "mistake". With the unwitting help of her fiancé, Dan Flood, Tabby sets off a tragic set of events.
An old cowhand and a "greenhorn" join the Shiloh hands for a cattle drive to Moose Jaw, Canada. The old and young cowhand plan a future of running cattle together. The story culminates with a sheriff looking for one of the 2 new friends.
An old maid bank teller who decides it is time to provide for herself identifies Trampas as a bank robber and murderer in order to extort $10,000 from the actual thief. The Virginian is the only thing between Trampas and the hangman's noose.
A seaman moving to Wyoming meets twin sisters traveling there with Trampas. When he takes an interest in one of them, she makes a tragic request of him that reveals not only to him but Judge Garth the true nature of the twins relationship.
At a friend's grave, Steve recalls how the man helped him survive his arrival at Medicine Bow and train him as a cowboy and proficient with guns. Sadly, the man's unwillingness to adapt with the times pushed Steve to his life at Shiloh.
While trying to find a man to clear the Judge of a murder charge, The Virginian travels to Montana where he becomes involved with a singer who finds herself with her own problems. They are able to help each other solve their problems.
Garth recalls his early days as a judge in Medicine Bow in one particularly dangerous murder case. The family of the man convicted tries to intimidate the residents into having Garth overturn the conviction putting him a lonely position.
An American black bear named Moses brings to the surface the lack of respect a father has for his son. When the father is paralyzed in a fight with Trampas, he goads the son into fighting a duel with Trampas for revenge. Trampas refuses it, but cannot ignore it.
Garth trails a woman to San Francisco who he believes is part of a con game involving a railroad deal. Garth kills a man who he believes to be a part of it. However, when no body can be found, he and others start to question his sanity.
A friend has been framed for the murder of a woman's husband in Montana. The Virginian and Trampas go there to investigate the charge as they believe their friend who says he is innocent even though he is known to them as a womanizer.
The Virginian, Trampas. and Steve help a vegetarian with a chimp who is framed for murder and a single woman with a group of orphans. Although they start trying to adopt out the kids, they soon become match makers for the couple and kids.
A wealthy woman persuades The Virginian to take her to the badlands to a gang led by the previous foreman of Shiloh. Her initial story is not the full truth. She wants to kill a man there because of her daughter but falls for the leader.
A trio of con artists target Medicine Bow with an oil scam when a banking crisis threatening the bank throws a bigger scam their way. However, the leader's relationship with the banker's daughter causes him to alter the plan.
An immigrant is jailed for murder. The bias against him adds to the Judge's difficulty defending him. He is found not guilty but when another man is arrested for the crime, his conscience catches up with him as he learns more about US law.
Ed Frazer returns to Medicine Bow after serving three years for burglary. Steve fears for his life because his testimony was crucial in convicting him. Frazer's main interest isn't revenge but renewing his acquaintance with Helen Blaine.
Trampas helps a friend just out of prison who has multiple people after him for the location of $50,000 in gold he helped steal. He wants to give the money back but he must deal with a ruthless partner in the robbery who will kill him.
A outlaw gang traps Garth and Betsy and several stagecoach passengers at a way station. The gang wants one of the passengers who betrayed the gang. The people discuss their lives as time expires on whether to turn over the man.
The Virginian helps three women he meets in the southwest make their way to the Yaqui Indians where they want to be missionaries after the Yaqui killed their husbands. Along the way, he and the youngest woman become romantically involved.
The Virginian and Steve are forced to carry $40,000 back to Medicine Bow after a bank run closes all banks. The Virginian must fend off a family who think part of the money is theirs while contending with a dreaming runaway girl.
Garth allows a controversial coal mine to be opened with Polish miners. Among them is a beautiful woman. She has eyes for Trampas but one of the miners and a friend of Trampas have eyes for her with tragic results as Trampas falls for her.
