
Bonanza Episode Rating Graph
Sep 1959 - Jan 1973

Sep 1959 - Jan 1973
7.2
The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.
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The first episode of Bonanza aired on September 12, 1959.
The last episode of Bonanza aired on January 16, 1973.
There are 431 episodes of Bonanza.
There are 14 seasons of Bonanza.
No.
Bonanza has ended.
S14 Ep9
10.0
14th Nov 1972
The moving tale of Little Joe and his beloved black stallion, which Ben purchases for his son as a birthday gift.
S14 Ep11
9.0
5th Dec 1972
A lonely old man opens his home to two orphan boys but runs into bureaucratic opposition when attempting to adopt them.
S13 Ep22
9.0
5th Mar 1972
A 7-year-old boy is killed after he walks into a bank during a robbery by the ruthless Springer gang. Joe and Jamie help the boy's angrily grieving grandfather track down Springer.
S12 Ep1
8.7
13th Sep 1970
In the 12th season premiere, a series of destructive fires strike Virginia City, and always late at night. Is it the work of a ruthless arsonist, or someone very close to Deputy Clem?
S2 Ep22
8.6
18th Feb 1961
The kindness Hoss extends to shiftless Jock Henry is not exactly repaid when Henry becomes an assistant assessor and raises the Ponderosa's annual tax bill from $375 to $1700.
S13 Ep2
8.5
26th Sep 1971
An alcoholic woman lashes out at Hoss after his testimony sends her husband to prison. She gets back at him by forcing the big guy to take custody of her young son, Petey. Hoss must decide whether to ask the court to adopt him, or help the mother deal with her alcoholism.
S12 Ep19
8.5
7th Feb 1971
Hoss is held prisoner by a fugitive black couple who they admit hate white people and have nothing to lose by killing them.
S5 Ep5
8.5
20th Oct 1963
Adam encounters drunken artist James Callan, branded a "squaw man" because he is married to an Indian, and whose talent is going to waste in the town of Sheep Head.
S2 Ep25
8.5
11th Mar 1961
Hoss takes on The Duke Of London, an arrogant, abusive bare-knuckle fighter, though his brawn is no match for the Duke's agile skills.
S2 Ep21
8.5
11th Feb 1961
Hoss accidentally kills a drunk he was trying to disarm. The man's brother bushwhacks Hoss, who has lost the will to live. Joe makes a promise to Hoss that he will kill Red Twilight, the vengeful brother who bushwhacked Hoss, no matter what happens, and will not let Adam stand in his way.
S2 Ep17
8.5
14th Jan 1961
Joe becomes the target of a tough and vengeful Kentucky family, after he kills one of them who almost sets the Ponderosa on fire and the Cartwrights take in the dead man's daughter.
S2 Ep16
8.4
7th Jan 1961
Hoss plans to marry the widow of one of Ben's friends, not knowing she is a compulsive gambler and refusing to believe it when the other Cartwrights confront him with the truth.
S14 Ep2
8.4
12th Sep 1972
Little Joe learns of the tragic and savagely brutal circumstances of Alice's death and is determined to bring her killers to justice. While a good part of this episode focuses on the pursuit of the thugs that killed Alice, what made this episode was a moving scene where Ben comforts Joe over the death of his new wife. Sitting in the smoldering ruins of what was Joe's new home, Ben (who rarely gets emotional) and the ever-emotional Joe really grieve for Alice.
S9 Ep24
8.4
17th Mar 1968
The Ponderosa ranch hands are at Riverbend during a cattle drive. While there, Candy meets an old friend, Lilah Holden, working in a saloon. When the cattle drive is ready to move on, Candy resigns to stay and help Lilah. It is not long before Ben, Hoss, and Joe are involved.
S5 Ep12
8.4
22nd Dec 1963
In what is arguably the best comedy of the series, Hoss swears he has seen green elves running around the Ponderosa and a smooth-talking Irishman complicates matters even worse.
S12 Ep22
8.3
28th Feb 1971
An epidemic of influenza hits the Ponderosa and the only person who seems sure of what to do is the wife of a doctor, whom Doc Martin says is a fraud.
S2 Ep30
8.3
29th Apr 1961
With Virginia City on the verge of economic ruin, out of work miners put their hopes in word of a strike at a mine everybody believed was played out. Ben suspects the new owners have been stealing silver from an adjoining mine also thought dry, and resolves to prove it.
S4 Ep10
8.3
2nd Dec 1962
The Ponderosa becomes a war zone when it is invaded by a detachment of Mexican mercenaries under General Diaz. The general is furious when one of his men, Forsythe, disobeys his orders to get a hostage peacefully, and instead shoots Little Joe in the back. Diaz forces Ben to lead his men over the back roads of the Ponderosa, so they can ambush a gold train led by Emperor Maximilian's men.
S8 Ep13
8.3
4th Dec 1966
Joe plays matchmaker in this story of a rancher attempting to marry off his supposedly unremarkable daughter.
S2 Ep31
8.3
6th May 1961
Joe is the victim of an elaborate frame-up, accused of murdering a pregnant girl. When Ben is asked if Joe is telling the truth, he replies, "If I were to start doubting my son at this point, everything I've lived and worked for would be lost".
S2 Ep13
8.3
10th Dec 1960
Captivated by the pretty, deaf-mute daughter of a reclusive mountain man, Little Joe teaches the young woman sign language. Thrilled with her newfound ability to communicate, Annie mistakes her gratitude to Little Joe for love, much to the chagrin of Albie, who is determined to have her for his own.
S2 Ep11
8.2
26th Nov 1960
On a cattle drive back to Nevada from Texas, Ben hires a young man who is both an outlaw and the son of the sheriff whose town the Ponderosa cowhands are entering.
S2 Ep19
8.2
28th Jan 1961
When they "rob" the bank in Virginia City to save depositors from being cleaned out by its president, Hoss and Joe wind up wanted by the law.
S1 Ep23
8.2
20th Feb 1960
When a tough U.S. Marshal from California arrests a Ponderosa hand, Dave Walker, for murder, Adam and Hoss go along to make sure their employee reaches Los Angeles alive. In one scene, Adam is dressed in black for the first time. In another, Hoss, upon seeing Southern California for the first time, remarks, "It sure ain't never gonna amount to much". Later, Adam makes an amusing reference to the chow Joe says he was forced to eat in "The Last Hunt".
S5 Ep7
8.2
3rd Nov 1963
Joe has a run-in with Calamity Jane, and takes her home with him after promising her dying father to take care of her. At first the Cartwrights (besides Joe) think ""Cal"" is a boy, but they soon find out differently. Cal begins to fall in love with Joe, but Joe finds her attentions unwanted...especially when Cal's boyfriend, Doc Holliday, has it in for Joe.
S11 Ep1
8.1
14th Sep 1969
An Englishman with a passion for challenging ridiculous laws shows up on the Ponderosa grazing in a land-rowing boat mounted on a wagon.
S3 Ep14
8.1
24th Dec 1961
In this Christmas story, inspired by Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", Hoss and Joe come across a blind girl whose family has been killed in a wagon wreck, learning later that her grandfather is a bitter hermit who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.
S2 Ep23
8.1
25th Feb 1961
The Cartwright boys are concerned that Ben might be getting on in years, yet it is he who saves them from cattle rustlers.
S5 Ep14
8.1
5th Jan 1964
Joe and Adam protect a saloon girl, who has killed in self-defense, from an angry lynch mob. The accompanying Judge, along with his wife, takes a liking to Lila, and before it is all over, he and Lila discover much more about themselves.
S4 Ep5
8.1
21st Oct 1962
An Indian-hating officer, Colonel Edward J. Dunwoody, comes to the Ponderosa looking for army deserter Bill Winters, who is a good friend of the Cartwrights. Bill happens to be his son and is married to an Indian. It seemed Bill deserted when he was ordered to massacre the Shoshone, by poisoning their food and water, genocide. The Shoshone find out and abduct Bill's father.
S8 Ep34
8.1
14th May 1967
The Ponderosa is in danger of being overrun by gold hunters.
S5 Ep30
8.1
26th Apr 1964
After a triumphant tour in Europe, a famous Negro singer encounters racial prejudice in Virginia City when he arrives for a concert.
S1 Ep28
8.1
2nd Apr 1960
In this comic episode, the first to take place far from the ranch, Ben, Hoss, and Joe deliver a herd to San Francisco. Although he warns his sons to be careful in the big city ("This is not the Ponderosa!"), Ben is the one who is shanghaied and must be rescued.
S3 Ep2
8.1
1st Oct 1961
A friend of Ben's (Mr. Milbank) arrives at the Ponderosa at a bad time...when the Cartwright boys are fighting in the mud. Mr. Milbank, who is injured by a flying log during the fight, gives an assignment to each of the three boys. Can they fulfill the assignments, or has Springtime gotten to them all?
S5 Ep6
8.1
27th Oct 1963
Hoss and a pair of nuns, the younger one having a difficult time training for the order, are robbed and stranded at a way station.
S4 Ep34
8.1
26th May 1963
When a Italian immigrant comes to the Ponderosa, he decides he wants to give up the guitar to become a cowboy.
S13 Ep11
8.0
5th Dec 1971
Jamie and three teen-agers - a girl and two boys - are kidnapped by Doyle, a hardened criminal with nothing to lose, and his gang of outlaws. The desperate outlaws use the youths as bargaining tools to make their escape from a trip to prison.
S13 Ep6
8.0
24th Oct 1971
To help the hapless wife and daughter of a lazy dreamer, Hoss arranges a "fixed" horse race.
S13 Ep4
8.0
10th Oct 1971
Hoss becomes a judge in a contest--he has to pick the perfect/prettiest baby. The parents of the babies nearly all try to influence Hoss, so he has a hard time deciding. There is one quite hilarious part (though odd).
S12 Ep10
8.0
15th Nov 1970
Ben and Hoss come to the rescue of Mexican farmers who are forced off their land by the greedy mine owner who runs the town of Prince River.
S11 Ep28
8.0
19th Apr 1970
Little Joe stays back at the Ponderosa to tend to its operation as Ben, Hoss, Candy and Hop Sing leave for a cattle drive, who leave as a severe thunderstorm approaches. Joe goes to the barn to calm a horse that was spooked by the thunder and lightning. But just when it seems like the horse has settled down, the horse goes wild, knocking down Joe and crushing his left arm and breaking his leg. Joe goes in and out of consciousness and, after struggling against driving rain and winds to get into the house, treats his wounds. However, the arm is infected and Joe, fearing gangrene has set in, debates whether to amputate the wound.
S9 Ep25
8.0
7th Apr 1968
When a horse steps on Candy's hand out on the trail, he and Joe go to Angelus to find a doctor. When they arrive, Joe sees his friend, Steve Regan, an Angelus miner. Steve tells Joe that the miners have gone on strike at his suggestion; the timber supports in the tunnels are rotting away. Joe offers him a day's wages to help him drive the wild horses, since Candy's hand is injured.
S9 Ep17
8.0
21st Jan 1968
The ranchers are once again losing stock to rustlers and not everyone agrees with range detective Marcus Alley's preventive methods.
S9 Ep13
8.0
17th Dec 1967
An anguished Hoss discovers that his testimony helped hang an innocent man accused of murder. As he struggles to bring the real killer to justice, Hoss must also combat the cowardice of another witness and the jury foreman, an influential banker.
S9 Ep10
8.0
19th Nov 1967
A career robber who claims to be a lumber man, and his gang plan to use Ben's new freight paddleboat to haul a $1 million currency shipment to San Francisco.
S9 Ep5
8.0
15th Oct 1967
A sadistic outlaw named Dibbs along with his gang, take siege of the Ponderosa, holding Joe, Hoss, and Candy prisoners. Their foreman, Donny Buckler, has stashed $60,000 dollars and Dibbs will stop at nothing short of murder to get his hands on it.
S8 Ep33
8.0
7th May 1967
Hoss is conned into buying a violin from a gypsy fortune teller, and everyone on the Ponderosa--except for Hop Sing--suffers the consequences.
S5 Ep25
8.0
22nd Mar 1964
Ben must travel to pay his respects after he learns of the death of his nephew Will. When he visits the grave, he finds his nephew barely alive with a bullet wound. He takes him to a doctor and Will insists that he leave, but Ben refuses. Will explains that the men after him must believe that he is dead. Ben decides his best bet is to take Will home. He and Will are followed by the same men who are interested in some valuables Will is carrying.
S5 Ep15
8.0
12th Jan 1964
Adam, Hoss, and Joe vie for the attention of a pretty young lady named Dolores. Hoss talks Joe into entering a bull fight, but it doesn't work out quite as planned.
S5 Ep10
8.0
8th Dec 1963
Adam becomes involved with the recently widowed Laura Dayton and her little girl, Peggy.
S4 Ep24
8.0
10th Mar 1963
Adam takes a shine to Rebecca Kaufman, the daughter of a Jewish peddler, and bandits are convinced the Kaufman wagon is worth robbing.
S4 Ep17
8.0
20th Jan 1963
A stranger, Bob Jolly, arrives in Virginia City to accuse a drunken Judge Harry Whitaker of sending his innocent father, Carl, to the gallows. Adam defends the judge's honor because of his long friendship with the Cartwrights. After Adam talks with Jolly, he begins to believe his story. Upon further investigation, Adam discovers that Senator Cal Prince and Hobie Klinderman as well as the judge might have had a lot to gain from Carl Jolly's murder. In an attempt to learn what really happened, Adam organizes an informal meeting in the saloon.
S3 Ep34
8.0
20th May 1962
Hoss blames himself when a young woman is crippled in a wagon accident, and hopes a faith healer can help her walk again.
S3 Ep26
8.0
18th Mar 1962
A young genius, Albert Michaelson, vies for a scholarship. Adam assists Albert in the boy's experiments. Albert only needs the school teacher's approval to be granted a scholarship-which will be very difficult to get considering Albert was expelled from school.
S3 Ep11
8.0
3rd Dec 1961
Joe wins a card game and an unexpected prize...a young lady. She goes to the Ponderosa and serves them, not wanting to be set free. Meanwhile, an army is looking for her and the Cartwrights.
S2 Ep18
8.0
21st Jan 1961
The Cartwright boys are surprised to find that a woman, claiming to have recently married their father, shows up on their doorstep. When Ben gets home, he is just as surprised as they are. Has the lady been swindled by a con-man, or is she something of a con-woman herself?
S2 Ep3
8.0
24th Sep 1960
Adam's life is saved by an enigmatic U. S. Marshal who has come to Virginia City to arrest a friend of the Cartwrights.
S1 Ep29
8.0
9th Apr 1960
Len Keith, a miner, wants to purchase some land adjacent to the Ponderosa from rancher Andy McKaren. Andy's son, Tod, is anxious to sell. Keith has offered him a partnership,and more importantly, he is in love with Keith's daughter. When Ben warns Andy that a mine on the property would foul up Ponderosa water, Andy agrees not to sell the land. Len Keith, determined to get that land, plants tick infested cattle in a Ponderosa herd to turn Andy against the Cartwrights.
S1 Ep19
7.9
23rd Jan 1960
In the first all-out comic episode of the series, Hoss and Joe travel to Kiowa Flats, Texas, where they are mistaken for the notorious Slade Brothers, also played by Blocker and Landon.
S8 Ep1
7.9
11th Sep 1966
The Cartwrights' friendship with a neighboring rancher is threatened by his mentally unstable daughter.
S3 Ep7
7.9
5th Nov 1961
Hoss and Joe become involved when "Bullethead" Burke vows revenge on an old man he claims cheated him in an investment deal.
S2 Ep12
7.9
3rd Dec 1960
Adam's life is saved by a woman known to the Indians as White Buffalo Woman, but who is actually the daughter of Norwegian immigrants.
S5 Ep11
7.9
15th Dec 1963
Adam, Hoss and Joe mistakenly believe their father was murdered. They split into 3 different directions to confront the supposed killers. In his heart, Ben knows his sons will not act outside the law; but he is not 100% sure that Joe will behave correctly.
S4 Ep16
7.9
13th Jan 1963
Adam's guitar-strumming friend, ranch hand Danny Morgan, is arrested on suspicion of murdering and robbing the Widow Baker. Someone had reported hearing Danny singing outside her place at the time of the murder. More, importantly, Morgan has bad scratches on his arm, and the widow was found with human skin under her fingernails. Adam is thoroughly convinced that Danny couldn't have done it; the two became friends after Danny saved Adam's life a few years ago.
S4 Ep11
7.9
9th Dec 1962
Hoss helps Charlie and Will (Charlotte and Willomina), two young girls who just lost their father. They go on a journey to find their only nearby relative, Aunt Cloe. Charlie takes with her a stolen sack of money that her father gave her and tries her best to lose Hoss. Four bandits show up looking for the loot Charlie has. In the end, Hoss finds out about the stolen money and talks the girls into giving it back. He puts them in dresses and sends them off to Boston on a stage, telling them they did the right thing and will probably get the money back as a reward for helping capture the bandits!
S3 Ep8
7.9
12th Nov 1961
Joe befriends and takes responsibility for an ex-convict named Danny. Danny loves horses and is not used to people's ways on the outside of jail. Will his rough jailhouse upbringing mar any hopes of friendship?
S9 Ep4
7.9
8th Oct 1967
Candy is arrested for committing murder in the town of Olympus. He is accused of killing Jed Wheelock, the son of wealthy A. Z. Wheelock. He insists on finding his son's killer but he wants a fair trial for Candy. Joe accompanies Candy to make sure things go smoothly, but when Joe is accused of killing a witness who claims he saw Candy kill Jed, Joe is locked up for murder with Candy, and it is up to Hoss to find the killer.
S2 Ep26
7.9
18th Mar 1961
When freight company detective Jed Trask is fired after a decade of service, he joins the thieves preventing supplies from reaching Virginia City.
S8 Ep14
7.9
18th Dec 1966
The Cartwrights protect a woman and her deaf-mute little son from the boy's outlaw stepfather.
S4 Ep33
7.9
19th May 1963
Ben regrets that he helped Tom Slayden start a freight hauling business when Slayden sets out to ruin all the competition, and Joe is shot in the process.
S2 Ep2
7.9
17th Sep 1960
Filmed almost entirely outdoors, this is more like a feature than a series. Captain Pender is looking for a scout to lead him and his company of men across the desert, along with a currency shipment they are carrying to another army fort. Charlie Trent, a former scout and now a drunk, still blames himself for his troops being led to massacre. Hoss sees that this is Charlie's opportunity to redeem himself and win back his honor. Meantime, Captain Pender is having trouble with Cutter, another scout who is a devious and cunning bear of a man, who agreed to lead him across the desert, but Pender lets him go and with Hoss' suggestion, Captain Pender agress to have Charlie be their scout.
S2 Ep7
7.9
22nd Oct 1960
Prejudice erupts on both sides when Ben gives an Indian named Matsou and his wife, some of his land, after saving Ben's life from a renegade Indian who almost killed him on the Ponderosa. An intense and magnetic performance by Ricardo Montalban.
S1 Ep8
7.9
31st Oct 1959
Adam and Hoss assist a German engineer in developing the concept of "square set timbering" in the mines. Based on fact, and the first episode not to include all four Cartwrights. Hoss refers to the character, Emily, with whom he was in love with in, "The Newcomers".
S1 Ep26
7.9
19th Mar 1960
A restaurant owner whom Ben and Adam have confronted over stolen Ponderosa beef ends up dead one night. His daughter, Sally Byrnes runs the cafe and in her resentment, wrongfully accuses Ben and Adam of murdering her father and they are sentenced to hang. A rancher by the name of Hawkins is also jealous of the Cartwrights and has hired his men to stop the town from helping Ben and Adam, ensuring they hang. Hoss and Joe are willing to stop them, but Ben insists they stay within the limits of the law.
S2 Ep28
7.8
15th Apr 1961
Jim Applegate, Hoss' rival for the affections of Cameo Johnson, is a member of a vigilante group who lynched an innocent man and his wife.
S2 Ep14
7.8
17th Dec 1960
Hoss becomes friends with dull-witted Arnie Gurnie, who is a brute of a man with the mentality of a child. His temper scares everybody, including the Cartwrights.
S2 Ep9
7.8
5th Nov 1960
Joe's friend Dolly Kincaid is the daughter of the sheriff and she's always getting caught up with the wrong crowd. When she gets close to Vince Dagen, Joe gets worried and tries to intervene.
S2 Ep10
7.8
12th Nov 1960
Gunnar Borgstrom is the leader of a vicious band called the Commancheros. They burn houses, kill people and steal anything of value. When the Commancheros get to Nevada, Gunnar decides to visit his relatives, the Cartwrights. Meanwhile the gang capture Little Joe and his girlfriend. When Gunnar returns to the gang, he has no idea who Joe is because he'd never met his nephew before.
S5 Ep27
7.8
5th Apr 1964
Will is having second thoughts about staying on at the Ponderosa, and outlaws hit the ranch and take him with them. The leader, Lee Hewitt, is a young killer and plans on robbing the Ponderosa, so Will must take action to save himself, Hewitt's wife, the doctor, and his newfound relatives, the Cartwrights.
S3 Ep5
7.8
22nd Oct 1961
In this comic episode involving a precious emerald and the sweet widow, Clemantine Hawkins who is attracted to Ben, turns the tables on a pair of land swindlers.
S4 Ep27
7.8
31st Mar 1963
The peaceful world of a Ponderosa hand is disturbed by the arrival of his no-good father and twin brother, who is a wanted man.
S3 Ep32
7.8
6th May 1962
Ben, Joe and Adam travel to Bowleg to pay the yearly taxes on the Ponderosa. After the transaction is completed, Ben and Joe ride over the summit to join the cattle drive. Adam is on his way to Genoa and is carrying a $10,000 bank draft his father has given him. A prison guard rides into town and announces two hombres have broke out and escaped who are holdup men and killers. Elmer Trace and his partner Poindexter were assisted by a guard in escaping prison and they betray him on the trail. Trace takes his clothes, horse and firearms, leaving Poindexter with only a rifle and rides off. Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Bowleg organizes a posse immediately.
S3 Ep25
7.8
11th Mar 1962
Ben supports the appointment of Asa Moran as Virginia City's temporary sheriff, but Moran goes overboard with his authority, jailing Adam in the process and pistol-whipping a Ponderosa hand.
S12 Ep5
7.8
11th Oct 1970
A man called Davis has shot Colonel Clayton and escapes on horseback. Joe and Ben join the posse that sets out to find Davis. Ben and Joe volunteer to cross the desert. Ben and Joe find Davis hold up at a water hole, when Indians attack and Ben is wounded in the leg, and steal the horses. Joe unties Davis, who tends to a wounded Ben, who is suspicious that Davis will try to escape. After playing a game of cat and mouse, Ben and Davis come to an agreement: survival. Joe makes the decision to cross the desert on foot, while Ben and Davis are at the water hole, both men in need of medical help and justice.
S12 Ep2
7.8
20th Sep 1970
Dusty takes in orphaned Jamie Hunter, the son of a recently-deceased rainmaker. Jamie is determined to carry on his father's tradition by using drought-stricken Virginia City to prove his talents.
S8 Ep24
7.8
26th Feb 1967
Hoss and Joe have their doubts as to who really robbed a way station, suspecting the two men they captured are innocent.
S5 Ep13
7.8
29th Dec 1963
Ben becomes irritable and reckless when the completion of an important timber contract is hindered by an old rival.
S5 Ep9
7.8
17th Nov 1963
Joe struggles to understand whether his friend was right in killing a dying man who pleaded to put out of his misery.
S2 Ep15
7.8
31st Dec 1960
Ben feels responsible for the son of a man he was forced to kill, but the young man is determined to get even. A professional gunman offers to do the job for him.
S2 Ep4
7.8
1st Oct 1960
The Cartwrights construct a grist mill to provide income for a crippled rancher who blames Ben for his predicament. Ben has to contend with the man's depraved caretaker, and finds himself attracted to his wife. "Sons can't be everything," Ben tells her.
S9 Ep8
7.8
5th Nov 1967
Driving horses to Utah, the Cartwrights and Candy discover only two people left in a town wiped out by rampaging Paiute Indians. Together, Mary Burns and Josh Tanner must travel through hostile territory, along with the Cartwrights and Candy.
S8 Ep23
7.8
19th Feb 1967
Mary Wharton, an old friend of the family, comes to live on the Ponderosa with her shiftless husband. When Ben learns Mary is the victim of domestic abuse, he sends Russ packing.
S4 Ep28
7.8
7th Apr 1963
While hunting for a wolf, Joe is attacked by the wolf. Adam also hunting for the wolf, hears Joe struggling with the wolf comes to Joe's aid. He fires his rifle but the bullet hits Joe. Adam hurries over knocks the wolf off Joe, shoots, and then kills the wolf. The damage has already been done with the wolf bite and Adam's bullet in Joe. Adam has to rush his little brother back to the Ponderosa. Will he make it back to save Little Joe's life, since the wolf's bite is fatal?
S4 Ep25
7.8
17th Mar 1963
Ben's attempt to rehabilitate an alcoholic singer he knew in better days are complicated by her involvment with a former prize fighter.
S1 Ep32
7.8
30th Apr 1960
Virginia City is plagued by organized crime, Sam Bryant and his gang. One of his men, Farmer Perkins, kills a storekeeper, and at his trial, the wife of the store owner is afraid to testify. When Perkins is sentenced to hang, Bryant kidnaps Ben and wants to exchange Ben for Perkins, which leaves Adam with the most difficult decision of his life. A stellar cast.
S13 Ep24
7.8
19th Mar 1972
The Cartwrights are once again brought in the middle of the Civil War. This time, the wife of former Civil War Col. Cody Ransom brings her young daughter to the Ponderosa, trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. However, Ben soon learns that Col. Ransom may be trying to search for his family. However, Union Maj. Donahue has been pursing Ransom and his men for many years after the war ended, and has refused to accept anybody's terms of surrender - especially since Donahue considers capturing Ransom a personal matter.
S9 Ep7
7.8
29th Oct 1967
Most people consider Mark Cole a coward, but he does not hesitate to step forward when his brother attempts to break a horse by torturing it.
S8 Ep26
7.8
12th Mar 1967
Young Billy Wilcox wanders onto the Ponderosa, sick, hungry, and alone. Ben finds him, and after he regains his strength, offers Billy a job. Jennifer Yardley, who with her father is visiting the Cartwrights, is interested in Billy. Billy is more concerned about a lawman that has come to town because he has a past that could be problematic: he killed a man in self-defense and ran.
S8 Ep18
7.8
15th Jan 1967
Dolly Bantree has a crooked manager ""Blackie"", who blackmails Dolly to fleece newly rich miner Buford out of his newfound wealth. Hoss suspects something and gets all duded up to pose as a rich mark to test Dolly.
S7 Ep25
7.8
20th Mar 1966
The Cartwrights attempt to straighten out the snobbish young son of Ben's cousin.
S2 Ep32
7.8
20th May 1961
To finance his dream of constructing an airship capable of crossing the Atlantic, Ben's old friend plans to rob the Virginia City bank while diverting the citizens' attention with a hot air balloon.
S1 Ep16
7.8
2nd Jan 1960
Ben sends Hoss and Joe to Monterey to purchase an expensive seed bull. The first of Blocker and Landon's many comic misadventures, although the casual use of violence, as in the rapier fight, is oddly uncharacteristic for the series. Hoss reveals his real name to be Eric for the first time.
S1 Ep9
7.7
7th Nov 1959
In a flashback, the legendary prospector arrives on the Ponderosa and participates in the founding of Virginia City. Coincidentally, guest star Jack Carson played a teller at the Comstock Bank and Trust in the 1942 film, "Gentleman Jim". This early classic was the second episode filmed.
S10 Ep8
7.7
3rd Nov 1968
A bratty 10-year-old girl named Samantha, whose mother is Ben's cousin and is a third cousin of Hoss and Little Joe, comes to the Ponderosa. While she proves to be a handful, Ben (who tracks down the girl's mother) really has his hands full when her grandfather comes to the Ponderosa demanding custody.
S8 Ep5
7.7
9th Oct 1966
As the persecuted party awaits Ben and Hoss' return, Herber is shot and killed. Joe retaliates and shoots Herber's assassin.
S5 Ep3
7.7
6th Oct 1963
A destitute rainmaker and his family arrive in drought-stricken Virginia City. While Ben tries to help him make rain, Hoss tends to the man's seriously ill little girl.
S1 Ep27
7.7
26th Mar 1960
Adam takes Ben's friends, Lord Marion Dunsworth and Lady Beatrice, on a hunting expedition, and they are captured by a gang of crude thieves and murderers. During one early scene, after listening to Ben reminisce, Hoss says, "Always like to hear Pa get wound up. He don't do it often."
S10 Ep3
7.7
29th Sep 1968
When on a cattle drive on Ponderosa land, the Cartwrights and Candy find a dying cavalry officer on the trail. With his last breath, he asks them to go help his commanding officer, Captain Harris. Riding atop a slope, they see Captain Harris and his soldiers fighting off Mexican bandits who are trying to steal the four kegs of gold hidden in the Army ambulance. The Cartwrights and Candy cut right between the soldiers and the Mexican bandits, in a spectacular chase through a little valley and wind up at a high and rocky outcrop, taking cover and assisting the soldiers.
S9 Ep6
7.7
22nd Oct 1967
While at the bank in Sandust, Little Joe and the bank's secretary witness an armed robbery. During a subsequent gunfight, the main culprit kills the banker, but is quickly brought to justice. Joe, Hoss and Candy agree to be witnesses but must avoid being killed in the meantime.
S5 Ep8
7.7
10th Nov 1963
Ben finds an old journal that he kept while in a wagon train travelling from St. Joseph, Missouri to Ash Hollow. As he is reading it Ben remembers the journey he undertook with his wife Inger and a young Adam. During the trip Hoss is born and they have trouble with some Indians.
S1 Ep30
7.7
16th Apr 1960
Hoss takes Billy Allen, the young son of a convicted felon under his wing, then is forced to kill his father and Billy will not forgive him. The most emotional Hoss story since "The Newcomers" and one of Blocker's best.
S8 Ep29
7.7
9th Apr 1967
The foreman of a neighboring ranch frames Joe for murder as part of a scheme to get his employer's property.
S8 Ep22
7.7
12th Feb 1967
A wounded comanchero sides with the Cartwrights when the rest of the gang, led by Captain Fenner, shows up to burn and rob the Ponderosa.
S4 Ep30
7.7
28th Apr 1963
Hoss becomes concerned for the welfare of an insecure, belligerent fellow who is as small as Hoss is large. Interesting blend of comedy and pathos that ends unpredictably.
S4 Ep2
7.7
30th Sep 1962
Determined to prove he can succeed at something without the help of his Pa, Hoss, and Adam, Joe sets out on his quest and wins a timber contract for Ponderosa timber, and later discovers that having a family to rely on can definitely be an asset.
S3 Ep23
7.7
25th Feb 1962
When Ben fails to prevent the death of a friend's son, Adam and Joe, concerned by their father's depression, attempt to prove there was nothing he could have done.
S3 Ep21
7.7
11th Feb 1962
The Cartwrights dig a well, build a rig and a windmill for a drought-stricken farm family.
S1 Ep22
7.7
13th Feb 1960
A shiftless sheepherder, Jeb Drummond, encroaches his herd of sheep on the Ponderosa and refuses to budge. He resists all of Ben's attempts to throw him off his land and finally resorts to taking Adam prisoner in exchange for ownership of the ranch.
S4 Ep15
7.7
6th Jan 1963
Frank Medford, a figure from Ben's "wild, misspent youth", shows up in Virginia City, and though down on his luck, creates troubles for the Cartwrights by claiming to be a successful businessman.
S14 Ep5
7.7
3rd Oct 1972
While at the Nevada State Prison to inspect conditions, Ben is taken hostage in a riot. The riot is an attempt by frustrated inmates to expose horrific conditions at the prison. While Joe and Candy plan to resolve the situation, Ben begins a friendship with Griff King (who isn't exactly receptive), and helps communicate the inmates' demands to the warden and state prison board.
S14 Ep4
7.7
26th Sep 1972
Jamie's friend, Ted Hoag, is unfairly blamed for the death of another young fellow during a club initiation. In the end, it's a lesson in responsibility for the boys of Virginia City School.
S12 Ep15
7.7
3rd Jan 1971
Settlers from Virginia argue over Hoss' fate after one of them accidentally shoots him.
S12 Ep3
7.7
27th Sep 1970
The Weary Willies are hippie-like former Civil War veterans who are now drifters and live off the land. Despite protests from fellow ranchers and the people of Virginia City, Ben allows the traveling band to stay at the Ponderosa. The real trouble begins when a teen-aged girl is raped and the Willies are blamed.
S7 Ep26
7.7
27th Mar 1966
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.
S7 Ep24
7.7
6th Mar 1966
Ben and Claire Armory fall in love, but their future is jeopardized by her disabled brother.
S7 Ep22
7.7
20th Feb 1966
Not one, but three mail-order brides show up unexpectedly at the Ponderosa, all of them believing they are to marry Hoss.
S6 Ep17
7.7
17th Jan 1965
Ben's friend, Don Miguel, visits the Ponderosa with his two daughters, Margarita and Elena, and Elena's two very anxious suitors. Their mission? They're on their way to California to meet Margarita's suitor, Don Luis. Trouble is, Margarita is a "woman of fire" who manages to scare away all suitors with her hot temper. Since Margarita is the older daughter, she must be married before Elena. Elena's two suitors are quickly losing their patience, and Don Miguel fears his name will be disgraced if Margarita rejects Don Luis.
S6 Ep7
7.7
1st Nov 1964
An author is inspired to write about the heroic Cartwrights after watching first-hand as they fight off an attempted robbery of a stage. As Ben and Adam see no use for the glory of such a novel, they turn the writer down forcing him to turn to the sherriff who quickly accepts.
S2 Ep24
7.7
4th Mar 1961
Adam is confused by the sudden behavior of his good friend, Ross Marquette. He beats up his wife, Delphine, after accusing her of having an affair with Adam. He also joins a group of rustlers and killers and helps rob a gold shipment. Adam thinks Ross is suffering from insanity, in this highlight of season two.
S14 Ep15
4.7
9th Jan 1973
A serious game of ""let's pretend"" begins when Griff and government agent Theodora Duffy pose as husband and wife to capture a gang of war criminals.
S7 Ep4
5.8
3rd Oct 1965
A mule skinner and his two sons are hired by Ben to transport nitroglycerin to California.
S10 Ep22
5.9
2nd Mar 1969
The floor of the Virginia City courthouse collapses, trapping Ben in the basement with three other people, one of whom may or may not be guilty of murder.
S5 Ep28
5.9
12th Apr 1964
A headstrong Chinese girl (Marlo Thomas) visiting the Cartwrights incites labor unrest among local workers.
S6 Ep8
6.0
8th Nov 1964
A conman heads into town and takes advantage of the Cartwrights with a fake land deal. The conman ends up staying in Virginia city to run an orphanage.
S6 Ep10
6.0
22nd Nov 1964
As payment for a performance in a circus, Joe and Hoss are given an elephant. They want to keep it but encounter opposition from Adam and Ben.
S6 Ep11
6.0
6th Dec 1964
Hoss relies on clever attorney Whitney Parker, who has a drinking problem, to clear him of a murder charge.
S6 Ep12
6.0
13th Dec 1964
Little Joe convinces Ben to hire Harry Starr, a half-Indian who is accused by other ranchers of being a chronic horse thief. Joe sets out to prove the others wrong, but is the youngest Cartwright's trust misplaced?
S6 Ep13
6.0
20th Dec 1964
Two robberies take place on stagecoaches that Adam is traveling on, and both times a knight in shining armor scares the robbers away. Adam is accused of robbery, and his story about the knight is none too helpful.
S6 Ep14
6.0
27th Dec 1964
A peaceful Indian is framed for the kidnapping of a young girl, a stunt which ends of tragedy.
S6 Ep16
6.0
10th Jan 1965
On their way to prevent a young woman from encountering the renegade Indians, Joe and Tuck are captured, and in order to save them all, Joe must fight Sharp Tongue, who is the leader of the band who went to school with Joe as a youth.
S6 Ep19
6.0
31st Jan 1965
Adam becomes involved with a quick-triggered range detective hired by the Virginia City Cattleman's Association to find out who is responsible for all the rustling going on in the area.
S6 Ep22
6.0
21st Feb 1965
The Cartwrights play host to Guido Borelli, a world renowed aerial acrobat who once saved Ben's life in Italy. Borelli's troup is beset by internal strife, and is performing in Virginia City.
S6 Ep27
6.0
4th Apr 1965
Adam tries to find the good in Howard Mead, a talented troubadour who refuses to stay on the right side of the law. Dramatic debut of singer/songwriter Hoyt Axton. Last episode Pernell Roberts worked on, although he appears in the next two, that were made prior to this episode and aired afterwards.
S6 Ep29
6.0
18th Apr 1965
One of the wealthiest men in the world, Charles Augustus Hackett, offers to buy the Ponderosa, price no object. Ben says the ranch is not for sale and Hackett refuses to give up.
S6 Ep30
6.0
25th Apr 1965
Ladies' man Lothario Larkin creates havoc whenever he hits Virginia City, so Roy Coffee orders him out of town. Naturally, Hoss takes him in.
S6 Ep32
6.0
9th May 1965
The Ponderosa hands are upset when new hand George Whitman is hired on, it is rumored he is a jinx. Hoss tells George to ignore such foolishness, but a gypsy fortune teller says otherwise.
S13 Ep17
6.0
16th Jan 1972
Fired ranch hand, Cactus, suggests that Ben is too old to put in a real work's week and challenges Ben to take a job as a ranch hand under the name "Ben Brown". He takes the job to prove himself better than Cactus.
S13 Ep26
6.0
2nd Apr 1972
While the Cartwrights are away to Carson City, ruthless land baron Bradley Meredith (Lorene Greene in a dual role) poses as Ben in a scheme to get control of the Ponderosa ... by pretending ""Ben"" is seriously ill and selling his holdings to friends.
S14 Ep8
6.0
31st Oct 1972
Mark Twain ruffles dangerous feathers in Virginia City with accusations of claim-jumping and murder.
S14 Ep14
6.0
2nd Jan 1973
An elderly business associate of Ben's is killed after a man, posing as Candy, tries to rob her; the woman suffers a fatal heart attack, which - since it happens during the commission of a felony - is considered to be the same as if the assailant had pulled the trigger. The real Candy, who had been assaulted at a hotel by the same man, is held in connection with the old woman's death. A woman named Kate is the only one who can back up Candy's alibi, but she has left town with her husband, who is the thief. Griff agrees to go after Kate and have her provide a statement. Only thing is, he discovers - as Ben and Joe do later - that she, too, has a past that, if revealed at trial, could do serious harm to Candy's defense. Meanwhile, Ben is unsure about the young defense attorney's ability to defend Candy, particularly since the state's attorney has a nearly spotless conviction record. But the budding lawyer is determined to play David to the prosecutor's Goliath.
S11 Ep16
6.2
18th Jan 1970
Candy has inherited a fortune from an Indian he helped. He quits his job on the Ponderosa and becomes a vice president for a land promotor who is selling beautiful, fertile land. When it is discovered that the land promotor is selling barren desert land, Candy and the Cartwrights set out to expose the land promotor as a fraud.
S13 Ep9
6.3
21st Nov 1971
A veteran blinded by the last battle of the Civil War, returns to Virginia City, to solve the mystery surrounding who killed his brother.
S4 Ep6
6.3
29th Oct 1962
With a storm brewing, Adam takes refuge at a way station, run by cantankerous Jesse and his young grandaughter Marty, who yearns to see what exists away from the way station. The station is also visited by Luke Martin, a killer who is running from a posse. He makes Marty an empty promise to take her with him and see the world together, but Adam steps in and suggests Luke let her alone. Everybody but Marty is relieved to see him go, but he quickly returns and holds everyone hostage to protect himself from the posse.
S6 Ep15
6.3
3rd Jan 1965
Hoss unknowingly enters a flapjack contest and Joe puts Hoss on a diet which Hoss doesn't care for. Joe's betting on the flapjack contest could get him into some trouble and will he ever succeed in getting the window pane his Pa wants?
S7 Ep28
6.3
10th Apr 1966
Everyone feels Andy Walker is an outstanding singer but his father, who feels the boy should concentrate on ranch work instead. Joe mentions receiving a letter from Adam, currently in Paris.
S10 Ep1
6.4
15th Sep 1968
The 10th season opens as Joe helps a widowed mountain woman, a recluse who is suffering from an infection that has become serious, in a battle to save her land from an unscrupulous timber baron.
S6 Ep2
6.5
27th Sep 1964
Outlaws capture Ben and hide him in an abandoned mine, holding him for a ransom. The boys must come up with a plan to save him before it's too late.
S7 Ep3
6.5
26th Sep 1965
Juan Ortega claims he has a land grant which gives him ownership of the entire Nevada Territory.
S11 Ep18
6.5
1st Feb 1970
A new wealthy Ponderosa employee with a weakness for women becomes the target of con artists.
S11 Ep25
6.5
29th Mar 1970
""Here comes Hoss Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail... "" That's what the folks of Virginia City were probably thinking when a Quaker woman talks a reluctant Hoss into dressing as the Easter Bunny for the orphanage's children. While hippety-hopping and waiting for Easter to be its way, Hoss - while dressed in the Easter Bunny costume - contends with a group of inept outlaws, who commit a comedy of errors in their attempts to rob stagecoaches.
S11 Ep26
6.5
5th Apr 1970
In this second episode to feature Meena Calhoun and her father, Hoss and Joe's plans to sell horses from the livery stables in town is thwarted. Virgil and his two brothers also go into the livery business which creates troubles for Hoss and Joe.
S14 Ep6
6.5
10th Oct 1972
In what was essentially the second part of a two-part episode centering on Griff King, the young parolee arrives at the Ponderosa and is hired as a ranch hand. Ben, Joe and the others exercise patience as they tries to help an arrogant, resentful Griff adjust to society and life an honest life.
S3 Ep4
6.5
15th Oct 1961
Little Joe pays a visit to the widow Lee Bolden, and brings her a bank draft for her husband's investments with Ben. Actually, the investments were losing propositions. Ben just wanted to help out his friend. During his visit, a wounded man stumbles into the house, and Joe recognizes him as Trock, who had just robbed the local bank. Lee Bolden was a nurse to her husband physician, and removes the bullet from Trock. Joe soon learns that Lee is in love with Trock, and that is the only thing standing between him and an early grave.
S5 Ep2
6.6
29th Sep 1963
Renowned English novelist Charles Dickens comes to Virginia City. In short order, he is accused of a crime he didn't commit. The problem then becomes how to convince the stubborn author to defend himself.
S3 Ep19
6.6
28th Jan 1962
Joe plans to marry Laura White, daughter of a man Ben once sailed with, but she is fatally ill. Ben consoles him with words spoken years before, by the father of Adam's mother.
S14 Ep1
6.6
12th Sep 1972
Little Joe finds true love in newcomer Alice Harper. Following a courtship, the two are engaged. Unlike most of the Cartwrights' previous girlfriends, Alice makes it to the altar. Joe and Alice are starting their new life together, and she soon becomes pregnant. All appears well, as Joe and Alice start their new life together in their new home ... until one day Joe is out. Alice's indolent brother owes money to a ruthless businessman and has not yet paid, so they find Alice instead. When she can't pay the debt, they brutally kill her and burn Joe's house down.
S9 Ep2
6.6
24th Sep 1967
Ben, Hoss and Little Joe help the Virginia City militia escort a renegade Indian, who believes he is the Almighty, through hostile Indian territory to prison.
S6 Ep18
6.7
24th Jan 1965
Kellie Conrad dances and her father plays the fiddle to earn a living. Hoss feels a sense of guilt after he unintentionally hurts the arm that Kellie's father uses to play the fiddle, in a saloon fight with some roughnecks. He gets them to stay at the Ponderosa while the girl's father recuperates. While there, Ben introduces Kellie to his friend Paul Mandel, a ballet star before an explosion cut his dancing career short. Kellie persuades Paul to help her learn ballet. She soon comes to the realization that she loves both the ballet and Paul. She struggles inwardly to make a choice between her love of ballet and giving it all up for the love of her father.
S6 Ep24
6.7
7th Mar 1965
While working as a substitute teacher, Adam uncovers an ugly secret about the territory's past that others prefer remain hidden.
S6 Ep25
6.7
21st Mar 1965
Cousin Muley Jones returns to the Ponderosa, along with a pack of noisy hound dogs, in this funny sequel to "The Saga Of Muley Jones".
S6 Ep26
6.7
28th Mar 1965
One of Joe's old girlfriends thinks he killed her husband so they could come together. Unfortunately, that is what her husband's twin brother also believes.
S7 Ep30
6.7
24th Apr 1966
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.
S7 Ep32
6.7
8th May 1966
Ben and Hoss unwittingly aid a vengeful army colonel who plans to wipe out every Indian he can with a Gatling gun.
S10 Ep2
6.7
22nd Sep 1968
While Hoss is in a remote town on business, he is arrested for murder and robbery. The town's richest man has just been killed, and the townspeople are less concerned with justice, rather the old man's money. They are convinced that if they threaten Hoss, he'll break down and tell them where he hid the fortune. A few of the town's top citizens, including the mayor, form a lynch mob, but only hang Hoss "part of the way". But when cowboy Child Barnett sees the lynch mob coming, he breaks Hoss out of jail, and the two men form a friendship on the run.
S13 Ep13
6.7
19th Dec 1971
Just as Ben begins to formally adopt Jamie, his grandfather shows up to take him away. Ben tells the gentleman, "He's a young man with his roots in Ponderosa soil. This is the life he knows, the life he loves, the life he wants".
S13 Ep16
6.7
9th Jan 1972
Hoss enlists the aid of Judith Coleman, a clairvoyant woman who has the gift of "second sight" to find Jamie. He has been missing in the high country and cannot be found by anyone. Judith's gifted psychic abilities have had a long history of men casting her off as a witch, so at first she is reluctant to help the Cartwrights search for Jamie, then changes her mind since she owes them a great deal. Her fiancee, Jess Avery, who is a minister, doesn't look with favor as to her abilities and she may face the consequences of losing him unless she finds Jamie. Hoss refers to Jamie as his "little brother" for the first time.
S13 Ep18
6.7
30th Jan 1972
Ben helps shepherd a young family, the Kosovos (Nick; his wife, Anna; and his son, Sandor), who had recently immigrated from Serbia. Nick soon finds he can't handle the pressure needed to become successful in America and, one evening while Ben is visiting, his mind snaps. He goes on a rampage, trapping Ben (who becomes injured) and a terrified Anna and Sandor inside their home. Ben must do all he can to keep Nick at bay and try to reason with the mentally ill rancher.
S8 Ep28
6.7
2nd Apr 1967
The Cartwrights play host to Russian royals, who are the target of jewel thieves.
S11 Ep3
6.7
28th Sep 1969
A young boy positively identifies Candy as the man wanted in Stillwater for robbery, arson and murder.
S11 Ep12
6.7
14th Dec 1969
Ben is sorry to learn that two of his oldest friends are on opposite sides of the law, after 27 years. Charlie Shepard once worked a mining claim with Ben, along with Jess Waddell, now a bounty hunter, and will stop at nothing to kill Charlie, regardless of what anyone tries to persuade him to do otherwise.
S7 Ep9
6.8
7th Nov 1965
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.
S7 Ep20
6.8
6th Feb 1966
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.
S11 Ep11
6.8
7th Dec 1969
While in Sunville on business for the Ponderosa, the town's storyteller, Salty - who has a talent for grossly exaggerating his tales - identifies Hoss and Candy as outlaws Big Jack (Hoss) and Sid (Candy). After a frustrating endeavor of convincing Salty of their real identities, Candy and Hoss get him to help stage ""Big Jack's"" death in a gunfight, unaware that the real Big Jack and Sid are in Sunville and plan to take advantage of the townsfolks' distraction to rob the bank.
S12 Ep6
6.8
18th Oct 1970
On the trail, Joe witnesses a woman kill a man, but the woman rides away before he can positively identify her. He rides into the nearest town, Black River and reports the crime to Sheriff Gideon Yates, and the two ride out to find clues. They find a handkerchief embroidered with the letter "L". Sheriff Yates knows who the killer is, his wife Lydia. She married him before she got a legal divorce from her first husband, Loomis, and killed him to silence him. Gideon tries to coax Joe out of town, but he recognizes Lydia's picture in a photographer's window. When Joe refuses to leave, Gideon tries to shoot him down in cold blood and orders a manhunt against him. Joe's only hope is a Mexican stable boy, who saw Gideon shoot him, and ultimately Joe and Gideon have one of the most memorable confrontations in the series' history.
S12 Ep12
6.8
13th Dec 1970
Hoss and Joe pretend to be stage robbers' partners in order to recover stolen Cartwright money. All goes well until the wife of one of the thieves shows up.
S10 Ep24
6.8
16th Mar 1969
Candy comes upon a soldier who is running from charges of desertion, and with Joe's help they foil a plan to sell rapid-fire rifles to the Indians.
S7 Ep1
6.8
12th Sep 1965
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.
S7 Ep5
6.8
10th Oct 1965
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.
S11 Ep17
6.8
25th Jan 1970
Ben comes to the aid of Amy Wilder, an eccentric animal lover whose mental competency is questioned when a neighbor declares an interest in her land for mining. The neighbor asks the court for a hearing to have Amy declared senile so he can obtain her land, setting off Ben's race against time to track down Amy's relatives to defend her mental state.
S12 Ep27
6.8
4th Apr 1971
Ben, Hoss and Joe, along with Candy and a fellow rancher, are jailed on false trespassing charges by a greedy mining tycoon. The despot runs a gold mine (i.e., a thinly-veiled prison camp) and acquires slave labor by pressing phony criminal charges against the unfortunate inmates.
S13 Ep8
6.8
14th Nov 1971
Neta, a teen-age girl who is a friend of Jamie's, witnesses an assault and robbery. The victim - Mr. Trumbull, a man who is about to inherit a fortune - dies. The culprit, a drifter named Griff Bannon, gets a glimpse of Neta and, after fleeing the scene, plots to assume his victim's identity and stalk the witness. Her father, meanwhile, is no help, since he raises her by ""traditional values"" and forbids her to socialize with the Cartwrights. Meanwhile, the imposter - now working for the Cartwrights - begins to track Neta's every move and plans to seal her silence, unless she can summon the courage to tell Jamie and the others about the crime she witnessed and identify the baddie.
S11 Ep4
6.8
5th Oct 1969
When he is called to testify in an out-of-town lumber shark case, Roy recruits Hoss to temporarily serve as sheriff. Hoss quickly finds his hands full dealing with a reluctant groom, who plans a robbery to make himself less appealing to his assertive fiancé; and a persistent salesman wanting to sell stock for a resort in the Virginia City area. Will Virginia City ever be the same?
S3 Ep20
6.9
4th Feb 1962
The Cartwrights pretend the Ponderosa belongs to the town lush, when his aging mother from Ireland arrives.
S4 Ep7
6.9
4th Nov 1962
The Civil War once again divides the citizens of Nevada, as well as Adam and Joe Cartwright. One of season four's highlights, the plot involving British spy Bill Stewart, based on historical fact.
S5 Ep26
6.9
29th Mar 1964
The Cartwrights are visited by their second cousin, Muley Jones of Weedville, Missouri who sings with a window-shattering voice and stirs up trouble with Indian negotiations that Ben is trying to ensure.
S8 Ep6
6.9
16th Oct 1966
Hoss is engaged to Carol Attley, a troubled woman with a past darker than he imagines.
S11 Ep5
6.9
12th Oct 1969
Will Griner is acquitted of murder which upsets the folks of Virginia City. They feel Griner silenced witnesses and are ready to lynch him. Ben works to reopen the case by finding out the truth about the case before it is too late.
S11 Ep13
6.9
21st Dec 1969
Joe agrees to help the man who tried to steal his horse, Abner Willoughby, who has returned to claim the box of gold he hid years ago, before going to sea.
S14 Ep16
6.9
16th Jan 1973
In what turned out to be the series finale, Little Joe is making a delivery for Ben when he meets Bill Tanner, a psychotic killer that is posing as a soldier he has killed. His delivery wagon stolen and sans supplies, food or water, Joe - whom Tanner has called his ""prey"" - tries to evade the well-stocked madman, who takes sadistic pleasure in his role as a predator.
S3 Ep10
6.9
26th Nov 1961
A professional wrangler working for the Cartwrights is paralyzed when thrown by a particularly mean bronco. The woman nursing him was once engaged to the late son of a neighboring rancher out to get Ben.
S4 Ep9
6.9
25th Nov 1962
Billy Horne is a white man who was captured by the Shoshone when he was six. He comes into Ben & Joe's campsite one night uninvited. They capture him and take him to town. Roy Coffee wants to put him in jail for safekeeping, but Ben says he'll take him to the Ponderosa. They buy Horne clothes and become friends to him. A guy named Milton Tanner says the deed to the Ponderosa is weak and tries to take a third of it. Billy goes to Tanner's ranch and warns him that he will kill him if he tries to take the land. Tanner turns his dog loose on Billy. Billy kills the dog and then Tanner, who is going for a gun. Billy pleads guilty, but breaks out. Eventually he goes back with Joe and tells what really happened.
S5 Ep24
6.9
15th Mar 1964
The town council feels Roy Coffee can no longer do his job, and with the notorious Wagner gang on their way to rob the bank, everyone is in a panic. Ben and Adam disagree with the town council and do what they can to help Roy out.
S9 Ep29
6.9
12th May 1968
Hoss is accused of stabbing a man to death, and his only hope of acquittal is a once great trial lawyer who is now a hopeless drunk.
S9 Ep32
6.9
2nd Jun 1968
Joe reluctantly takes a job as a substitute teacher and must contend with two older students who have no use for an education.
S10 Ep10
6.9
17th Nov 1968
In the third and final installment of the Rossi family, Georgio Rossi doesn't understand why he cannot allow Indians who have left the reservation to live on his land.
S10 Ep27
6.9
6th Apr 1969
Feeling unloved, a Marshal's daughter runs off with a Ponderosa hand her father thinks may be related to the man that shot him.
S5 Ep22
6.9
1st Mar 1964
While talking with an Indian, Ben is given an unexpected present...a woman. She is a young white woman named Joan who has lived with the Indians since she was a little girl. Through a humorous learning experience, Ben tries to teach Joan how to behave like a white woman. In the process, Ben finds himself in an awkward situation.
S2 Ep34
7.0
3rd Jun 1961
Blacksmith Sam Hill fights to keep the land on which his mother is buried, after his drunken father signs the deed over to Colonel Tyson and his private army. Poetic episode written by John T. Kelley and directed by Robert Altman.
S3 Ep24
7.0
4th Mar 1962
In order to keep peace on the ranch, Hoss and Joe try to help ranch hand, Hank Meyers woo the the plain-looking schoolteacher, Abigail Jones. When their first plan backfires, they convince Adam (who doesn't want to get involved) to help and this makes things worse because Abigail believes it is Adam who is wooing her and Hank Meyers believes Adam wants to steal her away.
S3 Ep30
7.0
22nd Apr 1962
When two feuding families argue over the custody of two orphaned children, a reluctant Ben is called upon to straighten out the situation before real trouble erupts.
S5 Ep18
7.0
2nd Feb 1964
The new stranger in town claims to be the famous pirate Jean Lafitte, and Hoss believes him.
S6 Ep3
7.0
4th Oct 1964
Lafe Jessup doesn't really want to be married, and now he's about to be a father! The horse wrangler finds a fight with Hoss at his reluctance to perform his duties.
S6 Ep4
7.0
11th Oct 1964
After inadvertantly falling into the river, Adam is rescued by Tom Wilson. Wilson has feelings for Sue Miller, which bring him into trouble after her father is killed.
S6 Ep5
7.0
18th Oct 1964
Sam Logan is released from jail after serving his twenty year sentence for stealing $100,000 worth of gold dust. He is followed by a bounty hunter who believes Sam will lead him to where the gold is buried.
S6 Ep20
7.0
7th Feb 1965
Professor Klump and Amanda pull Hoss into their flying machine scheme. The ""Hoss-mobile"" doesn't seem to be destined for a great take-off.
S6 Ep21
7.0
14th Feb 1965
Adam sets out to track down the man who has been impersonating him to clear his reputation.
S6 Ep23
7.0
28th Feb 1965
Hoss' latest acquaintance, an Englishman named Professor Poppy, is actually Percival Alexander Mundy, M.D., who has given up the practice of medicine. However, when Hoss is shot in the back, only Mundy's skill can save his life.
S6 Ep28
7.0
11th Apr 1965
First Ben's sons are making lots of noise, so he goes into town to sleep in the hotel. Then, various noises and things interrupt Ben's sleep. Will he ever get his desired good night's rest?
S6 Ep31
7.0
2nd May 1965
No one in Virginia City is happy to see ex-con Trace Cordell, especially the man he crippled in a gunfight, now married to Cordell's former girlfriend.
S6 Ep33
7.0
16th May 1965
Ben invites opera singer Angela Bergstrom to perform at Virginia City's anniversary celebration. She accepts, but does not tell him that her famous singing voice is long gone
S6 Ep34
7.0
23rd May 1965
Hoss befriends a self-demeaning recluse named Patch, who makes the best apple pie Hoss has ever tasted. Hoss is so impressed with him, especially his pie, that he hires him to work on the Ponderosa. Ben, however, is unimpressed with Hoss' new friend when the Cartwrights get into a gunfight with a mining outfit, and Patch cowers. He has a deepseeded fear of violence stemming from an incident in his teen years, but he knows in order to survive in the West, he must overcome it.
S7 Ep2
7.0
19th Sep 1965
Ben helps a convict win a parole only to have the man later become the chief suspect in a bank robbery.
S7 Ep6
7.0
17th Oct 1965
Ben is attracted to Sarah Reynolds, a member of a religious order led by her fanatical uncle. When she is accused of being a witch, the Cartwrights step in.
S7 Ep7
7.0
24th Oct 1965
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.
S7 Ep8
7.0
31st Oct 1965
Ben must determine who is the rightful heir to a fortune that includes water rights vital to the Ponderosa.
S7 Ep10
7.0
14th Nov 1965
Hoss and Joe find a woman abandoned by a wagon train because her gift of prophecy is considered a curse. "Wouldn't it be wonderful," says Ben, "if eveybody made a real effort to understand whatever's strange and unfamiliar rather to fear it and try to destroy it?"
S7 Ep11
7.0
21st Nov 1965
The Generation Gap, Western-style, as Hoss tries to bring a young man and his father closer together.
S7 Ep12
7.0
5th Dec 1965
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.
S7 Ep13
7.0
12th Dec 1965
Hoss finds a kindred spirit in Skeeter Dexter, a lonesome young man who feels closer to animals than most people.
S7 Ep14
7.0
19th Dec 1965
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.
S7 Ep15
7.0
2nd Jan 1966
After sitting on a jury that has convicted Terrence O' Tool of murder, Joe has second thoughts about the verdict and decides to do some investigating of his own.
S7 Ep16
7.0
9th Jan 1966
Hoss finds a wounded young Indian on the prairie, who is torn between accepting the ways of the white man or returning to his old life.
S7 Ep17
7.0
16th Jan 1966
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.
S7 Ep18
7.0
23rd Jan 1966
Conclusion to the previous-week's episode, where the Cartwrights provide needed assistance to the Pony Express.
S7 Ep19
7.0
30th Jan 1966
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.
S7 Ep23
7.0
27th Feb 1966
Joshua Norton, an eccentric and formerly wealthy San Francisco merchant who considers himself Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, comes to the Ponderosa. Authorities want to have him committed, and Ben contacts Mark Twain to testify to Norton's sanity.
S7 Ep29
7.0
17th Apr 1966
Italian immigrants are determined to establish their own vineyard on Ponderosa property.
S7 Ep31
7.0
1st May 1966
A sailor, claiming to be one of Adam's closest friends, is given a warm welcome by the Cartwrights, who have no way of knowing the man and his accomplice plan on robbing them.
S7 Ep33
7.0
15th May 1966
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.
S8 Ep7
7.0
23rd Oct 1966
Though his friend is badly in need of the reward money, Joe insists it belongs to him, to protect his friend from the dead outlaws' brothers.
S8 Ep15
7.0
25th Dec 1966
Warbling Andy Walker returns to Virginia City a big success, along with his shifty Uncle Thaddeus.
S8 Ep32
7.0
30th Apr 1967
The Cartwrights' cousin, Clarissa visits. Her assertive, snobbish ways result in nothing but trouble for Ben and his sons.
S10 Ep9
7.0
10th Nov 1968
A white woman abducted years before by the Paiutes is reunited with her husband, who is less than pleased to learn she has given birth to an Indian baby.
S10 Ep12
7.0
8th Dec 1968
An army scout Ben once knew comes to the Ponderosa and asks Ben to stake a cattle ranch in Mira Flores, Mexico.
S11 Ep7
7.0
26th Oct 1969
Ben lends a hand to a down and out war veteran, Matthew Rush, who received the Congressional Medal Of Honor.
S11 Ep8
7.0
2nd Nov 1969
Candy helps the widow of a man he shot and killed in self defense, unaware she is plotting revenge against him.
S11 Ep21
7.0
22nd Feb 1970
Ben gambles the future of the Ponderosa when a convincing meat packer from Chicago, sets out to ruin the local cattle industry.
S11 Ep22
7.0
1st Mar 1970
En route to San Francisco, actress Lotta Crabtree arrives in Virginia City for a special performance. Hoss is smitten by the beautiful actress, which makes her leading man jealous. When he is killed during a performance, Lotta and then Hoss are suspected of the death. It is up to Ben to set things straight.
S11 Ep23
7.0
8th Mar 1970
Two drifters come to the Ponderosa and they try to rob the Cartwrights but are driven away. Joe becomes close to the young Mexican, Ramon, who is with them. After they get into a little disagreement they throw Ramon out. The drifters then discover that Ramon has found gold. Ramon returns to the Ponderosa and is welcomed. The Cartwrights learn that Ramon's father, who had to take care of his large family, sold his son to the two men. The two drifters grab Ramon and force him to tell them where he found the gold. They are about to make their claim when the Cartwrights stop them and let Ramon claim the gold as his. Ramon then goes back to Mexico with his fortune.
S11 Ep24
7.0
22nd Mar 1970
Ben and Joe stop in Los Robles for a couple of beers and a night's rest. Ben sees the town boss, John Walker, bullying the saloon waitress, and he comes to her defense. When Ben steps outside of the saloon, Walker shoots him in the back. Badly wounded, Ben shoots back, killing Walker just before he falls unconscious. While Joe keeps a vigil at Ben's bedside, the priest tells him Los Robles had always been ruled unquestionably by John Walker and his son Jed. Now Jed will certainly want revenge. Sure enough, he tells Joe if he doesn't hand Ben over in 24 hours, he will kill every citizen in Los Robles, one an hour. To complicate matters more, Walker's foreman, Garth, deliberately tells Jed that Ben shot his father in the back, in hopes that Joe will kill Walker, so he can run the Walker ranch. When Joe tries to mobilize a few citizens to fight Walker and his army of men, he finds a town full of cowards. The biggest coward of all is the doctor. He purposely left the bullet in Ben's back, hoping that he'd die within 24 hours. Jed and Garth make final plans to blow up Los Robles with dynamite, unless Joe surrenders Ben to him.
S11 Ep27
7.0
12th Apr 1970
Hoss meets two men. He forms a rapport with them and they tell him that they plan to rob the bank in the town they are going to. Hoss tries to stop them but he fails. Hoss decides to go into the town to warn the sheriff but is too late. The sheriff then arrests Hoss.
S12 Ep4
7.0
4th Oct 1970
After being taken into custody by a sheriff who does not care if he is guilty or innocent of a crime, Hoss escapes from the prison wagon with a woman he is convinced got a raw deal.
S12 Ep7
7.0
25th Oct 1970
When Hoss volunteers to be Sheriff of a town called Trouble, he soon finds out that the town had correctly been named. Hoss almost manages to arrest the whole town, and captures the Clanton gang all by himself.
S12 Ep9
7.0
8th Nov 1970
A dying woman and her son are rejected by her father because she had a child out of wedlock.
S12 Ep11
7.0
22nd Nov 1970
Pepper Shannon is a dime novel hero and outlaw. Ben gives a job to Pepper Shannon on the condition the one-time outlaw stays away from Jamie, who happens to admire him.
S12 Ep14
7.0
27th Dec 1970
A girl's uncle and aunt want custody of her only because they believe she has the rights to her late grandfather's mine.
S12 Ep20
7.0
14th Feb 1971
An English couple comes to Nevada to learn why a ranch owned by the British investment firm is the only company holding not showing a profit.
S12 Ep21
7.0
21st Feb 1971
Ben is shocked to learn the Army general he is backing as governor, advocates a policy of genocide towards all Indians.
S1 Ep1
7.5
12th Sep 1959
Lotta Crabtree is hired by mining tycoon Alpheus Troy to lure one of the Cartwrights into town and hold him for ransom in exchange for Ponderosa timber rights.
S1 Ep2
7.4
19th Sep 1959
Greedy opportunist Mark Burdette and his accomplice Early Thorne stir up trouble between the Paiute tribe and the citizens of Virginia City. Ben discovers Burdette and Thorne are selling antelope beef to the miners and finds the price too high. He offers the miners beef at a more reasonable price. Burdette and Thorne retaliate by framing the Paiute's for attacks, by dressing as them and killing ranchers. Based on a factual accounting. Lorne Greene's first voice-over narration, and no landing constructed yet for the Ponderosa stairway.
S1 Ep3
7.5
26th Sep 1959
John Pennington and his crew want to mine the Ponderosa land by hydraulic means. Ben is totally against this method and evicts them in short order. Hoss is given the task of telling Pennington's men to leave, but soon has a moral dilemma on his hands when he meets Pennington's beautiful sister, Emily. He soon discovers a heartbreaking secret...she's terminally ill; but their relationship soon leads to plenty of trouble for the Cartwrights.
S1 Ep4
7.5
3rd Oct 1959
Trader Mike Wilson attempts to escape punishment by the Paiute Indians after mistreating two of their women, by placing the blame on Adam. A fierce war between the Paiutes and the California militia follows, and the Paiutes seize Adam as hostage. Very impressive battle scenes in the this first mini-epic of the series. This episode did all it could to stage the real thing; 50 Indians were used and 50 cavalry actors and extras were used, and the production involved three days of shooting on location. This episode encompassed both the biggest cast and most costly stunts. This episode is based on the factual accounting that occured in May and June of 1860.
S1 Ep5
7.4
10th Oct 1959
Samuel Clemens arrives in Virginia City to write for the Territorial Enterprise at the same time a crooked politician tries to lay claim on the Ponderosa.
S1 Ep6
7.5
17th Oct 1959
Little Joe is infatuated wih saloon owner Julia Bulette, whom he imagines is like his late mother. First episode to reveal backround details concerning Marie Cartwright, and inspired by the true story of a Virginia City madam. Also, the first episode to showcase Michael Landon.
S1 Ep7
7.5
24th Oct 1959
Adam defends the mining claim of Annie O' Toole in a court presided over by Judge Ben Cartwright. Annie comes to the Washoe Diggings with a claim to a mine filed by her beau, Swede Lundberg. Swede has two claims and sold one to an acquaintance of theirs named Gregory Spain, creating confusion, that only Judge Ben Cartwright can make a ruling on.
S1 Ep8
7.9
31st Oct 1959
Adam and Hoss assist a German engineer in developing the concept of "square set timbering" in the mines. Based on fact, and the first episode not to include all four Cartwrights. Hoss refers to the character, Emily, with whom he was in love with in, "The Newcomers".
S1 Ep9
7.7
7th Nov 1959
In a flashback, the legendary prospector arrives on the Ponderosa and participates in the founding of Virginia City. Coincidentally, guest star Jack Carson played a teller at the Comstock Bank and Trust in the 1942 film, "Gentleman Jim". This early classic was the second episode filmed.
S1 Ep10
7.5
14th Nov 1959
Virginia City is visited by actress Adah Issacs Menken, who happens to be an old acquaintance of Ben's. Joe is badly beaten by Adah's jealous suitor, John C. Regan, who is bested in a fight with an enraged Hoss.
S1 Ep11
7.5
21st Nov 1959
Luther Bishop and Ben Cartwright have had an ongoing land dispute for a number of years, over a small tract called the Truckee Strip. One of Bishop's employee's has a grudge against the Cartwrights and wants to stir up the feud again, while also harboring designs on Bishop's pretty daughter, Amy. Joe meets and falls in love with Amy, in spite of the family differences and the two want to marry. Just when it looks like the feud will end with the union of the two young people, Bishop's man attacks Amy and Joe must come to the rescue.
S1 Ep12
7.6
28th Nov 1959
Adam and Joe reluctantly join a group of vengeful townsmen, who are out to lynch the three men who supposedly killed Vannie Johnson. The posse is run by Paiute Scroggs and Flint Johnson, the dead woman's husband. When Adam and Joe clash with them, they both separate and try to reach the three men before the posse does. This episode's storyline is a variation of the 1943 film "The Ox-Bow Incident".
S1 Ep13
7.6
5th Dec 1959
In a variation of "High Noon", Ben and Hoss must face a gang of outlaws practically all alone when most of Virginia City's citizens go into hiding. The most action-filled episode since "The Paiute War".
S1 Ep14
7.5
12th Dec 1959
This episode begins with Adam defending the honor of Sue Ellen Terry in a duel. No one gets shot because the other man misses Adam and Adam generously shoots in the air to end the duel. Sue Ellen lives with her sister, who seems nice but turns out to be fairly evil, consumed with jealousy because she's getting older and her sister is a young beauty. When Adam drops Sue Ellen off after a date one night, half way through this episode, someone shoots her dead, and Adam becomes a suspect and is thrown in jail. When the sheriff suggests that Adam escape, he does it, but when he walks out, someone tries to shoot him. He chases after them but doesn't find them, and soon after hears Sue Ellen's sister scream. He runs up the stairs to find her dead, and of course, is then suspected of that murder as well. Of course, his family helps him during the last half hour, and it all turns out that someone we should not have suspected did all the murders, but that he actually wasn't trying to hit
S1 Ep15
7.6
19th Dec 1959
Hoss and Joe come across a pregnant Indian woman while hunting bighorn sheep and must deliver her baby. Despite touches of humor, including a scene in which Joe refers to a meal as "cattle fodder", the story does not have an altogether happy ending.
S1 Ep16
7.8
2nd Jan 1960
Ben sends Hoss and Joe to Monterey to purchase an expensive seed bull. The first of Blocker and Landon's many comic misadventures, although the casual use of violence, as in the rapier fight, is oddly uncharacteristic for the series. Hoss reveals his real name to be Eric for the first time.
S1 Ep17
7.7
9th Jan 1960
Because she is related to criminals, a young woman is ostracized by everyone but the the Cartwrights. She unwisely seeks solace with an ex-con friend of Joe's, Clay Renton, and it's up to Ben to straighten everything out. First episode to have a chapter title after the cast credits.
S1 Ep18
7.5
16th Jan 1960
As the Civil War approaches, Adam and Joe clash over which side to support. The situation is complicated by the arrival of Frederick Kyle, a Southern sympathizer. He was an old friend of Joe's mother and viewers also discover that Joe's middle name is Francis.
S1 Ep19
7.9
23rd Jan 1960
In the first all-out comic episode of the series, Hoss and Joe travel to Kiowa Flats, Texas, where they are mistaken for the notorious Slade Brothers, also played by Blocker and Landon.
S1 Ep20
7.6
30th Jan 1960
The Cartwrights encounter racial bigotry in Virginia City and end up protecting a Chinese boy from mob violence. Victor Sen Yung, in his largest role to date, speaks normally in the presence of his fellow countrymen, but reverts to broken English when with the Cartwrights.
S1 Ep21
7.4
6th Feb 1960
In "The Spanish Grant", a young bargirl, Rosita Morales is pretending to be a Spanish noblewoman named Isabella Marie Inez de la Cuesta and at the end of the story, it's revealed she is really Rosita Morales, but on the other hand, is she really Rosita Morales? This little twist at the end is simply entertaining everytime it's viewed, with the viewer able to determine the young woman's real identity at the end of act four.
S1 Ep22
7.7
13th Feb 1960
A shiftless sheepherder, Jeb Drummond, encroaches his herd of sheep on the Ponderosa and refuses to budge. He resists all of Ben's attempts to throw him off his land and finally resorts to taking Adam prisoner in exchange for ownership of the ranch.
S1 Ep23
8.2
20th Feb 1960
When a tough U.S. Marshal from California arrests a Ponderosa hand, Dave Walker, for murder, Adam and Hoss go along to make sure their employee reaches Los Angeles alive. In one scene, Adam is dressed in black for the first time. In another, Hoss, upon seeing Southern California for the first time, remarks, "It sure ain't never gonna amount to much". Later, Adam makes an amusing reference to the chow Joe says he was forced to eat in "The Last Hunt".
S1 Ep24
7.7
27th Feb 1960
Nevada Territory is awaiting statehood, and Ben considers running for governor until he learns he is wanted for murder in New Orleans. Inspector Charles Leduque arrives and says Ben is wanted for commiting the murder 20 years earlier, and after Joe kills his bodyguard in self-defense, Inspector Leduque makes it appear the other way around. Ben has no choice but go with Leduque, to clear his name in a very suspense-filled episode. Once again, there are several references to Joe's mother, and viewers are shown Marie's grave near the shore of Lake Tahoe.
S1 Ep25
7.7
5th Mar 1960
After Adam is bushwhacked by three army deserters, Ben tracks them down, and tackles the brutal Captain Bolton who is pursuing them.
S1 Ep26
7.9
19th Mar 1960
A restaurant owner whom Ben and Adam have confronted over stolen Ponderosa beef ends up dead one night. His daughter, Sally Byrnes runs the cafe and in her resentment, wrongfully accuses Ben and Adam of murdering her father and they are sentenced to hang. A rancher by the name of Hawkins is also jealous of the Cartwrights and has hired his men to stop the town from helping Ben and Adam, ensuring they hang. Hoss and Joe are willing to stop them, but Ben insists they stay within the limits of the law.
S1 Ep27
7.7
26th Mar 1960
Adam takes Ben's friends, Lord Marion Dunsworth and Lady Beatrice, on a hunting expedition, and they are captured by a gang of crude thieves and murderers. During one early scene, after listening to Ben reminisce, Hoss says, "Always like to hear Pa get wound up. He don't do it often."
S1 Ep28
8.1
2nd Apr 1960
In this comic episode, the first to take place far from the ranch, Ben, Hoss, and Joe deliver a herd to San Francisco. Although he warns his sons to be careful in the big city ("This is not the Ponderosa!"), Ben is the one who is shanghaied and must be rescued.
S1 Ep29
8.0
9th Apr 1960
Len Keith, a miner, wants to purchase some land adjacent to the Ponderosa from rancher Andy McKaren. Andy's son, Tod, is anxious to sell. Keith has offered him a partnership,and more importantly, he is in love with Keith's daughter. When Ben warns Andy that a mine on the property would foul up Ponderosa water, Andy agrees not to sell the land. Len Keith, determined to get that land, plants tick infested cattle in a Ponderosa herd to turn Andy against the Cartwrights.
S1 Ep30
7.7
16th Apr 1960
Hoss takes Billy Allen, the young son of a convicted felon under his wing, then is forced to kill his father and Billy will not forgive him. The most emotional Hoss story since "The Newcomers" and one of Blocker's best.
S1 Ep31
7.2
23rd Apr 1960
Joe falls in love with Tirza, an undeniably strange gypsy girl who says she is cursed and never does seem to "snap out of it". The first episode of the series with a supernatural flavor, directed appropriately enough, by Lewis Allen, who made the classic ghost film "The Uninvited".
S1 Ep32
7.8
30th Apr 1960
Virginia City is plagued by organized crime, Sam Bryant and his gang. One of his men, Farmer Perkins, kills a storekeeper, and at his trial, the wife of the store owner is afraid to testify. When Perkins is sentenced to hang, Bryant kidnaps Ben and wants to exchange Ben for Perkins, which leaves Adam with the most difficult decision of his life. A stellar cast.