The last cattle drive to Sedalia having been completed, Favor writes to his crew to meet him in Rio Salado to start a new drive. At that town, Rowdy accidentally encounters his drunkard, near-do-well father (Dan) who had deserted the family many years ago. To get a grubstake to start over with Rowdy, Dan disgraces himself by shooting in the back Antonio Marcos, a famous, well-liked quasi-revolutionary outlaw with a $5000 price on his head. That killing sickens everyone including an important rancher who now refuses to turn his herd over to Favor and the crew. Disappointed, and with the crew penniless, Favor has to forge alternative plans to gather a new herd. Season premiere. Written by chipe

The men are tired of scouring the brush for mavericks to build a new herd. Rowdy and Favor stumble on a man Jed with a small herd of cattle penned. Favor offers to buy the cattle but Jed initially turns him down but tells Favor he could collect mavericks faster if he worked smarter. Favor offers to pay Jed for helping which Jed accepts. Favor, alone, stumbles across the site of a two-year-old Indian massacre of a wagon train. A name plate in the ruins shows that the wagons were owned by Lefever and Karse. Until Favor's discovery, no one knew the location of the site, only that the wagon master, Jed Hadley, had deserted the Indian onslaught and was the sole survivor. Hadley buried all the victims, including Lefever along with his money box. Embarrassed by his cowardice, Hadley remained hiding in the vicinity. By coincidence, Karse (who was NOT in that wagon train) and Lefever's mother turn up -- Karse looking for the stolen money that Lefever was transporting for them, and Mrs. Lefever... Written by chipe

Starting a new cattle drive, Trail Boss Favor seems to do everything wrong in shaking down the drovers. He disaffects everyone with his arduous, heartless, insulting orders and behavior towards the men, especially after he hires on some new young, enthusiastic, callow drovers. As he watches the men work Favor begins to realize that some of the older drivers may be beyond their prime for the job and could hurt or kill themselves or the herd. When Quince allows a group of cattle to wonder off because he fell asleep in the saddle, Favor decides it is time to let him go. The old drovers (except Wishbone, Mushy and Hey Soos) quit the drive as a result. With the old drovers gone, Favor sees the new drovers mismanage tasks resulting in the loss of cattle. When a cougar stalks the herd, one of the drovers fires a gun causing a stampede. Favor puts everyone in the saddle telling them to head the herd north but not knowing better they turn the herd - back home to where they came from. With ... Written by chipe

Drover Jim Quince's niece begs for his help in keeping her fiancé from being tried for murder by her bitter father. Her father has become a hanging judge, following the accidental shooting of his wife. When Judge Quince sent a posse to keep the young couple from eloping, a member of the group fired at the fiancé, who killed him in self defense. Written by David Stevens

Indians stampede the herd and make off with 30 steers, so Rowdy, Pete, Quince and Hey Soos follow in pursuit. The Indians had been dissatisfied with their hot, dry, dusty reservation up North, so they are trying to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico to find more hospitable land, land it so happens Pete had told them about when he had been married to the Chief's daughter and was living with the Indians. Lawmen are also trying to force the Indians to return to the reservation. Pete has to (1) convince Rowdy, Quince and Hey Soos (who have been captured by the Indians) that the Indians have been wronged and are peaceful, (2) defeat an upstart bellicose Indian brave intent on taking over and killing the drovers, and (3) convince the Chief to return most of the steers and safely cross the Rio Grande. Written by chipe

The drive picks up 750 head of cattle from a cattle dealer Craddock. The drovers are shocked a lone man Clay Forrester arrives with the herd. He asks to join the drive so Favor hires him but he starts on drag. Clay arouses Gil's suspicions, because his cockiness and leadership ability are at odds with his willingness to start at the bottom. Clay makes side trips to see Craddock and his gang as they track the herd planning to steal it. The men notice a woman walking a horse and offer help. The horse threw a shoe but Shelia Brewster refuses their offer of help until Favor tells her she will need protection from cougars at night. Hey Soos tells Favor the horse is an Army mount which Favor already noticed along with the Army saddle. Upon further questioning, he finds she is married to an Army officer and is tired of her life there. Tender-hearted Favor takes her in until she can ride with Wishbone going to town. Clay chews out Shelia for attitude but in turn Shelia touches a nerve in Clay... Written by David Stevens

Quince breaks his leg when the herd is spooked by a lone sheep. The drovers find a shepherd Tod Stone ahead of them with a flock of sheep who refuses to let the drovers pass. When they try to go around him, he outsmarts them causing Rowdy and Collins to try to stampeded the sheep. They scatter but the sheep dog quickly rounds them up while Stone decides to stampede the cattle. When Favor along with Rowdy and Collins go to apologize, Stone is stabbed in the back by his own knife when he falls on it a fight with Rowdy. Favor assigns Rowdy to travel with the injured shepherd to his destination 60 miles away. On the way Rowdy accompanies the man to a town to see a doctor. In the saloon Rowdy is taken for a shepherd, beaten up, and jailed for his own protection. After paying Rowdy's bail, Stone sees the local vet who treats him and gives Rowdy some herbs to boil to help fight the infection. After Rowdy leaves Stone at his destination, he returns to the herd to find anthrax is in the area ... Written by Anonymous

The herd and horses are being spooked along with Mushy believing he is drunk seeing things at the waterhole. Favor rides ahead of the herd to see what is spooking them, and he discovers the source -- the scent of a stranded circus, replete with an elephant, lion, acrobats, wagons, etc. Since their scout abandoned them, to solve the problem Favor has Wishbone guide the circus to its destination, Brailey 30 miles away. Along the way Wishbone notices how the elderly owner-clown Pascal is unreasonably and violently jealous of the young acrobat's innocent interaction with Pascal's wife Jenny who is part of the acrobatic act. Everyone including Wishbone witnesses his mental and physical abuse of Jenny culminating in her driving off in Wishbone's wagon, turning it over and knocking herself out. She asks Wishbone to say she is injured so no visitors are allowed. At Brailey she plans to leave Pascal. However, Pascal catches Wishbone helping her forcing his mad jealousy to finally be resolved ... Written by chipe

Favor picks up 700 head of cattle from an owner who tells him there is a financial crisis in the east. If Favor doesn't make it to Abilien before the news, none of the cattle will be worth anything including the rest owned by Favor and the drovers. They have to cut ten days off the travel time plus Favor can't tell the men why he is driving them so hard due to worry about the news leaking. Favor takes in an aquaculturist, who'll make a fortune introducing shad to West Coast rivers, but he's all alone after leaving his adulterous wife to his treacherous fish hand. Gwynn's also down with a bad fever, and his little fishes turn the hardened drovers into tender fishwives, driving Favor batty as the drive slogs through a drought. Flinty New Englander Tom Gwynn doesn't know that his wife and her new lover are trailing him, planning to pull off a big fishnapping. The drovers decide to rebel against the way they and Gwynn are being treated. When Rowdy tries to tell Favor, Favor is forced to ... Written by David Stevens

A lone female survivor of a stagecoach attacked by Apaches, wanders into camp needing water and rest. The men happily rush to her aid learning she is an actress who after rest recites some of her work including Romeo and Juliet with Rowdy as Romeo. When Dan Madox comes in off night duty, he recognizes her as a famous Union spy, causing dissension among the drovers. The actress, who's alone on foot, has asked to tag along with Gil's drive. But when she's identified, the predominantly Texan cowboys split between bitter Confederates who don't want her sharing their water as they plod through a drought, and those who are thrilled to have professional entertainment until they hit the next town. Maddox ahas a special hatred for her as he was court-martialed and imprisoned because of his relationship with her during the war. Egged on by Kirby, Maddox and several drovers leave the drive stealing the little water they have left. When the next waterhole is dry, Favor tries to bluff them but is ... Written by David Stevens

Lord Ashton is on white buffalo hunt with his faithful English valet Woolsey. After an encounter and threat from Bison Bob, the drovers find Ashton mortally shot in the back at the bottom of a ravine. After they rescue him, he tells Woolsey as he dies Favor is a gentleman and should be treated as such. Woolsey decides to become Favor's Gentleman's Gentleman much to Favor's displeasure as he creates havoc with the drovers and especially Wishbone with too much competition cuisine-wise. Favor is also battling ruthless, smelly Bison Bob, whose hunt ends if the drive stampedes the wary buffalo. Meanwhile Favor has a hard time resisting life upstairs featuring scented baths plus even greater fragrant prairie hen courtesy of the suddenly master-less Woolsey, providing Favor's downstairs saddle stiffs with ample comic material. When Bison Bob threatens to burn the prairie, Favor decides to ask the town for help. They resist until they mistake Woolsey for Lord Ashton believing he might invest ... Written by David Stevens

Wishbone and Mushy find a man dressed in a Santa Claus outfit walking on the range. He nearly passes out saying he is lost and practicing for an early Christmas party for his dying son. They take him to his wife and adopted son's camp. The trio of con artists are pulling the dying boy scam on the good-hearted drovers. The idea is to pretend their boy is dying and his final wish is to have a Christmas party replete with valuable presents. Meanwhile, at the drover camp by a deep river Favor gives Rowdy orders to get the herd across the river immediately before it rains as he leaves with Clay to scout ahead. While Favor is away, the crew disobeys his orders to cross the threatening river. Instead, they organize the Christmas party. The drovers are planning for each to give a head of cattle while Rowdy decides to capture a wild stallion for the boy but injures himself trying as it rains. A furious and suspicious Favor returns and directs the doctor called to care for Rowdy to examine ... Written by chipe

The men run into trouble crossing a private ranch until Favor smooths over the issue with beautiful Martha Hastings, the owner. Rowdy has an instant distaste for her foreman, Jess Cain but he is smitten with Martha. After escorting a census taker Cain run off the ranch to town, they find their old buddy Clay Forrester there as marshal in charge of taking the census. The sharpy Forrester wants to hire Gil's drovers as census takers, so Gil knows Forrester has a scheme planned. Three outlaws are holed up on the ranch the drive is bedded down on. Hastings and Cain have their good cop/bad cop routine down to a bar T. The extra pay attracts Wishbone and Pete, while Rowdy hones in on the widow rancher. Forester angles to grab the $15,000 bounty for the outlaws for himself, using the cowhands as low-paid muscle. However, Cain is a bit too smart for Forrester. He takes Rowdy hostage forcing Forrester to let the outlaws escape. Unknown to Forrester, Wishbone sent Hey Soos after the local ... Written by David Stevens

A trip through a muddy river destroys the supplies. Favor decides to visit the sutler at a nearby fort for new ones. He takes Quince, Collins, and Hey Soos with him. On the way they are attacked by Comancheros who steal their pack horses. Arriving at the fort it appears to be deserted. Favor enters alone finding only a few civilians and two wounded troopers led by the commandant's wife, Nora. The people soon learn she manipulated half of the troops to join the rest of her husband's men in attacking the Comancheros. Her obsession with making her husband a hero to earn a promotion and transfer back east imperils the entire fort and the four drovers. Favor seizes command but finds Nora won't give up her mission no matter how many lives she endangers. She manipulates the sutler into helping her intercept Hey Soos sent to bring back the troops. Favor stops her but when they return to the fort it has been attacked with causalities. Hey Soos soon returns with the troops but her husband ... Written by David Stevens

Jewish immigrant peddler in distress is saved by Favor, and he joins the drive. Everyone here ends up saving each other. Later, the peddler saves an Indian girl from her abusive white step-father and saves the day for Favor and the herd in two unexpected ways. The girl later saves the the life of the peddler and intercedes with Indians (her old tribe) who are starving and will fight for one-third of Favor's herd. Enter the peddler whose bargaining skills and generosity save the day again. The peddler learns a valuable lesson though: that instead of returning to Holland, he should stay in America because he has learned that Home is where your love is - America and another little goody he just picked up! Written by chipe

The drovers think it's a mirage of Paradise when they run into a stranded wagon train of young single women. The mail-order brides say they're destined for Fort Worth homesteaders. That night the women and drovers develop a few friendships during a dance. The next day the drovers leave while Harleck returns with new gear saying the men left Fort Worth. The good news is that he knows a place in west Texas looking for women. They vote to take his suggestion except for Flora who has a husband in Fort Worth she wants to find. Harleck sends Meyers with her to Fort Worth but his real task is to kill her. The fork-tongued Harleck and wagon master have other plans for their pretties. Meyers can't kill Flora but leaves her stranded in the wild. She wonders aimlessly suffering from exhaustion when Rowdy and Quince find her after a fall. At camp, she dies but the men know something is wrong. Favor, Rowdy, Hey Soos and two men leave to locate the women. Favor sends the two men to the herd and ... Written by David Stevens

Favor's herd is prevented from passing through private land that is the only tenable route going north to the Kansas destination. At the same time he learns his sister-in-law Eleanor is bringing his two daughters to visit. Vince Caldwell owner of the private land arrives on the same stage with the daughters and Eleanor. Caldwell lost his wife and daughter to cholera years earlier. Caldwell appears to be falling in love with Eleanor but in reality sees her and Gillian as replacements for his wife and daughter. Caldwell tells Favor he will relent if Favor gives his permission to allow him to adopt Favor's daughters when he marries Eleanor who has been caring for the children. If Favor is opposed to giving up his children, and if he refuses the adoption scheme, he will be forced to either fight his way through the private land or head the herd south through the desert losing much or all of his herd to the severe elements. Neither Favor or the girls are in favor of the adoption so Favor ... Written by chipe

An Army patrol warns Favor not to cross Pawnee lands as a fight is brewing with the Army. As Favor with Nolan travels to the fort they encounter Chief Ogalla who realizes the Pawnee cannot defeat the whites. Ogalla wants peace but can't sell the idea to his tribe, so he arranges to be imprisoned at the fort. They find it undermanned awaiting reinforcements with one officer. The Pawnee announce they have six soldiers they will trade unharmed for Ogalla. Col. Hiller asks Favor and Nolan to enlist as a captain and scout for three days to make the trade. Ogalla will be traded for six troopers the Indians are holding, hoping the deal will pacify the tribe, especially when he lies to the tribe that the fort is well-manned. Favor and Nolan help negotiate the deal, and they set out returning to the fort with the troopers who happen to be deserters which the Pawnee already know making them suspicious. A deserter escapes with Pete losing him but the Pawnee find and torture him learning Ogalla ... Written by chipe

A man arrives asking for Clay Forrester. He is asked to return to the nearby town of Dry Rock for $200 where he served in the Army. Upon arriving he learns the mother Ada Randolph of a man sent to prison is behind the request. Clay and four others testified he robbed the bank and killed a soldier for which he was sent to prison five years. Ada whose outlaw son has recently died in prison has $300,000 (over $2000 per town resident) to bribe the townsfolk to reopen the son's case, find him posthumously innocent and ride out of town the sheriff who had captured and testified against the son. They all face a moral dilemma as to whether their greed will lead them to accede to Ada's corrupt and dishonest plan. Initially they refuse to change their testimony. However, another conversation with the scheming Clay has him move to her side telling the townspeople about the cash that awaits them. One by one the witnesses crumble under the pressure except for Honey Lassiter who finally agrees for ... Written by chipe

Rowdy and a couple of men deliver 300 head of cattle to Col. Horatio Agee's ranch but he is gone on his honeymoon. The foreman knowing nothing about the deal signs for the cattle but Rowdy heads to Indian Springs to collect. On the way he encounters a solitary, sweet old grandma, who turns out to be a clever thief and con-woman. Her carriage is trapped in mud. Although he gets her out of the mud, they are forced to escape on his horse when two men attack them. At Indian Springs Grandma hopes for a stage but must wait two days. She tries to rent a rig but Rowdy prevents her from leaving due to the danger involved. Grandma seems to adopt Rowdy as her own setting him up with a waitress but in reality she uses him to steal a wallet from a salesman she drugs and rob the bank guarded by the waitress's father letting Rowdy take the blame. When Col. Agee arrives, stealing his carriage and his wife's jewels are added to the charges. Eventually Rowdy ends up in jail followed by her when she ... Written by chipe

A snake oil salesman George Stimson, is saved from an Indian attack by the drovers. However, a drover who died in the effort has nothing left for his widow and two children. The other drovers chip in to raise money for them but George has a scheme to raise a much larger collection for the drover's family. His first idea fails in having Mushy out-hustle some gamblers in a crooked poker game when the bumbling Mushy forgets his hat with the family's address. Then he decides to pass off his estranged wife, who has returned to ask for a divorce, as Jenny Lind in a concert performance. She is tricked by her current love interest into fleeing prior to the scheduled performance, leaving the drovers to entertain the angry show ticket-holders while Clay tries to entice her return. Rowdy sings a song that is appreciated by the womenfolk and Scarlet perform rope tricks while Wishbone tries to tell jokes just as she returns. Wishbone wonders if a cooking demonstration would be entertaining but the... Written by chipe

The drovers find a starving Tonkawa boy Arnee headed to Fort Lacey to find his sister Azuela. The starving Tonkawa are about to leave the reservation to hunt as they have eaten even their horses. She has sent Arnee food so he hopes she can help his tribe. Clay knows there are no Indians at Fort Lacey which is commanded by Col. Briscoe known as The Butcher because he takes no prisoners. Favor sends Rowdy to help Arnee reach the fort. At the fort Col. Briscoe is enjoying his time with his new baby and young Spanish wife. In reality she is a Tonkawa squaw, passing for white who married the Indian-hating Colonel in hopes that marriage and children would change his anti-Indian views and help her people. Upon their arrival, Arnee spots his sister claiming the Colonel's wife is his sister. Arnee reveals his people are about to leave the reservation to hunt in violation of the Colonel's orders giving him an excuse to slaughter them. Upon further questioning Azuela's true ethnic background ... Written by chipe

Jim along with Wishbone and Clay find one other drovers dead and a cow nearby dead of anthrax. They isolate themselves and a few strays to prevent infecting the men and herd. While sleeping they are taken prisoner by a Prussian military officer banished to the US along with his Prussian peasants. He and his men do not understand the three men's story about the anthrax and when his cook dies, he decides to keep the three men as his peasant slaves. The men try to rebel unsuccessfully but when they tell the other workers the US does not allow slavery, it gets them in trouble. The other workers are not quickly persuaded life is different in the US. Written by Anonymous

With the drive near Buffalo Wells, Favor lets the men go into town. Mushy has two cousins that are sisters his mother wants him to visit. The older sister Laverne was an actress has less than a year to live. Mushy promises her that he'll rescue her 15-year old sister Posie who is the star attraction at the Longhorn returning her to his family. Laverne is married to the Longhorn saloon owner Big Tim Sloan who is paying off his investment in the Longhorn via the business Posie attracts. Big Tim's men severely beat up Mushy when he attempts to take Posie. Favor --who has daughters the same age as the spunky girl-- finally acquiesced to forcibly remove the girl after a large brawl in the saloon. Big Tim follows the drive hoping for an opportunity to kill Favor and return his star attraction to his saloon. Meanwhile Favor tries reasoning with Posie to first enjoy her childhood amongst family instead of the life of a seedy saloon entertainer but she resists. Big Tim cons Posie into ... Written by chipe

A wagon overturns crushing Harv who prevents Rowdy from being hurt. They determine a real doctor is needed but they find the nearby town has a quack pretending to be a doctor and a new female doctor no one trusts including the drovers. After finishing with a patient who learned she has leprosy and must leave the community, the doctor rides to their camp and determines she needs to operate on Harv at her office. At her office Harv and Rowdy try to stop her but Favor has her operate. Meanwhile the female patient is shot accidentally by her husband the mayor when he thinks she is leaving with another man based on a note she left him. The quack doctor decides to use this to help push the female doctor out of town to eliminate competition. The drovers are forced to help the doctor so she can continue to help save Harv. Written by Anonymous

The drive is preparing to cross Pawnee territory is helped finding water by their old scout Pete Nolan. At the same time an arrogant, Indian-hating, foolish U.S. General does everything wrong leading to the creation of the groundwork for an Indian war. Army scout Pete Nolan arranged for the Army to deliver 500 cattle to the starving Pawnee and finalize a peace treaty. But the newly arrived General countermands this, wants to apprehend the Chief because the Chief's son and a few other Indians have become renegades and even arrests Pete for disobeying his orders when Pete detours their trip to warn Favor. What's worse, the General won't even let his officer son, a new officer out of West Point, guide Favor and the drive through Indian territory for the drive's safety. His son and Pete against the General's order try to deliver the 150 scrub cattle Favor planned to give the Pawnee for safe passage. The Pawnee refuse the smaller herd and the son is arrested. All of this is finally ... Written by chipe

On a stormy night the bored drovers are playing cards. Hey Soos tells Clay to pick two cards and he will read the future. He tells them the cards indicate death for someone as a deaf mute appears looking for Rowdy. Rowdy has been sent to town for supplies and on the way back to the herd his horses are stolen. After walking for help, he is imprisoned in an isolated ranch house he finds with several other strangers by unknown people for unknown reasons in this tense, suspenseful old-fashioned mystery. Besides Rowdy, there is a couple who are entertainers, a drunk, a judge, and a George Ash kept in the house by two men with guns outside along with plenty of food in the pantry. All those imprisoned there are connected in a mysterious and unknown way. Rowdy tries to escape but is returned to the house followed by the food in the house being removed the next day. It is not until the last 13 minutes of the episode that both the perpetrator and the reason for this lethal plot are revealed ... Written by chipe

Favor loses Clay and four drovers to gold fever when old prospector Hosea Brewer lures the drovers to his solitary homestead in a ghost town on Lost Mountain. Losing drovers, Favor sends Rowdy to Dutch Flats to hire new men. Rowdy stops at Hosea's house where he finds the missing men. Hosea has two older marriage-hungry, lonely daughters Pricilla and Jessica plus a younger daughter Meg. Clay is interested in Pricilla while Jessica finds Rowdy of interest. Clay pumps the young Meg for information who at her father's urging tells him to try a specific site. Clay convinces Rowdy to give the dig a day. Given the mutual attraction and support between Rowdy and Clay and the man's three daughters he salts the dig -- to induce Rowdy and Clay to sport his daughters and to help with his futile prospecting. When Clay and Rowdy appear to hit gold, the other men having no success decide to file on their claim. Warned by Hosea, Clay and Rowdy head to Dutch Flats to file as well. Rowdy is able to ... Written by chipe

The herd is close to Abilene but another herd is only 3-4 days behind them and the men want to be first to Abilene as the buyers are almost all gone. The second herd discovers a couple of head with Texas Tick Fever which could prevent them from selling the herd. The trail boss wants to make sure no other cattle are infected but the seller's rep, Holt, wants to use them to salt Favor's herd and slow them down due to being inspected. When the trail boss disagrees, he is killed unknown to his wife Helen who plans to run off with Holt. They ask Favor to handle both herds to which he agrees. However, when the second herd passes his own, his crew revolts and leaves him. After the second herd is sold, Helen learns the truth and kills Holt. She tells Favor the truth but it may be too late for his herd as he has no crew or buyer. Written by Anonymous

The night before the herd enters Abilene to end the drive Huggins falls sick. Favor has Don Grenfell take him to Abilene. Grenfell plans to stay at a hotel away from the gambling and drinking as he loves gambling. Due to an injured back he hopes to leave the cattle business and start a new career and maybe family. Because the Texan House Hotel is full, most of the men are forced to stay at the Oddity House Hotel with Grenfell. Not only are the men out of place in the upscale hotel, Huggins may have smallpox and the men are quarantined. Rowdy's nemesis Jack Harris wants to kill him while Jack's friend Vada Nordquist wants to deal cards to build a nest egg. Favor needs to leave town to make the payment on a ranch or he will forfeit his deposit. Jack and Vada are allowed to enter but not leave the hotel to entertain the men with cards and liquor. Rowdy and Favor both decide to try to break out but Favor stops Rowdy and changes his mind later when Huggins dies. Jack tries for revenge ... Written by Anonymous