Rowdy Yates vows to beat Gil Favor's herd to Abilene, in his first shot as trail boss. The ramrod quit, because he opposed Gil's not letting their crew party down, before hitting the trail with a fresh herd. Gil recommends Rowdy for a trail boss job, and lets Rowdy take on Wishbone as cook, rather than bid up wages. When Gil sees the dirty tactics Rowdy uses, he's determined not to let his protégé beat him to the railhead, thus getting the better prices for his owner's steers. Written by David Stevens

Gil kills a job-seeker when the trail boss's besieged by starving wannabe drovers from a wide expanse. When Gil refuses a hire-on kickback from Grant, the desperate father of three lashes out at the only flush employer in town. Gil's punches knock Grant against a cow-pen post, killing him instantly. Gil's got his new drive together, but must wait for a judge to arrive for an inquest. His drought-struck backers are restive to push their cattle out of parched Texas, and the victim's young widow Dolly latches onto guilt-ridden widower Gil as a solution to her plight. Written by David Stevens

Gil's old pal Piney schemes to rob a bank and join Gil's drive to cover his mob's escape. City bankers foreclosed on Piney's huge ranch after it was decimated, so he dreams of rehabbing it via their vault. As a life-long resident of Republican Collin County, Piney knows of old mining tunnels under the town, so he teams with the Rose Gang to tunnel to the bank, from a nearby hotel. Under the guise of recuperating from a broken leg on the inn's ground floor, the respected cattleman fakes a closed, never-ending card game. Written by David Stevens

Gil Favor loses almost all of his herd when he dashes through the dangerous Devil's Patch Quilt Pass in a fierce storm. He was racing trail boss Tom Bickle to the depot, because there's not enough rail-cars for both herds. The winner gets top dollar, the loser would have to spend money penning up his steers, till a long enough train comes running in. Gil's trail-bossing career may be over, and he hasn't enough cash to pay his beat-up cowpunchers. Shipping agent Brock Dillman takes a financial beating too, so the reptilian middle man oils up his prize Navy pistol to take it out on Gil. Written by David Stevens

The cattle drive has reached its destination, and Favor, the men and their horses are ready to return home by rail road. Mushy had been alone watching the wagons, supplies and horse remuda, all of which Favor was selling. But a group of Gypsy swindlers had tricked Mushy into turning everything over to them on the lie that Favor had sold the items to them. Favor is furious over the loss, and on the train ride home Mushy overhears Favor denouncing Mushy to Rowdy and declaring he was going to fire Mushy. Tearful, Mushy jumps off the train and wanders in the desert till he is rescued by another traveling family of Gypsies. The mute daughter cares for and falls in love with Mushy. Meanwhile, the drovers discover that Mushy is missing, and Favor and Rowdy stop the train and ride off looking for Mushy. The girl's father sells Mushy as a virtual slave to a townsman, but the girl rescues him. Everything comes to a head as Favor and Rowdy finally make it to the Gypsy camp where they find both ... Written by chipe

Storied hired gun Gurd stalks an Hispanic cattleman, while Gil's drovers join the Don's peasants to celebrate. Gurd's young wife pleads with him to drop the assignment, and retire to her family plantation, but the aging Gurd's reputation won't let him, so she seeks Gil's help. Written by David Stevens

Damon's crew walks off the job in Oxford when word spreads from the telegraph office there is no pay train coming. As Damon contemplates his next action Favor and Rowdy ride into the railroad camp with the herd nearby. Damon invites the drovers to a party at the railroad saloon while telling Favor he will bring cattle buyers out the next day to look at his herd. During the party a fight breaks out resulting in the drovers being jailed while Damon's girlfriend Goldie knocks out Favor and locks him in a hotel room. The next day Damon tells Rowdy if the men sign work contracts, the judge won't go hard on the men since they were on railroad property. Damon promises to tear the contracts up when the men are free. At the hearing the judge puts the men on probation for ninety days so Damon refuses to tear up the contracts until they are free. Rowdy punches Damon so he is jailed as well. Goldie tells the Sheriff she was abducted by Favor resulting in him being jailed. Damon and Glodie visit... Written by Anonymous

With Favor in jail Damon is able to persuade all of Favor's men to work for him except Quince who is alone with the herd. Favor is able to trick a cowboy into helping him escape jail sans his boots. Making his way to the end of the railroad, Favor finds his men including Rowdy have been brainwashed into thinking they have a future with the railroad versus being drovers. Favor finds Quince who is about to collapse and has him go to the next town to send a telegram back to Oxford from the railroad. At the telegraph office he tricks the telegrapher to take a detour to the saloon for a drink before delivering the fake telegram. Once drunk the telegrapher reveals that Damon received the missing payroll a week earlier by stage. Favor leads the striking rail workers against the drovers and Damon but none of the men on either side want to fight. Rowdy suggests Damon and Favor fight it out alone which they do. As they pummel each other, the payroll train arrives stampeding the herd. The ... Written by Anonymous

Alone on the trail, Rowdy is befriended by Sam Jefferson who has a $5000 dead or alive price on his head. Sam wants Rowdy to take him to the sheriff and give the reward to Sam's wife. Rowdy agrees, but just then an unknown person shoots Sam in the back and flees. Rowdy takes the body to town and waits for the reward to be wired. Meanwhile he is told that Sam was unmarried! And three outlaw friends of Sam are on the way to kill Rowdy after the funeral. Rowdy refuses the sheriff's offer of protection because he is demanding half of the $5000. Finally Rowdy's questioning pays off: he learns that Sam was secretly married to to the daughter of his boss, the town's Wells Fargo agent ( Louis Hayward), who disapproved of Sam, and so framed Sam for robbery, leading to Sam's flight and the wanted posters. Rowdy then deduces that the agent was the one who murdered Sam, but the three friends of Sam are gunning for Rowdy! Written by chipe

After the officer leading a mission dies, inexperienced Cpl. Dasovik is forced to assume command of a cavalry patrol escorting Ute Chief Ollocot and his people to a reservation. They are in dangerous territory with Ute renegades around them. The men lead by Pvt. Eccles want to return to the fort for safety rather than continue. The Utes want food and the Chief's buffalo robe returned. The men pretend to go hunting for food finding four prime cows roaming free. Favor tries to stop them but is shot at falling off his horse injuring his leg and knocking him out. The men mutiny against Dasovik when he wants to accept the surrender of 25 renegades. The renegades charge the camp resulting in the soldiers laying down their arms and being taken prisoner along with Favor. The Chief releases the men and the renegades leave. Dasovik is told the renegades will return in the morning to kill Chielf Ollocot who will not resist. Dasovik pleads with the men to help protect the Chief but they refuse ... Written by frankfob2@yahoo.com

Mathew Brady's ex-assistant uses the drovers as his models, so Gil's thrilled to let the frontier paparazzo go, to snap pix of Shoshone, who Gil knows have moved on. Because Rowdy let lens-man Taylor Dickson subvert the drive, Gil orders his ramrod to accompany the grandiose photojournalist on the bogus shoot. But instead of a nice empty canyon, the mismatched pair run into the Bad Skin Gang, a fearsome collection of under-publicized killers, on a rendezvous to divvy up the loot from a huge bank heist. Written by David Stevens

The drovers reach the end of the drive at Junction City. Favor plans to sell the herd to Ben Dennis, but decides to wait till the next day to count the cattle and finalize the deal. Meanwhile, that night Favor and Rowdy are invited to dine with the Dennis family at the fancy restaurant in town, and a half dozen drovers not on night duty are allowed to go to town for a bath, refreshments, etc. Unfortunately for the drovers, the city fathers (Dennis and his partner Farnsworth) are in the process of gentrifying the town, emphasizing non-cattle business and generally looking down on and refusing to serve uncouth drovers. The drovers are barred at the hotel, restaurant, barbershop and even stables for their horses. Dining with the Dennis family, Favor is unaware of and adding to the drovers' indignation which has reached the boiling point where they are ready to quit the drive and rumble with the townspeople. Written by chipe

Favor and another trail boss are taken by force to a remote cabin where they are held by some of the West's most wanted outlaws, who have been summoned there by a man who plans to use them, and the trail bosses, in a grandiose scheme involving the nation's beef industry. Written by rbecker28

Smooth-talking Pop Starke tries to talk Rowdy and another drover into working with him participating in traveling shooting contests. What Starke is actually looking for is his next gunfighter to place bets on when he squares him off against a legendary veteran gunman who is getting weary of killing. Written by rbecker28

Favor learns that a lack of cattle cars may force him to take a loss on his herd adding to the problems on the drive. When old Josh wrestles a steer to win a bet, Favor takes his frustrations out on Josh by firing him. Favor regrets his outburst but Josh's pride prevents him from letting Favor make it up to him. A letter from an old friend has Josh thinking he has inherited half of a ranch but he soon learns the friend has dementia and there is no ranch. Because he can't cypher he loses a chance at a job and is turned down for another drive as well. Favor sends Rowdy to the next town to check on the missing rail cars. They find out a flash flood took out a bridge so there will be no rail cars. Instead of taking $5 per head, Favor decides to drive the herd to the next town for a better price. As the drive leaves town, Josh confronts Favor but his ailing body causes him to pass out. Josh finally realizes his pride may have to bend a bit to allow friends to help him as Favor wants him ... Written by Anonymous

Eighteen months ago at a frontier army post, Capt. George Ballinger (George Grizzard), the officer in charge, was awaiting the arrival of his wife and young son by wagon train being supervised by Sgt. Morton. The wagon carrying the wife and son overturned killing them. Ballinger was grief-stricken and enraged, leading him to kill Morton, who was not at fault. The key evidence at the trial, which resulted in a sentence of death, was the testimony of his friend Rowdy Yates, who said although Ballinger was drunk part of the time, at the time of the shooting he was sober and said he would kill the Sgt., thus the capital punishment sentence. In the episode's present time, Rowdy excuses himself from drover duty to attend the execution to offer whatever comfort he can give Ballinger. Ballinger has three hopes of saving his life: his appeal of sentence might be granted (to be decided and delivered soon from a distant Army outpost); the Indians might attack, and he can escape in the confusion;... Written by chipe

Long-time, small-town, unsung sheriff Royal Shaw (Gene Evans) wants his Moment in the Sun by delivering famous local, popular Wanted dead or Alive outlaw Reed McCuller (Pat Conway) to the Denver authorities by himself. McCuller is beloved by most of the townspeople for having helped them with needed gifts such as water pumps and seed and by protecting them from other outlaws. Shaw knows that the townspeople will ride after him and McCuller to rescue the outlaw by force, so the sheriff decides to hide the two of them in Favor's cattle drive. However, the townspeople, led by McCuller's brother Lindsey, surround Favor, his outfit, the Sheriff and McCuller. Lindsay, meanwhile, we learn is secretly jealous of his brother's fame and yearns for his girlfriend, Mar. Favor sends Rowdy to bring back law officers; Rowdy is helped by Mar, who fears Lindsay will kill McCuller. At the explosive conclusion Lindsay and the townsfolk attack the trail dive, which stampedes; Lindsay fires upon the ... Written by chipe

Pete Nolan (Sheb Wooley), who'd been out scouting for the Army for the last couple of years, is back working for Favor starting in this episode, only to find himself falsely accused of rustling and murder. The local sheriff and some cattlemen, who've been victimized by the rustlers, are too willing to hang him quickly without any real trial. Favor and Rowdy try to find the real rustlers and save Pete from the gallows, though the trail may lead too close to a friendly rancher Favor respects. Written by rbecker28

Clete Bonner and his grandson Will are taken in by Favor and his men. Bonner is actually checking up on Cable, one of the drovers, who is really Bonner's son and Will's father, though the boy doesn't know it and Cable doesn't recognize his own father anymore. Unfortunately Cable is plotting with two other drovers to steal some horses Favor intends to purchase. Written by rbecker28

The group heads west instead of north for better beef prices and Rowdy complains to Favor. However, soon Gil discovers why Rowdy is so opposed to traveling through West Texas. Pete returns from scouting to report he saw Apaches in the area. He notices a new drover Mace who he calls out as a Comanchero but Favor keeps him even after Mace says they are looking for white captives. Rowdy is sent to recover a few cattle taken by the Apache Indians. He finds their Chief Yuma who agrees to return the cattle. Rowdy finds Yuma held and being beaten by Mace and his partner. Rowdy frees Yuma but is shot by an Indian. After being wounded by an arrow, Rowdy is brought to an Indian camp to have his wounds tended. There, he discovers the Apache have a white captive that causes a rift between him and his new friend. Rowdy returns to camp and the captive appears there as well on her own. When several of the men want the reward for her, Favor fires them. When Yuma threatens the drovers over her return,... Written by ubergeek

Ne'er-do-well slacker Pvt. Hap Johnson (Robert Blake) deserts the cavalry. He's a winter soldier, one who joins the Army in winter to enjoy the warm barracks, and then deserts when the weather improves. He makes his way to Favor's cattle drive and soon takes off upon hearing that a father and daughter, who have money from the sale of their farm, are traveling alone by wagon, having just left the drovers' camp. Soon thereafter, an Army detail arrives looking for the deserter, and they discover the Army blanket and Army horse Johnson left behind in exchange for inconspicuous ones. Favor is arrested and held for buying stolen Army items. And the drovers learn that the father and daughter duo are heading towards renegade Indians. So Rowdy has a double reason for pursing the duo: (1) to capture Johnson and prove Favor's innocence; and (2) to save the duo from the Indian danger. Written by chipe

Wishbone makes a short detour from the drive to meet an old friend, who has a small ranch with 500 head of cattle and 3 drovers. They planned to merge the cattle with Favor's larger cattle drive, but the friend soon dies of natural causes, and the three drovers turn bad and decide to steal the 500 cattle. However, they need the ownership papers which Wishbone has secreted. Wishbone refuses to hand over the papers so two of them (not including Jerry, who has moral doubts) start torturing Wishbone, who resists. To keep Favor and his drovers away, the knaves have Wishbone write a letter explaining his extended absence, which one of them delivers to Favor's camp. However, Wishbone wisely uncharacteristically began the letter Dear Gil, a tip-off to Rowdy who comes to the rescue. Written by chipe

Major Cantwell, who has devoted himself to the Army his entire life, is the commanding officer of an Army outpost, and is about to retire. His life goal was to become a Brigadier General, and had reached Colonel rank, but was demoted to Major due to a record-keeping infraction that he was found guilty of, but was actually innocent. Feeling disgruntled, he steals the $30,000 in Army cash the day before his departure. He put the cash in a package, addressed to himself, for Favor to mail at the nearest town. Cantwell's plan was pick up the cash and remain hidden in Mexico. Unfortunately for Cantwell, enlisted soldier Caster, who was severely punished by Cantwell for drinking on duty, happened to be leaving the Army, joined Favor's trail drive and steals the package from Favor's saddle bags, knowing it is from Cantwell and hoping there is liquor inside. Meanwhile Cantwell, still on duty as commanding officer, gets word that his innocence was established and that he is being promoted to ... Written by chipe

The dying cattle won't cross the river or drink water because they are not thirsty because they lack salt in their diet because they have been traveling over and eating burnt-out grass. Tom Cowan, a newly hired one-armed drover tells Favor that there is an old rock salt mine at Murtry, owned by the local banker. Favor orders Cowan and some of the drovers to travel to Murtry to get the salt to feed the cattle. Cowan demurs, but Favor orders him to go along. We soon learn the reason for his reluctance: 10 years ago Cowan had just married Jenny Conway, local girl at Murtry. He robbed the local bank of $100 to buy a wedding trip, was caught by the law, but the despotic, controlling banker (Everett Sloane) offered him this deal which he accepted: go free, take $500, never return, and join the Army (at time of the Civil War) in the name of the banker's son. Cowan lost his arm in the war and had a letter sent stating that he died in the war, so as not to be a burden on Jenny, who knew ... Written by chipe

As Wishbone and Mushy pick up supplies a stage is held up. The robbers get the strongbox but Wishbone wounds the man carrying it. That night the man stumbles into camp with the box containing $50,000 but dies. Favor decides to hold the money until they reach the next town. The next day Jeff McKeever and a partner come into camp posing as a deputies looking for the robbers and money. Rowdy recognizes Jeff, his old officer, so Favor says he has the money before Wishbone recognizes them as two of the holdup men. The drovers capture McKeever but the partner gets away. McKeever says the money is from the Confederacy rightfully belonging to all southerners. The renegades kill one man and set a wagon on fire causing a water shortage. The next waterhole is poisoned and they blast the trail stampeding the cattle taking Hey Soos captive. Rowdy against Favor's orders takes McKeever and the box to Colonel Reed. However, Reed refuses to release Hey Soos so Rowdy goes back empty handed. Favor had ... Written by Anonymous

Wishbone, the cook, is buying supplies for the cattle drive that is about to begin in a few days. A young boy steals a sack of food, and Wishbone follows him home, where he discovers the boy's injured mother, Mrs. Harmon (Barbara Barrie), who had been beaten and abused by now-missing drunken husband. Kindly Wishbone takes it upon himself to be a substitute father, caring for Mrs. Harmon while she heals, feeding the boys, buying presents and even cleaning the house. He seems to slowly develop an unstated romantic interest in the woman. He tells ramrod Rowdy that he is quitting the cattle drive! When Paul, the drunken husband, returns, he learns about Wishbone, looks for him and starts beating him. The woman has no choice but to shoot Paul. Being protective of Mrs. Harmon, Wishbone says he did the shooting, and he offers to bribe the only witness to back-up Wishbone's version. Even though he is facing jail time if convicted, to get money for the bribe, Wishbone agrees to re-join for ... Written by chipe

Mushy is to kill two new calves which would slow down the drive. Two calf women take the calves to raise themselves. The next morning the calves' mothers drift off to the calves. When the drovers find the cows missing, they find the calf women's camp and destroy their wagon. Once learning the truth, the women stay with the drovers while the men fix the wagon. The herd is stalled due to a group of buffalo hunters in their way. A young guard Billy on the buffalo hunt knows the younger sister Betsy calling on her at the camp. Rowdy, who is in charge with Favor gone, runs him off. Thinking Rowdy is interested in Betsy, the older dowdy sister Emma realizes Rowdy is interested in her. When Emma spots Billy forcing Betsy to go with him, she shoots and kills him. Rowdy has the body returned to the hunters. Billy's brother and the lead hunter visit the drovers camp. Rowdy doesn't tell that Emma was the shooter so Billy's brother Cole assumes Rowdy is threatening to kill Rowdy even after Emma ... Written by Anonymous

A group of men searching for old Spanish treasure stubbornly refuses to let the cattle drive come through the area of their diggings, even though the herd desperately needs the water in the area. When Wishbone is injured, Favor needs to rely on the leader of the group, a former doctor, to save him. Written by rbecker28

A group of Mexican federales meet Favor on the trail and tell him they are looking for a revolutionary known as El Hombre Bravo. Later, Favor and Mushy meet a schoolteacher leading a group of children across the border---who admits that he is the man the federales are looking for. Written by rbecker28

After Favor hired two drovers, several of the men became sick and one of the new men died. Unsure what the illness is, Favor and the sick men reach the Gray Rock Hotel in an abandoned town. It provides protection from the cold and wind. They find a beautiful woman Lottie stranded there due to an accident with her horse. Favor convinces her to help tend the men while he sends the sick Quince to the next town for help. Lottie soon becomes popular with all the men but especially Marty, one of the two new hands. After making a failed pass at Lottie and mentioning he has heard of her, she tries twice to kill him succeeding the second time. Quince falls off his horse but is found later by a group of men looking for Lottie. One man goes with Quince while the other three go to Gray Rock. Favor and the men have learned Lottie is in trouble with men chasing her. When the three men arrive, Favor wants to talk to them but Lottie opens fire with the rest of the drovers following suit. After people... Written by Anonymous