Inspector Leduque comes from New Orleans to take Ben Cartwright back for a 20-year-old murder. Little Joe has also been accused of gunning down Leduque's deputy in cold blood.
Three deserters escaped from an Army stockade to the Ponderosa. When a Captain comes, Ben realizes what they've had to deal with and promises to let his good friend in charge.
Ben and Adam are locked in jail, about to be hung for a crime they didn't commit. Joe and Hoss must find out why the witnesses to the alleged crime have perjured themselves.
An English couple comes to Ponderosa on vacation, but the wife slowly makes it clear that she is disappointed that her husband, a great "action man" is not the man she married.
A rancher, Andy, is good friends with Ben, but his son (Todd) wants to sell their land for mining operations which will spoil the water rights agreement that Andy and Ben made.
A woman dies. Her husband is in prison, and the sheriff needs someone to look after the boy. The Cartwrights begin to take care of the boy at the Ponderosa.
An outlaw gang robs Virginia City's bank and makes off with almost all of its money. The youngest member of the gang manages to get a job on the Ponderosa as a bronc-buster.
Charlie Trent used to be an Army scout. Now he's the town drunk. Hoss helps him regain his self-esteem when he has him volunteer to lead a gold-bearing troop through the desert.