The Virginian : Season 4

Matt Denning (Robert Lansing), a good friend of Emmett Ryker's, believes his younger brother Will (Andrew Prine) innocent of a crime and breaks him out of a military jail where he is awaiting execution, accidentally killing a guard in the process. Along with Matt's wife (Jan Shepard) and son (Kurt Russell), they escape into an area where many Sioux Indians are out for blood, and are trailed by Ryker, army Sgt. Cohane (Myron Healey) and three soldiers. They find the escapees but the party is atta

An Australian, Adam Tercell (John Anderson), has bought a local ranch and plans to graze sheep on open range, a strategy which would destroy it as grazing land for cattle, so the locals want to negotiate an area set aside for sheep. However, Tercell's bullying son, Abel (Jon Locke), refuses and even stockwhips a local rancher (Edward Faulkner) which brings him into conflict with the Virginian. Abel tries to bullwhip the Virginian and falls and is accidentally killed when he hits his head on a

After release from prison, Bert Kramer (Bruce Dern) comes to Medicine Bow to find his estranged wife who is the new school teacher, Martha Perry (Susan Oliver). A Shiloh hand, Rafe Simmons (Albert Salmi), tells the Virginian he is quitting. He goes to town, get a job in the harness shop and gets Martha to teach him to read. Bert Kramer arrives in town and is spotted by Emmett Ryker who recognizes him as a hired gun. Rumours are spread that Rafe and the schoolteacher are having an affair. A loca

Trampas becomes discouraged with being a ranch hand and sets off with an old friend, Luke Milford (William Shatner), to Deadwood City in the Dakotas where gold strikes are reported. They learn that most of the gold is off limits in Sioux territory but they meet and help a man named Finley (Strother Martin) who claims to have a gold strike outside of Indian land and who agrees to cut them in if they will stake him for equipment. They do strike gold but it turns out it is on Indian land. Trampas r

A destitute former Minister, David Henderson (Glenn Corbett), who has had a crisis of faith, comes to Medicine Bow just as a dispute breaks out at a local mine over safety issues. Emmett Ryker entreaties Judge Garth to try and find a solution to the problem. When an accident occurs at the mine David's assists in a rescue attempt but hurts his leg. He is taken to Shiloh where Betsy Garth nurses him and they become romantically involved. David's actions gain him the respect of the miners, he beco

Emmett Ryker is amongst a group of stagecoach passengers and crew waylaid by and trapped in an isolated cabin by a group of Mexicans from a small cross-border town. The Mexicans want one of the passengers, a cowboy named Wylie (Earl Holliman), for murdering a woman but Emmett believes Wylie should be turned over to the American authorities for a proper hearing. A siege and gun battle ensues but in the end, the Virginian and Trampas, who are waiting for Emmett in a nearby town, come to the rescue

A telegram arrives at Shiloh revealing Judge Garth's late sister's daughter, Jennifer Sommers, will be arriving shortly from Boston. Meanwhile, in nearby Tylerville, Johnny Bradford (James MacArthur) leaves a saloon and is watched by a man (Hal Needham) who trails him into a nearby warehouse. However, Johnny shoots and kills the man. The stage headed for Medicine Bow arrives in Tylerville with Jennifer aboard and she meets Johnny who is boarding the stage to travel beyond Medicine Bow. She admit

New area rancher Ben Justin (Charles Bronson) is branding a calf when Trampas and Randy Benton and nearby rancher Tom Suchette (George Kennedy) arrive. Trampas politely informs the newcomer that following Stockmen's Association rules no calf should be branded until roundup but Ben says he will brand any calf found on his own land. Tom is less polite and threatens Ben if he does it again. Trampas tells the Virginian what happened so the Virginian visits the Justin ranch. On the way he notices som

In Denver, Midge Conway (Lee Patterson) visits Paul Leland (Ken Lynch), head of Leland Enterprises. Leland sends him to Eagle Rock, Wyoming. He wants that town just as he has taken others in the past and tells Midge he will have to muscle in on local Frank Colter. Trampas meanwhile is riding back to Medicine Bow when he comes upon a runaway freight wagon which he manages to stop but injures his horse in the process. The wagon driver reveals himself to be Frank Colter (John Beymer) who tells Tram

The Virginian and Trampas head to Mexico to purchase some palominos for the Judge. At a saloon in San Christian near the Mexican border, Trampas tries to make the acquaintance of Maggie (Joan Staley) but is warned off by several men led by Cal (Gregg Palmer) and is told she is ""Zack Wheeler's girl"" by the bartender (Jimmy Lee Cook). The Virginian is feeling ill so they go to a hotel. After they leave Zack Wheeler arrives (Michael Forest). It is clear Maggie feels Zack is neglecting her. Zack t

Judge Garth visits middle-aged widower Stavros Karos' (Michael Constantine) who, along with his two young children, Sophie (Vicki Malkin) and Yanko (Joey Russo), is digging a well which he hopes to use to irrigate his fig trees. Charlie Cousins (Russ Conway), who owns the adjacent ranch, had for no apparent reason refused to allow Stavros to divert water from a stream on his property. The Judge takes the children to Shiloh while Stavros goes to the train station to pick up his bride to be, a wom

Two hoboes, Harry Lightfoot (Leslie Nielsen) and Crouch (Berkeley Harris), pass a rural farmhouse where only Mrs.Clinchy (Marge Redmond) and son Timothy (Rory Stevens) are home. Mrs. Clinchy gives them some food but they want more and try and force themselves into the house. Timothy escapes through a window to get his father as Crouch threatens Mrs. Clinchy with a knife. In the Medicine Bow saloon, Deputy Emmett Ryker celebrates his birthday with good friends Ezikiah the blacksmith (Claude Akins

Sam Willock (Harry Guardino), a legendary breaker of horses, goes to Shiloh with a promise to two companions, Mace (Kelly Thordsen) and Albie (Don Dubbins), that they will meet in three days time. It is clear they are planning some crime together and Sam promised his companions he will not back out. At Shiloh, Judge Garth is leaving for Denver and he tells Jennifer to take good care of a young hand who has been injured trying to break horses and specifically tells her to warn anyone against tryi

Judge Garth and Jennifer appeal to the governor for the release of Curt Westley (James Best), a man they believe was unjustly convicted of a train robbery – but the governor (David McLean) refuses their request. Meanwhile, the Virginian is on a train returning to Medicine Bow which is robbed by a lone gunman (James Doohan). The Virginian and train conductor (William Tannen) follow the robber and manage to find him before he can ride off. In the ensuing gun battle, the man is shot by the Virgin

Trampas meets local rancher and former Sheriff Bill King (Leif Erickson) and his daughter Judy (Joan Freeman) riding into Medicine Bow. Trampas asks Judy to the dance but she is reluctant to go with him even though she eventually acquiesces. At the bank, banker Bert March (Noam Pitlick) refuses Bill a loan saying he was not a good credit risk even if he had spent 20 years as the town Sheriff. He also refuses to take for credit the gold watch Bill got from the town for his service as Sheriff. Bil

One-armed civil war veteran and photographer Ansel Miller (Peter Whitney) takes photos of the Shiloh hands at work as Judge Garth arrives. It is revealed Miller lost his arm at Andersonville prison which was run by Captain Piper Pritikin (James Whitmore) and that Pritikin has been released from Leavenworth penitentiary and is coming to Medicine Bow. His wife, Laura (Virginia Grey), and their son Davis (Steve Carlson), have been living in town under her maiden name of Beaumont. It is also noted t

The Sheriff of New Hope (Douglas Kennedy) and his men evict Ernie and Pearl Packer (Andy Albin and Colleen Gray) from their home saying Colonel Bliss (Telly Savalas) will pay for the moving wagon. As the townspeople watch, Ernie asks if the Colonel is paying the Sheriff too, draws a gun in resistance, and is shot dead. The wagon leaves town with Pearl, Ernie's body and their things, accompanied by local woman Gina Larsen (Brenda Scott) who will take Pearl to relatives in the next town. Outside t

Medicine Bow storekeeper, Benjy Davis (Quinn Redeker), a friend of the Virginian, is sentenced to death for murdering Hobey Kendall (Robert Karnes), a man who sexually assaulted his wife. However, Benjy says he had met a man near the murdered man's home named Jonah McIntosh (John Cassavettes) and the Virginian traces that man to a colony of mountain men near Wind River. Jonah admits he killed Kendall in self-defence but will not return to clear Benjy. The Virginian takes Jonah a prisoner but has

The Sheriff of Laramie orders an itinerant family of con artists, Micah Ellis (Ed Begley), his son Clifford (Tony Bill) and daughter Becky (Linda Lawson), to leave town. In doing so they are forced to leave in jail Micah's brother Clemmet (Lonny Chapman). Their wagon breaks down near Medicine Bow. Clifford goes hunting for a rabbit. He shoots a steer and is heard by Randy Benton and Jennifer who are riding nearby -- but Clifford claims the steer had a broken leg and he was only putting it out of

At Shiloh, the Virginian pays off hand Niles Tait (Lou Antonio) and offer him a full-time job which he says he will think about. As he leaves he picks up a little girl's bonnet won by Randy Benton which had been damaged in some tomfoolery with the hands. Jennifer sees him and he says the bonnet is for his sister. Jennifer assumes she is a little girl and offers him some of Betsy's things but he refuses out of pride. Meanwhile, Niles' sister Marcy (Stacey Maxwell), who is a mentally-challenged 16

Shiloh Ranch hands Randy Benton and Belden (L. Q. Jones) stop at the Medicine Bow saloon on their way to deliver baggage and furniture to the train station. They meet Emmett Ryker and discuss the fact their load is being sent to Judge Garth who has been named as theTerritorial Governor. Emmett also learns that the Shiloh men are disgruntled because Judge Garth has brought in someone named Morgan Starr to run Shiloh instead of appointing his long-time foreman the Virginian. The scene flashes to M

At the hotel, Sheriff Emmett Ryker gets ready to leave Medicine Bow on business and is seen off by several citizens including Regan (Geoffrey Horne) who has been appointed a deputy while Emmett is away. Also at the hotel on business are Morgan Starr and the Virginian who encounter, and are flirted with respectively, by Constance Burns (Jan Shepard) who works at the saloon and by the snobbish Louise Deavers (Barbara Turner) who is engaged to a man in San Francisco. As Emmett leaves on the train,

Trampas accidentally becomes the custodian of two young children who are being sought by men in the hire of their Mexican grandfather, ""El Supremo,"" a powerful landowner. Trampas attempts to return the children to their American mother who lives in Laramie. Along the way he meets a woman card dealer, Melinda (Nita Talbot), who agrees to assist him in his task. With the children they pose as a homesteading family. Not only do they have to elude El Supremo's armed men but they must also avoid a

Bounty hunter Bowers (Warren Oates) trails a Sioux Indian, High Sun (John War Eagle), who has left the reservation. However, High Sun sees a herd of buffalo and surrenders to Bowers. Meanwhile, Morgan Starr (John Dehner) and Randy Benton arrive at the Rolling Creek Indian Agency to complete a sale of cattle to the Indian Agent, Harry Weatherby (Gary Wahlberg). Morgan is surprised that the agent only wants 500 head of cattle because he suspects it will not meet the needs for the Indians and hints

Robber ""Golden"" Tom Brant (Victor Jory) is released from prison after having served 35 years for killing three members of a posse and returns to Medicine Bow an old and apparently broken man. His return creates emotional problems for his abandoned daughter (Dee Carroll), the son of his former partner (Dee Pollock) and a surviving member of the posse, Amos Coe (Kelly Thordsen) whose brother was killed in the gun battle. These problems are exacerbated by a newspaper man (Linden Chiles) who sees