Drifter Jess Harper arrives in Laramie searching for a man, but gunfire sends him out into the countryside, where he meets rancher Slim Sherman and his brother, Andy.
A down-on-his-luck drifter with ties to Jess arrives at the Sherman station with a lady preacher; though Jess tries to avoid the man, events force Jess to become involved.
Martha Chambers takes refuge from vengeful Indians at the Sherman ranch after she kills the son of a Pawnee chief in a moment of blind terror.
Gil Brady seeks out help from his brother-in-law, Jess Harper, when he deserts the calvary and heads for Canada.
Tully Hatch, the man who saved Jess Harper's life and later made him a deputy sheriff, has been accused of robbing a bank and Jess feels he must help him.
Jess takes on an undercover job for the sheriff, acting as a guide for an outlaw who's searching for money stolen in an earlier robbery.
Slim and Jess capture an outlaw and his partner, but find the tables turned when the outlaw's gang breaks the pair out of jail during the trial.
A beautiful but greedy rancher's wife turns to old friend Jess for help in leaving her rich husband, but her husband has sent bounty hunters after her.
A gunfighter comes to Laramie and picks up his mail in care of GENERAL DELIVERY to see who he has been hired to kill.Jess knows him and confronts him to see who he was hired to kill.He is injured on the Sherman ranch and Andy tries to reform him.
Slim's old war buddy arrives on the stage, ostensibly for a visit, but his real intent is to assassinate General Sherman.
Jess is livid when his innocent friend is tried, convicted and hanged for the murders of Doc Webb and Sheriff Kiley.
A priest tries to arrange a meeting with Sitting Bull to talk about a peace treaty.
After a run-in with a traveling prizefighter leaves a mess at the station, Jonesy becomes the man's promoter to help pay the bills at the station.
Slim gets a threatening letter, addressed to his late father, from a man who wants vengeance for the death of his son.
While Jess is away, Slim leases a rough section of land to a former lawman who, unbeknownst to Slim, has hired a bunch of outlaws as his ranch hands.
Wyoming Territory has become the winter battleground for the warring Sioux and Cheyenne, forcing Slim and Jess to close the ranch and relay station.
After a drought and the ending of the stage line, Slim and Jess must join a cattle drive run by a stranger who at first seems impressive, but soon their suspicions are aroused.
When Jess serves as a special deputy to transport a man who's accused of killing his wife, the stagecoach is attacked by a group that's looking for the prisoner
Aging but beautiful Lily Langford is touring the West, and she arrives in Laramie broke and one step ahead of bill collectors, thanks to her gambler husband.
Passengers of a stagecoach, forced to wait out a storm at the Sherman Ranch, all have something they are trying to hide.
The new stage line superintendent wants Jess fired, which causes tension on the ranch; Slim and Jess track horse thieves.
A man interrupts a murder and robbery, and makes the most out of his moment of celebrity at Slim's expense.
Jess unwillingly works to help T.J. Patterson track a thief who stole money from the stage line, along with the heart of Patterson's daughter.
Five years after committing murder, Frank Buckley is paroled to Slim Sherman, but there are some in town who don't want the killer in their midst.
Slim and Jess hunt for Vernon Kane, who has robbed the bank and killed a popular deputy, but their search also leads them to a gambler and his wife, who've joined forces with the outlaw.
Slim and Jess join a posse hunting for three escaped gang members who attempted to rob the Wells Fargo office, killing a deputy sheriff.
Slim and Jess become involved in a fight between the ranchers and the homesteaders, and despite their efforts at keeping the situation under control, a rancher is murdered.
Hoping to find a better price for their cattle, Slim and Jess wind up in Nebraska, where the death of the marshal leads the two to take his place for a month.
Jess, on the run after killing a marshal, is offered a place in Owen Cantrell's private army fighting in a border dispute between the U.S. and Canada.
Slim encounters a loudmouthed bully with a wagon train on the outskirts of town, and when the bully is killed, Slim is kidnapped to face charges of murder per the wagon train rules.
Jess and the marshal hunt a band of outlaws, but after gunfire is exchanged, the gang leader suggests a prisoner exchange -- he'll give back the local man he's taken in exchange for Jess and the marshal.
Slim Sherman's in love with June Brown, a winsome stranger. But Jess recognizes the girl --- as a professional blackjack dealer.
While Jess is acting sheriff of Laramie, a notorious yet cowardly bounty hunter targets one of Jess' friends.
While delivering $10,000 to the stage office, Slim manages to stop one holdup attempt, but a second attempt is successful, leaving Slim to chase down the missing money and the robber.
A bank robbery leads to the recovery of a high-strung horse from Slim's ranch, and prompts a disagreement between Slim and Andy.
When Jess goes to help an old prospector friend, he crosses Matt Jessup and his gang, who have the townsfolk too scared to talk.
While catching mustangs, Slim and Jess save a man's life, and Slim offers the man a spot at the ranch, to Jess' chagrin.
Slim and Jess hope to sell horses to the stage line and collect the extra money offered, so Jess goes in search of horses to sell.
When a new marshal arrives in town, he and Jess don't get along and Jess refuses to be deputized until a neighbor is killed and all hands are needed to defend the town.
A bounty hunter turned sheriff comes looking for Jess, who has a price on his head for the killing of Blake Wilkie.
Outlaws take over a town nearly emptied by a rumor of gold, leaving Slim outnumbered and unable to go for help.
Fran Ericson returns to Laramie looking for revenge on the stage company she blames for her father's ruin.
The shooting of a neighbor's son on Sherman land refuels the feud between the Shermans and the Parkisons, leading Ben Parkison to kidnap Jess.
A Sioux attack and a stagecoach carrying gold -- plus five passengers -- both come to Laramie on Christmas Eve.
When he kills the sheriff chasing him, an outlaw switches identities with the dead man and tries to fool Slim and Jess.
The so-called Robin Hood of the West saves Jess from a trio of Sioux warriors, then holds up the stage, robbing a banker and giving the cash to an elderly couple.
Slim finds the town turning against him when he presses charges after a neighbor kills Slim's new ranch hand.
An ex con forces Jess to take him to Utah, where Jess had killed the con's brother -- and where that brother had hidden a large sum of cash.
When a cattleman who double-crossed Slim is later found dead, Slim becomes the prime suspect in the man's death.
A sick passenger arrives on the stage, looking for Jess, who wants nothing to do with the new arrival.
A wounded outlaw's brother kidnaps Slim and a vet and takes them to the gang's hideout to tend the injured man.
An injured marshal, transporting a prisoner to court to testify, is forced to seek help at the Sherman ranch, where they are surrounded by gang members who want to prevent the prisoner's testimony.
When Slim is wounded and another man killed, Jess hunts the shooter, identifying the man by his horse.
Slim's half-Cheyenne neighbor considers inviting some of his tribe to join him on the ranch he inherited from his father.
A professor from the East asks Slim to guide him to his friend's gold strike from a decade earlier, but there is more to the professor than meets the eye.
Jess frees a bounty hunter's prisoner who'd saved his life years earlier; having discharged his debt, he decides to look into the man's crime to see whether he should be left free or recaptured.
Jesse comes upon a starving drifter who thinks Jess is going to shoot him; Jess and Slim offer the drifter a job.
Jess is put to the test when he is asked by the Army to hunt down a thief who's stolen a payroll delivery -- but the thief is an old friend who once saved Jess' life.
Slim is taken as a substitute for a condemned man by a farmer who is desperate for the $100 bounty to be paid upon delivery.
When Jess rides shotgun on a stage carrying an Army payroll, robbers take the cash and leave the passengers stranded in the desert.
An old outlaw, hoping to spend his last years in peace in Laramie, asks for Slim's help in clearing his name.
Jess gets a call for help from his old partner, Dixie Howard, who once saved Jess' life, but the man Jess once knew has changed.
With an increase of Sioux attacks on the stage, Slim suggests repairing an old road as an alternate route.
Slim Sherman represents the stage line in a contract with an outlaw's widow, who is also a secret investigator.
Slim and Jess come to the aid of a family of entertainers whose wagon breaks down as they travel East; unbeknownst to all, the family is being followed by a group of men who think the family is transporting opium.
Slim and Jess are in dire need of a housekeeper so the judge will allow them to keep Mike on the ranch.
When Daisy takes Jess to the dentist in Cheyenne, Jess is deputized to transport a prisoner back to Laramie.
After his son is killed, Carl Sanford and his surviving sons decide to use the Sherman Ranch to exact their own brand of justice on the killer as he's being transported to prison.
Jess is unwittingly riding shotgun on a payroll stage that has been rigged to wreck; after the robbery, Jess trails the bandits to Billings.
An ex-con from Slim's past shows up on the ranch, seeking assistance from Slim, who grudgingly agrees to help.
While visiting Laramie, Daisy discovers a dead body on the floor down the hall from her hotel room, but she has trouble getting people to believe her when she identifies the killer.
Jess saves a crippled Blackfoot youth from a scalp hunter despite the Army edict that forbids settlers from helping a member of the Blackfoot tribe.
Slim finds himself caught between an Army colonel and the Sioux nation when the colonel tries to force his agenda after Wounded Knee.
Jess, acting as deputy while Mort is in Denver, must foil a murder plot against an ex-con, who is also seeking revenge.
Slim's attempt to help an old friend goes awry when the man is suspected of murder.
After threatening a rancher, Jess is framed when that rancher is murdered, and must join an outlaw gang while trying to clear his name.
When Slim saves the life of a young Arapaho woman targeted by the Cady brothers, she insists that she belongs to Slim thenceforth.
When his horse is stolen while he's on the trail, Jess tracks the horse and the thief to a village, where he contacts the sheriff, but is stunned when the youth is given a death sentence for the crime.
Appointed by a cattleman's group to look into a spate of rustling, Slim finds himself tracking a man and a woman, who've been stealing cattle together for some time.
An illiterate youth finds himself caught between a pair of drifters who want him to join their life of crime, and Daisy, who hopes to rehabilitate the boy.
A man running from a posse returns to Laramie hoping to win back his wife and daughter, claiming he's reformed, though he is not what he seems.
A stolen horse leads Slim to a war between squatters and cattlemen in the high country.
Jess must find the man who stole his identity, his money, and ultimately left him for dead and facing a hanging if he survived.
While acting as sheriff, Slim tries to help a man and his wife who've run afoul of the Catlin brothers.
Jess is riding shotgun on a stage shipping cash to Denver that has been targeted by a pair of outlaws armed with dynamite.
When both a stage and the relay station are attacked by Sioux braves, Slim and Jess must rescue Mike, Daisy and the single coach passenger.
A rancher's daughter goes in search of Slim, hoping to save her father from hanging, since Slim is her father's alibi.
Slim, Jess and Sheriff Corey shoot down an outlaw, who turns out to be a teenager. When the townspeople learn that their sheriff has been shooting children, they think it's time to replace him.
Slim's old flame returns to Laramie to sing in her ex-con boyfriend's newly re-opened casino, but the boyfriend has plans for Slim.
Jess offers to help a neighbor whose ranch is threatened by a wildfire, but the neighbor instead asks him to pick up the man's mail-order bride.
Slim, Daisy and Mike try to help a girl rescue her mother from a well, unaware that the woman's husband is part of a stage robbery.
Jess and Mort search for the men who robbed the Laramie bank and shot Mike; after finding two, they learn the third man may be in Chlorine, so Jess heads out alone.
When Slim's former commander is wounded while riding the stage, he makes a stop at the Sherman ranch to rest and size up the politicians who are urging him to run for president.
Slim's girlfriend, feeling neglected, turns her attention to a charming gunslinger who's targeted her for extortion.
While he's acting sheriff, Jess finds his sister in Laramie, trying to get permission to bury her husband, who was a well-known outlaw.
As Slim escorts young Virg Walker back to Laramie, it is discovered that Virg is using money from a stage coach robbery and murder.
Injured on the trail, Jess is found by an old friend who has been rustling cattle in the area, and finds himself mistaken for one of the rustlers.
Shooters from miles around gather in Laramie for the annual Sunday Shoot, but when some disagree with the outcome, Slim and Jess step in.
Outlaws who rob and then kill a wealthy rancher find their escape is slowed when their booty -- weighty gold coins -- becomes difficult to transport.
Some women suffragettes arrive in Laramie, and Daisy invites two of them to dinner at the ranch, though Slim and the leader of the group don't see eye to eye.
When a young woman dies at the ranch, Jess escorts her son to his father, unaware that the mother wanted the boy to go to her sister in Denver.
The son of a wealthy rancher is severely injured in a wagon accident while his father is away, and upon his return, the father is furious about the medical care given.
Jess fills in for the sheriff, hoping for a quiet weekend, but a bank robbery in Casper leads to issues in Laramie.
Upon returning home from a cattle drive, Slim learns a neighbor's son was killed when he stayed behind in Riverton.
When he's attacked, Jess returns fire but winds up shooting the man in the back in the scuffle, prompting the man's brothers to come to Laramie seeking revenge.
A man searching for his runaway daughter stops at the Sherman ranch, where he learns that she's a saloon girl involved with outlaws who have targeted the stage line.
Trouble follows when Jess runs into an old friend who tries to convince Jess to join his outlaw gang.
Slim and Daisy are invited to Stacey Bishop's wedding, where trouble is expected, since Stacey's ex is determined to stop the nuptials.
Jess tries to help a former outlaw who's trying to go straight, but finds himself drawn into the man's troubles.
Jess searches for Slim, shot and left to die by an outlaw following a robbery, but the captured shooter refuses to talk.
Slim and Jess try to avert bloodshed when they assist neighbors whose ranch has been set afire and from whom horses had been stolen.
Slim goes on the hunt for the shooters after returning to the ranch to find Jess and a stage executive shot.
Bob Blayne's sons come looking for Jess, bent on revenge because Jess maimed their father years ago; though Jess tries to avoid a shootout, when Slim is injured Jess is forced into action.
Slim investigates when a ranch fight leads to death, but Slim is not convinced the Arapaho chief found with the body is the killer.
Though they don't trust him, Slim and Jess are forced to watch an injured ex-con who was forced to assist in a bank robbery.
While on the trail with a couple facing financial issues, Jess and the couple find a mule loaded with sacks of gold.
When he plans to ride shotgun on a stage carrying a bank shipment, Jess is asked to look the other way and allow a robbery, but when Jess tries to have the man arrested, the office manager refuses to press charges.
Jess finds remains of a U.S. Army wagon that disappeared during the war that contained $60,000 in gold.
Slim and Jess try to help a mysterious stranger who's been hiding in the mountains, killing Sherman cattle and leaving gold pieces to pay for the animals.
Jess is critically wounded when he tries to warn Marshal McGary, who is transporting a prisoner to hang, that the prisoner's brother plans to attack the tumbleweed wagon.
Jess catches a man in the freight office who he thinks is casing the place for the Logan gang, though he has no proof.
Slim finds an injured young woman, only to be mistaken for one of her kidnappers when her father finds them.
After doing Slim a good turn, a saloon girl asks Slim to help her father return money he'd embezzled from a Montana bank.
Actor John Smith was born Robert Errol Van Orden in Los Angeles. He began his career singing with The Robert Mitchell Boy Choir, a group which appeared in two Bing Crosby films, Going My Way (1944) and The Bells of St. Mary's (1945). His agent Henry Willson, who also gave Tab Hunter and Rock Hudson their names, changed Van Orden's name to "John Smith". Robert Hofler, author of "The Man Who Invented Rock Hudson", reports that an actress identified as Pocahontas Crowfoot was in the courtroom when the name change was granted. In We're No Angels (1955), Smith had a small role as "Arnaud", the ship's doctor. Aldo Ray, observing the doctor in full dress whites, says "he looks like a glass of milk". John Smith's other film credits include Circus World (1964) and Justin Morgan Had a Horse (1972). Smith also appeared in the television westerns Cimarron City (1958) and Laramie (1959).
