In this pilot episode, Dan Troop takes over in Laramie after the previous marshal is killed. His first job is to bring in the marshal's killer, and in the process he gains a fine deputy in Johnny McKay. (This is also the first of several episodes where veteran actors Jack Elam and Lee Van Cleef appeared.)
In a tribute to High Noon, a man comes into town, looking for a fight. When he kills a man, he is arrested. Johnny gets lessons from Dan on how to handle a prisoner
Dan and Johnny try to capture a prisoner, who tells Johnny that he is his father. Dan is shocked when Johnny turns in his badge, saying he has bad blood and won't make a good lawman. At the end, Dan and Johnny have a gunfight with the prisoner, and Johnny takes back his job.
While Dan and Johnny are taking a killer to be hanged and a doctor to prison to serve a term, they come upon a stranded stagecoach with various passengers who need help. While helping the passengers, a conflict ensues, which ends with new light being brought out in the Doctor's case.
Bob Ford, who shot Jesse James in the back, comes to Laramie, where Dan and Johnny must protect him from mob mentality in some who feel Jesse James was a hero (although Dan seems to think he was a 'two-bit' killer). The citizens of Laramie join in until Dan talks them out of it.
A new saloon is opened in Laramie by Kate Wilson, who has had several scrapes with the law, but is always acquitted by the all-male jurors due to serious flirting on her part. When the same thing happens in Laramie, Dan pulls out all the stops, bringing in an ex-beau of hers doing time for one of her former crimes, and an all-woman jury to de-rail her.
Fallon, a ruthless bounty hunter, brings in a body of a wanted man and collects the reward from Dan, who knew him elsewhere and doesn't like him. After being told to leave town, Fallon shows Dan and Johnny a picture of the next man on his 'hit list'. Johnny knows him and tries to protect him from the killer, but is injured in the process. Finally, Dan must step in to stop another killing by Fallon.
Johnny puts his badge on the line when he bets Dan that his life long friend, Bill Anderson, is a good guy - and the only one in his family. Bill has trouble through some misunderstandings, and his brother gets out of prison at just the right time to really stir things up, but Johnny remains loyal to him throughout.
Luke Saint is a old codger who has a fast draw for a son named Matt. Matt has a reputation, which Luke likes to feed. On the way into Laramie, Matt is ambushed, shot and told he will never shoot again. His pa continues to cause trouble, thinking Matt will avenge him. When he realizes he can't, he goes off and gets Matt's son, Mark, also a crack shot, to get retribution. But Mark is only after Matt.
A Chinese girl is the only one willing to testify after her husband is killed by a couple of men extorting money from the Chinese mine workers outside of town. Although the two men and their boss try to foment hatred and prejudice toward the Chinese who work so hard there, in the end, justice prevails.
Upset that Dan refuses to recind a 10 p.m. curfew he's put on all the saloons in town, the three saloon owners draw straws to see who gets the 'short straw'. That man is the one who is supposed to kill Marshall Troop. Instead, he hires a killer whom Dan knows and recognizes in the cafe. The rest of the show is spent trying to figure out who he's there to kill - and who paid him to do it.
When Johnny McKay's old sweetheart comes to town, she is followed by her lover who goads Johnny into a gunfight. Johnny kills him, but the man's gun is missing when Johnny returns with Dan Troop. Troop must place Johnny under arrest for murder.
Dan's pleased to hear his old mentor is in town, but he and Johnny are disappointed to find out he's there to help the Cattleman's Association to run off homesteaders, a problem Dan had just been dealing with. Events lead to a show-down between the two old friends, with a predictable outcome.
Rene LeBeau is a half-breed Indian woman who lives on a ranch with her Sioux mother after her father dies, and the cattlemen in the area are trying to run her off. Intolerance causes a host of problems for the woman, but especially a group who keep running off her help. One of the cattlemen's employees, however, disagrees with the treatment, and is shot for it. Dan must fight the small group of hate mongerers as well as one who secretly lusts after Rene.
Jack McCall, who murdered Wild Bill Hickok, ends up in Laramie, holed up in Johnny's ailing 'Uncle' Jess' cabin. When Johnny shows up with the doctor, they are held captive. Then Johnny is sent to town for provisions so the killer can make his escape, and a suspicious Dan Troop follows at a distance. In the end, everything is resolved.
While going to arrest two men for murder, Dan is mauled by a bear. A woman saves him and takes him to her cabin, but he doesn't know she's the sister of one of the wanted men. She nurses him, even though she knows he's a lawman because of his badge, which she saw and threw away. Then her brother and his partner come back, and emotions run high. In the end, the situation is resolved, though not as Dan would have liked.
A wounded Ben Greene is accused of stealing cattle. He insists that he bought them legally, and his brand release is at his cabin. The men who accuse him are unsavory characters that both Johnny and Dan seem to distrust. Several of the players in this episode begin journeys in search of witnesses and proof, ending up, of course, with justice prevailing.
Ben Steed is a soldier who wants to be a writer. His father, an army colonel, wants him to stay in the army. The son leaves, but not with the intent to desert as much as to get away from the situation. Complicating matters is the fact that he and his girlfriend, whom his father dislikes, have secretly gotten married, and also a troublemaker trying to get revenge on the Colonel.
The buffalo hunters, led by Tom Cardigan, are persecuting little Billy Bright in the saloon because he used to be married to a Shoshone Indian. The Shoshone are on the warpath because Cardigan killed the chief's brother. Troop stops them and then lets Bright go, but then he learns that the buffalo men hung Bright outside of town. He goes to try to stop a war, and the Indians attack him and the buffalo hunters.
Reformed gunfighter Kurt Monroe comes into Laramie to meet his fiancee, Lucy, on the stage. But when the stage comes in without her, his resolve to stay on the straight and narrow is put to the test.
Big Hat Anderson and Lily Keats are married, and Frank Tate, the newspaper editor, is given the grooms 'big hat' to wear. As he leaves the saloon, he is shot and killed. Dan must find the killer, and starts with former loves of the bride. Frank Tate was a regular in the cast, as the editor who respected and worked with Dan and Johnny. His niece, Julie, comes in this episode to take over his job at the paper.
Hans is a chef wanting to open up his own restaurant, but the Youngs keep him bound to a contract they have with him. Dan helps him get out of it in an unusual (but legal) way, in a show played for laughs, one of the lighter episodes.
A posse is formed to find a suspected murderer, and a gunslinger is included in the posse. The other citizens object, but he turns out to be the only one willing to help Dan protect the suspect once they find him. The suspect's wife, meanwhile, makes a confession to Johnny that he must tell Dan Troop before it's too late.
Jamie was left with the Welches to raise after his father, Jack Rollins, went to prison. Jack is out, and back to reclaim his son.
A military man has a breakdown and finally reveals the truth about a war battle: he let people believe he had been a hero, when instead he was court-martialed for deserting his men.
The Hayes gang is riding into Laramie, and one of the riders, Clay, is coming in to warn Dan. In a rare show of Dan's background, we learn Clay is his brother, that they both loved the same girl who went off with Clay and then died, and that Clay is not exactly a law-abiding citizen. But he still wants his brother and Johnny to win this fight against the gang, so he gets out of a sickbed to help when no one in the town will.
When Dan and Johnny both draw and fire on an escaped convicted killer's brother, Dan takes the credit for it in order to protect Johnny and draw out the other 2 brothers. But when Johnny learns that he was, in fact, the one who killed Davey, he turns in his badge.
Three young toughs cause trouble for Johnny while he's left in charge while Dan goes out of town. Finally, he's forced into a shoot out with all three of them, just as Dan gets back.
Larry DeLong is a reformed criminal who is now employed as a shotgun rider on the stageline. When his former gang robs the stage on which he's riding, and the driver is killed, the towns people of Laramie feel Larry is about ready to rejoin the gang. Once again, Dan's faith in him turns the tide.
Dan starts on a journey in response to a telegram asking for his help in another town. When he gets there, no one seems to know anything about why he was summoned. Dan must solve this mystery.
When stage robbers kill Loma Williams' brother, she becomes a one-woman vigilante force. After one of the men tells her where she can find the other one, she kills him. Then she heads for Laramie, the place where she was told she could find the other one. Dan tries to head off a bloodbath.
Dan helps a man released from prison to make the right decision between the girl that he loves and going back to his old gang.
Dan and Johnny must stop an assassination attempt on the Senator, who is supposed to stop in Laramie on the midnight train.
Dan sets a trap for a murderer after a young woman is found killed in Laramie.
After Ches Ryan's pay is docked, he retaliates by robbing the payroll. As he escapes, he passes through a town plagued with an illness. He comes across a young woman and her little brother who are both ill and have no one to look after them, so he stays to help. Dan catches up to him while there, and consequently gets the fever himself. Ryan then tends to Dan, also.
Doc Holliday is in Laramie, and Dan would like to see him go. He is hanging around, however, for a woman due on the stagecoach, and he won't go until she gets there.
One member of a gang planning to rob a stage gets drunk while in Laramie and subsequently is jailed. He offers to tell Dan the scheme for some whiskey. Then, Dan has to try to foil the plot.
After Sioux Chief Red Horse's son is murdered, he holds Johnny hostage and tells Dan he will kill Johnny in the morning unless Dan can find the killer.
While Dan is gone (again), Johnny runs across an old friend in town, not knowing he has joined a gang planning on robbing the bank of Laramie. When his friend, Buck Harmon, finds out he's the deputy in town, he first tries to talk him into going out of town with him for the evening, then ends up joining him in the fight against his gang.
Lily Merrill opens the Bird Cage Saloon after being thrown out of Billings, Montana by the sheriff. Dan hears she was involved in a theft/murder, she assumes he wants to be paid off. Dan, of course, refuses money. Both seem surprised that their opinions are wrong, but Dan is still suspicious. One of her dealers again causes trouble, and she looks guilty. There are several mistakes made by Dan (unusual for him) regarding her innocence until the very last scene, where they gain lasting respect for one another.
An alcoholic is identified by the man he supposedly robbed the night before, and can't deny it because he was drunk. Even though he is identified as the robber, Dan has ""a hunch"" that he is being set up.
While guarding a prison wagon, Johnny is attacked by a prisoner after the wagon is set upon and overturned. He shackles himself to the prisoner immediately, and then has to avoid being killed.
When Lily's estranged ex-con husband, Frank, comes to town she avoids telling Dan who the man is. Dan's suspicious of him- and with good cause. He's holding their son, Tommy, as a hostage to force Lily to help him rob the bank. She tries to handle the matter alone while keeping Dan from finding out anything, which only makes him more suspicious.
When an army officer comes to Laramie to try to establish an unfair treaty with the Indians, a white man who has been assimilated into the tribe tries to kill him.
Once again Johnny resigns, after being forced to kill an old friend. Dan hires another deputy, but he's no Johnny McKay. He is bombastic and cowardly, pushing people to throw his weight around, but not really wanting to have to fight. Finally, after the new deputy gets scared half to death, Johnny takes his job back.
When Beth, a girl who works in the Bird Cage, is murdered, the killer is seen by Oren, an old man with very thick glasses. The glasses are broken as the killer rushes out the door, leaving him dazed and nearly blind. Dan sets a trap, insisting that Oren saw the whole thing and can identify the killer as soon as he gets his new glasses.
Dan and Johnny help Timmo's estranged son to overcome years of bad association and feelings of neglect.
Lal Hoard gets out of prison and heads for Laramie. Dan had put him away, and he swore revenge. Now, Lily and Johnny are worried, but Hoard seems to have changed. He has bought the Laramie newspaper and wants to settle down. It doesn't take long to see that he is starting a smear campaign against Dan, and then tries to blackmail Lily.
Pa Jutes and his sons hold Lily Merrill and a young newsboy hostage in the marshall's office until the 9:05 train to North Platte comes through. It's carrying another of his sons who's being taken to justice by another lawman, and Pa wants to make a 'trade'.
Two grifters come to town claiming to be there to raise money to rebuild the church in Laramie after it burns down. In reality, they plan to take the money and run.
A nightime rainstorm forces Dan and Johnny, who are escorting a prisoner, to seek shelter in a cabin. It is lived in by Jack Brace, a thief and a murderer, and his slave, an Indian woman. She tries to warn Dan about Jack, who joins with the prisoner to overpower the two lawmen. The Indian woman helps them as they are being forced to dig their own graves.
Bill Jennings and his fiancee', Amie, are about to be married. But then Bill's stepson, Gabe, shows up, full of anger and vengeance over the fact that Bill deserted his mother and him years before. Even though Bill knows that in truth, his ex-wife left him - and Gabe is not really his son- he tries to protect the boy from the facts.
A gunman shows up wanting vengeance against Lance Creedy, a gunfighter who changed for the better when he married his wife. The gunman is convinced that Lance stole his 'woman' from him.
An older man comes to town to avenge his son's killing by Dan Troop. Although Dan was doing his duty, the father hears a local bigmouth talking about how his son was just a fun-loving boy and Dan Troop killed him without cause. In this episode, it's Johnny who has to come to the rescue as the man is determined to kill Dan.
Pike Reese, a wolfer, tells everyone he's caught a wolf who has been stalking and ravaging the area's livestock. He then tries to blackmail the town for $10,000, or he'll let the wolf go. After one of the townspeople kills the wolf to prevent that from happening, he is found dead. Dan goes after the wolfer.
Beth Denning, a somewhat wild girl, seems to stir up trouble wherever she goes. Raised by a lazy father in a filthy cabin, she can't seem to break out of the mold. Dan, knowing that a cattle drive is coming into town, lays down the law to both her father and to her, warning them to not cause any more trouble in Laramie. When Beth is found beat up and near death after a scene at the Bird Cage, the town is ready to lynch an innocent young man until Beth comes out of her coma to identify the real culprit.
Artist Frederick Jameson comes to town. Lily impresses him and he offers to paint her portrait. Meanwhile, a murderous gang is on his trail, and he and his Indian companion both seem to know why, although Dan and Johnny do not.
Lily is threatened in an alley at night by a man calling himself ""the ugly man"". He seems to know all about her and accuses her of deceit and lies (although she is sure she doesn't know him) and he promises to kill her at midnight on some night soon. Dan and Johnny begin a constant vigil, one or the other being with her 24 hours a day until they can track down a man with no name and no face. Finally, one of the girls who works in the saloon discloses a secret that unlocks the mystery.
Three kids ride into town, take a shot at Dan, and ride out. He and Johnny pursue them, catch them, and bring them in, in spite of being clawed and bitten in the process. Lily refuses to let him put the little girl, Dodie, in jail and takes her to the Bird Cage. None of the kids will tell Dan anything about who they are, but he soon learns that their father is a wanted outlaw, and they want to go live with him rather than their Uncle Lou.
A strange man, who is a thimblerigger, shows up at the Bird Cage Saloon one night and promises to ruin a man with his game.
Dan has to get a prisoner away from the posse that is after him and to safety in jail so the man can apply for a pardon from the governor, whose life he saved during the war.
Pianist Reed Smith drank to forget the war. He's conquered the drinking problem, but not the men who are trying to get him because of things he did that they can't forget. The reunion takes place at the Bird Cage Saloon in Laramie.
In this show, which really is about 30 minutes in the town's life, bad guy (really bad guy) Jake Wilson (Jack Elam) comes to town. At 2:30, he goes into the BirdCage and is soon recognized by a young man, whom he kills right before he shoots Johnny. Then, when Dan hears the shots, Jake engages in a hostage situation, telling Dan he's killed his deputy and will kill his girlfriend unless Dan clears the streets, gets him his horse, and lets him ride out. Shot twice, once by Johnny before he got hit, and once by Dan, Wilson is wounded, in pain, scared, and beligerent (Jack Elam at his best). He terrorizes Lily and the others before the final shootout, which takes place almost on the stroke of 3:00.
A man whose arm has been amputated because of a shootout with Marshall Troop some time back comes back to town, convinced his son will kill Dan for him. But his son is reluctant to do so.
Meg Belding leaves home at 21, away from her verbally and physically abusive father. Lily gives her a job at the Bird Cage, and he tracks her down, threatening to beat her. A kind man she meets protects her, and soon they want to get married. Her father objects. Dan and Lily have to run interference for her.
In this angsty, nearly depressing episode, Johnny falls in love with a young girl in town, Jenny Miles. Dan and Lily have some objections, but they don't say anything. Jenny turns out to be a flirt who is in love with someone else, and Johnny keeps protecting her from him thinking he's trying to hurt her. She's trying to get one of them to kill the other to prove how much they care about her.
A ruthless trapper is just as brutal with his Indian wife, whom he kills in a rage. When her tribe finds out, they want justice, and Dan has to be the mediator.
Joel Grey makes his first of 3 appearances in this series as Owny O'Reilly. In this show, as a young tough, he gets into trouble in town while his brother, Jack, is escaping from a payroll robbery. Jack's partner, Samson, throws the money in a well, and Owny finds it. He keeps it, then starts acting nice to people so they won't suspect anything. Lily befriends him and gives him a job. In the end, Jack and Samson are caught, and Owny is considered completely rehabilitated.
Lady Belle Smythe comes to town to case the bank for her gang to rob. The menfolk in town are taken with her, but she insults Lily's dress after her song in the saloon, and after that Lily is convinced she's a phoney. The problem is trying to convince Dan she's right.
Ron Fallon, a former gunman with a useless hand, comes to town wanting to help out the woman he loves, Judith Manning. However, her son believes that Ron killed his father and wants to pay back the favor, not knowing that, in reality, the gunman is his father. As usual, Dan ends up having to intercede.
Dan and Johnny take a posse and go after a murderous thief who is called 'The Actor'. When a posse member is shot, Johnny takes him back to town, while Dan stays on the trail. Later, Dan is shot and left for dead. He's found by two sisters who take him back to their cabin to care for him. One of them is married to a circuit judge who happens to be 'The Actor'.
The 'Black Hand' was a secret criminal society, esp. of Italians, organized for blackmail and deeds of violence during the last decade of the 1800's. Now, in Laramie, two trapeze artists are being blackmailed, and they believed that they had escaped from the 'Black Hand' by coming to America.
A wanted man wants to turn himself in to Dan Troop, but wants the reward money given to Jennie, the woman he loves, so she can go to Chicago and get medical treatment. She is terminally ill, but doesn't want him to know. He will get a life sentence for his crimes, but doesn't want her to know. At their 'parting', they make a promise to each other to meet later, but both know they won't be able to keep it.
An alcoholic, Jim Phelan,is a swamper who is offered a bribe to help make a bank robbery possible. He wants to, but with a condition which involves his unpolished daughter, Ellie.
A deputy who wants to make a name for himself is trying to find an old friend of Dan's, accusing him of a crime that he himself committed. Dan, once again, has to step in to right the wrong.
Dan races against the clock to bring evidence to save an innocent man from being hanged in Cheyenne. Someone is obviously sabotaging his efforts, and Dan must apprehend whoever is doing so before he can get to Cheyenne.
Johnny goes against everyone else's better judgement when he takes personal responsibility for 4 boys who have been arrested for killing a milk cow. The four boys lack any direction in life and remind Johnny of himself at their age. He finds them work at the livery stable, determined to help them rehabilitate. Three of the boys end up admiring him and wanting his approval, while the fourth boy is not only 'bad', he is criminal.
Lily and Johnny are both kidnapped and held by a gang of blackmailing killers. They send a concussed, blindfolded Johnny back into town with orders to clean out Lily's bank account and leave the money where it can be picked up. Dan works with Johnny to figure out where she is being held before the men can get back to their hideout with the money. Dan knows they plan to kill her as soon as they return. The urgency both of them feel is indicative of the closeness the three of them have.
Bob's wife needs medical help bad. When he is killed by a drunken bunch of outlaws, Joe feels he needs to help her even though he doesn't know her and now the outlaws may be after him thinking he's a bunch quitter.
Bess Harper was Lily's mentor as a young girl, the woman who gave her her first job. Now she is an old alcoholic, in town to try to get five thousand dollars out of the town of Laramie left to it by her estranged ex-husband. Lily hatches a plan to rehabilitate her and get her back on stage, to the chagrin of her lawyer, who was the one who put the idea into her head.
Owny catches a wanted man by snagging him on his fishing line. He takes the body back to town to claim the reward, and with Johnny going out of town to collect it for him, he suggests to Dan that Owny be made his deputy while he's gone. The results are hilarious, with Owny trying desperately to copy Dan in everything.
Yawkey, who has killed 27 men and has the reputation of being the fastest gun alive, shows up at the Bird Cage and sends notice to Dan that he's going to kill him at 3:30 that afternoon. Dan's never met him, and doesn't know why he wants to kill him. Both Johnny and Lily try to talk Yawkey out of it, to no avail. Dan is determined to do his job regardless of the consequences, much to Lily's dismay. The end is a study in the life of a gunslinger.
The swamper hired by Lily doesn't seem to fit the proper mold to Marshal Troop. As three men arrive in Laramie looking for him, he is forced to reveal his true background and skills.
Rafe Curry is wanted in Concordia, New Mexico for murder. Troop is returning him, it's his duty. On the way, he is hampered in many ways but Curry says that Dan doesn't really want to return him anyway - he's just too dumb to know it.
Chantay is a young Indian girl who runs away from the Indian school because her teacher makes her 'do bad things'. She is followed and returned by an Indian policeman, Great Bear, but not before she meets and is smitten with Johnny. Later, he finds her under the bed in the marshall's office as he's sleeping, to Dan and Lily's shared amusement. He must take her back to the school, and then has to prove she's innocent of murder.
A boxing promoter arrives in Laramie with ""Samson the Great,"" a champion prizefighter. A number of local men pay for a chance to fight Samson in the hope of winning $50 but Samson easily defeats each of them. Samson then settles himself in the local saloon, becoming increasingly obnoxious and abusive. When Deputy McKay intervenes, Samson beats him up. Marshal Troop, to get Samson out of town, then challenges him to a fight and manages to defeat him after a brutal, bare-knuckle brawl.
When Al May comes home with a bag of stolen payroll money and being pursued by a posse, his younger half brother, Charlie, grabs the money and runs, letting himself get caught and taking the rap for Al. What he wants is acceptance by his dad and his brother, who blame him for his mother's running off with another man years before. Since Lily insists he's innocent and begs Dan to do something, he comes up with a plan to expose the truth.
Catcher, who doesn't use his real name, is a sheep herder by trade and used to people funning him. When a man he knows turns up dead, he is blamed since that man was no longer laughing with him but at him and he had a score to settle.
Johnny kills a notorious gunman only because the killer's gun misfires. Although the town wants to make him a hero, he knows the truth. Then he learns that the gunman's son is going to be coming to avenge his father's death, and he's reputed to be faster than his father was.
A woman turns in her outlaw husband she says "for the reward." When Troop finds out the real reason, it may be too late to save himself or the town from a bloodbath.
Tracy McNeil is a supposed businessman who is showing an inordinate interest in Lily Merrill. Johnny teases Dan about it, but Dan doesn't want to interfere. In fact, Lily is interested in buying McNeil's thoroughbred horse, but his price is too high: to try to persuade Dan to let him buy up land that isn't really for sale. Meanwhile, Old Stefano, a mute old shepherd who comes to town with an injured sheep dog, is accused of killing McNeil's injured horse. Dan has to intervene in McNeil's behalf.
When the Army paymaster is killed, the new lieutenant in charge tries to pull rank on Troop, neither of them knowing that an old lawman friend of Dan's is in town and his friends don't look like they're after beaver as they claim.
In this lighter episode Jake, in charge of fire co. #2 and Oren, in charge of fire co. #1, crash into each other and start a fight in the street during a fire drill. After Lily chides them loudly in public for their behavior, she is elected unanimously the new fire marshall. A group of bandits witness this and prepare to start a fire as a diversion so they can rob the payroll being held in the bank. Lily and the Volunteer Fire Brigade save the day.
Jessica doesn't believe her husband was guilty for the crime he was just hanged for. That's because she's confessing to it herself. Troop doesn't believe her, but begins to doubt whether he put the wrong man on the gallows.
Tod Larson, a hired gun in Laramie to visit his sister, runs into old friend Dan Troop. When he learns his target is the marshal, he has to decide whether to go through with the job or think of something else.
Before he died, a Wyoming cattleman gave Ad Prentice a tract of land to start a ranch. Prentice's hired hand, Bent Carr, hopes to gain possession of the land by proving the transaction was illegal.
Troop hears that Frank Walker escaped prison. When he tells the wife and son, he is shot and can't use his gun hand. The son, who worships his father, tells Dan "that'll make it awful hard on you!" and hopes he'll be dead within the week.
Hassayampa Edwards is a temperance leader who tries to get the saloons in Laramie closed. When one burns down, Dan forces Lily to close the Bird Cage until the storm dies down.
When an out of town promoter wants to buy out or put out of business The Birdcage and the rest of the saloons in Laramie, Troop becomes a silent partner of Lily's in hopes of stopping the sales.
Elfreida Detweiler has been raised by her father, a hardnosed, hateful, spiteful old German immigrant who resents her because she wasn't a son, and her mother died giving her birth. To try to prove to him that she is as good as a son, she calls out Jim Austin, a young man who has taken a liking to her, but whom her father hates. Johnny tries to stop her, and she challenges him to a gunfight the next day at noon. He can't back down, and he ""can't fight a girl"". In spite of its dark overtones, this show has a definite comic touch to it.
Dan and Johnny are forced to deal with Owlie, who feels his impoverished father has been hiding a large sum of money at The Birdcage. To top it off, Lily may have known the truth behind this all along.
A mild-mannered cowboy is driven to violence by constant bullying and persecution. His partner, Blue Boss, is a steer hired out to cattle drives to lead the herds. When Blue Boss is killed, Willie Shay wants revenge and respect.
A NY detective is convinced he has trailed a man wanted for bank larceny three years ago and his wife to Laramie. When the proof is scars from an old operation for her, Dan may have to reluctantly arrest one of the nicest men in town.
Chad Kennedy, acquitted of murdering his brother, returns to Laramie from exile after 3 years. Visiting his ill father, he and sister in law both witness his father fall and die but this time she plans on seeing him hang, guilty or not.
Casey, a fugitive from the law, jeopardizes the life of his wife and young son. When the wife feels that what's best is to abandon him, Troop and Lily become involved as the boy won't talk and a new man is in town looking for somebody.
A known gunfighter, always needing to prove he is fast, goads a young, new father into a gunfight, kills him and after skipping town, has Dan on his trail. His acquittal fuels hatred in town as he and his wife want to live in Laramie.
Rainbow Jack says he's discovered a rich vein of gold. He meets a saloon girl who's father had similar dreams and invests a 1/2 interest in him. When Rainbow's past catches up with him, that grubstake proves to be more than just a dream.
When a local woman seems to run off with a traveling peddler, her husband threatens to go after him. Dan and Lily try to help and soon find out the real reason for her sudden departure.
Edgar Chase comes to Laramie to visit his brother. When he finds he is dead, the man who shot him gets worried when Edgar intends to punish him and see him die for it but how can he when he doesn't even wear a gun.
Dexter wants revenge for the hanging of his father from the man who sentenced him. When his sister and the judge arrive in Laramie, a mock trial is arranged with only four men as jury and Troop in the middle of this family business.
Lem Pastor wants to make sure his daughter marries the right man. When he blinds the latest one, he only drives her, the image of her mother, further away until Dan Troop has to step in to prevent a killing.
Walt Hudson wants to turn himself in for the reward thinking when he gets out he would at least have a stake. The company making the offer wants something else but Walt wants no part of their plan.
Pa Beason has come to Laramie to die. He has led a life of killing and looting,and has never been brought to justice. He chose Laramie because he has heard that Dan is a fair man. He offers to give Dan a full confession of all of the raids he has performed over the years on the condition that his daughter, Iona, is cleaned up and put into a dress and looks like a lady rather that one of his sons, who are following in his footsteps. Dan agrees, knowing Lily can't turn down a challenge like that. He then agrees to make sure the girl is taken care of on the condition that Pa talks his boys into surrendering to him.
A lawman, not able to use his gun hand, hides out in Laramie. When the brothers of a man he killed in Tucson show up, they want to kill him they say 'in a fair fight.' Dan thinks otherwise especially when they kidnap his new bride.
At the gallows, Jed Barrister swears he will kill Troop and hearkens to anyone to take up the challenge. With a target on his back, Johnny wishes Dan would leave town for a few days as some strangers just came in on the stage.
Outlaw leader Hale Connors arrives in Laramie to notify Troop that the stage won't be arriving.
One member of the Cauley gang is captured and brought to Laramie for trial, because the town where he was caught couldn't find anyone willing to serve on a jury. The other 5 Cauleys have threatened to kill anyone who served. Dan is sure Laramie will rally to the cause, but finds that fear is contagious. Finally, learning that it only takes one juror, under extreme circumstances, to try a case, Dan pulls one name out of the tax register list at random to be that juror. To his shock, it's Lily's name. She accepts, and then he must worry about her safety until the trial.
Four men ride into Laramie, all carrying rifles, and station themselves around town. After one of them is shot and killed, the leader tells Dan they are searching for a young, innocent looking young man who was reported to them as being in the area. He was a cold-blooded killer they had been tracking. Dan deputizes the three remaining men since Johnny was out of town, and together they track the boy down.
Cole and his father ride into town looking for the killer of his brother, Chad. Cole is the only one who can identify this person as he overheard him just before he shot his brother, but he's blind.
Millie Cotton, the governor's daughter, has run away from home and landed in Laramie. Desperate for money, she robs Owny in an alley with her hairbrush in his back. Both are scared. Owny later describes the robber as a huge, vicious man. Dan, told to be on the lookout for the governor's daughter, recognizes Millie, who sings for Lily and is told honestly that she has a lovely voice. Owny is struck by her, not knowing that she is his assailant. When he finds out, his hurt feelings take over. Later, an escaped convict, Millie, Owny, his horse, and his dog all combine for a scene of pandemonium before everything is sorted out.
In another rather light-hearted episode, the school teacher leaves to get married in a fit of what is deemed 'spring fever'. A search for a substitute teacher until the new one can arrive turns up a man who is very educated, but is now a drunk. Lily volunteers over Dan's objections - he's worried about what the women in town will do to her. His suspicions are proved right, but Lily once again wins over hearts by her kindness.
Alteeka McClintock, a trapper friend of Troop's, comes to town and accidentally kills a man during some horse play at the Birdcage. Running away, Dan must bring him in before the brother of the man he killed gets his revenge.
When one of Laramie's citizens disappears the day after his wedding to a woman he met through a marriage catalog, Dan does some investigating. Learning that several other men have also disappeared after marrying someone from that agency, he decides to try to flush her out by posing as an eligible bachelor, Arthur Daniels. Lily at first thinks it's funny, but gets serious (and jealous) once Johnny points out that this could be for real - or even fatal.
His best friend ran off with his young wife the day he got sent to prison. King Harris has escaped and killed his old friend. He is now believed heading to Laramie to kill his wife, who has returned home on the stage.
During a terrible, windy storm, Lily is suddenly terrified by the sight of a book of poetry. She explains that the poem, ""Porphyria's Lover"", by Robert Browning reminds her of a man she helped put in prison. Dan tries to convince her that it's only the storm. The next day her bartender is sent by Dan to go help the men work on rebuilding the schoolhouse, with Lily's blessing. Then while she is alone, the escaped prisoner shows up and carries her off, and Dan must piece together clues from the poem to locate her before she is killed by the madman.
Dan's old friend, Major Jason Leeds, has come to Laramie to offer Johnny an appointment to West Point. Johnny has never considered a military career, and wants Dan to tell him to stay. Dan can't and won't make the decision for him. We can tell he really cares about Johnny and doesn't want him to go, but he knows it's a very good opportunity for him and doesn't want to stand in his way. Johnny must make a hard decision, made easier by his saving the major's life.
Kindly Will Porter is killed by one of the Lord brothers. When Dan travels to Darkness to arrest them for trial, the locals, including their marshal, won't lift a finger to help. Which puts one against how many?
An old friend of Lily's arrives in town. When he uses his tarot cards to read the fortunes of her friends, all the fortunes start to come true but one of them is fated to die.
Maggie Winslow returns to Laramie after 9 years to claim a son she gave up. Married, she feels she can provide for him now. Even with the law on her side, she must decide what's best for him even though she's already decided for herself.
A special assistant to the territorial marshal is touring the area and wants to know what Troop is and has been doing to clean up the town. If progress isn't made he will step in and do it for him with all the authority he thinks he has.
Duncan Clooney asks Troop if he can transport high explosives through Laramie as a bump in the road could set them off. He needs the town evacuated. Dan agrees but discovers the men working for Clooney have their own idea how to use them.
When a friend of Lily's comes in on the stagecoach - unconscious and the only one aboard - a worried Lily nurses her, while her husband waits for her to regain consciousness so he can talk to her. Lily is suspicious of him, and finds the secret to his identity is hidden in her friend's locket.
Three men ride into Laramie to hold up the bank. Two are arrested and one is a friend of Johnny's father. Transporting them to Cheyenne, Dan feels Johnny may have let his guard down when his uncle escapes heading to his stash of loot.
Mr. Lazarino is an Italian immigrant who has a wagon full of transported grapevines to plant in his new home, hoping to become a wine maker. After two men destroy most of them in a brawl in the street, his son, Tonio, opens fire and is killed by one of the men. The older man is devastated by the destruction that has occurred, and one of the two men feels strong pangs of conscience.
Jess Bridges is an ex-lawman who goes bad. When he tries to rob the stage in Laramie disguised as a marshal, Troop has to stop him. But Dan has a small problem - he looked up to Jess and he used to be his deputy.
Jeff, in Laramie to visit his cousin Johnny, gets a lesson he hadn't planned on when he is mistaken for Billy the Kid. Teaching himself how to shoot is only half the battle. Can he face a man and do the same?
Barron Shaw's trial for murder and robbery is being moved out of Laramie on the stage. The townspeople protest this change but Troop has some unexpected company on the road ahead and sitting right next to him as well.
Blake Stevens is a well respected businessman. When he doesn't fight back against a vigilante group of thugs determined to take over Laramie, the remaining town council want Troop's badge, and he isn't going along with their decision.
Ed seems to sell his barbershop to a stranger in town. When more strangers come to town, the real reason they are all there becomes apparent to Troop and Johnny the next time they get a haircut.
Famous Marshal Ben Wyatt arrives in Laramie with a body. In a hotel room he waits for the other two partners behind a rifle in ambush. Troop feels he can't let him do that which forces a showdown in the streets.
Clootey is a female gunslinger who lives up in the hills and has just come into Laramie for supplies. In a pouring rainstorm at night, after spurning his advances in the Bird Cage, she is called in the street by a drunken Earl and shoots him down in a fair fight. Dan is forced to try to arrest her, but she tells him she knows she can outdraw him. Earl's cooler headed brother, Paul, suggests instead she try to 'take him' in a gunfight to prove she really could outdraw the dead man.
John Kemper is doing everything he can to drive off Laurie who killed his son but is now out on parole. Laurie decides to find a mail order husband to help fight John but gets more than she expected in him.
Lex Buckman, a mountain man - huge, dirty, and unshaven - gives the men in Laramie a lot to talk about-and admire- by his shows of strength and prowess. However, once he sees Lily, he tells her he needs a wife and ""You're it!"". Nothing she can say can dissuade him, until she wheedles Dan into telling him they're engaged. Instead of running Lex off, he decides to eliminate the competition. Lily and Johnny spend the rest of the show trying to protect Dan from Lex, some with comic results.
When the stage arrives in Laramie bearing two newcomers, they disembark, feigning illness, and soon espy the wealthiest rancher in town. Their sights are no longer on their destination, but him.
A young man rides his sick and pregnant Ma into Laramie knowing the law is looking for his ever-absent Pa. When a bounty hunter also shows up, Troop must decide who he should help, the sick Ma or the one lawfully after the reward.
Troop takes Billy Deal, a wanted outlaw, into custody. He needs to transport him by train to Casper. An old acquaintance in town wants to take him to Montana instead to resolve other issues and there's only one train leaving town on Sunday.
Troop catches Jim Martin cheating at cards. When he draws against Dan, it's kill or be killed. When his wife and three sons come and bury the body they decide to now pay their respects to the marshal, the exact same way.
A stranger rides into town and collapses. After the doctor's examination, Troop tries to question him, but gets nowhere. All the stranger will say is that there's going to be a lot of trouble around sundown.
With the help of local law in Saratoga, Dan captures a man wanted to testify. On the stage ride back to Laramie the driver exhibits plague-like symptoms and the only doctor available is a falling down drunk, who is also wanted to testify.
Luther Boardman is the new owner of the Laramie Free Press, and he is in love with the outlaw persona. Feeling the outlaws are the real story in the wild west, he begins a smear campaign against Dan. He accuses him of police brutality because Dan knocked out a man who was rowdy and drunk and threatening to shoot people in the Bird Cage, even though Boardman wasn't in the saloon at the time. He soon has the drunk convinced he needs a public apology from Dan.
A leading businessman tells the bank to either close a newcomer's account or his. When Troop feels that being in the middle of an old argument is making him very uncomfortable, having a calvary reunion in town isn't helping matters either.
An aging actor rides into town and collapses at The Birdcage. First thought to be a penniless drifter, it is soon discovered he is wounded and pursued by a woman with desires for him against the objections of her husband and brother.
A blow to the head may have turned a young man into a killer. Pushed to the edge he kills two well-liked people. Now everyone just wants to gun him down led by the man that made him that way.
Johnny comes up against a wild young woman whose boyfriend is in jail, and she intends to let nothing stand in the way of her getting him out of it.
Two men arrive in Laramie by stage saying they are looking for a man that may have come to town years ago and with a lot of money. When Dan figures out who that might be, Johnny is in trouble and he doesn't know where he is.
Nathan Adams returns home to find his wife shot and killed. When a sketch artist claims he saw a rider and draws a picture of him, Troop has no option but to arrest a local rancher but he suspects this witness's motives.