A man finds a corpse that looks remarkably like himself. On an impulse he takes on the persona of the dead man only to find he was a living legend of west and had made a lot of enemies along the way.
Overwhelmed girl takes on her father's responsibility as man of the house after he passes. She cares for her pregnant mother and 5 sisters and is suspicious of a young drifter who joins the train and pays too much attention to the girls.
When three wagons are late in the desert, Chris sends Duke to find them and bring them to the wagon train as the train cannot wait for them. It may be a suicide mission due to water holes drying up and the missing people's personal issues.
Duke comes across Malachi Hobart, a preacher dedicating his life to his fellow man, and is impressed with his charitable works. However, he begins to believe that the pastor is in fact a con artist who is using religion to swindle people.
Bill spots a young boy alone on the trail. He passes out but they later learn he can't talk but that he saw his dad killed by strangers for no apparent reason. Later, they run into Dr. Denker taking musical instruments to California.
Jeff Hartfield becomes concerned when his sister Jenny begins dating Dallas who threatens him with an orphanage at journey's end. Jeff takes off but Dallas follows with deadly intent, believing Jeff knows the location of $30,000.
Judge Clay and his family join the wagon train. He has a reputation for cleaning up frontier towns, but his fanatical attention to the law sees him ostracized as often as he is praised. He must face this when his son must be tried by him.
A young lieutenant on his first assignment must face an overbearing, murderous sergeant who is determined to kill two deserters in cold blood. The sergeant wounds Chris thinking he is one of them and into a feud with Flint at the train.
The wagon master encounters opposition when he calls a halt to the train due to weather. One group needs to push on due to an inheritance in California. Chris and Duke take them but Duke injures his foot forcing him to stay in a cabin.
The wagon train encounters Amos Billings who tells of a new road that might shorten their trip and avoid Indian trouble. Chris and Flint are very suspicious of the situation since the location has been a dead end.
A teacher traveling with the wagon train encounters conflict when he become attracted to the daughter of a medicine man who has just joined the train. The man despises cowards and sees the teacher as one.
An ousted Ute medicine man rescued by Duke who knows Chris predicts the future of wagon train passengers but he tries to withhold the deadly fortune of the man who takes him in but is a shyster himself.
A section of the wagon train splits to attempt a crossing of a dangerous swamp. On the way they hear stories from the local Indians of a strange creatures living in the swamp. Flint has a secret worry as he leads them.
The young Crawford couple is trying to leave their past behind but having difficulty doing it. The wagon train is crossing a massive ranch and the owner's son refuses to let Mrs. Crawford leave nor will the train members help them.
Chris Hale is traveling to the Wyoming prison to pick up his brother Levi---who's about to be released from prison. Chris assumed Levi was pardoned but he was paroled to Chris. He must keep Levi out of Wyoming or he will be hanged.
After the Sheriff escorts Ben Morrell and his son Terry to the wagon train, the members find Ben Morrell and his son very antisocial: the two can't even tolerate each other. One woman wants to adopt Terry believing he is being mistreated.
Bill Hawks returns the horse and belongings of a horse thief he shot to the local town sheriff. These identify the thief as a long dead war hero with a monument in the middle of town who was declared dead after a payroll robbery.
A Frenchman arouses strong---and polarized---emotions among the wagon train members: men distrust him, women adore him. He owes a substantial gambling debt and plans to pay it off by convincing a woman to pay it until he is killed.
Flint stops in a saloon with Bill and Charlie where he learns the whereabouts of a man he's been hunting for years---to kill. Bill has to restrain Flint who lapses into recalling his fiancé Nancy Lee Davis and his search for her killer.it.
Duke's resemblance to gambler Jason Carter makes him the target for a murderer's bullet when he visits Jason Carter's hometown looking for supplies. Jason has been missing for five years and only one man knows the truth about him.
Bill and Charlie, while looking for horses, help old friend and Ute lawyer John Turnbull defend his reservation against local land sharks trying to start a range war so the army will push local residents off their land.
Duke quits the wagon train to take up a steady position as Deputy Indian Agent at San Marcos on an Apache reservation under Hiram Winthrope. Hiram is an Easterner with ideas of teaching the nomadic Apache to become farmers.
Chris Hale has dinner with a society matron whose carriage team he had stopped after being spooked. A rival for the woman's attention is Chris' first problem while the crew's attempt to sabotage their relationship is the second one.
When Comancheros wipe out a small wagon train ahead of them, Chris sends Bill and Duke to check it out. They find a young wounded Comanchero who tells them they are to be attacked. Chris' actions cause a mutiny.
Indian captive Caroline Casteel is traded to a man who brings her to the wagon train. She encounters prejudice and hostility from many of the train members. But her biggest hurdle comes when her family, who had long given up hope, arrives.
Madame Delphine Sagittarius asks to be picked by the wagon train at Beaver City. The town is expelling her as a con woman. Charlie is initially against it but when no one else on the train accepts her, he becomes her lone supporter.
Wealthy merchant Martin Gatsby, a man with little for compassion for others, wants the wagon train to keep rolling and demands that Hale avoids delays by leaving inexperienced Caleb Lefton and his family behind.
John Augustus in a game of cards with a Chinese merchant wins a beautiful Chinese girl. But when he takes her on the wagon train, other passengers ask Hale to have him and the girl kicked off the train for their "indecent" relationship.
In the midst of a dry spell and desperately in need of water, the wagons stop at Mavis Grant's station, the only source of water for miles. But Miss Grant is a bitter and cold-hearted woman who demands an outrageous price for the water.
Bill Hawks is caught with three Indian grave robbers being chased by the Indians. He is the only one captured and is to be killed until he and the Chief's daughter fall in love. However, the leading brave has other ideas for her and Bill.
An officer Chris knows is found near the wagon train near death. He tells Chris that a passage in the Bible describes him and his commander - Shiloh Degnan. Chris returns him to Fort Bannerman to the Army where the truth is revealed.
When the Levy family joins the wagon train, the tranquility becomes less so as the fathers compete in checkers, young sons fight, and son and daughter fall in love. Lastly, a settler who tries to shake down the train to cross his property.
Indians kidnap an elderly lady on the train. They will return her when the train takes the Chief's son to the doctor and cure him. However, some on the train don't want to help. The task becomes harder when they learn what the illness is.
Kurt Davos, a highly respected man, is badly injured while trying to save Florence Hastings on a runaway wagon. Florence, who's scared of dogs and had tried to kill Kurt's dog, volunteers to live with and care for Kurt, now paralyzed.
Patrick O'Shaughnessy has come to visit his daughter Eve, believing her to be a respectable married woman. Knowing that Eve actually is the popular owner of a saloon, Hawks, Wooster, Duke, and Eve's favorite patrons decide to change Eve.
A Bible-quoting marshal joins the wagon train with his prisoner, a young bank robber whom he claims to be trying to reform. He wants the prisoner to atone for his sins by telling the location of the money he hid from his last holdup.
A woman and three companions in a runaway wagon are rescued by a winemaker and Charlie. They are against the consumption of alcohol and join the wagon train. However, she begins to fall for the winemaker until she learns his trade.
The wagon train finds Sam Darland with orphan boys in an old ghost town. Hale tries to convince Darland that it is not safe to stay in the town, as it in the midst of Indian territory and the leader of the tribe has been on the warpath.