Adam is left to die in the desert after two thieves take $5,000 and his horse from him.  Near death, he stumbles into an old prospector named Kane who offers to lend him a mule and supplies in exchange for three day's work at his mine.  Kane, however, turns out to be a demented madman.  He holds Adam prisoner and tortures him to prove his theory that anyone could be driven to kill, even a man as rational as Adam.  This is Pernell Robert's favorite episode along with "The Wooing Of Abigail Jones".

The Crucible

Lorne Greene

Pernell Roberts

Dan Blocker

Michael Landon

Inger, My Love

The Gamble

A drunk is killed in a saloon brawl with Hoss, and though the man's brother insists there are no hard feelings, he is actually a silver-tongued devil bent on revenge.

The Smiler

A friend of Ben's (Mr. Milbank) arrives at the Ponderosa at a bad time...when the Cartwright boys are fighting in the mud. Mr. Milbank, who is injured by a flying log during the fight, gives an assignment to each of the three boys.  Can they fulfill the assignments, or has Springtime gotten to them all?

Springtime

The Cartwrights and a bigoted army captain are pinned down by Cochise and his braves, who claim the officer poisoned 30 of their people.

The Honor of Cochise

Little Joe pays a visit to the widow Lee Bolden, and brings her a bank draft for her husband's investments with Ben.  Actually, the investments were losing propositions.  Ben just wanted to help out his friend.  During his visit, a wounded man stumbles into the house, and Joe recognizes him as Trock, who had just robbed the local bank.  Lee Bolden was a nurse to her husband physician, and removes the bullet from Trock.  Joe soon learns that Lee is in love with Trock, and that is the only thing standing between him and an early grave.

The Lonely House

In this comic episode involving a precious emerald and the sweet widow, Clemantine Hawkins who is attracted to Ben, turns the tables on a pair of land swindlers.

The Burma Rarity

Adam tries to help a reformed gunman who wants only to live peacefully near Virginia City.  Good story without a tidy ending.  Pernell's first chance to sing on the series.

Broken Ballad

Hoss and Joe become involved when "Bullethead" Burke vows revenge on an old man he claims cheated him in an investment deal.

The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch

Joe befriends and takes responsibility for an ex-convict named Danny.  Danny loves horses and is not used to people's ways on the outside of jail.  Will his rough jailhouse upbringing mar any hopes of friendship?

The Friendship

A woman Ben once loved, Lady Chadwick, returns and attempts to trick him into marrying her by ruining his business.  Ben says almost losing the Ponderosa will make him and his sons appreciate it more.

The Countess

A professional wrangler working for the Cartwrights is paralyzed when thrown by a particularly mean bronco.  The woman nursing him was once engaged to the late son of a neighboring rancher out to get Ben.

The Horse Breaker

Joe wins a card game and an unexpected prize...a young lady.  She goes to the Ponderosa and serves them, not wanting to be set free.  Meanwhile, an army is looking for her and the Cartwrights.

Day of the Dragon

An irritating man who boasts of being the reincarnation of French poet Francois Villion shows up causing trouble for the Cartwrights.

The Frenchman

Joe accepts the job of temporary sheriff in the town of Rubicon, unaware he is being used to facilitate a scheme involving murder.

The Tin Badge

In this Christmas story, inspired by Johanna Spyri's "Heidi", Hoss and Joe come across a blind girl whose family has been killed in a wagon wreck, learning later that her grandfather is a bitter hermit who spent 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Gabrielle

The Ponderosa is overrun with settlers bearing phony property deeds, and one of Ben's oldest friends is responsible.

Land Grab

Hoss plans to marry Margie, a pretty blonde, but Margie becomes fascinated with a tall, traveling stranger named Mark Connors.  Margie marries Mark but soon finds it was far from a match made in heaven.

The Tall Stranger

An overbearing friend of the family tries to force her daughter into marrying Joe, though she does not love him.  The situation grows more complex when Adam stumbles onto the scheme.

The Lady from Baltimore

Adam races against the clock to prove a man who was once his friend is guilty of robbery and murder and Adam is convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt he is guilty.

The Ride

Joe plans to marry Laura White, daughter of a man Ben once sailed with, but she is fatally ill.  Ben consoles him with words spoken years before, by the father of Adam's mother.

The Storm

The Cartwrights pretend the Ponderosa belongs to the town lush, when his aging mother from Ireland arrives.

The Auld Sod

The Cartwrights dig a well, build a rig and a windmill for a drought-stricken farm family.

Gift of Water

Adam gives a second chance to a family man he suspects is one of the rustlers who has been hitting the Ponderosa herds.

The Jackknife

When Ben fails to prevent the death of a friend's son, Adam and Joe, concerned by their father's depression, attempt to prove there was nothing he could have done.

The Guilty

In order to keep peace on the ranch, Hoss and Joe try to help ranch hand, Hank Meyers woo the the plain-looking schoolteacher, Abigail Jones.  When their first plan backfires, they convince Adam (who doesn't want to get involved) to help and this makes things worse because Abigail believes it is Adam who is wooing her and Hank Meyers believes Adam wants to steal her away.

The Wooing of Abigail Jones

Ben supports the appointment of Asa Moran as Virginia City's temporary sheriff, but Moran goes overboard with his authority, jailing Adam in the process and pistol-whipping a Ponderosa hand.

The Lawmaker

A young genius, Albert Michaelson, vies for a scholarship.  Adam assists Albert in the boy's experiments.  Albert only needs the school teacher's approval to be granted a scholarship-which will be very difficult to get considering Albert was expelled from school.

Look to the Stars

In the town of Alkali, the Cartwrights are jailed on false charges of robbery and murder, but Joe escapes and returns with an army of Ponderosa hands.

Ben indulges in a nostalgic reverie about Hoss's deceased mother.  Having worked his way west to Galesburg, IL., Ben is befriended by a girl named Inger, the fiancee of the tavern owner who gave him a job.

When two feuding families argue over the custody of two orphaned children, a reluctant Ben is called upon to straighten out the situation before real trouble erupts.

Blessed Are They

The Cartwrights get mixed up in the romance of a phony heiress and an equally phony land baron.

The Dowry

Ben, Joe and Adam travel to Bowleg to pay the yearly taxes on the Ponderosa.  After the transaction is completed, Ben and Joe ride over the summit to join the cattle drive.  Adam is on his way to Genoa and is carrying a $10,000 bank draft his father has given him.  A prison guard rides into town and announces two hombres have broke out and escaped who are holdup men and killers.  Elmer Trace and his partner Poindexter were assisted by a guard in escaping prison and they betray him on the trail.  Trace takes his clothes, horse and firearms, leaving Poindexter with only a rifle and rides off.  Meanwhile, the Sheriff of Bowleg organizes a posse immediately.

The Long Night

Joe promises a dying sheepman he will make sure the old man's granddaughter gets her rightful inheritance from a wealthy San Francisco family.  This episode was filmed immediately after "Inger, My Love", which explains why Blocker's arm is still in a sling.

The Mountain Girl

Hoss blames himself when a young woman is crippled in a wagon accident, and hopes a faith healer can help her walk again.

The Miracle Maker

The High-Sierra adventures of Ben Cartwright and his sons as they run and defend their ranch while helping the surrounding community.

The Crucible

Seasons14

Season 3 Episodes34

Cast4

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Episode Summary