Season 4

episodes

1. 1. The First Born 1962-09-23 49 min Clay Stafford signs on to work for the Cartwrights and shortly afterwards shoots and kills a man who accuses him of cheating at poker. The miners warn Clay to leave town, but it appears he killed in...
2. 2. The Quest 1962-09-30 49 min Determined to prove he can succeed at something without the help of his Pa, Hoss, and Adam, Joe sets out on his quest and wins a timber contract for Ponderosa timber, and later discovers that having a...
3. 3. The Artist 1962-10-07 49 min Ben helps Matthew Raine, a famous painter who has gone blind and now wallows in self-pity, discover a new purpose in life. However, Raine's employee Gavin has other ideas.
4. 4. A Hot Day for a Hanging 1962-10-14 49 min Hoss is jailed for robbing the bank in Dutchman Flats, a town on the brink of economic collapse, even the sheriff knows he is innocent, but a lynch mob gathers and Hoss' fate is not good.
5. 5. The Deserter 1962-10-21 49 min An Indian-hating officer, Colonel Edward J. Dunwoody, comes to the Ponderosa looking for army deserter Bill Winters, who is a good friend of the Cartwrights. Bill happens to be his son and is married...
6. 6. The Way Station 1962-10-29 49 min With a storm brewing, Adam takes refuge at a way station, run by cantankerous Jesse and his young grandaughter Marty, who yearns to see what exists away from the way station. The station is also visi...
7. 7. The War Comes to Washoe 1962-11-04 49 min The Civil War once again divides the citizens of Nevada, as well as Adam and Joe Cartwright. One of season four's highlights, the plot involving British spy Bill Stewart, based on historical fact.
8. 8. Knight Errant 1962-11-18 49 min Hoss volunteers to pickup an injured neighbor's mail-order bride, but by the time they return, she has fallen in love with Hoss and a price is put on Hoss' head.
9. 9. The Beginning 1962-11-25 49 min Billy Horne is a white man who was captured by the Shoshone when he was six. He comes into Ben & Joe's campsite one night uninvited. They capture him and take him to town. Roy Coffee wants to put him...
10. 10. The Deadly Ones 1962-12-02 49 min The Ponderosa becomes a war zone when it is invaded by a detachment of Mexican mercenaries under General Diaz. The general is furious when one of his men, Forsythe, disobeys his orders to get a hosta...
11. 11. Gallagher's Sons 1962-12-09 49 min Hoss helps Charlie and Will (Charlotte and Willomina), two young girls who just lost their father. They go on a journey to find their only nearby relative, Aunt Cloe. Charlie takes with her a stolen...
12. 12. The Decision 1962-12-16 49 min Hoss is seriously injured internally and Ben seeks help from the only doctor within 50 miles, who happens to be in prison for murder. Ben talks to the judge, and with some convincing, talks him into...
13. 13. The Good Samaritan 1962-12-23 49 min Hoss decides to help out Wade Tyree and introduces him to Abigail and her daughter, Bonnie. Hoss hopes this will stop Wade's constant drinking. Wade soon marries Abigail, but when things don't go hi...
14. 14. The Jury 1962-12-30 49 min When Hoss is responsible for causing a hung jury, Ben tells him, "a man is never wrong doing what he thinks is right", and Adam attempts to validate his brother's reasonable doubt.
15. 15. The Colonel 1963-01-06 49 min Frank Medford, a figure from Ben's "wild, misspent youth", shows up in Virginia City, and though down on his luck, creates troubles for the Cartwrights by claiming to be a successful businessman.
16. 16. Song in the Dark 1963-01-13 49 min Adam's guitar-strumming friend, ranch hand Danny Morgan, is arrested on suspicion of murdering and robbing the Widow Baker. Someone had reported hearing Danny singing outside her place at the time of...
17. 17. Elegy for a Hangman 1963-01-20 49 min A stranger, Bob Jolly, arrives in Virginia City to accuse a drunken Judge Harry Whitaker of sending his innocent father, Carl, to the gallows. Adam defends the judge's honor because of his long frien...
18. 18. Half a Rogue 1963-01-27 49 min In this entertaining episode, laced with humor, Hoss first meets mountain man Jim Leyton. Bing Russell makes his first appearance as Deputy Clem Foster.
19. 19. The Last Haircut 1963-02-03 49 min A vain outlaw murders a man in front of witnesses, including Joe, but a clever lawyer is able to get him acquitted. Though enraged, Joe has to convince the dead man's son it is wrong to take the law...
20. 20. Marie, My Love 1963-02-10 49 min When Cochise falls on Joe, Ben cannot help but remember that is how Marie Cartwright was killed. He thinks back to meeting her in New Orleans in a rather confusing story not quite in synch with detai...
21. 21. The Hayburner 1963-02-17 49 min For a change, it is Adam rather than Joe who becomes mixed up in one of Hoss' funny exploits. Together they purchase a thoroughbred horse, and end up competing against their little brother in the big...
22. 22. The Actress 1963-02-24 49 min Joe becomes romantically involved with a woman who considers herself a serious dramatic actress. Unfortunately, she is the only one who does.
23. 23. A Stranger Passed This Way 1963-03-03 49 min Hoss develops amnesia after being bushwhacked and hit over the head by two outlaws and moves in with a Dutch couple. The woman regards him as a substitute for her dead son, and unless he recovers his...
24. 24. The Way of Aaron 1963-03-10 49 min Adam takes a shine to Rebecca Kaufman, the daughter of a Jewish peddler, and bandits are convinced the Kaufman wagon is worth robbing.
25. 25. A Woman Lost 1963-03-17 49 min Ben's attempt to rehabilitate an alcoholic singer he knew in better days are complicated by her involvment with a former prize fighter.
26. 26. Any Friend of Walter's 1963-03-24 49 min Classic comedy in which Hoss first meets prospector Obie and his lazy but allegedly brilliant mongrel dog, Walter.
27. 27. Mirror of a Man 1963-03-31 49 min The peaceful world of a Ponderosa hand is disturbed by the arrival of his no-good father and twin brother, who is a wanted man.
28. 28. My Brother's Keeper 1963-04-07 49 min While hunting for a wolf, Joe is attacked by the wolf. Adam also hunting for the wolf, hears Joe struggling with the wolf comes to Joe's aid. He fires his rifle but the bullet hits Joe. Adam hurrie...
29. 29. Five into the Wind 1963-04-21 49 min After their stagecoach crashes, a group of rag-tag passengers and Joe must get out of the desert alive. One of the passengers may or may not be a murderer and Joe is accused.
30. 30. Saga of Whizzer McGee 1963-04-28 49 min Hoss becomes concerned for the welfare of an insecure, belligerent fellow who is as small as Hoss is large. Interesting blend of comedy and pathos that ends unpredictably.
31. 31. Thunder Man 1963-05-05 49 min Little Joe's 19-year old girlfriend is killed by a good samaritan, an explosives expert who had stopped to render aid to the woman's uncle after he suffers a stroke. Unable to talk, the only clue he c...
32. 32. Rich Man, Poor Man 1963-05-12 49 min Claude Miller, the laughingstock of Virginia City, gets even with everyone who made fun of him when he strikes it rich.
33. 33. The Boss 1963-05-19 49 min Ben regrets that he helped Tom Slayden start a freight hauling business when Slayden sets out to ruin all the competition, and Joe is shot in the process.
34. 34. Little Man... Ten Feet Tall 1963-05-26 49 min When a Italian immigrant comes to the Ponderosa, he decides he wants to give up the guitar to become a cowboy.