Season 3

The Smiler

Sep 24, 196149 min

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.

Springtime

Oct 1, 196149 min

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 the

The Honor of Cochise

Oct 8, 196149 min

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 Lonely House

Oct 15, 196149 min

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

The Burma Rarity

Oct 22, 196149 min

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.

Broken Ballad

Oct 29, 196149 min

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.

The Many Faces of Gideon Flinch

Nov 5, 196149 min

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

The Friendship

Nov 12, 196149 min

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 Countess

Nov 19, 196149 min

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 Horse Breaker

Nov 26, 196149 min

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.

Day of the Dragon

Dec 3, 196149 min

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.

The Frenchman

Dec 10, 196149 min

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

The Tin Badge

Dec 17, 196149 min

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

Gabrielle

Dec 24, 196149 min

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 mur

Land Grab

Dec 31, 196149 min

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

The Tall Stranger

Jan 7, 196249 min

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 Lady from Baltimore

Jan 14, 196249 min

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 Ride

Jan 21, 196249 min

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 Storm

Jan 28, 196249 min

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 Auld Sod

Feb 4, 196249 min

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

Gift of Water

Feb 11, 196249 min

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

The Jackknife

Feb 18, 196249 min

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

The Guilty

Feb 25, 196249 min

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 Wooing of Abigail Jones

Mar 4, 196249 min

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 an

The Lawmaker

Mar 11, 196249 min

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.

Look to the Stars

Mar 18, 196249 min

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 wa

The Gamble

Apr 1, 196249 min

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.

The Crucible

Apr 8, 196249 min

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. Kan

Inger, My Love

Apr 15, 196249 min

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.

Blessed Are They

Apr 22, 196249 min

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.

The Dowry

Apr 29, 196249 min

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

The Long Night

May 6, 196249 min

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 h

The Mountain Girl

May 13, 196249 min

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

The Miracle Maker

May 20, 196249 min

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