Lucas e o filho procuram uma área ao norte para expandir a fazenda. Eles acham uma terra dentro das suas necessidades, mas, Lucas se inscreve numa competição de tiro em uma cidade corrupta. Dennis Hopper, um jovem competidor, fica amigo de Lucas e de seu filho, e ajuda os dois contra as deslealdades.

Lucas é agredido e arrastado pelo campo, e a sede da fazenda é queimada por se recusar a vender sua propriedade a um poderoso comerciante da cidade, que tem interesses escusos. Os homens maus roubam seu rifle, mas não por muito tempo. Lucas consegue reconstruir sua fazenda e demonstrar o caráter e a determinação do O Homem do Rifle.

Lucas é obrigado a dar refúgio a um jovem ladrão de bancos (Michael Landon), que se feriu salvando a vida de Mark. Este, fica chateado ao aguardar na fazenda o irmão e seus cúmplices, enquanto cura a perna. O bandido torna-se um cidadão de bem, depois de conviver com Lucas e conhecer a bela jovem de uma fazenda vizinha.

Lucas dá trabalho a Micah Torrance, famoso xerife aposentado, mas agora é apenas um bêbedo desamparado, com um braço ferido por um pistoleiro. Três bandidos chegam na cidade à procura de Torrance e são levados à fazenda de McCain. Lucas protege Torrance, mas o confronto é inevitável.

Mark's uncle, Johnny Gibb, a big time rodeo rider, comes to visit. While Mark idolizes his uncle, Lucas discovers that Johnny is on the run from the law for an Express Office Robbery. Stacy has a bronco named Lucifer, that nobody's been able to ride for 15 seconds. Alvah, wanting to humble the almighty Mr. Stacy, asks Johnny if he'd ride Lucifer, so that he and the townsfolk could bet that Johnny would ride Lucifer for 30 seconds. Johnny agrees and then makes a deal with Stacy to throw the ride for $500.00. After spending time with Mark, Johnny decides to give the ride his best and then turn himself in to Marshal Torrance.

Judge Burton seeks ""Justice"" against the Hangman, who hanged his son; the Judge, who sentenced his son; and Lucas, the man who caught his son. When Judge Burton discovers that Lucas has a son, he decides that the best way to serve justice is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son. Judge Burton tied Lucas to a wagon and went to hang Mark, feeling that Lucas should feel the same agony that he had felt waiting for is son to be hanged.

Uma diligência chega na cidade e traz um elegante Conde italiano com passageiro. Um grosseiro vaqueiro provoca o Conde, que o desafia para um duelo. Lucas é o segundo do Conde e responsável pelo cumprimento das regras do duelo. O desafio fatal será ao amanhecer.

Floyd Doniger comes to North Fork, looking to start a new life. He's got a steady job as the guard at the new bank and he's entertaining ideas of settling down on a spread of his own. Also arriving in North Fork are three men who followed the bank's new safe, figuring any town needing a safe like that must have money to put into it. At the grand opening celebration of the bank, the three men discover the new bank guard is their old pal, Floyd. The three men try to convince Floyd to join them in robbing the bank, after all with a man working inside it should be easy.

Rebecca Snipe is returning to North Fork after a long visit away. Before her stage left, she over hears a man saying he's going to North Fork to kill a big man with a big mouth. Upon Rebecca's arrival in North Fork, Mark is smitten with her and gets it in his head to play matchmaker between her and his pa. Thinking Lucas has intentions on their sister, the Snipe brothers come looking for Lucas to see if he measures up to their standard of being good enough for her.

Tiffauges, a wealthy and sadistic Frenchman, who is used to getting whatever he wants, decides he wishes to purchase the McCain Ranch. Tiffauges' lead man, Xavier, proclaims Lucas to be muy macho, and does not believe Lucas will give in so easily. Xavier and the other men are tiring of being subjected to Tiffauges' whippings and cruel treatment. Lucas plays on the men's longing for freedom to keep his ranch.

Dan Willard is filling in as temporary marshal while Micah is away. Some Texas cowhands are in North Fork looking for some fun and relaxation, but Dan keeps coming down hard on them. Dan's father tells Lucas that he feels Dan is trying to prove himself as a man to compensate from being dropped from West Point Academy because of his poor eyesight. The Texas cowhands have had enough of being pushed around when Marshal Dan posts an ordinance that all visitors must check their guns at the Marshal's office. Now, they're out to cause some real trouble for Dan.

Lucas accuses the young foreman of a neighboring ranch of rustling one of his calves.

Voltando para casa após uma grande venda de gado, a diligência é assaltada por três bandidos que levam o rifle de Lucas. Inconformado persegue a pé os bandidos e consegue acertar as contas com o bando.

Rumson, without even saying to whom he had sold his property, left the bill of sale with the bank and moved away from North Fork. Curge, who's highest offer was upped by $1,000.00 is upset because Rumson sold out to a ""peppergut"". The Argentez family who bought the place are from Argentina. Lucas arranges for Mark to hang out with Manolo, who teaches Mark to use the Bolas. Manolo is angered at anyone who shows interest in his sister, he believes she is only for a ""Caballero"". Her latest suitor, Ned Dunnell, has been found murdered and the townsfolk are quick to believe it was Manolo.

Ward Haskins guns down Joe Flecker, who has evidence that could be used to blackmail him. Haskins thinks the information was given to Lucas, since he brought Flecker to the doctor before he died. Stirred up by Haskins behavior, Lucas goes through Flecker's things, finding a wanted poster for Haskins in the sole of Flecker's boot. He also finds Doc Burrage drinking. Doc is discouraged because three children have died of an anthrax epidemic that he has the new serum for, but nobody is willing to allow him to administer it in time. Haskins rides out to the ranch and is bitten by Flecker's horse, which is now believed to have anthrax. Mark overhears about how anthrax always causes death and is worried because he had bitten by Flecker's horse, also.

Os problemas começam quando um ex-confederado e deficiente físico e o general Sheridan da União chegam à fazenda de McCain. O Lucas serviu sob o comando de Sheridan durante a guerra e dá abrigo a ambos. O deficiente revoltado com a guerra tenta um confronto com Sheridan.

Wes Carney and his wife Clair want to settle down and they figure North Fork might do fine. Wes is a well known gunfighter, who has promised Clair that he would hang up his guns for good. The Carney's want to live a simple, honest life and the Feed and Grain Store, which is up for sale, seems like it might work for them. Carney's reputation and the news that he's settling down brings troublemakers to North Fork. Lucas is the only man willing to stand as deputy with Micah. After Lucas tells the Carney's a story, Clair releases Wes of his promise and the three men take on the troublemakers. After the showdown, Clair announces that Wes will be taking the Sheriff's position he was offered in another town, if it's still available.

Abel Goss, the photographer who took Lucas' wedding photograph, is in North Fork doing a portrait of Mark standing in the street. When Goss sees Col. Whiteside and his sidekick Jamison, he recognizes them as the butchers who tortured him and others while he was captive in their prisoners of war camp. When Lucas stops him from killing them, Goss swears to kill those men. Whiteside planned to call Goss out, but he had Jamison shooting from the upstairs hotel window, as his insurance. When the shots are fired, Whiteside is dead, shot in the back, and his gun hadn't been fired. Goss is arrested and at the trial Lucas and Mark have different testimonies. Mark reenacts the scene in the street, and Lucas backs Mark's theory , using the photographic negative Goss had shot of Mark.

Aaron Pelser's wagon train came across a pair of young boys on a buck board heading west and invited them to join the train. When he found out that one of the boys was actually a girl and the two claimed to be headed to Yuma to get married, Pelser and his crowd force them to be married in North Fork. The wagon train folks want to throw a shivaree, which may have been innocent enough except for two reasons. The first reason being that the couple does not count it as their wedding because they want to be wed by the groom's father in Yuma. The second reason is that Chet Packard keeps pushing things too far, beyond the spirit of a friendly shivaree.

McCain befriends Donnel O'Mahoney, a tough kid from Brooklyn, and arranges with two men for the young man to continue his travels on their wagon, but then one of them is murdered and the other accuses the boy of having done it.

U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart arrives in North Fork in search of renegade Indians suspected of the brutal killing of a Texas Ranger and his family, but the townspeople are suspicious of him when they discover that he too is an Indian.

Reformed card sharp Julia Massini now runs a respectable boarding house in North Fork, but Sid Fallon is threatening to reveal her sordid past unless she lets him turn the establishment into a saloon and gambling hall.

Outlaw Sam Morley falls in love with a young woman who has a serious illness, and asks Lucas to turn him in for the reward and then use the money to pay for her medical care.

Lucas welcomes his old friend Tom Birch, who once saved his life, unaware that the man is now a bank robber who is on the run with his gang.

Dan Nowry, released from Yuma prison, arrives in North Fork intent on getting even with Marshal Torrance,who helped send him to jail.

Young Mark McCain is eager to help lawman Jay Jefferson, who has arrived in North Fork intent on killing an outlaw for the reward, whether he is the right man or not.

When escaped convicts hold up the general store in North Fork and take Marshal Torrance hostage, Lucas comes to the rescue.

Young Mark manages to capture a hawk, but then falls into danger from a rattlesnake. When a stranger comes to his rescue, the grateful Mark invites the man home, unaware that he is on the run from the law.

When a rambunctious teenager wrecks a schoolroom, Lucas McCain, as a member of the North Fork school board, asks the boy's reluctant uncle to pay for the damages.

The McCains try to be tolerant of their embittered neighbor Abel MacDonald, who tels Lucas to keep off his land and won't allow his son to become friends with Mark, but they decide he's gone too far when he won't allow his injured boy to get medical treatment.

An unfounded rumor causes North Fork's outspoken feminist schoolteacher to be attacked by a mob of angry townspeople.

Lucas começa a proteger Jackford quando um pistoleiro contratado chega em North Fork para matá-lo. O duelo é marcado ao entardecer, porém não acontece como planejado. Lutam com os punhos e o pistoleiro é assassinado; mas, não por Jackford.

Although a drought has forced local cowhands to seek work on a railroad construction project, railraod executives are afraid that their workers will desert them if they believe an old man's claim to have found a way to make rain.

Lucas McCain gives blood to save a dying man and is surprised by Marshal Torrance's odd behavior toward the man. Then three men arrive from a nearby town and demand custody of the stranger.

Mark's finding of the body of a murder victim starts Lucas, his friend Artemus, and Marshal Torrance on a search for the killer.

When renegade Apaches wound Lucas and kidnap Mark, Marshal Torrance joins with U.S. Marshal Sam Buckhart to form a rescue posse.

Lucas is the town's representative to the railroad commission until an infamous train robber dies and leaves his ill-gotten wealth to Lucas. Lucas must clear his name and stop the reckless ambition of his replacement.

When a rancher dies after the bank forecloses the mortgage on his property, his son blames the banker for his father's death.

Jovem Billy Mathis é preso por suspeita de assassinato, até que um telepata ambulante chega à cidade e surge com uma pista inesperada. O crime foi cometido com uma espingarda e na cidade, só Billy possui uma. Ajudado por sua namorada, Billy escapa da prisão no cavalo de Lucas, que consegue prende-lo.