Season12
28 episodes · Sep 13, 1970
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S12E1The Night Virginia City Died
Sep 13, 197049mIn the 12th season premiere, a series of destructive fires strike Virginia City, and always late at night. Is it the work of a ruthless arsonist, or someone very close to Deputy Clem?
S12E2A Matter of Faith
Sep 20, 197049mDusty takes in orphaned Jamie Hunter, the son of a recently-deceased rainmaker. Jamie is determined to carry on his father's tradition by using drought-stricken Virginia City to prove his talents.
S12E3The Weary Willies
Sep 27, 197049mThe Weary Willies are hippie-like former Civil War veterans who are now drifters and live off the land. Despite protests from fellow ranchers and the people of Virginia City, Ben allows the traveling band to stay at the Ponderosa. The real trouble begins when a teen-aged girl is raped and the Willies are blamed.
S12E4The Wagon
Oct 4, 197049mAfter being taken into custody by a sheriff who does not care if he is guilty or innocent of a crime, Hoss escapes from the prison wagon with a woman he is convinced got a raw deal.
S12E5The Power of Life and Death
Oct 11, 197049mA man called Davis has shot Colonel Clayton and escapes on horseback. Joe and Ben join the posse that sets out to find Davis. Ben and Joe volunteer to cross the desert. Ben and Joe find Davis hold up at a water hole, when Indians attack and Ben is wounded in the leg, and steal the horses. Joe unties Davis, who tends to a wounded Ben, who is suspicious that Davis will try to escape. After playing a game of cat and mouse, Ben and Davis come to an agreement: survival. Joe makes the decision to cross the desert on foot, while Ben and Davis are at the water hole, both men in need of medical help and justice.
S12E6Gideon, the Good
Oct 18, 197049mOn the trail, Joe witnesses a woman kill a man, but the woman rides away before he can positively identify her. He rides into the nearest town, Black River and reports the crime to Sheriff Gideon Yates, and the two ride out to find clues. They find a handkerchief embroidered with the letter "L". Sheriff Yates knows who the killer is, his wife Lydia. She married him before she got a legal divorce from her first husband, Loomis, and killed him to silence him. Gideon tries to coax Joe out of town, but he recognizes Lydia's picture in a photographer's window. When Joe refuses to leave, Gideon tries to shoot him down in cold blood and orders a manhunt against him. Joe's only hope is a Mexican stable boy, who saw Gideon shoot him, and ultimately Joe and Gideon have one of the most memorable confrontations in the series' history.
S12E7The Trouble with Trouble
Oct 25, 197049mWhen Hoss volunteers to be Sheriff of a town called Trouble, he soon finds out that the town had correctly been named. Hoss almost manages to arrest the whole town, and captures the Clanton gang all by himself.
S12E8Thornton's Account
Nov 1, 197049mBen's new horse throws him down a steep slope, injuring his back. Joe tries to round up some help, but the settlers in the valley live in fear of the devious owner and his hired help. Joe goes for help from a man named Thornton, but he is wounded by the lowlife cowboys, and has no choice but to ask them for help. A very imaginitive and visually creative dream Ben has of Joe calling out to him and falling beside him, before waking up and realizes he has just had a terrifying nightmare.
S12E9The Love Child
Nov 8, 197049mA dying woman and her son are rejected by her father because she had a child out of wedlock.
S12E10El Jefe
Nov 15, 197049mBen and Hoss come to the rescue of Mexican farmers who are forced off their land by the greedy mine owner who runs the town of Prince River.
S12E11The Luck of Pepper Shannon
Nov 22, 197049mPepper Shannon is a dime novel hero and outlaw. Ben gives a job to Pepper Shannon on the condition the one-time outlaw stays away from Jamie, who happens to admire him.
S12E12The Impostors
Dec 13, 197049mHoss and Joe pretend to be stage robbers' partners in order to recover stolen Cartwright money. All goes well until the wife of one of the thieves shows up.
S12E13Honest John
Dec 20, 197049mJamie forms a bond with a bum and his tame crow. Before long, Jamie suggests they repair an old wagon and leave the Ponderosa.
S12E14For a Young Lady
Dec 27, 197049mA girl's uncle and aunt want custody of her only because they believe she has the rights to her late grandfather's mine.
S12E15A Single Pilgrim
Jan 3, 197149mSettlers from Virginia argue over Hoss' fate after one of them accidentally shoots him.
S12E16The Gold-Plated Rifle
Jan 10, 197149mAn insecure Jamie is unsure of his place in the family, having trouble adjusting at his new school and keeps getting harassed by a bully. When he takes Ben's prized gold-plated rifle and breaks it, he runs away, sending Ben to go looking for him.
S12E17Top Hand
Jan 17, 197149mThe Cartwrights are about to start a major cattle drive with other ranchers. It has been decided that Ben's foreman will be trail boss on the drive. Weatherby, a fellow rancher who is also with Ben, has agreed to have Kelly as trail boss, until he finds out that Kelly was previously on a cattle drive with him, and fired him for drinking. Weatherby also suggests that his younger wrangler take the job as trail boss, and a conflict is started between both Ben's foreman and Weatherby's wrangler.
S12E18A Deck of Aces
Jan 31, 197149mBradley Meredith, a Ben Cartwright look-a-like, causes trouble when he sells land to the railroad. Ben has already turned down the deal, but Meredith, acting as Ben, accepts the deal, which stirs up all kinds of trouble.
S12E19The Desperado
Feb 7, 197149mHoss is held prisoner by a fugitive black couple who they admit hate white people and have nothing to lose by killing them.
S12E20The Reluctant American
Feb 14, 197149mAn English couple comes to Nevada to learn why a ranch owned by the British investment firm is the only company holding not showing a profit.
S12E21Shadow of a Hero
Feb 21, 197149mBen is shocked to learn the Army general he is backing as governor, advocates a policy of genocide towards all Indians.
S12E22The Silent Killer
Feb 28, 197149mAn epidemic of influenza hits the Ponderosa and the only person who seems sure of what to do is the wife of a doctor, whom Doc Martin says is a fraud.
S12E23Terror at 2:00
Mar 7, 197149mA racist and his henchmen steal a Gatling gun, with plans to massacre everyone - including the Cartwrights - involved in a peace treaty signing between the U.S. Army and the Paitues in Virginia City. The man's hope is that the tragedy will spark another war and eventually lead to the genocide of all Native Americans.
S12E24The Stillness Within
Mar 14, 197149mBlinded by an explosion, Joe wallows in self-pity, and at first resists the efforts of a woman trying to teach him to live without sight, not knowing she is also blind.
S12E25A Time to Die
Mar 21, 197149mWhile visiting the Ponderosa, Ben's friend, April Christopher, is bitten by a rabid wolf. Ben and April and her daughter must come to terms with her illness as they all realize the terrible fate that awaits April.
S12E26Winter Kill
Mar 28, 197149mThe foreman of a neighboring ranch shoots a special steer belonging to the Cartwrights, and his scheming boss plots to take unfair advantage of the mistake.
S12E27Kingdom of Fear
Apr 4, 197149mBen, Hoss and Joe, along with Candy and a fellow rancher, are jailed on false trespassing charges by a greedy mining tycoon. The despot runs a gold mine (i.e., a thinly-veiled prison camp) and acquires slave labor by pressing phony criminal charges against the unfortunate inmates.
S12E28An Earthquake Called Callahan
Apr 11, 197149mThe only person who can get Dusty out of jail is a professional fighter who will not return to Virginia City, so Joe stays on the man's heels no matter where he goes.