The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.
Beginning just after the bloody Sioux victory over General Custer at Little Big Horn, the story is told through two unique perspectives: Charles Eastman, a young, white-educated Sioux doctor held up as living proof of the alleged success of assimilation, and Sitting Bull the proud Lakota chief whose tribe won the American Indians’ last major victory at Little Big Horn.
Two hapless explorers lead an ill-fated 1804 expedition through the Pacific Northwest in a hopeless, doomed effort to reach the Pacific Ocean before Lewis and Clark.
A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
In 1825, English peer Lord John Morgan is cast adrift in the American West. Captured by Sioux Indians, Morgan is at first targeted for quick extinction, but the tribesmen sense that he is worthy of survival. He eventually passes the many necessary tests that will permit him to become a member of the tribe.
U.S Marshal Mike Donovan has dark memories of the death of his first love. He keeps peace between the Americans and the natives who had temporarily adopted and taken care of him. The evil actions of a white sorcerer lead him to confront the villain in the Sacred Mountains, and, through shamanic rituals conquer his fears and uncover a suppressed memory he would much rather deny.
The setting is the Old West town of Paradise, Nevada, where a young woman, Mercedes Murphy (played by Louise Glaum), co-owns and operates a combination saloon and dance hall called the Red Hen with her business partner, Slick Barney (played by Jack Richardson). Her little half-sister, Olive "Live" Sumner (played by Mildred Harris), who is crippled, lives with her and she makes every effort to protect the child. A tough, but good-hearted businesswoman, Mercedes shows a tender side at home with Live. Her partner, Slick, and a cowboy called the Heller (played by John Gilbert), who has a heart of gold, are both interested in Live.
An army gold shipment and its escort vanish in the Ozarks, prompting accusations of theft and desertion but frontiersman Old Shatterhand and Apache chief Winnetou help solve the mystery of the missing army gold.
Three of the original five "young guns" — Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez y Chavez, and Doc Scurlock — return in Young Guns, Part 2, which is the story of Billy the Kid and his race to safety in Old Mexico while being trailed by a group of government agents led by Pat Garrett.
Maverick is a gambler who would rather con someone than fight them, and needs an additional three thousand dollars in order to enter a winner-takes-all poker game that begins in a few days, so he joins forces with a woman gambler with a marvellous southern accent, and the two try and enter the game.
Fred Engel's father is murdered by Colonel Brinkley in order to acquire a treasure map, however the Colonel only acquires half of it, the other half as held by Mrs. Butler. Discovering the scene of the crime, Old Shatterhand and Winnetou help Fred bring his father's murderer to justice and locate the treasure of Silver Lake.
An old geezer recalls some of the antics of the men and women of his western town, more wild and woolly than Tombstone or Dodge City. In this town no one is a good shot, the women are hungry for new meat, and practical jokers abound. A stranger strolls into town, proving resistant to the mayhem, and after donning some cowboy duds begins cleaning up that town.
After the train station clerk is assaulted and left bound and gagged, then the departing train and its passengers robbed, a posse goes in hot pursuit of the fleeing bandits.
The sole survivor of a bloody massacre vows revenge on his attackers and on the men who killed his wife.
Army despatch rider Hondo Lane discovers a woman and her son living in the midst of warring Apaches, and he becomes their protector.
The adventures of a newly married teenage couple in the Old West.
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Indians and fighting with General Custer.
Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian mother and white father. When his father is killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot and to shoot on time and correct.
The neighbors of a frontier family turn on them when it is suspected that their beloved adopted daughter was stolen from the Kiowa tribe.
Chon Wang, a clumsy imperial guard trails Princess Pei Pei when she is kidnapped from the Forbidden City and transported to America. Wang follows her captors to Nevada, where he teams up with an unlikely partner, outcast outlaw Roy O'Bannon, and tries to spring the princess from her imprisonment.