Molly Wood (Pippa Scott) tells Trampas of the outbreak of the Spanish-American war and says she is impressed with a man in uniform, so Trampas rides to San Antonio, Texas to join the Rough Riders being formed by Teddy Roosevelt. Steve Hill and the Virginian follow, intent on persuading Trampas to return but they both end up enlisting as well despite conflicts between the free-sprited westerners and their staid eastern officers led by Lt. Drex (Ray Danton). In Cuba, when Lt. Drex is wounded, the Virginian leads a detail including Steve and Trampas to discover and decommission snipers and a hidden cannon emplacement, which they manage to do successfully. After the three soldiers return to Medicine Bow, they learn a welcome home party is going to be held in the Town Hall in their honor.

The Virginian and crew collect wild horses in the mountains which they are to take to Shiloh Ranch to sell to the army. However, tough widower Pa Kroeger (Eddie Albert) lives in the mountains with his four sons and a daughter and believes he owns the horses. When the Virginian refuses to turn them over, Kroeger goes to great lengths to try and stop the Shiloh crew from taking the animals. Complicating matters are the facts the Kroeger sons think there may be a more reasonable way to deal with the situation and the daughter is attracted to Trampas.

Judge Garth is forced to shoot a man in self-defence but a passerby, Johnny Grey (Ed Nelson), who can prove the Judge innocent, leaves the scene. The Virginian trails Johnny to North Bend, Montana and along the way befriends Angelina Clump (Tammy Grimes) who is heading to the same town to get a job as a saloon singer. In North Bend the Virginian is forced to deal with two problems: Angelina receives threats to leave town from an anonymous stranger and Johnny Grey refuses to return to Wyoming unless he gets money from Judge Garth.

In Coyote Wells to deliver some cattle, the Virginian, Trampas and Steve Hill encounter Martin Reese (David Wayne). Reese had lost his wife and children to smallpox, had sold his farm, and now travels giving lectures urging vegetarianism. His lectures are not received well in cattle country and when one of his hecklers is found murdered, Reese is the main suspect, is seen as a murderous loony and is pursued by a posse. On the way back to Medicine Bow the Shiloh cowboys encounter a woman, Ellen Beecher (Barbara Barrie), who knows of Reese's whereabouts. Ellen has several orphans in her care and the Virginian and crew become involved in trying to help Ellen with the children and in finding and protecting Reese from the vengeful posse.

Strip mining operations begin in the Medicine Bow area. While Judge Garth sees the mining as ""progess"" other locals see it as a threat to their way of life and also do not like the influx of polish miners. Amongst the miners' families is the beautiful Polcia (Ulla Jacobsson). A ""love quadrangle"" develops as three men desire Polcia: Jan (Dean Fredericks) the son of the leader of the miners, Jack Anderson (Don Galloway) the son of the rancher most opposed to the mining, and Trampas, who had been assigned by Judge Garth to assist the miners in getting settled and who is Polcia's true love. Fueled by ethnic sentiments events escalate into a series of conflicts and tragedies.