While Sully is gone up north trying to convince the Dog Soldiers to stop fighting, Dr. Mike finds out she is pregnant. But she suffers a miscarriage and feels all alone with Sully gone. The town celebrates Founder's Day.

Dr.Mike becomes alarmed when a Russian Princess is a guest of Preston's hotel & claims she has a gift to speak with the dead.

Dr. Mike worries about how to tell Robert E. and Grace that their adopted son Anthony may not survive his mysterious illness. Meanwhile Sully struggles with convincing the renegade braves to return to the reservation and learning about Dr. Mike's recent miscarriage.

Marjorie, Dr. Mike's sister returns to town as a member of the Women's Temperance League to try to outlaw alcohol. Jake starts believing that there may be something going on between Hank & Ms. Teresa. Meanwhile Grace has turned to drinking to help comfort the recent death of her adoptive son Anthony.

Dr. Mike's mother and oldest sister visit for thanksgiving just as an outbreak of diphtheria hits Colorado Springs.

Dr. Mike struggles to control the diphtheria outbreak and disagrees with Andrew on whether to use a new treatment.

After accompanying Black Moon's braves safely to the reservation, Dr. Mike and Sully begin the trip home for Christmas but are delayed when they stop to help a hapless young married couple they find wandering in the wilderness. The young couple, Chester and Hallie, are former city dwellers trying to find a new settlement established by their relatives, but are hopelessly lost. Meanwhile, Daniel, who has been wandering all his life, is tempted to give up his job as sheriff to accept an offer to run a mining operation far away from Colorado Springs.

Dr. Mike tries to prevent Loren from leaving Colorado Springs when she learns he secretly plans to sell his store and move away out of grief over the death of Marjorie. Meanwhile, the town prepares for its annual "Sweethearts Dance," but melancholy seems to reign. Jake broods over how to ask Teresa to marry him, and Grace's continued drinking threatens her marriage to Robert E.

As Jake and Teresa look forward to their wedding day, Dr. Mike and Sully struggle to free Cloud Dancing, who was captured and put in prison for leaving the reservation. Dorothy is so disturbed at the thought of Cloud Dancing in jail that she contemplates helping him escape and fleeing with him into the wilderness. Meanwhile, Teresa introduces Jake to her visiting aunt, Dona Verano, and her cousin, Carlos, a priest. The visit turns sour when the older woman takes an immediate dislike to Jake and tries to prevent the marriage.

U.S. Marshall Elias Burch asks Matthew, still a student of law, to defend him when he's accused of murder. Daniel is forced to arrest Burch for killing Exner, an ex-con whom he had been pursuing. Rather than accept a traveling defense attorney with a drinking problem, Burch asks Matthew to defend him, claiming he was framed. But, a fiction writer who had been traveling with Exner claims to be an eyewitness, having seen Burch shoot the man in cold blood. With Burch's life in the balance and little evidence to support his claim that Exner drew a gun on him, fledgling lawyer Matthew, with help from Dr. Mike, sets out to discover what actually happened between the two sworn enemies.

Michaela and Sully reminisce about the ups and downs of their relationship and make a momentous decision about their future. While returning from a week long trip with Sully, Michaela stumbles and falls, sustaining a head injury. The couple takes refuge in an abandoned cabin where Sully must keep Michaela awake to prevent her from slipping into a coma. Together, they reminisce about the myriad different experiences -- good and bad -- they've shared together and then make a pivotal decision about their future.

Dr. Mike's elation at Colleen's acceptance to medical school quickly turns to disappointment when Colleen chooses to marry Andrew before starting school. A bitter family argument erupts when Dr. Mike tells Colleen that she is less than overjoyed at her announcement and feels that the couple is rushing into marriage and should wait until Colleen completes medical school. Meanwhile, Jake's sale of his half of the Golden Nugget to Preston angers Hank; Robert E and Grace have wonderful news to share; the stock market crash hits Preston and the townsfolk hard, and Dorothy and Cloud Dancing reach a new level in their relationship.