Doctor Michaela is abducted by Native Americans.

With the help of Cloud Dancing and his son, Sully is determined to rescue Dr. Mike.

Dr. Mike and Sully convince Chief Black Kettle that he should move his starving people to a new reservation. Dr. Mike and Sully are both working on wedding presents for each other.

When Dr. Mike and Sully hear there is trouble for the Cheyenne at their new home, they travel there with Cloud Dancing only to find the whole tribe was massacred. Dr. Mike is devastated after the massacre because she felt she should have stopped it.

The town of Colorado Springs is preparing for an event of a lifetime, the marriage of Sully and Dr. Mike. Unexpected guests include Dr. Mike's mother Elizabeth Quinn and two of her sisters Rebecca and Marjorie. They have brought with them enough Boston finery to pull off a splendid society wedding. Meanwhile General Custer has put out a bounty on Cloud Dancing which could interfere with the wedding.

Bolstered by the long-awaited arrival of the railroad, the citizens of Colorado Springs busily prepare for the biggest social event in the town's history, the wedding of Dr. Mike and Sully. The first train carries some surprise visitors, Dr. Mike's mother, Elizabeth, and sisters Marjorie and Rebecca, who have unexpectedly traveled all the way from Boston for the occasion. However, their elaborate wedding plans threaten to ride roughshod over the townsfolk's more homespun arrangements. Sully, meanwhile, is crestfallen to learn that Gen. Custer has placed a bounty on the head of his close friend Cloud Dancing, who he had planned to have as his Best Man.

Dr. Mike and Sully return from their honeymoon and begin unpacking at their new homestead. A Boston banker comes to town and stirs up controversy among the townspeople as the inevitability of progress ensues.

Loren convinces the town to pay a baseball team to visit for an exhibition game against the town's team. The two teams will share the ticket sales, but problems arise when it's discovered Loren didn't read the fine print.

As Dr. Mike becomes increasingly absorbed in her romantic life with Sully, Colleen, feeling rebellious, joins her school friends in dangerous and questionable escapades. When Brian also begins to feel ignored, Mike and Sully realize how important it is to balance their new life.

Dorothy gets her book about the town published, but the townsfolk read her depiction of them differently than she intended.

Sully's best friend asks him to come to Nevada to help him. Loren suffers a stroke and Dr. Mike believes that he can recover if he works at it, but Loren's negative attitude prevents any progress.

Dr. Mike intends to climb up Pike's Peak as part of a birthday celebration to the derision of the men. Grace, Dorothy, and Myra decide to join her. Jake and Preston plan a casino with the doctor away.

Dr. Mike injures herself after the other women have turned back on their quest to climb Pike's Peak. Sully steps in for his wife on the council to thwart Jake and Preston's casino plans. Grace, Myra, and Dorothy change their minds and head back up the mountain.

Rushing to the railroad camp to battle an epidemic, Dr. Mike & Sully are shocked to find Matthew, heartbroken over the recent death of his fiancée, running the saloon there.

Dr. Mike and her family receive an unexpected gift from Boston, a small poodle unsuited to life on the frontier. Brian has his first crush on Sara, Preston is embarrassed by a painful kidney stone, and the Reverend plans a living nativity.

As the town grows, a rowdier element is evident and the citizenry wants a little more law and order. Matthew believes he is suited for the job of sheriff but refuses to carry a gun which worries Dr. Mike.

After a long period of grieving over his lost fiancée, Matthew finally finds love again, but the object of his affection works at Hank's saloon.

When a charlatan passes through town selling shares in a nonexistent invention, nearly everyone in Colorado Springs buys into the scam.

When a politician's son is kidnapped by a fierce, legendary mountain man, Sully must lead a rescue party to the remote site where a highly unusual ransom is to be paid.

When Ezra Leonard offers a $1000 reward to the capture-dead or alive- of the mountain man who kidnapped his son, Sully's rescue party turns into an unruly mob. Dr. Mike must accept help from Dr. Cassidy to save her pregnancy.

News from his former mentor's upcoming visit has the Reverend Johnson rushing to ensure he makes a good impression. He quickly attempts to raise enough money to fix up his dilapidated church.

When a stranger is convicted of raping a young girl and murdering an old man, he is sentenced to death. Some people are conflicted about whether or not it is right to take "an eye for an eye".

Even though Dr. Mike and the Reverend Johnson favor the opening of a Indian school on the reservation, Cloud Dancing sees it as the final destruction of Indian culture.

Isabelle Maynard, an attractive painter, arrives in town attracting the eligible bachelors particularly Preston. But after the citizens learn Isabelle has leprosy they are determined to drive her out of town over Dr. Mike's objections.

A young brave kills a soldier in self defense, but Cloud Dancing confesses to it to protect him. Dr. Mike and Sully defend Cloud Dancing during his trial for murder.

Dr. Mike's mother and two of her sisters arrive with a young Dr. Cook to deliver the baby. Conflict arises between Horace and Myra which ruins Preston's hotel groundbreaking. Sully works to prevent Cloud Dancing's transfer to another reservation.

Dr. Mike leaves in the night to treat Sully, who was wounded by sergeant O'Connor while helping Cloud Dancing. She goes into labor with only Sully to assist her.

Finally ready to work again after giving birth to her baby, Dr. Mike must lead a rescue party when Sully and Cloud Dancing are among the passengers on a train that has been overtaken by robbers and wrecked. Sully had negotiated Cloud Dancing's release from Army detention, and the two were taking the train to Colorado Springs when a gang of thieves derailed the train in an effort to rob it. Meanwhile, Dr. Mike must again face the prejudice against women doctors when she finds that the townspeople have become used to being treated by young Dr. Andrew Cook who filled in for her while she was on maternity leave. For his part, Andrew has become reluctant to return the practice to Dr. Mike and go back to Boston, as originally agreed.

Dr. Mike is charged with malpractice and must stop treating patients during the lawsuit, leaving medical matters to the young and reluctant Dr. Cook.

Colleen considers leaving college when the famous singer, Gilda St. Clair, offers her a job traveling the world with her.

Dr. Mike's attempts to befriend a Latin American woman are rebuffed; the Reverend Johnson searches for a teacher to take his place.

When Sully is offered a job helping to survey the new National Park at Yellowstone in Wyoming, Dr. Mike is faced with the prospect of leaving her practice and all their friends and moving into the wilderness. With Sully no longer acting as the local Indian agent and banned from the Indian reservation, Dr. Mike realizes that it is important for him to have work that is meaningful to him. Leaving everything and everyone she knows and taking their new baby into the wilderness, however, is a daunting prospect for her. Meanwhile, as Matthew and Emma think about marriage, Brian agonizes about his first date at the Sweethearts' Dance, and Dorothy teaches Cloud Dancing some ball room dances while he provides her with background on Indian customs for a book she is writing.

When Jake and Preston run against one another for mayor of Colorado Springs, they both want Dr. Mike's endorsement, until she is arrested and thrown in jail for treating a fugitive Indian. After Sully and Cloud Dancing rescue the Indian from the Army and Dr. Mike is arrested for treating his wounds, Dorothy hatches a plan to set her free. Meanwhile, with the election only a few days off, Jake promises Robert E a seat on the City Council if he can deliver the black vote, and Jake and Preston hold a debate so that the townspeople can decide who is the better man.

Dr. Mike, Sully and Matthew join forces with a legendary marshal to track down the outlaws who wounded Matthew during a bank robbery. Legend says that Marshal Elias Burch has killed more than 100 men. So, when the robbery of Preston's bank causes the townspeople to question whether or not Matthew can really carry out the responsibilities of being sheriff since he doesn't wear a gun, Matthew is determined to learn from Burch and prove he can kill outlaws as well as any other peace officer can. As Dr. Mike and Sully try to stop the bloodshed, Preston and Hank also stalk the robbers, with Hank envisioning the reward money going toward the new hotel. Meanwhile, widowed school teacher Teresa Morales struggles to maintain repairs on her ranch but is too proud to accept Jake's offer of help -- until Brian steps in.

As Dr. Mike and the other residents of Colorado Springs prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday and the opening of Preston's new hotel, they are unaware that a deadly storm is approaching that could threaten their lives. As storm clouds begin to gather, Dr. Mike is trying her limited culinary skills in an attempt to create a traditional Thanksgiving meal - while a somewhat dubious Sully and Brian watch her efforts. But the joy of the holiday is threatened by more than bad weather when she learns that Andrew is opening a rival medical clinic and, worse yet, neither Matthew nor Colleen may be able to get home for Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, Preston Lodge III is finding that it isn't easy impressing his visiting father, the very formidable Preston Lodge II, who is in town for the new hotel opening. As the full fury of the storm hits and Dr. Mike fights to save herself and her baby, the entire town learns the real meaning of Thanksgiving.

Dr. Mike, Sully and Brian are drawn into the middle of Colorado Springs' racial problems when Grace and Robert E try to enroll their son, Anthony, in the all white school. After Jake is forced to keep his campaign promise and make Robert E a member of the town council, Robert E sets up a school for the black children in shanty town. Since no white teacher will teach the children, however, the job falls to Grace. When it becomes apparent that Anthony needs much more advanced schooling than the black school can provide, Grace, Robert E and Brian try to get him into the white school. Meanwhile, Jake and Hank open their own hotel to rival Preston's new one, and the battle for business escalates.

Dr. Mike desperately attempts to find out why patients are dying mysteriously after having been treated in her clinic. As Dr. Mike searches for the answer to why a deadly and mysterious infection haunts her clinic, the townspeople begin to fear coming in for treatment. Unable to find out what is causing the deaths, Dr. Mike then makes a fateful decision that could mean destroying everything she has worked for through the years. Meanwhile, the attraction between Colleen and Andrew grows while she is home from college for a visit.

When Sully opposes the construction of a nearby dam, he finds himself on the other side of the law and behind bars. Sully joins forces with Preston to try and peacefully stop the dam construction which will mean the end of hundreds of acres of countryside. But when Sully hears that the men Preston's hired to hijack a shipment of dynamite are determined to kill any witnesses, Sully rides with them in order to prevent the murders. However, when witnesses attest to the fact that Sully was riding with the hijackers, Matthew is forced to arrest him and Sully must go to court where Judge Webster finds him guilty and throws him in jail, creating discord in the family.

When Colleen, who is working on a college paper, asks Dr. Mike to recall her most memorable case, Dr. Mike looks back on the five turbulent years she's lived and loved in Colorado Springs. As they sit with Andrew, who is mysteriously ill at the clinic, Dr. Mike reminisces about her tumultuous career -- its successes and its failures -- and realizes how many divergent cases she has seen and treated. When Andrew's condition takes a turn for the worse, Dr. Mike warns Colleen about the fine line between emotional involvement and professional detachment, an issue with which she has long struggled in the frontier town that's now her home.

Sully's best friend Daniel arrives for a visit, but the relationship becomes strained when Daniel offers Sully money at a time when Sully desperately needs it to save the homestead.

After Preston calls the loan due on the homestead while Sully is gone, Dr. Mike reluctantly accepts Daniel's offer to pay it off, further straining relationships. Things are also complicated because Daniel has fallen in love with Dr. Mike.

Dr. Mike and the townspeople excitedly welcome the famous writer and poet Walt Whitman to Colorado Springs until rumors about his personal life begin to circulate. When Dr. Cook brings to light the rumor about Whitman preferring the company of men, Preston, who is playing host to Whitman, abruptly cancels the poet's reading, the townspeople shun him, and even Dr. Mike finds herself acting with suspicion when she learns that Whitman has taken Brian under his journalistic wing.

When he gets the papers for his divorce from Myra, Horace attempts suicide and almost succeeds. His friends do what they can to help him, but it turns out that depression isn't always cured that easily.

Michaela gets a surprise visit from her sister Marjorie, who turns the town upside down with her radical ideas. But even though Michaela partly agrees with Marjorie, she has to ask her to start thinking about other people's feelings.

Sully and Brian forge a true father-son bond when Brian's free-wheeling, irresponsible adolescent behavior puts him in mortal danger, and Sully disciplines him. As Brian's adopted father, Sully has let Michaela set the rules for Brian up to now. But when Brian's misbehavior with his friend Anthony puts them, and the town, in danger, Michaela and Sully realize that Brian needs -- and wants - Sully to act as Brian's real father and give the boy the boundaries he needs, which enhances and strengthens their bond.

After Cloud Dancing is beaten almost to death, Sully organizes an escape for him and the others on the reservation, which turns deadly. Sully flees with a price on his head.

Sully tries to get Cloud Dancing to safety in the north. The actions of the renegade dog soldiers take their toll on the town. An old enemy goes after Sully and Cloud Dancing.

After Sgt. O'Connor is found dead at the bottom of a cliff, everyone fears that Sully died too in the fall. Dr. Mike and friends go looking for Sully. Matthew quits as sheriff. The Dog Soldiers continue raids on the town.

Dr. Mike, Matthew, Brian and Daniel find a seriously wounded Sully and move him to a cave near the homestead so they can nurse him back to health while hiding him. Dr. Mike starts working to clear Sully's name.

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.

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.

Dr. Mike reluctantly takes on the role of temporary judge when Horace sues Hank for accidentally breaking his nose and sets off a flurry of suits and countersuits among the town's citizens. Matthew, who has been studying the law, tips off Horace that he's legally entitled to have Hank pay his medical bills. Soon Dr. Mike finds herself in the middle of that case, as well as a property dispute between Dorothy and Grace and a claim by Loren that he was crippled and nearly drowned because of negligence at Preston's hotel.

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.

Dr. Mike grapples with her fear for Brian's safety when the youngster befriends a seemingly harmless but eccentric fellow who thinks he's a bird and covers himself with feathers in an attempt to fly. Martin Von Hoffman, the birdman, not only tries to fly, he also sleeps in a nest and literally pecks at his food when Dr. Mike invites him home for dinner. To her alarm, Martin turns out to be an escapee from a New York insane asylum. She is torn between returning him to the asylum or allowing him to carry on his self-deception in peace.

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.

Robert E vents his frustration over the death of his son and the demise of his marriage by stepping into the ring with a traveling boxing champion. When boxer Barracuda Jim Barnes comes to town, Robert E, fueled by his anger, volunteers to take him on, surprising everyone by beating Barnes twice. But when Dr. Mike examines Barnes, she discovers that the champ is on the verge of losing his eyesight if he continues boxing and she implores him to retire. Choosing to reject the doctor's order, Barracuda goes into the ring with Robert E for what may be his last fight. Meanwhile, Sully's efforts to get Grace to reconsider the pending divorce from Robert E begin to pay off with help from baby Katie.

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.