Samantha Frye (Barbara Eden), who has been fired from many newspapers for her exaggerated stories, arrives in Medicine Bow where she begins working for the newspaper and becomes courted by the Virginian and Emmett Ryker. She begins a series of articles for the ""Police Gazette"" about a legendary but supposed dead outlaw called the Brazos Kid and her hints he is still alive bring a bounty hunter, a detective and a man seeking revenge on the outlaw, to Medicine Bow. Complicating matters even more are the facts the Kid is really alive and living incognito nearby and that the Virginian is his friend and is aware of his identity. Because Samantha's descriptions of the Kid resemble the Virginian, the Shiloh foreman becomes the target of the Kid's pursuers.

Victoria Greenley (Anne Francis) comes to Medicine Bow to set up a law practice but encounters resistance from those who do not think law a suitable profession for a woman. Although initially reluctant, the Virginian gets Victoria to represent him in a court dispute with a saddle-maker. She is successful and romance brews between the two. However, they soon find themselves on opposite sides when Victoria agrees to defend some men accused of trespassing on Shiloh land.