The following is an episode list for the TV series How the West Was Won.
| # | Title | Air Date | Director | Writer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | ||||
| 1 | The Macahans | January 19, 1976 | Bernard McEveety | Jim Byrnes |
| Zeb Macahan returns to the farm of Macahan to take his family to Oregon. The civil war is about to begin and the family wants to go west to Oregon to make sure that the sons Seth (later called Luke) and Jed (later called Josh) are not drafted. Uncle Zeb agrees to lead the family on the perilous journey, but the civil war has greater consequences for the family than they could imagine. | ||||
| Season 1 | ||||
| 2 | Ep. #1 | February 6, 1977 | ||
| Luke is on the run from Captain Grey who wants to arrest him for deserting from the Union Army. Luke gets shot when trying to prevent some men harassing a woman and is later taken care of by a group of Simonites. Zeb searches for Luke so the family can continue the journey towards Oregon. | ||||
| 3 | Ep. #2 | February 13, 1977 | ||
| Zeb finds Luke with the Simonites but before Luke is strong enough to leave, Zeb must take the opportunity to find a friend who has started a vendetta against an Indian tribe. Luke has taken a liking for the lifestyle of the Simonites and especially for the young and beatuiful Erika who has looked after him. He therefore contemplates the option of becoming a Simonite. | ||||
| 4 | Ep. #3 | February 20, 1977 | ||
| Zeb must make the hardest choice in his life when attempting to save the life of his friend who has been taken captive by the Indians. Luke realizes that he can not stay with the Simonites after more trouble has erupted and the consequences are horrible when Erika decides to follow him. Meanwhile, back on the farm, the rest of the family finds itself in the midst of an Indian tribal war. And at the same time Captain Grey, now turned bounty hunter, continues to search for Luke. | ||||
| Season 2 | ||||
| 5 | Buffalo Story | March 12, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| The year is 1868 and representatives from the Russian court on visit, want to experience a buffalo hunt. Zeb is ordered to be a pathfinder for the Russians but refuses because the buffalos are on the brink of extinction and one of the most important resources for the Indians. Another pathfinder, far more ruthless than Zeb, takes the job and immediately conflicts arise. Zeb must step in to solve the problems. A new person is introduced; Aunt Molly comes to live on the farm of the Macahans. | ||||
| 6 | Mormon Story | March 19, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| Zeb arranges an exchange of the captive Russians, but the conflict escalates when one of them is killed. Zeb joins the Indians but the American army plans a major attack. On the Macahan farm they get a visit from a Mormon couple who have trouble in the region because of their religion. Aunt Molly invites them to stay a few days and Laura is charmed by the handsome Jeremiah. Luke helps a sheriff and gets invited to his home. There he meets the sheriff's beautiful and temperamental daughter Hillary. | ||||
| 7 | Interlude | March 26, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| Luke has to leave the sheriff and Hillary when his past is disclosed. On his way he helps a wounded woman by bringing help from a group of people who have made a fortification in the mountains. He is not allowed to leave the fortification. Zeb manages to lead the Indians to safer areas but the American army follows them. An old General, who is a friend of Zeb, makes sure that the Chief Satangkai gets a peace offer that may prevent war, but Satangkai chooses another path. Laura wants to marry Jeremiah and become his third wife. Aunt Molly, who is opposed to the marriage, arranges that Jeremiah's second, and much younger, wife come to the wedding. | ||||
| 8 | Orville Gant | April 9, 1978 | ||
| Luke attempts to prevent the ex-Confederate bandits from robbing a gold shipment. In the process, the gang's leader and Luke's friend, Curt Grayson, are killed. Zeb rescue a woman from two hide-cutters and discovers that the woman is his old girlfriend, Beth. Laura calls off the wedding to Jeremiah Taylor, while Jessie, stung by bees, may die. | ||||
| 9 | Amnesty | April 16, 1978 | ||
| Zeb discovers that Beth is married to an army "hero" who is supposedly dead. The doctor can't help Jessie, so Zeb takes her to an Arapaho medicine man, who saves her life. Zeb and Luke find local Indians starving and agree to purchase a herd of cattle, delivering the animals to the Indian reservation with the help of Indian drovers. | ||||
| 10 | Robber's Roost | April 23, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| Molly and Jessie are returning home when their stagecoach is wrecked and Jessie, dazed, wanders into the desert. Molly is rescued by Josh and Laura, and she then hires Deek to find Jessie. Zeb and Luke hire Tap as the cook for the journey to the Indian reservation, not knowing that he is involved with a gang of rustlers. Jessie is found by Teel-O, a Navajo Indian. Deek is romantically interested in Molly, but she does not share the same feelings and resists his advances. | ||||
| 11 | Gold | April 30, 1978 | ||
| A grateful Judge Rensen offers to try to grant Luke a pardon after he rescues him from Indians. | ||||
| 12 | Brothers | May 7, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| Tap kills Otter Belt to keep him from telling Zeb about the rustlers. Deek bribes a land agent to seize ownership of the Macahan creek and the gold therein. Josh arrives in Las Mesas to help Luke's case and falls in love with Doreen. Stillman hires Francis, Doreen's boss, to help convict Luke. Tap confesses the truth to Zeb and is then killed in a gunfight. | ||||
| 13 | Cattle Drive | May 14, 1978 | ||
| Luke's trial begins and it looks bad for him when Frank Grayson produce proof that Luke was a member of the outlaw gang and Judge Rensen is found murdered. | ||||
| 14 | Deek | May 21, 1978 | Bernard McEveety, Vincent McEveety | |
| Doreen tells Zeb about Francis and Stillman. Josh is attacked by Stillman and his men, and Molly defends herself against Deek. | ||||
| Season 3 | ||||
| 15 | The Gunfighter | January 15, 1979 | Vincent McEveety | Steve Hayes, Ron Bishop |
| Rancher Henry Coe hires a professional gunman to drive the Macahans off what he considers to be his property. Frank Grayson ingratiates himself with the Macahans, but Josh recognizes him as the gunman once hired to kill Luke. | ||||
| 16 | The Rustler | January 22, 1979 | Barry Crane | Calvin Clements Sr., John Mantley |
| Jessie is completely infatuated with a handsome young stranger named Bob who rescues her from the advances of a nasty character. Later on, the couple run away to a small town where a minister agrees to perform a wedding ceremony. | ||||
| 17 | The Enemy | February 5, 1979 | Gunnar Hellström | Ron Bishop, Steve Hayes |
| A by-the-book Army lieutenant clashes with the Macahans when he hunts for an Indian chief suspected of raiding wagons trains. | ||||
| 18 | The Innocent | February 12, 1979 | Alf Kjellin | Ray Goldrup |
| Josh becomes involved with a rivalry over a ferry business when he befriends Cora Johnson and her children, operators of a ferry crossing. The fight becomes more complicated when her retarded son, Willie is accused of murder. | ||||
| 19 | Hillary | February 26, 1979 | Irving J. Moore | Earl W. Wallace |
| Luke sets out to reclaim the affections of his neglected flame Hillary as well as get a confession from the man suspected of committing the murder with which Luke was long ago accused. | ||||
| 20 | L'Affaire Riel | March 5, 1979 | Harry Falk | John Mantley, Calvin Clements Sr. |
| Zeb reluctantly tries to help the U.S. Army capture a French-Indian revolutionary and leader of a violent Métis attempt to win back lands from Canada. | ||||
| 21 | The Scavengers | March 12, 1979 | Ralph Senensky | Calvin Clements Jr. |
| Zeb, Molly and Laura are enjoying a riverboat ride when pirates attack and overrun the ship. | ||||
| 22 | The Forgotten | March 19, 1979 | Barry Crane | Earl W. Wallace, Ray Goldrup |
| A mysterious stranger in the mountains turns out to be a former Confederate Army officer who claims he had no knowledge the war was over. | ||||
| 23 | Luke | April 2, 1979 | Vincent McEveety | Calvin Clements Sr., John Mantley |
| Luke hooks up with a pretty, lethal robber who wants him for her own romantic reasons while he dodges bounty hunters in a desperate effort to clear his name of a murder charge. | ||||
| 24 | China Girl | April 16, 1979 | Joseph Pevney | Calvin Clements Jr. |
| The Macahan clan befriends a young Chinese immigrant whose rape on the ship has resulted in a pregnancy that provokes her father to proclaim the child must die. | ||||
| 25 | The Slavers | April 23, 1979 | Joseph Pevney | Dick Nelson |
| Zeb and Josh travel to Mexico to uncover a white slavery ring. | ||||
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