Sat, Nov 4, 1961
Paladin crosses paths with Sarah Gibbs on her way to see her husband's hanging for a crime he did commit. A proper burial is all she is seeking but she has a paper that says she can't even visit him. When one deputy wants to just drop the bodies in the mine, there is a tug of conscience between the relatives, Sarah and Paladin.
Sat, Feb 24, 1962
After a 4 state murder/rape spree, the Wilder Brothers head back to Texas for trial, under Paladin's gun. The slimy pair assure Paladin they have plenty of relatives stationed along the way from Dakota Territory, who'll be delighted to pick off the man in black, because he kills for money, Wilders just kill for fun.
Sat, Sep 15, 1962
Paladin is assaulted in his room at the Hotel Carlton. In a furious fight, he beats down his attacker, Roderick Jefferson. The young man, it turns out, had gambling debts he couldn't repay; the holder of his gambling IOUs wanted Jefferson to kill Paladin. This spurs Paladin to tell Jefferson of a similar occurrence -- involving himself 10 years earlier. As that story unfolds, we learn that Paladin (whose real name we're never told) owed $15,000 to Norge. Paladin's only way out was to go to a valley, entirely owned by Norge, to challenge the mysterious Smoke to a duel. Smoke, a dying gunman, had been nursed to health by the residents of Norge's valley. Paladin is to challenge Smoke to a duel. Smoke's dress is familiar: all black with a symbol of a knight's chess piece on the holster. In short, we're told how Paladin became Paladin.