A former bodyguard of President Lincoln digs his way out of a grave but has amnesia. He gets involved with a group of Civil War veterans who want to assassinate Gen. Ulysses S. Grant.
Lazarus rides with a bounty hunter who enjoys killing men a little too much, wonders if the Civil War changed him as much as it changed the bounty hunter.
Lazarus is captured by a bounty hunter who wants to take him to the feds. But the two are soon captured by four other men and must work together to escape.
After being taking in by a family and nursed back to health, Lazarus bonds with a young boy and comes to the aid of his family against a group of corrupt former soldiers.
In April 1866, Lazarus arrives in Serenity, Colorado, where a visiting showman has created a mythological panorama drama based on Lazarus exploits. The showman pits Lazarus against a former gunman who had been living incognito.
After a mysterious woman leaves Lazarus with a locket containing a photo of a woman he remembers but can't name and a Palace of Dreams business card in the pilot episode, he travels to New Orleans to find the Palace and get answers.