She begins to cry saying that she believes he cheated on her mother as she was dying. Jed tries to get her to understand that he is her father and does not intend to harm her. She threatens to shoot her father if he moves. However before he saddles up his horse in the stable, Laurie appears with a rifle. He goes outside to try and find his son but no one is around, leaving him the responsibility of going into town to find a doctor.

Her father brings her inside the house and tries to talk to her but she refuses to speak. Meanwhile at the Ferguson's Laurie cries out and collapses outside. Joe and Hoss find the man and gather him on a wagon. He aggressively tries to flirt with her saying that he's a 'man who knows how to treat a woman', and that he doesn't 'care much what she thinks or wants' he then grabs her by the arm when she tries to leave she grabs his pistol, shoots him in the gut, and rides off for home. Later Stark, another man working for the Cartwrights spots Laurie sitting alone in a field reading. Before Ben can explain or ask about Laurie's strange behavior, Jed rides away. Later her father, Jed, rides to the Cartwright's to tell Ben to keep Joe away from Laurie. She seems sweet at first and completely in denial, but in a moment recalls a memory and her eyes become distant for a few seconds before becoming hostile once again hitting Joe. Later when she's riding her horse near the property fence line she sees Joe, who has been waiting for her to clear up what happened between them.

When he leans in towards her she suddenly changes in mood, becoming hostile and threatens him to leave from the property. She then goes into the family stable and flirts briefly with Brett, a young man working for her father. Laurie's face distorts and she quickly becomes emotional telling her father repeatedly to stop bringing up her mother. Jed Ferguson tries to talk to Laurie and brings up her mother. The Fergusons then warn the Cartwrights that there will be violence if they cross the fence.

This causes trouble between the Fergusons and the Cartwrights, as the Fergusons put up a fence making it difficult for the Cartwrights to reach the North end of the property. When her father Jed Ferguson and Cleve Ferguson immediately run out, they assume Joe has attacked Laurie. She begins hitting him and screaming, completely unprovoked. But soon into the episode Laurie is flirting with Joe Cartwright until he leans in to kiss her. The Cartwrights welcome Laurie Ferguson, daughter of a friend and neighboring landowner to The Ponderosa, from living with her grandmother for a few years.

Bonanza episode sweet annie laurie