Marston family

The Marston family centres on John Marston, Abigail Roberts and their son Jack. John's father is of Scottish descent, while John grows up orphaned before Dutch van der Linde and Hosea Matthews take him into the Van der Linde gang. Abigail joins the gang later, and Jack is born in 1895. John struggles to accept fatherhood, leaves the gang for a year, then returns to a bitter Abigail and a son largely raised among the outlaws.

In 1899, the story finds John wounded in the Grizzlies West after Arthur Morgan and Javier Escuella bring him back to camp. His recovery does little to settle his arguments with Abigail or his doubts about Jack. When the Braithwaites abduct Jack, John joins the gang's attack on Braithwaite Manor. The search leads them to Angelo Bronte in Saint Denis, and Jack's return brings John, Abigail and their son closer together at camp.

After the Saint Denis bank robbery, John is imprisoned at Sisika Penitentiary. Arthur and Sadie Adler free him despite Dutch's objections, worsening John's break with Dutch. John is shot and abandoned during the gang's last robbery, but returns during the final confrontation. Arthur helps him escape as the Pinkertons attack the camp. Abigail is rescued from Van Horn Trading Post and reunites with Jack and Tilly Jackson at Copperhead Landing.

John, Abigail and Jack later drift through the country, including an unsuccessful stay in the Yukon and work at Pronghorn Ranch in Big Valley. Abigail leaves when John's violence again uproots them. He buys Beecher's Hope in the Great Plains, where Uncle joins him and Charles Smith helps rebuild the property. Abigail and Jack return with Rufus, their dog. The family lives together at the completed ranch after John proposes to Abigail on Flat Iron Lake.