Season 1 is the first season of the (former) A&E television series Longmire. The first season contains 10 episodes. Episodes aired in the summer of 2012 on Sunday at 10:00pm (ET). The DVD for Season 1 was released on May 28, 2013.
Widowed only a year, Walt Longmire is a man in mental repair that buries his pain behind a brave face and dry wit. Struggling since his wife's death and at the urging of his daughter, Cady, Longmire knows that the time has come to turn his life around. With the help of Vic, a female deputy new to the department, he becomes reinvigorated about his job and committed to running for re-election. When Branch, an ambitious, young deputy decides to run against him for sheriff, Longmire feels betrayed but remains steadfast in his dedication to the community. Walt often turns to close friend and confidant Henry Standing Bear for support as he sets out to rebuild both his personal and professional life, one step at a time.
Sheriff Walt Longmire has mourned the death of his wife for a year. He has delegated most police duties to deputies Branch Connally (Bailey Chase) and "The Ferg" (Adam Bartley). Longmire's adult daughter Cady (Cassidy Freeman) is concerned about her father—particularly his excessive beer drinking and messy housekeeping; symptoms of Walt's refusing to move on in life after the death of his wife. Victoria "Vic" Moretti (Katee Sackhoff) is a transplanted Philadelphia homicide detective who arrived in Wyoming six months prior and is now one of Walt's deputies, and Walt’s longtime friend Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips) assists with any dealings with the local Indian reservation. The sheriff's office investigates a murder linked to a missing Indian girl and a mobile brothel.
A woman's body is found on the outskirts of Absaroka County. The only clues to her mysterious death are single dollar bills scattered nearby and her body glitter. Walt and Vic surmise that the victim was an exotic dancer. In the victim's pocket, they find a drawing of a tree with unrecognizable writing underneath it. The investigation (which includes Vic's performing a partial striptease at the club where the victim allegedly worked, in order to have a suspect identified) leads the team to learn the woman was a Mennonite. The victim's brother had accidentally killed her while trying to urge her back into the Mennonite community. Outside the investigation, Walt suspects that daughter Cady is secretly dating someone, and that particular someone is Branch.
A tragic barn fire originally appears as suicide attempt to the sheriff's office, but further investigation reveals the victim faked his own death. The barn owner was hiding from the mob. This news disrupts the department as Walt is the only one who knows the case's background. The Ferg mistakenly leads the mob to the farmer's family and later turns in his badge to Walt, who refuses to take it.
