The series was loosely based on the 1962 Cinerama film of the same name, though it is otherwise unrelated in terms of story and characters.

The show began as a two-hour TV film called The Macahans in 1976, before continuing as a mini-series in 1977 and then a regular series in 1978 and 1979.

The series found a larger and more lasting audience in Europe than in the United States, being rebroadcast many times in countries like France, Germany, Italy, Norway and Sweden, and building a cult following there.

In the first season, Tim's sons were given different names than in the rest of the series: Bruce Boxleitner's character was originally called Seth before being renamed Luke, and William Kirby Cullen's character was originally called Jed before being renamed Josh.

The series featured a wide array of notable guest stars over its run, including Ricardo Montalbán, Christopher Lee, William Shatner (playing a blind ex-US Cavalry officer), Lloyd Bridges, Brian Keith, Tim Matheson, and Woody Strode.

A sequence of paintings by Western artist Charles Marion Russell is shown during the end credits of the series.

A nearly 400-page paperback novelization of the early episodes, written by Lou Cameron, was published by Ballantine Books in January 1978, adapting teleplays by multiple credited writers including Howard Fast and John Mantley.

The second season's 14 broadcast episodes were later re-cut into 10 episodes of roughly equal length (about 90 minutes each) for international syndication.