The Virginian emerged during a period when much of contemporary literature was being adapted for the stage, contributing to the golden age of melodrama. Renowned plays like Rip Van Winkle and The Count of Monte Cristo were dramatized versions of popular books.

Wister, influenced by this era's passion for melodrama, made a serious attempt to create a stage adaptation of his novel but struggled due to his lack of experience. After two years of producing unsatisfactory drafts, he enlisted the help of his friend, Kirk LaShelle, who had successfully completed other adaptations, to write a stage version of The Virginian. In 1904, this LaShelle-Wister collaboration debuted on Broadway, featuring Dustin Farnum as the Virginian, and ran for approximately four months. Reviews were generally positive, as reflected in the New York Times comments: "The accuracy of detail, and the consequent wealth of true atmosphere is the chief value of the play. In a large degree, Mr. Wister has brought the true West of twenty years ago to the stage." After its New York opening, the play toured for ten years and appeared sporadically until as late as 1928.

The Virginian was adapted into a silent film in 1914, starring Dustin Farnum, and later produced by Paramount as a motion picture in 1930 with Gary Cooper, and in 1945 with Joel McCrea. A writer for Western Films praised the 1930 version for its "rich and excellent characterizations" and a final scene with a "walk-down shoot-out that climaxes the movie," calling The Virginian "the ultimate Western." Conversely, the 1946 version was criticized by the same writer as "a lethargic remake" with a "watered down" plot and "muted humor with simplified characters," ultimately rating it a "reduced routine oater."

In 1964, The Virginian saw a resurgence in popularity as a 90-minute television series, starring James Drury as the Virginian and Doug McClure as Trampas. The series adhered to Wister's original Western formula and was broadcast by NBC until 1969.