SOPHIE HANDEY (née WILDE)
The narrator of the story, Sophie is the younger of a fraternal twin set of girls. She is relatively tall and lean, and has dark eyes and hair; unlike the rest of her siblings, who are blond-haired and blue eyed. Because of her dissimilarity, she is teased frequently about being part Indian. She comes from a wealthy farming family, and begins her journal setting out for new land in Oregon.
Sophie’s main pleasures in life are farming, adventures, and romance. She is sexually active from an early age, and privately holds an interest in both genders. Because of her sexual inclinations and tomboyish nature, she is very accepting of others, particularly those outcast in society. She is best friends with Missus Moriarty and has a tumultuous romance with Aubrey Grange. She married Amos Handey in Season One, and separated from him in Season Two.
Although Sophie considers herself a Lutheran, and is concerned with sinning herself into hell, she often makes choices based on what she considers honorable motives. Many of her issues stem from moral ambiguity. In Season Two, she killed Dan Levi after he attempted to rape her. She also delivered the fatal bullet to Sheriff McCabe when he attacked her house. When Samuel left her sister bankrupt, she instigated a burning of his business for insurance money.
Sophie is known for being an excellent marksman.
In Season Two, she became engaged to Aubrey.
AUBREY GRANGE
Aubrey is one of the most feared outlaws in the newly settled territories. He is tall, brown-haired, dark-eyed, solidly built, and known for being cruel and impulsive. Aubrey is often found in saloons, running business for the Levi Gang. He and Sophie have had a tumultuous romance which began on the Oregon Trail. Despite his bursts of violence towards her, he holds her in high regard, and offers her station and a kindred spirit. After her marriage, Sophie worked for him briefly when he was trading imports. Aubrey has a large bounty on his head and was tracked by Sheriff McCabe. He is wanted for murder, horse thievery, bank robbery, train robbery, and various smaller offenses.
In Season One, Aubrey said that he was born to a prostitute and one of her johns. He attributed his name to the john being French. His mother passed away when he was a child, and he was raised by a woman named Harriet. In Season Two, Aubrey revealed that McCabe’s men had raped and murdered Harriet, and that he is seeking vengeance. He also shared that Harriet ran a group home for abandons, and it was where he met Felix Levi.
Aubrey was a butcher for several years before joining the gang. He continues to do it as a hobby.
In Season Two, he proposed to Sophie and she accepted.
MARGAUX WALLINGS (née WILDE)
Margaux is the older of the twin Wilde girls. She is traditionally beautiful, with large blue eyes and blond curls. Margaux is often depicted as being self-righteous rather than strictly religious, and considers herself above most of the world’s sins. She does not like manual labor and rarely deigns to do it. Margaux enjoys fine clothes, foods, and church, and complains frequently about the behaviors of those around her. She can be manipulative and gossipy.
Margaux married Samuel Wallings at the end of Season One. She accepted his proposal because he was financially secure, though he is deeply smitten with her. In Season Two, they announced they were expecting their first child. She delivered twins: a boy (Edward) and girl (Verona). Margaux maintains the house, overseeing the nannies and maids. She spends small portions of her days mothering, but the larger part remains devoted to women’s Christian groups. Near the end of Season Two, she was abandoned by Samuel and took the role of widower.
MICHAEL WILDE
Michael is the oldest of the Wilde children. He is athletic with gold curls, and extremely kind and helpful. He is Sophie’s strongest familial tie. In Season One, he brings his family to Oregon to settle after Sophie has secured land. Michael is married to Eliza, and they have a daughter together. Margaux isn’t fond of plain Eliza, and complains that Michael, a wealthy and handsome farmer, had married below his class.
In Season Two, Michael welcomes another daughter with Eliza. It is also revealed that he had been helping Missus Moriarty with manual labor while her husband was away, and that she had developed strong feelings for him. Michael is seemingly oblivious to the crush and remains loyal to his wife. After Eliza’s sudden passing, he has spent more time with Missus Moriarty as they raise their children together.
JOSEPH WILDE
Joseph is the youngest of the Wilde children. He is very pale and his blond hair is nearly white. In Season One, Sophie laments Joseph’s spiral into degeneracy. He began the trail to Oregon with both sisters, but left them early on for ranchers he met at a saloon. Joseph is described as a terrible, irresponsible drunk. When he shows up on Sophie’s farm months later, he has lost a leg and is sober. She allows him to stay on as a worker. Joseph, while on Sophie’s farm, is quiet and understated. He spends his time reading or speaking with Percy, the other farmhand with whom he is exceptionally close. At the end of Season One, Joseph shares that Aubrey and his men attacked him while he was with the ranchers. The other ranchers were killed, and Joseph was left crippled but alive since he was related to Sophie. He has a deep-seated hatred for the Levi Gang.
In Season Two, Joseph takes over Sophie’s farm in her absence.
AMOS HANDEY
Amos is an orphan and magician by trade. He met Sophie while she was on the trail in Season One, and she attended several of his carnival’s shows while they were courting. Amos is lean, dark-haired and blue-eyed. He is seemingly completed devoted to Sophie– giving up his nomadic life to take on the duties of her farm when they wed. Aubrey insinuated he is using Sophie for her information on the Levi Gang; though in Season Two, he is cleared of the implications, and has become focused on becoming a father to a future child. When Sophie is caught having an affair with Aubrey, Amos tells her he was trying to get her pregnant to gain her clemency from McCabe. He leaves her shortly thereafter.
Amos and Sophie annulled their marriage in Season Two. They become tentatively friendly again, and Amos writes to tell her he’s taken a position overseas. He extends an open invitation to visit.
MISSUS MORIARTY
Rose Moriarty is the dearest of all Sophie’s friends. They met on the trail in Season One and quickly became close. She is described as small but volumptuous, with fair skin, blue eyes, and brown hair. Sophie refers to her only as Missus Moriarty out of a fond respect. Missus Moriarty is Irish Catholic, and has two children, Eoghan and Daisy. She is married to Arthur, a blacksmith.
Missus Moriarty is very maternal, despite being younger than Sophie, and often serves as a surrogate mother to those around her. She is clever, and well-versed in food and medicines. In Season One, she reveals that she came from a very affluent family, and had been rejected from high society when she chose to marry Arthur. In Season Two, Arthur begins to drink and gamble more, and leaves her alone for greater periods of time. Missus Moriarty reveals she has developed feelings for Michael, who came to help on the farm in Arthur’s absence. Later in the season, Arthur dies from a brain aneurysm, and Missus Moriarty is widowed.
SHERIFF LUKE MCCABE
A well-known lawman. He is focused and dour, exceptionally tidy in appearance, and reported to have been childhood friends with Amos Handey. In Season One, he approaches Sophie for information about Aubrey, which she declines to give. Shortly thereafter, he rampages Oregon City looking for them both. Aubrey and Sophie escape, but McCabe kills several of Aubrey’s gang and Sophie’s horse.
In Season Two, Amos confesses that McCabe is still after Sophie and intends to hang her. She flees briefly for Mexico, fearing that staying will bring McCabe to her family. Aubrey shares that McCabe ordered several killings and rapes. After actively tracking both Sophie and Aubrey, McCabe and his men attack Sophie’s house. He is shot by Aubrey in the fray, and fatally wounded by Sophie.
SAMUEL WALLINGS
Samuel is the middle of the Wallings brothers. He meets the Wilde sisters on the wagon trail in Season One, and quickly becomes infatuated with Margaux. When they settled in town, he proposed and she accepted. He is shaggy and unkempt on the trail, but when he begins to run the Wallings Emporium, becomes well-groomed. He makes a large salary from his position as main accountant. In Season Two, he is revealed to be the informant behind a town-wide assault from McCabe. It creates a deep rift between he and Sophie, though Margaux remains unaware. Later in the season, it is revealed he is having an affair with his brother Peter’s fiancee. He eventually runs off with her.
PETER WALLINGS
Peter is the youngest of the Wallings brothers. He is described as being very traditionally handsome, particularly because he is neatly groomed. He has brown hair and green eyes. He designed and decorated the Wallings Emporium, and is shown to be working there as a salesman. Peter is the most vocal and outgoing of all the Wallings boys, and the closest male friend of Sophie’s. In Season One, Margaux had a crush on him while they were on the trail, which ended when she and Sophie accidentally saw him kissing another man, Greeves. Margaux denied that it ever happened, though Sophie asked Peter about it later. Peter never admitted to the act, though Sophie said she understood and accepted him. She has since treated Peter and Greeves as a couple, and included them in holidays and special events; though no one else seems to have noticed the pairing.
Peter was engaged briefly to a girl named Mae Henner during Season Two, though she cheated on him with Samuel. It is implied Peter and Greeves are still secretly dating. Mae is briefly abducted, and Greeves is blinded while attempting to save her. When Mae and Samuel run off together, Peter nurses Greeves back to health.
PERCY
Sophie met Percy in Season One while she was looking for help for her farm. He is a freed slave, and was very reserved around Sophie and her white friends for months. He is described as being older, in his late fifties to early sixties. He is devoutly religious. Percy enjoys carving, and crafted a Virgin Mary for Sophie when they became friends. He has also whittled toys for Michael’s daughter. When the Levi Gang attacked Sophie’s farm, he and Joseph protected the livestock and were injured. He and Joseph became close friends as they healed. At the end of Season One, Percy says that he is helping with an underground network of slaves being freed, and it is why he continues to accept Sophie’s money even if it comes from Aubrey.
Percy continues to work on the farm in Season Two, and act as surrogate grandparent to Michael’s girls. He is courting a woman named Esther.
THEODORE COLLINS
Sophie met Theodore in Laredo, Texas while returning from Mexico in Season Two. Theodore is the son of a well-to-do trader, and heir to one of the largest family fortunes in the state. He spends the majority of his time involved in hobbies, particularly gentleman’s sports and theatre. He is described as tall, boyish, blond haired and gray eyed. He is fascinated by outlaws and Aubrey Grange in particular. When Sophie shares that she knows Aubrey, Theodore is infatuated.
Theodore travels with Sophie to Oregon City, and intends to marry her after she annuls her marriage to Amos. They called off the engagement after a disastrous birthday party. He and Sophie remain friends.
Theodore is known for being charming, flippant, a foppish dresser, and a constant liar.
ELIZA WILDE
Eliza is Michael’s late wife. She was shy and often reserved in public, but very affectionate and jovial in private. She was described as somewhat plain in appearance. She died of liver congestion in Season Two.
CALEB WALLINGS
The oldest Wallings brother. He is mentioned only a few times. He is a carpenter and builder by trade, and an acquaintance of Sophie’s.
POP
Margaux and Sophie’s father, who remarried quickly after their mother’s death. He favors Margaux and is often frustrated by Sophie.
BEULAH
Pop’s new wife. She is described as timid and nervous. She is well-meaning but offers little useful advice.
HARRIS
Harris is Beulah’s teenage nephew. He is currently living with Pop and Beulah after his mother passed away. He is quite dignified, kind, and articulate. Much of the family was wary of him, due to his surprise appearance, and Margaux was unhappy that he was a mulatto. He has since won over the entire family. He is a eulogist, and speaks at town funerals.
DAN LEVI
One of Aubrey’s gang mates. He arrives in Season Two while Aubrey and Sophie are heading to Mexico. Dan is violent, ignorant, and crass, and is shot in the head by Sophie after he attempts to rape her. Aubrey and Sophie have covered up his death by saying he was eaten by coyotes.
FELIX LEVI
Aubrey’s closest friend and fellow gang mate. He makes his first appearance in Season Two. Felix was raised in the same group home as Aubrey, whom he considers an older brother. Felix is an explosions expert, and robs banks and trains with Aubrey. He is talkative, charming, and pleasant. He is married to a woman named Bess with whom he has three children.
