Breakheart Pass

THE CHARACTERS

JOHN DEAKIN

A Gunman

COLONEL CLAREMONT

US Cavalry

COLONEL FAIRCHILD

Commandant of Fort Humboldt

GOVERNOR FAIRCHILD

The Governor of Nevada

MARICA FAIRCHILD

The Governor's niece and the daughter of Colonel Fairchild

MAJOR O'BRIEN

The Governor's Aide

NATHAN PEARCE

US Marshal

SEPP CALHOUN

A villain of some note

WHITE HAND

Chief of the Paiutes

GARRITTY

A gambler

REV. THEODORE PEABODY

Chaplain elect for Virginia City

DOCTOR MOLYNEUX

US Army Doctor

CHRIS BANLON

Engineer

CARLOS

Cook

HENRY

Steward

BELLEW

US Army Sergeant

DEVLIN

Brakeman on train

RAFFERTY

A trooper

FERGUSON

CARTER

US Army Telegraphists

SIMPSON

BENSON

CARMODY

Three minor villains

HARRIS

CAPTAIN OAKLAND

Passive but relevant

LIEUTENANT NEWELL

The following bears very closely on the choice of 1873 as the date for this story.

CALIFORNIAN GOLD RUSH

1855-75

COMSTOCK LODE DISCOVERED

1859

DISAFFECTED NEVADA INDIANS ACTIVE

1860-80

NEVADA BECAME STATE

1864

UNION PACIFIC RAILWAY BUILT

1869

BONANZA DISCOVERED

1873

CHOLERA IN ROCKIES

1873

DEVELOPMENT OF FIRST WINCHESTER

REPEATERS

1873

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA (ELKO)

ESTABLISHED

1873

DISASTROUS FIRE IN LAKE'S CROSSING

(WHICH BECAME RENO IN

1879)

1873

NB. It might appear odd that a US Army relief mission should be sent to attend a cholera outbreak, but this is not so: the State of Nevada Health Service was not established until 1893.