Other settlers who care for the land and attempt to co-exist with the original Pawnee and Cheyenne people are Mennonite Levi Zandt, who founds the town, German immigrant Hans Brumbaugh, who is the first to raise crops, and Englishman Oliver Seccombe, who sees the opportunity to graze large herds of cattle.

Later arrivals include the Wendell family who seeks to gain power and wealth, and Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn who believes only the white man belongs and that the Indians must either be killed or driven off.

In the modern area, rancher Paul Garrett, who can trace his family line back to Pasquinel, fights to prevent exploitation of the land by Morgan Wendell, a wealthy businessman.

Cast as the adult character of Philip Wendell, Kelton's death was the result of accidental carbon monoxide asphyxiation due to improper ventilation in his dressing room trailer.

[11] Universal Studios, which produced the mini-series, was fined $720 for the failure to provide a proper ventilation system for the trailer where Kelton was rehearsing his lines.

In the miniseries, Morgan Wendell tries to cover up his family's shady history, but in the book he speaks openly about the murder and his father's admiration of the sheriff to the author–who in turn agrees to publish the facts of the killing after the election.

The Pasquinel character bears similarities to Jacques La Ramee, a French-Canadian, coureur de bois, fur trapper who explored the region, of the North Platte River, in southern Wyoming, in the early 19th century.

During "The Yellow Apron", Pasquinel tells his son Jake that he was named after his good friend and early trapping partner, "Jacques La Ramee".

The character of Indian hater and religious fanatic Colonel Frank Skimmerhorn appears to be loosely based on John Chivington, a disgraced ex-Methodist minister who led the infamous Sand Creek massacre in Kiowa County, Colorado in 1864.

Captain John McIntosh's (Major Mercy in the novel) role in the incident and subsequent trial appears to be loosely based on Silas Soule.