Recurring characters include Augustus "Gus" McCrae, Woodrow F. Call, Joshua Deets, Pea Eye Parker, Jake Spoon, Clara Forsythe Allen, Maggie Tilton, Lorena Wood Parker, Blue Duck, and Buffalo Hump.
[citation needed] Larry McMurtry originally planned to create a western screenplay called Streets of Laredo, which would star John Wayne.
Gus does not mind retirement too much, but he does miss Clara, the love of his life, who currently lives up north in Nebraska.
These people include, Pea eye, a former Ranger who worked under Call and Gus; Joshua Deets, a tracker and a former Ranger; Newt Dobbs, a boy who works for the Hat Creek Cattle Company; Lorena, a prostitute who resided in the town; and Bolivar a cook.
Along their way they deal with crossing rivers, getting attacked by snakes, fighting off bears, and evading thunderstorms.
Ned Brookshire, a salaried man who works with the railroad company, accompanies Call on his mission.
Dead Man's Walk follows Woodrow Call and Augustus McCrae (Gus) back in their younger days.
Here they work under Captain Inish Scull where they attempt to track down Kicking Wolf, a Comanche horse thief.
After this, Blue Duck kills his father after he finds out that Buffalo Hump left them to go die.