The Virginian · Characters
Character guide
Key figures in The Virginian by Owen Wister.
Skim names here — open a free preview to see character cards and Character Web beside the page as you read.
Molly Stark Wood
major
Also known as Miss Mary Stark Wood, Molly Stark, Molly, the old Molly Stark, the young Molly, Stark, Miss Molly Stark Wood
Molly Stark Wood belongs to a Vermont family that has always lived like gentlefolk, until the mills fail and she must earn her bread teaching music and making preserves. Bennington gossips are scandalized that she works for money yet still holds herself above Sam Bannett, the rising young man they consider good enough for anybody. Restless and quietly stubborn, she writes to Mrs. Balaam about migrating west to Bear Creek, and it is this decision that carries her into the Virginian's world.
The Virginian
major
Also known as Virginian, the embarrassed Virginian, The saturnine Virginian
The Virginian is a cowpuncher the narrator meets on the westward train, a man whose stillness unnerves and whose manners surprise. When Steve tosses him a term of heaviest insult, he takes it as a compliment, and when the wash-trough towel runs short, he charms a clean one out of the pretty proprietress without a fuss. His quiet is volcanic; he is the man other men watch, and the man Trampas cannot leave alone.
Trampas
major
Also known as Therefore Trampas, Saving Trampas, Mr. Trampas
Trampas is the man at the ranch who lost a powerful friend when Roberts went, and the men around him sense that he has no shield left between himself and the Virginian. When Judge Henry appoints the Virginian foreman on the spot, Trampas finds himself plump at his enemy's mercy, and the cowboys cheer while the Judge washes his hands of the particulars. His sulking spreads through camp like leaven, and everyone waits to see what he will do when the time arrives.
Scipio Le Moyne
supporting
Also known as Scipio, the prompt Scipio, the complete Scipio, Presently Scipio, Scipio Le Moyne
Scipio Le Moyne is the friend who watches the Virginian sleep like a child while the men around him are on the ragged edge of mutiny, and who tells the narrator plainly what he thinks. He reckons Trampas will pull his freight, casual-like, and he argues that beating a man at his own game is all the revenge a man who isn't a hog could want. His dry, patient voice turns camp gossip into something close to prophecy.
Balaam
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Balaam, Mr. Balaam
Balaam is the ranchman who owes Judge Henry horses and keeps putting off their return, greeting the Virginian's reminder with a struck fist and a demand for explanations. He rages about Indians off the reservation, cuts his own bewildered horse across the jaw for shying at water, and grins at Shorty's battered overalls while angling for the boy's good pony. The Virginian can scarcely interfere between another man and his own beast, but he looks on, and he remembers.
Shorty
supporting
Also known as the excellent Shorty, Poor Shorty, the docile Shorty, the ruffled Shorty, poor stupid Shorty, So Shorty, poor Shorty
Shorty is the boy who carries Balaam's overdue letter to the Virginian and gets nothing for it but a little pay already lost at poker in Drybone, where his money went into Trampas's pocket. He has one valuable possession left, his horse Pedro, and Balaam eyes it across Butte Creek while Shorty sits in the shade. Turned off the roundup for sleeping on night-herd, poor and docile, he is the kind of man the range uses up, and the kind Trampas finds useful.
Judge Henry
supporting
Also known as The Judge, Henry, Hank
Judge Henry presides over Sunk Creek Ranch, an oasis of milk, eggs, and civilized fare in a territory of sowbelly and beans. Having once worn the robe of an upright federal judge, he now finds himself asked to defend conduct that looks like defiance of the law itself — and he does not relish it. His struggle between the convictions that are his soul's riches and the demands of the Cattle Land gives the novel its central moral weather.
Steve
supporting
Also known as Medicine Bow, Steve of Medicine Bow, the Steve
Steve grins at the Virginian, calls him a son-of-a-⸻ in perfect friendship, and moves through the cow-country with an offhand charm that makes him hard to dislike. But his path bends toward cattle rustling, and the easy camaraderie he shares with the Virginian becomes the story's sharpest test of what friendship can survive. He is the warmth and the warning in the Virginian's past.
Taylor
supporting
Also known as Mrs. Taylor, Mr. Taylor, Now Mr. Taylor
Taylor runs the store and post where Bear Creek gathers its mail and gossip, and he is father to young Georgie. When he hands the Virginian a sheet of note paper on which a girl has written as women the cowpuncher has known never wrote, he becomes the unwitting sower of a seed that will bloom across wide spaces. His bafflement at the letter's easy talk of spinsterhood marks the distance between his world and hers.
Dr. MacBride
supporting
Also known as the Rev. Dr. Alexander MacBride, the doctor, the Doctor, The Doctor
Dr. MacBride serves Bear Creek as both preacher and doctor, officiating weddings and tending bodies while preaching a theology of wrath. His sermon to the cowboys — 'They are altogether become filthy' — offers no ray of hope, no homely talk of their special hardships, only dogma naked as iron. He matters because his failure to reach the men he shepherds throws into relief the human warmth the frontier must supply for itself.
Lin McLean
supporting
Also known as young Lin McLean, McLean, Mr. McLean
Lin McLean is the cowboy the whole territory watches — signed for one month of good behavior, spooning the schoolmarm, the subject of every fireside guess. His name circulates through the dance at Swinton's even when he himself has not arrived, and the Virginian's quiet notice that Lin is nowhere near Miss Wood carries a weight of its own. He is the road not taken, the wildness the Virginian has already outgrown.
Em'ly
minor
Also known as VI Em'ly
Molly's spirited horse, central to a chapter and a symbol of her independence.
Uncle Hughey
minor
An elderly, talkative cowboy who tells tall tales and annoys the younger men.
Monte
minor
Also known as Monte hawss
The Virginian's beloved horse, a constant companion throughout his adventures.
Mrs. Henry
minor
Judge Henry's kind wife who befriends Molly and offers her hospitality.
Sam Bannett
minor
Also known as Sam
A cowboy who participates in the lynching of Steve and later aids the Virginian.
Honey Wiggin
minor
Also known as Wiggin, Honey, the agile Wiggin
A slick-talking cowboy and gambler who causes trouble for the Virginian.
Colonel Cyrus Jones
minor
A pompous military man who visits the ranch and clashes with the Virginian.
Georgie Taylor
minor
Also known as Taylor, Little George Taylor, George Taylor, George, little George Taylor
The young son of Mr. Taylor who becomes attached to the Virginian.
Grandmother Stark
minor
Molly's stern grandmother who disapproves of her relationship with the Virginian.
Pedro
minor
A horse owned by Balaam, subjected to cruelty and central to a key scene.
Mrs. Wood
minor
Also known as John, poor Mrs. Wood, Mrs. John Stark Wood
Molly's mother, a widow living in Bennington who supports her daughter's choices.
Bob Carmody
minor
Also known as Poor Bob Carmody, Bob, poor Bob, Bob Carmody
A cowboy who gets into a fight with the Virginian over a card game.
Mr. Ogden
minor
Also known as Ogden, Mrs. Ogden
A neighbor of Judge Henry who hosts social gatherings and is a cattleman.
Mrs. Flynt
minor
A boarding house keeper in town where the Virginian sometimes stays.
Sarah Bell
minor
Also known as Sarah
A woman mentioned in correspondence, possibly a relative of Andrew Bell.
Edward
minor
Also known as Ed, Poor Ed
A minor character who appears in a scene with the Virginian and others.
The Drummer
minor
A traveling salesman who appears in a stagecoach scene with the Virginian.
Jim Westfall
minor
Also known as James, Westfall, Jim, young James, James Westfall, good James
A young man from Bennington who courts Molly before the Virginian appears.
Delmonico
minor
Also known as Lorenzo Delmonico, Lorenzo
A famous New York restaurateur referenced in a story about the Virginian's travels.
Henry Dow
minor
Also known as Henry
A local man who marries Anna Maria and is involved in a subplot with Molly.
Anna Maria Dow
minor
A friend of Molly's who marries Henry Dow and moves West.
Andrew Bell
minor
Also known as Mrs. Andrew Bell, Andrew, Mrs. Bell
A friend of the Virginian from his past, mentioned in letters.
Little Alfred
minor
Also known as Alfred
A young boy who appears briefly in the story, possibly related to the Taylors.
Ben Swinton
minor
Also known as Swinton, The Swintons, the Swintons
A rancher and neighbor involved in cattle disputes and social events.
Uncle Hewie
minor
An elderly man mentioned in passing, possibly a relative of a character.
Buck and Muggins
minor
Also known as Buck, Muggins
Two dogs owned by Judge Henry, often mentioned in ranch scenes.
Bokay Baldy
minor
Also known as Baldy, Bokay
A cowboy with a distinctive nickname, part of the ranch crew.
Laramie Widow
minor
A woman in Laramie who is briefly mentioned in a story about Shorty.
A Large Stranger
minor
An unnamed man who confronts the Virginian in a saloon early in the book.