Milt Dale, Man of the Forest
Milt Dale is a hunter who lives a solitary life in the mountains. He has a few friends he visits periodically in the town of Pine, but generally prefers the company of wildlife. Milt overhears Snake Anson and the rancher, Beasley plotting to kidnap Helen Rayner, the niece of Al Auchincloss in order to get Al’s ranch. Milt tries to talk to Al about it, but the rancher gets angry and refuses to listen. The hunter then has to make his own plans to help Helen. Milt, with the help of the Beeman brothers, gets to Helen and her sister Bo before Snake does. He takes the girls to his camp in the mountains, of which no one, but the Beeman brothers knows the location. Milt spends time with the girls teaching them about nature and how to survive in the West. He begins to fall in love with Helen. When the girl’s uncle comes to retrieve them, Milt refuses his offer to come and run the ranch. He resumes his solitary life and is snowed in for the winter. In spring when the snow begins to melt Joe Beeman comes to ask for Milt’s help. Bo has been kidnapped and his brother Roy has been shot. Milt is able to track Bo and rescues her from the Snake Anson gang. He returns her to Helen, who has been removed from her ranch by Beasley. Milt wants to take care of Beasley, but Helen refuses to let him kill the man for her sake. After Carmichael kills Beasley Milt returns to the ranch with Helen and Bo. He declares his feelings for Helen and he agrees to stay on and help her run the ranch. Eventually Milt and Helen marry at his camp in the mountains.
Snake Anson
Snake Anson is the leader of a gang of outlaws. He enters into a deal with Beasley to kidnap Helen Rayner before she reaches Al Auchincloss’s ranch. Milt Dale and the Beeman brothers, however, rescue Helen and her sister, Bo, before Snake’s gang can capture them. Snake tries to track the girls but is unable to find them. Although that deal does not work out Snake agrees once again to help Beasley by trying to kidnap Helen once more in order to force her to hand over her land. Anson relies on Riggs to bring the girl to him and does not realize until too late that Riggs has kidnapped Bo instead of Helen. Beasley refuses to have anything more to do with the gang or pay them. They plan to get money out of Helen in return for Bo. The group then has to go on the run when Jim Wilson kills Riggs. Milt Dale catches up with them at one of their camps and with the help of Jim Wilson he rescues Bo. Snake is injured when his horse lands on him and crushes his chest when Dale’s tame cougar scares the horses and men. The rest of the men are going to desert Snake, but he and Wilson kill them before they can get away. Snake dies from his injuries.
Jim Wilson
Jim Wilson is a member of Snake Anson’s gang. Although he is an outlaw Wilson is known as a man who can do good as well as being on the wrong side of the law. He goes along with Anson in planning to kidnap Helen. When the gang kidnaps Bo Rayner, who is a young girl, he takes a liking to her spirit and tries to help her in any way that he can. Wilson kills Riggs when he hits Bo and tries to force her to go with him. When Milt Dale catches up with the outlaws Wilson helps him rescue Bo for which he earns the eternal gratitude of both. He stays with Anson when the other members of his gang try to desert him as he lays dying.
Helen 'Nell' Rayner
Helen Rayner comes to Pine from Missouri to take over the running of her uncle Al Auchincloss’s ranch. Her uncle is dying and wants to make sure he has someone to leave his ranch to when the time comes. Before Helen and her sister Bo can make it to their uncle’s ranch, however, they are rescued by Milt Dale to keep them from being kidnapped by Snake Anson’s gang. The rancher Beasley has hired Snake to kidnap the girls in order to force their uncle to give him the Auchincloss ranch. Milt overhears the plan and gets to the girls before Snake can. The two girls spend time with Milt at his camp in the mountains and Helen learns to love living in the West and begins to love Milt as well. Uncle Al soon comes for the girls and they return with him to the ranch leaving Milt to his solitary life. Helen thinks of him often as she learns how to run the ranch with the help of Las Vegas Carmichael. After Al Auchincloss dies Helen inherits the ranch and Beasley asks her to marry him in order to get the ranch. When she refuses he makes a deal with Harve Riggs and the Snake Anson gang to kidnap her. Harve kidnaps Bo instead and then Helen is forcibly removed from the ranch. In her absence Beasley moves in and takes over. Milt returns Bo and Las Vegas kills Beasley, thus allowing the girls to return to the ranch. Milt and Helen declare their love for one another and Milt stays on to help Helen run the ranch. They eventually marry at Milt’s camp in the mountains.
Bo Rayner
Bo Rayner is the younger sister of Helen Rayner. She is a feisty, independent young woman who thrives in the West. She rides fearlessly. Bo immediately enjoys the life Milt Dale leads when she and her sister, Helen, are rescued by Milt from the Snake Anson gang. She falls in love with the cowboy Tom ‘Las Vegas’ Carmichael, but they have a tumultuous relationship. Bo is kidnapped by Harve Riggs on behalf of the rancher Beasley. Riggs was supposed to have kidnapped Helen, but he does not let the Anson gang know until too late that he got the wrong woman. Beasley washes his hands of the gang and lets them decide what to do with Bo. Snake decides to try his luck at ransoming her for money. Jim Wilson develops a soft spot for Bo and kills Harve Riggs as he tries to carry her away. He then helps Bo to escape with the help of Milt Dale. Bo returns to her sister’s ranch. Carmichael kills Beasley to get Helen’s ranch back for her, but he is too ashamed to face the sisters until months later. When he returns he asks Bo to marry him and Roy Beeman officiates the ceremony that afternoon. Not long afterwards Bo and Carmichael witness the marriage of Helen and Milt Dale.
Al Auchincloss
Al Auchincloss is the uncle to Helen and Bo Rayner. He is ill and knows that he does not have long to live. He sends for Helen to come and take over his ranch. He has made enemies over the years from his business dealings and his treatment of people. Beasley wants his ranch and does what he can to keep Helen from coming to claim it. After Milt Dale saves Helen and Bo from Beasley’s evil plans, Al tries to convince Dale to be the foreman on his ranch and help Helen. Milt refuses. Auchincloss dies a few months later and the ranch is left to Helen.
Beasley
Beasley is a rival rancher to Al Auchincloss. He claims to have been a partner of Al in the past and to have been cheated by him. In retaliation, Beasley wants to take the Auchincloss ranch once Al dies. When the ill rancher sends for his niece, Helen Rayner from Missouri to take over his ranch, Beasley conspires to kidnap her and prevent Helen from taking possession. Beasley hires Snake Anson and his gang to kidnap Helen, but the plan goes awry when Milt Dale overhears it and rescues Helen and her sister, Bo. After Auchincloss dies Beasley tries to get the ranch by asking Helen to marry him. When she refuses Beasley hires Anson’s gang again to kidnap Helen so that he can force her to give him her ranch. Due to Riggs capturing Bo instead of Helen, Beasley refuses to pay the gang and leaves Bo in their hands. Beasley then has Helen forcefully removed from her ranch and takes possession of it. When Bo is returned by Milt Dale, Las Vegas Carmichael seeks revenge for all that Beasley has done to the Rayner women. Las Vegas shoots two of Beasley’s men and challenges the man to come and meet him in town. Beasley does not come and is seen as a coward by everyone in town. Las Vegas then decides to go to the ranch to face Beasley. He confronts the man as he is seated at his dining room table eating dinner. Beasley is so afraid he tries to bribe Las Vegas to let him live, but the cowboy refuses and forces him to draw. The cowboy shoots and kills Beasley.
Tom 'Las Vegas' Carmichael
Las Vegas Carmichael meets the Rayner sisters at a train stop on their way west. He plainly shows his interest in Bo Rayner. Helen tells him to come to her uncle’s ranch in Pine and he would get a job. When the girls are retrieved from Milt Dale’s camp by Al Auchincloss after they evaded kidnap by the Snake Anson gang Carmichael is there having signed on at the ranch. He and Bo develop a relationship, but it is a tumultuous one. After the death of her uncle, Carmichael becomes the foreman of the ranch for Helen and helps her in any way that he can. He swears his loyalty to her and vows to do anything he can to keep her and Bo safe and on their ranch. When Bo is kidnapped Carmichael searches everywhere for her, but it is Milt Dale who finds and rescues the young woman. Once Bo is safe, Carmichael challenges Beasley and waits at the saloon for the rancher to face him. Beasley does not show up, so Carmichael goes to the Auchincloss ranch and forces Beasley to draw. Carmichael wins the duel and Helen and Bo are able to return to their ranch. Las Vegas is too ashamed of his behavior to face the two women and stays away for several months. When he returns to the ranch he asks Bo to marry him and she agrees to do it that very afternoon. Not long afterward, Bo and Las Vegas are witnesses to the marriage of Helen and Milt Dale.
Roy Beeman
Roy Beeman is a friend of Milt Dale and a cowboy well-known for his skills of dealing with horses. He helps Dale rescue Helen and Bo Rayner from the Snake Anson gang. When Helen’s uncle, Al Auchincloss, dies Roy and his brothers come to work on the ranch. Roy goes to Turner’s saloon to try to reason with Beasley and make him leave Helen Rayner alone and forget about taking her ranch away. He and Beasley argue and Riggs shoots Roy from behind Beasley without giving him a chance to defend himself. Roy is left to bleed on the floor until Las Vegas Carmichael comes into the saloon and finds him. He is taken to the Widow Cass’s house and she nurses him back to health. Roy recovers and is able to return to work at Helen’s ranch once she returns there upon the death of Beasley. He serves as the minister at the marriages of Bo Rayner and Las Vegas Carmichael as well as Helen Rayner and Milt Dale.
Harve Riggs
Harve Riggs wants to be perceived as a formidable gunslinger. He wants to marry Helen Rayner and follows her West. He is determined to make Helen his wife and does not care what he does to achieve his aim. He falls in with Beasley, who wants the Auchincloss ranch. Riggs earns the ire of Las Vegas Carmichael when he chases Bo Rayner and causes her to have a bad spill from her horse. He is run out of town by Las Vegas but returns under the protection of Beasley. During a disagreement between Beasley and Roy Beeman, Riggs shoots Roy while hiding behind Beasley. In conjunction with Snake Anson and his gang, Riggs kidnaps Bo Rayner, although it is Helen Rayner that Beasley wanted. Riggs is disliked by Anson’s gang and is eventually shot by Jim Wilson when he hits Bo because she refuses to leave with him.
Widow Cass
Widow Cass is one of the few friends that Milt Dale has in Pine. She provides him with gossip whenever he comes to town for a visit. She becomes a friend to Helen Rayner when the young woman comes to town and takes over her uncle’s ranch. Mrs. Cass nurses Roy Beeman when he is shot by Harve Riggs.
