Awesomeness in the Old West

[swan_tower]

If nineteenth-century America is something you know something about, this post is aimed at you.

For the second time in my life, I'm gearing up to run a game. The first one was Changeling (and resulted in the Onyx Court series); this one is Scion (and god help me if it tries to turn into a novel). For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Scion is a role-playing game where the characters are the half-mortal children of gods. Think Hercules, or Cú Chulainn, or the Pandavas, running around in the modern world. Except that my game will be set, not in the modern world, but in the nineteenth-century American frontier.

Larger-than-life personalities doing over-the-top deeds? Nah, there was nobody like that in the Old West. :-)

I've already got a nascent list of people I can reinterpret as half-divine, but I'd like more. This is where you, O internets, come in: who really seems like they might have been the child of a god? Who excelled in their chosen field? Whose deeds acquired legendary status?

The game will likely take place in the mid-1870s, so while people who predate that point are okay (they might fit into the backstory -- or not be so dead after all), anybody born later is out. Mostly I'm looking at the frontier, but will also entertain suggestions from back east; the game may wander there at some point. I am especially interested in people from the groups more often overlooked by history: blacks, Mexicans, Native Americans, Chinese, etc. One of the things I want to look at in this game is the way in which a wide variety of cultures collided in the space of the frontier. (Adding a mythological layer should make that extra interesting.)

Bonus points if you can suggest a possible divine parent along with the Scion. Whose kid is Doc Holliday? How about Marie Laveau? Pretty much any god is up for grabs; the books provide rules for handling nine different pantheons, and I've found decent-looking player-created material for three more, so I can field most things.

Suggest away. The more names, the merrier.

Comments

[stormsdotter.livejournal.com]

I am drawing a blank on this, but you might be entertained by the comic Crowfeathers: http://www.crowfeathers.net/

[kendokamel.livejournal.com]

Well, depending on the ages of the characters in question, I could probably toss in some "first person experience". Even though I've not really been messing with the time-space continuum (yet), I did spend some time working as an historical interpretor at a living history museum... so I spent several months where I woke up each morning and then went to work in 1848.

We talked a lot about westward expansion, since our location was right near Akron, Ohio, which during the 19th century was quite a bustling city - first from the canals and then from the rubber barons (from which we eventually got BF Goodrich, Firestone, and Goodyear brands of tires). Let me know if you're looking for any odd little tidbits to add to any of your characters.


One interesting point that might be helpful in certain conversations is that a receipt was a set of ingredients and instructions for cooking something, and a recipe was what you got from the doctor for medicine.

[celestinenox]

I did spend some time working as an historical interpretor at a living history museum... so I spent several months where I woke up each morning and then went to work in 1848.

This sounds like probably the coolest job ever.

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

mid-1870’s puts you in the reign of Emperor Norton 1; not sure whose scion he might be, but i think i recall the Native Americans in the southwest having some trickster deities.

-steve

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I'd think he was the Scion of a European deity, myself. He was born in England, after all.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

I know loads about 19th century history, though of course my primary interest is the Civil War. Thus, my knowledge is about 10 years too early, and generally not oriented towards the wild, wild west. That said, I've been thinking about this since I read it this morning, and I'll toss some ideas out - and I'll flip through some books, once I've moved the ones that might help. ;)

I'll give descriptions only if it's someone I find it possible that you don't know about - and I'll link to wiki articles for everyone, just to cover the bases.

The first name that popped in to my head, before I'd even finished reading this post, is Nathan Bedford Forrest. Forrest was a self-made millionare railroad tycoon before the war, who became a self-made master of cavalry maneuvers for the Confederacy. After the war, he ended up a founding member of the organization that eventually became the KKK, and later left when they became too radical. You might have to get a little creative to pull him in - as he never was in the territories, really - but then, in a world where people are the kids of god, some historical inaccuracy is reasonable.

While I'm sure Jesse James and his crew are already on any list you've made, I'm gonna toss out there "Bloody" Bill Anderson. Anderson was in charge of the guerrilla band that the James' were in during the Civil War, and was killed in 1864. His pro-Confederacy guerrilla bands in Missouri ended up spawning a number of men who later formed the more lawless elements of the West - I don't have time to read the whole wiki post, but I'd be shocked if it didn't name a bunch of them.

George Armstrong Custer, and more or less anyone associated with him.

Obviously, Ulysses Grant is president at this time (1868 - 1876). William T. Sherman is the general-in-chief for the United States army. Most of the government types of importance are mentioned on Grant's page, and I know little about most of them unfortunately, but I did want to draw particular attention to Ely S. Parker. I don't know much about him, but he was a Native American who served on Grant's staff during the war, and during Grant's presidency played some kind of an important role in the government, until (this is only based on my scanty knowledge, the wiki article will certainly elaborate and might correct) something happened and he had to leave his post.

Well, that's all I've got so far. Of all of those mentioned, I'm most rooting for Forrest, the man is unbelievable. Anyway, I'll keep thinking, and if I have the time I'll do some research. Certainly, if you need back story type information, I'm your woman, but once 1866 ends, my knowledge level falls off a cliff. I'm most versed on roughly 1850 - 1865, and have never taken a particular interest in the west, but I know the rough outline of how the Civil War outlines there, and certainly could point towards appropriate resources to learn more. :)

I don't know much of anything about gods or mythology. Me and folklore, not so much.

Aw man, this sounds like fun!

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm gunning for Sherman, too - he is my personal hero, after all, but he's a little busy and a little old at this time - but in the late 60's he spent a bit of time out on the frontier monitoring the construction of the trans-continental rail road.

But yeah, I'm gonna look into the fates of some of the more interesting folks from the war I can think of - though right now, having blown my load on the above, I'm drawing a blank. :)

[beccastareyes]

I don't know much, besides what I remember from my Nebraskan history classes. I did read Black Elk Speaks for college, a book that was the transcribed and translated account from Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man who did a lot to try to keep his people together in the latter part of the 19th century. The book also described some of his visions. I don't know if you want to go the scion angle or just give a more mundane connection to the gods. (It also could work as a source for Lakota spiritual beliefs.)

Wikipedia says that Black Elk was born in 1863, though, so he'd be a child at the time -- he was involved as a teen in Little Big Horn.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I read Black Elk in an anthropology class. The professor, after a day of discussion, pointed out all the liberties taken-- if you compare the published work with the actual notes taken during the sessions, some bits are quite different. I wish I remembered more of what exactly was iffy, though.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

The players may well encounter some juvenile Scions. It varies from character to character, when their divine parent first shows up and "activates" their powers.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

John Manjiro is in some ways so classic with having survived being a castaway and wandering from Japan to Hawaii to New England and back again. I found out about him in The Great Wave: Gilded Age Misfits, Japanese Eccentrics, and the Opening of Old Japan, and I think he'd be fairly cool and could be plausibly placed more or less wherever you wanted him in that era.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Oooh! I'd never heard of him before. He sounds awesome. Especially since opportunities for Japanese characters in the U.S. are still pretty limited in this period; there's more Chinese by far.

[talkstowolves.livejournal.com]

I want to suggest Annie Oakley, but I'm not sure she'd be old enough in your time period (she was born in 1860). As for a divine parentage? I want to say Artemis, but that rather undoes the whole "virgin goddess" thing, doesn't it?

[beccastareyes]

If I recall the rules of Scion, gods that can't or don't have sex with mortals can adopt half-gods if the kid's divine parent agrees to turn him/her loose. So someone could play as a Scion of Artemis, but she wouldn't be Artemis's biological child, just her protege.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

I also thought Annie Oakley, mostly because Dad used her for bedtime stories.

[celestinenox]

I suggest the context of "virgin" as in a young woman who belongs to no man and makes her own choices rather than a sexually untouched woman.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

She's on the young side, yes -- but that doesn't rule her out, even if it's just a cameo for the players to grin at.

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

There is a belief out there that Sacagawea was still alive in the 1870s. Would that be useful?

[kizmet-42.livejournal.com]

Ok, I'll try to give you all my suggestions in one post.

Sojourner Truth, black woman known for her "Ain't I a Woman?" given in Akron, Ohio. She lived in Michigan until 1883. Wiki doesn't talk about her travels so I have no idea if she ever crossed the Mississippi River. Harriet Tubman was also alive during the 1870s.

Frederick Douglass was a freed slave who was running for Vice President with Victoria Woodhull, whom you should also consider.

In fact, most of the suffragettes, such as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt (at least she lived west of the Mississippi and there's some evidence that she may have lived in California for a time), Lucretia Mott, Josephine Brawley Hughes (lived in Arizona) might be worth checking into. Many of them rose from the abolitionists. Susan B. Anthony's brother, Daniel Read Anthony, owned newspapers in Kansas. The wiki article is confusing - if he really held all these beliefs, he was one interesting guy.

The temperance movement was in full swing then: Carrie Nation is your woman.

Significant female artists of the time might include Louisa May Alcott, Julia Ward Howe, Jenny Lind (residing in Europe in the 1870s), Mary Cassatt (also in Europe), Kate Greenaway and Harriet Beecher Stowe. You'll also have L. Frank Baum, Mark Twain, Alexandre Dumas fils, and Victor Hugo. Arthur Conan Doyle was neither a sir nor had Holmes arrived on the scene in the 1870s, but he had published a few short stories.

Horace Greeley, publisher, died in 1872, but perhaps for you he did not?

Geronimo and Custer.

Ok, no more stalling. NaNo awaits.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Oooh -- where'd you hear that one?

Edited: Never mind. Wikipedia has told me what I need to know. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joaquin_Murrieta

This fellow is also believed to be one of the inspirations for Zorro; enough so that he was written into the recent movie series reboot/sequel as the older brother of the man chosen by the aging Zorro to become his apprentice and heir. "M! For Murrieta!"

I thought Bryn would appreciate that, remembering that she's a huge enough fan of _The Mask of Zorro_ to point out that it can be described the way Peter Falk describes the plot of _The Princess Bride_. {g!}

[tchernabyelo.livejournal.com]

Shame Sequoyah died before your planned period. Although, of course, rumours of his death could have been exaggerated...

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

He can still be backstory. Heck, if he managed to ascend all the way to godhood, he could have Scions of his own . . . .

[c0untmystars.livejournal.com]

Despite the fact that she's from the east, Victoria Woodhull was the first person I thought of. She started a newspaper in 1870 and ran for President in 1872 and was the first woman to run a brokerage... I believe she was also a medium.

From the Los Angeles area, Eulalia Perez de Guillen Marine, who supposedly lived to be 140... Tiburcio Vasquez, a bandit so notorious his hideouts are still named for him (Vasquez Rocks, Robbers Roost)... "Greek George" Yiorgos Caralambo, a camel driver hired by the USMC... Romualdo Pacheco, Mexican-American politician with 30-year career, first Hispanic US Congressman.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Hey, I bet Pacheco Street in San Francisco is named after that last one.

Thanks!

[mastergode.livejournal.com]

So, I'm sure you already know this, but I feel the need to bring it up anyway, since it doesn't seem that anyone else has, yet.

The Wild West, as we know it, never really existed. It was created somewhere between the government trying to convince people to move out west and the entertainment industry making some money.

As such, pretty much every "western" is in large part fantasy. But as I said, I'm sure you already know that.

So my question is, will this game be set in the real American West, or the fake one? Will it include real Native Americans, or "injuns"? If it were anyone else, I wouldn't ask, but since your campaigns have the tendency to turn into novels, I figure it's worth thinking about. ;)

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Do you really think I would run, write, or even read anything that had "Injuns" instead of Native Americans?

I can't promise that I will "get it right" (for whatever values of "right" are in a given beholder's eye), but no, this is not going to be a rehash of John Wayne movies. I can barely even stand to watch the damn things.

As for real vs. fake -- neither, really, since this will be the American West with a very distinct mythological layer. But it's going to be a mythological layer with an awareness that what's going on at the time is, in part, the creation of the Myth of the West.

[unforth.livejournal.com]

Hey, I thought of another bit that is possibly interesting enough (actually thought of it a few days ago, then forgot).

Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge started in 1870, and given just how many people died building the bridge, I think a good case could be made for some deity being involved. Also, the Roeblings were pretty awesome - Washington Roebling and his father were the original engineers. Dad got badly injured in the early building stages and died of a later infection; Washington then nearly died from the bends and was handicapped for life, and couldn't really leave his home for the entire rest of the construction. He wasn't removed as head engineer, though. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling, served as a go between for her husband and the construction crews, and dealt directly with politicians and such, gaining a lot of respect. There's a plaque to her memory on the bridge that's one of the first of it's kind dedicated to a woman. Washington was also a Civil War vet, and played an important role in the Battle of Gettysburg. All in all, an awesome couple, and the building of the bridge itself is a saga (or, what happens when one tries to build a bridge in an undredged river without wet suits when you've never heard of the bends).