Herman the German is the local hangman of Poiosn Ivy Gulch. He executes people through hanging.
He’s originally from Germany but emigrated to the USA and after living in Milwaukee, found his way to Poison Ivy Gulch.
FACT: Herman was based on a real person – George Maledon, the “Prince of Hangmen”!
The West has always had lawmen as stock characters such as sheriffs, local marshals and federal marshals. Here, we have a local marshal and that fellow is Marshal Art. He’s the law in Poison Ivy Gulch.
He’s also the only sane man compared to the more wacky characters. When seen, Marshal Art usually plays the straight man, especially when he’s with Mayor Sidewinder.
This fellow is someone you’ll be seeing a lot of; he is Samuel Sidewinder, the mayor of Poison Ivy Gulch.
Originally from Boston, he was a local legislator until a scandal forced him out of office and out of the state; the Massachusetts legislature even declared Sidewinder “state fink”!
Samuel Sidewinder was forced to flee and headed out West where he came across the ramshackle town of Poison Ivy Gulch. He was elected the mayor and is constantly being voted back into power…thanks to voter fraud.
Mayor Sidewinder’s favorite activity is visiting the graveyard; he doesn’t go to pay his respects though. He registers the dead to vote…for him!
Let’s meet the cast of Poison Ivy Gulch. I think we should introduce the two main stars of this Western.
Lotta Doler is the protagonist of Poison Ivy Gulch. She is a professional gambler who can be found in the cardroom of the local saloon, taking on all challengers…and taking their money when she defeats them. She plays lots of card games: poker, faro, blackjack and more. Lotta is originally from New York City, born on July 7th as the 7th of eleventh children. Raised in the Gramercy Park neighborhood of Manhattan, she learned how to play card games from her cousins. Mastering them quickly and not interested in being married off, Lotta said goodbye to her family and decided to go out West.
Ace is a 9-year-old boy who was living on the streets of Independence, Missouri. Lotta found him while waiting to head out to the uncharted Western territories; as Ace didn’t have any family and Lotta had nobody out on the frontier, she took the boy with her.
Ace lives with Lotta in her house. He is Lotta’s sidekick and her lucky charm; when not in school, he can be found wandering about the gulch where he gets into all kinds of mischief.
The above sketch is of a Cold Model 1873 Single Action army revolver.
This revolver replaced the earlier 1851 Navy model, also from Colt. The civilian version of this firearm was better known as the “Peacemaker”. Of course, contrary to what you see in the movies, many pistols were very inaccurate. They were useless beyond 25 yards.
