Wister found his muse for Dean Drake in a cowboy acquaintance, a figure vividly etched in the pages of his 1895 journal. This inspiration, Dean Duke, was just twenty-two, yet he commanded the foreman’s role with remarkable prowess, adeptly managing inebriated cowboys. Much like the enigmatic Virginian, Duke exuded a serene confidence and shrewd judgment that elevated him above his fellow ranch hands. A man of few words, his contemplative nature shone through. Drake, Duke’s fictional reflection, navigates tense scenarios with a trademark calm. He retreats to the solace of his thoughts and a cigarette, strategizing his next move. This patient "wait and watch" tactic serves him well, skillfully sidestepping confrontations with his brash, liquor-fueled crew. In moments of crisis, his intellect prevails over brute force, earning him the respect of his wayward subordinates.

The Dark Side of the Frontier

In the shadowy depths of "Hank's Woman" emerges Hank, a character who embodies the sinister elements born from the Western range's boundless freedom. Wister harbored a lingering fear that unbridled liberty, unchecked by cultural norms, would inevitably spawn a fresh breed of villainy. He articulates this danger as a "sloth, in doing anything and everything... born of the deceitful ease with which makeshifts answer here [in the West]." Hank's malevolence stems from his laziness and refusal to embrace the civilizing influences that Willomene, with her European refinement, brings to the frontier. Despite her enduring his drunken rages and verbal attacks with patience, she swiftly punishes any blasphemy. In The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (1902), while Trampas meets his end due to incompetence, Hank is slain for his moral depravity.