Cullen Bohannon

Context

Hell on Wheels is a gritty, high-budget, Old West TV series that ran from 2011 to 2016. Anti-hero Cullen Bohannon is the lead character.

Set just after the Civil War, it follows the messy, difficult building of the transcontinental railroad. The “Hell on Wheels” in question is the dangerous nomad city that follows the track as it is being laid.

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Background

Powers & Abilities

Bohannon is a veteran Cavalry soldier and well-versed in armed and unarmed combat. He seems to particularly excel at teaching others to shoot and use and maintain firearms.

He has gone to a couple (!) of universities and was apparently taught railroad technologies and construction well by his father who was involved in this field in the south. An interesting tidbit is that he got a bullet in his leg during the war, a wound that always swells up when a storm is a coming.

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History

A Southern background

Bohannon was born in Meridian, Mississippi around 1825-1830 and eventually inherited the tobacco farm of his family with slaves and all.

He got married to a northern woman, Mary, who eventually opened his eyes to the evils of slavery. This was made easier by the fact that Bohannon had practically been raised by a black woman.

The couple also had a son together. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 Bohannon eagerly joined in. He always had dreamt of adventures far away from farm lands, and it was the honorable thing to do, to fight for his southern brethren.

As a soldier in the Confederate Army he quickly rose to the rank of a Captain in the Cavalry. His unit was strongly united and the men trusted his leadership.

They fought in many campaigns including at Antietam (Sharpsburg)  on September 17 in 1862. This was part of the Maryland campaign, where 22,717 men died, were wounded or went missing, and the result of which was tactically inconclusive. Bohannon has mentioned that his unit had to retreat when they ran out of ammunition.

While away at war his wife (and supposedly also his son) was killed and his farm was burnt down by Union soldiers belonging to the 11^th Ohio infantry during the so-called Savannah campaign, and so directly after the war ended in 1865 he sought to track them all down and bring swift vengeance at the point of a gun.

Hell on wheels

Bohannon killed Captain Ebert Nelson, and Lieutenants Wüster and Tanner in retaliation. He then found one of them, Private Buckton Prescott, in Washington D.C.. He tracked down another one at one of the greatest projects ever in U.S. history, namely the building of the first transcontinental railroad in the north connecting the east coast to the west coast.

The base encampment from which the project was directed was a constantly moving along the track. The lawless encampment of dirty tents and wagons was referred to as Hell on Wheels (Population: One less every day).

The project was led by Thomas Durant, the vice-President of the Union Pacific. He was responsible for the build west from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Promotory Summit, Utah, where it would meet the Central Pacific building east from Sacramento, California.

The building project went straight through (sacred) Indian lands, which thus complicated the project further by constantly endangering Hell on Wheels with Indian raiders and warriors.

Overseer

The southerner Bohannon was hired by his target, the project’s foreman (Captain) Daniel Johnson, to oversee the all-black cut crew. Elam Ferguson, a half-black-half-white worker had an enmity towards his boss Johnson.&emsp,This vendetta had been born when a remorseless Johnson’s horse accidentally killed one of his friends, William.

That enmity was clear to Bohannon, who told Ferguson to back down, and who only did so while threatening further.

Then, Bohannon planned to silently kill his target, and got him drunk at a saloon reminiscing war tales. However, Johnson caught on to him. Johnson would have killed Bohannon had Ferguson not intervened and instead killed Johnson.

Johnson’s last words were a confession that his wife had not committed suicide but that a Union sergeant (no name given) had hanged her himself.

Bohannon was chained and nearly hanged – since he had last been seen with Johnson and didn’t blame anyone else for the murder either. This was handled by the ruthless (and actually psychopathic) security chief only referred to as the Swede (real name: Thor Gundersen and he’s actually Norwegian).

However he managed to escape entrapment and got Ferguson to, ironically, remove his chains. Miraculously, he then saved himself by telling war stories to the project leader Thomas ’Doc‘ Durant. He even convinced to hire him as the project’s new foreman.

As he left Durant’s car he was immediately confronted by the Swede and his shotgun “Beauty”, but the Swede was told to lower his weapon since this was the new foreman. This marked a permanent enmity between Bohannon and the Swede.

New friends and enemies

During a small strike caused to overdue salaries he was challenged by the same Ferguson. Ferguson had found out that Bohannon was a former slave owner, and so Durant arranged a boxing match between the two to appease the angry workers.

Ferguson was initially losing – as a former slave he was instinctively holding back against a white man. However he eventually won the fight as a pair of scheming, betting Irishmen (the McGinnes brothers) had arranged for Bohannon to be blinded by chilli.

The Irish brothers, soon found out by Bohannon, had to do him some services to repay their debts. All men involved in the boxing match remained on somewhat friendly terms thereafter.

When the main cartographer of the project was lost during an Indian raid Bohannon happened to be tracking one of his targets. He accidentally ran into the cartographer’s wife, Lily Bell, who had already been rescued by the Native American Jesuit convert Joseph Black Moon, from Hell on Wheels.

The cartographer had been killed. Bohannon realized that Joseph would probably be murdered by upset workers if he returned returning Ms. Bell. Thus, he took it upon himself to return her to safety – postponing his own revenge.

The vendetta continues

Bohannon tracked down his next target, Sergeant Frank Harper. However Harper shot his horse and escaped. Later on, Bohannon, Ferguson, Joseph Black Moon and some Union soldiers routed a band of Indian raiders that threatened Hell on Wheels.

This and subsequent smaller adventures finally brought Bohannon and Ferguson closer and they became something of uneasy friends and allies, and have remained so since.

The Swede, seeking to frame Bohannon, found out about Bohannon’s quest for justice. He arranged for Sergeant Harper to come the encampment. Bohannon, convinced of the man’s guilt, and despite his pleas of innocence, swiftly strangled Harper.

Only then did he find out that the man had not been part of the group that killed his wife. Thus, having killed an innocent man Bohannon became a wanted man and had to leave the village post-haste by horse.

The Swede.

The Swede was tarred, feathered and driven out of town by a mob led by the Irish brothers for a previous grievance. Losing his position as chief of security he had to switch to a new career as an undertaker and latrine collector.

Ms. Bell had her dead husband’s plans for building the railroad. She used these to enter a business relationship with Durant (Season 1).

Riding an outlaw

The story continued in 1866 as Bohannon had joined in with a gang of outlaws that, ironically, robbed trains. The robberies went well until one train was guarded by Ferguson, at which point Bohannon opted to leave the train alone.

He later had a complete change of heart and turned on his outlaw comrades during a robbery. However he was knocked unconscious and left for the authorities to deal with. Bohannon was promptly sentenced to death by the old local Union soldiers, but he was saved by Durant who wanted to re-hire him.

Building of the railroad then proceeded more or less according to plan despite the Swede’s sabotage attempts First, Gundersen arranged for an insane missionary from Hell on Wheels to ally with the local Indians and spread mayhem. He then personally sabotaged the valuable hinge machinery used for bridge construction..

The Swede had become Ms. Bell’s assistant and worked secretly for some insane agenda of his own all along. He further allied with the Indians as some sort of white ghost.

Eva

Eventually Durant was shot and almost killed during a robbery attempt by Bohannon’s old gang. The whole gang, except for their doctor, Doc Whitehead (who had known Bohannon from before the war) were killed by the rallying construction crews, including Bohannon, Ferguson, the Irish brothers and Mrs. Bell.

Indeed, Mrs. Bell had to take control of the construction work during Durant’s long recuperation, at the hands of Eva, a time when she and Bohannon grew much closer and even became lovers.

Doc Whitehead saved Durant and would have been imprisoned had Bohannon, who was his friend, not reluctantly agreed to kill him before that happened. When Durant got back to his leading position his wife arrived, and who then ruthlessly manipulated out Ms. Bell, whom she considered a rival, from the project.

Economic recession, bad weather and Sioux attacks

However, Durant had oversold the project to investors and could not present the promised results and length of track due to all the problems they had had. He therefore desperately offered Bohannon to become a project partner provided he could convince the arriving investors that the result had been unavoidable and the project was still on track.

Durant also ordered Ferguson to kill Mrs. Bell when the last bridge for this stretch had been built since she knew enough to put him into prison.

Ironically, Mrs. Bell had known of the possibility and given all her evidence to Ferguson should something happen to her. As Ferguson was about to kill Mrs. Bell she offered him the job as the railroad project’s new security chief – all that would need to be done would be to send the evidence that Ferguson unknowingly had carried eastwards.

And so Mrs. Bell was saved, and Durant was informed of the situation of his impending doom. Bohannon found out about the Swede’s sabotage and so had him arrested when he came back badly burned by the Indians.

Matters would get much worse still as the Swede informed both Bohannon and Durant that the Sioux would attack the settlement the next night during the blood red moon to wipe out every single man, woman and child in the area.

Plans to evacuate most women and children by train started immediately and nobody could predict the events to come or the future of the railroad project and leadership.

The settlement had Gatling guns and cannons provided by the army for protection received after they had reported the Indian problems before. The Swede of course took the opportunity to escape during the tumult. As expected, the Sioux attacked on masse during the night and Bohannon led groups of men to the defense at the newly built bridge.

The Swede was seen dancing on the street among the burning buildings. Ferguson managed to save his beloved Eva from the house he had built for the two of them at the river further away. The brunt of the attack was eventually stopped, but the destruction was severe.

New beginnings with Swedish psychopaths

Sadly, in the morning after the attack the Swede was waiting for Mrs. Bell in her wagon and planned to kill her only to bring pain to Bohannon – her defensive shot misfired – and so he strangled her.

Bohannon later found her, immediately knowing that it was the Swede’s handiwork and carried her body through town to be seen by all the damaged inhabitants to the local church for burial.

Bohannon and the Swede were then seen walking on the bridge, having last talks, where an almost happy Swede was finally going to be hung for his many crimes. Before Bohannon could secure the rope, however, the Swede jumped far down into the water and quickly floated away seemingly unconscious or dead, robbing Bohannon of his victory.

In light of the troubles the President and the Government of the United States decided to let the railroad project continue. Durant would be questioned as to the evidence that Mrs. Bell had provided them, and the Government representatives thereafter asked Bohannon to take over the project to complete its westwards course.

Bohannon, again having lost everything, probably did accept the position of Chief Engineer of the project because he had nowhere else to go and because it had been Mrs. Bell’s greatest dream to see the railroad come to completion (Season 2).

The new Chief Engineer

In 1867, after a hard winter, Bohannon – apparently decided to abandon his quest for revenge and instead to become a railroad man – and Elam visited the offices in New York to secure their positions on the Union Pacific railroad project, and got the go ahead.

Bohannon became the new Chief Engineer and Ferguson, as the appointed Security Chief was gunned down on the prairie by a Mormon settler, became the new Security Chief.

The son of the Mormon settler was hanged for the crime and the settler swore revenge on Bohannon, but not before Bohannon had had some fun with the farmer’s daughter in secret. At the same time, after some political discussions, Durant managed to also join in the challenge and got released from prison, setting up a rival railroad project.

Things started out initially well for Bohannon, but the building project was delayed when Eva’s and Ferguson’s child was kidnapped. One of the Irish brothers was working as an undercover spy for Durant, feeding him all information on the building progress.

Then, Durant made a surprise visit at the encampment along with General Ulysses S. Grant (two years before the man became President) and legally shut down the railroad project completely, pending an investigation of Bohannon’s suspected murders as had been reported by an investigative journalist, Louise Ellison, at Hell on Wheels.

At the same time, the Swede, who had survived and recuperated, killed an innocent Mormon family out on the prairie, although the son, Ezra, got away.

Ferguson, Psalms and other workers.

Durant led a hearing against Bohannon took judge his character. He was accused for several faults and murders and, given that he was guilty, he did not deny anything.

Bohannon then was offered a document to sign absolving him of all crimes – which would have made the son-in-law of Durant’s new companion the new Chief Engineer of the project – but he refused to do that since it would have been a lie.

Soon after Bohannon had been released he was faced with the brother of the Prescott he had killed in Washington D.C., and coldly killed him. That night Bohannon shared a glass with General Grant at the brother’s saloon.

Next day, they hunted together where Grant told him that he was the man to complete the railroad project, not Durant. As Grant told him that he had renamed the city of Durant into Cheyenne, Bohannon agreed to work together with the northerner. Bohannon got a deadline to work against or Durant would take over his project.

Grant’s visit and Mormon troubles

The lost Mormon son, Ezra – still unable to talk about what had happened – somehow found himself under the care of Bohannon. Eventually, Bohannon and Durant were forced to do some cooperative work that benefited both of their railroads.

Durant had his own problems as he accidentally killed a friend and U.S. Senator during a heated discussion. His informer among the Irish brothers, Sean, had to clean it up, and the same soon came under the suspicion of the Boston police.

As Sean, having been rebaptized as a Christian, sought advice in the local church his elder brother killed him and reported a confession to the police, who thus considered the case solved. Eva gave away her child to the brother of her deceased husband, Mr. Toole, which greatly angered Ferguson who saw the child as his.

Durant, Bell, Ferguson and Bohannon.

It would appear as if, despite all the (usual) problems, Bohannon would manage to build the railroad to Cheyenne right on General Grant’s deadline. This would make him the winner between his and Durant’s building projects. He cashed in his own last stocks to get the men some extra money to work on a Sunday.

With only five miles and two days away from Cheyenne – from where Durant could actually see the approaching build – Durant sent him a telegram to come see him in Cheyenne immediately. He left, along with Ezra and a drunk Ferguson only to have a band of seven bandits pursue them all the way to the city.

Bohannon rode straight to Durant’s place where they went under siege. After a long fight, during which Bohannon was wounded, Ezra was captured and exchanged with Bohannon, who was beaten unconscious and later woke up elsewhere facing his old Mormon settler enemy.

Ferguson went back to Hell on Wheels and ordered the crew to complete the railroad and then go look for Bohannon, as he had wanted. While work proceeded, Bohannon was brought to the Mormon’s farm.

There he was to stand trial, a trial that was held by Bishop Joseph Dutson, which was the new identity assumed by the Swede, after he had killed those Mormon travellers.

It was a great shock to Bohannon, who had almost accepted his fate by this time, and sprung him into violent action while chained as he tried to strangle the Swede. Naturally, the Mormons would not listen to the truth about their new Bishop.

Cheyenne completed and family life

Once the railroad build was up to speed, Ferguson got armed and rode off into Indian lands to find Bohannon in lands beyond at the Mormons; after all, the man had ordered a halt on the railroad project when his own child had been kidnapped. Bohannon was on trial and presented with the farmer’s daughter that now was pregnant with his child.

While awaiting his sentence at the hand of the Swede, he offered the Mormon to become the husband of her pregnant daughter. The Swede made it known to Bohannon that he would suffer more by being alive than escape by a quick hanging.

When the railroad to Cheyenne was completed on time, further construction was reluctantly given over to Durant in the absence of Bohannon. Durant arranged for the surviving Irish brother to become the mayor of the city as thanks for his “help”.

Louise Ellison, in her turn became the first female editor of a newspaper in the country in Cheyenne. Ruth set up a church in town together with Ezra. The workers would continue building westwards from Cheyenne.

And as to Ferguson, well, he was last seen fighting a bear with a knife… At that time Bohannon was married to the Mormon farmer’s 18-year-old daughter, Naomi by the Swede, after he had promised to stay there to the spring the child was born.

He was set to work daily in farmer’s work – the very work that he had left in the first place for a more adventurous life – probably to be tormented daily by the Swede whom he couldn’t touch.

However, the story is not yet concluded, and a continuation will follow…

Description

Bohannon has scruffy, unkempt looks with long, stringy black hair, black beard and moustache and grey clothes and a gun (but he cleans up well if he really tries to).

He rarely smiles, but mostly keeps a sober, depressed or angry expression. He of course talks with a southern accent.

Personality

A gunslinger looking for redemption

Bohannon is a seemingly ice-cold southerner that doesn’t really care about much since he lost his family. He drinks excessively and his guilt is a powerful numbing force, but once revenge is close he explodes into action.

Like Mr. Swede put it: Bohannon tries to tell himself that he doesn’t like to kill, but he just can’t stop. Or as Durant said: Bohannon, a gunslinger and an aristocrat, only thrives on the narrow escape from his own recklessness.

Chief Many-Horses.

He bears a great hidden rage inside and he does feel great guilt for all his past failures and for his own bloodthirstiness. Pointing this out is a sure way to get under his skin, to agitate and to irritate him greatly. He is, however, decent enough to have problems with shooting down friends and honorable allies.

His explosive temper often gets the better of him, as does excessive drinking – he won’t take any crap from anyone and will occasionally explode into violence. However, neither does he ever try to explain himself or defend himself against accusations.

Archenemies

While he has done a lot of horrible things there is a weak basic decency and sense about doing the right thing as well. He used to be pretty rich back south and had an extensive breeding and education, but nowadays keeps a low, poor profile.

Indeed, people can sense that this man walks the border between the paths of a good man and an insane murderer, and stern words from him is therefore usually enough to make most men back down.

In most cases his own sense of survival wins out – that is, unless he is sincerely asked by someone decent, such as Ms. Lily Bell, to do his part for revenge or justice. Also, when he knows an injustice has been carried out he sometimes feels compelled to correct it – almost as if he were compensating for his inner demons – and then particularly if Mr. Swede is involved.

He and the so-called Swede have a strong natural enmity and irritate each other by their mere presence – words quickly get inflated and out of control even if both are trying to keep a civil tone behind all the accusations and insults.

As to his feelings towards the man in general, he really wanted to kill him (he is the only one who has fully and completely pinned down his bad character), but innately knew that doing so would put him beyond the point of no return (in game terms he would lose a lot of HPs for killing his Enemy).

Usually he tells himself that Swede is an insane dog that needs to be put down, but the Swede always manages to talk his way out of it by highlighting all of Bohannon’s bad traits and activating his sense of guilt. After all, Bohannon does genuinely wish for redemption, a feeling that is slowly growing stronger and stronger within him.

Rivalry and love

He respected the boss, Thomas Durant, but tried to stay as neutral towards the man as well as he possibly could; that is, until they became rivals and Bohannon learned of his real character. Mrs. Lily Bell, on the other hand – referred to as the Fair Maiden of the West in the newspapers – represents a sophisticated ideal for him of a better and more decent life.

She reminds him of what he could still have, but has lost. He will listen to her advice, pleas for help and behave politely, yet not in any weak manner, more towards her than with other folks.

There is some strong chemistry between them, which resulted in them becoming lovers, and they would likely always have stayed on good terms if she hadn’t been taken too early. Women do, in general, seem to take a great liking to him.

Comrades-in-arms

His relationship with Ferguson is complex. They are friends, rivals, opposites, comrades in arms and sometimes even enemies, all at the same time. However, while an old slave owner, Bohannon’s wife made him open his eyes to the injustice of the whole deal before her death, so racism is mostly out the picture for Bohannon.

He generally distrusts northerners and in particular old Union soldiers, and has met very few good Indians (ones that didn’t try to kill him on sight; still, while by no means a softie, he does not abide by senseless slaughter of Indian populations).

Most people at Hell on Wheels seem to respect him and will listen to what he has to say, including Mr. Toole, Psalms, the McGinnes brothers, Joseph Black Moon, Ruth the female pastor and Eva the ex-prostitute and Ferguson’s beloved.

He will reasonably respect honorable military men, even old Unionists (like General Grant), but his heart still beats strongest for the South and southerners though.

Quotes

“To hell with people.”

“Damn it, Elan, the man wasn’t done speakin’ his last words.”

“That’s the first truth you speak since we’ve met.”

“Take this and ride on.” [hands man a gun in the wilderness] “Come back to Hell on Wheels and I hang you both. Run into Indians, you got two of these [bullets]. One for you and one for her. Her first. We’ve all been left out here, son.”

“I’ve done every damn thin’ that they say I’ve done.”

“We’ve been through hell and back. Indians, rain, drought, gollar. You men have done a hell of a job. I’m proud of all of you all. Now, you gets to Cheyenne by tomorrow night first two roundses are on me. Whores are on Dutch. Get to work !”

[After the sheriff asks him who shot Bubba Weed] “Yeah, I did.” [have a drink]. ”Durant hired him and others to kill UP crew and rustle cattle and I want them back.” [asked about proof and Bohannon points at Bubba and is informed that live witnesses are usually needed]. ”He did the rustlin’.” [points at Bubba] “And he did the hirin’.” [points at Durant]
Sheriff: “Mr. Durant here hasn’t left town for three days. Now, Bubba here is wanted for rustling and rustling is a hanging crime. Come see me if you want your reward. Now, clean up this mess and then clear out.”

DC Universe History

Bohannon was in the same Confederate Cavalry company as Jebediah Kent during the war. He is rumored to also have fought or met Jebediah’s brother, the Unionist Nathaniel Kent (the grandfather of Jonathan Kent of Superman fame), either on the battlefield or when Nathaniel was the Sheriff of Smallville after the war as Bohannon was tracking down his next target.

Jebediah Kent, at one time serving under William Clarke Quantrill (with whom Jonah Hex also had some dealings), had joined in with James Younger of the Younger Gang after the war, until he betrayed them all to the law.

Actually, Doc Whitehead – Bohannon’s old southern friend – could perhaps take the place of Jebediah Kent is such a scenario, and Bohannon would have been his commanding officer during the war.

Doc Jebediah ’Whitehead‘ Kent would have met his demise as a favor by Bohannon as shown at the start of the second season of the series.

By Dr. Peter S Piispanen.

Source of Character: Hell on Wheels seasons 01-03, character played by Anson Mount (ain’t that just the perfect name for a Cavalry officer ? Actually, I heard his great-great-great-grandfather had been a Confederate Cavalry Colonel in the American Civil War).

Helper(s): Darci, Azrael, Sébastien Andrivet.

Writeup completed on the 30^th of December, 2013.