BRIGID BAZLEN

Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, she portrays Dora Hawkins, the cunning temptress daughter of a renegade river pirate preying on unsuspecting pioneer families.

WALTER BRENNAN

Born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and three-time Oscar winner, he creates Colonel Hawkins, a river pirate, who matches wits with a mountain man and loses.

DAVID BRIAN

Born in New York City, he portrays the Van Valen family attorney who must console an aging widow while her possessions are sold at auction.

ANDY DEVINE

Born in Flagstaff, Arizona, he plays Corporal Petersen, the simple postman who finds glory in a gaudy Union uniform during the Civil War.

RAYMOND MASSEY

Born in Toronto, Canada, and television's famed Doctor Gillespie, he recreates his memorable characterization of  "Abe Lincoln in Illinois."

AGNES MOOREHEAD

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, she portrays Rebecca Prescott, courageous farmer's wife, who follows her husband into the unknown wilderness. (Editor's note: she later starred in the TV show "Bewitched".)

HENRY (Harry) MORGAN

Born in Detroit, Michigan, he plays the indomitable General Ulysses S. Grant, who changed the course of American history at the Battle of Shiloh.  (Editor's note: he later starred in the TV shows "Dragnet" and "M.A.S.H.")

THELMA RITTER

Born in Brooklyn, New York, she portrays Agatha Clegg, plainswoman in search of a new land and a man, any man who comes along.

MICKEY SHAUGHNESSY

Born in New York City, and a noted night club comedian, he plays a straight role as a deputy marshal in a lawless Arizona mining town.

RUSS TAMBLYN

Born in Los Angeles, California, he plays a young Confederate soldier from Texas who, like many a Union soldier, wasn't quite sure what he was fighting for.