Character Traits

Evergreen Ranch

Various Business Interests

• Elias is a wealthy landowner and businessman. The Steelgrave empire rivals that of any of the robber barons in the east.
• Details: Duties, Elias now simply oversees his empire. He has sons to handle the family's affairs.
• Skills:  Still a ruthless and deceptive businessman, still capable of getting what he is after. 
• Responsibilities: The overseeing of his holdings and the care for his family.

Hobbies / Interests

• Making lots of money.
• Destroying Lost Lake Ranch
• Land acquisition

Wife: Elinor Steelgrave

Status: Living

Age: 60s

Elinor Steelgrave is a handsome woman in her sixties. She is very petite, almost delicate looking, but her appearance disguises a spine of steel. In demeanor, she is invariably polite in a condescending manner. She is highly intelligent. Like Elias, Elinor manages the family with an iron fist. This steel is applied in her business dealings as well.

Children

Benjamin Steelgrave (Late 30s)

Benjamin Steelgrave is the eldest son and his father’s right-hand man when his mother allows him to be. Along with his wife, Nona, and two young sons, he has moved to the new ranch in Whitefish. Benjamin would be considered a gentleman rancher as he has no inclination to actually work the range. He is a rather handsome and elegant man who, like his mother, has a somewhat condescending air when he speaks. He is not unintelligent, but he is not the brains of the family.

James Cassidy Steelgrave

Nickname: Case

Age: Mid to late 30s

Case Steelgrave is the next in line of the Steelgrave brothers. He is probably the most intelligent of the siblings and the deadliest. Case is charming and cunning, and only comes truly alive when it is time to kill. However, he manages to goad his target into drawing first, therefore never facing murder charges. He is proud of his legend, but has one goal for the future, goad Shade Thornton into a gunfight.

For several years, Case made his home base in Texas. He moved to Whitefish and was the town marshal. Since it's destruction he has led a gang of rustlers and murderers, moving about the territory.

Clayton Steelgrave (Mid 30s)

Clayton was employed as the foreman of Evergreen Ranch, the Steelgraves’ ranch in Whitefish. He is the family member that is least interested in perpetuating the feud with the Thornton. He has longed for a ranch to work and, under other circumstances, would have likely gone on the drift. He is generally good with horses, cattle, and people. He enjoys working and playing hard. Clayton is also good-natured, usually quick to smile and laugh. Despite the fact that Shade Thornton killed his younger brother, he would like to see the feud ended.

He is married to Janet Redmond and they have four children (two boys, two girls). Lives just east of Great Falls.

Zeke Steelgrave (30s)

Zeke has taken over the management of most of the Steelgrave’s non-ranching business interests. Of course, he answers to Elinor when it comes to business decisions, but as he has a very keen business sense, she does not interfere often. Zeke, like his elder sibling and mother, loathes everything Thornton and does not bother to disguise it. He is also cunning enough to interfere with the Thorntons’ various business interests without being overt or having it easily traced to him. Currently living in Helena, is unmarried.

Calvin Steelgrave (deceased, a. 22 at TOD)

Calvin “Cal” Steelgrave was spoiled, arrogant, and truly psychotic. He was the family hellion and used to getting what he wanted or taking it if there was resistance, women included. He also considered himself as good a gunfighter as any that’d ever been born. While carousing with his brothers in Missoula, he spotted Regina Cantrell being escorted by her future brother-in-law, seventeen-year-old Shade Thornton. He caught her coming out of a store and tried to drag her into an alley and assault her. Shade heard the struggle and beat Calvin severely, even though he was younger and less experienced. A few hours later, Calvin lay in wait, intending to shoot Regina. Instead, Shade killed him.

Much to the fury of the Steelgraves, the shooting was ruled self-defense and Shade was not charged. The Steelgraves vowed vengeance leading to Shade leaving home.

Daughter

Leah Steelgrave

Status: Living

Age: Mid-to-late 20s

Leah is a lovely and pampered young woman with a nasty streak where men are concerned. She seems to enjoy luring them into her web and then crying foul, forcing her brothers to send them packing, usually not very gently. Most men call her bewitching. Those that have been caught in her trap, call her a witch. All of this was once true, but somewhere along the line, Leah changed. Defying her father is proof of said changes. That and her interest in the community.

Non-Familial Connections

Friends

Very few. He does trust his legal henchman to a certain extent (Carson Tyndall).

Others To be determined during gameplay.

Foes

Anything Thornton, friends and associates as well.

1837

Elias’ banner year. He kills his first man, marries Elinor Trench and greets his first child, a boy, Benjamin.

He grew up living off of his Grandfathers' investments and holdings. Now, as a father, he began his quest for more property, power, and prestige.

1847

By the age of 27 and In a short ten years, Elias Steelgrave doubled the family holdings in the Northeast and he began looking to the west as the next step in his climb to the top. So he packed up his family that now included four sons and a wife that matched his tenacity in the pursuit of wealth and headed west in one of the family’s wagon trains. They settled in a couple of different areas, but Elias' urge for dominance and power drove them further westward.

1860

Elias finally settled his family in the growing town of Missoula Mills. Missoula was founded in 1860 as “Hellgate Trading Post” while still part of Washington Territory. By 1866, the settlement had moved east, 5 miles (8 km) upstream, and was renamed Missoula Mills, later shortened to Missoula.

Elias built an elaborate mansion overlooking the Bitterroot River, making the eventual city of Missoula the Steelgrave family’s western headquarters.

1861

The war in the east offered a new business opportunity for the Steelgraves. Importing rifles by the boatload, they supplied the Confederacy, so long as they could pay. When the ports of the south were blockaded by the Union Navy, Elias attempted to send his cargo overland by the wagon load. However, that became too risky with the Plains Indians attacking his trains. Even hs routes into Texas became too perilous. So, he organized a network of purveyors who dealt with several Indian tribes dealing in all manner of goods including whiskey. So guns, powder, and lead were a natural addition.

1862-1864

In 1862, the youngest Steelgrave son, Calvin, was shot and killed in Missoula by Shade Thornton. The shooting was ruled self-defense which sent the grief-stricken Steelgraves into a rage. Vowing revenge, Elias set out to ruin the Thorntons. Simply buying the Thorntons out was not an option. Besides, the family was very entrenched in the Kalispell region. So, Elias began acquiring neighboring parcels of land north of the Thorntons' Lost Lake Ranch. Those he could not buy, he acquired by hook or crook. Soon, he had a rival ranch that he named Evergreen and he moved his family north.

The hostilities between the Thorntons and Steelgraves continued escalating.

The Evergreen ranch continued expanding as the SGR added another parcel of range after the sixth farmer or small rancher was burned out with the act being blamed on Indians, expertly portrayed by SGR riders.

1867

Frustrated by his lack of influence in the town of Kalispell, not to mention the fact that its founding was accredited to Ishmael Thornton, Elias set about creating the town of Whitefish. 

1865-1875

The ten-year span of bloodletting, rustling began to ease up as serious law was being developed in response to not only the lawlessness of the Steelgraves but other factions as well. Elias called off his riders, mostly hired guns who would only be used to secure new lands, hold water holes if and when they were found and ride the property line. But bad blood was far from over between the two, it bubbled just below the surface.

The Steelgrave clan had grown in both wealth and power but the plan to take the Chogun Valley from the Thorntons had stalled and seemed more difficult than ever.