Charles Hudson

Kent Hudson † (Brother)

## Introduction

**Charles Hudson** is a hard-working individual, putting all of his efforts into whatever task he is given or undertakes himself. He cares greatly for his friends and the people in his community, especially those that show that back to him. His past, which is full to the brim of nefarious deeds and law-breaking, prevents him from seeing himself in any other light other than bad, despite all of the people that tell him otherwise and all of the good that he does. Because of the way that he views himself, he does not believe that he deserves to be happy, making himself his own barrier to becoming what he easily could be.

He is happy to be the person to go to when someone needs help or advice but once the tables are turned, Charles has a tough time being the one to accept help. His unmatched stubbornness in not wanting people to worry about him often puts him in dangerous positions.

The older brother to Kent, Charles, for almost 20 years, made every decision based on the benefit of his brother. Once his brother passed away, Charles was forced to begin making decisions for his own benefit, a foreign concept to him. After traveling for over 4 years unaccompanied due to the unfortunate passing of his brother, Charles has thought extremely hard about what it is that he thinks his brother would want him to do.

## Biography

Charles was born in 1862 to his father, George, and his mother, Anna in Eldora, Colorado. George was a carpenter from Wyoming, a third-generation American with little to no education worth mentioning. Anna was an English immigrant that worked as a teacher in both the UK and US.

The Hudson family only lived in Colorado for 2 years, when they decided to move back to George's home State, specifically a small town called 'Richwood'. Almost a year after settling into their new home, George and Anna welcomed their newborn son, Kent, into the family. They spent the next 9 years as normally as you could back in the 1860s/70s.

On November 17, 1874, Richwood was attacked by a gang. Charles and Kent got away from the attack but lost their parents. After walking until sunrise, the last members of the Hudson family were taken into town by their eventual foster parents. They lived with their new family for around 6 years but that came to an end when Charles strangled his foster father to death for pulling a knife on Kent. They fled and began living on the streets, making every decision for the benefit of the other. There was nothing that Charles would not do for Kent and vice versa, whether it was robbing, scamming and even killing, as long as the other was doing well, they would do it.

After robbing the wrong person, Charles and Kent were running for their lives when they ran into a gang of 4 people; William, Carlos, Marcus and Beatrice. They protected the brothers, helping them hide in their carriage to escape. Once at a safe distance, Charles and Kent explained their situation to the 4 when they were welcomed into the gang. As they moved around the country, breaking the law everywhere they went, the gang only began to grow. Charles and Kent became highly trusted and valued members of the gang, becoming the go-to members whenever a job needed to be done.

Kent was not very happy with their roles, believing that they were bad people and they were destroying the lives of the innocent. He tried his best to get through to Charles but it was not until he was set to be executed in Georgia that Charles came to that conclusion himself. After Charles was saved by his brother and told that William had no intention of helping Charles, they decided to leave the gang, though that came with a hefty price.

Charles and Kent told the rest of the gang that they were going to town to scope out the bank but they actually skipped town and ran from William and the rest of the gang. They ran from them for a little over a year when on October 19 1895 Charles got caught. The gang took Charles to a secluded spot in the woods to kill him but just as they were about to, Kent came charging out of the woods, shooting at everyone that he could see. He took almost half of the gang out by himself as the other half retreated into the trees. Kent rushed to Charles and untied him. As he stood up, Charles saw that his brother was falling to the ground. Kent had been shot in the head and lied motionless on the ground. Before he could react, bullets began flying past Charles. Without any time to grieve, mourn or say goodbye, Charles could only run. Once he was away and knew he was not being followed, he collapsed and silently cried for hours. The one person that he swore to protect had been taken away from him, unable to prevent or go back and change it.

For the next 3 and a half years, Charles would travel the country, never staying anywhere for any longer than 2 weeks as he knew that the gang was hot on his heels. He would do random jobs here and there to get by such as horse wrangling, ranch work, construction and bounty hunting. He then found himself in the West, expecting to stay there for the usual time, Charles made no effort to make friends. However, he found some in the security company that he joined. Before he knew it, he had been there for over 2 months.

In July 1899, Charles was diagnosed with pneumonia. He became fragile and weak as his condition only grew worse and worse. Once at the point where he was struggling to walk, Charles decided that he would go into the mountains and wait to die there. Whilst he was up there, he thought about all of the people that he would leave behind without any kind of explanation to where he had gone. He knew that his come was coming so he lied down in bed and waiting. Surprisingly, instead of dying, Charles woke up from a long and deep sleep. What's more, is that Charles actually started feeling better. He stayed in the mountains for a while longer, not wanting to get any hopes up but before he knew it, he was gaining his weight back and looking almost back to normal.

Charles made his way down the mountain to find that all of his friends had moved on, leaving him alone. With no clear goal or purpose, Charles continued to wander around the state trying to help out wherever he could. After falling back into the same position of loneliness that he was before, knowing that without his friends to help him, Charles decided to leave just in case the threat of William's gang had grown closer. Over the few weeks that Charles began traveling again, he made his way back up to Colorado to finally visit his brother's grave for the first time.

The next stop on his map was the State of Odessa. He now resides on the West side of the State, spending most of his time in and around Strawberry. Charles began to consider Strawberry his home as he was welcomed into the town with welcome arms. He soon found himself back in the bounty hunting saddle as he has undertaken several bounties for the State; notably bringing in the 'Husband Killer' Jane Callahan and taking part in her execution.

On Wednesday April 7th, Charles proposed to his partner Arlene Leroy after months of waiting for the right time to ask. To his delight, she accepted his proposal. The couple married only 10 days later at the cliffs edge near Bard's Crossing in a ceremony in front of their closest friends.

## Working in Odessa

After several life-changing experiences during his time in Odessa, Charles was provided with a new career path by Sheriff Thomas Hoop; a lawman. He was not very interested in taking the job at first but as he grew to care for the town of Strawberry and the people that reside there, he began to think that it was the next best direction for him to follow. He told Hoop that he would give him an answer within a week and the very next day, Charles became a Deputy of Strawberry. It did not take Charles very long to gain the trust of Hoop and show himself to be a man that gets his job done thoroughly. After only two weeks spent as a Deputy, Charles was promoted to Undersheriff.

Towards the end of December, it was announced that the Odessa Sheriff Elections would be taking place in January. The candidates were finalized at the end of the first week, Charles choosing not to run. However, the elections were soon postponed to a future date. During the time, Charles had noticed himself being one of, if not the only Strawberry lawman around through the day. Due to the voting being put on hold, the applications were reopened, which peaked the interest of Charles. Though he told Sheriff Hoop and Arlene Leroy that he would not run, actually telling the latter of his plans to retire after the elections, Charles felt the need to go back on his word and run for Sheriff in order to get the town back to the way it was when he first arrived. On January 31, 1899 Charles declared his candidacy for Sheriff of Strawberry.

With no one else running for the town of Strawberry besides Charles, he was officially made Sheriff on 02/11/1899 once voting had concluded.

Charles spent a long time trying to find an actual house for him to live in, for a long time camping in the wilderness or spending nights at the Strawberry Welcome Center. He was eventually able to find a small cabin at Pronghorn Ranch to call home. His days there were always uneventful, it took him a while to realize that the entire property was empty, no signs of anyone else living there beside himself. Many attempts were made to find out who exactly was in charge of the ranch but he was unable to find anything. Coming to the conclusion that the ranch has more or less been abandoned at this point, Charles decided that he would run the ranch himself. He asked his good friend Arlene Leroy if she would be interested in assisting him with this venture. The two now run the ranch together.

On February 20, 1899 Charles was in the Strawberry jail house, talking with a prisoner named Trade Wind, a Native man arrested for murdering several US Marshalls. The two, though not close friends, were well acquainted and respected each other. A group of other lawmen came to town to transfer him out of town. As they began the early stages of getting the transport started, they were ambushed by the Del Lobos, a gang from Tumbleweed, the same gang that Charles ran afoul of in mid-November. Charles was shot in the neck by Bobby LeBeef. The rest of the lawmen were able to fend off the Lobos, putting all of them in the empty cell while they treated the downed lawmen. Charles tried desperately to put pressure on his own neck to reduce blood loss but before too long, his strength faded and passed out. Trade Wind was allowed out of his cell to begin providing medical assistance to Charles. He did his best to patch Charles up and make sure he did not die. Once he was done, he put Charles in the back of the Strawberry Doctor's Office where he rested.

After finding out about the Del Lobos plans to take over Blackwater, Charles became the temporary Sheriff of West Elizabeth County. This makes him in charge of everything from MacFarlane's Ranch to Big Valley. He was able to negotiate peace with Bobby LeBeef, though whether this deal lasts is yet to be determined.

## Kent Hudson

Kent was always viewed by Charles as the better person out of the two. He was the voice of reason for Charles, keeping him from going too far on multiple occasions. Kent was the first to realize just how bad the things that they had done and were doing to people were. He tried to convince Charles that they needed to leave the gang for years before they finally did.

Kent was killed on October 19 1895 when he was trying to save Charles after he was captured by their old gang. He is buried in Colorado next to a big oak tree. His memory still lives on with each decision that Charles makes.

## The Richwood Massacre

One night in November 1874, Charles awoke to screaming. He made his way down the stairs to see his father, halfway out of the front door with his shotgun in hand telling Anna to not worry. Anna begged her husband to stay inside where it was safe. George refused and said he would be back soon. With that scene over, Charles was able to notice the orange light flooding through the windows. He went over to see what was happening and the sight shook him. The town was on fire, people were running frantically, all the while being chased by men dressed in black riding horses. He was quickly pulled away from the windows and held in his mother's arms, the screaming, gunshots and roaring fires painting a clear picture in his head. Richwood was being raided by a gang.

After only 5 minutes of sitting on the floor as his mother cried and cradled him, Charles' father burst through the door, his shirt covered in blood and clutching his throat. As Anna screamed, George closed the door behind himself and slumped again it. He tried to speak but nothing wanted to come out. He died looking into Charles' eyes. Knowing that her husband had passed, Anna decided to take action. She told Charles to take Kent down to the river and hide while she gets some supplies. Charles woke Kent up and climbed out of the back window with him. As they sprinted down to the river, the screams began to quieten. They sat behind a boulder for 10 minutes as they waited for their mother to find them. Once Charles heard the screams rise in volume, he realized that the source was growing closer. That is when he made a very tough decision. He grabbed his brother and crossed the river.

He and Kent walked for over 6 hours when they were eventually picked up by a couple on a wagon. They went to the nearest town where a Sheriff was alerted of the goings-on in Richwood. As the sheriff and his group of lawmen rode up, all they could see were dead bodies, rubble and fire. Everything was destroyed and everyone was dead. Charles and Kent were the only two survivors of the massacre. They grew up unaware of how their mother had passed, quite frankly not wanting to know either. Although they are unsure of the details, they do know that it was not in any way pleasant.

## The Shooting of Ruby Creek

In July 1895, Charles and the rest of his gang were in Ruby Creek, Georgia, looking to rob a wealthy man. To get more information about the man that they intended on robbing, the gang sent a trusted member of the group to act like one of the working girls at the saloon. The plan went as intended until the man tried to make advances towards her before they could open the door to his room. As she rejecting him, he became enraged and beat her to a pulp. Once she returned to William and the rest of the gang, they decided that they would forget about the intended target and kill this man instead.

Later that week, Charles, Kent, William, Marcus and Carlos rode into town with the intention of kidnapping the man. They entered the saloon and found the man at the bar, where he was bragging about what he had done to the woman. Before anyone knew what the plan was, William had pulled out his revolver and shot the man directly in the back of the head. The gang jumped behind the bar as a hurdle of bullets began flying in their direction. A big shootout started but through strategic actions, the gang was able to fend off all of the people that were trying to kill them, leaving the saloon in a bloody mess, filled with bullet-riddled bodies. The men ran out of the saloon with the intention of running South to Florida. William, however, had different plans. He began shooting at everyone he saw and due to their blind loyalty, the rest started shooting, too.

Once half of the town had been shot dead, William was finally satisfied and decided to leave. The gang rode as fast as they could to camp but Charles got split up from the rest of the gang and caught by the law. Charles was thrown in a cell and waited 2 weeks for his public execution to take place. The day finally came for Charles to be hung but he saw Kent in the crowd. Just before the executioner could pull the lever, he was shot by Carlos with a rifle on the building opposite the gallows. Kent shot and killed several lawmen as he made his way up to Charles to free him. The men were able to get out of the town without much interruption but once Charles and Kent were alone, Kent informed Charles that William was ready to leave Charles to die. If it had not been for Kent's persistent pleas, William would have already fled to Florida. This is when Charles was finally convinced by Kent's words to leave the gang.