Name: "Big" Ben Hawkes
Age: 36
Sex: Male
Handedness: Right
Home State/Birthplace: Crossville Tennessee



Ben Hawkes was born in the small town of Crossville, Tennessee, nestled atop the Cumberland Plateau.  His first love was carpentry, and he made a modest living by that trade as a young adult, travelling all around Cumberland County plying his trade.  He married a little late, but as with most things in his life Ben was deliberate when choosing a partner.  When he finally found Elizabeth he knew.

Their young life was interrupted by the war, which came to Crossville in the form of vigilante groups.  The county was split for both sides and violence often erupted even with no formal troops in the area.  After one too many such incidents by the Union supporters, Ben left to join the Confederates in the hopes of winning the war and returning to the life he and Elizabeth were just starting.

It was three long years he was away and the war had hardened him in ways he didn't like.  But he hoped a return to a simple homesteading life would help heal him.  But the war hadn't finished with him yet.  When he finally rode back home, a ragged Confederate sergeant, he found a ravaged town and worse, he discovered Elizabeth had been murdered in a raid just a few months earlier.  He tried to stay but couldn't reconcile his old life with his new.  Eventually he just drifted away, riding west in the hopes that somewhere out there he would find peace.

But in the rough and ready lands across the Mississippi and beyond Ben found only more unrest.  His size and grizzled look invited plenty of challenges, and as often as not Ben accommodated the fools who sought to test him.  His fists hardened and his gun grew quick.  He moved often, ever westward with a southern slant.  Until he finally found himself riding a train, with only a few dollars in his pocket and barely more bullets than his pistol could hold...

Ben is visually intimidating, a tall and powerfully muscled mountain of a man with surprising, extremely fast reactions.  His dark hair is starting to grey at the temples and in small patches of his beard.  He is deliberate in his speech and expressions, but that gives him time to notice what's changing around him.  He does have a wry sense of humour that will evoke a smile now and again, as the occasion permits.

Both his stature and deeds since coming to Mad Mesa have made him recognizable to the locals, and though he reached town on something of a losing streak it seems he's winning almost as much as losing these days, a nice change.  Maybe his luck is finally picking up?