Stephen Baldwin as William F. Cody. This is the same Cody who would later become known as "Buffalo Bill" and lead a famous Wild West show, and the show made occasional references to that future. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the real Cody did ride for the Pony Express, although some recent historians have questioned that. In the show, Cody is strong and brave -- but often manages to rub his fellow riders wrong with his pranks and bragging.

Josh Brolin as James Butler Hickok. Another character loosely based on history, the show foreshadowed some of what would shape the like of "Wild Bill" Hickok. The real Hickok did work for Russell, Majors & Waddell at the Rock Creek Station, but was never actually a rider. The show's Hickok grows from a hot-tempered gunman to a more contemplative figure, foreshadowed by a dark future, by the end of the show.

Brett Cullen as Sam Cain. Sam was the town Marshal in Sweetwater during Season 1. Quick with a gun, and with a steady nerve, he kept order in the town -- and won the heart of Emma Shannon along the way. Between Season 1 and Season 2, the character was written out of the show with a brief explanation that he'd accepted the job of Territorial Marshal and moved away.

Travis Fine as Ike McSwain. Ike lost his hair to scarlet fever as a child, and is also mute. He wound up in an orphanage when his family was murdered. People are often afraid of Ike -- afraid of his differences. With no voice, he has a hard time communicating, except through Indian sign language, learned courtesy of his fellow rider, Buck Cross.

Don Franklin as Noah Dixon. Noah is a free black man, heavily involved in the abolition movement. When we first meet him at the beginning of Season 2, he's using his last dollar to buy freedom for a woman and her son. Drawn into the Pony Express family, Noah's storylines offer a different perspective on the racial attitudes of the times. True to the way he lived, Noah meets his demise in the series finale, fighting against a band of southern raiders.

Melissa Leo as Emma Shannon. Emma owns the farm being used as a home station in Sweetwater. She's the perfect mother figure for the orphans hired as riders -- stern and practical, but loving. Emma has enough pain of her own in her past, like a husband who abandoned her, and a baby lost to illness. But the town Marshal captures her eye, and eventually her heart. Emma's character was written out of the show after Season 1 -- she married Sam Cain and moved off with him when he became Territorial Marshal.

Ty Miller as Kid. Kid hails from Virginia, and at various times the show introduces his brother (a southern sympathizer) and a childhood friend in Doritha -- but we never learn his name. The impending Civil War leaves him torn between staying with his new family -- and his new love -- and returning to Virginia to fight for the Confederacy. At the end of the series, his decision was still up in the air.

Christopher Pettiet as Jesse James. Yes, that Jesse James -- who never had any connection whatsoever with the Pony Express. Apparently introduced to try and attract a younger audience, Jesse appeared during Season 3. He held various odd jobs around town, created significant trouble, and eventually left with his brother, Frank, in the series finale.

Gregg Rainwater as Buck Cross. Half white and half Kiowa, Buck has struggled his whole life to fit in. Never really accepted by the Kiowa, where he was raised by his mother, he left to seek out his white heritage. He finally wound up at an orphanage, where he met his best friend, Ike McSwain. Buck's skill as a tracker comes in handy many times, and he's deadly accurate with a knife. Always trying to balance in two worlds, he faces hatred and discrimination on a regular basis, but remains loyal to his Pony Express family.

Yvonne Suhor as Lou (Louise) McCloud. Louise McCloud is a survivor -- and she decides that her best chance of survival, and making a decent living on her own, is to disguise herself as a boy. Originally feared to be too "puny" for the job, Lou proves her mettle as a rider. The other riders learn her true identity in Season 1, but they join ranks to protect her secret and keep her in the family. After an on-agin, off-again romance, Louise marries Kid in the series finale.

Clare Wren as Rachel Dunne. After Emma's departure, the riders need a new cook and housekeeper -- enter Rachel Dunne. On the run from a trumped-up murder charge, she brings a few secrets with her. She also has a bit of a past in the saloons and card rooms of New Orleans. But she holds her own with the riders, and soon becomes a part of the family.

Anthony Zerbe as Aloysius "Teaspoon" Hunter. Teaspoon is the stationmaster for the Pony Express when we first meet him -- and what a meeting, rising up out of the horse trough and extolling the virtues of bear grease. He's earned his gray hair as a soldier, a Texas Ranger, a lawman, a miner, a trapper, and maybe a few other things that push the bounds of the law. After Sam Cain's "promotion (and Brett Cullen's departure from the show), Teaspoon does double duty as the town Marshal in Sweetwater and Rock Creek.