George Vandervoort

[The Doctor plus one]

Name: George M. Vandervoort
Rank: Major, retired
Occupation: Hired gun
Nick Names/Aliases: Mister Vandervoort
Age: 44, February 28th 1836
Appearance: 6'0” tall. Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes. Going only by his looks one would never guess his profession. Vandervoort sticks to clean clothes, usually following the latest trend in fashion. He keeps a neatly trimmed mustache and goatee.
Belongings/Equipment:
- 1 S&W No 3 with 7 inch barrel
- 1 S&W No 3 Model 2 with 3.5 inch barrel (usually hidden on his back on his belt)
- 1 Sharps 1877 30” 45-70 caliber, sporting a rather unusual setup

- 1 horse, brown, stallion, saddle, and the rest of the gear you need for riding a horse
- 1 gold watch, engraved (liberated from a Confederate plantation in South Carolina)
- brass collapsible telescope
- field glass (liberated from a dead Confederate colonel at Vicksburg)
Any distinguishing features: -
Place of Birth: New York
Family:
Father: Cornelius Lawrence Vandervoort
Mother: Angela
Sisters: Katherine & Jane

Brief Personal History:
Vandervoort was born in 1836's New York. Back then the situation with the immigrants, especially Irish, wasn't that bad, though that would soon change. The Vandervoorts first came from Holland, back when New York was still called New Amsterdam. The proper writing of the name in Dutch was “van der Voort”. The family supported Washington and ended up supporting Lincoln as well, except for George. He didn't care much about the Union or slavery. Considering that the family was running a company dealing with imports and exports they were off rather well, so what did slavery matter for them? Thus George spent most of his time as a “gentleman”, though the term “playboy” was more fitting. Women, especially those who could be exploited easily, were usually not safe around him. Especially maid servants were a common “target”. A couple of lies usually did it. Once George had what he wanted, he didn't hesitate and dumped them quickly.

When the Civil War started in 1861 George had a rather uncomfortable situation at hand. No, not the war, but rather the daughter of an influential banker from New York, who had ended up pregnant because of an adventure with George. How embarrassing. George ended up with two options: marry her or...

Volunteer for the war.

Killing a few rebels and coming home a hero sounded a lot better than having to marry the girl, even if it was just for one or two weeks. At least, as a war hero, there would be nothing he couldn't do. He would marry her and carry on with his “adventures”.

Though, the Rebels didn't agree with that plan and decided not to lose at Bull Run. Thus the war didn't end right away. How annoying, how dared those southerners mess up his plans. George remained in the Union Army and served through the whole war. Luckily for him, not so luckily for the South, he ended up on the western theater, thus he was spared the great slaughter that awaited the Army of the Potomac. Serving under Sherman had its good sides. Once they were pushing into Georgia the “fun” really started. George soon learned that the plantations weren't necessarily poor. Looting was common, not just among the regular soldiers. George's own colonel had his loot shipped north disguised as personal items. When Atlanta finally fell, George came to the conclusion that war wasn't so bad. Burning Atlanta was actually quite entertaining, and the southern women weren't too bad either. Agreed, hardly any of them was a volunteer for certain “activities”, but rebels were rebels and had to be “pacified”. Whether that meant on the battlefield or in the bedroom, well... the difference was trivial for George Vandervoort. Sherman's march to the coast brought even more entertainment. George's regiment left behind only smoking ruins. But that wasn't his fault or the fault of his soldiers. No way. If the rebels wanted to blame someone, then they had to blame themselves.

Then the war was over and George was stuck. What to do now? Going back to New York and become a civilian? Now, wasn't that boring? He decided against that, remained in the army and headed west. But in 1870 he had enough of the army's rules. “Pacifying” the Indians, especially their women, was entertaining, but dealing with those silly rules wasn't worth it. He left service and picked up another profession. Having fought in the south, where everyone was a guerilla -including the women-, he came to the conclusion that this was exactly what he wanted to do. Thus George ended up as a hired gun in the west. For ten years he worked for all kinds of people, his price going up year after year. The old saying “you're good at what you like” certainly applied for him. Whether it meant dealing with sheep farmers for a rich rancher -not to mention that sheep were disgusting animals- or settling a little quarrel between two rivalling ranchers, he enjoyed doing it.

But eventually the year 1880 came and George found himself on the way to a small town called Lost Haven. It was one of those boom towns appearing and growing in the wake of gold or silver or whatever else mining. It was likely that there was some good money to be made.

Personality/Quirks: Short tempered. During the Civil War he began taking a liking in certain “activities” that are illegal in peace. He appears to be a gentleman, but that's just the outside. He may have manners and may appear to be softspoken, but that's just a facade. Vandervoort enjoys his job, maybe a little bit too much.
Other important notes: During the march to the coast, Vandervoort also enjoyed picking off “contraband” at long range.