THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN; JUST THE FACTS

The extraordinary popularity of the Magnificent Seven continues to linger, despite the neglect of television networks. Likewise, the volumes of fan fiction written based upon the show continue to proliferate. However, among new fans especially, confusion frequently arises as to what fan fiction elements are actually established in the original show, (canon,) or were created by and perpetuated from other fan fiction (fanon.) This is my effort to help in separating canon from fanon, noting which personal details about the boys were indeed defined on the show, and thus can be separated from no-less-loved additions created by fans.

Chris Larabee - He was a horse rancher east of Eagle Bend, where he had a nice house with stone foundations and a broad front porch, a horse corral, and windmill. His wife was Sarah Connelly, and his son was Adam. Both were killed in a fire set by Cletus Fowler, by order of Ella Gaines, while Chris and Buck were away in Mexico. Possibly they were on a horse-trading trip, as flashback scenes in “Nemesis” showed him and Buck leaving with strings of horses. His father-in-law was Hank Connelly, killed in “Vendetta.” The only mention made of Sarah’s mother is the fact that she liked to make Sunday chicken and dumplings, a trait passed along to Sarah. Possibly the mother is dead, as Hank spoke of her in the past tense. Chris was with Ella Gaines before he met Buck. Chris and Buck met directly after Chris and Ella broke up, which was 10 or 12 years before the Pilot episode. Chris was in Indiana at about age 17, but it is never made clear as to whether or not he actually grew up there, or where he was from. No mention is ever made of Chris’s parents or any other family. At some unspecified point in time, he was in Dodge City, Kansas, where he was in a gunfight that receives mention in “Inmate 78.” He evidently likes to read, as we see him several times with a book in hand. We first see his new cabin and homestead in the 12th episode, “Love & Honor,” and again in the next episode, “Vendetta.” In “Vendetta” we see several horses in his corral, which may or may not be an indication that he’s considering horse ranching, again. We only see him smoke cheroot cigars in the Pilot episode.

Vin Tanner - He was a buffalo hunter and then a bounty hunter, and is a sharpshooter of great ability. He was hunting an outlaw named Eli Joe, when Eli framed Vin for the murder of Jess Kincaid, an innocent farmer near Tascosa, Texas. Judging by comments in "Sins of the Past," he has not yet stood trial, but it is never stated whether he was jailed and broke out, or escaped cleanly. A $500 bounty was subsequently placed on Vin's head, wanted dead or alive. However, the length of time between that murder and Vin's arrival in town is not clarified, although Chris empathized with Vin's "years of looking over your shoulder." Vin’s mother died when he was age five of “putrid fever,” an old-time reference to diphtheria. No mention is ever made of his father or other relatives. No mention is ever made of where he actually grew up, or what happened after his mother's death. He lived at an unspecified time for an unspecified period with the Comanche and Kiowa Indians, who are native to the southern Plains. He speaks bits of other Indian dialects, including whatever Kojay’s tribe speaks in "Manhunt," and also some Spanish, despite once joking, “What’s no bueno mean?” Vin is functionally illiterate, but can compose poetry in his head, although Mary Travis has accepted his request to tutor him. He carries and uses a brass, telescoping, nautical-type spy glass. He carries a harmonica and sometimes blows on it, but he does not play any actual songs, instead equating it to sounds of nature and peacefulness. His trademark “lean” was contrived by actor Eric Close to suggest a mild case of scoliosis, a curvature of the spine. He had to borrow a rifle from the hardware store to rescue Nathan, in the Pilot episode, after which the storekeeper let him keep it, so this may or may not be the rifle he uses in all subsequent episodes. His sidearm of choice is a cut-down Winchester repeating rifle, but he also carries and can fight with a large hunting knife.

Buck Wilmington - He was once a lawman, although place, time, and duration is never specified, and he refuses to wear a badge, now. His mother was a prostitute, and Buck grew up among other prostitutes, presumably in the house where his mother worked. No mention is ever made of his father, or any other relatives. No mention is ever made as to where he was born, or what state he grew up in. He expresses considerable knowledge of guns and gun fighting. He has known Chris 10 or 12 years, and was very close to Chris’s family, as demonstrated in flashback scenes in “Nemesis,” where Buck was giving Adam a horseback ride. It was Buck’s suggestion that they stay another night in Mexico, which delayed their home-coming, and led to their finding Chris’s family dead and his home burned. That fact has been a source of guilt to Buck, even though Chris displays no animosity about it. Buck proposed marriage twice in the course of the TV series. The first time is to pregnant Lucy, in “Sins of the Past,” but he is refused, when she reveals he is not the father of her baby. The second time is to Louisa Perkins, the spirited governor’s aide in “Serpents.” She at first says that she is not cut out to be a wife, but later rather hesitantly accepts, although we never learn whether or not they follow through. However, the final hint is when Buck stutters and looks shocked, upon Louisa’s announcement that they could get married, but he would have to come with her, in her political travels.

JD Dunne - He "lived in a big mansion” as a boy, where his mother was a chambermaid and he worked as a stable boy for the same people. In "Obsession," he mentions that they also played golf on the estate where he grew up. His mother died within the year before his arrival out West. He says he “never knew his father,” but no indication is given as to whether his father is dead, or merely absent from his life. No mention is ever made of any other family. JD is definitely from back East, but while the MGM Mag Seven website says he is from New York, none of the episodes indicate what state or town he is from. His mother had saved money intending for him to go to college, which suggests he had a good education prior, but those funds fell short. He arrived with in town an Eastern/English style saddle, but evidently trades or sells that for the old cowboy saddle we see him ride in all but the Pilot episode. His idol is Kansas lawman Bat Masterson, whose taste in hats influenced JD’s own preference for the bowler hat.

Ezra Standish - He is a “Southern boy,” but no specification is ever made as to where in the South he is from, or how long he has been West. His mother Maude periodically left him with various, unspecified relatives, as he was growing up. No mention is ever made as to who or where his father is, or was, nor any hint of siblings. Ezra and his mother both go by the surname "Standish," but no clue is given as to whether this was his father's name, or something else. He has also used the name "Simpson," according to Judge Travis in "One Day Out West." He is both a gambler and a confidence man, the two not being necessarily synonymous, as is his mother. He knows how to load and shoot a cannon, but no real explanation is ever given as to when, or how, he learned this unique talent. Ezra also knows how to use a sword with considerable ability, and claims that he has sometimes "found it necessary to defend his good name upon the field of honor." He has at some point been in Chicago, IL and Ft. Laramie, WY. He can speak reasonable Spanish, at least enough to form a complete sentence in “The New Law,” when he pretended to be a Mexican racing through town, spreading the alarm that soldiers were coming. He also may like to read, and has been seen with a book, upon occasion.

Nathan Jackson - He is an escaped slave, who served in the Union Army during the Civil War, where he was made a stretcher-bearer and heard his calling to become a healer, picking up what he could in field hospitals. He knows how to read, which is unusual for a former slave, but there is no indication how he learned. He was born a slave on a plantation outside of Atlanta, GA. His father was Obediah Jackson, who was dying of consumption in “The Trial,” but no name is ever given to his mother. His mother died when he was age 7, and the family was sold away to Alabama. He also had siblings, but no names or any details are ever given. One of his owners, named only as Mr. Jackson, taught him swordsmanship, as Mr. Jackson used Nathan for a sparring partner. Nathan thus became very proficient with a blade. He also carries and uses a set of three throwing knifes, but professes that he would rather use them to heal. He was acquainted with Josiah and with Mary Travis, and was established as a healer in town, before the series began.

Josiah Sanchez - He is a defrocked priest, although what denomination is never specified, nor how long ago it happened. He gives his reason as, “I had a little trouble turning the other cheek,” while Nathan says the word is that Josiah “killed some men.” His father was a missionary, although his denomination is also a mystery. He worked with his father for a time, but they quarreled often, then at some Josiah point broke from him. Now his father is dead, although when or how is not said, and no mention is ever made of his mother, nor are names given for either parent. He has one sister, Hannah, who suffered a progressive mental breakdown and defied their father's attempts to cope, although their father's methods included beatings and locking her up. Hannah now lives cloistered in care of a convent, in Vista City, where he pays for her keeping. Josiah has lived in San Francisco, where his father did missionary work among the Chinese and Josiah learned to speak some Chinese, and he also lived in India, although times and durations are never defined. At some point he studied for two years under a Cherokee holy man, and also learned something about Cherokee law. The great love of his life was Emma Dubonnet, an actress whom he met and courted in San Francisco, and whose picture he has carried in his wallet for years. In that youthful time, he introduced himself after first seeing her show, "Getting Gertie's Garter," then saw her four times in company with a chaperone, and proposed marriage. She accepted, but he then left her to study with the Cherokee holy man, and she evidently forgot him. Josiah likes to read and is seen fairly often with books, including the classics. He rides a distinctive Mexican saddle, and shoots left-handed.

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