I made up "Eastpoint" as a play on West Point. I didn't ever have any actual place called "East Point" in mind. But at least it's not anachronistic. I don't know that Samuel Drake's name is actually based on anyone, but it could be. "Samuel" could come from anything like "Uncle Sam" or "Sam the American Eagle," or any number of things that don't come to mind. Drake could come from the historical Francis Drake, or Francis Drake Reed (of the Star Trek novel "Final Frontier"), or... any number of things that don't come to mind. Or both names could just be totally unrelated to anything. I simply don't recall. Either way, I take the character of Samuel Drake to be a stereotypical army officer who doesn't get along with the locals and isn't happy about his assignment. This I think really might be something of a genuine cliche in not only Westerns, but any number of genres....

But, um, unlike most such things, if I'm reading his bio right, there isn't actually any sort of military garrison or anything, no other military troops in Western Gulch, though I suppose the locals, whether they like him or not, would recognize his authority, should the need arise, and his "posse" would follow orders with little or no question. I guess. But it'd be interesting to see what his professional relationship with Sheriff McSlick is like. I imagine Drake would loathe him about as much as Muggar does. But of course, being a stickler for rules himself, he'd have no choice but to recognize McSlick's own authority.

I suppose the "posse" would at times include Tex Colorado, Reverend Jim (when McSlick's in charge, more likely than Drake), Joe Sampson, and probably Peacie Tokken (mainly for translating duty). Don't know about any of the other characters here; probably most of the posse at any given time would be random "extras."

D'WARD's 1890's