A graduate student in literature at Yale, Lee struggles with depression, drug use, and feelings of inadequacy. As the estranged half-brother of Hank, he harbors a deep-seated resentment stemming from a childhood trauma involving his mother, Myra. Bookish and intellectually inclined, he returns to the rugged Oregon woods ostensibly to help the family logging business but secretly plots revenge.

The physically imposing, fiercely independent eldest son of the Stamper family. Hank is a Korean War veteran and former high school football star who embraces the physical demands of the Oregon logging industry. He remains deeply committed to maintaining the family's non-union operation despite intense pressure from striking townspeople. He hides a more vulnerable inner life beneath a tough, uncompromising exterior.

Hank's wife, originally an orphaned young woman from Colorado who impulsively relocates to Oregon with him. Viv lives an isolated existence in the Stamper house, feeling disconnected from both the rough logging culture and the townspeople who shun her family. She reads voraciously and observes nature, hoping for deeper connections and a clearer sense of her own identity.

The crotchety, aging patriarch of the Stamper logging family. He lives strictly by his defiant personal motto to never back down, refusing to yield to the logging union, the townspeople, or the dangerous Oregon environment. Recently sidelined by a logging injury, he remains a commanding, stubborn presence in the ramshackle family home built precariously on the riverbank.

Hank and Lee's cousin, a dedicated logger who works as Hank's right-hand man. Unlike his hot-headed and resentful relatives, Joe Ben is even-keeled, deeply spiritual, and openly optimistic. He relies on personal superstitions and his faith to face the daily dangers of the woods and the hostility of the striking townspeople.

The local representative for the logging union. A former logger himself, he comes from a family with a long history in the labor movement. He initially resists joining the union before rising to leadership through hard work and empathy for the men. He now faces intense pressure to force the fiercely independent Stampers to halt their strikebreaking logging operation.

The president of the logging union, an outsider who travels to the working-class towns of the Wakonda river to build support for the strike. He uses rational arguments and negotiation tactics to persuade the Stampers to shut down their operation, seeking to understand the psychological roots of their extreme independence.

Henry's second wife and Lee's mother, originally a student at Stanford University. She finds herself entirely unfit for the rough, isolated reality of the Oregon frontier. Her intense loneliness and inability to adapt lead to decisions that permanently fracture the relationship between her son and her stepson.

The local owner of a laundromat and a movie theater. His livelihood depends heavily on the disposable income of the logging town's residents. As the strike drags on and the loggers run out of money, he experiences severe financial strain, which exacerbates his personal anxieties and domestic troubles.

A spiritual, marginalized townswoman who relies on intermittent sex work to survive. She lives as part of the struggling underclass of the Wakonda region, holding tightly to personal spiritual beliefs and rituals to cope with a difficult, impoverished existence.

Willard Eggleston's former assistant who relocates to Portland. She maintains a secret life and a hidden child with her former employer, but as his finances dry up due to the logging strike, she pragmatically considers marrying a sailor for financial security.

A long-time associate and relative of the Stamper family. He historically helps provide for the family during lean times after Jonas leaves, though his charity is famously resisted by an overly proud Henry.

The long-standing local physician in the Wakonda region. Having delivered Lee years ago, he embodies the deep history of the town, asking probing questions about the Stamper family that trigger Lee's anxieties during a medical visit.

Lee's roommate at Yale and a doctoral candidate in literature. He serves as Lee's primary connection to the intellectual, East Coast academic world, acting as a sounding board for Lee's letters and grievances about his estranged Oregon family.

Joe Ben's wife, who shares his commitment to their family and community. She frequently attends local church events, demonstrating the social and religious integration her immediate family maintains in contrast to Hank and Lee.

Henry's father and the original pioneer of the Stamper family in Oregon. Driven by the belief that something better lies further west, he settles along the Wakonda river but eventually proves unable to adapt to the region's harsh climate, returning to his former home in Kansas.

The local bartender in the Wakonda region. His establishment serves as a central hub for the striking loggers, union organizers, and townspeople to drink, complain, and discuss the ongoing dispute with the Stamper family.