We are introduced to the character of Ike McSwain in the pilot episode of The Young Riders.

From the outset we get a glimpse into the life of Ike as we are informed of his inability to talk and the reason for his baldness due to a bout with Scarlett Fever when a boy. The challenges he must face make Ike to be a rather interesting member of the Pony Express team.

Ike exudes for most part a quiet, controlled personality. He is sweet and kind, considerate and loyal. Traits that make him very likeable.

Although Ike possesses these desirable traits, his troubled past has left him with scars which he has to deal with on a daily basis. Being an eyewitness to the massacre of his family when a young boy, traumatized him drastically so that he lost his ability to talk, becoming mute.

After the death of his family, Ike apparently resided for a time at an orphanage where he met his best friend Buck Cross, a Kiowa Indian half-breed. His bond with Buck is that of a blood brother, their lives intertwined by the experiences they share.

His Express family became very important to him and he showed his loyalty by being there for them in their times of need. Even though they had become a special part of him, the loss of his own family still left a deep void he sought to fill by hoping one day to exact revenge on those responsible.

When faced with the opportunity he had long awaited, to kill one of the men that partook in the attack of his family, his ability to forgive and let the past finally rest was the shining moment in his character's life.

Ike is often frustrated with his inability to verbally communicate his thoughts, especially when challenged to do so.

When faced with situations where his lack of speech has led to trouble, his overridden sense of guilt exposes his darker side where he feels useless, invaluable.

Although his friends try to comfort him in these difficult times, he finds little or no solace in their words, choosing to hold on to his pain, beating himself down with it.

Ike kept a private journal seemingly full of his experiences and some thoughts no doubt dealing with is troubled past. Ike also donned a bandana possibly as a security blanket due to his baldness which was an uncommon thing in those days.

Ike had various opportunities at love. He was one to fall in love but just never seemed to get the girl, through no fault of his own. He seemed to be drawn to women that ranged from one extreme to the next. His interest in Amanda and Annie are good examples of this. His confidence in approaching women grew with each relationship as he found the ability to express his feelings more openly and emphatically as he matured. We see this side of Ike vividly displayed with Emily Metcalf.

We do however get a small glimpse into Ike's childhood through his manners in dealing with children. Displaying a tenderness and a sort of motherly caring shows that he indeed had a very nourishing childhood and came from a home in which affection was not lacking.

Ike's sense of loyalty and love led to his eventual demise at the defense of Emily Metcalf and he was shot soon to die afterwards. His powerful legacy though, carried on and he will always remain a special part of The Young Riders.

WHY DOESN'T IKE TALK?

This is a much brought up topic on the message board. Here are some different points of view. These were copied off the message board but I did say that they would be included here in my original post.

Rhi- There is a little bit of controversy between why we believe that he is mute. Travis actually said in one of the articles that is on one of the webpages that Ike lost his voice from trauma, and others (like me) like to believe that he lost it due to Scarlett fever. I think there is plenty of room to analyse both cases and his psychological effects from such experiences. It seems though, that if he did lose his voice from the trauma of seeing his parents killed that it would return when he came to grips with that trauma. I felt that he reached peace with the situation after forgiving Shaddock in Old Scores, and that would have been the time period to regain his voice. Since, of course, that didn't happen, it would seem that the problem is more physical as a result of Scarlett Fever as a child.

Cass- In the copy of the script for "The Kid" it describes Ike saying 'Teaspoon turns to the next youth, IKE McSWAIN. His head is bald as an egg from scarlet fever. The gentleness of the boy's face seems out of place in these rough circumstances.' The dialogue following has Buck telling Teaspoon that he can hear but can't talk. From this I would assume Ike's muteness is due to trauma and not scarlett fever as it was not attributed to the scarlett fever along with his baldness in the description of his character.

?-Don't know if this is going to help any, but in "The Presence of Mine Enemies" when Buck is talking to Emily before her father's funeral, she starts asking about Ike and then Buck tells her how the other children at the mission school used to be afraid of Ike. Emily asks why, and Buck replies with something like, "They thought that if they touched him, their hair and tongue would fall out, too." I always took it as a reference to the Scarlet fever, both the baldness and the muteness. Besides, I think that Buck would know if Ike wasn't talking from trauma. Plus, Buck teaches Ike Kiowa sign so he can still communicate. I guess it just leads me to believe that Ike CAN'T talk rather than WON'T talk. just my opinion.

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