"Hell on Wheels" is a TV show about Elam Ferguson, a man who dies on wheels.
Elam Ferguson was freed from slavery and found work with the Union Pacific Railroad.He was the Chief of the Railroad Police.
Elam's owner illegally educated him on how to read, not believing that he knew the deeper meaning of the words he read.Slaves were punished for their literacy, rather than their owner, because it was illegal.None of the slaves would believe a slave's word if they said they attained literacy by subterfuge and smuggled texts.
As a child, Elam affected a stilted and unskilled manner of reading when entertaining the Master and his guests so as not to give himself away beyond the "parlor trick".
Elam is placed under the control of Cullen Bohannon after he arrived.He became angry at his supervisor after learning that he was a slave owner.
William was killed by a kick in the head from Daniel Johnson's horse.Ferguson prepares to kill Johnson by sharpening his knife after returning to his tent.Bohannon warned Elam that such an act would result in his death, and that he would be killed instead.Elam backs down.Elam slit his throat when he realized Johnson was holding Bohannon.
When Bohannon slips from the grasp of the Swede, he asks Elam to remove his chains, which shows how ironic the situation is.
Later, Elam volunteers his all-black crew to do make-up for the work of men being conscripted by the Swede to find the missing Lily Bell, much to the displeasure of his fellow crewmen.
Elam began to test his freedom when he went into a local cathouse.Elam was called out by Gregory Toole, an Irish walking boss.Eva, one of the prostitutes, made an agreement with Elam that he would be her private customer after he was forced to leave in disgrace.They bond over the fact that they were both slaves.
The railroad workers start to complain when their pay is late.Bohannon is told to pay the walking bosses in order to keep control over the men.Elam claims to be the walking boss over the all-black crew and demands that he be paid.Bohannon refused and Elam walked off the job.Bohannon tried to bring him back.The two should fight it out in the evening, according to the man who witnessed the event.The fight starts at the Starlight Saloon.The fight goes Bohannon's way because Elam refuses to fight back.Does he fight back when he is reminded of who he really is?Sean McGinnes wraps Elam's hands with Psalms pepper-soaked gauze, though this is not known to them.Elam hit the man with a blow, blinding him.The white audience was not happy with Elam being declared the victor.Bohannon gave Elam his pay the next day.
Bohannon provides security during the peace talks between the tribesmen and Senator Jordan Crane while Elam is in charge of supervising the work crew.Elam is accused of cheating with the pepper juice by Bohannon, though he denies knowledge of this.Elam spent some time with Eva, but they were interrupted by an angry mob.The band dragged Elam outside to hang him.
Gundersen allows the Irishmen to hang their captive as entertainment after dragging Elam out of his tent.A racist band threw a hangman's noose over the rafters at the Starlight Saloon.The group entered the saloon armed in order to save their friend.The Irish have guns.As long as the rest of the freedmen go unharmed, Elam can hang him.Toole agrees that Psalms leaves reluctantly.Bohannon arrived on horseback and saved Elam as the Irish were about to hang him.The two horseback riders are in the woods.Elam and Bohannon talk about their lives, being from both the free and slave worlds, but belonging to neither.Bohannon thinks that Elam doesn't care, but he is moved by the story.
Bohannon trains Elam in marksmanship in the morning, as he has never been able to use a gun before.Bohannon tells Elam to count the rounds his opponent has fired and shoot back when he is reloading.The two men staged an ambush on the four of them under the orders of the Swede.The men engage in a firefight in the woods after Elam chases after Toole.Toole gained the upper hand when Elam counted all the rounds he had fired.He says that Toole has fired all his bullets.Though Elam gives Toole the chance to say his last words, he cuts him off and shoots him in the mouth.Bohannon asked if he should read a part of a scripture over the dead men.Elam suggests that the two recite the book together.Two people ride their horses.
After returning to Hell on Wheels, Elam has a new respect as he carries a gun and killed a man.Mr. Toole shows up at his tent to apologize as he 'found god' and apologizes to Eva as well.
The Indians that attacked and killed a railroad worker were scalped by Elam.Eva takes to mean marriage when he asks her to be his.She realized that was not what he meant, as he wants to maintain his freedom, money, and keep working with the railroad, while she wants stability, to be married and not be a whore anymore.She stays in town with Mr. Toole as he wants the same thing.
Bohannon ran from the law and has been robbing trains.Elam was hired to protect the train.Bohannon decided not to shoot Elam and left.Elam tells Durant about the situation.Eva is living in Nebraska with her new husband.
Elam wanted to be part of the rescue group headed to Nebraska, but he was told to stay in Hell on Wheels to protect his railroad.Eva's prostitution friend was murdered by a client when she returned to Hell on Wheels.She wants Elam to find and kill the murderer for Eva.Eva and Elam are having an affair.
Eva tells Elam she is pregnant.He left without talking to her.He apologized as he was afraid his freedom would be taken away again.He asked Eva to get an abortion because he was scared for her life, carrying a black man's baby.She says it is between her and her husband now.
When Cullen's former robbery countrymen arrive in town to steal the payroll directly from the safe, Elam defends the town but has trouble doing it himself and needs help.The town doesn't like him for this.As he was injured in the gunfight, Eva agreed to be with him on his trip to Chicago.Elam begged her not to go but she did.
In exchange for a plot of land, Elam helps the McGuinnes brothers take the saloon.He builds a house for himself and Eva after quitting the railroad.The only way for him to keep his land is to kill Bell, which is almost done.
He showed Eva his new house.He shoots himself in front of them.A widower.Eva hid the town from the Indian attack at Elam's house.At Eva's request, Elam helps defend the cat house and then comes to save her as Indians attack and burn down his house.
Elam and Eva lived in Omaha during the winter.Elam helps Bohannon get the railroad back up and running.He is reluctant to leave Eva, but she encourages him to go with Bohannon.Bohannon brought him along to play the part of a gentleman and make him look better.Eva sent a telegram to Elam that said that she had given birth to a baby and that the two had gotten into a fight.
Elam admits to Bohannon that the baby is not his but that she is part of his family.
Elam tells Psalms that everything he has named has been taken away from him.He relents and says that his name is Rose, not knowing that Eva gave him the baby to raise in New York City.
In a fit of rage, Elam kicks out Eva when he learns what she did.Elam went on a drinking binge because he felt like he had lost everything.He told Psalms that they needed to go to New York to find the baby.It was said that Rose is gone and he won't get her back.
Bohannon asked a drunk Elam to come with him to Wyoming for protection.They make their way to Wyoming on a horse.They made it to the town despite being attacked by men led by Hatch.After being pinned down in the hotel, they decided to run for the telegraph, but it was destroyed.When Elam and Bohannon returned to the hotel, they found the two men tied up.Elam and Bohannon went out into the open to find that Ezra was held at gun point and that Hatch was with them.
After making a promise to Bohannon, Elam returns to the railroad and tells them to save him.The men were motivated by Elam to get to Cheyenne.
Elam believes that Bohannon is being held at Fort Smith after getting the railroad to Cheyenne.He went to see Eva and told her what he was going to do, but she begged him not to go.Elam runs into Indians on his way to Fort Smith.He kills most of them.When Elam got to Fort Smith, a bear appeared and he tried to shoot it, but ran out of bullets, so he drew his knife and attacked the bear.It is shown that Elam killed the bear, but he is dead on the ground.
Elam Ferguson is near the carcass of the bear that attacked him.The braves took him back to their village.Even though Elam lost vision in his left eye, he was nursed back to health by Smiling Crow, who took out a giant bear tooth from his head.
Elam thinks that Eva is the white woman brought from the raid that he thinks is Charlotte.Elam is taken to the village's sweat lodge, where he is united with Whitefeather by blood.Elam is learning how to say his new name.