A MAN NAMED FORD

James Ford took the name of his parents indirect killer, Sawyer.

Was his character based on any historical figure. There is an eerie similarity to an Illinois historical figure named James Ford.

In the 1800s, there were groups of river pirates who plundered along the Illinois-Kentucky border near Cave-in-Rock. One of these bands of counterfeiters, river pirates and serial killers was led by a man named James Ford.  Illinois historians believe  he led the life of a Mafia don, or the Sheriff of Nottingham, except no Robin Hood ever arose to challenge him.

Known as the Ford's Ferry gang, they took up where the older river bandits had left off. Ford led this group, although from well behind the scenes. For the most part of his life, he acted to be inside the law, when in fact, he actively pursued life outside of it. For the first third of the 1800s, he served as a civic leader in both southeastern Illinois and western Kentucky. At one point he operated a tavern in Illinois, another time one of the salt works.  He also served as a justice of the peace, sheriff and judge across the river. A ferry operator, he built and maintained long stretches of road on either side of his ferry just upstream from Cave-in-Rock. Even today, stretches of it can still be traveled in both states following county road signs that designate it "Ford's Ferry Road."

 Although some writers have described him as "Satan's Ferryman,"  Ford had ties to earlier bandit gangs, as well to kidnappers and slave traders who used the river as a means of travel or escape. Once the population around Elizabethtown, Illinois rose, so did the demand for law and order. Ford apparently transitioned from outlaw to semi-corrupt local leader, tavern owner and business man. For about ten years, ending in 1833, Ford apparently stood between the two, and kept in close touch with both sides of the law. However, he held power as the de facto law in the area. But in 1833,  Ford was killed by unknown vigilantes.

There are some common traits between the Illinois river bandit and LOST's Sawyer. First, they both made their living on the wrong side of the law. Both were con men and killers. Second, they both changed their outward stripes when the law was closing in. Ford turned into local civic leader (with his ties to the underworld hidden from view) while Sawyer turned into the sheriff of Dharma town during the time travel flash.

The label of being Satan's Ferryman is also interesting since the series was about life and death. Any assassin could be considered Satan's Ferryman (as legend has it the dead must cross the River Styx to hell and punishment; so it is best to pay the ferryman for safer passage.)

Was Sawyer truly a disgusting fraud? Probably not to that extreme since he did have a heart that he kept concealed for a long time. It was only really brought to the surface with his relationship with the street smart, strong willed Juliet. But with her death, Sawyer immediately regressed to his former self. The anger against Jack was apparent and real.

Many reviewers of the series believe that Sawyer is more based upon Mark Twain's character, Tom Sawyer. Tom Sawyer was an orphan and budding con artist from the south. His earliest and best known con involved whitewashing a fence, in which he convinced the local boys to pay him for the privilege of painting a rather long and difficult fence. He had discovered a great law of human action, without knowing it – namely, that in order to make a man or a boy covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.


The inspiration of an adult Tom Sawyer would be an interesting journey for a writer to take in a series. But would a poor, uneducated, river rat actually grow up to be anything but a drifter, grifter or con man? A person who only thinks of the easy way out is bound to wind up on the losing end of life.

Tom Sawyer was an anti-hero who tugged on the rebellious nature of America. Yes, he would do "bad" things but his charm put those things on the good side of being bad. He would often get fortunate breaks of luck or chance. He would get out of trouble just in time to get in some new ones.
That seems to represent the personality of LOST's Sawyer.