Tumbleweeds is set in and around the town of
Grimy Gulch, whose population was stated as 49 (later it was crossed out and increased to 50, and sometimes was revised down when the villain Snake-Eye leaves town), in an unspecified Western territory. Other locations include the nearby village of the
Poohawk tribe of
Native Americans, and the
United States Army outpost Fort Ridiculous, manned by the 6 7/8 Cavalry.
Grimy Gulch •
Tumbleweeds, the main character, is a laconic
cowpoke who would rather be anywhere else, but has no real ambition to do anything. Like his namesake, he is content to tumble wherever human foibles may carry him. His worst nightmare is to be caught by – and married to – Hildegard Hamhocker. •
Blossom, Tumbleweeds' first horse; usually found asleep. •
Epic, Tumbleweeds' toothless, alcoholic, plug-chewing, sway-backed second horse; once a U.S. Cavalry horse, but drummed out of the service. •
Ace DeSilk, a professional gambler, Tumbleweeds' best pal and a very smooth operator. •
Judge Horatio Curmudgeon Frump is the magistrate/mayor of Grimy Gulch, a pompous windbag who became
Justice of the Peace and boasts that he cannot be bought, but is open to "rental fees"! •
The Sheriff, a man with a ridiculous handlebar
moustache, is the short-handed "long arm of the law". •
Deputy Knuckles,
comic relief who does not carry a gun, but has a
yo-yo instead. •
Quiet Burp is a diminutive lawman from Texas. His name, a play on
Wyatt Earp, is a character name also used in the comic strip ''
Rick O'Shay.'' •
Hildegard Hamhocker, the town's only known woman, is drawn as a stereotypical homely old maid, trying to snag Tumbleweeds as a husband. •
Echo is an orphan girl. Cute and precocious, she knows how to use those qualities when necessary. She is Hildegard's adopted niece. •
Pajamas is Echo's lazy pet dog — so lazy that when it dreams, it dreams of sleeping. •
Claude Clay is Grimy Gulch's
undertaker, whose motto is, "You plug 'em ... I plant 'em." •
Wart Wimble is a gravedigger who works for Clay. •
Blackie is Grimy Gulch's
saloon keeper. •
Soppy Sopwell is the town drunk. •
Grover Galley is the dotty editor of the
Desert Denouncer newspaper. •
Percy is a sardonic newsboy and copyboy for the
Denouncer. •
Dusty Dewlap is a local
cattle rancher. He only hires Tumbleweeds when he is desperate. •
Snake-Eye McFoul is an
outlaw. He visits Grimy Gulch from time to time to rob the bank. •
Snookie is Snake-Eye's little brother, who suffers from an overactive pituitary gland. Though only 12, he appears to be in his thirties. He dresses in "
Little Lord Fauntleroy" outfits. Attends the
John Wesley Hardin Memorial Elementary School. •
Ham and
Beans are muleskinners. Beans, who is short and loud-mouthed, screams at the big, gentle Ham for pampering the mules to the point of carrying them around like infants. •
Slats is a cowboy who is always leaning on the fence. •
Hogarth Hemp is an itinerant hangman who visits the town periodically. •
Clodwell Gunkley who apparently wandered into the wrong strip, according to whoever he encounters, is a semi-effeminate bulk of a man whose speech patterns are somewhat similar to those of
Ed Wynn. Ace was pleased to learn that Gunkley had wandered into the strip, because "If there's a way in, there's a way
out!"
The Cavalry •
Colonel G. Armageddon Fluster, commander of the Cavalry and Fort Ridiculous, is a parody of
George Armstrong Custer. The Poohawk Chief refers to him as "
Goldilocks" and "Poopsie." •
The Cavalry consists of a major and troopers under Fluster's command. •
The General is Fluster's superior. •
Mole Eye, a scout from Fort Ridiculous, is usually shown coming in from the desert with a couple of arrows sticking out of his back. He wears buckskin and has the word "Scout" on his hat.
The Poohawks •
The Poohawk Chief is always lamenting his tribe's pathetic standing. •
Little Pigeon is the Poohawk Chief's daughter, and "a flower among the weeds". •
Limpid Lizard is a klutzy Poohawk (Indiandom's answer to
Daffy Duck) and a suitor to Little Pigeon. His word balloons consist of misspelled words and
homonyms. •
Puce Moose is the
straight man of the Poohawks and one of the more competent braves – especially when compared to his frequent companion, Limpid Lizard. •
Green Gills is a Poohawk who was an early suitor to Little Pigeon. •
Lotsa Luck is a very rich Poohawk, depicted for years as
mute and communicating by writing notes. He eventually started using a very posh voice when he had vocal cords cloned from
William F. Buckley Jr. surgically implanted. He was a suitor for Little Pigeon. •
Drudgeworth is a chauffeur employed by "Lotsa Luck" to "drive" his
horse. •
The Poohawk medicine man. •
Screaming Flea is the smallest Poohawk, formally speaking in ornate word balloons. He is very sensitive about the size of his nose, which is enormous. •
Bucolic Buffalo is the biggest and strongest of Poohawks, but he is not very smart. A
running gag is that when anyone [such as "Lotsa Luck") makes him angry, he sends them "South" (into the ground.) He is another suitor for Little Pigeon. •
Rain Drop is a boy, the only apparent child in the Poohawk Tribe, and at least as smart as some of the adults. •
Hulking Hawk is a fearsome tribe-member and a more suitable suitor to Little Pigeon than Limpid Lizard, according to the Poohawk Chief. •
Purple Polecat operates the trading post. ==Appearances in other media==