Eustace Bailey "E. B." Farnum

Eustace Bailey "E. B." Farnum (played by William Sanderson of "Larry, Darryl, and Darryl" fame) is the proprietor of the Grand Central Hotel and sometime mayor of the camp. Although he harbors delusions of potential grandeur for himself, in reality, Farnum is a tragic, helpless figure who allows his actions to be almost totally controlled by Al Swearengen. Despite his weakness and subservience, Farnum is nevertheless a scheming, greedy little man, and it is his greed and the ensuing scams that bring him into conflict with Swearengen, such as when he profited by serving as go-between in a real estate transaction that brought the Bella Union saloon into the camp. Farnum is incredibly nosey and continually asks prying questions of people around town and even the guests of his hotel. While his mannerisms are incredibly servile and deferential almost to the point of ridiculousness, his ceaseless prying nevertheless leads to numerous abuses and threats directed towards him.

He is disliked and insulted by most members of the camp and is beaten by Bullock at one point when he believes that Farnum has betrayed information of his relationship with Alma to Hearst, who later buys the Grand Central from Farnum, offering him $100,000 and allows him to stay on at the hotel as manager. Already an outcast, this distances him from Swearengen's operations and makes him an even more isolated figure in the town.

His one and only confidant is his dimwitted, dirty cook, Richardson, whom Farnum routinely mocks, scolds, degrades, and insults in virtually every interaction. While Richardson never has any resentment or anger towards his abusive employer, even the distance between Farnum and Richardson grows as Season 3 progresses as Richardson becomes friends with Hearst's fat, black cook, Aunt Lou. Hearst's attitude and abusive, threatening behavior towards Farnum eventually drives Farnum back into Al's good graces.