Sam Odessa

Sam Odessa is a minor character and stranger featured in Red Dead Redemption.

Background
Odessa is a young man traveling to California, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who came to New York from Odessa, Ukraine. He is described as being a dreamer whom is searching for meaning.

Interactions
When the player first meets him, Sam is sitting on a rock, playing the harmonica. He's been in New Austin for several weeks, "or several generations, I guess," and is on foot because his horse was recently lamed during his travels. It is suggested he is homeless, or is looking to completely restart in California and because of that has decided to forget about his life before; when asked if he is a long way from home, he states "I would be, if I had a home to come from." He wants to reach California and see the ocean -- "from the Black Sea to the Pacific in three generations!" Taking advice from John, who suggests he gets out of Gaptooth Ridge before one of the local gangs takes note of him, Sam leaves Marston and heads for Benedict Point to go get on a coach.

In the second meeting, John finds Sam on the side of a trail in Cueva Seca, where he looks slightly disheveled and is drinking. He explains he found a coach but "it was a little bit slow, a bit predictable, a touch mundane." John says he should get a horse and go west if he's headed to California. "Follow the settin' sun. It ain't that complicated." Sam walks away, slightly aggravated by John's oversimplification of his goal.

The third meeting takes place when John stumbles upon Sam drawing in the dirt with a stick in Gaptooth Ridge, his clothes and general appearance in worse disarray. It seems that his sanity is waning from his time spent wandering in the desert, presumably without food, water, or any shelter from the sun. Though he is speaking fast, he often stutters, and he frequently stumbles while walking and gesturing. He has not, however, given up on his dream for California and the sea, and desperately wants to emulate his grandfather. "He followed a star. That's still me! I'm still following. Still dreaming. Still free! You can't cage us!" John then offers to take Sam into town, concerned for his safety. Sam says that he was just careless, but he will find "his paradise." When John insists, Sam pulls his pistol out and demands that John stay away. Sam yells that he will find California and limps away.

Slightly outside Gaptooth Ridge, John will find Sam's body as the fourth and final meeting. He is not very recently dead; the color from his skin is gone and the area around his eyes is dark. John takes some money and a Letter from Sam on his body, addressed to his wife. It speaks of their "beautiful baby boy" and how Sam felt driven to pursue this dream that his grandfather had when he came to America, a region which Sam describes as "a terrible land of broken promises." It also contains an apology about Sam's unannounced departure, saying "it was not a choice to leave, but an obligation." Sam says he had everything and threw it all away in the pursuit of nothing. He has begun to question this dream, and wonders if we are all "condemned to walk in circles, chasing the skyline." The final step of the stranger mission "California" is to deliver this letter to Armadillo.

When Encountered any part of the entry chain for Odessa when you start it as Jack after doing one as John, Odessa will know Jack is John's kid.

Trivia

 * The Letter from Sam refers to Sam's ancestors who started "the journey" from Odessa on the Black Sea, which is a city located on the southern Ukrainian coastline.
 * Sam's last name is a refference to Homer's Odyssey, though it could also be a refference to the city he was born.

Quotes

 * "Trying to get to California. See the ocean."
 * "I hope I die laughing. I do."
 * "I'm gonna make somethin' of myself there! I'm gonna find... something."
 * "But these... these cacti are quite palatable."
 * "If I could just have a trusty steed like that who could take me to the... to the shining sea."
 * "I will find me my paradise. I will head West. I will."