Sully tells Brian that does not have much book learning. In fact, he is more educated than some of the towns folk. It is impressive since Sully became an orphan at the age of 10. At the time, he left New York City and moved to Colorado to mine gold or silver.
Myra is impressive. She states that she cannot read. By the time she marries Horace, she can read very well. She is reading novels from the library that Dr. Quinn starts.
This episode is the third of a series that focuses on the adopted children. The first was focused on Matthew. The second focused on Colleen. This one is focused on Brian.
According to online interviews, it was creator Beth Sullivan's intention to have Loren Bray be a very mean man with no redeeming qualities. But the instant connection between Orson Wells and youngster Shawn Toovey who played little Brian simply could not be ignored and was written into the scripts.