[Phantasm]

Let's not forget the big cattle ranchers who don't like the upstart sheep ranchers moving in.

As for non-humans, I agree that the classic Tolkien-ish expies don't work here. Maybe over in Steampunk Europe they do, but not here.



For the Indians (and remember that no one at the time called them "Native Americans"; they were all "Indians" or occasionally identified by tribe - Navajo, Commanche, etc. - but almost universally regarded by the white man as "savages" because of CF differences), I'd look into their own mythology to pull from, and remember that they didn't have a single continent-wide mythology! The tales of the Great Plains were not the same as the tales from the Deep South which were not the same as the Iroquois of upstate New York which were not the tales of the Pacific Northwest which were not the same as the American Southwest.... you get the picture.

Shapeshifters or races with dog/wolf, buffalo, coyote, eagle, duck, turtle, prairie dog, and rabbit features are more likely than elf, dwarf, ork, and troll, IMO.