Inger Cartwright was the second wife of Ben Cartwright and mother to Hoss Cartwright and step-mother to Adam Cartwright. Her sweet, motherly nature and genuine attraction to children had drawn young Adam to her when he first saw her. She fell in love with Ben first, but there were strong objections from her brother and the man who supposedly courted her. She left her life as a shopkeeper to go out West with her new husband, and died in an Indian massacre just weeks after Hoss was born.