Director Michael Patrick Jann cast his wife Lisa LoCicero as Ma and their son Lukas Jann as Tobias. There is also a cameo by Thomas Lennon. They worked together in the comedy troupe The State (1993).
The tune that Abraham/Pa plays on his violin is an old Irish melody that is best known as the song "She Moved through the Fair", lyrics written in 1909 and performed by many artists.
Michael Abbott Jr's character (Brody) carries a vintage 1877 Colt "Lightning" pistol. This was arguably the first mass produced double action pistol in the U.S.
To illustrate the remoteness of the filming locations, there were wolf tracks in the snow a couple of mornings on one location. Horribly, two months after the film wrap there was a fatal grizzly attack within three miles of that same location.