Here's a guide to the key players in the showdown outside of Burns:

Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond: The father and son are longtime Harney County ranchers who are scheduled to report to federal prison Monday for federal arson convictions. Their case has stirred anti-government sentiment among self-styled militia members and the ranching communities. The Hammonds, who built a solid reputation and a prosperous ranching outfit in Oregon's most remote corner over the past 50 years, are keeping quiet, though said through their attorneys that they have no interest in ignoring the order to report to prison.

Cliven Bundy: Nevada rancher at the center of an armed standoff last year over grazing rights. Bundy owes the federal government more than $1 million in grazing fees. He stopped paying after the Bureau of Land Management ordered him to restrict the periods when his herd roamed the 600,000-acre Gold Butte area as part of an effort to protect the endangered desert tortoise, according to an article that was published in The New York Times in 2014.

Ammon and Ryan Bundy: Two of Cliven Bundy's sons. Both men are taking part in the occupation of the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that started Saturday. The brothers told The Oregonian/OregonLive they do not intend to hurt anyone but would not rule out violence if police attempt to remove them.

Brandon Curtiss: A militant leader from Idaho. He helped organize Saturday's protest. He told The Oregonian/OregonLive he knew nothing about the occupation of the wildlife refuge.

BJ Soper: Another militant leader who lives in Redmond. He has stated his strong opposition to the occupation in Facebook posts.

Ryan Payne: U.S. Army veteran. He has claimed to have helped organize militant snipers to target federal agents in a standoff last year in Nevada. He told one news organization the federal agents would have been killed had they made the wrong move. He has been a steady presence in Burns in recent weeks, questioning people who were critical of the militants' presence. He typically had a holstered sidearm as he moved around the community.

Blaine Cooper: Another militant leader from Arizona. Cooper said he participated in the Bundy standoff in Nevada. "I went there to defend Cliven with my life," he said.

Jon Ritzheimer: Former U.S. Marine from Phoenix, Arizona. He posted a 13-minute YouTube video about the Hammonds, calling their prison sentence "disgusting" and the federal government "these oppressors." In the video, which was shot while he sat at the wheel of a vehicle, he seems to make an appeal directly to the elder Hammond. "It's real simple, Dwight. Do you want to die in prison labeled a terrorist by these oppressors or do you want to die out here with us as a free man? I want to die a free man." In November, the New York Daily News reported that the FBI alerted New York law enforcement about Ritzheimer who made profane anti-Obama remarks and said he planned to confront Muslims.

Amanda Marshall: Former U.S. Attorney for Oregon. Marshall recommended that the federal government challenge the Hammonds' original prison sentences. By law, the convictions come with mandatory five-year sentences, but U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in 2012 balked at the punishment and instead sentenced Dwight Hammond to three months and Steven Hammond to one year. Marshall called Hogan's punishments "unlawful." The solicitor general authorized a rare appeal of an Oregon judge's order. The appeals court sided with the prosecution, and the Hammonds returned to federal court last year to face a second sentencing. At that hearing, U.S. Chief District Judge Ann Aiken ordered the pair to finish five-year terms.

Dave Ward: Harney County sheriff. Ward was appointed sheriff in the fall after longtime sheriff Dave Glerup retired. Ward was sworn into office Saturday and will serve the remainder of Glerup's term. He grew up in the Douglas County community of Drain and served in the U.S. Army, Oregon Army National Guard and the Army Reserves, according to a biography posted on the Oregon State Sheriffs' Association. He worked as a corrections officer for the Lake County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon Department of Corrections. He moved to Burns in 2005 and was hired by the Harney County sheriff in 2007.

-- Noelle Crombie

503-276-7184; @noellecrombie