The poker hand Buster Scruggs refuses to play in the saloon is a two-pair of black aces and eights, known as "the dead man's hand." According to legend, that was the hand 'Wild Bill' Hickok had when he was shot in the back of the head and killed by Jack McCall.
The image of the horse's backside on the back of the book is actually the logo for the Coen Brothers' production company, Mike Zoss Productions.
The first project by the Coen Brothers to be shot digitally.
In the segment "Meal Ticket", Harrison begins the show with the poem "Ozymandias" by Percy Bysshe Shelley; he then proceeds to quote from Genesis, Chapter 4 (the story of Cain and Abel); Sonnets 30 and 29 by William Shakespeare; and then ends with the Gettysburg Address. When they are collecting contributions from the audience, Harrison is repeating Prospero's speech from "The Tempest", Act 4 Scene 1, which is also spoken at the end of a performance.
"All Gold Canyon" is based on a story by Jack London. "The Gal Who Got Rattled" inspired by a story by Stewart Edward White.