Outcasts Of Poker Flat
Plot Summary
By Michael J. Cummings...© 2006
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.......When John Oakhurst steps into the main street of Poker Flat on the morning of Nov. 23, 1850, conversations stop and eyes stare. He’s a villain, after all, one of several who had earned that designation.
.......After losing several thousand dollars, two horses, and a worthy citizen, the townspeople had established a secret committee which saw to the hanging of two persons and the banishment of others, including women. A few of the committee members urged hanging Oakhurst as well, then rifling his pockets for their gambling losses.
......."It's agin justice," said Jim Wheeler, "to let this yer young man from Roaring Camp–an entire stranger–carry away our money."
.......However, cooler heads ruled that Oakhurst deserved only banishment. Armed men accompany Oakhurst and other undesirables–including “The Duchess” and “Mother Shipton,” both prostitutes, and “Uncle Billy,” a drunk suspected of sluice robbery–to the edge of town. (In gold mining, a sluice is a sloping trough, or gutter, that conveys water containing stones, pebbles, sand, and possibly gold. Grooves on its bottom separate gold from the stones and grit). There, the armed men warn the outcasts not to return to Poker Flat under penalty of death.
.......On their way into exile, Uncle Billy and the women bitterly bemoan their fate while Oakhurst remains quiet. They head for Sandy Bar, a day’s travel away over steep mountains. The road is narrow and the air dry and cold in the foothills of the mountains. They plod on until noon, when the Duchess declares she can go no farther. Oakhurst wants to go on lest the party run out of provisions. However, his fellow travelers stay put, using liquor to comfort them. Uncle Billy goes into a stupor, the Duchess becomes tearfully emotional, and Mother Shipton falls asleep. Oakhurst does not drink. As a gambler, he had cultivated the habit of staying sober.
.......While observing his surroundings–the...
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