Short Western Story Review – Bret Harte – The Outcasts Of Poker Flat

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1868 – Mammoth Press – Spoiler alerts. Not having read many westerns and wanting to put that right I was delighted recently to find a dirt cheap copy of Mammoth Press’s Westerns short story collection, which includes an introduction introducing the history of the genre and lists of the best 100 Western novels and short stories (given in alphabetical order rather than order of preference). The 35 story collection opens with a real gem, and rather a tragic tale. The town of Poker Flat has fallen victim to cattle rustlers, gamblers and prostitutes. A secret society of townsmen have started lynching suspects and forcing others into permanent exile. The story focuses on a small band of the people forced to take the long journey over the mountains to find a new home. They include a gambler called Mr Oakhurst, a prostitute known as The Duchess, her brothel keeper, Old Mother Shipton, and a suspected horse thief. As the snows kick in, the party is joined by a couple of young lovers who are heading the other way, hoping to marry in Poker Flat, but when the thief steals their mules and horses, the remaining group are left in a dilapidated barn in the wilderness snowed in by blizzards with only enough food for ten days. Oakhurst uses his old saddle to make snow shoes so the young man can head back to Poker Flat to raise a rescue party, and the boy reluctantly sets off alone. Mrs Shipton sacrifices herself by not eating her rations so the young girl due to wed can survive, but the girl and the Duchess freeze to death. Oakhurst commits suicide, leaving a playing card and a message declaring that his gambler’s luck finally ran out. The bodies are found by the rescue party who the young man has managed to bring back. A bleak tale with the outcasts bonded in humanity even though doomed. We learn nothing of the fate of the man who stole their horses and mules. Arthur Chappell