Local Color Elements in Bret Harte's The Outcasts of Poker Flat

In Bret Harte's short story "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" there are three main local color elements which are: the vigilance committee, the character of Uncle Billy, and the geography of the Sierra mountains and Poker Flat. These three elements give us a good picture of not only the times Harte lived in but also the area in which the story is based.

The committee described in the story that bans the four outcasts from ever stepping foot in Poker Flat shows the desperate state the town was in and their attempt to restore morality to their home. At first they wanted to hang the main character John Oakhurst to make a statement to others even though he has committed no offense worthy of that punishment. The harshness of this committee can enlighten our understanding of Poker Flat's values. When a "secret committee" has to meet to "rid the town of improper persons" even by killing them, there must be something dreadfully wrong in the town. (Harte 428) The committee was most likely not justified in the hangings of the two men they hung on "a sycamore in the gulch". (Harte 428) Their crimes against the town aren't mentioned in the story but based on the reaction the committee has against other people we could assume that they didn't deserve their fate.

The second local color element in the story would be the character type of Uncle Billy. Uncle Billy is a foul-mouthed suspected robber of sluices who was a "confirmed drunkard". (Harte 429) This character seems to be a stereotyped character at first glance, he fits the role of the drunk, obnoxious village idiot that embarrasses the whole town regularly. Uncle Billy while was supposed to be exceptional immoral was not to different than some of his fellow towns mates. In an 1850 gold mining town in California the whole town went to the bar after their day of working. He was not an exception to what most of the men in Poker Flat probably acted like, he unlikely got singled out and therefore he was banned.

The last local color element is the geography of Poker Flat and the Sierra mountain range. Poker flat was "moist" and "temperate", this indicates that it was an easy place to live especially considering it was easier to travel around since it was flat as its name indicates. (Harte 429) However the story foreshadows the tragedies ahead when the narrator describes the Sierra mountains in which the travelers have to go through in order to get to Sandy Bar. The narrator says the air is "dry, cold, and bracing" and that the trail was "narrow and difficult". (Harte 429) The committee obviously knew of the harsh environment outside Poker Flat yet they show no compassion on the outcasts.

These three local color elements give us a little taste of the context of the story of "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" yet in themselves they are not enough to truly grasp what the story is all about.

Works Cited

Harte, Bret. "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" The Norton Anthology of American Literature Volume C. Ed.

Nina Baym. 6th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2003.

428-435.