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John Oakhurst
The chief antagonist of the story, Uncle Billy is a drunk and a suspected thief (he is believed to steal gold while other people are panning for it) who is exiled from Poker Flat along with Oakhurst, the Duchess, and Mother Shipton. Although he’s only suspected of being a thief, his actions in the story prove that he’s deserving of this reputation. On their first night in the mountains, while the group is still treating their journey like a merry camping trip, Uncle Billy drinks heavily with the others. However, an idea “of a jocular nature" comes to him, and he’s so delighted by it that he slaps his leg merrily and bites his fist in excitement: he is going to steal the group’s mules, who are tied up near where the group has stopped to camp. By morning, Uncle Billy is gone and the mules are nowhere to be found. The story never reveals what happened to Uncle Billy—whether he made it to the next town over or died in the pursuit—but he is nonetheless spared the long, agonizing death that the rest of the outcasts (plus Tom and Piney) are forced to endure. Uncle Billy’s theft is significant not just because it confirms his status as a thief, but also because it goes beyond his reputation as a suspected petty thief—in stealing the group’s mules, he has stranded his companions and effectively sentenced them to death. What’s worse, in the hours leading up to his escape, Uncle Billy seems positively giddy about his plan, as if stealing the group’s sole source of transportation is an impish, playful trick rather than a malevolent and fatal one. Thus, while all of the other outcasts prove themselves more morally complex than first meets the eye—thus suggesting they weren’t necessarily deserving of being demonized in Poker Flat—Uncle Billy remains nothing more than a villain.
Uncle Billy Quotes in The Outcasts of Poker Flat
The The Outcasts of Poker Flat quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle Billy or refer to Uncle Billy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Quotes
In point of fact, Poker Flat was “after somebody.” It had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it. A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons. This was done permanently in regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit judgement.
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[…] Mr. Oakhurst knew that scarcely half the journey to Sandy Bar was accomplished, and the party were not equipped or provisioned for delay. This fact he pointed out to his companions curtly, with a philosophic commentary on the folly of “throwing up their hand before the game was played out.” But they were furnished with liquor […] In spite of his remonstrances, it was not long before they were more or less under its influence.
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He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, for there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; they were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.
The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers.
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Uncle Billy Quotes in The Outcasts of Poker Flat
The The Outcasts of Poker Flat quotes below are all either spoken by Uncle Billy or refer to Uncle Billy. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
The Outcasts of Poker Flat
Quotes
In point of fact, Poker Flat was “after somebody.” It had lately suffered the loss of several thousand dollars, two valuable horses, and a prominent citizen. It was experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it. A secret committee had determined to rid the town of all improper persons. This was done permanently in regard of two men who were then hanging from the boughs of a sycamore in the gulch, and temporarily in the banishment of certain other objectionable characters. I regret to say that some of these were ladies. It is but due to the sex, however, to state that their impropriety was professional, and it was only in such easily established standards of evil that Poker Flat ventured to sit judgement.
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[…] Mr. Oakhurst knew that scarcely half the journey to Sandy Bar was accomplished, and the party were not equipped or provisioned for delay. This fact he pointed out to his companions curtly, with a philosophic commentary on the folly of “throwing up their hand before the game was played out.” But they were furnished with liquor […] In spite of his remonstrances, it was not long before they were more or less under its influence.
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He started to his feet with the intention of awakening the sleepers, for there was no time to lose. But turning to where Uncle Billy had been lying, he found him gone. A suspicion leaped to his brain and a curse to his lips. He ran to the spot where the mules had been tethered; they were no longer there. The tracks were already rapidly disappearing in the snow.
The momentary excitement brought Mr. Oakhurst back to the fire with his usual calm. He did not waken the sleepers.
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