1 Francis Brett Harte was born in the East, but moved west and changed his life to become a writer. Harte's works were said to, ". . . express the matter [humor] briefly but more or less essentially, the power of laughing not only at things, but also with them." (Chesterson 339). He prospered as a writer with his work "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" is one of, if not the, defining short stories for …showed first 75 words of 686 total…

…showed last 75 words of 686 total…use of local color to make for an impressive satire on the Western short. Bibliography Chesterson, G. K. "Bret Harte." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Vol. I. Eds. Dedria Bryfonski and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit: Gale Research. 1978. 339-40. Harte, Bret. "The Outcasts of Poker Flat." Adventures in American Literature. Pegasus Edition. Orlando: HBJ, 1989. 414-20. Pattee, Fred Lewis. "Bret Harte." Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Vol. I. Eds. Dedria Bryfonski and Phyllis Carmel Mendelson. Detroit: Gale Research, 1978. 340-1.