Student Question
What do the searchers from Poker Flat find at camp?
Quick answer:
The searchers from Poker Flat find Duchess and Piney dead, holding each other for warmth, having frozen to death yet appearing peaceful. They also discover John Oakhurst's body, who shot himself rather than succumb to the elements. Earlier, Uncle Billy had deserted with the horses, and Mother Shipton starved herself to save the others. The group had camped in a scenic but treacherous spot due to exhaustion and the influence of alcohol.
Duchess, Piney, Oakhurst, and Tom are all that are left of the outcasts late in the story. Uncle Billy ran off with the horses many days prior, and Mother Shipton starved herself to death, so that the other, younger, party members might survive. John Oakhurst realizes that the only chance that the group has at survival is to request help from the very same town that cast them out. He and Tom go part of the way together, but Oakhurst sends Tom the rest of the way by himself. It is several days later before the Poker Flat rescuers arrive. Their arrival is too late. They find Duchess and Piney dead. The two women are holding each other for warmth and have frozen to death, yet they look peaceful.
And when pitying fingers brushed the snow from their wan faces, you could scarcely have told from the equal peace...
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that dwelt upon them which was she that had sinned.
They found the body of Oakhurst a little bit away from the cabin. He too was dead. He had shot himself in the heart rather than succumb to the elements.
And pulseless and cold, with a Derringer by his side and a bullet in his heart, though still calm as in life, beneath the snow lay he who was at once the strongest and yet the weakest of the outcasts of Poker Flat.
In "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," what do the people find at the camp?
Although the outcasts are actually heading towards Sandy Bar, due to the tiredness of the travellers, and in particular the reluctance of the Duchess to go any further, the group stop and make camp at a place on the road. This location is what I assume you are referring to in your question. The description of this location appears to be particularly inviting. Note how the narrator describes it:
The spot was singularly wild and impressive. A wooded amphitheatre, surrounded on three sides by precipitous cliffs of naken granite, sloped gently toward the crest of another precipice that overlooked the valley. It was, undoubtedly, the most suitable spot for a camp, had camping been advisable.
Thus the travellers find a spot that is ideal for making camp, and thanks to the tiredness of the Duchess, and especially the alcohol that they all consume afterwards, the travellers lose all desire to carry on further up the narrow and precipitous track, and thus they all stay there.