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Why is Uncle Billy different from others in "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"?
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Uncle Billy is distinct from the other outcasts in "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" because he is the only one guilty of a true crime—being a drunken nuisance and a suspected thief. Unlike the others, who are exiled for gambling or prostitution, Billy selfishly abandons the group by stealing their horses and provisions, contributing to their demise. While the other characters show care and cooperation, Billy's actions reveal his cowardice and disregard for others.
Billy is exiled from Poker Flat for being a drunken nuisance and a suspected thief. The women are expelled for prostitution, and Oakhurst's "crime" is that he is a little too successful at poker and the men whom he has beaten at cards resent him. It is arguable that since neither prostitution nor gambling is illegal in this time and place, Billy is the only likely criminal exiled, if he has indeed stolen from sluices.
Once on the trail, Billy shows his true colors. Knowing a storm is coming, he slinks away under cover of night with the horses and extra provisions. In doing so, he is guilty not only of theft, but of contributing to the deaths of the others, who work together to try to keep the party alive. Mother Shipton saves her rations for Piney Woods, Duchess tries to maintain the innocent outlook of Tom and Piney...
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and looks after Piney when Tom goes for help, and Oakhurst coaches Tom on the best way to get to town. All of the characters except Billy care about others, and in fact, put others' well-being before their own.
Uncle Billy is the one true evil character in "The Outcasts of Poker Flat"--a cowardly man who is guilty of the original charges against him and who seals the others' fate when he takes off with their food and mules in the middle of the night. While the others have been run out of town for plying their trades--prostitution by the women, and Oakhurst's gambling--Billy is a "drunkard" and "sluice robber." The women have earned their money in an honest though immoral manner, while Oakhurst is run out of town simply because he has won money from the other townspeople, who are
... experiencing a spasm of virtuous reaction, quite as lawless and ungovernable as any of the acts that had provoked it.
While the others work together to try and ease the problems they face, Billy simply runs away with the provisions, living up to his reputation as a thief and leaving the others to die alone in the wilderness.