The Big Fork Game

This episode of "The Gunsmith"was published in June 2004.It is a story of a major Poker Game set up in Big Fork, Montana in the hayday of the Old West, in the 1880's.The million dollar prize shows what a high stakes game it was.It was a draw to some of the biggest names at the time ;including Bat Masterson and Luke Short.To put it into perspective,it would be the equivalent of a pot of somewhere between 50 and 100 million dollars today. All this taking place in a little two-bit town which had guns,owlhoots and characters of every type the frontier days had in abundance. Most of the saga is about the goings on for several days before the game where we get to know all about the participants and how the game is going to be operated and how the Gunsmith is going to ensure that outlaws don't run off with all the money. The book is 187 pages,but it is not until page 126 that the game finally gets started.Not what you would call an action-packed story,but a good interesting read about people and goings on in this town. If you are expecting lots of kills,lots of shoot-outs,lots of fisticuffs,a big chase and perhaps explosions and burn-down of the town;you're going to be disappointed. Clint Adams was hired to ensure that the game came off with as little disruption as possible. We see that The Gunssmith was just the man for the job.