California Joe

"Ho, stranger!" called out one of the number.

But no reply came, and neither horse or rider moved.

"Stranger, who are you?"

Again was the call unanswered (California Joe).

Little is known about California Joe at this point, so little that the party of campers never even caught his name. Instead they gave him one – the “Forest Phantom”. This is a fantastic example of the classic Western character. He is alone and perhaps lonely, he talks little and when he does his words are effective and to the point, and most importantly his identity is very foggy, mysterious. He is an outlaw, not necessarily because of any past transgressions but because the law has no place for a man full of so much obscurity and void of any definable distinctiveness. Donning black clothes and riding a white horse it seems that even California Joe may be confused about his identity, existentially speaking.

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