HIS POKER

In Clayville,[1] New Mexico Territory,[2] Bret Maverick played poker with four other men, including Mr. Brimmer. Brimmer found he was short to cover a bet and offered to sell Bret a full-blooded Arabian mount for $200 to stay in the game. Bret agreed, paid Brimmer the $200, and won the money back in a bluff. Bret soon realized Brimmer had taken him. The Arabian mount was actually a camel originally brought over from the Middle East as part of the Army's Camel Corps experiment in the years preceding the Civil War.[1]

After Clayville, Bret traveled to Silver Springs to expose Carl Jimson's Square Deal Saloon as a brace joint. After watching the various games in progress, he chose to sit down to a table he had noticed where two of the players, Connors and Ferguson, seemed to be signaling each other and winning throughout the evening. While playing, he caught them running the four-card spread and the single-card holdout. When they reported the dealings to Jimson, Jimson himself decided to sit in the game. When Jimson was dealing from a  stacked deck, Bret called for a cut. Jimson argued with Bret, but Bret held his ground, insisting on a cut. As Bret reached into his vest pocket for a match to light his cigar, Jimson shot him in the shoulder with a derringer he had up his sleeve, claiming Bret had been reaching for a gun.[1]

THROWN IN JAIL

In a gunfight between Bret Maverick and Carl Jimson, Donna Seely was struck in the chest by a bullet from Jimson's gun. As Donna was unconscious, she could not be questioned as to who shot her. Bret was arrested. The sheriff and others believed she could not have been shot by Jimson, her fiancé, so Bret was arrested for the shooting. If she didn't make it, Bret would be tried for murder. Jimson, knowing if Donna pulled through, she would identify him as the one who shot her, so he fled Silver Springs on the ruse of going for a doctor in Crown City. When Bret learned of Jimson's flight, he broke out of jail to go after him and bring him back to Silver Springs. Upon their return, the sheriff informed Bret that Donna had pulled through and identified Jimson as her assailant. The sheriff thanked Bret for bringing Jimson in and let Bret go.[1]

THE LADIES HE'S KNOWN

Years before coming to Silver Springs, Bret Maverick had met Donna Seely in Clovis,[1] Arizona Territory.[2] The two became good friends and eventually were romantically involved. But after a while, Bret felt it was time to move on. Even though Donna had fallen in love with him, the two parted amicably and remained friends. In July[1] of 1878,[2] Bret came to Silver Springs, where Donna had been been living for nearly a year. Donna had become engaged to Carl Jimson, mayor of Silver Springs and owner of the Square Deal Saloon. Bret was happy for to hear Donna had fallen in love, but was saddened when he realized it was to Jimson, a man he knew to be running a brace joint and the one he had come to Silver Springs to expose. Calling on their past relationship, Donna pleaded with Bret not to provoke Jimson, but Bret had to refuse. Ultimately, it came down to a gunfight between Bret and Jimson, and Donna was struck and almost killed by a shot from Jimson, ending their betrothal.[1]

The ladies were often taken with Bret, but none had ever displayed such sincere and boundless devotion as Fatima, the camel Bret had been tricked into buying for $200 during a poker game in Clayville. Although Bret didn't want Fatima, he nonetheless treated her with the kindness and respect he believed she deserved, and Fatima fell in love with him. After several failed attempts at selling Fatima, Bret decided to pay $100 to Mr. Johnson to take her off his hands. But Fatima's love for Bret led to her run off from her new home and track Bret all the way to Silver Springs. Again, Bret arranged to pay up to $50 for someone else to take her. But Fatima's love would not be denied, and she once again tracked Bret down, this time into the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert. After Bret's horse collapsed from exhaustion and lack of water, Fatima saved his life and carried the unconscious Jimson back to Silver Springs for him. Though Bret finally left Fatima behind, he was always grateful to her and recommended the town of Silver Springs build a monument to her.[1]

WINNINGS

Hundreds of dollars and Fatima, in Clayville, New Mexico Territory[1]
$5,000 in Silver Springs, New Mexico Territory.[1]

LOSSES

$100 to Mr. Johnson to take Fatima.[1]

$35 to a Silver Springs resident to take Fatima.[1]