– The sheriff of Boise City, Oklahoma. A former “doughboy,” or a World War I soldier who served in the American Expeditionary Force on the western front, Barrick returned to Oklahoma after the war to get rich from the wheat boom. He took on the job as sheriff after being outraged by the sight of the town’s sheriff at the time, who was drunk while on duty. Barrick sold sugar in front of his station, which he had seized from bootleggers.
Get the entire The Worst Hard Time LitChart as a printable PDF.
Hi Barrick Character Timeline in The Worst Hard Time
The timeline below shows where the character Hi Barrick appears in The Worst Hard Time. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 5: Last of the Great Plowup
...scheme to bid only a dime for farm property—no more. The bank and Sheriff Hi Barrick, who was present to keep order at the auctions, grew wise to the tactic, but...
(full context)
Chapter 7: A Darkening
...little cash in Boise City. People traded and sold what they could to survive. Hi Barrick, the Cimarron County sheriff, had previously wanted to get rich like everyone else “in the...
(full context)
Chapter 12: The Long Darkness
...food, such as waiting in a soup line or waiting in line for Sheriff Hi Barrick to hand out roadkill. Some people also stole food. People were committing more serious crimes,...
(full context)
Barrick still had a salary—$125 per month. Hazel Shaw, on the other hand, could no longer...
(full context)
...miracle. She was horrified that a baby would be left in the cold, but Sheriff Barrick knew of a family that had abandoned all three of their children. The infant was...
(full context)
Chapter 15: Duster's Eve
...they had been hit by a tornado. Still, the family had to leave quickly. Sheriff Barrick said that roads were blocked by huge dust drifts—as soon as the CCC dug one...
(full context)