Camp Green Lake's history is revealed in a series of flashbacks: In the 19th century, Green Lake is a flourishing lakeside community. Katherine Barlow, a school teacher, is romantically pursued by the wealthy Charles "Trout" Walker whom she rejects as she is in love with an African-American onion seller named Sam. The jealous Walker and the town's citizens burn down the schoolhouse and kill Sam. In retaliation, Barlow kills the local sheriff who ignored her pleas for help and becomes an outlaw hunting down Walker's men, leaving a kiss on their cheeks with her lipstick. At one point, she steals a chest of gold from Elya's son Stanley Yelnats Sr. Twenty years later, after the lake dries up the now-bankrupt Walkers track down Barlow and demand she hand over her treasure. Barlow refuses and tells them to dig for the treasure, after which Barlow dies from a self-inflicted lizard bite and the Walkers set about digging for the treasure.