Old West glossary, no. 27

Montana cowboys, c1910

Here’s another set of terms garnered from early western novels. Definitions were discovered in various online dictionaries, as well as searches in Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang, Dictionary of the American West, The New Encyclopedia of the American West, The Cowboy Dictionary, The Cowboy Encyclopedia, The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology, The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms, and The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

These are from Emma Ghent Curtis’ The Fate of a Fool, about an unhappy rancher’s wife in Colorado, and Florence Finch Kelly’s With Hoops of Steel about a rancher falsely accused of murder in Old New Mexico.

arctics = shoes designed to protect the feet in extreme cold temperatures. “Her arctics would make no noise, so she stole softly down stairs, through the dark kitchen and out into the street.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

Man in white shirt, c1893

bald-faced shirt = white dress shirt. “He keeps a room and his best duds here all the time, and the first thing he does after he strikes town is to go and put on a bald-faced shirt and a long-tailed coat.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

bias-eyed = slant-eyed; offensive reference to Chinese. “There’s one bias-eyed fan-tanner that won’t pull his freight for Chiny as soon as he gets his pockets full of good American money.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

blackleg = a fashionable dandy. “They teach their girls to choose their husbands for their clothes rather than for their characters, and to think that if they can get a blackleg that keeps his pants brushed and wears a canary neck-tie, and has a rich daddy, to be their husbands, that they’ve done better than if they’d got an honest man that wore a hickory shirt and worked for a living.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

blackman = a game in which one player stands between two facing teams, a distance apart, and after calling out “blackman,” attempts to tag runners crossing from one side to the other. “I respect a woman more that’ll let her dishes go, and go out and play black man with her children.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

Campbellites = any of the religious groups descended from a reform movement in the early 19^th century in the United States. “There’s the Baptists given’ the Methodists Hail Columbia, and the Presbyterians sailin’ into the Campbellites.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

comfort tacking = a process similar to quilting in which the layers of fabric, filling, and lining are tied together rather than sewn. “She agreed that if Cornelia would tack some comforts, and cut some carpet rags for her, that she would yield her objections.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

cranky = eccentric. “He told his friends at the saloon that although his wife was cranky and queer, still she always had a good warm supper ready for him when he came home at night.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

do up = beat up. “Everybody he knew he either loved or hated, and was ready, according to his feeling, either to do anything for, or to 'do up’ on a moment’s notice.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

Fan-tan gambling house

fan-tan = a Chinese gambling game similar to roulette. “There’s one bias-eyed fan-tanner that won’t pull his freight for Chiny as soon as he gets his pockets full of good American money.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

fantods = a state of extreme nervousness or restlessness; the willies; the fidgets. “That’s the reason she had such fantods when I wanted to kiss her that day last summer!” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

feathers = wealth, money. “I’ve had feathers enough in my time to make me a good bed, but I scattered and wasted ’em all with whisky and brandy.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

Frock coat

frock coat = a man’s coat characterized by knee-length skirts all around the base, popular during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. “He stepped from his room, freshly shaven and clad in black frock coat and vest, gray trousers and newly polished shoes.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

grass widow = a woman who is divorced or separated from her husband. “I knew it wa’n’t no use to go back to father for he thought a grass-widder was worse’n a snake.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

hickory shirt = A coarse, durable shirt worn by laborers, made of heavy twilled cotton with a narrow blue stripe or a check. “They teach their girls to choose their husbands for their clothes rather than for their characters, and to think that if they can get a blackleg that keeps his pants brushed and wears a canary neck-tie, and has a rich daddy, to be their husbands, that they’ve done better than if they’d got an honest man that wore a hickory shirt and worked for a living.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

hull = cartridge, shell. “Tom, give me some of your hulls! I used up all mine keepin’ your darned sheriff back.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

kalsomine = whitewash. “It had five rooms, and all they needed was a coat of paint and kalsomine.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

Pride of Colorado = flour made from locally grown wheat at the Lindell Mill in Fort Collins, Colorado. “Her face would have blushed with pleasure until it shone red as the artificial poppies on her head, had not the layer of Pride of Colorado flour been too thick upon her features.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

Overland Limited, c1905

scalper = one who buys the unused portions of long-distance railroad tickets in order to sell them at a profit. “He had been put off the overland train at that place because the conductor had discovered that he was riding on a scalper’s ticket.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

soft snap = a post or job requiring little time or effort. “You can’t expect a fellow to let himself be arrested for nothing, just so you can keep a soft snap as deputy sheriff.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

split-bottom = the seat of a chair made from woven strips of cane, bark, or reed. “A mother can take an old split-bottomed rockin’ chair, and hold the youngest child and tell stories to the others while they play around her.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

taking = capturing interest, fetching. “He is a very taking young fellow, with his handsome face and good-natured smile.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

Tansy

tansy = tea made from this medicinal herb was used to treat migraine, neuralgia, rheumatism, and worms. “I thought I’d jest come over and bring ye a little mite of double tansy.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

washee-washee = Chinese person. “I reckon I was a public benefactor when I sheared that washee-washee, and I deserve the pig tail as a decoration for my services.” Florence Finch Kelly, With Hoops of Steel.

yellow girl = mulatto; mixed race. “We Southerners’ll hold on to our yaller girls and our sins as tight as we did to our slaves.” Emma Ghent Curtis, The Fate of a Fool.

Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

Coming up: Frances McElrath, The Rustler (1902)