Afterclaps—Unexpected happenings after an event is supposed to be over
Arbuckle’s—Coffee; taken from a popular brand of the time
Blue belly—Yankee
Bluestocking—An epithet for literary ladies
Bow up—puffing up as if preparing to fight someone
Buffalo Soldiers—Black soldiers of the U.S. Army who fought Native Americans and policed the frontier in the years following the Civil War
Calico queen—Prostitute
California collar—A hangman’s noose
California widow—A woman separated from her husband, but not divorced; from when men went west, leaving their wives to follow later
Cracker—A poor southern white person, named after the cracking whips used by rural southerners
Celestial—Derogatory term for a Chinese person
Coulee—a deep ravine
Curly wolf—Mean fellow; tough guy; sometimes a bit of a bastard
Hemp—Marijuana
Filling the blanket—Rolling a cigarette
Fingersmith—Pickpocket
Granger—A derogatory term for a farmer
Laudanum—An alcoholic solution containing morphine, prepared from opium, and used as a narcotic painkiller
Lynching bee—A hanging
Owlhoot—Outlaw
Pancake—English saddle
Peacemaker—Colt .45; the “Gun that Won the West”
Penny dreadful—A cheap, sensational novel of adventure, crime and violence; dime novel; pulp fiction
Pert near—Pretty near
Peterman—Safecracker
Pinkerton—a detective working for Pinkerton National Detective Agency
Poke bonnet—A long, straight bonnet, worn by Quakers and Methodists
Powder monkey—Explosions expert
Six-shooter coffee—Strong coffee
Sodbuster—Farmer
Soroche—Mountain sickness
Shebang—General store
Smock-faced boy—Smooth-faced man; white man
Sutler store—General store on an army fort
Throw up the sponge—Give up
Tignon—A piece of cloth worn as a turban by Creole women of Louisiana