CHAPTER I
1 Sherman’s army: William Tecumseh Sherman marched through the South in 1864, destroying huge sections of Georgia.
2 General Price: General Sterling Price commanded pro-Southern troops in Missouri during the Civil War.
3 poll-tax: The poll tax was a uniform, per-person tax, levied before one could vote.
4 segundo: Second in command, an assistant foreman.
5 remuda: A collection of replacement saddle horses, for a trail drive or for an open-range cattle ranch.
CHAPTER II
1 Fort Brown: Established in 1846 at the beginning of the Mexican-American War by Zachary Taylor, Fort Brown was situated near the mouth of the Rio Grande, close to Brownsville.
2 grulla: An ash-colored horse.
3 vaqueros: Mexican cowboys, or a Spanish word for riders or cowboys.
4 gringo: A foreigner, outsider, or greenhorn; sometimes used by Mexicans with racial overtones.
5 “Dodge and Ogalalla”: Dodge City, Kansas, and Ogallala, Nebraska; important cow towns on the Western Trail north.
6 muleys: Polled, bald, or hornless animals.
7 four rods: Equals about twenty-two yards or sixty-six feet.
8 nine knot gale: A bit more than ten miles per hour.
CHAPTER III
1 Circle Dot herd: Two or three Texas ranches adopted the Circle Dot name or brand, but none fits the herd/ranch described in Adams’s novel.
2 Blackfoot Agency: The Blackfoot Indian agency was first established in present Montana in 1854. It was gradually pushed north and relocated near the Canadian border, its present location.
3 Padre Island: Situated on the east Texas coast, just above the entrance of the Rio Grande into the Gulf of Mexico.
4 “capias”: A legal writ commanding an officer to arrest another person.
5 “Nueces”: The Nueces River, north of the Rio Grande, runs to the southeast in Texas and empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
6 “the story about Lot’s wife”: An Old Testament story (Genesis 19:26) about the wife of Lot (nephew of patriarch Abraham), who disobeys Yahweh by looking back on burning Sodom and Gomorrah and is turned into a pillar of salt.
7 “Cimarron”: The Cimarron River parallels the Canadian River in west central Oklahoma, turns slightly north, and empties into the Arkansas River.
CHAPTER IV
1 Laguna Madre: A backwater bay between Corpus Christi Bay on the north and Padre Island to the south, in extreme southeastern Texas.
2 Running W: The livestock brand of the famed King Ranch, registered in the 1860s and continuing to today.
3 Laurel Leaf: Or Horseshoe Ranch. A large Texas cattle ranch established in 1878. The Laurel Leaf brand was registered in 1868 by Mifflin Kenedy.
4 Santa Gertruda ranch: Probably the Santa Gertrudis Ranch, part of the King Ranch holdings and located on the Gulf Coast near Corpus Christi, on which Brahman and shorthorn cattle were crossbred to produce the famous Santa Gertrudis cattle.
5 Atascosa: The Atascosa River flows south, parallel to modern Interstate 37, and into the Nueces River.
6 “fish”: Probably means the cowboy used his slicker to wave the stampeding cattle out of their runaway pattern.
CHAPTER V
1 Old Western Trail: The Western Trail commenced in southern Texas, ran through Indian Territory, Kansas, Nebraska, and sometimes on to Wyoming and Montana. One of the first established cattle trails north. Sometimes known as Old Western or Great Western Trail.
2 Indian Lakes: An example of Adams’s imaginary geography.
3 loblolly: A mire, or mudhole.
4 Nat Straw: The foreman of another Texas trail herd, but probably not the same person noted here.
5 Ellison’s first herd: J. F. Ellison, a Texas trail driver, who bought and sold cattle from the late 1860s to the early 1880s.
CHAPTER VI
1 Mason: Mason is a small west Texas town on state highway 87 in the center of Mason County.
2 “whipped out my peg and . . . shuck out a shock or two”: That is, took out his knife and helped “shuck” (cut off the husks of) a shock or two of corn.
3 “running a blazer”: A sudden outcry or claim, blazing brightly.
4 “I hung up my gentle honk”: To make one’s statement or call.
CHAPTER VIII
1 Buffalo Gap . . . Taylor County: Taylor County is situated about two hundred miles west of present Fort Worth. Abilene is the largest city of the area, with Buffalo Gap a few miles south of Abilene.
2 Staked Plains: The Llano Estacado, or Staked Plain, is a high mesa running from northwest Texas to northeast New Mexico. Escarpments mark the northern, eastern, and western boundaries of these notable tablelands.
3 Mahomet to go to the mountain: Accepting the inevitable; since the mountain won’t come to Mahomet (agreement cannot be reached among the drovers), Mahomet (the cook and horse wrangler) moves on ahead.
CHAPTER IX
1 Doan’s Crossing: An important river crossing and store location on the Western Trail and Red River, which formed the boundary between Texas and Indian Territory.
2 Indian lands: Indian Territory, which became part of the new state of Oklahoma in 1906.
3 Adobe Walls: Famous battles occurred here in the west Texas Panhandle in 1864 and 1874 between white soldiers, hunters, and traders and southern Plains Indians. Adams probably refers to the battle in 1874.
4 pelon: Pelón, vernacular Spanish for a “tough guy.”
5 “General Grant”: Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885), Civil War general and eighteenth president of the United States (1869-1877).
6 “Tom Ochiltree”: Thomas Peck Ochiltree (1839-1902), Democratic legislator of Texas, and later a U.S. congressman representing the Galveston district.
7 “Fort McKavett”: Established in 1852, the fort was located in central Texas on the upper San Sabá River.
8 “nigh wheeler”: The animal nearest the wheel.
CHAPTER X
1 Camp Supply: Established in 1868 near the town of Fort Supply in Indian Territory. Ten years later renamed Fort Supply.
2 Fort Sill: Established in Comanche country in southwestern Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1869 to defend that area against Plains Indians.
3 Fort Elliot: Fort Elliott, Texas, officially established in 1875, was located on Sweetwater Creek in the Texas Panhandle between Adobe Walls to the north and Sweetwater (Mobeetie) to the south.
4 “big auger”: A “big shot” owner, boss, or leader.
5 “King”: Richard King (1824-1885), formerly a steamboat captain, became a Texas rancher and founder of the gigantic King Ranch. Cattleman and empire builder.
6 “Kennedy”: Mifflin Kenedy (1818-1895), Texas livestockman and entrepreneur. One-time partner with Richard King.
7 “Loving”: Oliver Loving (1812-1867), a southwestern cattleman who helped mark out the Goodnight-Loving Trail, 1866.
8 leeched out: Pulled out.
9 “cusi”: The trail cook; also
coosie. CHAPTER XI
1 Red River: The Red River, on the boundary between north Texas and Indian Territory (later Oklahoma), could be treacherous for cattle herds attempting to cross in high water.
2 Washita: The Washita River runs east from western Oklahoma and becomes a tributary of the Red River. The tragic Battle of the Washita occurred when George Armstrong Custer attacked an Indian encampment on November 27, 1868.
3 South Canadian: Probably a reference to the Canadian River, running parallel and north of the Washita River and flowing east into the Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma.
CHAPTER XII
1 “peon”: Peón, a person of lower social or economic class; landless worker.
2 “Greaser’s opinion”: “Greaser,” a racist, anti-Mexican term.
3 “Chisholm trail”: The Chisholm Trail (1867-1878). This legendary cattle trail linked San Antonio, Texas, with the railroad in Abilene, Kansas. Laid out by cattleman Joseph McCoy, the trail was named after Jesse Chisholm, the Scottish-Cherokee frontier trader and trailer.
CHAPTER XIII
1 McNulta: Perhaps referring to Texan Richard McNalty (or McAnulty), owner of the Turkey Track ranch, who did visit Dodge City.
2 Ed, Jim, and “Bat” Masterson . . . “Mysterious” Dave Mather: All these men were onetime lawmen or gunmen in the Dodge City area.
3 William Tillman: William M. Tilghman (1854-1924), a courageous lawman and fearless gunman.
4 “Shotgun” Collins: John “Shotgun” Collins, a former Wells, Fargo messenger known for his use of a shotgun; later a gunman.
5 on the tapis: Under discussion.
6 “Bat Masterson”: William Barclay “Bat” Masterson (1853-1921), saloon-keeper, lawman, journalist.
7 “Uncle” Henry Stevens . . . “Dun” Houston: All were well-known Texas ranchers and drovers.
8 Colonel “Shanghai” Pierce: Abel Head “Shanghai” Pierce (1834- 1900), Texas cattle rancher who eventually owned the Rancho Grande, which spread over 250,000 acres. Known for his booming voice and imperial manner, reminding observers of a Shanghai rooster.
9 “Jim Crow outfit”: A second-class outfit; a put-down or racist term.
10 see the elephant: To take in the sights, see the latest attraction.
11 “whore-herder”: Pimp or owner of a house of prostitution.
CHAPTER XIV
1 Big Boggy: Another example of Adams’s imagined geography.
2 “Pete Slaughter”: Peter Slaughter was a Texas rancher and drover and built a bridge like the one described here, but it was not located on the Western Trail where Adams places it.
3 june: Probably to push, force, or fool into.
CHAPTER XVII
1 Gomorrah: Old Testament site, along with Sodom, known for its evil ways.
2 Joel Collins: Joel Collins (ca. 1850-1877), western cowboy and thief and onetime comrade of outlaw Sam Bass.
3 Sam Bass: Sam Bass (1851-1878), a cowboy, horse thief, and train robber. A major figure in western outlawry.
4 “cow”: A group or a dominating force.
5 monte: A popular forty-card gambling game originating in Mexico. As in the game of faro, players placed bets on face cards, wagering against the values of cards being newly dealt to them.
6 “Ole Bull”: A notable violinist in the nineteenth century.
7 Dillard Fant: Dillard R. Fant (1841-1908), a Texas beef contractor and trailer from the 1860s to the 1880s.
8 “skin game”: A dishonest game, a stacked deck of cards.
9 hurrah: To harass or push a person out of the way.
CHAPTER XX
1 stage road: Undoubtedly refers to the route of the Cheyenne and Black Hills stagecoach line, begun in January 1876. Later known as the Cheyenne or Deadwood Stage.
2 Powder River: The Powder River emerges from the Big Horn Mountains in north central Wyoming and runs north into Montana. The Powder River country was the scene of several major conflicts with Indians and the famous Johnson County War in the 1890s.
3 discovery of gold in the Black Hills: The discovery of gold in 1876-77 in the Deadwood area of what became western South Dakota brought thousands of hungry miners and speculators into this booming area in the 1870s and 1880s.
4 “carne fresco”: Carne fresca, fresh meat.
CHAPTER XXI
1 Crazy Woman: Crazy Woman Creek flows east out of the Big Horn Mountains in Wyoming and joins the Powder River between modern-day Buffalo and Gillette.
2 felloe: The rim or outside part of the wheel to which spokes are attached.
3 Frenchman’s Ford: Another example of Adams’s created geography.
4 “his royal nibs”: One who thinks he or she belongs to royalty.
5 “Gallatin country”: The Gallatin Valley area is situated in southwestern Montana with present-day Bozeman at its center.
6 “Cuidado, mucho”: Be very careful.
CHAPTER XXIII
1 squaw winter: Probably an early, unexpected stretch of bad weather.
2 a controversy over the sex of a young Indian: Quite possibly the cowboys have encountered a berdache, or transsexual, among the Blackfeet. Sometimes known as a “contrary,” these were Indian men dressed as women.