The Case of the Deadly Desperados (22 page)

Glossary

alkali
—a harsh chemical found in both dust and water in parts of Nevada.

ambrotype
—one of the earliest types of photograph, invented in the 1850s.

assay office
—a place you could take your sample of ore to see how much it was worth.

bonanza
—a sudden dramatic increase in wealth, especially when mining.

borrasca
—the opposite of bonanza, i.e., a worthless mine or claim.

caliber
—the diameter of balls and bullets measured in hundredths of an inch.

Celestial
—slang for Chinese because the imperial court in China was known as the “celestial court.”

Comstock
—the ledge of silver below Virginia City was known as the Comstock Lode after one of the original stakeholders. The whole region was sometimes called the Comstock.

Creesus
—a misspelling of Croesus: a mythical king who was fabulously wealthy.

crib
—a square structure like a manger; the framework of a mine or a one-room dwelling.

Dan De Quille
—the pen name of Virginia City journalist William Wright.

Deringer
or
Derringer
—a small one- or two-shot pistol with big bullets that was easy to hide.

draw a bead on/draw down on
—expressions that meant to point a gun at someone.

Grafton T. Brown
—a freeborn African American artist best known for his city views.

Grosh Brothers
—Hosea and Ethan probably discovered the silver lode beneath Virginia City but died before they could benefit.

hoop skirt
—a skirt worn over petticoats with hoops sewn in.

hurdy girls
—women who worked in saloons where music was often played on a hurdy-gurdy (a hand-cranked stringed sound box).

Lakota
(a.k.a. Sioux)—the language and name of a Native American people from South Dakota.

ledge
—an underground layer of valuable ore.

Mark Twain
—one of America's most famous writers: his real name was Sam Clemens.

medicine bag
—a pouch carried by some Native Americans, usually for magical purposes.

mother lode
—a mining term that means the main vein or ledge of ore.

Mount Davidson
—the Comstock Lode was in it and Virginia City upon it.

notary public
—a person authorized to draw up documents and/or certify them as legal.

ore
—earth or rock containing valuable metal or mineral.

passel
—a large group of people or things.

Paiute
—the Northern Paiute were a tribe of Native Americans who lived in Nevada, Oregon and parts of California.

Pinkerton Detective Agency
—founded by Allan Pinkerton in Chicago in 1850.

placer mining
—where surface deposits of earth are rinsed with water to reveal gold.

plug
—a bowler hat, a piece of chewing tobacco or an old horse.

Potosi
—a claim in Virginia City named after a silver-rich mountain in Bolivia.

quartz stamp mill
—a machine with pistons that pulverized rock in order to remove metal.

recorder's office
—the place where official records concerning property or mining claims were kept.

Sam Clemens
—(see Mark Twain) was a reporter for the
Daily Territorial Enterprise
from 1862 to 1864.

slouch hat
—a soft felt hat with a wide flexible brim, usually in brown or black.

soiled dove
—a term used to describe a woman who worked in a saloon or brothel.

spittoon
—a metal container to catch people's saliva when they chewed tobacco and spat out the juice.

staking a claim
—the act of physically marking the place where you intended to mine.

stovepipe hat
—a tall cylindrical hat, famously worn by President Abraham Lincoln.

tailings
—ore was crushed in stamp mills to extract precious metal; the leftover piles of pulverized earth were called tailings.

teamster
—the driver of a team of animals, usually oxen or mules.

Territorial Enterprise
(a.k.a.
Daily Territorial Enterprise
)—the first daily newspaper published in Virginia City from 1860 on.

tony bunch
—slang for a group of “high-tone” or wealthy people.

Virginia City
—a mining town in Nevada that sprang up in 1859, soon after silver was discovered.

Washoe
—the name of a lake to the west of Virginia City and the area around it, and also of a Native American people of that region.

Washoe Canary
—an ironic slang term for a braying mule in Virginia City.

Washoe Zephyr
—an ironic slang term for the violent wind in Virginia City.

Wells Fargo
—Wells, Fargo & Co. was founded in 1848 to transport and bank money, payrolls and gold.

whang leather
—tough strips of leather used for thongs, reins and harnesses.

whim
—a wheel-like mechanism for raising ore or water from a mine.