Crows & Cards

by Joseph Helgerson

  fess up

  To confess.

  five-card

  Type of card game. Also called poker.

  fisticuffs

  Fistfight. Formed from fist and cuff. In this case cuff is a verb that means to hit someone.

  fix

  Difficult position or dilemma.

  fixings

  Food that goes along with the main dish of a meal.

  flay

  To skin something.

  flimflam

  Deception or trickery.

  flinty

  Something or someone who is stern.

  flummoxed

  Embarrassed, confused, or perplexed.

  flush

  A poker hand in which all cards are of the same suit but are not in consecutive order. For example, the two, five, seven, ten, and queen of hearts.

  forge

  Furnace that heats metal. Hot and glowing!

  forty-rod

  Liquor so strong that one sip can knock you forty rods back. A rod is a length equal to about 16½ feet. Forty rods would equal 660 feet, or slightly more than a city block. Strong stuff.

  Free States

  States where slavery was not allowed before the Civil War.

  G

  Galena

  Wealthy Illinois town that was at the center of the lead mining district along the upper Mississippi River. Lead mining was the major business on the upper Mississippi for several decades in the early and middle 1800s.

  garter

  Band that holds up a stocking or sleeve. Quite stylish.

  gibble-gabble

  To chatter fast and foolishly. You may be more familiar with its shortened form, gab.

  giddyup

  Command to go faster, usually given to a horse.

  goatee

  Pointed beard that first became popular in the 1840s. It got the name because it looks like the beard of a male goat.

  gold eagle

  Ten-dollar gold piece that is also called a liberty head by coin collectors. It has a woman's portrait on one side, an eagle on the other.

  goldurn

  Polite way to say goddamn.

  Good Book

  The Bible.

  goose flesh

  Same as goose bumps, a term that describes what the skin of a plucked goose looks like.

  gristmill

  Mill that grinds corn into flour. In the 1800s, mills used stones, which were turned by gears, to do the grinding. Water wheels often powered the gears.

  grog

  Alcohol or liquor. Often it is mixed with water, lemon juice, and sugar, then served hot. A grog shop is a bar or tavern that serves this drink. The word comes from an Englishman, Admiral Vernon (of the 1700s), whose nickname was Old Grog because of a grogram cloak he liked to wear (a grogram is a coarse, stiff coat made of mohair and wool). The admiral had a special drink that he served to the men on his ships, and that drink became known by his nickname.

  grubstake

  Money or supplies used to start an undertaking. The word often referred to what a gold miner needed to start prospecting. If the grubstake was loaned to the prospector, the person making the loan was entitled to a share of all discoveries.

  gumption

  Energy or willingness to do something.

  gut shot

  Shot in the gut (stomach).

  H

  ha ka ta

  Translates as "Halt!" or "Wait!" It is from the Hidatsa language. The Hidatsa are an Indian tribe that lived on the upper Missouri River in the 1840s. They still live in the same general area, which today is part of North Dakota.

  hang fire

  To be delayed. The phrase originally de- scribed an explosive charge that was slow in going off once its primer was lit or discharged. For this reason, the expression suggests a delay with some tension to it.

  hankering

  A want of something badly.

  hawk

  To sell something on the street by calling out to passersby.

  high hat

  Refers not only to a hat with a high crown but also to the fact that anyone who could afford such a hat would be well-off financially.

  high roller

  Someone who spends money freely.

  high toned

  Acting snobbish, as if you're important.

  highwayman

  Robber who steals from highway travelers.

  hobnob

  To be friendly and socialize with someone.

  hogshead

  Large wooden barrel that holds sixty-three gallons.

  hogtie

  To make something helpless. It comes from the way a hog's legs are tied together to make it unable to move.

  hogwash

  Something that doesn't make sense. Why would you wash a hog?

  hold-out

  Card that's held out of a deck for cheating purposes. The cheater hides it up a sleeve or down a boot and sneaks it into play during a game.

  homespun

  Describes clothing that is spun or made at home. Most people on the frontier made their own clothes. They were usually made of linen and wool, then colored with natural dyes such as goldenrod for yellow, walnut bark and sumac for gray, and butternut hulls for brown.

  Hudson Bay blanket

  Heavy wool blanket of bright colors that the Hudson Bay Company, a fur-trading company, gave to Indians in exchange for furs.

  hullabaloo

  Loud commotion or excitement.

  humble pie

  Something submissive or humiliated. The phrase comes from eating umble pie. Umbles are the edible inner parts of an animal, particularly deer, which were thought of as food fit only for lower classes.

  humbug

  Someone who's not what he or she pretends to be.

  hunker

  To squat down.

  huzzah (huh-ZAH)

  Cheer or hurrah that was originally a sailor's greeting when friends came aboard the ship.

  I

  iota (eye-OH-tuh)

  Smallest possible thing.

  J

  Jackson, Andy

  Seventh president of the United States. Before becoming president, he won fame as an Army general, earning the nickname Old Hickory for his discipline and determination. He waged war against the Creek Indians in the southern United States and in the War of 1812 defeated the British at New Orleans. The victory over the British made him a national hero.

  jenny wren

  A jenny is a female bird. A wren is a small brown bird that flits quickly about.

  Joan of Arc

  National heroine of the French. In 1429 she led an army against English invaders at the French city of Orleans and defeated them. She was viewed as a messenger of God by the French, which was why they let her lead troops into battle. The English viewed her as an agent of the devil and eventually had her burned at the stake as a witch. In the 1920s, almost five hundred years after her death, she was recognized by the Catholic Church as a saint.

  jug bitten

  Drunk. A jug is a large clay bottle often used to store liquor.

  just deserts

  In this phrase, just refers to what is right or proper. Deserts refers to something that is deserved, such as a reward or punishment. Zeb's definitely thinking punishment.

  K

  kingdom come

  Old way of saying heaven, from the Bible.

  King Louis

  Name of eighteen French kings. An illustrious bunch.

  kit and caboodle

  Collection of things or people.

  L

  la-di-da

  Pretentious. Describes someone who pre- tends to be far more important or refined than he or she is.

  Lafayette

  French general who fought on the side of the colonists in the United States' Revolutionary War.

  lark

  Bird known for its singing.

  legging

  Covering for the leg made of leather or cloth.

&nbs
p; levee

  River landing where boats can dock.

  lick

  Tiny amount.

  livery stable

  Stable that cares for and rents out horses.

  lodestone

  Magnetic stone used in compasses that points north. For Ho-John, north is the direction of freedom.

  looking glass

  Mirror.

  M

  medicine bundle

  A wrapping of skin or cloth that contains sacred objects such as an ancestor's skull, pipe, or robe. An Indian tribe might have many bundles, each owned by a keeper, who passes them on to a member of the next generation. A medicine bundle, similar to Christian religious shrines, bestows great honor and influence on the owner.

  Methuselah (Muh-THOO-zuh-luh)

  Old guy from the Bible who is said to have lived 969 years and been the grandfather of Noah, who built the ark.

  mettle

  Courage or strength of spirit.

  middling

  Middle-size.

  monkeyshine

  Prank.

  Mormons

  Members of the Mormon religion. Dr. Buffalo Hilly is making fun of them because they were run out of the state of Missouri. Local citizens were afraid the Mormons were trying to take over towns such as Independence and Liberty. Not a high point of religious tolerance.

  mortify

  To subdue or do away with. Those pinworms that Buffalo Hilly's talking about don't stand a chance.

  mountain fever

  Any number of fevers that people come down with while in the mountains. Colorado tick fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are two examples.

  mud clerk

  Steamboat clerk who is the purser's assistant. The name may have come from the clerk having to work on shore, which is often muddy.

  muff

  To handle or deal with something poorly. Today you might hear it used when a baseball player drops a fly ball.

  mumblety-peg (MUM-bull-tee-peg)

  Knife game. Players try to stick a knife into the ground from different locations or distances. Losers have to pull their knives out of the ground with their teeth.

  mumps

  Disease with symptoms such as a fever and major swelling of the cheeks. Today there is a vaccine that prevents it.

  N

  nabob (NAY-bob)

  Someone who is rich and important. The word comes from India, where it was the name for the governor of a province.

  nag

  A horse that is old or in bad health.

  Nantucket

  Island off the coast of Massachusetts. It was once an important center for boats that hunted whales.

  Napoleon

  Emperor of France from 1804 to 1815. Famous for nearly conquering all of Europe and for being short.

  nary

  None at all.

  O

  oilcloth

  Cloth treated with oil or paint and used to cover tables or shelves.

  P

  palaver (puh-LAHV-er)

  To talk in a misleading and cajoling way. The speaker is usually trying to convince the listener of something. It comes from a Portuguese word that means "to chatter."

  parcel

  To divide something into parts.

  passel

  Large group.

  passenger pigeon

  Type of pigeon that once lived in North America. Huge numbers of the bird nested in the middle and eastern parts of the United States. In 1840, John J. Audubon, a famous bird painter, saw one flock of the birds that was a mile wide and took three hours to pass over him. He placed its number at more than a billion birds. The bird was hunted to extinction as thousands were shot to be sold in markets. The last passenger pigeons were seen in the wild in 1906.

  Pawnee

  Indian tribe of the Great Plains.

  penny-ante

  Small amount. Comes from a game of poker that costs a penny to join.

  pernickety (per-NICK-ih-tee)

  Overly concerned about details. Sometimes spelled persnickety.

  pigs of lead

  Rough castings of lead that have the shape of a short rod and are easy to transport.

  pike

  Short for turnpike, which is a road you pay to use. Turnpike comes from combining the words turn and pike, the latter of which was a heavy spear used in the Middle Ages by the infantry. A revolving (or turning) frame with pikes attached to it was once used to control access to places such as a road. Today's turnstiles are a less pointy version.

  pilot (riverboat)

  One who steers a riverboat. It was a highly skilled job back then, for the Mississippi river was filled with snags and shallows.

  pine for

  To long for something you can't have.

  pluck

  Courage or willingness to fight for what you believe in.

  pockmarked

  Describes skin that has pits or marks left by smallpox or acne.

  poke

  Small bag or sack.

  poleaxe (verb)

  To be cut down by a poleax, which was a medieval battle-axe and quite wicked.

  porridge

  Food made by boiling grain until soft.

  potshot

  Shot taken from hiding or at an easy target. It's a slightly derogatory term, for such a shot is viewed as taking an unfair or un-sportsman-like advantage of whatever is being shot at. As such, it is a shot fitting only for someone trying to fill a cooking pot—in other words, a shot for the pot.

  powwow

  Meeting or social gathering. American Indians often hold them to celebrate important victories or occasions. Zeb isn't using the word quite accurately when he describes two people conferring.

  poxes

  Diseases (smallpox or chickenpox) that cause blisters or pimples. Smallpox is rare today because of vaccinations. Chickenpox remains common, although a recent vaccine may change that.

  Prussia

  Kingdom that became part of Germany.

  pullet

  Young hen.

  purser

  person on a ship who collects tickets from passengers.

  Q

  quicksilver

  Another name for mercury, which at room temperature is a silver liquid that's runny and toxic.

  quill

  Before ballpoint pens, people used quills to write. They were bird feathers sharpened on the end and dipped into ink.

  R

  rackabones

  Horse so skinny that it doesn't look healthy—nothing but a rack of bones.

  ragamuff

  Zeb's mispronouncing ragamuffin, which is a child dressed in rags and needing a bath and good meal.

  ragging

  Tormenting or teasing.

  rail

  To disapprove of someone or something with strong, harsh words.

  railroad

  To be convicted of committing a crime without a fair trial or sometimes without a trial at all.

  rapscallion (rap-SKAL-yen)

  Rascal. The word comes from modifying the word rascal and adding a fancy ending.

  rawhide

  To tease mercilessly. The word comes from the use of a rope made of rawhide to whip someone.

  Red River

  There are two Red Rivers of note in the United States. One flows north along the Minnesota-North Dakota border all the way into Canada. The other flows east along the Oklahoma-Texas border, then across Arkansas and Louisiana and eventually to the Mississippi River. It's this second Red River that Zeb is referring to.

  redskin

  An American Indian. The word is most often used in a mean-spirited way. The usage comes from the color of an American Indian's skin.

  restorative

  Something that restores your health.

  rheumatic pains (roo-MAT-ick)

  Pain of the muscles and joints. Often called arthritis.

  riffraff

  People with very poor reputations.

  row
>
  Noisy fight.

  A poker hand that goes ten, jack, queen, king, ace, with all cards being the same suit. It's the highest possible hand. If two players have a royal flush at the same time, they split the pot (or winnings).

  royal flush

  S

  San Carlos

  Town on the Missouri River that today is known as St. Charles. Goose Nedeau calls it by its old Spanish name.

  sapua sapua (suh-POO-uh)

  Translates as "seven, seven" (a pair of sevens). It is from the Hidatsa language. The Hidatsa are an Indian tribe that lived on the upper Missouri River in the 1840s. They still live in the same general area, which today is part of North Dakota.

  sarsaparilla (sass-puh-RILL-uh)

  Sweet drink made from the dried root of the sassafras tree and flavoring from birch trees.

  sawing wood

  Snoring.

  schoolmarm

  Woman schoolteacher in a rural or small-town school.

  Shanghai chicken (shang-HIGH)

  Type of chicken popular on the frontier.

  shebang

  Everything that's under consideration.

  shell out

  To pay for something, used particularly if you feel you're paying too much for it.

  shut

  In this instance, to get clear or free of something.

  sic

  To urge one person (or animal) to attack or pursue someone else.

  side-wheeler

  Steamboat with paddle wheels on the sides of the boat instead of the back.

  sight

  Not only meaning what you can see, the word can also mean a large quantity.

  skedaddle (skuh-DAD-uhl)

  To run away fast.

  skinflint

  Someone who's so cheap, he or she pinches pennies till they scream.

  smack

  Directly or sharply, often used in the phrase smack in the middle.

  smithereens

  Tiny bits.

  smokehouse

  Small cabin where fresh meat is hung to cure. The cabin is filled with a thick smoke that preserves and flavors the meat. In a time without refrigeration, this was an important way to prevent meat from spoiling.

  soddies

  Frontier houses built of sod. Used on the prairie, with lots of bugs for pets.

  Spanish brown wash

  Reddish brown wash or paint.

  specs

  Short for spectacles, which is another way of saying eyeglasses.

  spell