The Case of the Petrified Man (31 page)

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.

Confederate
—a supporter of the Southern slave-owning states that were fighting against the Union in the Civil War of 1861–1865.

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

Daily Territorial Enterprise
—the first daily newspaper published in Virginia City, starting in 1860.

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

Deringer or Derringer
—a small one- or two-shot pistol, usually with big caliber bullets.

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

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

hurdy girls
—women who worked in saloons and often played a hand-cranked stringed soundbox called a “hurdy-gurdy.”

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

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

moccasin
—a soft slipper or shoe with no heel but a single piece of leather for the sole.

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

mustang
—a type of American wild horse, small but full of stamina.

ore
—earth or rock containing valuable metal or mineral.

passel
—a large group of people or things.

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

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

placer mining
—a technique in which surface deposits of earth are rinsed with water to reveal gold.

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

privy
—a toilet located in a small shed or “outhouse” near another building. The toilet was usually just a wooden seat over a pit.

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

Reb
—short for Rebel; a Confederate. Their enemies, the North, or Union, supporters, called Southern soldiers “Johnny Reb.”

rolltop desk
—a writing desk with a flexible slatted cover, which rolled down from the top.

Sam Clemens
(who would soon call himself “Mark Twain”)—was a reporter for the
Daily Territorial Enterprise
from 1862 to 1864.

sarsaparilla
—syrup made from a root of the same name; nowadays called root beer.

scatter gun
—a shotgun that fires small bits of metal or stone.

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, glass or ceramic container to catch tobacco chewers’ spit.

Stonewall Jackson
—a brave and pious Confederate general, who liked to suck lemons.

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

tableau vivant
—a silent group of people posed to represent a famous scene from history, as if frozen in time. (It is French for “living picture.”)

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

telegraph
—a method of sending messages almost instantly over great distances by means of making and breaking electrical connections along a wire.

tintype
—a form of photograph taken directly on a thin sheet of tin.

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

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.

Yank
—a supporter of the Union, or Northern states, in the Civil War. Their enemies, the Confederates, called them “Billy Yank.”