Read The Case of the Deadly Desperados Online
Authors: Caroline Lawrence
Glossary
alkali
âa harsh chemical found in both dust and water in parts of Nevada.
ambrotype
âone of the earliest types of photograph, invented in the 1850s.
assay office
âa place you could take your sample of ore to see how much it was worth.
bonanza
âa sudden dramatic increase in wealth, especially when mining.
borrasca
âthe opposite of bonanza, i.e., a worthless mine or claim.
caliber
âthe diameter of balls and bullets measured in hundredths of an inch.
Celestial
âslang for Chinese because the imperial court in China was known as the “celestial court.”
Comstock
âthe 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
âa misspelling of Croesus: a mythical king who was fabulously wealthy.
crib
âa square structure like a manger; the framework of a mine or a one-room dwelling.
Dan De Quille
âthe pen name of Virginia City journalist William Wright.
Deringer
or
Derringer
âa small one- or two-shot pistol with big bullets that was easy to hide.
draw a bead on/draw down on
âexpressions that meant to point a gun at someone.
Grafton T. Brown
âa freeborn African American artist best known for his city views.
Grosh Brothers
âHosea and Ethan probably discovered the silver lode beneath Virginia City but died before they could benefit.
hoop skirt
âa skirt worn over petticoats with hoops sewn in.
hurdy girls
âwomen who worked in saloons where music was often played on a hurdy-gurdy (a hand-cranked stringed sound box).
Lakota
(a.k.a. Sioux)âthe language and name of a Native American people from South Dakota.
ledge
âan underground layer of valuable ore.
Mark Twain
âone of America's most famous writers: his real name was Sam Clemens.
medicine bag
âa pouch carried by some Native Americans, usually for magical purposes.
mother lode
âa mining term that means the main vein or ledge of ore.
Mount Davidson
âthe Comstock Lode was in it and Virginia City upon it.
notary public
âa person authorized to draw up documents and/or certify them as legal.
ore
âearth or rock containing valuable metal or mineral.
passel
âa large group of people or things.
Paiute
âthe Northern Paiute were a tribe of Native Americans who lived in Nevada, Oregon and parts of California.
Pinkerton Detective Agency
âfounded by Allan Pinkerton in Chicago in 1850.
placer mining
âwhere surface deposits of earth are rinsed with water to reveal gold.
plug
âa bowler hat, a piece of chewing tobacco or an old horse.
Potosi
âa claim in Virginia City named after a silver-rich mountain in Bolivia.
quartz stamp mill
âa machine with pistons that pulverized rock in order to remove metal.
recorder's office
âthe place where official records concerning property or mining claims were kept.
Sam Clemens
â(see Mark Twain) was a reporter for the
Daily Territorial Enterprise
from 1862 to 1864.
slouch hat
âa soft felt hat with a wide flexible brim, usually in brown or black.
soiled dove
âa term used to describe a woman who worked in a saloon or brothel.
spittoon
âa metal container to catch people's saliva when they chewed tobacco and spat out the juice.
staking a claim
âthe act of physically marking the place where you intended to mine.
stovepipe hat
âa tall cylindrical hat, famously worn by President Abraham Lincoln.
tailings
âore was crushed in stamp mills to extract precious metal; the leftover piles of pulverized earth were called tailings.
teamster
âthe driver of a team of animals, usually oxen or mules.
Territorial Enterprise
(a.k.a.
Daily Territorial Enterprise
)âthe first daily newspaper published in Virginia City from 1860 on.
tony bunch
âslang for a group of “high-tone” or wealthy people.
Virginia City
âa mining town in Nevada that sprang up in 1859, soon after silver was discovered.
Washoe
âthe 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
âan ironic slang term for a braying mule in Virginia City.
Washoe Zephyr
âan ironic slang term for the violent wind in Virginia City.
Wells Fargo
âWells, Fargo & Co. was founded in 1848 to transport and bank money, payrolls and gold.
whang leather
âtough strips of leather used for thongs, reins and harnesses.
whim
âa wheel-like mechanism for raising ore or water from a mine.