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Period Vocabulary: Language of the 19th Century West
By Randy Salars·
The Old West wasn't just populated by cowboys. It was settled by miners, pioneers, merchants, gamblers, and lawmen. This dictionary explores the broader vocabulary of the 19th-century frontier—the words spoken in boomtowns, mining camps, and along the wagon trails.
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Featured Term
Bonanza
Noun: A large, rich mineral deposit or a sudden acquisition of wealth.
Adapted from the Spanish word for "prosperity" or "fair weather," this word became the ultimate dream of every prospector who headed West. Striking a "bonanza" meant finding a vein of gold or silver so rich it could change your life overnight. The most famous was the Comstock Lode in Nevada, known as the "Big Bonanza." The term eventually entered the broader English language to mean any sudden windfall or spectacular success.
Mining & Prospecting
- Claim Jumping
- The illegal act of stealing someone else's mining claim, often leading to violence or vigilante justice in mining camps.
- Color
- Traces of gold found in a prospector's pan. "Finding color" meant you were panning in the right spot.
- Fool's Gold
- Iron pyrite. A brassy, yellow mineral that looks like gold but is essentially worthless, breaking the hearts of many greenhorn prospectors.
- Mother Lode
- The principal vein or zone of a gold or silver deposit. The primary source from which all the looser "placer" gold eroded.
- Pan Out
- Originally referred strictly to gold panning. If gravel yielded gold, it "panned out." The phrase survives today meaning "to succeed or yield a good result."
- Pay Dirt
- Soil, gravel, or rock that contains enough gold or valuable minerals to make mining it profitable.
- Placer Mining
- Mining of stream bed (alluvial) deposits for minerals. This was the early, simple form of mining using pans, rockers, and sluice boxes.
- Sourdough
- An experienced, veteran prospector or miner, named for the fermented dough they carried to make bread in the wilderness.
- Tailings
- The waste rock, gravel, and dirt left over after the valuable minerals have been extracted from the ore.
Law & Outlaws
- Bounty Hunter
- An individual who tracks down and captures outlaws or fugitives in exchange for a monetary reward, often "dead or alive."
- Bushwhack
- To ambush or attack someone by surprise, often from a hidden position in the brush. Considered cowardly compared to a face-to-face shootout.
- Dry-gulch
- Similar to bushwhacking. To assassinate someone from ambush, particularly in a ravine or "dry gulch."
- Gunslinger
- A person who is dangerous and skilled with a gun. The term was actually popularized by 20th-century Western movies rather than used extensively in the Old West.
- Hemp Committee
- A grim euphemism for a lynch mob or vigilante group, referencing the hemp rope used for hangings.
- Posse Comitatus
- The legal authority of a sheriff or marshal to conscript able-bodied men to assist in keeping the peace or pursuing a wanted outlaw.
- Road Agent
- A more polite-sounding term for a highwayman or robber, specifically those who specialized in holding up stagecoaches.
- Rustler
- A thief who steals cattle or horses. One of the most despised criminals in the Old West, often punished by hanging.
- Vigilance Committee
- A group of citizens who took law enforcement and punishment into their own hands, often forming where official law was weak or corrupt.
Town Life & Society
- Bunkum
- Nonsense, empty talk, or political pandering. The origin of the modern word "bunk."
- Faro
- The most popular card game in the Old West. Played against the dealer (the "bank"), it was fast-paced and favored by legendary gamblers like Doc Holliday.
- Prairie Schooner
- A covered wagon used by pioneers moving West. From a distance, the white canvas covers waving in the wind across the sea of prairie grass looked like ships.
- Saloon
- The central gathering place in any Western town, providing drinks, gambling, and a place to socialize after a long trail drive or day in the mines.
- Sawbones
- A slang term for a doctor or surgeon, referring to the gruesome reality of frontier medicine and amputations.
- Soiled Dove
- A polite, Victorian-era term for a prostitute working in the saloons or brothels of Western boomtowns.
- Tenderfoot
- A newcomer to the frontier, unaccustomed to the hardships, weather, and lacking basic Western survival skills.
- Tinhorn
- A cheap, flashy, or petty gambler; someone who pretends to have more money, importance, or skill than they actually do.
- Wildcat
- A risky or unstable venture. Often referred to poorly funded, unregulated banks ("wildcat banks") that issued their own currency, which frequently became worthless.