Some Terms to Be Familiar With

I am just starting out at writing some cowgirl poetry,
and during my research of how the "old-time" cowboy 
really lived, I thought I would share some vocabulary 
that I came across.  Now, there are many colorful words
and phrases for the same thing, just different people 
telling the story.  So, if there is anything you would
care to add or to clarify, please let me know.


First, some basic items of apparel
CHAPS  (pronounced as "shaps")
open-shop pants, leggins', 12 hour leggins'

And, the item that was first to go on, and the last to come off
HATS
cheap woolsie, conk cover, the Ol' John B.

And, to make the outfit complete, we have
SPURS
hooks, galves, grapplin' irons, tin bellies (cheap spurs),
gut hooks, diggers, persuadors, and spur marks were called
panther tracks.

A good cowpoke always had a rope for every occasion.
ROPES
Rawhide:  skin line or catgut
Grass:  string, clothesline, Tom Horn, hemp, twine, and coil.
Lariat:  ketch rope
If you got your hands burned, you had a "hot rope".
A "hungry loop" was a throw intent on a ketch.
If you missed, you had yourself a "wasted loop".

Cowboys sure enjoyed sleep when they got it, and here
are some terms they used for sleeping out.
BEDROLLS
war sack, 30 years gatherin', hotroll, velvet couch.
If their bedroll wasn't available, they always had a 
"Tucson Bed":  back for a mattress, and a belly for a 
covering.  
Sleeping out in the open was fondly called "star pitch"
or "sage hennin'".

Some misc. terms you might wanna know...
"Stogies":  cheap, hand me down boots.
"Prairie Coal":  Bull chips.
"Fish":  Yellow slickers.
"Wipes":  Neckerchiefs.
"Tryin' to eat gravel with the chickens":  you got thrown off your ride.
When cowpokes had a fresh ride that often tried their patience,
they grabbed for the saddle horn if they had to, and called it
"huntin' leather, reachin' for the apple, shakin' hands
with grandma, soundin' the horn, and squeezin' the biscuit".
"lump oil":  coal oil.
"augur":  to talk.
"A cowboy fountain pen":  broomweed stalk and loose dirt.
"nester":  a homesteader, something cowboys hated.
"peddler of loads" a story-teller.
"stringin' a whizzer":  someone telling a story.
"airin' the lungs": cussin'
"mouth organ":  harmonica.
"equator":  the stomach or midsection.
"top screw, high salty, headtaster": foreman of the ranch.
"round-up captain, wagon boss":  boss of roundup.
"gray backs, seam squirrels, pants rats": lice.
"underriggin":  underwear.
"prairie calico":  women.

A cowboy wasn't a cowboy without a horse.  Often, he had the horse he called
his own, and the spread he was working for provided a "string" 
of horses for his use.
"cuttin' horse":  a horse worth its weight in gold, used to "cut" the
desired animal from a herd.  A horse with a talent for turning on a
dime was often called a "peg horse".
"river horse":  not all horses like the water, and cowboys often had 
to move herds over wide rivers.  They picked a river horse that could
swim and ride the current.
"night herdin' horse":  the horse with the best night vision and the
least likely to be spooked.
"ropin' horse": not all horses tolerated lariats being swung around there
heads, these horses were used to it and aided the cowpoke in their job.

On a big spread, they often had a "remuda"or a band, which was the herd of all the
horses not being used at the time.  Usually consisting of geldings and one
"belled mare", so named for the bell she wore to warn the wrangler if the 
remuda spooked.  The "wrangler" was often a young boy just learnin' to cowpoke
or an old timer who couldn't hack the long hours in a saddle.  These guys
watched over the remuda and caught horses for the cowpokes.

Cowboys had a whole 'nother language they used for the objects of their job:
CATTLE
"calf":  either sex when it was "born, dropped, or come along".
"yearlin' bull":  male calf, 2,3,or 4 year old bull used for breeding.
"steer yearlin'":  full grown male calf in general.
"beef":  full grown steer, over 4 years old.
"heifer":  1st year female calf.
"open heifer":  spayed heifer.
"pony beeves":  two-year old in general.
"short age":  3 years old or younger.
"critter, cow":  cattle in general.
"head":  individual animals, ex:  400 head.
"bunch":  cattle grouped together.
"heavy cow":  pregnant heifer.
"calf crop":  all the calves born during the calving season.
"churn dash calf, pail-fed":  skinny calf raised on skim milk.
"doggie, doby, dogy":  a calf that didn't winter well.
"motherin' up":  cows seeking their calves after branding.
"dogie":  yearlin' steers not fat enough for market, also an
orphan calf.
"longhorns, brush splitters, cactus boomers": Texas cattle.
"maverick":  unbranded or cattle of unknown ownership.
"rusty, rough steer, scrag, cull, shell, scrub": poorly developed
cattle.
"strays":  individual/small bunch who separate from the herd.
"drift":  large number of cattle who separate from the herd.
"tailin'":  pullin' the tail of a runaway to throw them off
balance.
"brindle":  splotched or multi-colored animal.







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Email:  deeej@uswest.net