Dictionary of the American West

G

G G.T.T. See gone to Texas. gabacho (gah-BAH-cho) An epithet for Anglos used by Southwestern Hispanics, usually disparagingly. Their word for a Spaniard is gachupin. See also gringo. Adapted from Spanish (where it originally meant “French-like” or “foreigner”). gaff (1) To spur a horse. (2) Among loggers, the metal point on a pike pole. Gaffer, among miners, means the shift boss. Among loggers, it indicates the general superintendent. (See also supreme being for more logging terms for bosses.) gage d’amour (gahj dah-MOOR) A hide pouch that hung around the neck of a voyageur or mountain man and held a small clay pipe. According to the 1840s British adventurer Lieutenant George Frederick Ruxton in Life in the Far West, it was usually “a triumph of squaw workmanship, in shape of a heart, garnished with beads and porcupine quills.” Originally simply any token of love given a fur man by an Indian woman, it came to mean the most common of such items, the hide pouch. gain Among miners, an amount of gold or silver mined. galena The main ore for lead. This word was usually used in the West to mean the lead in bullets . Thus when the mountain man spoke of needing DuPont and galena, he meant powder and lead (and he probably formed his own balls from a bar of lead). When the frontiersman spoke of a galenapill (or blue pill), he meant a bullet: “One Galena pill is no dose for me—come on with a whole lead mine.” gall bitters A drink popular among mountain men. The recipe of plainsman Rufus Sage: one pint water with one-quarter gill buffalo gall. Sage describes it as “a wholesome and exhilarating drink” and a sure cure for dyspepsia . Also known as prairie bitters. gal-leg A spur with a shank shaped like a woman’s leg, at least in the eye of a cowboy who hasn’t been to town in a while. G.T.T. 156  Trapper’s gage d’amour. [Drawing by E. L. Reedstrom.] galleta (gah-YAY-tuh) A Southwestern grass (genus Hilaria) popular as graze for livestock. Borrowed from Spanish. galloping goose A decrepit or makeshift unit of rolling stock (such as a freight car) on a railroad. galoot A fellow, especially one who’s a bit of a character. gambusino (gahm-boo-SEE-noh) A gold prospector, a small-time miner, even a fellow who pilfers gold. Borrowed from Spanish. game of the arrow A game George Catlin found the Mandan Indians playing in the 1830s. The object was to get the most arrows in the air at once. The term is an English translation of an Indian (probably Mandan) phrase. The game is still played among the Crow in a somewhat different form. ganadero (gah-nah-DAIR-oh) A Southwestern term for a cattleman. Borrowed from Spanish. ganado red (gah-NAH-doh red) A bright red color produced by an aniline dye. Named for Ganado, Arizona, it was the first non-vegetable dye used by the Navajo weavers. gancho A shepherd’s crook or a hook made of metal. Borrowed from Spanish. gant up To get gaunt, thin, skeletal-looking; said especially of livestock. Such critters were said to be ganted or ganted down. gaper In card games, a tiny mirror the dealer holds, to sneak a look at the cards. garbage can What a logger called a Bunyan camp, one with miserable living accommodations. garment A white undergarment worn by Mormons that symbolizes purity and modesty. It is worn by members who have received an endowment. gate horse A rider posted at a corral gate to count cows, to keep them in or out, or for any other reason. gateado (gah-tay-AH-doh) A dun-colored horse striped like a cat, much like a zebra dun. Borrowed from Spanish. (See also buckskin.) gather As a noun, the cattle that have been rounded up. gauntlet A cowboy’s glove, generally sewn of buckskin, fringed, and embroidered with handsome designs, especially (in Texas) with a star. Gauntlets were also sometimes decorated with beadwork. gazook A gawky, awkward person. gazook
157 Gauntlets with lone star. [Drawing by E. L. Reedstrom.] gee pole In Alaska, a long pole on the right side of a dogsled, which the driver uses to steer. Perhaps from the command gee to a horse, meaning “right.” geed up Crippled, banged up...