John Wilkes Booth -- (1838-1865) An actor and fanatical southern sympathizer who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at the end of the Civil War in 1865. As he fled after shooting the President, he shouted "sic semper tyrannis," a Latin phrase which is usually translated as "thus be it ever to tyrants."
The buffalo -- With no natural predators, the buffalo (or American Bison) thrived in the grasslands of North America. In 1850 there may have been 30,000,000 or more roaming the Great Plains. Through a combination of weather (summer droughts and hard winters), competition from cattle and horses, the cutting up of traditional range into farms and settlements, and, finally, intense hunting pressure by humans, the huge herds had dwindled by the late 1880s until only a few hundred were left. Buffalo Bill and others built herds on their western ranches, and Buffalo Bill's Wild West sometimes carried as many as 30 buffalo with the show.
The railroad -- In the five years after the Civil War, the United States built one of the engineering and construction marvels of the time, the transcontinental railroad. Building from both east and west, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific were joined in 1869 when the "Golden Spike" was driven at Promontory Summit, Utah. The railroad united the nation, but it also crossed the traditional migration routes of the Plains Indians and speeded up the settlement of the West.
Stagecoach -- The stagecoach was named for its function. It was any coach that carried passengers long distances in "stages," that is, from one rest stop to another where food and fresh horses could be obtained. The most famous stagecoaches were made by the Abbott-Downing Company in Concord, New Hampshire, and were called "Concords."
Jayhawker/Bushwhacker -- Jayhawkers were members of the mostly unofficial cavalry who supported the free-state cause in Kansas. Like their pro-slavery counterparts, the Bushwhackers, they engaged in guerrilla warfare. Besides occasionally harrassing regular army units, they just as often attacked and sometimes killed civilians, burning their farms and stealing their horses.
The Border War -- The name for the hostilities between free-state and pro-slavery partisans in the border states of Missouri and Kansas in the 1850s and 1860s.
William Quantrill -- (1837-1865) Missouri guerrilla leader who first rode with a band of Jayhawkers before switching to the southern cause and organizing a band of Bushwhackers. He later received a commission in the Confederate army and was killed near the end of the Civil War by Union troops.
Frank and Jesse James -- Frank (1843-1915) and Jesse (1847-1882) were members of Quantrill's raiders during the Civil War. After the war they became famous as train robbers and bank robbers. Jesse was shot from behind by a member of his gang, Bob Ford, and a legend grew about him as a martyred "Robin Hood" of Missouri.
Civil War -- In 1861 the southern states seceded from the Union and formed a new nation, the Confederate States of America. The northern states, which remained together as the United States, went to war against the Confederacy to preserve the Union and to abolish slavery. 620,000 soldiers died during the four years of war. More men died in one day of fighting at such battles as Antietam (1862) or Gettysburg (1863) than died on both sides in all of the Indian Wars.
Coronado -- Francisco Vasquez de Coronado (c.1510-1554) of Spain led an expedition of "conquistadores" (which translates as "men who conquer") from 1540 to 1542 through part of the American West. He was looking for cities filled with gold and treasure but instead found the rich grasslands of America's southern plains.
Manifest Destiny -- This phrase, first printed in a magazine article in 1845, was intended to mean that it was "manifest" or obvious that the United States would expand to fill the whole continent from coast to coast. It was never a doctrine of government, but it became an assumption shared by many if not most Americans.
Medal of Honor -- The nation's highest military award for gallantry. It was first authorized by Congress in 1862 (hence is sometimes called the Congressional Medal of Honor).
Yogi Berra -- Lawrence Peter Berra (1925- ), all-star catcher for baseball's New York Yankees, known also for his seemingly naive but witty and wise observations.
Congress of Rough Riders -- In 1892, Buffalo Bill's Wild West incorporated squads of horsemen, including European cavalry units, into the show to exhibit different styles of riding and to showcase the skills of American Indians and cowboys. These horsemen (and women) were dubbed "rough riders," a term Theodore Roosevelt later used to describe the volunteer cavalry units that fought with him in the Spanish-American War.
Yellow Hair -- (c.1850-1876) Young Cheyenne leader killed by Buffalo Bill in single combat at Warbonnet Creek, Nebraska, on 17 July 1876. His name was mistranslated at the time as "Yellow Hand," and his death was called "the first scalp for Custer."
Custer -- George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876), West Point graduate who became the youngest Major General in the United States Army during the Civil War. As a cavalry leader, he is given much of the credit for defeating Robert E. Lee's army and forcing Lee's surrender at Appamattox Court House, Virginia, in 1865. He is best know for his death along with more than 200 men of the 7th Cavalry at the hands of Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Montana, 25 June 1876.
Sitting Bull -- (c.1831-1890) Hunkpapa Sioux military, spiritual, and political leader who helped defeat Custer. Traveled for one season (1885) with Buffalo Bill's Wild West and led his people's resistance to pressure the U.S. government to stop further reductions in the size of the Sioux reservations in the Dakotas. The agent at Standing Rock Reservation, James McLaughlin, ordered him arrested by Indian police in December, 1890, in to order to try to curb his tribal influence. Sitting Bull was shot to death in the attempt.
Crazy Horse -- (c.1840-1877) Oglala Sioux war leader prominent in the wars that drove the Army from the Bozeman Trail (1866-1868) and during the wars in Montana in 1876. While in custody at Ft. Robinson, Nebraska, in 1877, he was bayonnetted to death by one of the soldiers guarding him.
Huguenots -- French Protestants who opposed the Catholic kings of France in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 1685 their religion was outlawed by Louis XIV when he revoked the Edict of Nantes which had promised toleration of Protestants. Many Huguenots, a high proportion of whom were skilled artisans and civic leaders, emigrated to America. Perhaps the most famous American of Huguenot descent was Paul Revere, patriot and silversmith. The Cody family originally moved to the Isle of Jersey then came to Massachusetts in 1698.
Homestead -- In 1862 in the Homestead Act, Congress allowed prospective settlers to claim 160 acres of land free in return for making improvements and living on the "homestead" for five years. Settlers who claimed federal land before 1862, Isaac Cody among them, filed for "pre-emption" on a piece of property then paid a low purchase price to the government, usually $1.25 per acre.
Kickapoo -- An Indian people of the Algonquian group who moved to what is now Wisconsin as early as 1700. As a tribe they sided with the British and other enemies of the United States during the American Revolution. They were considered to be excellent fighters. As their causes were lost, many moved to Mexico and Oklahoma, but a significant number settled near their allies, the Sac and Fox, in Iowa Territory.
Plains Indians -- As Indian people began to acquire horses around 1700, they began to move out on the Plains in greater numbers, following the herds of buffalo. The most numerous of all were the Sioux who had moved from the woodlands of the eastern mid-west. Their main allies were the Northern Arapaho, the Northern Cheyenne, and the Kiowa. Their main rivals to the north were the Blackfeet, to the west the Crow and Shoshone, and to the south the Comanche. These rivalries changed with treaties, economics, pressures from white America, and the eventual removal of most Indian people to reservations. Through the influence of Buffalo Bill's Wild West and the popularity of western illustrators such as Frederic Remington (1860-1909) and Charles M. Russell (1866-1926), the Plains Indian warrior (especially the Sioux) came to represent all American Indians in the public mind, creating a stereotype that has persisted through movies, television, and other forms of popular culture.
Freighting -- Companies such as Russell, Majors & Waddell of Leavenworth, Kansas, secured contracts with the government to haul freight across the prairie to outposts such as Ft. Laramie, Wyoming Territory. Huge wagons were built to carry as much as 6000 pounds of supplies and equipment. The wheels were extra-wide to keep from sinking into sandy or muddy soil. Teams of 12 to 16 oxen (more for difficult pulls, such as up steep hills) pulled the wagons. They were slow, but they were strong and steady. To try to persuade the government to award it a contract to carry U.S. Mail, Russell, Majors & Waddell launched a more spectacular venture in 1860: the Pony Express. It lasted just 18 months and bankrupted the partnership.
Chivalry -- A code of behavior that originated in the Middle Ages and is associated with knights on horseback (the word "chivalry" comes from the Latin word for "horse"). Bravery in battle and personal honor are among the most important elements of chivalry. Their association with army officers who had been educated in the chivalric traditions of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point made many scouts (such as Buffalo Bill) aware, even self-conscious, of the trappings and expectations of chivalry. At the same time, the officers admired Buffalo Bill and others for their chivalric gallantry and individualism. Unlike the Army which was rooted in modern military notions of order and discipline, the Indians, much like knights of old, fought in the style of "heroic warfare" that emphasized conspicuous bravery and personal deeds. The best-known of the scouts fought the same way and reflected glory on the Army regiments they guided. Chivalry gone wrong or carried to an extreme also resulted in such social ills as duelling to the death and vicious feuds over matters of "honor," and it was bitingly satirized as murderous folly by Mark Twain in Huckleberry Finn and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.
Wild Bill -- James Butler Hickok (1837-1876), Illinois-born Indian Wars scout, gunfighter, sometime lawman, shot dead from behind by Jack McCall while playing cards at Deadwood, South Dakota.
Medicine Bill -- William Comstock (1842-1868), Indian Wars scout, descended from the family of James Fenimore Cooper and born in Michigan. Murdered possibly by a fellow scout in Kansas.
Texas Jack -- John B. Omohundro (1846-1880), Virginia-born cowboy and scout, friend and first acting partner of Buffalo Bill. He later formed his own acting company and died of pneumonia at Leadville, Colorado.
California Joe -- Moses Embree Milner (1829-1876), mountain man and frontiersman from Kentucky, became one of Custer's favorite scouts. Murdered in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Abolitionist -- Active especially between about 1830 and the Civil War, an advocate for the outlawing and immediate end of slavery. The most famous abolitionist was the writer and orator William Lloyd Garrison. The most infamous was John Brown who committed murders in the name of abolitionism in Kansas then was captured in his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry in 1859, tried, and hanged. Free-soil advocates were sometimes but not always abolitionists. Rather, they took the position that slavery should not be allowed into any new territory or state.
Great Plains -- Vast, mostly level, treeless area stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. Because so much of it receives so little rainfall, one early explorer, Major Stephen Long, in 1820 wrongly labeled it "the Great American Desert."
Rights of Women -- In most states, women were not allowed to vote until the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1920. In many states, property rights for women were restricted. There were many jobs and professions which were virtually off-limits to women, and women were often paid far less than their male counterparts. The first important effort to organize American women to seek equal rights was a convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. But the first important successes came in the West where women were fewer in number but more likely to be equal partners with their husbands in farming, ranching, or business. Woman suffrage (the right for women to vote) was first established in Wyoming Territory in 1869. Other western territories and states followed suit. As a westerner, Buffalo Bill very early became an advocate of woman suffrage and women's rights, and in his Wild West show he made sure the women were given "equal pay for equal work."