Nebraska Pioneer English

Abstract

1. Three previous articles on Pioneer English dealt with the pioneer vocabulary associated with the country, early explorers and explorations, the military occupation, the coming of the pioneers, their trails and means of transportation, the Indians, the establishment of towns and homes, and the getting and breaking of the land. American Speech, Vol. VI, pp. 237 if., April, 1931; Vol. VII, pp. 1 if., October, 1931; Vol. VII, pp. 161 ff., February, 1932. 2. For a discussion of pioneer amusements that still live in see my article, Nebraska Sandhill Talk, American Speech, Vol. IV, pp. 130-131, December, 1928. 3. Ibid. I saw these dances or games, so common in the pioneer era, played in Brown County two years ago (1931). Play-party games so on, humming, singing, and whistling the while, for dancing. Only a tenderfoot would play the fiddle and not the bass, i.e., play the violin without using all the strings at the same time.7 Among the popular dance tunes were Arkansaw Traveler, Devil's Dream, Money Musk, and Speed the Plow.8 dances of the Military were invariably balls. Dr. Thomas G. Maghee, a contract doctor (a physician attached to an army post, but without a regular commission), wrote in his diary: The grand A Co. ball for the 22d came off with