Questions about the Western frontier of the U.S.

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Wild West Trivia – October 13, 2012

1. In a longer race, the Thoroughbred will win. But what’s the fastest horse at a quarter mile?

Quarter Horse. The American Quarter Horse.

2. In 1948, what was found at Sutter’s Mill causing many to rush to California?

Gold. The California Gold Rush (1848–1855).

3. In bullriding, a winner must stay on the bull for AT LEAST how many seconds?

8 seconds.

4. Levi Strauss sold California miners these tough workpants in the 1850s. blue jeans

5. In the folk ballad, the lover sings:

In a cavern, in a canyon, / Excavating for a mine / 
 Dwelt a miner forty niner, 


And his daughter …

What was the name of the daughter?

Clementine. ‘Oh my Darling, Clementine’.

6 This cowboy hat is probably named after the Spanish word galón that means

‘braided trim’. But most people believe it is named for the amount of water it could hold if used as a bucket. ten gallon hat -- (it actually holds about 3 quarts!)

7. This 1969 movie about a couple of train and bank robbers starred Robert

Redford and Paul Newman.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

8. A famous gunfight of 1881 took place in Tombstone Arizona between outlaws and Wyatt Earp, assisted by his brothers; and Doc Holliday. At which Corall?

The OK Corral.

9. Which woman sharpshooter had a starring role in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show?

Annie Oakley.

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10. "Ocian in view! O! the joy!" said one (Clark) of these two early 19 th century explorers when they reached the Pacific ocean after the first transcontinental expedition, which took about two years.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

11. This American frontiersman was born right here in Madison County, KY.

There’s an elementary school named after him right down the street.

Kit Carson. (Daniel Boone was born near Reading, PA.)

12. This fortress in San Antonio, Texas, was the site of a very one-sided siege that the Mexicans won.

The Alamo.

13. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in Utah was marked by driving in a spike of which color.

Golden. The Golden Spike.

14. This San Francisco professional football team shares its name with the men who flocked to the California at the beginning of the Gold Rush.

49ers. San Francisco 49ers.

15. In the mid-19th century, Brigham Young led followers of this religion from

Illinois and Missouri to Utah to avoid religious persecution.

Mormons.

16. This Lakota Souix holy man resisted the U.S. government policies to take away their land and later joined Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. He’s named for a large mammal resting on its haunches.

Sitting Bull.

17. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 forced various Eastern Indian tribes to relocate to Oklahoma. This route has a sad name, because many Indians died of exposure, disease and starvation.

Trail of Tears.

18. This U.S. military leader took his last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn

(Montana Territory, 1876).

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George Armstrong Custer. Custer’s Last Stand.

19. Born Marion Mitchell Morrison, this actor became the archetypal tough guy in films such as Stagecoach, Rio Bravo and True Grit.

John Wayne.

20. Thomas Jefferson doubled the size of the U.S. in 1803 by purchasing a huge amount of land from France. What was the name of this land deal?

Louisiana Purchase.

21. The Hudson's Bay Company, founded in the early 17th century, made its fortune through the trade in the fur of this small North American mammal, whose pelts were used to make hats?

Beaver.

22. The name ‘Prairie Schooner’ was used to describe what conveyance, which early settlers used to carry them across the Great Plains?

Covered Wagon.

23. These large bovine creatures were hunted practically to extinction by white men.

Buffalo (bison).

24. Name of a famous outlaw of the Old West. Also the name of actress Sandra

Bullock’s husband from 2005-2010.

Jesse James.

25. According to the western song, what two kinds of animals are playing ‘home on the range’?

The deer and the antelope. ‘Where the deer and the antelope play’

‘Home on the range’

Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam

Where the deer and the antelope play

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word

And the skies are not cloudy all day

Home, home on the range

Where the deer and the antelope play

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Where seldom is heard a discouraging word

And the skies are not cloudy all day

26. This 2,000-mile wagon route connected Missouri to the Pacific Northwest.

Oregon Trail.

27. These metal boot accessories were used by cowboys to get their horses to go.

Spurs.

28. Cowboys wore these sturdy leather or sheepskin coverings over their trousers to protect their legs while riding through brush.

Chaps.

29. These hardy desert plants have sharp spines instead of leaves.

Cactus.

30. This plant is iconically pictured blowing across the western landscape.

Tumbleweed.

A tumbleweed is the above-ground part of a plant that, once mature and dry, disengages from the root and tumbles away in the wind.

31. What popular TV western series that ran 1959-1973 followed the lives of the

Cartwright family?

Bonanza.

2.1 Lorne Greene – Ben Cartwright

2.2 Pernell Roberts – Adam Cartwright

32. Cowboys ride bucking broncos, rope calves, and wrestle steers as entertainment at this kind of western-style event.

Rodeo.

2.3 Dan Blocker – Eric "Hoss" Cartwright

2.4 Michael Landon – Joseph "Little Joe" Cartwright

2.5 David Canary – "Candy" Canaday

2.6 Victor Sen Yung – Hop Sing

2.7 Mitch Vogel – Jamie Hunter/Cartwright

ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: from Spanish, from rodear ‘go around,’ based on Latin rotare

‘rotate.’

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33. This group of pioneers, trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada became infamous for eating each other as they began starving.

Donner Party. (They ate people who were already dead.)

The Donner Party was a group of 87 American pioneers who in 1846 set off from

Missouri in a wagon train headed west for California, only to find themselves trapped by snow in the Sierra Nevada. The subsequent casualties resulting from starvation, exposure, disease, and trauma were extremely high, and many of the survivors resorted to cannibalism. … Forty-eight members of the Donner Party survived to live in California.

34. Plains Indians were constantly on the move. They needed shelters that could be quickly erected and taken down. What were their cone-shaped hide-covered dwellings called?

Teepees. (a Lakota word) wigwam |ˈwigˌwäm| noun a dome-shaped hut or tent made by fastening mats, skins, or bark over a framework of poles, used by some North American Indian peoples.

35. This 1946 Broadway Hit featured the songs "Anything You Can Do." And

‘There's No Business Like Show Business.

Annie Get Your Gun. MGM Movie, 1950 with Betty Hutton.

36. Called, ‘the four corners’, there is only once place in the U.S. where four states meet. Name two.

Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah.

The Four Corners is a region of the United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, northwestern corner of New Mexico, northeastern corner of

Arizona and southeastern corner of Utah.

37. The Colorado River carved out this magnificent enormous hole in the ground.

Grand Canyon.

38. In the old west, the term ‘iron horse’ was used to refer to which mode of transportation.

Steam engine train.

39. In a wagon train, it was this wagon that carried the food and cooking equipment.

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Chuckwagon. ‘Chuck’ was slang for ‘food’.

40. This non-European ethnic group was brought to America to work on the railroads and run laundries.

Chinese.

41. This husband and wife singing cowboy act popularized Western country music in the 1940s and 50s with hits like ‘Don’t Fence Me In’ and ‘Happy Trails’.

Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

42. The cowboy outfit typically featured this colorful cotton neckerchief.

Bandana. ORIGIN mid 18th cent.: probably via Portuguese from Hindi.

43. This western showman brought the Wild West to the Eastern and European public.

Buffalo Bill Cody.

44. This rough textile made of cowskin is a popular material for making dog chew toys out of.

Rawhide.

45. An archenemy of Bugs Bunny, this Looney Tunes character takes his name from a California National Park.

Yosemite Sam.

46. This famous western movie starring Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly takes its name from a time of day.

High Noon. (=midday)

47. Indian women carried their babies on their back in this kind of carrier.

Papoose. Narragansett papoos.

48. This large river forms a large part of the U.S. – Mexico Border. Also the name of a John Wayne film.

Rio Grande.

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49. Name of a wild or half-tame horse that tries to buck off cowboys during rodeos.

Also a Ford Sports Utility Vehicle.

Bronco.

50. This western state gets its name from the Spanish word for mountain

(montaña).

Montana.

51. In the children’s rodeo sport ‘mutton bustin’’ – what kind of animal do children try and stay on for a wild ride?

Sheep

52. Name for a man in charge of horses or cattle; also a popular brand of blue jeans for the western look.

Wrangler.

53. According to the song in the musical, Oklahoma, who is it that ‘should be friends’?

The farmer and the cowman. ‘The Farmer and the Cowman’

The farmer and the cowman should be friends.

Oh, the farmer and the cowman should be friends.

One man likes to push a plough, the other likes to chase a cow,

But that's no reason why they cain't be friends.

Territory folks should stick together,

Territory folks should all be pals.

Cowboys dance with farmer's daughters,

Farmers dance with the ranchers’ gals.

54. Before the telegraph, messages were delivered to the Western frontier by what method of staged relays?

Pony Express. It operated 18 months, 1860-61.

55. William H. Bonney, was probably the youngest gunfighter to earn fame in the

Old West. He killed a man before he was 18 and legend has it, 20 more. What was the well-known nickname of this wild youthful ‘William’?

Billy the Kid. (though in truth, it was probably more like 8 more)

56. What was the name of the Lone Ranger’s faithful Indian companion?

Tonto.

57. What is the name of the Lone Ranger’s horse?

Silver.

58. Established in 1827, Fort Leavenworth is the oldest military post in continuous operation west of the Mississippi River. In which state is it located?

Kansas.

59. “The gun that won the wet” was a 45-caliber firearm known by this name – also the name for a young male horse.

Colt 45. Colt Peacemaker.

60. Name for a male castrated beef cow.

Steer.

61. Not the California Gold Rush, this Gold Rush took place in present-day South

Dakota because people found gold in which hills?

The Black Hills.

62. This giant cactus has arms shaped like candelabra.

Saguaro.

63. Frontier settlers feared that violent Indians would deprive them of this part of their skin to display as a trophy.

Scalp.

64. Gold minders used this metal utensil to swirl around gravel and water in order to find gold.

Pan.

65. The Lakota are an indigenous people of th Great Plains that belong to which larger Indian tribe?

Sioux. 7 tribes make up the Sioux Confederation.

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66. This popular 1990 epic western film starred Kevin Costner as a Civil War soldier posted to the western frontier. What was Kevin Costner’s Indian name?

Dances with Wolves.

67. These rodents belong to the western plains – but bear a canine name.

Prairie Dogs.

68. Frontier boomtown located in Arizona, also the name for a popular brand of frozen pizza.

Tombstone.

69. Not Bonanza, this TV western drama series that ran from 1955-1975 included

Miss Kitty.

Gunsmoke.

70. Young people today love their I-phone apps, but in the Old West, the Nez Perce

Indians loved these spotted horses.

Appaloosas.

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