Pecos, Pecosin', Pecos Swap

Wed Nov 15 23:39:38 UTC 2006

I wondered whether there was a connection between this verb and the
legendary Texas pistolero, Pecos Pete, whom I remember from my
childhood. Pete was so well known, at one time, that there was a candy
bar whose name punned on the better-known Pete's: "Pecan Pete." There
was a singing commercial (sung commercial?) went:

If you want a chocolate candy bar
That cain't be beat,
Try the chocolate candy bar,
Pecan Pete!

sung to the tune of "Turkey In The Straw."

Unfortunately, though I was able to trace the name, "Pecos Pete," back
to 1870, without much effort, it appears that Pecos Pete was legendary
only in the adjective's original sense of "mythical," (In the words of
Eric Cartman, "God damn it!"  I thought old Pete was as least as real
as Jesse James.) Hence, there is no connection to Pecosing.

-Wilson

On 11/15/06, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Pecos, Pecosin', Pecos Swap
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> My impression is that these terms have never been very common. The earliest I know about "Pecos," v., comes from J. Frank Dobie's _A Vaquero of the Brush Country_
>    (1929), p. 277: "He ran the risk of being "pecosed" either for his integrity of the lack of it....To "pecos" a man one shot him and rolled his body into the river."
>
>   Dobie is referrimg to the 1880's. _A Vaquero_ is a very well known book among Southwest historians, and my suspicion is that most printed instances of the word owe their existence directly or indirectly to Dobie.
>
>   Unlisted is the sense "To douse (a sleeping person) with water, as in P.S. McGreeney's El Diablo Cojo (1936), p. 39: "Fetch a bucket of water an' we'll Pecos him, wake him up, an' then we'll find out what stampeded him....Slats doused Ebony Jo with an overabundance of water."
>
>   McGreeney seems to have been a Texan. At least his book was published there.
>
>   Here is "pecos" and "Pecos swap" in one source. It's the only ex. of "Pecos swap" I know of:
>
>   1996 Patrick Dearen Crossing Rio Pecos (TCU Press)18 [ref. to 1872]: Citizens and military authorities came to know them as perpetrators of a "Pecos swap."…trading violence for four horses from cattle drove bound for El Paso.…A man named Little fell victim to pecosing…[He] reportedly guarded $24,000….A cowboy murdered him for the bonanza.
>
>   JL
>
> Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
>   ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
> Subject: Pecos, Pecosin', Pecos Swap
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Will the next HDAS have Pecos (verb; difficult to check on the databases), =20
> Pecosin' and Pecos swap?
> ...
> ...
> ... =20
> _http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/pecosin_pecos_swap/_=20
> (http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/pecosin_pecos_swap/)=20
> ...
> ...
> =20
> Pecosin=E2=80=99 & Pecos Swap
> =20
> "Pecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D is an old-time term that means to kill someone an=
> d throw the body=20
> into the Pecos River. Later, the term =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D ca=
> me to be used for=20
> dumping a body in any river.=20
>
> A =E2=80=9CPecos swap=E2=80=9D was a euphemism for stealing. Both terms are=
> of historical=20
> interest today.=20
>
>
> _JSTOR_=20
> (http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=3D0043-373X(1954)13:2/3<125:TLSOTP>2.0.CO;=
> 2-4) =20
> =E2=80=9CThe Lighter Side of Texas Place Naming=E2=80=9D=20
> Harold Clay Pope=20
> Western Folklore, Vol. 13, No. 2/3 (1954), pp. 125-129=20
> =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99 a feller=E2=80=9D meant killing a person, weighti=
> ng the body with rocks,=20
> and dropping it in the Pecos River.=20
>
> _University of Texas of the Permian Basin; Roadlogs_=20
> (http://72.14.205.104/search?q=3Dcache:qv6mVRX4HTsJ:www.utpb.edu/ceed/CEED%2=
> 0WEB%20SITE/roadlogs/CEEDRoa
> dLogsMidlandToVH.htm+pecosin&hl=3Den&gl=3Dus&ct=3Dclnk&cd=3D22&ie=3DUTF-8) =20
> Pecos city limit and overpass. Pecos was established in 1881 as a stop on=20
> the Texas and Pacific Railroad. It was first called Pecos Station, then Pe=
> cos=20
> City, and finally Pecos. Prior to county organization their was a period o=
> f=20
> lawlessness; the expression =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=9D came to mean killing=20=
> a man and=20
> throwing his body in the Pecos River.=20
>
> 21 May 1962, Dallas Morning News, =E2=80=9CTolbert=E2=80=99s Texas=E2=80=9D=20=
> by Frank X. Tolbert,=20
> section 4, pg. 1:=20
> WONDER WHY THE ancient and sinister term, =E2=80=9Cpecosin=E2=80=9D hasn=
> =E2=80=99t crept into some=20
> of the millions of words about Pecos=E2=80=99 most-written-about inhabitant=
> , Billy=20
> Sol Estes? In the Old West, =E2=80=9Cpecosin=E2=80=9D came to mean killing=20=
> a man and throwing=20
> his body into the handiest river. In its original form it meant tossing the=
> =20
> victim into the Pecos River, of course. =20
>
> 28 May 1962, Dallas Morning News, =E2=80=9CTolbert=E2=80=99s Texas=E2=80=9D=20=
> by Frank X. Tolbert, s
> ection 4, pg. 1:=20
> Mr. Kerr Doubts=20
> Term, =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D=20
> By Frank X. Tolbert=20
>
> WALTER L. KERR, a Midland lawyer, has written this department a letter,=20
> suggesting that I just rared back and made up the term, =E2=80=9CPecosin=
> =E2=80=99,=E2=80=9D meaning to=20
> shoot a man and get shed of the evidence by throwing his body in a river. (=
> I=20
> was wondering why =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D hadn=E2=80=99t cropped=20=
> up in all the millions of words=20
> of prose composed about the adventures of Pecos=E2=80=99 Billy Sol Estes.)=20
>
> =E2=80=9CI was raise in Pecos and I never heard of Pecosin=E2=80=99,=E2=80=
> =9D declared Mr. Kerr in=20
> his letter.=20
>
> Well, Mr. Kerr, this word is sprinkled through the literature on the Old=20
> West. I can give you two short-order references on it. On Page 113 of his=20
> authoritative book, =E2=80=9CWestern Words, a Dictionary of the Range, Cow=20=
> Camp, and Trail=E2=80=9D
> , Ramon F. Adams wrote that =E2=80=9Cto Pecos=E2=80=9D a man meant =E2=80=
> =9Cto shoot him and roll=20
> his body into the river.=E2=80=9D Also, on Page 354, Volume 2, of =E2=80=
> =9CThe Handbook of=20
> Texas=E2=80=9D, edited by Dr. Walter Prescott Webb and other heavy hitters=20=
> in the=20
> historical game, there is a short definition of the term. This is in an art=
> icle on=20
> the town of Pecos, and it reads: =E2=80=9CA period of lawlessness preceeded=
> county=20
> organization; the expression =E2=80=98Pecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=99 came to mea=
> n killing a man and=20
> throwing his body into the Pecos River.=E2=80=9D=20
>
> CALLED MR. ADAMS and discussed =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99.=E2=80=9D =E2=80=
> =9CThe word was common in the old=20
> days all along the river and not just in the town of Pecos,=E2=80=9D he ssa=
> id. =E2=80=9CI=20
> once talked with a pioneer New Mexico cowboy, Jack Potter, who spoke often=20
> about unfortunate fellows who were =E2=80=98Pecosed=E2=80=99. It seems that=
> the bodies were=20
> usually weighted with rocks.=E2=80=9D=20
>
> Mr. Adams mentioned another western phrase, =E2=80=9CPecos swap=E2=80=9D, wh=
> ich might be=20
> handy for use in stories about Billie Sol. A =E2=80=9CPecos swap=E2=80=9D, s=
> ays Adams, meant =E2=80=9C
> a trade made without consent or knowledge of the other intended party.=E2=
> =80=9D It=20
> meant =E2=80=9Cto steal=E2=80=9D.=20
>
> Also, Pecos is a Spanish-ized Indian word meaning =E2=80=9Ccrooked=E2=80=
> =9D. The Pecos was=20
> sometimes called =E2=80=9CDirty River=E2=80=9D in the olden days. =20
>
> COUNSELLOR KERR need not feel too badly over his ignorance of =E2=80=9CPeco=
> sin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D.=20
> Allen Propp, general manager of the Pecos Independent, told me he=E2=80=99d=20=
> lived all=20
> his life in the town of Pecos and had never heard the term. Guess Mr. Kerr=20
> and Mr. Propp weren=E2=80=99t much given to talk with old-timers.=20
>
> 12 June 1962, Dallas Morning News, =E2=80=9CTolbert=E2=80=99s Texas=E2=80=
> =9D by Frank X. Tolbert,=20
> section 4, pg. 14:=20
> M. M. FULMER, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Goliad, comes to this=20
> department=E2=80=99s defense in the matter of the old term, =E2=80=9CPecosin=
> =E2=80=99=E2=80=9D, meaning to=20
> kil someone and throw the body in the river (the Pecos River in the original=
> =20
> meaning o the word). A west Texas lawyer who had lived for a long time in Pe=
> cos =20
> said he=E2=80=99d never heard of =E2=80=9CPecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=9D and accu=
> sed me of making it up.=20
>
> =E2=80=9CI served as pastor of the First Baptist Church in Ozona for seven=20=
> years=20
> (1927-34) and was often in the company of older ranchmen,=E2=80=9D said M/=20=
> M. Fulmer. =E2=80=9C
> The term, =E2=80=98Pecosin=E2=80=99,=E2=80=99 was quite familiarly used at=20=
> that time. I held a=20
> revival at Buena Vista in Pecos County. As a result, it was my pleasure to=20=
> baptize=20
> 12 candidates in the Pecos River. I came in for quite a bit of teasing abou=
> t=20
> =E2=80=98Pecosin=E2=80=99=E2=80=99 these people.=E2=80=9D=20
>
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