forty-niner

[ fawr-tee-nahy-ner ]

/ ˌfɔr tiˈnaɪ nər /

a person, especially a prospector, who went to California in 1849 during the gold rush.

Origin of forty-niner

An Americanism dating back to 1850–55

There was missing old “Forty-niner,” commonly the dominant fifth of this odd quintet, but nobody wondered much at that.

Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch |Evelyn Raymond
The old "forty-niner" approached the waggon with a withering glance at the repacked cargo.

Saddle and Mocassin |Francis Francis Jr.
She was foolish to think anything harmful could have happened to “Forty-niner” so quickly after she had run away from him.

Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch |Evelyn Raymond
His rest was the Forty-niner's arm, as mine is the sportsman's hand.

Frontier Ballads |Joseph Mills Hanson

“Man proposes, God disposes,” quoted “Forty-niner,” with all the emphasis of an original philosophy.

Jessica Trent: Her Life on a Ranch |Evelyn Raymond

forty-niner

(sometimes capital) US history a prospector who took part in the California gold rush of 1849

49er a type of dinghy, designed to be crewed by two people