Dictionary
Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
smoking ponies en · X
Meanings
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(historical) The Native American practice of visiting other tribes in order to receive horses as gifts.
[…] visiting other Indians and the State for the purpose of trading, smoking ponies, and begging, whichever seems best to accomplish the end in view — that is, getting a living without physical exertion.
1885, United States. Bureau of Indian Affairs, Report, page 89:[…] the Washitaws with their lovely squaws are on their way to visit the Delawares, who have a reservation not far north of Lawrence. This sort of visiting they call "smoking ponies."
1953, The Kansas Magazine, page 89: