English

Noun

goback ‎(plural gobacks)

1. (US, historical, sometimes derogatory) An emigrant heading west on the Oregon Trail who gave up and turned back to the east.
   • 1993, John D. Unruh, The Plains Across

     Although no subsequent year matched this high percentage of returnees, disconsolate "gobacks" remained a permanent feature of the overland emigrations […]

   • 2005, David Dary, The Oregon Trail: An American Saga (page 230)

     How many turned around and headed for wherever they came from is not known, but these "gobacks" or "turnarounds," as many emigrants called them, often complained that there was either little or no grass for their animals or that there was too much cholera or that the Indian threat was too great.

Synonyms

• turnaround