riding shotgun

[George Thompson]

I knew the expression when in college, southern New england, early 1960s.  I associated it with cowboy movies, when the stage-coache driver generally had  someone sitting next to him holding a shotgun, to discourage road agents, injuns, and other varmints.

GAT

George A. Thompson
Author of A Documentary History of "The African Theatre", Northwestern Univ. Pr., 1998.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bethany K. Dumas" <dumasb at UTKUX.UTCC.UTK.EDU>
Date: Sunday, April 11, 2004 10:45 am
Subject: Re: riding shotgun

> I have known the expression most of my life (se texas) - I wonder
> if it
> derives from wagon days, when the non-driver (of the horses) generally
> carried a shotgun.
>
> Bethany
>