Antedating of Vamoose

[Baker, John]

        Here's an 1849 example of "vamoose" (Merriam-Webster has 1859):

        <<The farther south you travel, the more rude, wild and energetic the language you will hear.  Our newly acquired State of Taxes excels all others in additions and corruptions.  The old Texan has no farm, it is a _ranche._ . . . When he wishes to leave, he does not say with the Yankee, "Well, we'd better be a goin'," but _"Let's vamos,"_ or "Let's vamos the ranche."_>>

        "Idioms and Provincialisms of the English Language," American Whig Review, vol. 9, at 251, 254 (Mar. 1849) (via Cornell University Making of America).  This review of Bartlett's Dictionary of Americanisms and Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words includes something of a survey of regional American usages.

John Baker