Antedating of Vamoose

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Tue, 12 Apr 2005 10:37:46 -0400, Baker, John <JMB at STRADLEY.COM> wrote:
>  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.

One of the works reviewed, Bartlett's _Dictionary of Americanisms_, has
cites from 1848 for "vamos" as a verb:
http://www.merrycoz.org/voices/bartlett/AMER14.HTM

See also the OED2 entry for "vamoose", which has earlier examples of
"vamos" as a loanword (at least in the imperative form):

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[1827 W. CLARKE Every Night Bk. 30 They have done more foolish things in
their day -- but vamos.]
1834 Knickerbocker IV. 455 Be off, you good-for-nothing rascals -- vamos!
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MW's date of 1859 probably refers to this cite for "vamous", an antecedent
for the "vamoose" spelling:

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1859 Slang Dict. 114 Vamous, to go, or be off.
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--Ben Zimmer