[Ads-l] Code of the West

[Jonathan Lighter]

1895 _St. Louis Globe Democrat_ (July 10) 6:

                                             THE CODE OF THE WEST

                                UNWRITTEN LAWS WHICH WERE OBSERVED
                           BY DESPERATE MEN IN THEIR HOSTILE MEETINGS


[There follows a lengthy article on the subject. ]

1920 Zane Grey _The Man of the Forest_ (Roslyn, N.Y.: W. J. Black) 362:  Las
Vegas had lived up to the code of the West, had dared his man out, had
waited far longer than needful to prove that man a coward.

The phrase was popularized by a 1921 film of the same name, starring Texas
Guinan, and a 1925 feature, _Zane Grey's Code of the West._

There was a 1975 novel by George Voss called _The Man Who Believed in the
Code of the West_.

That was a big mistake.
 --
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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